CHAPTER 2

Bright white lights welcome me when I open my eyes. Adrian sits next to me, holding my hand. I squeeze his hand to let him know I'm awake. His head snaps toward me.

"Little Dhampir, I'm so sorry."

I furrow my eyebrows. "Adrian, what the hell are you talking about?"

Adrian adverts his eyes and pulls the vial from his pocket. "It was filled with a liquid form of darkness."

My eyes take in the vial but immediately snap back to his. "Why did you say you were sorry? Is the baby okay?"

He nods. "The babies are okay. Well as okay as they can be with darkness running through their veins."

My heart drops. Why did they have to be burdened with darkness? "Where's D-Dimitri?" My voice shakes as I try not to cry.

I could practically see Adrian's heart break. "He stepped out for a moment." A tear managed to escape and trickle down my cheek. "Oh, Rose. Please don't cry. This is manageable."

"How is it manageable?" I sniffle.

"The amount of darkness that filled this vial couldn't have been much. Neither aura is completely black. The Strigoi most likely anticipated only one baby, not two." Adrian takes a deep breath. "Rose?"

"Yeah?"

"I need you to promise not to freak out."

I look at him skeptically. "Adrian? What's going on?"

Adrian exhales slowly. "You've been in a comatose state for about two weeks." I can feel myself lose the blood in my face.

"I missed graduation. Who is my Charge?" Please tell me it's Lissa.

"They've been waiting for you to wake up before they announced that. I also need to tell you that we're no longer at St. Vladimir's."

Where are we then? "Adrian, just spit it out."

"We're at Court. My Aunt won't tell me what's going on, but all I know is, no one at St. Vlad's got Lissa as their Charge."

I sigh in relief. There's still a chance. I kick off the white blankets and practically rip the IV from my arm. The heart monitor starts to beep frantically when I take it off my finger. I spot a pile of clothes sitting on a chair close by. Ignoring the team of nurses that rush in, I grab it and head into the bathroom to change. Just as I finish putting on my shoes, I hear Dimitri's frantic voice and Adrian's laughter. I decide to put Dimitri out of his misery and show myself.

When Dimitri sees me, he takes two steps forward and envelops me in his embrace. "Are you okay? The babies? Roza, please say something."

"I would if you let me," I smirk. "We're fine. Perfectly fine. Now I need to go attend my graduation."

Adrian looks at me confused. Does that mean Dimitri doesn't know about the darkness? I look at Adrian over Dimitri's shoulder and arch a brow. He shakes his head. I give a slight nod. "So how about we go to my graduation?"

The Queen gazes impassively at me. My stomach churns and I feel as if I'm going to be sick. I suppose it's not the bad kind, the kind that means I hadn't gotten Lissa as my Charge. I did, in fact, get her as my Charge. The only downside is that I cannot fulfill that duty yet. Queen Tatiana feels that I need to prove myself and be one of her sanctioned Guardians for the time being. The time span will last until the Queen is the former Queen. Queen Tatiana is training Lissa to become the new ruler of the Moroi. Dimitri will be protecting Lissa until I'm able too. I just hope that Lissa becomes Queen well before I cannot guard her because of the twins. Dizziness sweeps over me and I blink slowly. Bile rises in my throat at the same time and I try to swallow it. I cannot throw up in the middle of my graduation.

"Now it is time for you to receive your promise mark and the molnija marks you earned," Queen Tatiana says before bidding me farewell and leaving.

As soon as she's gone and the tattooist is finished, I walk hurriedly to Dimitri's apartment. He brought me there before I went to the Queen. When I get there, the door is already open and there are two people talking with Dimitri in the living room. I hurry pass them and lock myself in the bathroom. Dimitri hadn't been allowed to attend the end of graduation. I have no idea why, but it doesn't matter now.

"Rose?" Dimitri calls from the living room.

I sit beside the toilet and brace myself for the oncoming vomit. Dimitri knocks at the door. "Roza, let me in."

Reluctantly, I crawl over to the door and unlock it before crawling back to my spot next to the toilet. Dimitri tentatively pushes it open and peeks in. Once he sees me on the floor throwing up, he steps in and locks the door behind him.

"Morning sickness?" he asks, hopeful it has nothing to do with my passing out. I could see why he would be concerned. Last time I was throwing up, I passed out.

I nod and rest my head on the bowl. He comes and sits behind me. I swear he had a fascination with my hair because as soon as he's sitting, his hands are playing with my hair. Dimitri moves the hair from my neck and I could practically hear the smile in his voice. "Congratulations, milaya moya."

Now it's me who smiles. "Thanks, comrade." He lets go of my hair and his hands slide down to my stomach. He kisses my shoulder. "Dimitri, there's something I should—" A knock at the door interrupts me.

"Everything okay in there?" It seems my father was talking with Dimitri. But who was the other person?

Dimitri looks at me. "I have to go with your father somewhere. Do you want me to call someone?"

