Richelle Mead

“I felt a strange fluttering sensation in my chest. Butterflies, cardiac arrest . . . it was hard to say what exactly.”

“I know how devastated you must be to miss me, but leave a message, and I'll try to ease your agony”

“You're a Dhampir," I breathed."So are you." he teased."Yeah, but I just thought—""That I was human? Because of the bite marks?""Yeah." I admitted, No point in lying."We all have to survive," he said "And dhamphirs are good at figuring ways out to.”

“If you try to turn me against Lissa one more time the stories are going to be about you bleeding because I'll have ripped your throat out!”

“This was the kind of dress that changed the world. The kind of dress that started religions.”

“What are you? An after school special?”

“How come all the harmless people were so lame? Maybe that was the definition of safe.”

“Oh. My. God. You're Rose Hathaway aren't you?" "Yeah." I said with surprise. "Do you know me?""Everyone knows you. I mean, everyone heard about you. You're the one who ran away. And then you came back and killed the Strigoi. That is so cool! Did you get molnija marks?" Her words came out in one long string. She hardly took a breath."Yeah. I have two." Thinking about the tiny tattoos on the back of my neck made my skin itch.Her pale green eyes—if possible—grew wider. "Oh my God. Wow." I usually grew irate when people made a big deal about molnija marks. After all, the circumstances had not been cool. But this girl was young, and there was something appealing about her."What's your name?" I asked."Jillian—Jill. I mean, just Jill. Not both. Jillian's my full name. Jill's what everyone calls me.""Right." I said, hiding a smile. "I figured it out.""I heard Moroi used magic on that trip to fight. Is that true? I would love to do that. I wish someone would teach me. I use air. Do you think i could fight Strigoi with that? Everyone says I'm crazy!" For centuries, Moroi using magic to fight had been viewed as a sin. Everyone believed it should be used peacefully. Recently, some had started to question that, particularly after Christian had proved useful in the Spokane escape."I don't know." I said. "You should talk to Christian Ozera."She gaped. "Would he talk to me?""If you bring up fighting the establishment, yeah he'll talk to you.""Okay, cool. Was that Guardian Belikov?" she asked, switching subjects abruptly."Yeah."I swore I thought she might faint then and there. "Really? He's even cuter then I heard. He's your teacher right? Like, your own personal teacher?""Yeah." I wondered where he was. Talking to Jill was exhausting."Wow. You know you guys don't even act like teacher and student. You seem like friends. Do you hang out when you're not training?""Er, well, kind of. Sometimes." I remembered my earlier thoughts, about how I was one of the few people Dimitri was social with outside of his guardian duties."I knew it! I can't even imagine that—I'd be freaking out all the time around him. I'd never get anything done, but your so cool about it all, kind of like, 'Yeah. I'm with this totally hot guy, but whatever it doesn't matter!'"I laughed in spite of myself. "I think you're giving me more credit than I deserve.""No way. And I don't believe any of those stories, you know.""Um, stories?""Yeah about you beating up Christian Ozera.""Thanks." I said.”

“What have you gotten me into?" I hissed at him."Me? What have you gotten yourself into? Couldn't I have just picked you up at the police station for underage drinking, like most fathers?”

“That's what I was supposed to say...”

“Well, I'm supposed to be crazy, right? And there isn't much I wouldn't do for you. The stupider the better."- Adrian Ivashkov”

“He smiled at me . . . fondly. ʺAh, my daughter,ʺhe said. ʺEighteen, and already youʹve been accused of murder, aided felons, and acquired a death count higher than most guardianswill ever see.ʺ He paused. ʺI couldnʹt be prouder.ʺ”

“What If Following Her HeartMeans Rose Could Lose Her Best Friend Forever?”

“When Love And Jealousy Collide On The Slopes, Winter Break Turns Deadly”

“I felt the fangs against my neck and knew I was going to die. It was horrible. I wanted to live so, so badly...but this was how it would end. With my last moments, I started to yell at Christian to run, but then the Strigoi above my suddenly lit up like a torch. He jerked back, and I rolled out from underneath him.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I turned to Christian, who was crouched on the ground. "Wow," I said, helping him up. Obviously, he was the one who had saved me. "No shit," he said. "Didn't know I had that much power.”

