Booty :: essays research papers

The joy of the word "booty" Who likes booty? I like booty, and I think we should all like booty. Whether it is pirate's treasure or the beautiful behind of a woman, booty is a fantastic possession. I come from the lower class section of Ft. Lauderdale and in that area the booty is most often linked to the description of the African-American woman's posterior. I have always used the word booty, but recently I was told that it was a "black" term. I was shocked to hear this, and when I inquired as to why it was a "black" term, I was told that I shouldn't use words like that because they make me sound foolish. I do not always use the word booty but in some circumstances it is very necessary to use it. In my opinion it adds emphasis in the description of the size and beauty of the butt. What could possibly be wrong with using a word that is supposedly a word from a different heritage? We use words like "sheik" and "entree" all the time. I believe that there are no "black or "white" words, some words just happen to be used more by certain races. We should not be limited to certain words just because we are of a particular race. I firmly believe that whether a person is black or white they should know the true meaning of booty and should know why many people are in love with the ever powerful booty. The word booty as defined in the New Dictionary of American Slang, is "esp. black, the female body as a sex object; the sex act; ASS." Where I come from, booty is a word that is used to describe an extravagant behind. From what I have learned and seen, booty describes the size, the thickness, and the luster of one of my favorite body parts: the butt. The word booty is so descriptive that when someone uses it is understood quickly and usually without discussion. I usually do not hear people describe white women or any other type of women other than African-American, for that matter, to have booties. Whether this means that they do not possess the qualities to have their posterior described as a booty, I do not know. I do know however, that I have seen women of various nationalities that have what I would consider perfect booties.

Rhetorical Analysis of a The New York Times Article Essay example -- A

The article titled "The man with the snow job" appears in the Opinion Pages, The New York Times. Author, Gail Collins, opens her article with the question: â€Å"Who is to blame for this weather?† which hooks readers’ attention and makes them curious about what they are going to read. In her writing, Collins talks about the current snowstorm in the United States and how it is used for everyone’s advantage. She also points out how government officials such as Arnold Schwarzenegger, Al Gore, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama use the occasion of snowfall for their own purposes. The author borrows images of global warming effects to discuss some controversial problems in the society these days. She applies the following elements to establish the sarcastic tone throughout her article: hyperbole, metaphor, and simile. First, Collins uses hyperbole by repeating the word â€Å"snow† five times in one sentence: â€Å"Chicago’s snowfall was so huge that the news media ran out of things to attach to â€Å"snow† - thundersnow! snowpocalypse! snowmageddon!† (Collins). She consecutively uses three portmanteaus of the word "snow" with increasing stress level to create strong feelings. She wants to emphasize that Chicago is experiencing the most massive snowstorm in the United States, one of the consequences of global warming. This is a circumstance that causes people panic. She then reminds the readers about the blizzard of 1979 which made Mayor Michael Bilandic get â€Å"kicked out of office six weeks later in the Democratic primary.† It seems that she wants to make a connection between the congressman and a snow job. Besides hyperbole, Collins does an excellent job of using metaphors. She uses metaphor from very beginning. The phrase â€Å"snow job† in the title is a coll... ...d we have been suffering for what we have done. Human beings have to be responsible for that. Collins successfully uses the method of satire throughout her article. According to Oxford Dictionary, satire is defined as â€Å"the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues.† Humor does play a big role in this article. Government officials take the occasion of snowstorms to build their image in public, attack their opponents. And even author Collins; she uses snow to make her article interesting and attractive. Works Cited Collins, Gail. http://www.nytimes.com/pages/opinion/index.html. 2 February 2011. 8 February 2011 .

Does Hong Kong Recovered from the Subprime Crisis

Background In 2007, the soaring mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures in the United States triggered the sub-prime crisis and soon spread over the world. In this report, major causes of the sub-prime crisis and its impacts on Hong Kong’s economy will be examined. Different measures made by regulators and financial institutions to tackle this crisis will be discussed also. Lastly, evidence about the recovery of Hong Kong will be provided. The sub-prime crisisIn 2007, the collapse of subprime mortgage-backed securities (MBSs) brought to a huge loss among mortgage lenders. Many large financial firms including New Centaury Financial Corporation and Lehman Brothers Holdings Incorporation declared bankruptcy, which resulted in a downturn in the global financial market and a series of chain reactions spreading over the world afterwards. Impact of the sub-prime crisis on the Hong Kong financial institutions After the outbreak of the subprime crisis, the Hong Kong financial market sh rank along with the global economic recession.The stock market in Hong Kong declined from recorded high of 31,000 in October 2007 to 20,700 in March 2008 (Diagram 1) as investors losses their confidence and withdrew money from the market. Moreover, many banks wrote down huge amount of money for numerous sub-prime related securities. For example, HSBC wrote off US$17. 