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mother's shoulder, and Olena made no effort to hide her own tears. Viktoria wasn't crying, but her face had gone perfectly still. She was working hard to keep her emotions in check, just as Dimitri would have. She searched my face, needing to know for sure.

"Dimitri is dead," she said.

It was a statement, not a question, but she was looking to me for confirmation. I wondered if I'd given away something, some hint that there was still more to the story. Or maybe she just needed the certainty of those words. And for a moment, I considered telling them that Dimitri was dead.

It was what the Academy would tell them, what the guardians would tell them. It would be easier on them... but somehow, I couldn't stand to lie to them-even if it was a comforting lie. Dimitri would have wanted the whole truth, and his family would too.

"No," I said, and for a heartbeat, hope sprang up in everyone's faces-at least until I spoke again. "Dimitri's a Strigoi."

Chapter Eight

The reactions were mixed among Dimitri's family members. Some cried. Some were stunned. And some-mainly Yeva and Viktoria-simply took it in and kept their emotions from their faces, just as Dimitri would have done. That upset me almost as much as the tears; it reminded me too much of him. Out of all of them, pregnant Sonya-who came home shortly after the news broke-had the most intense physical reaction. She ran sobbing to her room and wouldn't come out.

It didn't take long, however, for Yeva and Olena to spring into action. They spoke rapidly in Russian, clearly planning something. Phone calls were made, and Viktoria was dispatched to run an errand. No one seemed to need me, so I mostly wandered the house and tried to stay out of the way.

I found myself studying the shelves I'd seen earlier, running my hands along the leather-bound books. The titles were in Cyrillic, but it didn't matter.

Touching them and imagining Dimitri having held and read them somehow made me feel closer to him.

"Looking for a little light reading?" Sydney walked up and stood beside me. She hadn't been around earlier but had heard the news.

"Very light, seeing as I don't understand any of them," I replied. I gestured to the scurrying family members. "What's going on here?"

"They're planning Dimitri's funeral," Sydney explained. "Or, well, his memorial service."

I frowned. "But he's not dead-"

"Shh." She cut me off with a sharp gesture and glanced warily at the others as they hustled around. "Don't say that."

"But it's true," I hissed back.

She shook her head. "Not to them. Out here... out in these villages... there's no in-between state. You're alive or you're dead. They aren't going to acknowledge him being one of... those." She couldn't keep the disgust out of her voice. "For all intents and purposes, he is dead to them. They'll mourn him and move on. So should you." I didn't take offense at her blunt attitude because I knew she hadn't meant to give any. It was just her way.

The problem was, that in-between state was very real to me, and there was no way I could move on. Not yet.

"Rose..." began Sydney after several seconds of silence. She wouldn't meet my eyes. "I'm sorry."

"You mean, for Dimitri?"

"Yeah... I had no idea. I haven't really been that nice to you. I mean, I'm not going to act like I feel any better about hanging out with your kind, but you guys are still... well, not human, obviously. But... I don't know. You still have feelings; you still love and hurt. And while we were coming here, you had all this horrible news in you, and I didn't make it any easier for you. So I'm sorry for that. And I'm sorry for thinking the worst of you."

At first, I thought she was talking about thinking I was evil, but then I got it. She'd thought this whole time that I really was coming to be a blood whore and now believed delivering the news to Dimitri's family had been my only purpose. I didn't bother to correct her.

"Thanks, but you couldn't have known. And honestly, if I were in your place... I don't know. I'd probably act the same way."

"No," she said. "You wouldn't. You're always nice to people."

I gave her an incredulous look. "Have you been traveling with someone else these last few days? Back home, I've got a reputation for not always being so nice. I've got attitude, and I know