Thank you so much for the positive feedback! Those reviews really keep me going...I've turned into a review-addict! My favorite part about uploading now is wondering what my readers will say... I think that's the great part about FanFiction. It's a "live" thing, so it's really beneficial to the author, and (hopefully) the reader!

Anyways, thank you again! I can't wait to read what you will say about this chapter. Oh, and a heads-up...I kind of left you guys hanging... :)

CHAPTER 10

Viktoria, Lexi, and I arrived at exactly six o'clock at Lissa's. Christian answered the door, and was attacked by the twins, who threw themselves into his arms at the same time. He stumbled backward. I stepped around him and found Lissa in the kitchen. Adrian was next to her, helping her chop something.

Hmm, that was an unusual sight.

I cleared my throat but neither of them turned around.

"I sensed you as soon as you were at the door. I know you're here."

Of course. Spirit.

"Hello to you too, Adrian."

Lissa turned around with a weary smile and said, "Ignore him. He's in a bad mood tonight."

I frowned. "Why?" Usually Adrian was always mellow. I had rarely seen him upset.

"I'm right here," he snapped. "Don't pretend I'm not."

I immediately grew defensive. "Lose the attitude. The girls are here. I don't want them to see you like this."

He sighed and then turned to face me. "Sorry. Where are they?"

I gestured toward the main living area. "Last I saw, they tackled Christian."

Adrian brushed past me gently, obviously looking to find solace with my girls.

I walked closer to Lissa, who was bustling around the kitchen. "What's wrong with Adrian?" I asked her.

She kept her back to me while she mixed the salad. "I'm sure it's nothing."

I frowned at her accusingly. I felt that there was definitely more to it than that, but she obviously wasn't interested in sharing. Sighing, I leaned lazily against the island. "So, what was that news you wanted to tell me?" I fought to keep my voice steady. I was just now realizing just how concerned I was about this news.

Lissa didn't turn around. Distractedly, she said, "Not now, Rose."

I was impatient. She knew better than to taunt me like that. I reached into the bond, searching for the news she had been planning to tell me.

But there was nothing there. She was blocking me out.

I scowled in frustration and couldn't withhold my comment. "Why are you blocking me out?" I demanded.

Lissa finally spun around to face me. Her face was contorted into a scowl mirroring mine, but her jade green eyes held no concern like my dark eyes did. She was simply angry with me.

"Because I want to be the one to tell you, instead of you finding out through this stupid one-way bond!"

I didn't need the bond to know that Lissa's outburst was due to the darkness. I quickly reined in my own temper and then tried to talk her down. I hadn't sucked the darkness from her in four years, for fear of a repeat of the last time I'd become overwhelmed.

"All right," I said quietly. "I'm sorry. But could you at least try to level with me here? You sounded…edgy on the phone earlier. I'm worried about you." I paused, making sure I wasn't agitating the darkness more. "Did something happen with Christian? Is there a problem with the wedding?"

Lissa's and Christian's wedding was coming up soon. It was hard to believe that she was already tying the knot, but I supposed I shouldn't be surprised. She and Christian were madly in love and had been since they first started dating. It just seemed too fast to me; Lissa and I had planned on spending our lives together, me as her guardian and her as my best friend. I guess that was how it technically worked out…plus, I had been the first one to stray from the path by having twins.

Lissa sighed, groaning in frustration. The darkness seemed to be gone, but she was still stressed about something. I wished she would tell me, but I couldn't keep pressuring her. Putting her under more stress would only encourage the darkness. To my utter disappointment, she brushed me off again. "Not now, Rose."

I was frustrated but fighting to keep my temper in check. I had to be strong for Lissa, and if that meant having to deal with her silence, then I would.

Even though it killed me.

I bit my tongue, trying my hardest to exercise restraint. I had just gotten through telling myself that I would do that for Lissa, no matter what, yet I was still fidgeting uncomfortably. For my sake, I had to find out.

"Lissa!" I groaned. "Why won't you tell me?"

