Sure. That could happen.
BACK TO SCHOOL
Since there’s no rest for the wicked, Rose and Lissa are sent to their separate classes immediately. Classmates seem shocked to see the beautiful but rebellious Rose Hathaway back at St. Vlad’s. Rose gets a chance to reconnect with some of them, including Mason Ashford, a fellow novice guardian, who was a good friend of Rose’s before she and Lissa ran away.
“Hey Mason, wipe the drool off your face. If you’re going to think about me naked, do it on your own time.”
A few snorts and snickers broke the awed silence, and Mason Ashford snapped out of his haze, giving me a lopsided smile. With red hair that stuck up everywhere and a smattering of freckles, he was nice-looking, though not exactly hot. He was also one of the funniest guys I knew. We’d been good friends back in the day.
“ This
is
my time, Hathaway. I ’m leading today’s session.”
“Oh yeah?” I retorted. “Huh. Well, I guess this is a good time to think about me naked then.”
“It’s
always
a good time to think about you naked,” added someone nearby, breaking the tension further. Eddie Castile. Another friend of mine.
—page 28
Mason gives her some info about the enigmatic Dimitri Belikov. Among the students, the Russian’s considered a god around school when it comes to fighting. She’s going to learn a lot from him—but it’s really going to hurt.
Terrific. But if it gets her what she wants, then it’s totally worth it. She’s determined to be Lissa’s guardian after graduation, but first she’s going to have to prove herself to everyone . . . and not everyone is happy she’s back. An instructor named Stan Alto gives Rose an extra-hard time in class, reminding her harshly that she has a lot to catch up on and there are many people to whom she must prove herself. To protect Lissa, she needs to stay in school, and to stay in school she’s going to have to work damn hard.
Later, Victor Dashkov finds Rose to tell her that he’s on her side. To him, it’s obvious that Rose kept Lissa safe all this time because she’s skilled and dedicated. He seems to know a lot about the psychic bond the girls share because he’s studied up on the subject, but he’s eager to know more. Rose feels bad for the sick man—at this point she believes he only wants the best for Lissa’s future.
But that isn’t what
everyone
wants. A bitchy rival named Mia Rinaldi makes her presence known. She’s taken over Lissa’s spot with the popular “royals” at St. Vlad’s, and Lissa and Rose seem to be no longer welcome in those circles—not if Mia has anything to say about it. Mia’s even currently dating Lissa’s ex-boyfriend, Aaron, and hates both Lissa and Rose on sight. Later, they’ll learn that this hatred stems from Mia’s hurt feelings at being used and discarded by Lissa’s brother, Andre. Mia, despite having non-royal bloodlines, is determined to be a part of the popular crowd and sees Lissa as a threat.
Great. Yet another person Rose needs to protect her friend from.
It’s not just bitchy blond enemies who are a problem now that the girls have returned to St. Vlad’s. They’re the main focus of student gossip and rumors today. One topic everyone wants to know the answer to: What did Lissa do for blood while they were away? As a vampire, she has to drink blood regularly to survive.
The truth is that she fed from Rose, but a dhampir giving her blood to a Moroi, even a friend in need, is viewed as big-time wrong—and dirty. There’s a nasty term for a dhampir who gives up both her neck and her body for the addictive bite of a Moroi guy—a
blood whore
. While what she and Lissa did isn’t nearly that bad, it’s best to keep this secret to themselves.
Luckily, the girls are not only greeted at school by gossip, conflict, and potential enemies. They also have a few allies who are very happy they’re back, like Victor’s daughter, Natalie Dashkov, who’s been assigned as Lissa’s new roommate. She’s super boring and unpopular, which pleases Rose since it’ll help keep Lissa out of danger. Ever since the car accident, Lissa’s been very fragile—being back at school with backstabbing, fake friends—aka the popular crowd she used to socialize with—might prove too much for her. At the first sign of trouble, a worried Rose plans to get Lissa out of the school if that’s what it takes to protect her.
