After I was on my feet and the pain had subsided a bit, we were off towards Lissa's room. Dimitri half dragged me there, his strong arms nearly lifting me off my feet.
When we got to Lissa's room, the nurse was there. Guardian Borya was looking worriedly down at a thin pale body. "Lissa!" I said hurriedly, moving to her side. Her arm was bloody and the side of her cheek was red and would probably bruise. "What happened?" Her hand was a little colder than I liked. How much blood had she lost?
"She fainted."
"What happened to her arm? And her cheek?" Guardian Borya looked upset.
"She was holding a glass vase. And suddenly she froze and fell over. She landed on the vase and hit her cheek on her dresser. I never took my eyes off of her. I wasn't fast enough to catch her." The nurse shooed me away as she dressed the cuts on Lissa's frail arm.
"Why did she faint?" My question really wasn't directed at anyone, but the nurse answered.
"Dehydration, most likely." Lissa's eyes fluttered under her lids. I had a feeling it wasn't dehydration at all. "She just needs rest and water. She should be fine in a few hours. Save for a headache and battered arm." With a weary look to Dimitri, he understood. "Shouldn't you be in class?" The nurse asked me. Her dark gaze was narrowed. What, did everyone think I was a bad apple?
"She has independent training with me. Her evaluation is soon." A lie flowed from Dimitri's lips smoothly. The nurse had no reason to suspect it wasn't the truth. So she merely nodded and looked back to Lissa.
"I don't think Ms. Dragomir could do with any visitors. I think you should come back tomorrow." Everything in me was telling me to stay, to protect Lissa. But I knew I had to leave. So I let Dimitri steer me away, my heart still heavy with worry.
"What are we going to do?" Dimitri's face was unreadable.
"Nothing, right now. You're exhausted and you need sleep. Lissa will be well guarded through the night and we'll find out what happened in the morning." When I shot Dimitri a hardened stare, he merely shook his head. "An exhausted person makes for a sloppy fighter." He had a point there.
There were no dreams that night. Again, just blackness. Nothingness. Which in a way was just as disturbing. This darkness was eerie and still, the calm before the storm. Not welcome at all.
I was all too happy when Dimitri woke me. With a fast shower and a quick dressing, Dimitri and I were on our way to Lissa's room. We knocked, and deep rumbling voice asked us who it was.
"Guardian Belikov and Rose Hathaway." Dimitri said. Guardian Borya opened the door a crack and then a bit more.
"Is Lissa up?"
"Hey Rose." Lissa's voice was weak but light. Rose pushed through Guardian Borya and sat on the bed where Lissa was. She was dressed and her cheek and hand was all bandaged up.
"How are you feeling?" I asked, eyes taking in every inch of her. She seemed okay. I just wish I could touch her mind, just to make sure.
"I'm okay." She blinked twice. She was lying. I didn't know what to say. She didn't want to tell me, and I didn't want to ask in front of Guardian Borya. And he was going to be with her for a while. Or at least until the threat against us was vanquished.
"Does your arm hurt?" Her jade green eyes flickered down to her wrist and I saw a shiver pass through her.
"A little. But the nurse gave me some medicine." The atmosphere in the room was weird, almost awkward and tense. Lissa seemed weird around me, almost on edge.
"You know if you ever need to tell me anything, as crazy as it is, I'll listen. And I'll believe it if you do." Her eyes widened slightly before she caught herself. She seemed caught off guard by my statement.
"I know," she said simply. "We should probably get to class. We don't want to be late." She stood and I stood with her.
"Wait!" She did. "We should have one of our sessions at Adrian's tonight. He told me he had something to show you." He didn't, of course, but I think Lissa needed to know what was going on. Because I think she might be having nightmares as well.
"I don't know if I'm up to learn anything new, Rose."
"Come on…A little normalcy might do us good." I smiled softly. "We could even talk about what we're going to wear to the dance." Her features lightened a little.
"Alright. I guess it might be fun." The dreamy smile found a place on her lips. "Tell Adrian I'll be over at four."
"Okay. I'll see you at lunch?"
"Of course."
Once Lissa and I parted ways, Dimitri spoke. "There was something wrong with her." He commented, dark gaze far away.
"Yeah." I bit my nails. "We should probably tell Adrian we're coming over tonight."
"He doesn't know?" I shook my head.
"Nope."
"I'll take care of it."
By the end of the day, I could hardly keep still. Dimitri noticed. When no one was looking, he whispered lullabies in a language I didn't understand in my ear. It calmed me to a certain extent. But then again, everything seemed better when Dimitri was near me.
When we got to Adrian's, Lissa was already there. Her and Adrian were eating gummy worms and laughing like nothing was wrong. Personally, I found it a little odd. "Hey, mind if we join the party?" I asked upon entering. Adrian looked up and his haze free green eyes found mine.
