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"You're a jerk," I informed him.
"Yeah. And you're a liar. I want to see you eat your pride."
"I've been eating my pride for two weeks," I growled.
Shrugging, he turned around and started to walk away.
"Wait!" I called, putting my hand on his shoulder. He stopped and looked back at me. "All right, all right. I lied about how she felt. She never said any of that stuff about you, okay? She likes you. I made it up because I don't like you."
"And yet you want me to talk to her."
When the next words left my lips, I could barely believe it. "I think...you might be...good for her."
We stared at each other for several heavy moments. His smirk dried up a little. Not much surprised him. This did.
"I'm sorry. I didn't hear you. Can you repeat that?" he finally asked.
I almost punched him in the face. "Will you stop it already? I want you to hang out with her again."
"No."
"Look, I told you, I lied - "
"It's not that. It's her. You think I can talk to her now? She's Princess Lissa again." Venom dripped off his words. "I can't go near her, not when she's surrounded by all those royals."
"You're royal too," I said, more to myself than him. I kept forgetting the Ozeras were one of the twelve families.
"Doesn't mean much in a family full of Strigoi, huh?"
"But you're not - wait. That's why she connects to you," I realized with a start.
"Because I'm going to become a Strigoi?" he asked snidely.
"No...because you lost your parents too. Both of you saw them die."
"She saw hers die. I saw mine murdered."
I flinched. "I know. I'm sorry, it must have been...well, I don't have any idea what it was like."
Those crystal-blue eyes went unfocused. "It was like seeing an army of Death invade my house."
"You mean...your parents?"
He shook his head. "The guardians who came to kill them. I mean, my parents were scary, yeah, but they still looked like my parents - a little paler, I guess. Some red in their eyes. But they walked and talked the same way. I didn't know anything was wrong with them, but my aunt did. She was watching me when they came for me."
"Were they going to convert you?" I'd forgotten my original mission here, too caught up in the story. "You were really little."
"I think they were going to keep me until I was older, then turn me. Aunt Tasha wouldn't let them take me. They tried to reason with her, convert her too, but when she wouldn't listen, they tried to take her by force. She fought them - got really messed up - and then the guardians showed up." His eyes drifted back to me. He smiled, but there was no happiness in it. "Like I said, an army of Death. I think you're crazy, Rose, but if you turn out like the rest of them, you're going to be able to do some serious damage one day. Even I won't mess with you."
I felt horrible. He'd had a miserable life, and I'd taken away one of the few good things in it. "Christian, I'm sorry for screwing things up between you and Lissa. It was stupid. She wanted to be with you. I think she still does now. If you could just - "
"I told you, I can't."
"I'm worried about her. She's into all this royal stuff because she thinks it's going to get back at Mia - she's doing it for me."
"And you aren't grateful?" The sarcasm returned.
"I'm worried. She can't handle playing all these catty political games. It isn't good for her, but she won't listen to me. I could...I could use help."
"She could use help. Hey, don't look so surprised - I know there's something funny going on with her. And I'm not even talking about the wrist thing."
I jumped. "Did she tell you?..." Why not? She'd told him everything else.
"She didn't need to," he said. "I've got eyes." I must have looked pathetic, because he sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Look, if I catch Lissa alone...I'll try to talk to her. But honestly...if you really want to help her...well, I know I'm supposed to be all anti-establishment, but you might get the best help talking to somebody else. Kirova. Your guardian guy. I don't know. Someone who knows something. Someone you trust."
"Lissa wouldn't like that." I considered. "Neither would I."
"Yeah, well, we all have to do things we don't like. That's life."
My snarky switch flipped on. "What are you, an after-school special?"
A ghostly smile flickered across his face. "If you weren't so psychotic, you'd be fun to hang around."
"Funny, I feel that way about you too."
He didn't say anything else, but the smile grew, and he walked away.
SEVENTEEN
A FEW DAYS LATER, LISSA found me outside the commons and delivered the most astonishing news.
"Uncle Victor's getting Natalie off campus this weekend to go shopping in Missoula. For the dance. They said I could come along."
I didn't say anything. She looked surprised at my silence.
"Isn't that cool?"
"For you, I guess. No malls or dances in my future."
She smiled excitedly. "He told Natalie she could bring two other people besides me. I convinced her to bring you and Camille."
I threw up my hands. "Well, thanks, but I'm not even supposed to go to the library after school. No one's going to let me go to Missoula."
"Uncle Victor thinks he can get Headmistress Kirova to let you go. Dimitri's trying too."
"Dimitri?"
"Yeah. He has to go with me if I leave campus." She grinned, taking my interest in Dimitri as interest in the mall. "They figured out my account finally - I got my allowance back. So we can buy other stuff along with dresses. And you know if they let you go to the mall, they'll have to let you go to the dance."
"Do we go to dances now?" I said. We never had before. School-sponsored social events? No way.
"Of course not. But you know there'll be all kinds of secret parties. We'll start at the dance and sneak off." She sighed happily. "Mia's so jealous she can barely stand it."
She went on about all the stores we'd go to, all the things we'd buy. I admit, I was kind of excited at the thought of getting some new clothes, but I doubted I'd actually get this mythical release.
"Oh hey," she said excitedly. "You should see these shoes Camille let me borrow. I never knew we wore the same size. Hang on." She opened her backpack and began rifling through it.
Suddenly, she screamed and threw it down. Books and shoes spilled out. So did a dead dove.
