Here's the next chapter everyone - and look, it's my longest chapter yet! Thank you all for your reviews so far, so keep them coming!
Disclaimer: I don't own it.
Chapter Two
I turned my head to look where Christian had indicated and, I'll be honest, I wasn't prepared for what – or rather who – I saw. I guess I should have known that there was no way I wouldn't end up coming face to face with him again. I think it was part of his job or something – well, in a sense of the word. He was his own boss, my mother had told me.
His tan skin and dark hair made me recognize him instantly. Or maybe it was that certain air he had about him, that he was an all-powerful man. Hey, he may be my father, but he's kind of conceited, I'll admit. Maybe that's where I get that trait from.
I looked at Lissa and Christian and said, "I'll be right back." I was half hoping that they would find this as an excuse to talk to one another and, hopefully, make amends.
They looked at me with confusion, but I got up anyway and walked towards the door, ignoring others watching me. I was starting to get used to it after I'd been away for seemingly so long without so much as a word of my whereabouts. It was kind of expected I suppose.
My mother caught me in here peripheral vision as I walked to the door, looking between them. She said something to Abe that I couldn't quite hear and he, too, turned to look at me.
"Rose…don't you have to go to the quad? Guardian Petrov is probably waiting for you," she said to me, looking almost like a deer caught in the headlights – a first for my mother.
I looked at her and shook my head, "No, not for another ten minutes," I told her, trying to figure out why she was looking uncomfortable all of a sudden. I turned my attention to Abe who was standing there quietly the entire time. "What are you doing here?" I asked him. My tone wasn't rude, just curious.
"Rose," my mother said, looking at me with that I-am-your-mother-do-as-I-say look. It was obvious she wanted me to give them a moment to talk, but I ignored her as Abe looked down at me.
"I am here because of you," he said simply. "I received word from one of my…ah, 'friends'," he said, and I knew what friends he was talking about. He was talking about those big guardians he'd had with him when I'd been trying to stop Viktoria from staying with the Moroi guy who'd been a total and complete scumbag. I tried not to think of it as Abe continued, "that there is someone who is keeping their eye on you. I don't know who it is yet, but I do know it's someone that you obviously know. They are reporting to your Strigoi…Dimitri, isn't it? Yes, well, they're reporting your whereabouts to him. I have several people keeping a 'watch' out on him and he's making plans to move in on you," he finished.
My mother looked at him like he was Einstein reincarnated or something. The guy was smart and had his resources, I had to admit, as much as I was grudging to.
My mother instantly tensed up, a sign that she was surprised. It was almost inconspicuous, but I had caught it, and when Abe's eyes flickered to her before moving back to me, I could tell he noticed it too. "But…no," my mom said, shaking her head. "There's no way. How could we not notice someone keeping tabs on Rose and reporting back to Dimitri? And besides, he can't get into the school grounds because of the ward."
"Wards can be broken," Abe and I said at the same time, but we didn't acknowledge it. I pursed my lips slightly in thought. I was disturbed, to be honest. Yes, after all I'd been through, and all I had seen, this out of everything disturbed me. Not everyone was innocent, though. Even though the Academy was a safe place, I still had my enemies. Jesse Zeklos and his buddy Ralf, to name a few; there were a few others that I wasn't on completely friendly terms with, but still, I didn't think any of them would be helping a Strigoi try to kill me – particularly Dimitri.
Hell, Dimitri scared half of them while he was my soft-hearted mentor – I could just imagine how they would be if they encountered him while he was a Strigoi. They would probably run away screaming to hide under their blankets.
Finally, Abe broke my train of thought as he said, "Stay unattached to others here."
I looked at him. "But I can't stay unattached from Lissa," I told him stubbornly. "She's my bondmate. It's impossible. Lissa is the one I can trust. I can trust Christian and Adrian too."
After all, Adrian was the one who had kept popping into my dreams while I was away just to make sure I was okay. Not to mention he had feelings for me that was more than that of friends. He was a good, trustworthy guy. Christian was too, if he would just stop being a stubborn jackass and talk to Lissa again.
Abe sighed, "Alright, fine, but only those three. None others," he said, looking dead serious. He was lethal, so you can obviously see the pun in that.
My mother nodded in agreement with him. "Rose, you can't go outside of the Academy," she said. "It's too dangerous. At least not without other guardians with you."
