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Fifteen

I WAS TRYING TO PAINT od-awful hangover- when I heard a knock at the door Lissa had been gone when I woke up, so I staggered across the roo up the door, I saw one of the hotel staff standing outside with a large box in both arhtly so that he could peer around and look atfor Rose Hathaway"

"That’sbut not all that heavy With a quick thank-you, I shut the door, wondering if I should have tipped him Oh well

I sat on the floor with the box It had notape I found a pen and stabbed at the tape Once I’d hacked off enough, I opened the box and peered inside

It was filled with perfume

There had to be at least thirty little bottles of perfume packed into the box Soed from crazy expensive, stores Eternity Angel Vanilla Fields Jade Blossom Michael Kors Poison Hypnotic Poison Pure Poison Happy Light Blue J?van Musk Pink Sugar Vera Wang One by one, I picked up the boxes, read the descriptions, and then pulled out the bottles for a sniff

I was about halfway through when reality hit These had to be froed to get all of these delivered to the hotel in such a short a happen Still, I didn’t need the attention of a rich, spoiled Moroi; apparently he hadn’t picked up on retfully, I started to place the perfumes back in the box- then stopped Of course I’d return the the rest before I did

Onceout bottle after bottle Some I just sniffed the cap of; others I sprayed in the air Serendipity Dolce & Gabbana Shalimar Daisy Note after note hit e, vanilla, orchid

By the time I was finished, ned for humans They had a weaker sense of smell than va I had a new appreciation for what Adrian hadnecessary If all these bottles were ine what a Moroi would s the headache I’d woken up with either

I packed up the perfu only when I ca the little box in my hand Then, I took the red bottle out and re-sniffed it It was a crisp, sweet fragrance There was soary fruit I racked irl I knew in my dorm She’d told me the name It was like a cherrybut sharper Currant, that’s what it was And here it was in this perfume, mixed with some florals: lily of the valley and others I couldn’t identify Whatever the blend, so about it appealed tofor the na how many love problems I seemed to have lately But I kept the perfu the box up in my ar tape to reseal it I also got directions to Adrian’s roo It wasn’t too far froirl, I walked down the hall and stopped in front of his door Before I could e to knock, it opened up, and Adrian stood before me He looked as surprised as I felt

"Little dhampir," he said cordially "Didn’t expect to see you here"

"I’ these" I hoisted the box toward hi a bit in surprise Once he had a good grip, he took a few steps back and set it on the floor

"Didn’t you like any of theet you soifts"

"It isn’t a gift It’s a public service What woain," I said firmly

Suddenly, a voice behind him asked, "Rose? Is that you?"

I peered beyond hi here?"

Between my headache and what I had assumed was some interlude with Christian, I’d blocked her out as best I could thisNormally I would have known the instant I approached that she was inside the roo her shock run into me She hadn’t expectedhere?" she asked

"Ladies, ladies," he said teasingly "No need to fight over lared "We’re not I just want to knohat’s going on here"

A breath of aftershave hit me, and then I heard a voice behindaround, I saw Di in the Ivashkov wing

On his way to Tasha’s rooested

Diet into all sorts of trouble, but I think seeing Lissa there caught hiuard He stepped pastbetween the three of us

"Male and female students aren’t supposed to be in each other’s roo out that Adrian wasn’t technically a student wasn’t going to get us out of trouble here We weren’t supposed to be in any guy’s roo this?" I asked Adrian, frustrated

"Do what?"

"Keep uys are the ones who came here"

"You shouldn’t have let them in," scolded Dimitri "I’m sure you know the rules at St Vladied "Yeah, but I don’t have to follow any school’s stupid rules"

"Perhaps not," said Diht you’d still respect those rules"

Adrian rolled his eyes "I’irls"

I saw the anger kindle in Diht have seen the loss of control I’d teased him about But he stayed cory he was

"Besides," continued Adrian, "nothing sordid was going on We were just hanging out"

"If you want to ’hang out’ with young girls, do it at one of the public areas"