284 billion for potential losses in MBS or MBS related investments (HSBC 2008). Bank of China (Hong Kong) also wrote down HK$550m subprime-linked assets (Liu 2008). Lastly, there was a credit crunch due to the uncertainty about the amount of MBS related assets held by banks and insurance companies.As a result, many financial institutions reduced loans to each other and increased the interest rate because of high credit risk. Many new companies and corporations were unable to obtain fund to further develop and improve liquidity. Measures undertaken by the regulators and financial institutions In order to strengthen the c onfidence of the citizens and stabilize the banking system, the Hong Kong Deposit Protection Board strengthened and amended the Deposit Protection Scheme Bill in 2011. The 100 % deposit protection scheme of HK $100,000 was first launched in 2008.The amount of protection was increased to HK$500,000 in 2011. Besides, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority has made certain measures to deal with the problem. Firstly, HKMA announced a temporary policy which allowed licensed banks to access to liquidity assistance through the Discount Window with US dollar assets and extended the duration of liquidity assistance up to three months on 30th September 2008. These measures helped to improve liquidity within the banking system and further ease pressures in the interbank market (HKMA, 2008).The Hong Kong Interbank Overnight Offered Rates dropped from 3% to 0. 3% in a few weeks time after the announcement of these measures (HKMA, 2010). Secondly, the HKMA implemented a macro stress testing of the bank ing sector’s vulnerability to shocks such as the sub-prime crisis. Meanwhile, HKMA used the macroeconomic credit risk models to improve the stress testing of banks’ residential mortgage loans and other loan portfolios (Carse, 2008). The objective of this testing is to help HKMA monitor the banking sector and avoid problems similar to sub-prime crisis from happening in Hong Kong.Financial institutions wrote off large amount of money and tried to raise money in the market to improve their liquidity. In 2009, HSBC announced a USD$17. 7 billion rights issue. Shareholders were offered five new ordinary shares for every 12 existing shares at a price of HK$28 per new share (HSBC, 2009). This helped HSBC to restore its capital-debt ratio and allowed it to go over bad times without government assistance. Has Hong Kong economy fully recovered? According to the statistic in 2011, the real GDP growth rate was restored to 5% from -2. % in 2009. And the unemployment rate was dropped to pre-crisis level, it decreased from 5. 4% in January 2009 to 3% in December 2011 (Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department , 2012). The supply of money is in an increasing trend as well. Both M3 and domestic credit were having a 10% increase in 2010, compared with a decrease in 2008 and 2009. And the inter-bank offered rate dropped to a very low level of 0. 09% (Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department , 2012). These figures show that Hong Kong economy has restored gradually to pre-crisis level.However, there are certain hidden problems. Firstly, regulators worry about the inflation problem in Hong Kong after the injection of trillions of funds into the market from the Federal Reserve. Since HK dollar is linked with US dollar, the large increase in money supply in U. S dollar will in turn accelerate the inflation in Hong Kong. Secondly, the case of Lehman Brothers Mini Bond has shown that current regulations on financial products are not sufficient, small individual investor s can be misled easily.Further regulations and monitoring on financial products is necessary. Lastly, after the â€Å"lesson† of subprime crisis, many people lost their belief in financial investment which as a result restricted the development of financial market in Hong Kong. To conclude, the subprime does not only cause many adverse consequences to the global financial market including Hong Kong, but also brings some hidden problems. The cooperation between government and financial institutions is vital to help Hong Kong economy recover from the sub-prime crisis.

France and the Dreyfus Affair

Monica Moroyoqui History 1B Dreyfus Paper France and the Dreyfus Affair: A documentary by Michael Burns The author, Michael Burns is a historian, actor and professor. He holds a Ph. D. and has written a handful of books, all revolving around wars. His book entitled France and the Dreyfus Affair: A documentary history was written in 1998 and is about Alfred Dreyfus during one of Europe’s most significant political scandals. The theme of the book was anti-Semitism, socialism, militant nationalism and the separation of church and state.Dreyfus was a French citizen and a Jewish army officer. During 1894, he was wrongly convicted in Europe, the charges were of treason. Burns studied his subject well enough to create a character around him. The book presented the events in a chronological order. The arrest started off the book where they had taken Dreyfus away for charges of treason. He was put on trial and then sentenced to Devil’s Island. The case was later reopened, and t hen pardoned after a while. A number of authors have given their own versions of the story. This is because the events that followed this case were very interesting.The people were torn apart by the scandal, which made it one of the most significant cases a lot of people have argued weather Dreyfus was a victim of discrimination because he was a Jew. The first piece of evidence given to the court through the Embassy in Paris was already stated as â€Å"proof† of Dreyfus’s treason. It makes you wonder how they used to run court during the time. There was a time where Dreyfus was unabashedly told that Jews had no place as a General. During this time, Europe was already transforming into the divided nations that the world saw during the time of the Nazis.Alfred Dreyfus was openly Jewish and he was admitted to very selective military schools. During this time, not a lot of Jewish boys had been admitted to such schools, let along placed in a position that was very sensitive . His rank was the subject of a lot of talk, this rarely happened in Europe, especially in France. This Affair definitely split the country in to two. Talks of radicalization and the Catholic Church were involved. Burns has another book about the holocaust. He seems to have an interest for the times of war and mostly the Jews.There is no evidence that he is a Jew himself, yet he seems to empathize with them. His books about the Jewish soldier and the Holocaust might even be a dedication to the people. Burns seems captivated by the times, and is more familiar with the 19th century than his own. This allowed him to write the book on Dreyfus with ease. It does not seem misplaced or out of its own time. The book is very fascinating and interesting. It involves a lot of bits of history, which makes it much easier to read. Burns, being a historian himself, probably enjoys reliving characters from the past.It had a number of private correspondences from both sides which added to the suspen se of the book. However, it was, at the same time frustrating to read. It was written as an account of Dreyfus, the infamous soldier. These made the evidences mentioned in the book seem quite