Rosemarie (Rose) Hathaway

Rose is the narrator of the novel. She is a teenaged dhampir, half-vampire and half-human, and she is studying to become a guardian, a bodyguard to protect a Moroi vampire. Her best friend Lissa is a Moroi vampire, and Rose feels a desire to protect Lissa. Rose died in a car accident, along with Lissa's parents and brother, but Lissa bought Rose back to life magically. This makes Rose "shadow-kissed," and it binds her psychically to Lissa. Rose can feel what Lissa is feeling, and she can enter Lissa's mind without Lissa's knowledge, which means Rose can see and experience everything Lissa does.

Rose's main goal is to protect Lissa, and she becomes both more skilled as a guardian and more serious about her duties as the novel progresses. Though in the beginning of the novel, Rose has run away with Lissa and is trying to...