I was so excited about all the positive feedback I've been receiving that I wrote straight through my lectures so I could post another update. Again, all comments are appreciated, even if it's just to chat!
Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy, Bloodlines, or any of the characters. All rights go to Richelle Mead.
For the first time since we had moved in together, I was awake before Dimitri's alarm clock. Though, instead of a modern clock, one that might play songs from the radio, or at least just beep at you, he had an antique. It was an honest to god clock that you had to wind up every night, and the incessant noise that it made whenever it went off set my teeth on edge and made for a rude awakening.
Our morning routine involved a lot of coaxing on his part and a lot of cussing on mine. I could usually be bribed to leave the warm confines of our bed with kissing, but the promise of breakfast was his most successful tactic yet
But not this morning, I was wide awake. A glance out of the window told me that it was still pretty early in the vampiric day. It was moments like this when I missed a human schedule the most. My eyes fell on Dimitri, and to my surprise, they were open. The look he gave me was full of love and compassion, so full that it made my heart ache.
"To what do I owe this pleasure?"
I rolled onto my side to face him, propping myself up on my elbow.
"Just thinking about what's going to happen today," I told him, absent-mindedly tracing the contours of his chest with my fingers.
"Roza, is what Adrian said true? Are he and Jill," he paused for a moment, "are they really bonded?"
"Seems that way, Comrade."
He let out a sigh, "It could have been worse, I know what happened isn't ideal…"
"Ideal?" I interjected, almost scoffing. "This is awful. It's bad enough that Adrian suffers the way that he does, his coping methods are even worse. And now Jill will experience all of that first hand."
I thought about all the times I had experienced Lissa's fear, her depression, her anger, every dark thought she ever had. Lissa had done a lot to negate the side effects of spirit. She had remained at least some what aware of how it could effect me. She had turned to anti-depressants and therapy, even avoiding spirit when she could. Adrian chose to drown his problems in gin.
"Adrian saved her life," Dimitri told me calmly. It always surprised me when Dimitri stood up for Adrian. He respected Adrian and knew that most people didn't give him enough credit.
"I know that, I'm just frustrated, and the way Lissa handled all this…"
"Lissa cares about Jill, you know that and Jill knows that. She is dealing with this the only way she knows how and with the resources she has."
I flopped face first onto the pillow. He was right, of course Sage Master Belikov was right. Dimitri brushed a lock of hair out of my face and tried to make eye contact with me.
"Come on Roza, I'll make us some breakfast and then we can go see Lissa and Christian."
I found myself knocking on the suite of Lissa's door about an hour later. Christian answered and gestured dramatically for Dimitri and I to enter. Usually Christian had no qualms with answering the door in his pajamas, so I was surprised to find him fully dressed in slacks and a nice shirt. Suddenly my jeans and thermal shirt made me feel out of place. Once I had made my way past Christian, I discovered the reason for his wardrobe choice. Apparently Dimitri and I were not the only guests they had been expecting.
"Ah, if it isn't my favorite daughter, the infamous Rose Hathaway," came a heavily accented voice from the living room.
"I'm your only daughter, Old Man." God, at least I hoped I was.
Abe Mazur was not some one I expected to find in my best friend's living room. But after pondering his connections and role in the Moroi world, I realized I shouldn't have been that surprised by his presence.
Lissa stepped out of the kitchen at the sound of my voice
"Rose, Dimitri, good I'm glad you're both here, we need to get started." Lissa took a seat in a chair across from the sofa where Abe sat and motioned for Dimitri and I to join them.
"Where's Jill?" I asked as I sat down next to Abe. "This is about her, she should be here."
Lissa shook her head at me, "We'll involve her later."
"She's already involved," I told her pointedly.
"Rose, please just let it go for right now."
I didn't respond and she took my silence for compliance. Dimitri had since joined me on the couch and squeezed my leg reassuringly.
"You don't need me here, I'm going to go check on Jill," said Christian as he strode forward and kissed the top of her pale blonde head. A brief look of anger flashed on Lissa's face before she answered.
"Okay, don't stay long."
I thought back to when Lissa had suspected that there was something going on between Christian and Jill. The idea was absurd of course, but it bothered Lissa none the less.
Christian left just as another person was joining us. Adrian walked in without muttering a word to anyone, he fell into an arm chair and looked up at everyone staring at him. He looked worse than I had ever seen him. The bags under his eyes were dark, and his skin hadn't regained any of its former color. Worst of all, he reeked. The scent of alcohol and clove cigarettes wafted off of him and seemed to fill up the room.