biased. The goal of the book is probably to break down all myths, legends and other things surrounding the event. Yet, it somehow became more seemingly fiction than historic. The point of the author in writing the book was to show evidences in regards to the Dreyfus Affair.A number of issues that were highlighted in the case were included which made the case so much more interesting to read. You will get drawn to the book, wanting to know a real conclusion. As the country was divided in to two parts at the time, so will your mind. You can see the lack of moral ambiguity, which is one of the rare instances in history. The biases seen in the book were in favor of Dreyfus. However, there were hints of doubt in the character throughout the beginning, Burns stuck by Dreyfus. The way the book was wri tten, was very noir.This event was very significant since it divided France during the 1890s. It is one of the most known political and judicial scandals in Europe. There were a number of things to examine within the book. Burns wrote it in a way that was of the time. Though the story was about historic incidences, it was mixed in with modern elements that made the read very light. Many might argue that the evidences presented in the book were one sided and would typically lead the reader to believe on side, rather than deciding on his own. Burns shows that a number of officers in the army are anti-Semitic.They were quick to point fingers and Judge Dreyfus without really looking at other proof of his treason. Dreyfus’s conviction was premature and they did not so much as explore other alternatives for his indictment. There were other themes present in the book, though the anti-Semitism was most relevant. The book was very interesting and showed a handful of evidences. It clea rly explained the sensitivity of the issue. Someone who would not have known the background of Europe and events to follow might not have understood why it was such a big issue for a Jewish mad to take such a position in the military.The process of the court and judicial system during the time also was an issue to look into. Burns did well in covering these areas, it was easy to follow and understand. The mood and themes in the book were relevant and you will be able to sympathize with the characters. The events to follow the Dreyfus Affair are said to be very significant. The divide of the nation during this time was extreme. It was hardly easy to believe that such a small case turned a whole nation upside down. Before reading the book, you have to understand the sensitivity of the matters that lead Dreyfus to the accusations. ?

Product Complexity Defination

Product complexity definition What product â€Å"complexity† means to supply chain and the industry? It can be define differently based on the industry and the market. A lot people think complexity is the same meaning with complicacy or simplicity. Unfortunely, both of the definition is wrong because complexity is something that interacts among each other and sub divide it in all its single elements and lead to the solution of the problems. â€Å"Complexity makes a supply chain inflexible and inefficient,† Hoole writes. â€Å"It also hampers on time delivery and creates problems for product quality. From the manufacturing company stand point, it will cause complexity when the variety over the limit of the supply chain. For example, to serve the different types of logistics customer, better technologies to make the merchandise, the different types of the sales channel, handle different types of raw materials and components. Webster define complexity as 1a) the quality o r state being composed of two or more separate or analyzable items, parts, constituents, or symbol. 2a) having many varied parts, or elements, and consequently hard to understand. b) marked by involvement of many parts, aspects, and need earnest study or examination to understand it. Based on product design, it defines as proportional to the total number of design decision (Baldwin& Clark 2009). The number of functions designed into products (Griffin 1997a, 1997b), the numbers of components (Gupta&Krishnan 1999). Other than that, it defines as number of physical modules and by the degree of dependency (Kaski&Heikkila 2002). It also has three different definitions for the complex system like it is a system that mixes with the different parts in a complicated way and hard for the industry to understand. Flood &Carson 1988). According to Klir(1985), a system manifesting differentiation and connectively. Complexity is divided into 2 big categories multiplicity and relatedness into the p roducts. A lot of times, product complexity only call as ceteris paribus and it means a product contain more components or more interrelationship among it elements. Product complexity is defined as assessment about the number of components in a product. Industrial purchasing process can affect by a multitude of complexities induced by the nature of purchased products, the organizational structure and the influences of the external environment. Other than that, product complexity is directly link to the supply chain operation management. Because of this, Jacob literature defines the complexity supply chain by the number of parts and degree of unpredictability, represents by three facts: the number of components, extend of interactions, and degree of product novelty. Besides that, represent by the numbers of modules and markets, it also clear in the different types of the suppliers and their interaction. Because of this, Jacob define the product complexity as a design of multiplicity, relatedness to others, and product architecture elements. Multiplicity is a unique category and relatedness has three different types like similarity, complementary, and inter-connectedness. Complementary is for economic sense of a product like mp3 player and music player (Jacob). Similarity is merchandise that sharing the same components, provide the same functions, and same benefit role of the products to the market. Other than that, According to Ulrich’s (2005), inter-connectedness is a kind of connection of interface such as slot, and sectional typology. It also includes the logical and mechanical connection between two elements. For example, it modified of old products through the similarity of the components and the function of the products. (Jacob) Literature define Product portfolio complexity management as the combination of decisions, value systems, supporting process, and initiative pertaining to deciding and employing the most effective product portfolio like mix product types, feature sets, and components types. Product complexity has several levels in system theory according to Boulding and Simons (1956, 