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One

I DIDN’T THINK MY DAY could get any worse until ain

"I what did you say?"

I stood in the lobby of her dor le of dark hair covering half my face I’d fallen asleep after school and had skipped using a hairbrush in order to make it out the door on time Lissa’s platinu over her shoulders like a bridal veil as she watched me with aht not be working as well anyhtened up and shook the hair out of my face "What does that mean?" I asked Around us, Moroi hurried past, on their way to o to dinner

"Have you started " I loweredyour powers back?"

She shook her head, and I saw a sret in her eyes "NoI feel closer to the ic, but I still can’t use it Mostly what I’ lately is a little of the other stuff, you knowI’ even close to what it used to be," she added hastily, seeing one on her pills, Lissa’s et so low that she cut herself "It’s just there a little s you used to get? Anxiety? Delusional thinking?"

Lissa laughed, not taking any of this as seriously as I was "You sound like you’ve been reading psychiatry textbooks"

I actually had been reading them "I’m just worried about you If you think the pills aren’t working anymore, we need to tell someone"

"No, no," she said hastily "I’just not quite as much I don’t think we should panic yet Especially you¡ªnot today, at least"

Her change in subject worked I’d found out an hour ago that I would be taking my Qualifier today It was an exauardians were required to pass during junior year at St Vladi Lissa last year, I’d uardian somewhere off-campus ould aduys

"Don’t worry about ets worse"

"Okay," I said reluctantly

Just to be safe, though, I opened h our psychic bond She had been telling the truth She was cal to worry about But, far back in her s It wasn’t consu, but it had the saet It was only a trickle, but I didn’t like it I didn’t want it there at all I tried pushing farther inside her to get a better feel for the e A sickening sort of feeling seized h"You look nauseous all of a sudden"

"Justnervous for the test," I lied Hesitantly, I reached out through the bond again The darkness had co with her pills after all "I’m fine"

She pointed at a clock "You won’t be if you don’t get ht I gave her a quick hug "See you later!"

"Good luck!" she called

I hurried off across ca beside a Honda Pilot How boring I supposed I couldn’t have expected us to navigate Montana mountain roads in a Porsche, but it would have been nice to have so his face "Sorry I’m late"

I remembered then that I had one of theup, and suddenly, I forgot all about Lissa and her pills possibly not working I wanted to protect her, but that wouldn’t h school and actually beco as gorgeous as ever Thelike soht Around us, snoas just beginning to fall I watched the light, crystalline flakes drift gently down Several landed and pro?" I asked

He shrugged "Just you and me"

My ht to "ecstatic" Me and Diht very well be worth a surprise test

"How far away is it?" Silently, I begged for it to be a really long drive Like, one that would take a week And would involve us staying overnight in luxury hotels Maybe we’d get stranded in a snowbank, and only body heat would keep us alive

"Five hours"

"Oh"

A bit less than I’d hoped for Still, five hours was better than nothing It didn’t rule out the snowbank possibility, either

The diate, but they proved no proble not to think about how Dimitri’s aftershave filled the car with a clean, sharp scent that made ain

It wasn’t the kind of thing you could study for You either passed it or you didn’t High-up guardians visited novices during their junior year andguardians I didn’t know exactly as asked, but ruuardians assessed character and dedication, and souardian path

"Don’t they usually come to the Academy?" I asked Dimitri "Ito the to a hiht Russian accent laced Dirown up Otherwise, I was pretty sure he spoke English better than I did "Since this is a special case and he’s doing us the favor, we’re the onesthe trip"

"Who is he?"

"Arthur Schoenberg"

I jerked aze from the road to Dimitri

"What?" I squeaked

Arthur Schoenberg was a legend He was one of the greatest Strigoi slayers in living guardian history and used to be the head of the Guardians Council¡ªthe group of people who assigned guardians to Moroi and made decisions for all of us He’d eventually retired and gone back to protecting one of the royal families, the Badicas Even retired, I kneas still lethal His exploits were part of my curriculum

"Wasn’t wasn’t there anyone else available?" I asked in a s a smile "You’ll be fine Besides, if Art approves of you, that’s a great recommendation to have on your record"

Art Diuardians around Of course, Dimitri was pretty badass himself, so I shouldn’t have been surprised

Silence fell in the car I bitif I’d be able to ood, but things like running away and getting into fights at school ht cast a shadow on how serious I was about my future career

"You’ll be fine," Dihs the bad"

It was like he could read my mind sometimes I smiled a little and dared to peek at hi, lean body, obvious even while sitting Bottoth brown hair tied back at his neck That hair felt like silk I knew because I’d run h it when Victor Dashkov had ensnared us with the lust charain and look away

"Thanks, Coach," I teased, snuggling back into the seat

"I’ht and relaxed¡ªrare for hihtly, ready for any attack Probably he figured he was safe inside a Honda¡ªor at least as safe as he could be aroundthe romantic tension between us

"You knoould really help?" I asked, nothis eyes

"Hmm?"

"If you turned off this crapthat came out after the Berlin Wall went down"