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SEVEN

WHEN THE FIRST WARNING for curfew cas up Adrian took off right away, but Lissa and Christian took their ti back to the dorether, whispering about soone inside Lissa’s head They were still outraged over the Victor news

I gave the while Eddie walked off to their side Since there were more Moroi than dhampirs on campus, the Moroi actually had two side-by-side dorms Lissa and Christian lived in different ones The two of thes where the path through the quad split They kissed goodbye, and I didthing Lissa called goodbye to me and then headed off to her dorm with Eddie I followed Christian to his

If I’d been guarding Adrian or someone like him, I would probably have had to put up with sexual jokes about us sleeping near each other for the next six weeks But Christian treated ht a sister He cleared a spot on the floor forhis teeth, I’d hts and climbed into his own bed

After several quiet moments, I asked, "Christian?"

"This is the time e sleep, Rose"

I yawned "Believe me, I want that too But I have a question"

"Is it about Victor? Because I need to sleep, and that’s just going to pisselse"

"Okay, shoot"

"Why didn’t you make fun ofto figure out if I ave uardianswell, never ured you’d be the first one with a snappy comment"

More silence fell, and I hoped he was thinking about his answer and not falling asleep

"There was no point in giving you a hard time," he said at last "I know you didn’t do it on purpose"

"Why not? Iyou - because I didn’t do it on purpose - but why are you so sure?"

"Because of our conversation in culinary science And because of the way you are I saw you in Spokane Anyone who did what you did to save uswell, you wouldn’t do so childish like this"

"Wow Thanks Iwell, that means a lot" Christian believed me when no one else did "You’re like the first person who actually believes I just messed up without any ulterior motives"

"Well," he said, "I don’t believe that either"

"Believe what? That I messed up? Why not?"

"Weren’t you just listening? I saw you in Spokane Soive hi Strigoi didn’t make me invincible, but he cut me off: "Plus, I saw your face out there"

"Out on the quad?"

"Yeah" Several more quiet moments passed "I don’t knohat happened, but the way you lookedthat wasn’t the look of soet back at a person It wasn’t the look of so out at Alto’s attack either It was so different I don’t know But you were co else - and honestly? Your expression? Kind of scary"

"Yetyou aren’t giving me a hard time over that either"

"Not h to take you over like that, then it must be serious But if push comes to shove, I feel safe with you, Rose I know you’d protect oi there" He yawned "Okay Now that I’ve bared o to bed? Maybe you don’t need beauty sleep, but some of us aren’t that lucky"

I let hiave into exhaustionday and was still short on rest froan to dreans of one of Adrian’s contrived drearoaned

I stood in a garden in the middle of summer The air was heavy and huolden waves Flowers of every color bloomed around me, and the air was heavy with the scent of lilacs and roses Bees and butterflies danced from blossom to blossom I wore jeans and a linen tank top My nazar, a sedly warded off evil, hung around my neck I also wore a beaded bracelet with a cross, called a chotki, on iven me I rarely wore jewelry in my daily duties, but it always showed up in these dreams

"Where are you?" I called "I know you’re here"

Adrian stepped around from behind an apple tree that was thick with pink and white flowers He wore jeans - soood and were undoubtedly a designer brand A dark green cotton T-shirt - also very siht out highlights of gold and chestnut in his brown hair

"I told you to stay out ofave me his lazy smile "But how else are we supposed to talk? You didn’t seem very friendly earlier"

"Maybe if you didn’t use compulsion on people, you’d have more friends"

"I had to save you from yourself Your aura was like a storm cloud"

"Okay, for once, can we please not talk about auras anddoom?"

The look in his eyes told o "Okay We can talk about other things"

"But I don’t want to talk at all! I want to sleep"

"You are sleeping" Adrian s vine that inding up a post It had orange and yelloers shaped like truers over one of the flowers’ edges "This was arden"

"Great," I said, ainst the apple tree It looked like we could be here for a while "Now I get to hear your family history"

"Hey she was a cool lady"

"I’o yet?"

His eyes were still on the vine’s blossoms "You shouldn’t knock Moroi fa about your father For all you knoe could be related"

"Would thatback over to h there’d been no interruption "Nah, don’t worry I think we couy anyway?"