several weeks have passed . . .

MyJobistoget youreadytodefendthe princessandfightdark creatures,right?

Yep.

Sotellmethis: YouandLissaareat themallandaStrigoi comesatyou.Whatdo youdo?

Depends whatstore werein.

Oh?Doyou haveasilver stake? Fine.illstabhim withasilverstake. Doyoueven knowhowto useone?

Okay. illcuthis headoff.

ignoringthefact thatyoudonthavea weaponandthathemay beafoottaller thanyou.

Fine.then isethimon fire.

Again,with what?

AAHHHH!

thIs guys a jerk. I gIve up.

So,Comrade, Whatdoido?

Yourun.

Thisis thestart, isntit?

Ofwhat?

Ofmebecominglike theotherfemaleguardians. Allleatheryandstufffrom thefightingandtraining.

Theyarent prettyanymore. Thislifedestroys them.

Itwont happentoyou. Youretoo...

...Itwont happento you.

Ithappenedto mymom.Sheusedto bebeautiful.Iguess shestillis,sortof. Ihaventseenher inawhile.

does he thInk Im pretty?

Youdontlike yourmother?

Sheabandonedme. Sheleftmetobe raisedbytheAcademy.

then It happens. terror explodes from my body and In my head.

Whats wrong?What happened?

it...it wasstill alivewhen igotback.

Poorthing.it musthavesuffered somuch...

I can feel everyones eyes on us.

Dont!

Getthis cleanedupand findoutifanyone sawanything.

Rose, thatone time... Whatif someonesaw? Whatifthey know? So,what wasitlike?

Idontknow.It wasntanything.

Didnt theearth moveor theplanets alignor something? Stopit. Thisisnt thesame thing.Do youhear me?

No.Of coursenot.

Comeon,lets headback.

Ladies.

ms.karp?!

YouthinkI wouldntnotice youskippingclass? Mustbethenice weather.

Whatis it?Isita crow?

Toobig. Itsaraven.

Isitdead?

Definitelydead. Donttouchit.

lIssa hadnt lIstened to me back then . . .

Comeon,we havetogetto class.

Wolves,likemanyother species,differentiatetheir packsintoalphamalesandalpha femaleswhomothersdeferto...

Whatabout foxes?Do theyhave alphas,too?

Admitit:Youkilled thefoxsoKirovawill thinkyourecrazy. ralfsarcozy.

Screw you.

chrIstIan ozera: fIre user.

he mIght really and truly be a psycho.

Mr.Ozera,how dareyou!Doyouhave anyidea?Reportto HeadmistressKirovas officenow!

Surething, Ms.Meissner.