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Sixteen

LISSA FOUND ME LATER IN the day I’d fallen asleep after Mason left, too dejected to leave the bed Her sla of the door jolted me awake

I was happy to see her I needed to spill about the fus They were as troubled as mine So, as always, I put her first

"What happened?"

She sat on her bed, sinking into the feather duvet, her feelings both furious and sad "Christian"

"Really?" I’d never known theht They teased each other a lot, but it was hardly the kind of thing that could nearly bring her to tears

"He found out I ith Adrian this ht be a proble up, I walked over to the dresser and found ilt-frahappened! Christian’s freaking out over nothing I can’t believe he doesn’t trust ’s just weird, that’s all" I thought about Dimitri and Tasha "Jealousy s"

"But nothing happened," she repeated "I mean, you were there and- hey, I never found out What were you doing there?"

"Adrian sent iant box you were carrying?"

I nodded

"Whoa"

"Yeah I came to return it," I said "The question is, ere you doing there?"

"Just talking," she said She started to light up, on the verge of telling ht alet shoved back "I’ve got a lot to tell you, but first tell ’s up with me"

"Whatever, Rose I’m not psychic like you, but I knohen you’re pissed off about so You’ve been kind of down since Christet into what had happened on Christmas when my mom told me about Tasha and Di out why I had stopped- and si home how I had

"Well" she said when I finished "That was your right"

"I know But I kind of led hiuys can probably fix it, though Go talk to him He’s crazy about you"

It was s with Mason and me couldn’t be patched up so easily "I don’t know," I told her "Not everyone’s like you and Christian"

Her face darkened "Christian I still can’t believe he’s being so stupid about this"

I didn’t uys’ll kiss and make up in like a day More than kiss, probably"

It slipped out before I could stop it Her eyes widened "You know" She shook her head in exasperation "Of course you know"

"Sorry," I said I hadn’t , not until she told me herself

She eyed me "How much do you know?"

"Uwith the brush’s handle in order to avoid her eyes

"I have got to learn to keep you out of my mind," she muttered

"Only way I can ’talk’ to you lately" Another slipup

"What’s that supposed to iving me a sharp look "I I don’t know I just feel like we don’t talk as much anymore"

"Takes two to fix that," she said, voice kind again

"You’re right," I said, not pointing out that two could fix that only if one wasn’t alith her boyfriend True, I was guilty in s up- but I had wanted to talk to her a nuht- not even now "You know, I never thought you’d be first Or I guess I never thought I’d be a senior and still be a virgin"

"Yeah," she said dryly "Me either"

"Hey! What’s that supposed to ht of her watch Her so to Priscilla’s banquet Christian was supposed to go withan idiot" Her eyes focused hopefully on me

"What? No Please, Liss You kno I hate those fored "Christian flaked out You can’t throw me to the wolves And didn’t you just say we needed to talk uardian, you’ll have to do these things all the tiht I could maybe enjoy my last six months of freedo with her, as we’d both known she would

We didn’t have much time, and I had to do a rush shower, blow-dry, and ht Tasha’s dress on a whi attracted to Dirateful for her present now I pulled on the silken material, happy to see the shade of red was just as killer on , Asian-style dress with flowers e he toa lot of skin did My black eye was practically nonexistent by now

Lissa, as always, looked a She wore a deep purple dress by Johnna Raski, a well-known Moroi designer It was sleeveless and made of satin The tiny aainst her pale skin She wore her hair up in a loose, artfully styled bun

When we reached the banquet room, we drew a few eyes I don’t think the royals had expected the Dragohly anticipated, invitation-only dinner But hey, Lissa’s invite had said "and guest" She and I took our places at one of the tables with sonore nored

Besides, it wasn’t like there weren’t plenty of other distractions This rooht blue silk cloths covered the tables, so shiny and smooth that I was terrified to eat on the all over the walls, and a fireplace decorated with stained glass crackled away in one corner The effect was a spectacular panora to the eye In the corner, a slim Moroi woman played soft celloThe clinking of crystal wineglasses cos’ loeet notes

Dinner was equally a on ras here Saloat cheese Delicate almond-stuffed pastries for dessert My only complaint was that the portions were small The food seemed more like it was there to simply decorate the plates, and I swear, I finished it in ten bites Moroiwith their blood, but they didn’t need as irl- needed

Still, the food alone could have justifiedon this venture, I decided Except, when the meal ended, Lissa told le," she whispered

Mingle?

Lissa laughed at my discomfort "You’re the social one"

It was true In most circumstances, I was the one who put myself out there and wasn’t afraid to talk to people Lissa tended to be shyer Only, with this group, the tables were turned This was her element, not mine, and it amazed h society now She was perfect, polished and polite Everyone was eager to talk to her, and she always see compulsion, exactly, but she definitely put out an air that drew others to her I think it ht have been an unconscious effect of spirit Even with the h Whereas intense social interactions had once been forced and stressful for her, she now conducted them with ease I was proud of her Most of the conversation stayed pretty light: fashion, royal love lives, etc No one seeoi talk

So I clung to her side for the rest of the night I tried to tell myself it was just practice for the future, when I’d follow her around like a quiet shadoay The truth was, I just felt too uncoroup and knew my usual snarky defense mechanisms really weren’t useful here Plus, I was painfully aware that I was the only dhauest There were other dha on the periphery of the room

As Lissa worked the croe drifted over to a s louder One of theht that I’d helped break up, only this tilanced up at our approach, blatantly checked us out, but apparently didn’t reuly, Moroi protection was the topic He was the one who’d been in favor of Moroi going on the offensive against the Strigoi

"What part of ’suicide’ don’t you understand?" asked one of thenearby He had silvery hair and a bushy uy looked better in one "Moroi training as soldiers will be the end of our race"

"It’s not suicide," exclai to do We have to start looking out for ourselves Learning to fight and use our uardians"

"Yes, but with the guardians, we don’t need other assets," said Silver Hair "You’ve been listening to non-royals They don’t have any guardians of their own, so of course they’re scared But that’s no reason to drag us down and put our lives at risk"

"Then don’t," said Lissa suddenly Her voice was soft, but everyone in the little group stopped and looked at her "When you talk about Moroi learning how to fight, youht, then you shouldn’t have to I cohtly uardians A lot of Moroi can’t And if they want to learn self-defense, there’s no reason why they shouldn’t do it on their own"

The younger guy grinned triumphantly at his adversary "There, you see?"