"Take a seat." I did, and Dimitri went to stand with Guardian Borya. "Worm?" He asked, handing me the bag. I shook my head.
"I think we should all have a talk." Lissa and Adrian fixed their gazes on mine. I cast a look towards Dimitri and he nodded slightly. He began to talk to Guardian Borya, drawing his attention towards something random and out of earshot. "I've already told Adrian." I felt uncomfortable all of the sudden. From my lack of sleep and shot nerves, I couldn't seem to start. So Adrian started for me.
"Rose has been having visitors in her dreams." Lissa's gaze turned nervous. "And whoever is visiting her in her slumber, also seems to possess the ability to push others out."
"And block our bond." Lissa looked rather shocked at that.
"But how?" Here voice had taken on a soft tone, almost a whisper. This whole conversation was rather secretive.
"I don't know. But it happens. Every time I try to go into our bond, I hit a wall, a very painful wall."
"He's knocked me out of her dreams once, and that was not pleasant."
"He can also send me waking nightmare things." Both Adrian and Lissa looked surprised at that. "He's done it three times. I think they're real but then suddenly I wake up. I never realize I'd fallen asleep until I wake up screaming."
"When?" I shook my head.
"Yesterday was the last one." I made eye contact with Rose, holding her gaze. She looked away first. "What really happened last night, Lissa?" She swallowed.
"I can't say." She bit her lip and looked down.
"Why not?" I had moved closer to her, putting my hand on hers. She stiffened up. Her eyes stayed downcast. "Lissa. If you don't tell us anything, we can't figure out a way to make it stop."
"He threatened me." I felt a cold anger stir in my stomach. Lissa cleared her throat. "Said he could take you any time he wanted." The green in her eyes were overwhelmed with sadness, making my heart ache. "He said if I kept my mouth shut, and managed to ditch Guardian Borya this Friday, he'd let Rose go." The anger ignited within me and my fists clenched. My blood boiled.
"He's lying." She nodded.
"I know."
"Why didn't you tell me earlier?" She sucked in a lungful of air.
"At first, I was just getting whispers of things. Telling me to do things. I just thought my medication was wearing off. So I upped the dosage. Yesterday was the first time I had a, what'd you call it? Waking nightmare?" I nodded my head tightly.
"So, Friday then. He's planning something Friday." Adrian said, voice softer than both of ours.
"He can't touch us at school. Not with the wards up."
"No, not with the wards up." Realization lit up in all of our eyes.
"They're going to mess with the wards."
"Princess, you have a tutoring session with Dr. Anton." Lissa's gaze moved up to Guardian Borya. Dimitri was behind him. He shrugged. Guess he kept Borya busy for as long as he could.
"Right. Okay." When she looked back to us, she meant to tell us that this conversation wasn't over just yet. "Well. I'll talk to you guys tomorrow, I guess." There was a long stare thrown my way. She hugged Adrian and then pulled me tightly into her thin arms. "Please, be careful."
"Always. You be more careful." I squeezed her and she released me. With a weary smile, she left, leaving me with Adrian and Dimitri.
"What'd you figure out? You look worried." Dimitri asked, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall.
"We think something is going to happen on Friday." Dimitri's whole demeanor changed.
"Like what?" His tone had changed, urgency seeping into his voice.
"We don't know. What's going on Friday?"
There was hesitation before he spoke. "There is a meeting." More hesitation. "They're convening to decide whether or not we should move to a more secure location."
"Will there be Royals?" Dimitri nodded. "A lot?" Another nod.
"Some of them are already on their way. But the school is warded, there shouldn't be a problem."
"That's the thing, we think whoever is messing with Rose and Lissa, is going to mess with the wards." Darkness overtook Dimitri's features. Adrian mirrored his expression.
"This is going to get very bad. I can't believe I'm saying this, but we need to tell Kirova. Alert her somehow." All of the sudden, Lissa came bounding into the room, her rosy cheeks red and her chest heaving. Guardian Borya wasn't far behind her.
"Rose!" She called my name and I stood. "Something happened. There-" Her voice choked. "Come with me." She grabbed my hand and pulled me out the door. Adrian and Dimitri followed us.
"What happened?" I asked, a little breathless. She was surprisingly fast. Her grip was tight and cool on mine. Why were her hands so clammy?
Lissa lead us to the infirmary, almost hysterical. The infirmary was a madhouse. People were running around, solemn faced, and chaotic. "What's going on?" I asked, confused. No one answered. Apparently everyone saw the reason why we were there before I did. But I noticed eventually.
A woman with short red curly hair lay on a cot. Her eyes were closed and her skin was startlingly pale. Her lips were parted and her chest rose in short gasps of breath. Other than that, she wasn't moving. Her neck was a mess of torn skin and blood. Her top was stained a bright ugly red.
The air seemed to be knocked out of me at. My surroundings spun and my head clouded. I muttered one word before my knees gave out. "Mom."
