Disclaimer: I don't own Vampire Academy or the characters.

VA Chapter 9

I don't think any of them were happy about it, and I knew they'd all be watching me as I walked out of the club. I waited for a couple of minutes to make sure no-one decided to followed and then I snuck back in to meet up with Ambrose. He took me out through one of the feeding rooms, which grossed me out a bit and after going through the maze of hallways, I soon found myself back in the small room where Rhonda's 'receptionist' sat behind the desk.

Ambrose smiled at her, "Hi Suzanne, can we go straight in?"

"Yeah, your aunt's expecting you. Hello Ms Hathaway." She said with an almost evil grin. Quite unusual for a Moroi. She looked as happy to see me as she did last time.

"Hi," I said.

Rhonda's room hadn't changed. All that red everywhere still made the room look like some heinous crime had just been committed here. "Miss Hathaway, it's good to have you back with us. Have a seat....please." she motioned. "You were missed the last time the Princess was here. A lot has happened since I saw you last, no?"

She was good, I'll give her that. "Yes, a lot has happened. Rhonda, I need...."

She cut me off by reaching across the table wanting me to take her hands.

"No cards?" I asked.

"No, not yet." She smiled.

I put both of my hands in hers and looked her straight in the eyes. After a minute or two she narrowed her eyes and tilted her head to the side.

"What was valued the most has indeed been lost. But there is light at the end of the tunnel. You will destroy that which is undead." She'd said that last time too.... "But be careful, if self-control is cast off, then something else of value could be lost in the process." That sent a shiver right through my body and my soul. Letting my hands go, she then picked up the cards and gave them to me. I cut them as I did last time and handed them back to her. As the first card was put on the table, the Queen of Swords, it didn't look too bad.

"Hmm," said Rhonda, "You've seen great sorrow, great loss. You've also overcome adversity at the hands of men, but through this you've attained great inner wisdom and a sense of truth." That was chilling I thought. Next came the 'World' card and then without elaborating on it, she dealt the third card, 'Judgement'. I was almost afraid to know what they meant. Judgement didn't sound very promising. "This chapter of your life is coming to a completion, change is coming and with it, an awakening; a rebirth."

Overall, it all sounded almost promising, although I wasn't sure if I liked the card which foretold about an awakening.....that could be taken two ways. She did say before that something else of value could be lost. Could someone else I loved be destined to be 'awakened'.....? I suddenly had a very bad feeling come over me and it wasn't all to do with the cards.

"Thank you Rhonda," I said. "You've given me a lot to think about." Looking over to Ambrose who was sitting in the chair in the corner, I got up to leave. I could feel through the bond that Lissa was feeling very apprehensive about something, nervous. I needed to find her. "How much do I owe you?"

"No, this one's on the house. With a reading like that, it's the least I could do." Said Ambrose.

Uh oh...so it wasn't as good as it sounded.... I thought to myself, he didn't think it sounded like a good reading either. I thanked Ambrose and Rhonda and walked out into the night. I let myself go to Lissa, and saw that she was on her way back to the apartment. Damn! I said I'd be there before them, if I wasn't, they may get the idea that I had been somewhere other than 'getting some air', and I needed time to think about what Rhonda had said to me. I arrived ahead of them, but not by much. I really only had time to get myself a drink of water, sit down and relax my breathing when they all walked in.

"I'm telling you, she knew something was going on." Said Lissa in a very worried voice.

"I don't think so Cousin," said Adrian. "If she did, she wouldn't have let us leave without more questions or at the very least, following us back here."

Oh, this didn't sound good. "What's going on?" I asked.

"Mia asked why we were here and Adrian told her we were here to see his Aunt." Said Lissa. It didn't sound like anything to get worked up about to me....

"Yeah, and...." I said.

"Well she sort of worked out that if we were only here for a quick visit, then it must have been important...When I didn't elaborate, she jokingly asked if Adrian wanted to get permission to date you! That that would be the only reason why this trip was making you so nervous."

I nearly choked on my water! "What...what did you tell her?" Damn! I didn't think I was around her long enough for her to pick up my mood.

"Well, Eddie sort of said under his breath that it wasn't you who we were here to talk about." She said. "That only peaked her interest even more and you know when Mia gets a whiff of something, she doesn't let it go easily. What if she starts asking more questions, what if she goes asking people who are in the Queen's staff? I can't make everyone forget about our visit if there are others outside who know we were here. What if people smell a rat before we find the plans and leave?" She was starting to get worked up, her voice getting louder and louder.

"Lissa," I whispered looking into her eyes. "Calm down. We'll just have to plant a different reason for our visit in her head instead of making her forget. That's all....it'll all work out." I could feel myself getting worked up as I took her feelings from her.

"I'm worried Rose, we can't risk anyone else knowing what we're here for." She told me wordlessly. I returned a quick nod as my mother emerged from her room with a package.

"Hi Mom. What's that?" I asked.

"Don't know, it's addressed to you. Who knows you're here?" she asked.

