And nearly ran right into her.

She didn't see me, though. Neither did the people standing with her: Aaron and that little doll girl. I stopped and listened, just catching the end of the conversation. The girl leaned toward Lisa, who seemed more stunned than anything else.

"It looks tome like it came from a garage sale. I thought a precious Dragomir would have standards.»

Scorn dripped off the wordDragomir.

Grabbing Doll Girl by the shoulder, I jerked her away. She was solight, she stumbled three feet and nearly fell.

"She does have standards, " I said, "which is why you're done talking to her.»

We didn't have the entire commons' attention this time, thank God, but a few passing people had stopped to stare.

"What the hell do you think you're doing? " asked Doll Girl, blue eyes wide and sparkling with fury. Up close now, I was able to get a better look at her. She had the same slim build as most Moroi but not the usual height, which was partly what made her look so young. The tiny purple dress she wore was gorgeous-reminding me that I was indeed dressed in thrift-shop wear-but closer inspection led me to think it was a designer knockoff.

I crossed my arms across my chest. "Are you lost, little girl? The elementary school's over on west campus."

A pink flush spread over her cheeks. "Don't you ever touch meagain. You screw with me, and I'll screw you right back."

Oh man, what an opening that was. Only a head shake from Lisa stopped me from unleashing any number of hilarious comebacks. Instead, I opted for simple brute force, so to speak.

"And if you mess with either of us again, I'll break you in half. If you don't believe me, go ask Dawn Yarrow about what I did to her arm in ninth grade. You were probably at nap time when it happened."

The incident with Dawn hadn't been one of my finer moments. I honestly hadn't expected to break any bones when I shoved her into a tree. Still, the incident had given me a dangerous reputation, in addition to my smartass one. The story had gained legendary status, and I liked to imagine that it was still being told around campfires late at night. Judging from the look on this girl's face, it was.

One of the patrolling staff members strolled by right then, casting suspicious eyes at our little meeting.

Doll Girl backed off, taking Aaron's arm. "Come on, " she said.

"Hey, Aaron, " I said cheerfully, remembering he was there. "Nice to see you again."

He gave me a quick nod and an uneasy smile, just as the girl dragged him off.Same old Aaron. He might be nice and cute, but aggressive he was not.

I turned to Lisa. "You okay? " She nodded. "Any idea who I just threatened to beat up?"

"Not a clue. " I started to lead her toward the lunch line, but she shook her head at me. "Gotta go see the feeders."

A funny feeling settled over me. I'd gotten so used to being her primary blood source that the thought of returning to the Moroi's normal routine seemed strange. In fact, it almost bothered me. It shouldn't have.

Daily feedings were part of a Moroi's life, something I hadn't been able to offer her while living on our own. It had been an inconvenient situation, one that left me weak on feeding days and her weak on the days in between. I should have been happy she would get some normality.

I forced a smile. "Sure."

We walked into the feeding room, which sat adjacent to the cafeteria. It was set up with small cubicles, dividing the room's space in an effort to offer privacy. A dark-haired Moroi woman greeted us at the entrance and glanced down at her clipboard, flipping through the pages. Finding what she needed, she made a few notes and then gestured for Lisa to follow. Me she gave a puzzled look, but she didn't stop me from entering.

She led us to one of the cubicles where a plump, middle-aged woman sat leafing through a magazine.

She looked up at our approach and smiled. In her eyes, I could see the dreamy, glazed-over look most feeders had. She'd probably neared her quota for the day, judging from how high she appeared to be.

Recognizing Lisa, her smile grew. "Welcome back, Princess."

The greeter left us, and Lisa sat down in the chair beside the woman. I sensed a feeling of discomfort in her, a little different from my own. This was weird for her too; it had been a long time. The feeder, however, had no such reservations. An eager look crossed her face-the look of a junkie about to get her next fix.

Disgust poured into me. It was an old instinct, one that had been drilled in over the years. Feeders were essential to Moroi life. They were humans who willingly volunteered to be a regular blood source, humans from the fringes of society who gave their lives over to the secret world of the Moroi. They were well cared for and given all the comforts they could need. But at the heart of it, they were drug users, addicts to Moroi saliva and the rush it offered with each bite. The Moroi-and guardians-looked down on this dependency, even though the Moroi couldn't have survived otherwise unless they took victims by force.Hypocrisy at its finest.

The feeder tilted her head, giving Lisa full access to her neck. Her skin there was marked with scars from years of daily bites. The infrequent feedings Lisa and I had done had kept my neck clear; my bite marks never lasted more than a day or so.

Lisa leaned forward, fangs biting into the feeder's yielding flesh. The woman closed her eyes, making a soft sound of pleasure. I swallowed, watching Lisa drink. I couldn't see any blood, but I could imagine it. A surge of emotion grew in my chest: longing.Jealousy. I averted my eyes, staring at the floor.

Mentally, I scolded myself.

What's wrong with you? Why should you miss it? You only did it once every day. You aren't addicted, not like this. And you don't want to be.

But I couldn't help myself, couldn't help the way I felt as I recalled the bLis' and rush of a vampire's bite. Lisa finished and we returned to the commons, moving toward the lunch line. It was short, since we only had fifteen minutes left, and I strolled up and began to load my plate withfrench fries and some rounded, bite-size objects that looked vaguely like chicken nuggets. Lisa only grabbed a yogurt. Moroi needed food, as dhampirs and humans did, but rarely had an appetite after drinking blood.

"So how'd classes go? " I asked.

She shrugged. Her face was bright with color and life now. "Okay.Lots of stares.Alot of stares.Lots of questions about where we were.Whispering."

"Same here, " I said. The attendant checked us out, and we walked toward the tables. I gave Lisa a sidelong glance. "You okay with that? They aren't bothering you, are they?"

"No-it's fine. " The emotions coming through the bond contradicted her words. Knowing I could feel that, she tried to change the subject by handing me her class schedule. I looked it over.

1stPeriod Russian 2

2ndPeriod American Colonial Literature

3rdPeriod Basics of Elemental Control

4thPeriod Ancient Poetry

— Lunch -

5thPeriod Animal Behavior and Physiology

6thPeriod Advanced Calculus

7thPeriod Moroi Culture 4

8thPeriod Slavic Art

«Nerd,» I said. "If you were in Stupid Math like me, we'd have the same afternoon schedule. " I stopped walking. "Why are you in elemental basics? That's a sophomore class."

She eyed me. "Because seniors take specialized classes."

We fell silent at that. All Moroi wielded elemental magic. It was one of the things that differentiated living vampires from Strigoi, the dead vampires. Moroi viewed magic as a gift. It was part of their souls and connected them to the world.

A long time ago, they had used their magic openly averting natural disasters and helping with things like food and water production. They didn't need to do that as much anymore, but the magic was still in their blood. It burned in them and made themwant to reach out to the earth and wield their power. Academies like this existed to help Moroi control the magic and learn how to do increasingly complex things with it.