"Drop it, Rose!"

I had never heard Lissa get so loud before. It was almost like a roar. I paused, stunned, but then grew defensive.

"Why don't you stop acting like a diva and get over yourself?" I snapped.

Darkness flared within Lissa again and she opened her mouth to shout back at me. We were both tense and coiled to attack when Christian came into the room and took a halting stance between us.

"Hey!" he snapped. "What the hell is going on between you two?"

Lissa and I were still glaring at each other. Christian had to repeat his question. "We could hear you two all the way at the front of the house! Viktoria and Lexi are freaking out!"

My motherly instincts kicked in. My anger expelled in a rush of air and I sighed. Lissa, too, seemed to deflate at the mention of my kids.

Christian, watching us calm down, turned to his fiancée after a tense moment and said, "Liss, tell her."

I felt the bond start to flicker back. Her blockage was faltering.

With a heavy sigh, Lissa groaned, "We have to reschedule the wedding."

I felt my jaw drop. "Why?" I demanded. "What on earth happened?"

Christian took over, seeing how distraught Lissa was over the news. "Well, there were two options. We could either have our wedding on the date we originally planned, here, at Court, or we could reschedule it for a later date at our desired location."

I narrowed my eyes. "Did Tatiana arrange this?"

Lissa wouldn't meet my gaze as she muttered, "It's because of the guardian shortage."

I flinched as I realized part of why she had been blocking me. True, she had wanted to tell me herself. It was something big that she had needed me to be there as a friend for, not as a bondmate. But the other part was that she held me responsible in a tiny space of her mind. She associated me with the guardian shortage and the lack of a plan that could remedy this.

There were some times when I really hated the bond. I would have been much happier going on in ignorant bliss.

Feeling a new burden on my shoulders, I breathed out heavily. "Oh, Liss," I whispered. "I'm so sorry."

Lissa met my eyes slowly, stress making her face look weary. "I didn't mean to lash out at you," she apologized. "I'm just unhappy about my wedding."

Christian rubbed her back soothingly and then said in his old-fashioned Christian-charm, "So are you two done being brats? Can I leave you two alone, or do I have to worry about the house burning down?"

I sent a playful glare his way. "That's your territory, Sparky."

Lissa seemed to still need to vent. "I'm just so tired of having to put my life on hold while everyone else tries to sort through their shit," she groaned.'

I bit my cheek to refrain from commenting. Yeah, I thought bitterly, join the club.

Adrian was suddenly leaning lazily against the doorjamb. "So you told her?"

I spun around, embarrassed that I had been so preoccupied that I had completely missed his presence.

Lissa nodded. "She knows about how the drama at Court is restricting my wedding, what with the age decree and the shortage of guardians." I heard Lissa place the emphasis on those two topics.

Something flashed in Adrian's eyes. I thought it was because he felt a little guilty, too. He was, after all, Tatiana's nephew, and he admired her just as much as she admired him, yet here she was screwing with his friend's life, and he felt somewhat responsible. I was proud of him for being so mature.

With a sympathetic smile, I said, "Your great-aunt sure is a bitch sometimes."

Adrian's face hardened, and Lissa quickly intervened as peace-maker. "Hey now," she said. "Rose, lay off Tatiana. Adrian, where are the girls?"

He immediately lost his anger. "They are enthralled with Steve and Blue."

One of the girls' favorite television shows was "Blue's Clues." I wasn't surprised that the show had stolen their attention from Adrian. It was one among very few things that could.

"So you're off babysitting duty?" Lissa asked.

"For the moment," Adrian said slothfully.

Lissa shoved a stack of plates in his direction. "Good. Get to setting the table, then."

Adrian blanched at being put to work, but did as Lissa asked. She began to shove the casserole dish at me but then stopped abruptly and gave it to Christian, instead. He went dutifully in the direction of the dining room, leaving Lissa and I in the kitchen.

She picked up the salad bowl and gestured toward the dining room. "Go get the twins. Dinner is ready."

