Lissa and I had been best friends ever since kindergarden, when our teacher had paired us together for writing lessons. Forcing five-year-olds to spell "Vasilisa Dragomir" and "Rosemarie Hathaway" was beyond cruel and we'd -or rather, I'd- responded appropriately. I'd chucked my book at our teacher and called her a fascist bastard. I hadn't known what those words meant, but I'd known how to hit a moving target.

The door opened, and it was
like an apparition materializing before me, some sort of heavenly messenger descended from above.
I’d never been away from her for this long, and after all this time, part of me wondered if I was
imagining this.
Her hand went to her mouth, and she stared at me wide-eyed. I think she felt the same way-and she
hadn’t even had warning of my visit. She’d just been told I was coming “soon.” No doubt I seemed
like a phantom to her, too.
And with that reunion… it was like I was emerging from a cave-one I’d been in for almost five
weeks-into the bright light of day. When Dimitri had turned, I’d felt like I’d lost part of my soul. When
I’d left Lissa, another piece had gone. Now, seeing her… I began to think maybe my soul might be
able to heal. Maybe I could go on after all. I didn’t feel 100 percent whole yet, but her presence filled
up that missing part of me. I felt more like myself than I had in ages.
A world of questions and confusion hung in the silence between us. In spite of everything we’d been
through with Avery, there was still a lot of unresolved business from when I had first left the school.
For the first time since I’d set foot on the Academy’s grounds, I felt afraid. Afraid that Lissa would
reject me or scream at me for what I’d done.
Instead, she drew me into a giant hug. “I knew it,” she said. She was already choking on her sobs. “I
knew you’d come back.

Another power I don't have," said Lissa ruefully.
I grinned. "Hey, I have yet to meet any spirit user who can throw a punch like you can. That was poetry in motion, Liss." She groaned.

Janine Hathaway offered to be my guardian, " said Lissa suddenly.
"Janine Hathaway?" Tatiana's eyebrows rose nearly to her hairline. "I'm sure she has other commitments. No, we've got much better choices."
A better choice than Janine Hathaway? Not likely. Before Dimitri, my mother had been the gold standard by which I measured all badassedness.

We sat like that for a long time, until a discrete knock at the half-open door broke us apart. Lissa stood in the doorway.
"Sorry," she said, her face shining with joy when she saw me. "Should have put a sock on the door. Didn't realize that things were getting hot and heavy."
"No avoiding it," I said lightly, clasping Dimitri's hand. "Things are always hot with him around."
Dimitri looked scandalized. He'd never held back when we were in bed together, but his private nature wouldn't let him even hint about such matters and others. It was mean, but I laughed and kissed his cheek.
"Oh, this is going to be fun," I said. "Now that everything's out in the open."
"Yeah," he said. "I got a pretty 'fun' look from your father the other day.

I needed to protect her from this - and from herself.