1962). In the literature, the levels of the products are product categories, the portfolio of a firm offering, and extend of the product components level. Based on Henderson literature, product complexity had 2 objectives of funding requirements (generating large amounts of cash and estimate long terms sales growth) and the risk mitigation. A lot of firms try to introduce the different types of products into the market to offset economic or political risk, as well as offer broader lines in the hope of increasing the opportunity of a product can become a runaway success. Mark) The other forces that like competitive positioning will cause a firm to offer more products. The impact of product complexity Product complexity will cause problem in supply chain process execution related to product supply, manufacture, innovation, delivery, and support. Product complexity play a main role of affirm operation, the impact of it are complexity management, inventory, and measure. Inventory is a very impo rtant force to tie the streams together into the complexity management like the reducing inventory level or cost, and also focus on improving inventory position. Based on Krishnan and Gupta (2001) literature, relatedness and multiplicity has the implicit relationship and they found out the benefit to increasing the use of the common platforms was the function of components costs. According to Hoole, we need to use the right metric to measures complexity and the leader need to focus more careful on product and component rationalization. After that, it can use the metric result to manage the number of components of a product more effectively than others. For instance, the unit costs of the components are standardized and not too high relative to alternative suitable components, the increasing of platform will beneficial. By doing this, the company has the advantageous on the cost effectively when they pursuing to the market segment because it increase the profit and decrease the complexity. A good combination of work cam emerged on the topic of modularity represent the increase of the complexity. It will enable scale economic (Pine, Victor & Boynton 1993), engineering efficiencies (Jacob), and improved coordination (Schilling 2000). All the benefits are shown analytically related to the cost components being standardized ( Fisher et al 1996). Modularity will have the importance impact on elements of competitive advantage according to the empirical research. Complexity wills increase cost and dominate the revenue benefit. (Lancaster, 1979; Moorthy, 1984). Product complexity affects the company economics of the transaction costs and the sourcing and design in operation management. There are 2 theoretical perspectives in the effect of product complexity into operations. Theory of performance frontiers (TPF) and transaction cost economics (TCE). Strategic on managing supply chain complexity One of the way to reducing the complexity problems is to follow lean production and Just In Times manufacturing ( Womack 1990) basically refer to the principle that â€Å"the leaner, the better. † According to the literature, a lots of the marketing managers, designers, and the engineers need to pay attention on the product innovation, mass customization, variety reduction program, value analysis, and modularization to managing the product complexity ( Perona 2004). According to the Perona literature, it has empirical evidences to show the ways to manage the complexity like the joint venture with the suppliers, product modularization, and information systems for production planning and control. The main issue is the supplier can help the company reduce complexity and improve company performance. Based on the information that collected from the companies show that the company has the stable relationship get the lower complexity score and the company with the short term relationship has the higher complexity and hard to manage. By investing in joint venture the suppliers can help companies saves times in managing commercial transactions, decrease defects rates in delivery merchandise, improve the transaction reliability, and reduce the effective stock reduction. The product reengineering has the most control on the products to link in between marketing and production; it will helps the them to cause miscommunication on the production process and improved their productions. Based on the transaction cost, company needs to decide either in house production or outsourcing of components. Some of the products are easy to outsourcing but it will cost a lot of production cost. Complexity always has the perspective the less complexity is always better because it focus on reduce the procurement cost from reducing unique parts. The numbers of components that required manufacturing products increase, the effort dedicated to ensuring conformance will increase. It will increase the cost to make the products. Another research mentions that production process link to the measures of research and development effectiveness. To ensure successful supply chain complexity management, the management team needs to set targets for both managing advantageous complexity and reducing disadvantageous complexity for the employee to follow and work on it to set the differentiation level. The other steps to manage supply chain complexity are to identify the different type of key complexity drivers. It can divide in 3 different categories like configuration and structure, products and services, and process and systems. Conclusion Some of the company likes complexity because it can increase their sales based on the product differentiation. Based on the sales return and cost, complexity can create the potential for the best level in product complexity portfolio. A lot of the company think that product complexity can help the company make different in the customer demand, the way on handle the supply chain and the relationship with supplier. Managing product complexity effectively can be daunting organizational task. Most if the times, the impact of the inventory of a company will reducing the safety stock to simplify the supply chain level based on the Degree of Commonality Index(DCI) increased. By doing this, it can help the company save money in the long term and reduce the transportation cost. If the company fail to handle the product and supply chain complexity will cause the company increased the cost and affect the quality of products in the lifecycle management. According to Hoole, it suggest the company to use the right metric to track complexity

Family Drama