“The dhampir dorm appeared before me, about half its windows lit. It was near curfew; people were going to bed. I burst in through the doors, feeling like my heart was going to explode from the exertion. The first person I saw was Stan, and I nearly knocked him over. He caught my wrists to steady me. "Rose, wh—" "Strigoi," I gasped out. "There are Strigoi on campus." He stared at me, and for the first time I'd ever seen, his mouth seriously dropped open. Then, he recovered himself, and I could immediately see what he was thinking. More ghost stories. "Rose, I don't know what you're—" "I'm not crazy!" I screamed. Everyone in the dorm's lobby was staring at us. "They're out there! They're out there, and Dimitri is fighting them alone. You have to help him." What had Dimitri told me? What was that word? "Buria. He said to tell you buria." And like that, Stan was gone.”

“Rose. Listen to me. Run. Run as fast and as hard as you can back to your dorm. Tell the guardians."I nodded. There was no questioning here.Reaching out, he gripped my upper arm, gaze locked on me to make sure I understood his next words. "Do not stop," he said. "No matter what you hear, no matter what you see, do not stop. Not until you've warned the others. Don't stop unless you're directly confronted. Do you understand?"I nodded again. He released his hold."Tell them buria."I nodded again."Run.”

“A pale, slightly luminescent form materialized in front of us. Mason. He looked the same as ever-or did he? The usual sadness was there, but I could see something else, something else I couldn't quite put my finger on. Panic? Frustration? I could have almost sworn it was fear, but honestly, what would a ghost have to be afraid of. "What's wrong?" asked Dimitri. "Do you see him?" I whispered. Dimitri followed my gaze. "See who?" "Mason." Mason's troubled expression grew darker. I might not have been able to adequately identify it, but I knew it wasn't anything good. The nauseous feeling within me intensified, but somehow, I knew it had nothing to do with him. "Rose...we should go back..." said Dimitri carefully. He still wasn't on board with me seeing ghosts. But I didn't move. Mason's face was saying something else to me-or trying to. There was something here, something important that I needed to know. But he couldn't communicate it. "What?" I asked. "What is it?" A look of frustration crossed his face. He pointed off behind me, the dropped his hand. "Tell me," I said, my frustration mirroring his. Dimitri was looking back and forth between me and Mason, though mason was probably only and empty space to him. I was too fixated on Mason to worry what Dimitri might think. There was something here. Something big. Mason opened his mouth, wanting to speak as in previous times but still unable to get the words out. Except, this time, after several agonizing seconds, he managed it. The words were nearly inaudible. "They're...coming....”

“You're strong—you're so, so strong. It's why I love you.”

“I love you, Roza." He kissed me again. "I'll always be here for you. I'm not going to let anything happen to you." The words were wonderful and dangerous. He shouldn't have said anything like that to me. He shouldn't have been promising he'd protect me, not when he was supposed to dedicate his life to protecting Moroi like Lissa. I couldn't be first in his heart, just like he couldn't be first in mine. That was why I shouldn't have said what I said next-but I did anyway. "And I won't let anything happen to you," I promised. "I love you." He kissed me again, swallowing off any other words I might have added.”

“The answer came to me before I'd even finished asking myself the question. I couldn't be Mason's girlfriend because when I imagined someone holding me and whispering dirty things in my ear, he had a Russian accent.”

“I want you to break the spell. Finish it off.”"What do you mean?”"The spell you did on me and Dimitri.”"That spell is done. It burned itself out.”I shook my head. "No. I keep thinking about him. I keep wanting to…”He smiled knowingly when I didn't finish. "My dear, that was already there, long before I set that up.”

“Aaron would never make up anything like that.”"That's because Aaron doesn't say anything that requires words of more than one syllable.”

“Twice in one day?" I asked. "And how'd you even get up here?”He flashed his easy smile. "Someone put a lit match in one of the bathroom's garbage cans. Damn shame. The staff's kind of busy. Come on, I'm springing you.”I shook my head. Setting fires was apparently a new sign of affection. Christian had done it and now Mason.”

