“The training part," I guessed."Yup. You're going to be Dimitri's partner."A moment of funny silence fell, probably not noticeable to anyone except Dimitri and me. Our eyes met."Guarding partner," Dimitri clarified unnecessarily, like maybe he too had been thinking of other kinds of partners.”

“So I suggested to Dimitri that maybe he should let me off this time. He laughed, and I was pretty sure it was at me and not with me.Rose Hathaway: "Why is that funny?”Dimitri Belikov: "Oh, You were serious.”Rose Hathaway: "Of course I was! Look, I've technically been awake for two days. Why do we have to start this training now? Let me go to bed, It's just one hour.”Dimitri Belikov: "How do you feel right now? After the training you've done so far?”Rose Hathaway: "I hurt like hell.”Dimitri Belikov: "You'll feel worse tomorrow.”Rose Hathaway: "So?”Dimitri Belikov: "So, better to jump in now while you still feel…not as bad.”Rose Hathaway: "What kind of logic is that?”

“Dimitri: "You're beautiful in battle. Like an avenging angel come to deliver the justice of heaven."Rose: "Funny. That is kind of why I'm here."Dimitri: "Angels fall, Rose.”

“Dimitri must have grown tired of waiting for me. He leapt out, hand again going for my neck. And again I evaded, letting my shoulder take the brunt of the hit. This time he held on to my shoulder. He jerked me toward him, triumph flaring in those red eyes. In the sort of space we were in, this was probably all he needed to kill me. He had what he wanted.Apparently, though, he wasn't the only one who wanted me. Another Strigoi, maybe thinking he'd help Dimitri, pushed toward us and reached for me. Dimitri bared his fangs, giving the other Strigoi a look of pure hatred and fury."Mine!" Dimitri hissed.”

“Other people spoke, and I tried to keep up with the translations. All the stories were about Dimitri's kindness and strength of character. Even when not out battling the undead, Dimitri had always been there to help those who needed it. Almost everyone could recall sometime that Dimitri had stepped up to help others, going out of his way to do what was right, even in situations that could put him at risk. That was no surprise to me. Dimitri always did the right thing.And it was that attitude that had made me love him so much. I had a similar nature. I too rushed in when others needed me, sometimes when I shouldn't have. Others called me crazy for it, but Dimitri had understood. He'd always understood me, and part of what we'd worked on was how to temper that impulsive need to run into danger with reason and calculation. I had a feeling no one else in this world would ever understand me like he did.”

“I lost track of day and night too. My time was divided into Dimitri and not-Dimitri. He was my world. When he wasn't there, the moments were agony.”