Living with family is similar to living to living in the royal palace. There is always going to be guards watching over you’re every move, and certain standards you need to live up to. You will enjoy the luxury of an elegant house, clean laundry and slightly bigger budget, but it will slightly defer from the king and queen realm. It will affect every detail of your life, right down to the way you talk, the food you eat, how often your friends can visit and how much freedom you have. You will quickly discover that if your sovereign isn’t happy you’re not going to be happy either. I recently graduated from high Scholl, got a job, and started saving up some money for college. I decided to move in with my parents, and what I have learnt is that its good being around family, but it’s never a good idea to live in with family. I get no respect from my parents. They treat me as if I’m still in high school, or should I say elementary school. My mom talks to me any how she pleases, no matter where we are , or, who is around. Last month was my birthday, so I decided to invite a few friends over just to chill and have a good time. Hoping that my parents would leave so I could have the house for myself, they decided to hang around. It was so awkward for me. My dad he just came and sat in the living room watching the TV, even thou they have one in there room. My mom kept complaining about the type of music I was playing. After a while my mom started butting in people’s conversation and disrespecting my friends telling them how they aren’t good enough to hang with me and how much of a dirt bag they are. I was so embarrassed. She was so disrespectful, I don’t know if they don’t want me to have a social life or they just like being mean to me. As expected living under someone else’s roof can be quite a challenge, especially if they are close family. I am a single child so you can imagine how hard it if for me to have any privacy what so ever. I really felt cross the line the other day when my mom decided to open my mail. I ordered some condom and other such items online with my own money( of course, which goes without saying) my mother couldn’t stand that I had any mail coming in or anything that she didn’t know what it was, so what does she do, she opened it. Then she judgmentally confronted me about them. I shocked embarrassed and very angry about that violation of my privacy. I should not have been surprised, this kind of things are typical for my mother she just like to be all up in my business. The clothes I wear, the food I eat, the color of my room, where I go, how I got there and people I hang with, these are just a few things that your parents have control over when you’re a child, but as you grow older they still seems to want to maintain that control. It is difficult for them to adjust to that and thus causes a lot of conflict. My friends and I decided to dress up as sexy doctors and fire fighters for Halloween, just to change up from what we normally do each year. The biggest sin in the eyes of my parents to be sexy. We had a big argument, because I was determine to wear what I wanted to, not only because it was what we had plan, but also a way of proving to my parents that I’m grown and can do whatever I can. My dad decided that if I left the house looking like a â€Å"hooker† I’m not to set foot back in his house, I didn’t even think of the after effect of it all I just back my stuff. As a I was about to leave, he decided to grab my stuff, I was so mad I push him and he slap me in the face. We started fighting and my mom called the police. Luckily no one went to jail, but we were warned. I love my dad and I didn’t mean for things to get out of control like that. All that could have been avoided if I was living on my own. Relatively speaking, as a child growing up, I enjoy living with my parents, they were my best friends, but as a bird grows older they have to leave the nest. In order to have a good social life and worry free about what you do and how you to it, its better to

Spirit Bound Chapter Sixteen

I DIDN'T HAVE A PRECISE count of how many Strigoi were with Dimitri's group. So much of what I'd seen through Lissa had been blurred with confusion and terror. The guardians, knowing we were expected, had simply had to make a best guess about how many to send. Hans had hoped overwhelming force would make up for us losing the element of surprise. He'd dispatched as many guardians as he could reasonably clear from the Court. Admittedly, the Court was protected by wards, but it still couldn't be left entirely undefended. Having the new grads there had helped. Most of them had been left behind, allowing the seasoned guardians to go on our hunting party. That left us with forty or so. It was as unusual as large groups of Strigoi banding together. Guardians were usually sent out in pairs, maybe groups of three at most, with Moroi families. This large of a force had the potential to bring about a battle rivaling that of the Academy attack. Knowing that sneaking through the dark wouldn't work, Hans stopped our convoy a little ways from the warehouse the Strigoi were holed up at. The building was situated on a service road cutting off from the highway. It was an industrial area, hardly a deserted path in the woods, but all the businesses and factories were shut down this late at night. I stepped out of the SUV, letting the warm evening wrap around me. It was humid, and the moisture in the air felt especially oppressive when I was already smothered with fear. Standing beside the road, I felt no nausea. Dimitri hadn't posted Strigoi this far, which meant our arrival was still–kind of–a surprise. Hans walked over to me, and I gave him the best estimate I could on the situation, based on my limited information. â€Å"But you can find Vasilisa?† he asked. I nodded. â€Å"As soon as I'm in the building, the bond will lead me straight to her.† He turned, staring off into the night as cars sped by on the nearby highway. â€Å"If they're already waiting outside, they'll smell and hear us long before we see them.† Passing headlights briefly illuminated his face, which was lined in thought. â€Å"You said there are three layers of Strigoi?† â€Å"As far as I could tell. There are some on Lissa and Christian, then some outside.† I paused, trying to think what Dimitri would do in this situation. Surely I knew him well enough, even as a Strigoi, to calculate his strategy. â€Å"Then another layer inside the building–before you get to the storage room.† I didn't know this for certain, but I didn't tell Hans. The assumption was made on my own instincts, drawn from what I would do and what I thought Dimitri would do. I figured it would be best if Hans planned for three waves of Strigoi. And that's exactly what he did. â€Å"Then we go in with three groups. You'll lead the group going in for the extraction. Another team will accompany yours and eventually split off. They'll fight whoever's right inside, letting your group head for the captives.