“Don't do that!" she exclaimed, shivering at the realization that it had been his fingers touching her.He gave her his lazy, slightly twisted smile and brushed a few pieces of unruly black hair out of his face."Are you asking me or ordering me?”"Shut up." She glanced around, both to avoid his eyes and make sure no one saw them together."What's the matter? Worried about what your slaves'll think if they see you talking to me?”"They're my friends," she retorted."Oh.Right. Of course they are. I mean, from what I saw, Camille would probably do anything for you, right? Friends till the end." He crossed his arms over his chest, and in spite of her anger, she couldn't help but notice how the silvery gray of his shirt set off his black hair and blue eyes.(Lissa&Christian)”

“He cocked his head in an overly dramatic fashion. "Hey, I just got it: it was you, wasn't it?" He looked at Lissa, the back at me. "She got you to kill the fox, didn't she?Some weird kind of lesbian voo—ahhh!”Ralf burst into flames.I jumped up and pushed Lissa out of the way—not easy to do, since we were sitting at our desks. We both ended up on the floor as screams—Ralf's in particular—filled the classroom and Ms. Meissner sprinted for the fire extinguisher.And then, just like that, the flames disappeared. Ralf was still screaming and patting himself down, but he didn't have a single singe mark on him. The only indication of what had happened was the lingering smell of smoke in the air.For several seconds, the entire classroom froze. Then, slowly, everyone put the pieces together. Moroi magical specializations were well known, and after scanning the room, I deduced three fire users: Ralf, his friend Jacob, and—Christian Ozera.Since neither Jacob nor Ralf would have set Ralf on fire, it sort of made the culprit obvious. The fact that Christian was laughing hysterically sort of gave it away too.”

“I love pity parties. I wish I'd brought hats" - Christian”

“Rose,” he said, forcibly trying to keep a serious tone, “I can think of many words to describe you, sexy and hot being at the top of the list. You know what’s not on the list? Sane.”

“Be sorry you lied,” he said, pressing a kiss to my forehead. “Don’t be sorry you loved him. That’s part of you, part you have to let go, yeah, but still something that’s made you who you are.”,”

“Okay?Okay?" People in the hall stared at us. I realized I was practically shouting. "He's out of his mind. He set Ralf on fire. I thought we decided you weren't going to see him anymore.”"You decided, Rose. Not me." There was an edge in her voice I hadn't heard in a while."What's going on here? Are you guys…you know?…”"No!" she insisted. "I told you that already.God." She shot me a look of disgust. "Not everyone thinks—and acts—like you.”I flinched at the words.”

“And you know,you really have made your point with Aaron and Mia. You don't have to keep him around to keep hanging out with the royals.”"Why do I keep getting the feeling you don't like him anymore?”"I like him okay—which is about as much as you like him. And I don't think you should get hot and sweaty with people you only like 'okay'.“Lissa widened her eyes in pretend astonishment. "Is this Rose Hathaway talking? Have you reformed? Or do you have someone you like 'more than okay'?”"Hey" I said uncomfortably, "I'm just looking out for you.That, and I never noticed how boring Aaron is before.”She scoffed. "You think everyone's boring.”"Christian isn't.”

“My, my," he said, looking the note over. "If only students would write this much in their essays. One of you has considerably worse writing than the other, so forgive me if I get anything wrong here." He cleared his throat."'So, I saw J last night,' begins the person with bad handwriting, to which the response is,'What happened,' followed by no fewer than five question marks. Understandable, since sometimes one—let alone four—just won't get the point across, eh?" The class laughed, and I noticed Mia throwing me a particularly mean smile. "The first speaker responds:'What do you think happened? We hooked up in one of the empty lounges.'“Mr. Nagy glanced up after hearing some more giggles in the room. His British accent only added to the hilarity."May I assume by this reaction that the use of 'hook up' pertains to the more recent, shall we say,carnal application of the term than the tamer one I grew up with?”More snickers ensued. Straightening up, I said boldly, "Yes, sir, Mr. Nagy. That would be correct, sir."A number of people in the class laughed outright."Thank you for that confirmation, Miss Hathaway. Now, where was I? Ah yes, the other speaker then asks,'How was it?' The response is,'Good,' punctuated with a smiley face to confirm said adjective. Well. I suppose kudos are in order for the mysterious J, hmmm?'So, like, how far did you guys go?' Uh, ladies," said Mr. Nagy, "I do hope this doesn't surpass a PG rating.'Not very.We got caught.'And again, we are shown the severity of the situation, this time through the use of a not-smiling face.'What happened?' 'Dimitri showed up. He threw Jesse out and then bitched me out.'“The class lost it, both from hearing Mr. Nagy say "bitched" and from finally getting some participants named."Why, Mr.Zeklos, are you the aforementioned J? The one who earned a smiley face from the sloppy writer?”

