It was impossible to get the Dimitri and Tasha thing out of my head, but at least packing and getting ready made sure I didn't devote 100 percent of my brain power to him. More like 95 percent.

You make learning fun. Like a children’s book or after school special. Tell me about your…um, Athenian women.

This is politics. People in power never have to play by the same rules.

I went to bed feeling melancholy, wishing I could have poured out all my fears and insecurities to my mom. Wasn’t that what normal mothers and daughters did?

Immortals are, by definition, immortal. End of story.

Did Belikov bend the rules of time and space to get here so fast? He can do that, right?

Shouldn't that be flipped right-side up?" I asked. "No," she said, eyes on the cards. After several moments of heavy silence, said, "You will destroy that which is undead." I waited about thirty seconds for her to continue, but she didn't. "Wait, that's it?" She nodded. "That's what the cards say to me.