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quiz answers, see p.298.
     

CHAPTER 2
     
    Frostbite
     
    RICHELLE ON FROSTBITE
     
    Starting Frostbite was a little rough. I knew what the running plotlines were going to be, but establishing them was tricky. The writing of this book was also taking place in a tumultuous time in my own life, which made it even more difficult to just really focus and get out the words I wanted. I think I rewrote the beginning of Frostbite about three times! What’s surprising to a lot of people is that, despite the beginning difficulties, the book’s ending was pretty much set in stone. I wrote it in one energetic burst, and it was good to go. I’d known from the day I started writing the first VA book what the path of the series would be, and this ending—as harsh as it was—was essential both for the story and Rose’s growth. Terrible, traumatic endings would eventually become a normal thing for me in all of my series, but this was the very first one I ever wrote. Again, knowing it was needed for the series, I didn’t feel a lot of guilt over what happened, but I was a little amazed in looking back at it that I had actually created something so heart-wrenching.
     
    First line: I didn’t think my day could get any worse until my best friend told me she might be going crazy. Again.

SCENE OF THE CRIME
     
    Rose definitely has her hands full at the moment.
    First, Lissa confides in Rose that her darkness is returning, despite the depression meds she’s on that cut her off from using spirit, including her ability to heal others.
    Second, Rose is off to take her Qualifier, which is an important interview to determine her commitment to being a guardian. It’s nerve-racking, but there’s one very bright side about the test . . . and that’s who’s going with her.
    Dimitri stood there, looking as gorgeous as ever. The massive, brick building cast long shadows over us, looming like some great beast in the dusky predawn light. Around us, snow was just beginning to fall. I watched the light, crystalline flakes drift gently down. Several landed and promptly melted in his dark hair.
    “Who else is going?” I asked.
    He shrugged. “Just you and me.”
    My mood promptly shot up past “cheerful ” and went straight to “ecstatic.” Me and Dimitri. Alone. In a car. This might very well be worth a surprise test.
    —page 11
     
     
    However, when they arrive at the test location, something is horribly wrong. A royal Moroi family, the Badicas—and their dhampir guardians—have been slaughtered by Strigoi.
    Dimitri tells Rose to wait in the car while he goes inside to investigate. Never one to follow orders, Rose finds a silver stake buried in the ground and heads into the house to see the victims for herself, horrified by the bloody massacre. When she finds Dimitri, he’s angry she didn’t stay safely outside, but he questions her about where she found the stake. Strigoi can’t touch the charmed silver—but its magic would be enough to breach the protective wards around the house that are placed there to keep Strigoi out. Dimitri surmises that humans could have helped the Strigoi by planting the stake and allowing Strigoi access to commit the murders. Rose can’t believe a human would help a Strigoi to do something this horrible . . . would they?
    After Dimitri calls in a group of guardians to investigate the murder scene, Rose catches a glimpse of something horribly disturbing as they continue to survey the house. The Strigoi have left a warning on a mirror—
    And it’s written in blood.
    It’s a message that Moroi royal families are targets and the Badica family is only the first. Rose is enraged. And now, she’s even more afraid for Lissa—the last of the Dragomir line. Not only will Lissa have to deal with her inner darkness and worry for her sanity, but now she must also fear for her life.
    News of the tragedy reaches the Academy quicker than Rose and Dimitri can return. When she gets back, Mason tells her that plans are