Free The Fiery Heart by Richelle Mead

that? Aren’t you worried about consorting with the devil, girl? Or whatever it is you Alchemists believe?” She glanced over at Adrian. “But then, you must’ve overcome a few of your hang-ups about the supernatural if you rode in the same car as Jaclyn’s pool boy.”
    I’d known Inez was familiar with the vampiric world. It was why we were here, after all, to learn about her history of fighting Strigoi. I also knew from being with the coven that vampires were just business as usual to some witches. Nonetheless, it was a completely new and baffling experience to be with an outsider who was so at ease with Moroi.
    â€œThese hands don’t do manual labor,” Adrian told her.
    â€œBe quiet, boy,” she snapped. “Before you become less endearing.”
    I cleared my throat. “I don’t do any consorting with the devil, ma’am.” Just an insolent yet irritatingly attractive vampire. “Mostly I’ve been translating spells and learning to defend myself.”
    â€œHer training has made her an excellent scholar,” insisted Ms. Terwilliger.
    â€œScholar, pah.” Inez made a dismissive wave of her hand. “Just looks like some flighty teenage girl to me, one who probably thinks she’s being a rebel by tinkering with magic. Doesn’t matter how strong she is if she can’t focus and get serious about the craft. Do you have a boyfriend, girl? Yes, of course you do. That just makes things worse. There’s no getting through to them when all they’ve got is the backseat of a car on their mind. We didn’t have those problems in my day. They’d send us off to our mentors and lock us away. No boys. No temptation. Lose your virginity, girl, and you lose half your magic. Something you might have thought about, Jaclyn.” She finally paused to catch her breath and drink more tea. I made a point of studying her teacup because I knew if I looked at Adrian, I was going to start laughing. “No, there’s no use bothering with kids these days, not with all their texting and reality TV and power drinks. She’s a snappy dresser, I’ll give you that, but that’s not enough to get me to waste my time with some young girl.”
    â€œYou don’t even know what I want,” I blurted out. “And I’m not
that
young. I’ll be nineteen in about two weeks.”
    Inez rolled her eyes. “Aquarius? Worse and worse.”
    Ms. Terwilliger had regained some of her confidence and met Inez’s shrewd gaze with a level look. “She’s extremely disciplined and extremely advanced. She takes this very seriously and has already joined the Stelle.”
    That, at least, came as a surprise, and Inez glanced at me with new consideration—though still not approval. “I suppose that’s something.”
    â€œIt’s just the warm-up,” said Adrian.
    I gave him a warning look, not wanting him to “help” my case. “Please, ma’am. I need your guidance. I heard you’ve had lots of encounters with Strigoi. That you’ve fought some. I want to know more about it.”
    She didn’t look impressed in the least. “Hmphf. That’s all? I figured someone like you would know more than me.”
    â€œNot the magical side,” I said. “How did you fight them?”
    â€œThe same way anyone does. Stakes, fire, or decapitation. Not that the Moroi give us many stakes. But I’ve lit up a few Strigoi in my day. Just takes a good fireball spell.”
    That wasn’t a huge revelation. “Yeah . . . I know a lot about that spell.”
    Inez gave Ms. Terwilliger a quizzical look. “Didn’t your house burn down recently? Good grief, you guys weren’t experimenting with fireballs indoors, were you?”
    My teacher shifted uncomfortably. “No. You’ll have to get that story from Alicia DeGraw.” There was a slight catch in her