Rose loves Dimitri, Dimitri might love Tasha, and Mason would die to be with Rose… It’s winter break at St. Vladimir’s, but Rose is feeling anything but festive. A massive Strigoi attack has put the school on high alert, and now the Academy’s crawling with Guardians—including Rose’s hard-hitting mother, Janine Hathaway. And if handto- hand combat with her mom wasn’t bad enough, Rose’s tutor Dimitri has his eye on someone else, her friend Mason’s got a huge crush on her, and Rose keeps getting stuck in Lissa’s head while she’s making out with her boyfriend, Christian! The Strigoi are closing in, and the Academy’s not taking any risks….This year, St. Vlad’s annual holiday ski trip is mandatory.
But the glittering winter landscape and the posh Idaho resort only create the illusion of safety. When three friends run away in an offensive move against the deadly Strigoi, Rose must join forces with Christian to rescue them. But heroism rarely comes without a price…
Prologue
Things die. But they don't always stay dead.
Believe me, I know.
There’s a race of vampires on this earth who are literally the
walking dead. They’re called Strigoi, and if you’re not already
having nightmares about them, you should be. They’re strong,
they’re fast, and they kill without mercy or hesitation. They’re
immortal, too—which kind of makes them a bitch to destroy.
There are only three ways to do it: a silver stake through the
heart, decapitation, and setting them on fire. None of those is
easy to pull off, but it’s better than having no options at all.
There are also good vampires walking the world. They’re
called Moroi. They’re alive, and they possess the incredibly
cool power to wield magic in each of the four elements—
earth, air, water, and fire. (Well, most Moroi can do this—but
I’ll explain more about the exceptions later). They don’t really
use the magic for much anymore, which is kind of sad. It’d be
a great weapon, but the Moroi strongly believe magic should
only be used peacefully. It’s one of the biggest rules in their
society. Moroi are also usually tall and slim, and they can’t
handle a lot of sunlight. But they do have superhuman senses
that make up for it: sight, smell, and hearing.
Both kinds of vampires need blood. That’s what makes
them vampires, I guess. Moroi don’t kill to take it, however.
Instead, they keep humans around who willingly donate
small amounts. They volunteer because vampire bites contain
endorphins that feel really, really good and can become addictive.
I know this from personal experience. These humans are
called feeders and are essentially vampire-bite junkies.
Still, keeping feeders around is better than the way the
Strigoi do things, because, as you might expect, they kill for
their blood. I think they like it. If a Moroi kills a victim while
drinking, he or she will turn into a Strigoi. Some Moroi do this
by choice, giving up their magic and their morals for immortality.
Strigoi can also be created by force. If a Strigoi drinks
blood from a victim and then makes that person drink Strigoi
blood in return, well . . . you get a new Strigoi. This can happen
to anyone: Moroi, human, or . . . dhampir.
Dhampir.
That’s what I am. Dhampirs are half-human, half-Moroi. I
like to think we got the best traits of both races. I’m strong and
sturdy, like humans are. I can also go out in the sun as much as
I want. But, like the Moroi, I have really good senses and fast
reflexes. The result is that dhampirs make the ultimate bodyguards—
which is what most of us are. We’re called guardians.
I’ve spent my entire life training to protect Moroi from
Strigoi. I have a whole set of special classes and practices I
take at St. Vladimir’s Academy, a private school for Moroi
and dhampirs. I know how to use all sorts of weapons and
can land some pretty mean kicks. I’ve beaten up guys twice
my size—both in and out of class. And really, guys are pretty
much the only ones I beat up, since there are very few girls
in any of my classes.
Because while dhampirs inherit all sorts of great traits,
there’s one thing we didn’t get. Dhampirs can’t have children
with other dhampirs. Don’t ask me why. It’s not like I’m
a geneticist or anything. Humans and Moroi getting together
will always make more dhampirs; that’s where we came from
in the first place. But that doesn’t happen so much anymore;
Moroi tend to stay away from humans. Through another
weird genetic fluke, however, Moroi and dhampirs mixing
will create dhampir children. I know, I know: it’s crazy. You’d
think you’d get a baby that’s three-quarters vampire, right?
Nope. Half human, half Moroi.
Most of these dhampirs are born from Moroi men and
dhampir women getting together. Moroi women stick to
having Moroi babies. What this usually means is that Moroi
men have flings with dhampir women and then take off. This
leaves a lot of single dhampir mothers, and that’s why not as
many of them become guardians. They’d rather focus on raising
their children.
As a result, only the guys and a handful of girls are left to
become guardians. But those who choose to protect Moroi are
serious about their jobs. Dhampirs need Moroi to keep having
kids. We have to protect them. Plus, it’s just . . . well, it’s the
honorable thing to do. Strigoi are evil and unnatural. It isn’t
right for them to prey on the innocent. Dhampirs who train
to be guardians have this drilled into them from the time they
can walk. Strigoi are evil. Moroi must be protected. Guardians
believe this. I believe this.