I opened my mouth to protest that I had killed tons of Strigoi – more than was countable. Alberta had actually finally gotten the exact number out of me from when I was gone – I had told her that it was more than thirty. Instead of getting thirty little molnija marks on my neck, she told me that I would just get another star – it was mainly used for when you killed a large number of Strigoi in battle. I liked the idea of one little star on my neck than a whole bunch of little molnija marks. That would hurt like hell and take forever to do. I was supposed to get mine tomorrow since it was Saturday and we didn't have classes.
Before I could actually protest, however, my mother cut me off, "I know, Rose. I know you've taken down a lot. But I'd feel better if you had more guardians with you if you have to leave the Academy's wards. Okay?"
I heaved a sigh and nodded my understanding. "Yeah…okay," I said almost grudgingly.
I heard someone approach behind me and I turned to see it was Alberta. She was dressed in her normal combat attire – sweatpants for maximum flexibility and a loose t-shirt that wouldn't slow her down. "Rose? Are you ready for practice?"
I nodded to her before glancing at my mother and Abe. "Yeah, I'm ready," I said. "See you later," I added to the other two and followed Alberta to the gym. I put my bag down in the corner before moving over to the mat where she was already waiting. She may have been getting up there in age, but she could really kick some major ass.
"That was Ibrahim," she noted as I took up my defensive stance.
I gave a nod. "I know," I said, my voice taking on a quiet tone. "I know who he is. Could we not talk about it right now?" I asked, wanting to focus on the lesson for now.
"Of course," Alberta replied as she took an offensive stance, getting ready to attack me. We had been having the lessons for the past two weeks that I'd been back at the Academy. She told me just yesterday that I was multiple levels above the other senior novices.
When our lesson was over, Alberta and I parted and I went off to find Lissa. I could feel her channeling her spirit magic through the bond. It didn't do anything to me of course. I could just feel her becoming overwhelmed with that indescribable feeling she got whenever she used her magic. I was so focused on Lissa's feelings that I didn't even notice until I rounded the corner and ran straight into Adrian.
A low chuckle escaped his lips before he said, "Easy there, little dhampir."
I rolled my eyes slightly at the nickname he'd insisted upon giving me but I smiled a little. "Adrian," I said as a way of a greeting. "I didn't think you'd be up yet – figured you'd have hit the liquor cabinet too hard last night," I added in a joking voice.
"I was putting the finishing touches on that paper I was writing – you know, that one you said I had to do to date you," Adrian said, smirking at me as he handed the paper over. Actually, it was four pages stapled together.
My eyes went big. I had never written a four page paper for anything in my life, and he wrote one on why he should date me? The guy was crazy, I knew, but I hadn't known he was this crazy: over me, apparently. "Holy crap," I said, looking at the papers, seeing that every inch – besides the top and bottom since his printer settings obviously didn't print that far up – was filled with words. "You wrote all this?" I questioned, and Adrian laughed at the look of what must have been astonishment on my face.
Adrian nodded, "Yeah…it wouldn't have taken so long, but…" he gave a shrug as a placeholder for his words and I smiled.
"I'll read it tonight," I told him as I put it in my bag.
Adrian smiled at me, his deep emerald eyes sparkling. "Great," he said, looking more chipper than normal after my words. "I'll let you get to your class…so I'll see you later," he said, moving out of my way before he started walking down the hall.
I shook my head, a smile on my lips as I continued down the hall to where my Bodyguard Training class was with our instructor Stan Alto. After what had happened in Spokane, he'd been more…respectful towards me, and it shocked me. But he had become even more so after the attack on the Academy. It was a pretty good feeling, being given acknowledgement other than the cocky girl in the back row.
I walked into my class and took my seat. I already knew the technique he was talking about, so I spaced out for the moment, putting myself in Lissa's head.
She was walking to the chapel since it was her free period. She wanted some time alone from the other kids to have a chance to think. When I was in her head, I was experiencing all her thoughts and emotions…and at the moment, her heart was aching longingly for Christian. She missed him deeply and just wanted to work things out, but he wouldn't talk to her lately. He had barely said anything to her since the day he found out that she had kissed Aaron.
I personally thought it was kind of childish of him to hold the grudge for this long – I mean how hard would it be to just talk it out with her? Not very.
Lissa climbed the steps into the chapel's attic before she stopped when she reached the top, standing at the entrance of the room. "Oh…sorry," she mumbled as she turned back around to leave.
Christian sighed and stood up from the crate he'd been sitting on and said, "Lissa, wait."
Okay, so there it is. Tell me what you think!! That means review, review, review!!