I shake my head. "Go do whatever you need to do." As soon as Dimitri was gone, and I made sure he was, I pull out my cell phone and dial a number. They answer on the first ring.

"Hello, Little Dhampir. For what do I owe the pleasure?"

"I'm at Dimitri's apartment. Do you think you could grab the others and meet me somewhere?"

"Anywhere in particular?"

"Somewhere I can talk to you guys in private without being interrupted or overheard."

Adrian was quiet for a moment. "Is everything okay, Rose?"

"Just fine," I respond softly.

"Then come to my apartment. We can hold your secret meeting here."

"Okay. Thank you."

"It's no problem, Little Dhampir."

After I hang up, I go into Dimitri's room and into his closet. Surprisingly, I find some of my clothes. That works too. I grab stretchy black pants and one of Dimitri's hoodies. I keep my tank top on and slip on the clothes.

Adrian texts me to let me know that everyone is there and patiently waiting for me. I slip a silver stake into the hoodie pocket and head off to Adrian's.

"So what's this about?" Christian asks once I take a seat on the couch.

I look and Adrian and Lissa. They nod encouragingly, seeming to have figured out what I was going to say. I turn to Christian, Eddie, and Mia. I open my mouth, but close it seconds later. Shouldn't I be telling Dimitri first?

You tried to, I hear Lissa say.

I should have tried harder, I respond.

Lissa sighs aloud and the others know immediately that we're talking through the bond. Mia is the first to speak up. "Whatever it is, Rose, you can tell us. Obviously you want to keep whatever it is a secret. We won't tell."

I nod and take a deep breath before telling them. "Do you guys remember that night we were on our way home from Disney and I got out to kill the Strigoi blocking our way?" They nod. "Do you also remember one Strigoi being able to attack me?" More nods. "That Strigoi had a vial with him."

Christian nods again. "I remember seeing him shove something in your mouth."

This time I nod. "That vial was filled with a liquid form of darkness." The three of them stare at me with wide eyes. "That could explain why I passed out and was in a comatose state. My body would have been fighting the extra darkness."

Christian's eyes are the first to travel to my stomach. "But, Rose, what about..." He trails off.

I sigh sadly. "Both Lissa and Adrian are able to see the change in the babies' auras." Lissa told me that her and Adrian had seen it a couple hours after the incident.

"Twins?" Mia's eyes ignite with excitement. I nod with a small smile. Mia squeals. "Don't be sad, Rose. Forget about the darkness for now and be happy. You're having not just one but two miracle babies."

Adrian decides to add, "Don't mention anything to Dimitri."

"Why not?" Eddie asks.

"I haven't had the time to tell him since I woke up," I lie sheepishly. There was plenty of time to tell him before I saw Queen Tatiana. I should have told him then.

"Well, Rosie, looks like we'll have to be planning for two babies now." I glare at Christian for calling me Rosie.

"That's right, Sparky, and I can't wait till they're old enough to call you Uncle Chrisse," I quip. To that he rolls his eyes. "So no one told you guys I was having twins? Not Dimitri, Adrian, or Lissa?" They shake their heads and I laugh. "Why not?"

Lissa and Adrian at least have the decency to look sheepish. "We wanted you to be the first to know. Well, after Dimitri and the doctor."

"Who else knows that I'm pregnant?"

"No one except your parents, Alberta, and my Aunt," Adrian says. "I'm surprised they didn't bombard you after they heard you were awake. Especially my Aunt considering she was with you."

I furrow my eyebrows. "Abe was with Dimitri. He was at his apartment and then Dimitri left to go do something with him. Someone else was there, but I don't know who it was. Maybe it was my mom. As for Queen Tatiana, she never even mentioned it."

Adrian shrugs. "I didn't mean for her to find out. We needed to get you here quickly. She promised she wouldn't say anything to anyone, but she did want to talk to you about it."

Suddenly my stomach starts to cramp up and I gasp and double over. It feels like someone reached into my stomach and is trying to rip out my insides. My immediate thought is the babies. Is there something wrong? Liss, what's happening? She shakes her head, her eyes filled with fear.

I start to panic. "Adrian?!"

"Do you want us to go get Dimitri?" Christian asks.

"No, you don't—"

"Yes!" Adrian cuts me off.

Eddie, Mia, and Christian quickly disperse. Lissa and Adrian scrutinize me. "Their auras are changing," Adrian mutters with a nod from Lissa. "That's odd."

"Maybe we can try healing them?" Lissa suggests.

"But would that really do anything? The darkness that Rose digested, although it's running through their veins, is reacting with the darkness from her bond with you."

"But why?" Adrian shrugs. "Will it just pass?"

"Yes," I say just as the pain stops.

Adrian makes a face. "This is most likely going to happen a lot, Little Dhampir."

This time I make a face. "I just need you to make sure that they're okay. That this reaction isn't hurting them."

"And how do you suspect we do that?"

I shrug. "You're the spirit users. Do your thing."

Told you I'd get a chapter up soon. Thank you guys so much for the reviews! Definitely keep it up. They're motivation :)

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