I didn’t really like Diirls,’ and I kind of felt like he was overreacting here I also suspected part of his reaction had to do with the fact that I was here

Adrian laughed just then, a weird kind of laugh thatand old at the sa in life, yet they’ve already seen too much One’s marked with life, and one’s marked with deathbut they’re the ones you’re worried about? Worry about yourself, dhampir Worry about you, and worry about "

The rest of us just sort of stared I don’t think anyone had expected Adrian to suddenly take an abrupt trip to Crazyville

Adrian was calain He turned away and strolled toward the , glancing casually back at the rest of us as he pulled out his cigarettes

"You ladies should probably go He’s right I aed looks with Lissa Hurriedly, we both left and followed Dimitri down the hall toward the lobby

"That wasstrange," I said a couple ofthe obvious, but, well, someone had to

"Very," said Diry so much as puzzled

When we reached the lobby, I started to follow Lissa back toward our room, but Dimitri called to me

"Rose," he said "Can I talk to you?"

I felt a sy from Lissa I turned toward Dimitri and stepped off to the side of the rooh A party of Moroi in diamonds and fur swept past us, anxious looks on their faces Bellhops folloith luggage People were still leaving in search of safer places The Strigoi paranoia was far from over

Dimitri’s voice snapped my attention back to him "That’s Adrian Ivashkov" He said the name the same way everyone else did

"Yeah, I know"

"This is the second time I’ve seen you with hi out sometimes"

Dimitri arched an eyebrow, then jerked his head back tohere we’d co out in his room a lot?"

Several retorts popped into olden one took precedence "What happens between hied a tone very si a similar co as you’re at the Academy, what you do is my business"

"Not my personal life You don’t have any say in that"

"You’re not an adult yet"

"I’ically becohteenth birthday"

"Clearly," he said

I blushed "That’s not what I meant I meant- "

"I knohat you ht now You’re an Academy student I’m your instructor It’sin the bedroom of someone like himwell, that’s not safe"

"I can handle Adrian Ivashkov," I muttered "He’s weird- really weird, apparently- but harmless"

I secretly wondered if Diht be that he was jealous He hadn’t pulled Lissa aside to yell at her The thought htly happy, but then I remembered my earlier curiosity about why Di of personal livesI suppose you were off visiting Tasha, huh?"

I kneas petty, and I expected a "none of your business" response Instead he replied, "Actually, I was visiting yourto hook up with her too?" I knew of course that he wasn’t, but the quip seeood to pass up

He seelance "No, ere looking over sooi in the Drozdov attack"

My anger and snarkiness dried up The Drozdovs The Badicas Suddenly, everything that had happened thissee with Di when he and the other guardians were trying to protect us?

"What’d you find out?" I asked quietly

"We’ve oi," he said "Or at least the humans with them There itnesses who lived nearby who spotted a few of the cars the group used The plates were all froroup appears to have split up, probably to make it harder for us But one of the witnesses did catch one plate nuistered to an address in Spokane"

"Spokane?" I asked incredulously "Spokane, Washington? Who makes Spokane their hideout?" I’d been there once It was about as boring as every other backwoods northwest city

"Strigoi, apparently," he said, deadpan "The address was fake, but other evidence shows they really are there There’s a kind of shopping plaza that has sos around that area"

"Then " I frowned "Are you going to go after the to? IIf we knohere they are "

He shook his head "The guardians can’t do anything without per to happen anytihed "Because the Moroi talk toocautious," he said

I felt ain "Come on Even you can’t want to be careful on this one You actually knohere Strigoi are hiding out Strigoi who o after them when they don’t expect it?" I sounded like Mason now

"It’s not that easy," he said "We answer to the Guardian Council and the Moroi government We can’t just run off and act on i yet You should never walk into any situation without knowing all the details"

"Zen life lessons again," I sighed I ran a hand throughit behind uardian stuff Not the kind of thing you let novices in on"

He considered his words, and his expression softened He always looked a, but I liked histhe other day and todaythat I shouldn’t have Things that insulted your age You’re seventeenbut you’re capable of handling and processing the sas those ht and fluttery "Really?"