CHRISTIAN AND THE ATTIC
But Rose can’t be with Lissa
all
the time—at least not physically. However, sometimes she can be pulled into Lissa’s head through their psychic connection and see and hear the world through Lissa’s eyes. That’s what happens when Lissa wanders into the school chapel’s attic in a search for solitude.
Instead of solitude, Lissa finds Christian Ozera. Christian’s parents chose to become Strigoi—the evil, immortal enemy of Moroi. Even though he’s from a royal bloodline, this stigma has branded Christian a social outcast—not to mention a jerk—and Lissa isn’t too thrilled to be around him.
However . . . there’s something about him that’s
kind
of intriguing. The taunting, snarky Christian seems very insightful, especially when he easily guesses that Lissa fed from Rose while they were away. She’s afraid he’s going to tell, to use it against her, but he’s not that kind of guy. He promises not to say a word and then magically warms the air when Lissa seems chilled—Christian’s elemental magic specialty is fire.
Other than her secret ability to heal—which isn’t really tied to any of the four elements—Lissa hasn’t specialized in any one element yet.
Hmmm. Lissa decides that maybe Christian’s not so bad after all, especially when he volunteers to share this secret hiding place with her whenever she wants to use it. And, you know, his ice-blue eyes are rather striking...
When Rose snaps out of the bond, Dimitri’s in front of her and seems worried about what’s happening. His concern takes her by surprise, and she explains that it’s just the bond between her and Lissa at work. Suddenly he isn’t the hardass guy she originally met. Maybe there’s more to Dimitri than meets the eye—not that what meets the eye is bad at all. Her twenty-four-year-old instructor’s tall, dark, Russian, and . . .
super hot
.
Feeling his eyes on me like that made something flutter inside of me—which was stupid, of course. I had no reason to get all goofy, just because the man was too good-looking for his own good. After all, he was an antisocial god, according to Mason. One who was supposedly going to leave me in all sorts of pain.
—page 64
Yes, pain for Rose is yet to come with Dimitri. Physical . . . and otherwise.
Right now? Just the physical kind.
Later, Rose makes a point to lecture Lissa about staying away from creepy Christian. If she’s interested in dating, Rose thinks she should direct her attention back to her ex, Aaron, who would be a much safer choice of potential boyfriends—plus, stealing him away from the annoying Mia would be a total bonus.
Rose gets permission to go to church, even though she’s not exactly what you’d call religious. She just wants to do something social—being grounded sucks. There she learns in the sermon about St. Vladimir, the patron saint of the school, someone who was “filled with spirit,” which allowed him to heal the sick.
Healing
. . . just like Lissa can do.
The priest mentions his “shadow-kissed” guardian Anna, and this also gets Rose’s attention since Ms. Karp, a former teacher, had once called Rose the same thing in reference to her connection to Lissa. She wants to know more about St. Vlad, and the priest suggests she look up the subject of Moroi saints in the library.
Great, extra homework.
When Mia continues to be a pest by insulting Rose’s fashion sense—which, admittedly, has slipped a bit in the past two years—Rose vents to Mason in the library about the girl who’s quickly turning into her nemesis. Mason has inside info on Mia—her parents are basically servants, working for Moroi royalty. Huh. So even though Mia acts like a princess, she sure isn’t one in real life. Putting her Mia issues aside, for the time being anyway, Rose and Mason research Moroi saints, as the priest suggested, and Rose learns that Anna and St. Vlad had a bond that allowed her to see into his heart and mind. It’s intriguing information, but over the next weeks, while training with Dimitri regularly and attending all her classes, she forgets all about it.
A DEADLY WARNING
When a fox with a slit throat is discovered in Lissa’s dorm room, Rose sees this as a serious and disturbing red flag. Lissa, who has a deep love for animals, immediately reaches for the poor thing to try to help it. But Rose restrains her. It reminds her too much of a dead raven Lissa also wanted to save once . . .
