“Dimitri is dead," she said. It was a statement, not a question, but she was looking to me for confirmation. I wondered if I'd given away something, some hint that there was still more to the story. Or maybe she just needed the certainty of those words. And for a moment, I considered telling them that Dimitri was dead. It was what the Academy would tell them, what the guardians would tell them. It would be easier on them...but somehow, I couldn't stand to lie to them—even if it was a comforting lie. Dimitri would have wanted the whole truth, and his family would too. "No," I said, and for a heartbeat, hope sprang up in everyone's faces—at least until I spoke again. "Dimitri's a Strigoi.”

“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.”

“Do you think that's, like, REAL bacon?" I whispered to Sydney and Dimitri. "And not like squirrel or something?""Looks real to me," said Dimitri."I'd say so too", said Sydney "Though, I guarantee it's from their own pigs and not a grocery store."Dimitri laughed at whatever expression crossed my face. "I always love seeing what worries you. Strigoi? No. Questionable food? Yes.”

“Rose Hathaway: "Was he right?”Dimitri Belikov: "Who?”Rose Hathaway: "Victor…he said it couldn't have worked. The necklace.”Dimitri Belikov: "What do you mean?”Rose Hathaway: "The spell. Victor said you had to want me…to care about me…for it to work. Did you? Did you want me?”Dimitri Belikov: "Yes, Roza. I did want you. I still do. I wish…we could be together.”(Vampire Academy)”

“Dimitri: "you and I will both be Lissa's guardians someday. I need to protect her at all costs. If a pack of Strigoi come, I need to throw my body between them and her.”Rose: "I know that. Of course that's what you have to do."Dimitri: "No. If I let myself love you, I won't throw myself in front of her. I'll throw myself in front of you.”

“But the humans weren't what made my steps falter as I walked through grass that had turned bright green with summer's touch. It was Dimitri. Always Dimitri. Dimitri, the man I loved. Dimitri, the Strigoi I wanted to save. Dimitri, the monster I'd most likely have to kill. The love we'd shared always burned within me, no matter how often I told myself to move on, no matter how much the world did think I'd move on. He was always with me, always on my mind, always making me question myself.”