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FOUR
I COULDN'T BELIEVE IT. JANINE Hathaway. My mother. My insanely famous and
stunningly absent mother. She was no Arthur Schoenberg, but she did have a pretty stellar
reputation in the guardian world. I hadn't seen her in years because she was always off on same
insane mission. And yet…here she was at the Academy right now—right in front of me—and
she hadn't even bothered to let me know she was coming. So much for motherly love.
What the hell was she doing here anyway? The answer came quickly. All the Moroi who came
to campus would have their guardians in tow. My mother protected a noble from the Szelsky
clan, and several members of that family had shown up for the holidays. Of course she'd be
here with him.
I slid into my chair and felt something inside of me shrivel up. I knew she had to have seen me
come in, but her attention was focused elsewhere. She had on jeans and a beige T-shirt, covered
with what had to be the most boring denim jacket I'd ever seen. At only five feet tall, she was
dwarfed by the other guardians, but she had a presence and way of standing that made her seem
taller.
Our instructor, Stan, introduced the guests and explained that they were going to share real-life
experiences with us.
He paced the front of the room, bushy eyebrows knitting together as he spoke. "I know this is
unusual," he explained. "Visiting guardians usually don't have time to stop by our classes. Our
three guests, however, have made time to come talk to you today in light of what's happened
recently…" He paused a moment, and no one needed to tell us what he was referring to. The
Badica attack. He cleared his throat and tried again. "In light of what's happened, we thought it
might better prepare you to learn from those currently working in the field."
The class tensed with excitement. Hearing stories—particularly ones with a lot of blood and
action—was a hell of a lot more interesting than analyzing theory from a textbook. Apparently