AND ONE OF THEM. . . ONE OF THEM . . .

“No,” I breathed, even as I sprang toward the one closest to me—a woman. There appeared to be three Strigoi around us.

Eddie was in motion too, and both of us were trying to shove the Moroi behind us. They didn’t need much urging. At the sight of Strigoi, the Moroi had begun to back up—creating sort of a bottleneck. Between Eddie’s instant reflexes and the Moroi panic, I was pretty sure no one had noticed what I already had spotted.

Dimitri was among them.

No, no, no, I said, this time to myself. He’d warned me. Over...