† It sounded so†¦ militaristic. Extraction. Captives. And me†¦ a team leader. It made sense with the bond, but always in the past, they'd simply used my knowledge and left me on the sidelines. Welcome to being a guardian, Rose. At school, we'd conducted all sorts of exercises, running as many different Strigoi scenarios as our instructors could dream up. Yet, as I stared up at the warehouse, all of those drills seemed like playacting, a game that could in no way measure up to what I was about to face. For half a second, the responsibility of it all seemed daunting, but I quickly shoved aside such concerns. This was what I had been trained to do, what I had been born to do. My own fears didn't matter. They come first. Time to prove it. â€Å"What are we going to do since we can't sneak up on them?† I asked. Hans had a point about the Strigoi detecting us in advance. An almost mischievous smile flickered on his face, and he explained his plan to the group while also dividing us into our teams. His approach tactic was bold and reckless. My kind of plan. And like that, we were off. An outsider analyzing us might have said we were on a suicide mission. Maybe we were. It honestly didn't matter. The guardians wouldn't abandon the last Dragomir. And I wouldn't have abandoned Lissa even if there were a million Dragomirs. So, with sneaking having been ruled out, Hans opted for a full-on attack. Our group loaded back into the eight SUVs and tore off down the street at illegal speeds. We took up the entire width of the road, gambling on no oncoming traffic. Two SUVs led the charge side by side, then two rows of three. We shot to the end of the road, came to a halt with screeching tires at the front of the warehouse, and spilled out of our cars. If slow stealth wasn't an option, we'd gain surprise by going fast and furious. Some of the Strigoi were indeed surprised. Clearly, they'd seen our approach, but it had happened so fast that they'd had only a little time to react. Of course, when you were as fast and deadly as Strigoi, a little time was all you needed. A group of them surged at us, and Hans's â€Å"outside team† charged back, those guardians putting themselves between my group and the other going inside. The Moroi fire users had been assigned to the outside group, for fear of setting the building on fire if they went inside. My team moved around the battle, inevitably running into a few Strigoi who hadn't fallen to the first team's distraction. With well-practiced determination, I ignored the nausea sweeping through me from being this close to Strigoi. Hans had strictly ordered me not to stop unless any Strigoi were directly in my path, and he and another guardian were beside me to cover any threats that might come at me. He wanted nothing to delay me from leading them to Lissa and Christian. We fought our way into the warehouse, entering a dingy hall blocked by Strigoi. I'd been right in my guess that Dimitri would have layers of security. A bottleneck formed in the small space, and for a few moments things were chaotic. Lissa was so close. It was like she was calling to me, and I burned with impatience as I waited for the hall to clear. My team was in the back, letting the other group do the fighting. I saw Strigoi and guardians alike fall and tried not to let it distract me. Fight now, grieve later. Lissa and Christian. I had to focus on them. â€Å"There,† said Hans, tugging my arm. A gap had formed ahead of us. There were still plenty of Strigoi, but they were distracted enough that my companions and I slipped through. We took off down the hall, which opened into a large empty space that made up the warehouse's heart. A few pieces of trash and debris were all that was left of the goods once stored here. Doors led off of the room, but now I didn't need the bond to tell me where Lissa was. Three Strigoi stood guard outside a doorway. So. Four layers of security. Dimitri had one-upped me. It didn't matter. My group had ten people. The Strigoi snarled, bracing in anticipation as we charged them. Through an unspoken signal, half of my group engaged them. The rest of us busted down the door. Despite my intense focus on reaching Lissa and Christian, one tiny thought had always been dancing in the back of my brain. Dimitri. I hadn't seen Dimitri in any of the Strigoi we'd encountered. With my full attention on our attackers, I hadn't slipped into Lissa's head to verify the situation, but I felt totally confident that he was still inside the room. He would have stayed with her, knowing I would come. He would be waiting to face me. One of them dies tonight. Lissa or Dimitri. Having reached our goal, I no longer needed extra protection. Hans pulled out his stake on the first Strigoi he encountered, pushing past me and jumping into the fray. The rest of my group did likewise. We poured into the room, and if I thought there'd been chaos earlier, it was nothing compared to what we faced. All of us–guardians and Strigoi–just barely fit inside the room, which meant we were fighting in very, very close quarters. A female Strigoi–the one Dimitri had slapped earlier–came at me. I fought on autopilot, barely aware of my stake piercing her heart. In this room, full of shouting and death and colliding, there were only three people in the world that mattered to me now: Lissa, Christian, and Dimitri. I'd found him at last. Dimitri was with my two friends against the far wall. No one was fighting him. He stood with arms crossed, a king surveying his kingdom as his soldiers battled the enemy. His eyes fell on me, his expression amused and expectant. This was where it would end. We both knew it. I shoved my way through the crowd, dodging Strigoi. My colleagues pushed into the fray beside me, dispatching whom-ever stood in my way. I left them to their fight, moving toward my objective. All of this, everything happening, had led to this moment: the final showdown between Dimitri and me. â€Å"You're beautiful in battle,† said Dimitri. His cold voice carried to me clearly, even above the roar of combat. â€Å"Like an avenging angel come to deliver the justice of heaven.† â€Å"Funny,† I said, shifting my hold on the stake. â€Å"That is kind of why I'm here.† â€Å"Angels fall, Rose.† I'd almost reached him. Through the bond, I felt a brief surge of pain from Lissa. A burning. No one was harming her yet, but when I saw her arms move out of the corner of my eye, I realized what had happened. Christian had done what she'd asked: He'd burned her ropes. I saw her move to untie him in return, and then my attention shifted back to Dimitri. If Lissa and Christian were free, then so much the better. It would make their escape easier, once we cleared out the Strigoi. If we cleared out the Strigoi. â€Å"You've gone to a lot of trouble to get me here,† I told Dimitri. â€Å"A lot of people are going to die–yours and mine.