Richelle Mead - Vampire academy

"You so desperate to get some that you've got to drug girls now, Wade? " I asked.

He glanced up from where he'd been running his lips over the human girl's neck. "Why? Are you done with Greg and looking for more?"

I put my hands on my hips and hoped I looked fierce. The truth was,I was actually starting to feel a little nauseous from all I'd drunk. "Aren't enough drugs in the world to get me near you, " I told him. A few of his friends laughed. "But maybe you can go make out with that lamp over there. It seems to be out of it enough to make even you happy. You don't needher anymore. " A few other people laughed.

"This isn't any of your business, " he hissed. "She's just lunch. " Referring to feeders as meals was about the only thing worse than calling dhampirs blood whores.

"This isn't a feeding room. Nobody wants to see this."

«Yeah,» agreed a senior girl. "It's gross. " A few of her friends agreed.

Wade glared at all of us, me the hardest. "Fine. None of you have to see it. Come on. " He grabbed the feeder girl's arm and jerked her away. Clumsily, she stumbled along with him out of the room, making soft whimpering noises.

"Best I could do, " I told Lisa.

She stared at me, shocked. "He's just going to take her to his room. He'll do even worse things to her."

"Lis', I don't like it either, but it's not like I can go chase him down or anything. " I rubbed my forehead.

"I could go punch him or something, but I feel like I'm going to throw up as it is."

Her face grew dark, and she bit her lip. "He can't do that."

"I'm sorry."

I returned to the chair with Greg, feeling a little bad about what had happened. I didn't want to see the feeder get taken advantage of anymore than Lisa did-it reminded me too much of what a lot of Moroi guys thought they cold do to dhampir girls. But I also couldn't win this battle, not tonight.

Greg had shifted me around to get a better angle on my neck when I noticed Lisa was gone a few minutes later. Practically falling, I clambered off his lap and looked around. "Where's Lisa?"

He reached for me. "Probably the bathroom."

I couldn't feel a thing through the bond. The alcohol had numbed it. Stepping out into the hallway, I breathed a sigh of relief at escaping the loud music and voices. It was quiet out here-except for a crashing sound a couple rooms down. The door was ajar, and I pushed my way inside.

The feeder girl cowered in a corner, terrified. Lisa stood with arms crossed, her face angry and terrible.

She was staring at Wade intently, and he stared back, enchanted. He also held a baseball bat, and it looked like he'd used it already, because the room was trashed: bookshelves, the stereo, the mirror….

"Break the window too, " Lisa told him smoothly. "Come on. It doesn't matter."

Hypnotized, he walked over to the large, tinted window. I stared, my mouth nearly hitting the floor, as he pulled back and slammed the bat into the glass. It shattered, sending shards everywhere and letting in the early morning light it normally kept blocked out. He winced as it shone in his eyes, but he didn't move away.

«Lisa,» I exclaimed. "Stop it. Make him stop."

"He should have stopped earlier."

I barely recognized the look on her face. I'd never seen her so upset, and I'd certainly never seen her do anything like this. I knew what it was, of course. I knew right away.Compulsion. For all I knew, she was seconds away from having him turn the bat on himself.

"Please, Lisa. Don't do it anymore. Please."

Through the fuzzy, alcoholic buzz, I felt a trickle of her emotions. They were strong enough to practically knock me over.Black.Angry.Merciless.Startling feelings to be coming from sweet and steady Lisa. I'd known her since kindergarten, but in that moment, I barely knew her.

And I was afraid.

"Please, Lisa, " I repeated. "He's not worth it. Let him go."

She didn't look at me. Her stormy eyes were focused entirely on Wade. Slowly carefully, he lifted up the bat, tilting it so that it lined up with his own skull.

"Lis', " I begged. Oh God. I was going to have to tackle her or something to make her stop. "Don't do it."

"He should have stopped, " Lisa said evenly. The bat quit moving. It was now at exactly the right distance to gain momentum and strike. "He shouldn't have done that to her. People can't treat other people like that-even feeders."

"But you're scaring her, " I said softly. "Look at her."

Nothing happened at first,then Lisa let her gaze flick toward the feeder. The human girl still sat huddled in a corner, arms wrapped aroundherself protectively. Her blue eyes were enormous, and light reflected off her wet, tear-streaked face. She gave a choked, terrified sob.

Lisa's face stayed impassive. Inside her, I could feel the battle she was waging for control. Some part of her didn't want to hurt Wade, despite the blinding anger that otherwise filled her. Her face crumpled, and she squeezed her eyes shut. Her right hand reached out to her left wrist and clenched it, nails digging deep into the flesh. She flinched at the pain, but through the bond, I felt the shock of the pain distract her from Wade.

She let go of the compulsion, and he dropped the bat, suddenly looking confused. I let go of the breath I'd been holding. In the hallway, footsteps sounded. I'd left the door open, and the crash had attracted attention. A couple of dorm staff members burst into the room, freezing when they saw the destruction in front of them.

"What happened?"

The rest of us looked at each other. Wade looked completely lost. He stared at the room, at the bat, and then at Lisa and me. "I don't know…I can't… " He turned his full attention to me and suddenly grew angry. "What the-it was you! You wouldn't let the feeder thing go."

The dorm workers looked at me questioningly, and in a few seconds, I made up my mind.

You have to protect her. The more she uses it, the worse it'll get. Stop her, Rose. Stop her before they notice, before they notice and take her away too. Get her out of here.

I could see Ms. Karp's face in my mind, pleading frantically. I gave Wade a haughty look, knowing full well no one would question a confession I made or even suspect Lisa.

"Yeah, well, if you'd let her go, " I told him, "I wouldn't have had to do this."

Save her. Save her from herself.

After that night, I never drank again. I refused to let my guard down around Lisa. And two days later, while I was supposed to be suspended for "destruction of property, " I took Lisa and broke out of the Academy.

Back in Lisa's room, with Xander's arm around me and her angry and upset eyes on us, I didn't know if she'd do anything drastic again. But the situation reminded me too much of that one from two years ago, and I knew I had to defuse it.

"Just a little blood, " Xander was saying. "I won't take much. I just want to see what dhampir tastes like. Nobody here cares."

«Xander,» growled Lisa, "leave her alone."

I slipped out from under his arm and smiled, looking for a funny retort rather than one that might start a fight. "Come on, " I teased. "I had to hit the last guy who asked me that, and you're a hell of a lot prettier than Jesse. It'd be a waste."

«Pretty?» he asked. "I'm stunningly sexy but notpretty."

Carly laughed. "No, you're pretty. Todd told me you buy some kind of French hair gel."

Xander, distracted as so manydrunk people easily are, turned around to defend his honor, forgetting me.

The tension disappeared, and he took the teasing about his hair with a good attitude.

Across the room, Lisa met my eyes with relief. She smiled and gave me a small nod of thanks before she returned her attention to Aaron.

The next day, it fully hit me how much things had changed since the Jesse-and-Ralf rumors first started. For some people, I remained a nonstop source of whispers and laughter. From Lisa's converts, I received friendliness and occasional defense. Overall, I realized, our classmates actually gave me very little of their attention anymore. This became especially true when something new distracted everyone. Lisa and Aaron.