richellemead-vampireacademy01-vampireacademy-110824015328-phpapp02

"But it does bother you." It suddenly became very obvious to me. I could read his pain, though
he clearly worked hard to hide it. "You hurt. Every day. Don't you? You miss him.”
Dimitri looked surprised, like he didn't want me to know that, like I'd uncovered some secret
part of him. I'd been thinking he was some aloof, antisocial tough guy, but maybe he kept
himself apart from other people so he wouldn't get hurt if he lost them. Ivan's death had clearly
left a permanent mark.
I wondered if Dimitri was lonely.
The surprised look vanished, and his standard serious one returned. "It doesn't matter how I
feel. They come first. Protecting them.”
I thought about Lissa again. "Yeah. They do.”
A long silence fell before he spoke again.
"You told me you want to fight, to really fight. Is that still true?”
"Yes. Absolutely.”
"Rose…I can teach you, but I have to believe you're dedicated. Really dedicated. I can't have
you distracted by things like this." He gestured around the lounge. "Can I trust you?”
Again, I felt like crying under that gaze, under the seriousness of what he asked. I didn't get
how he could have such a powerful effect on me. I'd never cared so much about what one
person thought. "Yes. I promise.”
"All right. I'll teach you, but I need you strong. I know you hate the running, but it really is
necessary. You have no idea what Strigoi are like. The school tries to prepare you, but until
you've seen how strong they are and how fast…well, you can't even imagine. So I can't stop the
running and the conditioning. If you want to learn more about fighting, we need to add more
trainings. It'll take up more of your time. You won't have much left for your homework or
anything else. You'll be tired. A lot.”
I thought about it, about him, and about Lissa. "It doesn't matter. If you tell me to do it, I'll do
it.”