Understanding grew and grew in his eyes as he marched in with long paces. While the emotion was there in his eyes, his expression was firm and unreadable. I backed away as he stalked towards me until my back hit Martin's desk and I was more than surprised when Drew suddenly pulled my top up and tugged the bandages away. I should've known that he would know about the mark."I knew it…" he murmured as he stared at the mark that was placed on my hip by the alchemists all those years ago.In my shock I let out some sort of a strangled scream and pushed against his chest whilst tugging my top down at the same time. My mind was in a flurry of incomprehensible thoughts and I had no idea what to do. Millions of things ran through my mind. Thoughts like I had to run away again or knock Drew out cold or wipe out his memories somehow flashed through my mind. The thoughts were endless and Drew just made everything worse by getting down on one knee and taking my hand gently in his. I watched with

"Valentine… are you alright?" he asked hesitantly."I've studied a little about them." I lied. I knew more than just a little. Hard not to know about them when Rosette was a Spirit user. "They can pretty much control everyone and anyone with a thing called compulsion, right?""All Moroi have compulsion but Spirit users have a special affinity with it amongst other things. You know Dr. Salvatore?""Yeah.""She's a Spirit user and she heals people really well just as Lady Drozdov can. Apparently Dr. Salvatore is the best healer around.""So… how many of these Spirit users are there? I mean, there doesn't seem to be that many around. Most Moroi in my year play around with elements.""If we're talking about your year, I think O'Connor is a Spirit user. Who else do you know well?""Moroi? Just Ozera, Dan, Jacks, Quinn and O'Connor. I haven't had time to get to know others just yet.""You will. It's only been two weeks after all so you have plenty of time. You already know about Dr. Salvato

When the car eventually pulled up to a large mansion, I was in total awe. Apart from the royal court, I couldn't recall seeing such a splendid looking house before. The architecture somewhat reminded me of an old English palace of some sort with its sparse grounds surrounding the main building.I lingered at the back of the group and stuck with Joe without making it seem obvious. He gave me a light pat on the back as reassurance and I gave him a subtle smile to show that I was okay."What are you and Crispin going to do?""We're going to be in the room right beside you with a few of the other guardians. Don't you worry, we're not going to be far." Joe assured me."You guys are going to eat dinner though, right?""Of course." Crispin told me bluntly.I didn't get the chance to say anything after that because the doors opened and once again I was thrown into a world of grandeur. Chandeliers decorated the vast ceiling, paintings and large photo portraits lined the walls, and various anti

Eventually, he spoke first to break the silence and I had certainly not expected him to say what he did."How are you feeling about what happened with Cooper?" he asked cautiously, as though expecting me to lash out and hit him.Under any other circumstances, I might actually have done. I had told him countless times to drop the subject after all. But I was too shocked to since I hadn't expected such a change of topic."Excuse me?" I gaped."How are you feeling? I doubt you've ever come so close to being bitten before.""Damn right. I tended to stay well away from Moroi while I was out there." I scoffed."Are you going to answer my question?"I sighed and stared solemnly at him. "You're not going to drop it, are you?""I'm just concerned. Am I not allowed to be?" His tone dropped to one of those ridiculously intense ones and I just sighed again. Knowing how stubborn he was, I knew that he wasn't going to drop the subject any time soon."Of course you're allowed to be concerned." I gri

I just stared at him, heart pounding.For a moment, I even forgot to breathe. But then my lungs started to burn from the lack of oxygen and I hastily turned away from him to gather my wits and took a deep breath. "It looks like they're finally about finished with the running." I commented as I stood up.It was a good thing that everyone was just about done. It gave me a good excuse to break away from those darn blue eyes of his that seemed to be able to see through anyone's heart. I wasn't used to having someone look at me like that and whenever he did I didn't know what to do. I just didn't have the mental defence against him. It was worse when he did it on purpose just to make me flustered."Everyone, pair up with someone you've never paired up with before." Joe commanded. "And you five are not allowed to pair up either," he added, gesturing at the royal quartet and me.The five of us glanced at one another and sighed. I looked around as people began to get into pairs and my eyes ca