*Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy, Richelle Mead does!*
Dimitri's Point of View
I was still trying to wrap my head around what Rose had told me. Natalie knew who she was. I believed Rose when she said that Natalie wasn't going to say anything… yet, but that didn't do anything to alleviate my worries.
After Rose had told me everything, I just held her and tried to think of the solution. I knew that this had to end. And soon.
"Okay," I said after more than an hour had passed.
Rose looked up at me confused. "Okay?" She asked confused.
I looked down at her. "We're going to talk to Natalie… tomorrow," I told her. The wheels in my head were spinning.
"What's this whole we and talk thing?" She asked me.
"Well, you will be talking to her. I will be standing within earshot. The moment she steps out of line, I will step in, take it up with Headmaster Kirova. It's her word against mine. Evan will take my side," I told her confidently. "Natalie will be suspended for threatening a student and if you ask her what she's doing to Lissa, I'll be able to tell Evan about that too. That will change Natalie's punishment to expulsion. Evan can't risk harm befalling the last Dragomir."
Rose shook her head at me. "Dimitri, you don't know Natalie. That won't work. She'll either know you're listening or she'll get away with it. Then she'll be after you too. That can't happen," Rose told me.
I shook my head. How much trouble can one seventeen year old girl possibly cause? Well, other than Rose. I don't believe anyone can cause as much trouble as Rose. "This is the only way to fix this problem. I will not risk yours or Lissa's safety anymore. You are far too important to me. I saw what she did to Lissa; that will not happen to you. This will be Natalie's last night in this school," I told her.
Rose was looking at me with a strange expression on her face. After several moments, she nodded. "Okay," she agreed.
I looked at her suspiciously. "You're agreeing with me?" I asked her. She had to be up to something. She wouldn't usually just let it go without a fight.
"You're already set on this. I could see it. I've never seen you this determined before." I must have looked extremely confused, because Rose hastily explained. "It's not that I haven't seen you determined before, but not like this. You looked like nothing would convince you otherwise. So rather than having you sneak behind my back and do something that might get you fired, I figured this was a better alternative. At least now, I know I have to worry about you."
I just stared at her. I always had known that Rose knew me better than I knew myself. And some part of me had already been planning how to make sure Rose was safe even if she completely refused my idea. But I will never understand how she could possibly know these things. A smile broke out on her face as she took in my expression. "I'm smarter than I look Comrade," she told me and stuck out her tongue at me. I rolled my eyes at her. The amusement vanished from her face as she chewed her lip. If you don't mind cancelling training tomorrow, I'll talk to her after school. That way we'll be alone in a classroom rather than out in the open where there may or may not be witnesses. I don't know what she wants, but I don't want an audience."
"How will you let her know when you want to meet?" I asked her uncertainly. I had figured that Rose was going to wait for Natalie to come to her.
"The same way she got her little message to me. I'm very adept at note-passing," Rose pointed out. I had to hold back my chuckle. I had witnessed it several times. It seemed all she and Lissa did was pass notes back and forth in the classes they shared. I don't know how they managed to learn anything at all. Knowing Rose, she didn't and was just very good at guessing.
"Fair enough," I told her. I would leave the semantics to her. She probably wouldn't tell me the little details anyway. I turned to look at the clock. It was 2:00 am. "Let's try and get some sleep. We'll need it…" I hesitated, then decided it was worth it. "And we might as well go all out and cancel training all day tomorrow."
Rose chuckled and snuggled into my chest. I could feel her yawn into my shirt. "Is Mr. Bad Ass guardian really suggesting I go an entire day without any work-out," she teased me with a sleepy smile.
"Oh Roze," I said with a chuckle. "I have no intention of letting you do absolutely no work-out tomorrow."
Rose looked up at me confused. "But you said…" She trailed off and realization bloomed on her face as well as a deep scarlet color than often accompanied her whenever she missed my blatant innuendos.
I laughed outright. Then I kissed her forehead and lay down, holding her securely in my arms. "Goodnight Roza," I told her gently.
"Night 'Mitri," she told me, stifling her yawn. It was a sign of how exhausting these last few weeks were that Rose was able to quickly succumb to sleep despite the anxiety she was feeling about confronting Natalie tomorrow.
Listening to the soothing sounds of Rose's sleepy breathing, I eventually felt myself drifting off into the peace and oblivion of sleep.
We overslept the next morning. Not by a lot, I was still on time for my responsibilities, but it was a close shave. I skipped breakfast and took the quickest shower I had ever taken and still had had to run to the gym to be on time for my shift.
I wasn't entirely surprised when Rose arrived, nearly twenty minutes late for class. I had made sure she was awake before I left, but she took forever to get ready in the morning. Her short hair was messy, telling me she had skipped brushing it, in favor of turning herself into a man and not being more late than she already was.
I shot her a small smile, which she returned before she joined Christian. She immediately jumped into the exercises they were practicing and I saw her talking to him. Suddenly Christian froze, his eyes widening. Rose put her hand on his shoulder sympathetically. Why, oh why couldn't I have been earlier so I could take my usual post by their group? I was almost positive that Rose had told him what she had seen with Lissa last night.
I watched as Kelvin Holt, one of our newer guardians, approached them to ask them if anything was wrong.
I saw both Rose and Christian nod. I don't know what excuse they gave Guardian Holt, but I saw that he bought it as he walked away, back to his post.
Rose and Christian resumed their training, but it was at a slower pace this time, both of them whispering back and forth. To anyone else, they would look perfectly ordinary, but I knew Rose was filling Christian in on everything that had happened and was doing it so he wouldn't freak out again.
The second class was over, Christian went to Emile and told him he really wasn't feeling well. Emile took one looked at the pained expression on Christian's face before he excused him. Christian had never asked for a day off before. I saw Rose's worried expression trail after him. She walked over to Emile as well. I don't know how she managed it. She had skipped this class so many times, but Emile also let her out.
"Belikov," Emile called.
I walked over to him. "Yes?" I asked him.
"Hemmingway went to check on Ozera. He did look pretty bad. Think you can go check on him as well?" Emile asked me.
I tried not to let my glee show on my face. This was just perfect. Keeping my face stoic and emotionless, I nodded. "I'll let you know how he's doing," I told him.
"Thanks," Emile said abruptly before he turned to the rest of the class.
I walked at a normal pace until I exited the gym. Then I ran. I didn't go to the dorm, I knew that would be pointless. No, I went to the academic building. When I got there, I heard shouting from a classroom I knew should be empty.
"No, it's my turn to talk," a voice that sounded vaguely familiar said.
"I think you've talked enough Natalie. Now it's my turn," an all too familiar voice said.
I felt my blood run cold. This was not the plan at all.
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