“And, finally, I noticed that a hot flush was spreading over me, and that the look in his eyes was doing more to me than Jesse's kisses had. Dimitri was quiet and distant sometimes, but he also had a dedication and an intensity that I'd never seen in any other person. I wondered how that kind of power and strength translated into…well, sex. I wondered what it'd be like for him to touch me and—shit!What was I thinking? Was I out of my mind? Embarrassed, I covered my feelings with attitude."You see something you like?" I asked."Get dressed.”

“Whoa, Dimitri," I said, tossing my bag on the floor. "I realize this is actually a current hit in Eastern Europe right now, but do you think we could maybe listen to something that wasn't recorded before I was born?”Only his eyes flicked toward me; the rest of his posture remained the same. "What does it matter to you? I'm the one who's going to be listening to it. You'll be outside running.”

“There’s a big difference between death threats and love letters–even if the person writing the death threats still claims to actually love you. Of course, considering I once tried to kill someone I loved, maybe I had no right to judge.”

“the choices we made today were templates for the future.”

“Fucking angels-Georgina Kincaid in each book”

“Well. Like I said, I dont want to fight anymore. I dont want us to hate each other. And ... well ... I squeezed my eyes shut and then opened them. No matter how I fee about us ... I want you to be happy”

“(Men without ambition are boring)And that attitude, mistress, is why the females of your kind continue to struggle for equality. And why they continue to fail.”

“He burst in the door like he'd expected to find us, and in that horrible moment, with him raging like a storm, I knew why Mason had called him a god.In the blink of an eye, he crossed the room and jerked Jesse up by his shirt, nearly holding the Moroi off the ground."What's your name?" barked Dimitri."J-Jesse, sir. Jesse Zeklos, sir.""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 me?"Jesse swallowed, eyes wide. None of the bravado he usually showed was there. I guess there was 'usually' and then there was being held in the grip of a really ripped, really tall, and really pissed-off Russian guy. "Yes, sir.""Then go." Dimitri released him, and, if possible, Jesse got out of there faster than Dimitri had burst in. My mentor then turned to me, a dangerous glint in his eyes.”

“I had a standing agreement with god. I'd agree to believe in him, barely, so long as he let me sleep in on Sundays.”

“To Thetis,Long overdue, I know, but every often the things we most desire come only after much patience and struggle. That is a human truth, I think. Even Peleus knew that.-Seth”

“Oh God," I groaned, "Seth Mortensen just said 'fucking' out loud. The end of times are near.”

“Love fades, mine has.~Dimitri Belikov~”

“Dimitri: "I also have a feeling your mother's going to have one ugly conversation with me."Rose: "You're about to go face down Strigoi, and my mother's the one you're scared of?"Dimitri: "She's a force to be reckoned with. Where do you think you got it from?"Rose: "It's a wonder you bother with me then."Dimitri: "You're worth it, believe me.”

“Naptime,ʺ said Christian, leading her toward the bed.ʺI still need a shower.ʺʺSleep first. Shower later.ʺ He pulled back the covers. ʺIʹll sleep with you.ʺʺSleep or sleep?ʺ she asked dryly, sliding gratefully into bed.ʺReal sleep. You need it.ʺ He crawled in beside her, spooning against her and resting his face on her shoulder. ʺOf course, afterward, if you want to conduct any official Council business...ʺʺI swear, if you say ‘Little Dragomirs,ʹ you can sleep in the hall.”

“We take what what we can get.”

“And then, being Rose Hathaway, I said something I really shouldn't have to the boy. "You should go punch him and find out."Jonathan's mother screamed again, but he was a fast little bastard, eluding her grasp. He ran up to Dimitri before anyone could stop him - well, I could have - and pounded his tiny fist against Dimitri's knee.Then, with the same reflexes that allowed him to dodge enemy attacks, Dimitri immediately feinted falling backward, as though Jonathan had knocked him over. Clutching his knee, Dimitri groaned as though he were in terrible pain.”

“I shot up,now as angry and frusterated as him.I had a feeling if i stayed, we'd both snap. In and undertone, I murmured,"this isnt over.i won't give up on you."" I've given up on you,"he said back,voice also soft. "Love fades. Mine has.”

“You’ll have your own superhero club before you know it. -Christian Ozera”