And there’s one Moroi I want to protect more than anyone
in the world: my best friend, Lissa. She’s a Moroi princess.
The Moroi have twelve royal families, and she’s the only one
left in hers—the Dragomirs. But there’s something else that
makes Lissa special, aside from her being my best friend.
Remember when I said every Moroi wields one of the four
elements? Well, it turns out Lissa wields one no one even
knew existed until recently: spirit. For years, we thought
she just wasn’t going to develop her magical abilities. Then
strange things started happening around her. For example,
all vampires have an ability called compulsion that lets them
force their will on others. Strigoi have it really strongly. It’s
weaker in Moroi, and it’s also forbidden. Lissa, however, has
it almost as much as a Strigoi. She can bat her eyelashes, and
people will do what she wants.
But that’s not even the coolest thing she can do.
I said earlier that dead things don’t always stay dead. Well,
I’m one of them. Don’t worry—I’m not like the Strigoi. But I
did die once. (I don’t recommend it.) It happened when the car
I was riding in slid off the road. The accident killed me, Lissa’s
parents, and her brother. Yet, somewhere in the chaos—without
even realizing it—Lissa used spirit to bring me back. We
didn’t know about this for a long time. In fact, we didn’t even
know spirit existed at all.
Unfortunately, it turned out that one person did know about
spirit before we did. Victor Dashkov, a dying Moroi prince,
found out about Lissa’s powers and decided he wanted to lock
her up and make her his own personal healer—for the rest of
her life. When I realized someone was stalking her, I decided
to take matters into my own hands. I broke us out of school to
run off and live among humans. It was fun—but also kind of
nerve-wracking—to always be on the run. We got away with
this for two years until the authorities at St. Vladimir’s hunted
us down and dragged us back a few months ago.
That was when Victor made his real move, kidnapping her
and torturing her until she gave into his demands. In the process,
he took some pretty extreme measures—like zapping me
and Dimitri, my mentor, with a lust spell. (I’ll get to him later).
Victor also exploited the way spirit was starting to make Lissa
mentally unstable. But even that wasn’t as bad as what he did
to his own daughter Natalie. He went so far as to encourage
her to turn into a Strigoi to help cover his escape. She ended
up getting staked. Even when captured after the fact, Victor
didn’t seem to display too much guilt over what he’d asked
her to do. Makes me think I wasn’t missing out on growing
up without a father.
Still, I now have to protect Lissa from Strigoi and Moroi.
Only a few officials know about what she can do, but I’m
sure there are other Victors out there who would want to use
her. Fortunately, I have an extra weapon to help me guard
her. Somewhere during my healing in the car accident, spirit
forged a psychic bond between her and me. I can see and feel
what she experiences. (It only works one way, though. She
can’t “feel” me.) The bond helps me keep an eye on her and
know when she’s in trouble, although sometimes, it’s weird
having another person inside your head. We’re pretty sure
there are lots of other things spirit can do, but we don’t know
what they are yet.
In the meantime, I’m trying to be the best guardian I can
be. Running away put me behind in my training, so I have to
take extra classes to make up for lost time. There’s nothing in
the world I want more than to keep Lissa safe. Unfortunately,
I’ve got two things that complicate my training now and then.
One is that I sometimes act before I think. I’m getting better
at avoiding this, but when something sets me off, I tend to
punch first and then find out who I actually hit later. When
it comes to those I care about being in danger . . . well, rules
seem optional.
The other problem in my life is Dimitri. He’s the one who
killed Natalie, and he’s a total badass. He’s also pretty good-
looking. Okay—more than good-looking. He’s hot—like, the
kind of hot that makes you stop walking on the street and
get hit by traffic. But, like I said, he’s my instructor. And he’s
twenty-four. Both of those are reasons why I shouldn’t have
fallen for him. But, honestly, the most important reason is that
he and I will be Lissa’s guardians when she graduates. If he
and I are checking each other out, then that means we aren’t
looking out for her.
I haven’t had much luck in getting over him, and I’m pretty
sure he still feels the same about me. Part of what makes it so
difficult is that he and I got pretty hot and heavy when we
got hit with the lust spell. Victor had wanted to distract us
while he kidnapped Lissa, and it had worked. I’d been ready
to give up my virginity, and Dimitri had been ready to take it.
At the last minute, we broke the spell, but those memories are
always with me and make it kind of hard to focus on combat
moves sometimes.
By the way, my name’s Rose Hathaway. I’m seventeen
years old, training to protect and kill vampires, in love with
a completely unsuitable guy, and have a best friend whose
weird magic could drive her crazy.
Hey, no one said high school was easy.