"Adrian! What were you thinking? What about Jill?" I asked him forcefully,
"I'm doing her a favor," he told me arrogantly. "Alcohol numbs spirit, thus numbing the bond."
"Not before giving her a second hand buzz!" I cried.
"You forfeited your right to tell me how to live my life when you shacked up with Belikov," he snapped, the words hitting me like a slap to the face.
Everyone in the room tensed and Abe eyed Dimitri and me. He didn't seem angry, he was almost amused? Abe Mazur was a complicated man.
"Stop it! Both of you! Adrian, Rose is right, you need to be a little more considerate of Jill now that…" Lissa didn't need to finish her sentence, we all knew what she was referring to.
"We need to talk about Jill's safety," Lissa started again. "Abe has an idea that I think will work." She looked at him as she spoke, signaling that he should start.
"After the events that transpired last night, it is obvious that Jill is no longer safe here at court. It is also obvious that the attack was an inside job. That is the only way an invasion of that magnitude could have been pulled off," Abe began.
"Do we have any leads?" Asked Dimitri.
"Hans Croft has been interrogating the Moroi all night with no luck. But any information they could give us won't change what's going to happen next. Jill cannot stay here."
"So what? Are we going to just ship her back to St. Vladimir's?" Adrian asked dryly.
"No academy is safe, Jill cannot have any contact with the Moroi world…"
"She can't stay at court, she can't go back to school, what are you going to do with her then? Ship her off to Tarasov?" Adrian's interruption startled everyone.
"Of course not," Lissa's voice was surprisingly gentle as she turned on Adrian. "I want her to have as normal a life as I can give her, but any environment that puts Jill in contact with the Moroi puts her at risk."
"Jill will be attending a human school and will live in a primarily human population."
My jaw dropped at Abe's words, I started to voice my concerns but Abe cut me off.
"She won't be alone. We will send her with guardians and will coordinate everything with the alchemists."
My mind started spinning. What Abe was saying made sense. When I had needed to keep Lissa safe, I had chosen to hide us both among the humans. We managed to evade detection for almost two years before an anonymous tip had set Dimitri and the other academy guardians on our trail. I almost smiled, thinking back to the night we had met. Coordinating with select guardians and having the alchemists on our side would go a long way in keeping Jill safe and hidden in the human world.
"Where would you send her?" Dimitri asked.
"I need to discuss the matter further with the alchemists and we'll hammer out the details then. I'll know more soon."
"Whose going with Jill?" This next question had come from Adrian.
"I'll go," I said without even thinking. "I'll go with her, I can pose as her sister or something."
"No," Lissa told me calmly. "I'll be starting school soon, I need you here, Rose."
"We can figure out the logistics later," Abe started. "Don't you have a counsel meeting soon Your Majesty?"
Lissa grimaced, "Yes, I'll need to make a statement concerning what happened last night."
We all stood up with her to leave.
"Vasilisa," Abe looked at her wearily. "No one can know all the details of what happened to Jill. Mention that she was hurt, but under no circumstances can you talk about her newly formed bond with Adrian, or our plan to sequester her away."
"Why cant they know about the bond?" I asked.
"Because whoever was behind last night's attack could use Adrian to get to Jill." The response came from Dimitri, and I could tell it hurt him to speak.
I thought back to the time some one had tried to take advantage of my bond with Lissa. That person had been Dimitri. When he was still strigoi, he had kidnapped Lissa as a way to draw me out. The look on his face told me he was thinking the same thing.
Although Dimitri had forgiven himself for what he had done as a strigoi, I knew the past still haunted him. It would sneak up on him sometimes, especially while we slept. Some nights I would wake up to find the bed empty, the sheets still warm from where he had lain. I would usually find him in the living room with his head pressed against the window, sunlight streaming in around him.
"I'll come with you," I told Lissa.
"Rose,your shift doesn't start until four."
"Right, of course."
"Maybe you should find Jill?" She offered. "Talk to her about the bond, but not about our plans so far." Her tone became stern.
"Come on, Roza, we'll go to Jill's and I can check in on Christian."
"Adrian would you…"
He looked at me with a sneer, "Save your breath, three is a crowd, I'll check on Jill later." He followed Abe and Lissa out of the door with Dimitri and me trailing after them.
Alright so this was a bit of a filler, but still a lot of pertinent information was given. We're getting so close to where the Bloodlines plot comes into play and I can't wait. I'm glad you guys liked the Romitri scene in the last chapter, I was worried about it. Now I just want to write more ;)