† He shrugged, unconcerned. I was almost there. In front of me, a guardian battled a bald Strigoi. That lack of hair was not attractive with his chalk white skin. I moved around them. â€Å"It doesn't matter,† said Dimitri. He tensed as I approached. â€Å"None of them matter. If they die, then they obviously aren't worthy.† â€Å"Prey and predator,† I murmured, recalling what he'd said to me while holding me prisoner. I'd reached him. No one stood between us now. This was different from our past fights, where we'd had lots of room to size each other up and plan our attacks. We were still crammed into the room, and in keeping our distance from the others, we'd closed the gap between us. That was a disadvantage for me. Strigoi outmatched guardians physically; extra room helped us compensate with more maneuverability. I didn't need to maneuver quite yet, though. Dimitri was trying to wait me out, wanting me to make the first move. He kept a good position, though, one that blocked me from getting a clear shot on his heart. I could do some damage if I cut him elsewhere with the stake, but he would likely get a hit in on me that would be packed with power in this proximity. So I tried to wait him out as well. â€Å"All this death is because of you, you know,† he said. â€Å"If you'd let me awaken you†¦ let us be together†¦ well, none of this would have happened. We'd still be in Russia, in each other's arms, and all of your friends here would be safe. None of them would have died. It's your fault.† â€Å"And what about the people I'd have to kill in Russia?† I demanded. He'd shifted his weight a little. Was that an opening? â€Å"They wouldn't be safe if I–â€Å" A crashing sound off to my left startled me. Christian, now freed, had just slammed his chair into a Strigoi engaged with a guardian. The Strigoi shrugged Christian off like a fly. Christian flew backward, slamming into a wall and landing on the floor with a slightly stunned look. In spite of myself, I spared him a glance and saw Lissa running to his side. And so help me, she had a stake in her hand. How she'd managed that, I had no idea. Maybe she'd picked it up from a fallen guardian. Maybe none of the Strigoi had thought to search her when she came in. After all, why on earth would a Moroi be carrying a stake? â€Å"Stop it! Stay out of the way!† I yelled at them, turning back to Dimitri. Letting those two distract me had cost me. Realizing Dimitri was about to attack, I managed to dodge without even seeing what he was doing. It turned out he'd been reaching for my neck, and my imprecise evasion had spared me the full damage. Still, his hand caught me on the shoulder, knocking me back almost as far as Christian had gone. Unlike my friend, though, I had years of training that had taught me to recover from something like that. I'd honed a lot of balance and recovery skills. I staggered only a little, then quickly regained my footing. I could only pray Christian and Lissa would listen to me and not do anything stupid. My attention had to stay on Dimitri, or I'd get myself killed. And if I died, Lissa and Christian died for sure. My impression while fighting our way inside had been that the guardians outnumbered the Strigoi, though that meant little sometimes. Still, I had to hope my colleagues would finish our foes off, leaving me to do what I had to do. Dimitri laughed at my dodge. â€Å"I'd be impressed if that wasn't something a ten-year-old could do. Now your friends†¦ well, they're also fighting at a ten-year-old level. And for Moroi? That's actually pretty good.† â€Å"Yeah, well, we'll see what your assessment is when I kill you,† I told him. I made a small feint to test how much he was paying attention. He sidestepped with hardly any notice at all, as graceful as a dancer. â€Å"You can't, Rose. Haven't you figured that out by now? Haven't you seen it? You can't defeat me. You can't kill me. Even if you could, you can't bring yourself to do it. You'll hesitate. Again.† No, I wouldn't. That's what he didn't realize. He'd made a mistake bringing Lissa here. She increased the stakes–no pun intended–on everything. She was here. She was real. Her life was on the line, and for that†¦ for that, I wouldn't hesitate. Dimitri must have grown tired of waiting for me. He leapt out, hand again going for my neck. And again I evaded, letting my shoulder take the brunt of the hit. This time he held on to my shoulder. He jerked me toward him, triumph flaring in those red eyes. In the sort of space we were in, this was probably all he needed to kill me. He had what he wanted. Apparently, though, he wasn't the only one who wanted me. Another Strigoi, maybe thinking he'd help Dimitri, pushed toward us and reached for me. Dimitri bared his fangs, giving the other Strigoi a look of pure hatred and fury. â€Å"Mine!† Dimitri hissed, hitting the other Strigoi in a way that he had clearly not expected. And that was my opening. Dimitri's brief distraction had caused him to loosen his grip on me. That same close proximity which made him so lethal to me now made me just as dangerous. I was by his chest, by his heart, and I had my stake in hand. I'll never be able to say for sure just how long the next series of events took. In some ways, it felt like only one heartbeat passed. At the same moment, it was as though we were frozen in time. Like the entire world had stopped. My stake was moving toward him, and as Dimitri's eyes fell on me once more, I think he finally believed I would kill him. I was not hesitating. This was happening. My stake was there– And then it wasn't. Something hit me hard on my right side, pushing me away from Dimitri and ruining my shot. I stumbled, barely avoiding hitting anyone. While I always tried to be vigilant regarding all things around me in a fight, I'd let my guard down in that direction. The Strigoi and guardians were on my left. The wall–and Lissa and Christian–were on my right. And it was Lissa and Christian who had shoved me out of the way. I think Dimitri was as astonished as I was. He was also equally astonished when Lissa came toward him with that stake in her hand. And like lightning through the bond, I read what she had very, very carefully kept from me the last day: She had managed to charm the stake with spirit. It was the reason she'd been so keyed up during her last stake-practice session with Grant and Serena. Knowing she had the tool she needed had fueled her desire to use it. Her hiding all of that information from me was a feat on par with charming the stake. Not that it mattered right now. Charmed stake or no, she couldn't get near Dimitri. He knew it too, and his surprise immediately changed to delighted amusement–almost indulgent, like the way one watches a child do something adorable. Lissa's attack was awkward. She wasn't fast enough. She wasn't strong enough. â€Å"No!