Vampire Academy: The Ultimate Guide by Richelle Mead, Michelle Rowen Read Free Book Online Page B

clothes, you must be devastating at your peak.”
    “If by ‘devastating’ you mean that you should fear for your life, then yeah. You’re right.” I jerked open the door. “Good night, Adrian.”
    “I’ll see you soon.”
    “Not likely. I told you, I’m not into older guys.”
    I walked into the lodge. As the door closed, I just barely heard him call behind me, “Sure, you aren’t.”
    —page 142
     
     
    The next morning, Rose finds Lissa with Christian . . . and Tasha. So much for avoiding the woman determined to steal Dimitri from her.
    Tasha is teaching Christian how to use his fire magic as a weapon. This is totally forbidden among Moroi, and Rose—if she was feeling really spiteful—could get Tasha in serious trouble for this. However, she has to admit she agrees with Tasha’s unorthodox methods. A Moroi using their magic alongside their guardian to take down a Strigoi makes total sense. More weapons against the murderous monsters is a good thing, right?
    But just because she agrees doesn’t mean she likes Tasha. At all. Lissa—who still knows nothing about Rose’s feelings toward Dimitri—doesn’t understand why Rose is being such a bitch. Rose brushes it off as her being grumpy from lack of sleep.
    Mason meets up with them, and he’s also grouchy because he’s heard a rumor that Rose and Adrian got drunk together last night. Gee, wherever could that have come from? Looks like Mia, once again, is trying to make trouble for her.
    She assures him that nothing is going on with her and Adrian. She and Mason go skiing again so they can spend more time together . . . he insists his ankle is just fine. He does a great job too, although he’s not taking quite as many risks this time. Since Rose is upset and hurt by Dimitri and Tasha’s romance, at the end of their ski date, she decides to encourage Mason’s interest in her with a kiss. It’s pretty good . . . but it isn’t nearly as earth-shattering as the one she’d had with Dimitri. Still, it’s sweet and nice and could possibly turn into more between them.
    But instead of dreaming of Mason that night or even Dimitri—she dreams about Adrian . He notices something strange about her.
    “Why do you have so much darkness around you?”
    I frowned. “What?”
    “You’re surrounded in blackness.” His eyes studied me shrewdly, but not in a checking-me-out sort of way. “I’ve never seen anyone like you. Shadows everywhere. I never would have guessed it. Even while you’re standing here, the shadows keep growing.”
    I looked down at my hands but saw nothing out of the ordinary. I glanced back up. “I’m shadow-kissed . . .”
    “What’s that mean?”
    “I died once.” I’d never talked to anyone other than Lissa and Victor Dashkov about that, but this was a dream. It didn’t matter. “And I came back.”
    —pages 154–155
     
     
    Later, Rose learns that this is the kind of dream that definitely does matter.
    Rose is pulled out of the dream when Lissa shakes her awake to tell her some bad news. There’s been another Strigoi attack!
    Even though Rose isn’t thrilled with either of them right now, she knows she can get more information from Dimitri or her mother. In a makeshift guardian headquarters, located in her mother’s room, Rose learns more details about the attack, which was identical to the Badica massacre. This time, members of the Drozdov family and their guardians were killed in California, along with some of their staff—a list that Rose realizes with dismay includes Mia’s mother.
    Janine is incredibly levelheaded during this crisis and is leading the investigation with clearheaded authority. Rose might have problems with Janine, but seeing her mother work with such control in a time of chaos shows she’s a true leader and one to be admired.
    It is obvious that the threat of Strigoi attack is growing.The Moroi currently staying at the ski lodge hold a meeting in the large banquet hall to try to figure out what to