I didn't see Rose anywhere, so I suspected she was either in her room or at the Princess's place. Yet, I couldn't go anywhere yet since I was still on duty. I sighed and glanced at my watch. It was almost curfew and I was making my last rounds of the dhampir dorms, making sure no one was lingering around, trying to edge curfew.

Next up was the Moroi dorm, although as soon as I was finished here, I had to go check in. Something flashed in my periphial vision and turned, finding Mason Ashford and Eddie Castile—two of Rose's friends—trying to sneak in.

"Ashford, Castile," I called.

Both of them cringed. They didn't disobey me, though and waited while I went up to them. It was past curfew now, and they were pushing it.

"I suspect you both know it's past curfew," I stated.

"Yes, Guardian Belikov. We were just running a little late, that's all," Mason said nervously. "We were studying in the library…"

Eddie cut in with, "You can ask the librarian, we really were studying."

"I'll let you both of this time, but next time, be in your rooms before curfew," I watched while they quickly disappeared down the hall.

No one else was out and about, so I walked outside into the chilly air and into the guardian offices. Alberta, the head of the guardians at the Academy was talking to Headmistress Kirova, so I slipped in silently and signed out, scrawling out a quick comment that I had caught Mason and Eddie sneaking in, claiming they were studying at the library.

When I was done, I set out to the Moroi dormitory to find out where Rose was. Rosemarie Ozera was my charge and the girl I had known since she was a little girl. Her aunt, Tasha, was one of my close friends. Rose also had a brother, Christian.

Rose's parents had purposely turned Strigoi, who were, literally, the living dead. Strigoi were the evil kind of vampires who drained their victims of blood. Moroi were the opposite and only took only a small amount of blood from feeders, humans who willingly gave their blood.

It was tragic about what had happened to Rose's parents, but she didn't seem to care anymore unless it was purposely brought up. But, she had been younger than her brother, who witnessed it all while protecting his sister.

In a way, it reminded me of home and my sisters, mother, and grandmother. I had helped Tasha out in raising the kids and became close to Rose. Tasha requested me as becoming Rose's guardian and I agreed to it, wanting nothing more than to keep her safe.

Now, I was at Rose's door. I could hear two voices; both female, meaning Rose and Lissa were in there—after curfew—talking. I rolled my eyes and rapped softly on the door. It took a moment, since I suspected they thought it was probably Stan Alto, another instructor here.

The door opened and I saw both girls staring at me in surprise. "Guardian Belikov," Lissa choked out.

"Princess Dragomir should be in her room, Rose."

Lissa answered. "Of course," she said nervously. "I was on my way…."

She dropped off, but I knew she wanted to say more. I turned my gaze to Rose, who stared back defiantly. "Lissa and I were just discussing graduation tomorrow and we lost track of time."

I raised an eyebrow at her excuse. "Curfew was half an hour ago. Princess Dragomir, you should be in your room, and Rose, you should know better."

"Sorry," Lissa blurted out. "Don't blame Rose, she didn't do anything. I should be the one who gets in trouble."

"Lissa!" Rose yelped. "Don't listen to her. She's delusional," she said to me.

Lissa glared at Rose and I knew from experience that they would start arguing. Sure enough they both turned on one another and I watched them with amusement, knowing girls. Experience with my sisters told me no matter how much girls fought, they usually forgave each other.

I waited a little longer, not wanting to interrupt until it started getting out of hand, I raised a hand, knowing they would stop immediately. They both looked at me and I felt a pang of homesickness as I watched them, both girls reminding me of my own sisters at home.

"You're just lucky it was me who caught you and not Guardian Alto," I chastised.

"Yeah, yeah. Get to the point, Comrade."

"If you two manage to stay out of trouble until the end of graduation tomorrow, then you won't be punished." I knew that Rose could be good if she actually tried; Lissa was no problem.

I escorted Lissa back to her room, and just before she shut the door, she said softly, "I prefer Lissa, Guardian Belikov." She was the complete opposite of Rose: polite, not as reckless, and thoughtful.

I smiled at her. "It's Dimitri, Lissa," I responded.

She smiled and then shut the door while I turned around and unlocked one of the doors that was off limits to the students. As I walked across campus, Alberta fell in step with me.

"Dimitri, you really shouldn't be so soft on Rose," she chuckled.

I sighed. "She has potential, but she throws it all away by edging Kirova's rules and then her mouth also gets her into trouble."

"It's understandable, but graduation is here and she needs to hold her own out in the world where she won't be the center of attention all the time. Not to mention that she'll be living at the Royal Court where the Queen herself lives."

I pondered that. It was true in a way. Rose had potential because she wasn't a fire user like the Ozera family line was: she was a spirit user. Spirit was a rare element, almost unheard of. There were two other people at the Academy who we knew of who wielded that magic: Adrian Ivashkov and Lissa Dragomir.

"I'll talk to her about that soon," I promised as we reached the dhampir dorms.

We parted ways and as I walked up the stairs to my room, I wondered when I would be able to tell Rose something. Something that would make both our lives much harder….

Oh. Mah. God. I'm so tired. It's only 10 pm and I get kicked off in a few minutes…So be happy I got something else for you to read. Urgh. I think I needa get some more sleep…

Anyways, there ya have it: DPOV of My Guardian

SONGS:

No music. Half the household is asleep. -