Richelle Mead

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.

(Rose)"Hey Mason, wipe the drool off your face. If you're going to think about me naked, do it on your own time." (Mason Ashford)"This is my time, Hathaway. I'm leading today's session." (Rose)"Oh yeah? Huh. Well, I guess this is a good time to think about me naked, then."(Eddie Castile)"It's always a good time to think about you naked."

Time for the lecture. It was a good one-one of Kirova's best, which was saying something.

I couldn’t be Mason’s girlfriend because when I imagined someone holding me and whispering dirty things in my ear, he had a Russian accent.

"You will lose what you value most, so treasure it while you can.”

I honestly couldn't believe he was still around. The guy was so freakin old, he should have retired. Or died.

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.

Good God, Men everywhere.

I set off, off to kill the man I loved.

“Even I make mistakes." I put on my brash, overconfident face. "I know it's hard to believe—kind of surprises me myself—but I guess it has to happen. It's probably some kind of karmic way to balance out the universe. Otherwise, it wouldn't be fair to have one person so full of awesomeness.”

“It's not about you, okay? This time, it's about me. Not you. All my life, Lissa... all my life, it's been the same. They come first. I've lived my life for you. I've trained to be your shadow, but you know what? I want to come first. I need to take care of myself for once. I'm tired of looking out for everyone else and having to put aside what I want. Dimitri and I did that, and look what happened. He's gone. I will never hold him again. Now I owe it to him to do this. I'm sorry if it hurts you, but it's my choice!”

“My name is Dimitri Belikov,” he said. I could hear a faint Russian accent. “I’ve come to take you back to St. Vladimir’s Academy, Princess.”