† I screamed, leaping toward them, though pretty certain I wasn't going to be fast enough either. Suddenly, a blazing wall of heat and flame appeared before me, and I barely had the presence of mind to back up. That fire had shot up from the floor, forming a ring around Dimitri that kept me from him. It was disorienting, but only for a moment. I knew Christian's handiwork. â€Å"Stop it!† I didn't know what to do, if I should attack Christian or leap into the fire. â€Å"You'll burn us all alive!† The fire was fairly controlled–Christian had that much skill–but in a room this size, even a controlled fire was deadly. Even the other Strigoi backed away. The flames were closing in on Dimitri, growing tighter and tighter. I heard him scream, could see the look of agony, even through the fire. It began to consume his coat, and smoke poured out from the blaze. Some instinct told me I needed to stop this†¦ and yet, what did it matter? I'd come to kill him. Did it matter if someone else did it for me? And that's when I noticed Lissa was still on the offensive. Dimitri was distracted, screaming as the flames wrapped around him. I was screaming too†¦ for him, for her†¦ it's hard to say. Lissa's arm shot through the flames, and again, pain surged through the bond–pain that dwarfed the earlier singe from Christian burning her ropes. Yet she kept going, ignoring the fiery agony. Her alignment was right. She had the stake aimed at the heart. The stake went in, piercing him. Well, kind of. Just like when she'd practiced with the pillow, she didn't quite have the strength to get the stake where it needed to go. I felt her steel herself, felt her summon up every ounce of strength she had. Throwing her full weight into it, she shoved again, using both hands. The stake went in further. Still not enough. This delay would have cost her her life in a normal situation. This was not a normal situation. Dimitri had no means to block her, not with the fire slowly eating him. He did manage a small struggle that loosened the stake, undoing what little progress she'd made. Grimacing, she tried again, pushing the stake back to its former position. Still, it wasn't enough. I came to my senses then, knowing I needed to stop this. Lissa was going to burn herself up if she kept trying to stake him. She lacked the skill. Either I needed to stake him or we just needed to let the fire finish him off. I moved forward. Lissa caught sight of me in her periphery and sent out a blast of compulsion at me. No! Let me do this! The command hit me hard, an invisible wall that made me come to a halt. I stood there dazed, both from the compulsion itself and the realization that she'd used it on me. It only took a moment for me to shake it off. She was too distracted to put her full power into the order, and I was pretty compulsion-resistant anyway. Yet, that slight delay had stopped me from reaching her. Lissa seized her last chance, knowing she'd get no other. One more time, fighting through the fire's searing pain, she threw everything she had into shoving the stake all the way into Dimitri's heart. Her strike was still awkward, still requiring a little more wiggling and pushing than the clean hit a trained guardian would make. Clumsy or not, the stake finally made it. It pierced his heart. And as it did, I felt magic flood our bond, the familiar magic I'd felt so many times when she performed a healing. Except†¦ this was a hundred times more powerful than anything I'd ever felt before. It froze me up as neatly as her compulsion had. I felt as though all of my nerves were exploding, like I'd just been struck by lightning. White light suddenly burst out around her, a light that dwarfed the fire's brightness. It was like someone had dropped the sun into the middle of that room. I cried out, my hand rising instinctively to shield my eyes as I stepped backward. From the sounds in the room, everyone else was having a similar reaction. For a moment, it was as if there was no bond anymore. I felt nothing from Lissa–no pain, no magic. The bond was as colorless and empty as the white light filling the room. The power she'd used had over-flooded and overwhelmed our bond, numbing it. Then the light simply disappeared. No fade-out. Just†¦ gone in an eye blink. Like a switch had been flipped. There was silence in the room, save for a few murmurings of discomfort and confusion. That light must have been toxic to sensitive Strigoi eyes. It was hard enough for me. Starbursts danced in my sight. I couldn't focus on anything as the afterimage of that brilliance burned across my vision. At last–with a little squinting–I could vaguely see again. The fire was gone, though black smudges on the wall and ceiling marked its presence, as did some lingering smoke. By my estimation, there should have been a lot more damage. I could spare no time for that miracle, though, because there was another one taking place in front of me. Not just a miracle. A fairy tale. Lissa and Dimitri were both on the floor. Their clothes were burned and singed. Angry red and pink patches marked her beautiful skin from where the fire had hit hardest. Her hands and wrists were particularly bad. I could see spots of blood where the flames had actually burned some of her skin away. Third-degree burns, if I was recalling my physiology classes correctly. Yet she seemed to feel no pain, nor did the burns affect her hands' movement. She was stroking Dimitri's hair. While she sat in some semblance of an upright position, he was in an ungainly sprawl. His head rested in her lap, and she was running her fingers through his hair in a gentle, repetitive motion–like one does to comfort a child or even an animal. Her face, even marred with the fire's terrible damage, was radiant and filled with compassion. Dimitri had called me an avenging angel, but she was an angel of mercy as she gazed down at him and crooned soothing, nonsense words. With the state of his clothes and what I'd seen in the fire, I'd expected him to be burned to a crisp–some sort of blackened, skeletal nightmare. Yet when he shifted his head, giving me my first full view of his face, I saw that he was completely unharmed. No burns marked his skin–skin that was as warm and tanned as it had been the first day I'd met him. I caught only a glimpse of his eyes before he buried his face against Lissa's knee. I saw endless depths of brown, the depths I'd fallen into so many times. No red rings. Dimitri†¦ was not a Strigoi. And he was weeping.