Not Much Could Have Distracted Me From

He Has No Right To Threaten My Boyfriends. I'm Eighteen. An Adult. I Don't Need His Help. I Can Threaten My Boyfriends Myself.

None Of It Seems Real. Who Knows? Maybe It Isn’t. Maybe It’s Actually Happening To Someone Else. Maybe It’s Something I Imagined. Maybe Soon I’m Going To Wake Up And Find Everything Fixed With Lissa And Dimitri. We’ll All Be Together, And He’ll Be There To Smile And Hold Me And Tell Me Everything ‘s Going To Be Okay. Maybe All Of This Really Has Been A Dream. But I Don’t Think So.

"well, You've Finally Got A License To Kill. It's About Time." I Turned And Met The Amused Eyes Of Christian Ozera, A Onetime Annoyance Who'd Become A Good Friend. So Good, In Fact, That In My Joyous Zeal, I Reached Out And Hugged Him - Something He Clearly Didn't Expect. I Was Surprising Everyone Today. "whoa, Whoa," He Said Backing Up, Flushing. "it Figures. You're The Only Girl Who'd Get All Emotional About The Thought Of Killing. I Don't Even Want To Think About What Goes On When You And Ivashkov Are Alone."

The Training Part," I Guessed. "yup. You're Going To Be Dimitri's Partner." A Moment Of Funny Silence Fell, Probably Not Noticeable To Anyone Except Dimitri And Me. Our Eyes Met. "guarding Partner," Dimitri Clarified Unnecessarily, Like Maybe He Too Had Been Thinking Of Other Kinds Of Partners.

You Aren't Afraid Of Throwing Yourself In The Path Of Danger, But You're Terrified Of Letting Anyone In.