“Hey, a guy can hope. I mean, it’s not impossible that acar full of scantily clad sorority girls might break downoutside and need my help.”“That’s true,” I said. “Maybe I can put a sign out front thatsays, ‘ATTENTION ALL GIRLS: FREE HELP HERE.’”“‘ATTENTION ALL HOT GIRLS,’” he corrected,straightening up.“Right,” I said, trying not to roll my eyes. “That’s animportant distinction.”He pointed at me with the pool stick. “Speaking of hot, Ilike that uniform.”This time, I did roll my eyes.”

“Oh," he said, knocking a red ball into a hole. "It's you.""You were expecting someone else?" I asked. "Am I interrupting your social calender?" I made a big show of glancing around the empty room. "I don't want to keep you from the mob of fans beating down your door.""Hey, a guy can hope. I mean, it's not impossible that a car full of scantily clad sorority girls might break down outside and need my help.”

“Come on, Hathaway," he said, taking my arm. "You can be my partner. Let’s see what you’ve been doing all this time."An hour later, he had his answer."Not practicing, huh?""Ow,” I groaned, momentarily incapable of normal speech.He extended a hand and helped me up from the mat he’d knocked me down on—about fifty times."I hate you,” I told him, rubbing a spot on my thigh that was going to have a wicked bruise tomorrow."You’d hate me more if I held back.""Yeah, that’s true," I agreed, staggering along as the class put the equipment back."You actually did okay.""What? I just had my ass handed to me.""Well, of course you did. It’s been two years. But hey, you’re still walking. That’s something." He grinned mockingly."Did I mention I hate you?”He flashed me another smile, which quickly faded to something more serious. "Don’t take this the wrong way…I mean, you really are a scrapper, but there’s no way you’ll be able to take your trials in the spring—""They’re making me take extra practice sessions," I explained. Not that it mattered. I planned on getting Lissa and me out of here before those practices really became an issue."Extra sessions with who?""That tall guy. Dimitri."Mason stopped walking and stared at me. "You’re putting in extra time with Belikov?""Yeah, so what?""So the man is a god.""Exaggerate much?" I asked."No, I’m serious. I mean, he’s all quiet and antisocial usually but when he fights...wow. If you think you’re hurting now, you’re going to be dead when he’s done with you."Great. Something else to improve my day.”

“His dark eyes were on the road ahead, thoughtful. “No. I was hoping to go back to Tucson and see if I could get this hot chick I know to go out with me. I hear she’s in demand, though. She keeps putting me off each time I try to plan something romantic.”“Yeah, well, maybe if you come up with a good itinerary, you could lure her out.”“I was thinking dinner at Joe’s.”I made a face. “If that’s the case, maybe you’d better brace yourself for rejection.”“Red Pepper Bistro?”“Okay. Now you’re in the zone.”“Followed by a long massage in the sauna.”“That’s pretty good too.”“And then indecent things in the sauna.”“I hope you mean you’ll be doing the indecent things—because I more than did my share last night.”Kiyo glanced over at me with a mischievous grin. “Who says I’m talking about you?”

“He has no right to threaten my boyfriends. I'm eighteen. An adult. I don't need his help. I can threaten my boyfriends myself.”

“That's pretty hot," he said."Punching me in the eye?""Well, no. Of course not. I meant the idea of getting rough with you is hot. I'm a big fan of full-contact sports.""I'm sure you are.”

“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.”