She turned to me, eyes almost wild. “Rose . . . do you remember . . . that one time . . .”
“Stop it,” I said. “Forget about it. This isn’t the same thing.”
“What if someone saw? What if someone knows? . . .”
I tightened my grip on her arm, digging my nails in to get her attention. She flinched. “No. It’s not the same. It has nothing to do with that. Do you hear me?” I could feel both Natalie’s and Dimitri’s eyes on us. “It’s going to be okay. Everything’s going to be okay.”
—page 99
They have no idea who’d leave such a gruesome gift. Is this somebody’s idea of a stupid joke? Or is it a threat? And from whom? Mia? Or could it be someone with even darker intentions?
In class, a Moroi jerk named Ralf taunts Lissa about the fox. Other students know Rose and Lissa were brought back against their will to the school, so a new rumor is circulating that Lissa killed the fox so she’d be considered crazy enough to get expelled. Rose warns Ralf off, but he doesn’t take the hint . . .
At least not until he bursts into flames courtesy of Christian’s fire magic. Looks like Christian is getting a bit protective of Lissa. And he knows the stakes, too. Using magic in class is forbidden, and he gets kicked out for defending Lissa. But rather than impress Rose, all it does is convince her that Christian’s a serious danger to her friend. However, Rose worries it’s possible Lissa doesn’t feel the same way and that she might be starting to like the outcast. Later, Rose slips into her friend’s head—this is the first time she’s been able to do this with conscious effort—to see if her suspicions are correct. Yup. Lissa’s in the attic again with the fire starter himself.
To most Moroi, like Lissa, their elemental magic is peaceful,
not
something to be used as a weapon. Obviously, Christian feels differently. Moroi used to fight with their magic, to defend themselves against Strigoi rather than depend entirely on guardians. Some have forgotten, but others haven’t. This will soon become a very hot topic—no fire-magic pun intended—in the Moroi world.
Christian knows Lissa uses compulsion on others—and he’s right. Compulsion is the ability all Moroi have to mentally influence someone else—only some Moroi, like Lissa, are much stronger in it than others. It’s how the girls got by in the human world for so long. Same thing as lighting someone on fire, really. Both are forbidden abilities.
“What are you going to do then?” she asked. “ You going to turn me in?”
He shook his head and smiled. “No. I think it’s hot.”
—page 114
Despite herself, Lissa can’t help but be attracted to Christian. And it’s not just that. When she’s with him, she feels . . . at peace. Like she can be herself without trying to hide what she really is.
It’s always been Rose and Lissa against the world, but now it looks as if her best friend has found someone else. Rose can’t help but feel jealous about this.
The best way to deal with feeling cast aside? Hook up with a hot guy. Sounds like a plan. The hot guy in question is Jesse Zeklos, a Moroi who’s always found Rose gorgeous and with whom she’s fooled around a bit in the past. And right now, she definitely needs a bit of an ego boost.
That night, they find a private place to make out. When Jesse’s sharp fangs brush against Rose’s skin, it reminds her of what it feels like to be bit—really,
really
good. The endorphins in a Moroi’s bite make the act totally addictive. However, the last thing she needs is for everyone to start thinking she’s a blood whore—she hasn’t even gone all the way with anyone yet. Moroi guys love hooking up with dhampir girls, but it almost never leads to anything serious like marriage since Moroi like to keep their bloodlines going with other pure Moroi. And yet . . . she’s not totally pulling Jesse away and he’s starting to get encouraged.
But then the door bursts open. It’s Dimitri. Uh-oh.
“Mr. Zeklos, do you have permission to be in this part of the dorm ?”
“No, sir.”
“Do you know the rules about male and female interactions around here?”
“ Yes, sir.”
“Then I suggest you get out of here as fast as you can before I turn you over to someone who will punish you accordingly. If I ever see you like this again”—Dimitri pointed to where I cowered, half-dressed, on the couch—“I will be the one to punish you. And it will hurt. A lot. Do you understand?”
—page 120