Dimitri –

"Roza, slow down – what do you mean you saw him again?"

She let out an exasperated sigh before answering, "The alchemist guy! The one I told you about last week?"

"Ah," I said, realization dawning on me. "The one from the gym?"

"Yes, the one from the gym," she said, not bothering to mask her annoyance.

Last week, Roza had left me a frantic voicemail, telling me that she had been approached by an alchemist at the end of her workout. When I had called her back, she told me how he had warned her, that she was drawing too much attention to herself. I had tried explaining that she shouldn't have been surprised by the presence of alchemists on Lehigh's campus, and that he was just doing his job. She hadn't taken that very well though, and as punishment, she decided to limit our communication to one word text messages. This phone call was the first time I had heard her voice in a week.

"Roza," I started off slowly, not wanting to say anything to set her off again. "The alchemists are on our side, I don't understand why you're so bothered by him. Sydney's an alchemist, isn't she?"

"She doesn't count," grumbled Rose. "And I asked Mynor, the guardians didn't coordinate with the alchemists on Lissa's protection at Lehigh."

"The alchemists still know she's attending school there though, I'm not surprised at all that they would station an alchemist on sight," I told her, as I sat down on one of the steps outside of Adrian's apartment.

Sonya and I had decided to come here earlier than we usually did to set up for the day's experiments. Adrian hadn't been too pleased, but didn't really have a choice now that we had keys to his apartment.

"I guess you're right," came her reluctant response a few moments later. "Something about him just rubs me the wrong way though, I don't like the guy. He's so boring and calm, he's like a serial killer right before they snap and go on a rampage."

I smiled, but only because I knew she couldn't see me. Roza probably wouldn't appreciate my being amused at her feelings toward some poor human. "Just ignore him," I finally offered.

"Fine," she said, a little distracted. "But there's something else I need to talk to you about."

The apprehension in her voice made me tense up, "What is it?"

She hesitated, and then spoke. "I fell asleep in class the other day,"

"Roza…" I started, ready to chastise her.

"No wait," she cut in. "Just listen. I fell asleep, I know - I'm a bad student and Im wasting this wonderful opportunity and I'm a horrible guardian – but that's not the point."

"I didn't say – "

"I think Robert tried to pull me into a spirit dream."

My blood ran cold at her words. "That's not possible," was all I managed to say.

Vasilisa had made us each a spirit charm to prevent that exact thing from happening. No one, especially Robert Doru, should have been able to contact Roza in a dream.

"He didn't though!" She said. "I think something went wrong."

I ran a hand through my hair in frustration, dislodging my ponytail. "What do you mean went wrong?"

I hated that we were having this conversation on the phone, I should have been there with her. The war in my mind that pitted duty against my personal feelings raged on.

"The dream never fully formed, it was all black…and the locket felt like it was on fire."

"Does Vasilisa know about this?" I asked, remembering how Rose preferred to keep these kinds of incidents to herself.

"Yeah," she said, a tinge of bitterness in her voice. "She was kind of…there."

"In the dream?"

"No, she was sitting next to me. She woke me up."

"What does she think about all of this?"

Rose paused. "She thinks the magic in the locket is fading, she wants to make more, or to at least reinforce the old one." She sounded conflicted at the idea of Vasilisa using spirit to protect her.

"Let me guess," I said, standing up to lean against the front door of Adrian's building. "You won't let her."

"I can't ask her to do that, the magic will keep fading, and she'll just keep making more charms. Using the magic like that, for an extended period of time is dangerous."

It seemed that Spirit, or more specifically, the effects of spirit, was at the root of all my problems lately.

"Rose," I told her sternly. "You have got to stop this – "

A loud beeping noise from my phone interrupted me. I pulled the phone away to glance down at it and saw that I had an incoming call from Eddie.

"What's wrong?" asked Rose.

"Nothing, Eddie's trying to call me, that's all," I told her, not wanting to change the subject. "Rose, promise me you will let Vasilisa help you."

"You should pick up the other line, I have to go anyways," she said, avoiding my request.

"Rose – "

"I'll call you later. Love you, bye!" She spoke so quickly that I was barely able to make out her words.

I pulled the phone away again and stared at in disbelief. I let out a curse before calling Eddie back. He answered on the first ring.

"Guardian Belikov," he said, all business.

"Eddie," I started. "You know you can call me Dimitri."

"Dimitri," he said, sounding like his tongue was stuck to the roof of his mouth. "I was calling to let you know that I need to cancel on the experiments today."

I blinked back my surprise, this was not like Eddie, who was fiercely dedicated to our cause. "Is something wrong?"

"No, something came up," he said. "Something I need to take care of."

There was no tension in Eddie's voice, and I had no reason to think he would lie to me. Whatever his reason for skipping the experiments, it was probably a good one. "Okay," I told him. "Be sure to give me a call if anything changes."

"Yes, Guardian Belikov, I'll let you know."

I didn't bother correcting him again. I slipped the phone back into my pocket before returning to Adrian's living room. Sonya sat in her usual spot at the kitchen table, typing away furiously at her laptop. Adrian say next to her and was sifting through some of the papers spread out before him on the table. Sonya's eyes flicked to me and she smiled.

"Was that Rose?"

I shook my head, "That was Eddie, he said he couldn't make it today."

Sonya frowned, "Did he say why?"

Adrian answered before I could "He's probably taken his new found talent of sitting absolutely still for six hours straight else where. Come to think of it…he would make the perfect nude model. I'll have to let a few of my classmates know."