"Only those at the Academy..." This was weird. Suddenly a flash of memory showed a different parcel and my heart sped up, one which also arrived not long after me getting back to school. I looked at the writing but didn't recognise it. Postage was from the states so that relaxed me a bit. But who would be sending me something here? I ripped open the top of the parcel and reached in. "What's this?" Pulling out what looked to be a dress, something about it seemed familiar. It was an ivory silk fabric with purple flowers painted on it. Where had I seen this?

"Oh, that's nice," said Lissa. "Who sent it?"

In a split second, it hit me. I felt my stomach fall to the floor and my heart beat so hard I thought it would burst through my chest. I remembered the dress I now held in my hand. It was the one I'd worn to surprise Dimitri, but I ended up being the one surprised when Nathan, with Inna in tow, came to 'take care' of me in my prison. I reached into the now empty parcel and pulled out a note.

I wasn't able to fully appreciate this dress the last time you wore it, so I thought we would give it another go, what do you say? Not long now, my Roza.
Until we meet again,
Forever Yours, D.

"He knows we're here." I whispered. The shock froze me where I stood. "He's here in the US, and he knows where I am." I gave the note to my mother and walked to the sliding door that led to the balcony. Staring out into the night, I felt Lissa's panic go through the roof and found myself sliding into her head before I could stop it. I hate it when I'm looking at myself through her eyes. I took a breath and came back to myself.

"Are you okay?" Adrian said softly at my ear. I could tell how much alcohol he'd consumed tonight as I nearly got drunk just from his breath.

I closed my eyes and sighed, "Yeah, I'm fine. We don't have much time Adrian. We may not have any time left. How are we going to get Victor out of jail, find Robert and then convince him to help us all before Dimitri catches up to me? We're not going to make it, are we?"

"Of course we've got time my sweet. You're Rose Hathaway, Almost Guardian Extraordinaire! You'll figure it out..." he said with a slur. "But if you don't, at least you'll look hot in that dress!"

I was so shocked with that last statement, I couldn't even reply. The control that Dimitri had so desperately tried to teach me must have been getting better as my balled up fist really wanted to break Adrian's nose! Dimitri would have been proud of me.

Right then a voice from behind said "There was no need for that," It was Eddie, "sorry Rose." His face was glowing red. He looked a bit worse for wear, obviously the effects of Adrian's drinking and spirit were starting to affect him. I wondered if Adrian had spoken to him yet.

"That's okay Eddie. I think Adrian needs to lie down for a bit, before I make him lie down." I gave him my best glare when I said that, but I don't think it had much effect on his alcohol drowned brain but he turned and walked to his room. "I need some air." I said going out to the balcony.

"No worries." Eddie said. "Want some company?"

"That would be great, thanks." I thought I'd ask him how he was going, it would keep me from going crazy thinking about the dress in the other room, and plus, I hadn't had much time to help him since Adrian bought him back from the dead. "How are you handling things Eddie?" I said when we sat on the balcony chairs.

"Not too bad I suppose." Eddie said. "Trying to deal with all these emotions isn't too easy though." He looked away then, knowing I knew what he meant. "I've lost count how many times I've found myself staring at you through his eyes. The first time was after we got back from the shopping trip."

Oh no....how much did he see..... I thought. This was getting so awkward....

"Sorry, I couldn't stop it. One minute we're all walking back to the dorms and then the next thing I knew, I was kissing you....well, he....we....ugh, you know what I mean," he said sheepishly. "I wasn't there for very long, but oh! How do you handle that?"

Ugh, this was definitely embarrassing. "You'll learn to block it. I did. Whenever our Moroi 'bond mates' have really strong emotions, it'll be enough to pull you into them. It can be at very inappropriate times too but I've learnt to recognise the feeling I get beforehand and I'm able to stop it from happening.... usually. Not when you're asleep though, your guards are down then, so that can be tricky. You'll also learn how to go into their minds by choice." I said.

"Ugh! Not likely...." he said screwing up his nose. "His dreams are bad enough. Though, the auras are pretty cool."

"You go into his dreams too?" I said amazed. "Can you communicate with him when you're there?"

"Yeah, I can, it's only happened once though, since we've been bonded. He just told me to take a hike though and then I was gone."

"The hardest thing to control is the anger." I said. "When they use their spirit, it normally comes into you slowly and I've learnt that I can get rid of a lot of the side effects in training, but sometimes, when they get really angry, it takes over them and when that happens it's up to you to take it out of them. But be ready for a tidal wave to crash into you. When Lissa was tortured by Jesse and Ralf, the blackness she had in her was the most frightening thing I've ever felt. More than any fear I've had when facing a Strigoi. The rage that enveloped me when I took it from her was.....primal. Pure, unadulterated, primal rage. Very scary and very hard to come out of."

A worried look cast over Eddie's face, but I needed him to hear this. I didn't have anyone explain it to me, so a lot of what I did could have been avoided if I'd been shown how to handle it all. At least I hoped it would help. "Thanks for telling me Rose. I'm not ashamed to say it's all been freaking me out a little."

"No worries, I'm glad to help. I'll help you anyway I can, just ask alright?"

"Sure thing. Rose, how do you see this all ending?"

I didn't know how to answer him. I honestly didn't know myself. I thought about it for a minute and then turned to face him and said, "Can I get back to you on that?"

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