My lips formed into a tight line, "He didn't say."

Sonya brought her hand up to cover what I thought was the ghost of a smile.

Adrian stood up from the table, "I guess that means we're done for today. I for one am heartbroken."

Sonya let out a sigh and then closed her computer. "I should try to give the greenhouse another call."

"God, please, no more wedding talk," said Adrian, bringing his hands up to clutch the sides of his head. "You're fabric swatches are all over my coffee table, by the way."

"Ah," she said, her eyes brightening. "I've been looking for those. What did you think of the purple color?"

Adrian let out a defeated sigh, "It's beautiful."

I pulled out a chair and joined them.

Sonya turned her gaze on me, "Have you seen it?"

I shook my head, "I'm sure Adrian is right though."

He scoffed at my words, "You don't strike me as a purple kind of a guy. I thought you would choose the colors that adorn the flag of Mother Russia!" He puffed out his chest and used a surprisingly convincing Russian accent.

I had made the mistake of telling Sonya about wedding ceremonies in Russia in the presence of Adrian. He had made it his sacred mission to crack jokes on the subject every chance he got. I tried not to glare at him, I would rather Adrian make fun of me than stare daggers at me like he usually did. It seemed like progress to me.

Sonya glanced down at her watch, "Sydney should be back soon."

Adrian perked up at the sound of Sydney's name, "Is she coming here?"

"No," I told him as I stood up from the table. "No experiments today, you're heartbroken about it, remember?"

He narrowed his eyes in a scowl, "Right."

"You're still going to pick her up from the airport, right?" asked Sonya.

"I don't see why not," I said, digging through the pocket of my duster for the keys to the rental car.

"Good," said Sonya. "I can hang out here with Adrian until you get back."

"You can stay," said Adrian as he sauntered over to the couch and flopped down onto it. "But hands off my hair gel, that stuff is expensive."

Sonya rolled her eyes and then waved goodbye to me before padding barefoot into the kitchen.

…

The Palm Springs airport wasn't too crowded when I arrived. I circled the parking lot a few times, keeping my eyes peeled for a petite blonde girl with a golden lily tattoo. On my third loop, I saw her sitting on the curb. Her elbows were propped up on her elbows, and her head was cradled in her hands. I parked in the loading zone and jumped out of the car. Once I had gotten a little closer to where she sat, I saw that her eyes were closed. The sight was almost comical and I tried not to laugh.

"Sydney," I called out to her.

Her lids fluttered open and she sat up a little straighter. She seemed a little confused at first, perhaps trying to recall how she had ended up sleeping outside of an airport. Before she could make a move to stand, I grabbed her suitcase and opened the trunk of the rental with the clicker.

"You don't have to do that," she said, following me to the car.

"Of course I do," I told her with a smile. "You looked like you were asleep."

"I should be so lucky," I heard her mutter before climbing into the passenger seat.

This time I did chuckle as I joined her in the blue rental.

"Thanks for the ride," she said. "I could've called a taxi."

"It's no problem," I told her, as I drove out of the airport parking lot. "Sonya insisted. Besides. No experiments today."

She furrowed her brows together at my words, a frown on her face. "Adrian?" she guessed.

"Partially. We're also missing out control subject. Eddie said he had some conflict and couldn't make it."

Sydney looked troubled. "What conflict could Eddie have? Is Jill okay?" Panic had risen in her voice and she was staring at me with wide eyes.

"She's fine," I assured her. "I'm not sure what's going on, but Eddie wouldn't be away without good reason."

She let out a sigh, "I suppose not," she conceded, though the tension was still there in her words.

"You worry as much as me," I told her. "I didn't think that was possible."

I might have been teasing Sydney, but I meant what I'd said. She was always asking questions, making sure everyone was okay, arranging for their transportation and for their meals. She did all of that, and she never complained.

"It's my job to worry. I always have to make sure everyone's okay."

I glanced over at her, she was obviously exhausted, and I was suddenly partially grateful that the experiments had been cancelled if it meant she could get some well deserved rest. "Sometimes it's not a bad thing to make sure you're okay too. You might find it actually helps others."

She scoffed. "Rose always joked about your 'Zen Master Wisdom.' Am I getting a taste of it?" Now she was teasing me. "If so, I can see why she was helpless against your charms."

I couldn't help but laugh at the thought of Roza explaining to Sydney why she had fallen for me, the thought of her made my heart beat faster. "I think so," I told her, still thinking about Roza. "If you ask her, she'll claim it was the staking and decapitation. But I'm sure it was the Zen wisdom that won her in the end."

Sydney let out a yawn just as I pulled up in front of her dorm at Amberwood Prep.

"Here we are," I said, turning to watch her unbuckle her seatbelt. "You should get some rest."

"I'll try, but I need to find out what's going on with Eddie first." Something about her tone made me think that she wasn't going to rest any time soon.

"If you can find him, you should bring him over tonight, and we can see about getting a little work done. Sonya would love it. She has some new ideas."

She exited the vehicle and then turned to look at me. "I'll see what I can do."

Hey everyone! So I finally figured out what the They Come First Awards are. You guys are so incredible and I saw that a lot of you nominated my stories, thank you so so much! I think it's a really great idea and I hope that when the polls go up, it will give us all the opportunity to discover some fics we maybe wouldn't have read otherwise. Also, as far as voting goes, if you only plan on voting in one category for whatever reason, make sure it's in the Best Author category, and that it's for Gigi256. Who also deserves the title of Extremely Kind and Always Supportive. Go read her work if you haven't. Okay, end rant.