I offered to take the salad but she shook her head adamantly. I still felt like she was acting strange, but I didn't want to cause any more trouble, so I left it alone.

I went to the living room where Lexi and Viktoria sat, completely hypnotized by the blue dog on the screen. I hated to disturb them; they were so precious and peaceful like that. But I heard voices rise in the dining room and figured that tonight wasn't the night to bend the rules.

"Come on, ladies, its dinnertime!"

Just like me, the mention of food got them moving. They leapt up and raced each other to the dining room. I followed behind them and then took my seat at the table. Lissa and Christian sat at either end at the heads of the table; Viktoria sat next to me on one side; Lexi and Adrian sat across from us on the other side.

There was tension in the air that was nearly palpable. The silence that followed confirmed that I had missed something big. Slowly, I said, "What did I miss?"

I could feel frustration, anger, and sadness churning through the bond. I wanted to immediately address Lissa about it, but I didn't want her issue, whatever it may be, to become public knowledge.

By the looks on everyone else's faces, though, it seemed that I was the only one out of the loop. Frustrated with being the oddball out, I demanded more harshly this time, "What the hell happened?"

Lexi scowled at me in admonishment while Viktoria mirrored my look of frustration, glaring at the other attendants at the table.

Lissa quickly interjected, "It's nothing, Rose."

Anger and frustration reached the boiling point in me. I snapped, "That's the second time today you've said that. What is it with you and telling me things today?"

Lissa flinched, and guilt flashed through the bond. Whatever it was she was keeping from me, she didn't like it.

My outburst was only met with silence. I couldn't handle this. Not only was I the one without any information—which was no okay in itself—but this secret was also affecting my friends.

I put my hands over Viktoria's ears and gestured for Adrian to do the same to Lexi. Lowering my voice to a low and deadly hiss, I demanded, "Tell me what the hell is going on."

Lissa still refused to speak. Christian averted his gaze guiltily. Even Adrian tried to avoid me, but he was the weakest link. It was clear on his face: Whatever secret they were keeping, Adrian had the least resolve to keep it from me.

I threw my hands in the air exasperatedly. "You know what? I lost my appetite. I'm going home."

"But Mommy!" Both girls exclaimed at once.

I scooted out of my chair and gave a frustrated sigh. "You two stay and eat. Adrian will walk you home after dinner."

Lissa gave me a chastising look. "Rose, you haven't lost your appetite. You're always hungry."

I wasn't going to dispute that. My stomach was nearly grumbling, I was so hungry. And damn, that casserole did look appetizing. But I wasn't going to give in.

"Maybe so. But I'm not sticking around for this." I waved my arms around animatedly, trying to gesture to "everything."

Lissa opened her mouth to speak again but Adrian interrupted. "I'll walk them home after dinner."

I shot him a grateful look and then left the house. I wasn't sure exactly where I wanted to go, but it definitely wasn't there and it definitely wasn't home. I actually really wanted to go burn off some steam at the gym.

Sadly, my body was craving food. Not to mention, I wasn't angry so much as worried and frustrated. I didn't mind Lissa keeping secrets—no, that was a lie, I did mind; rephrase—I didn't mind Lissa having her life separate of mine. I didn't need to be involved in everything happening with her. But I did mind when it started to affect my friends, and especially when it started to affect me.

I let myself into my house wearily, going straight to the kitchen after closing the door. I found a quick meal to heat up and zapped it in the microwave. I ate it slowly, still on edge over Lissa's odd behavior. After polishing off the food, I went into the living room and spread out on the couch. I was just sitting there, staring at the ceiling blankly, when my mind shifted to Dimitri.

The girls' birthdays were coming up soon. In a few months, they would be turning five years old. In a few months, I would call Dimitri's cell phone number, and I was sure that I would get the same, useless automated message.

I sighed.

I kept thinking back to that day when he decided to leave. It had all happened so fast—it was all in the span of a few hours. I had only gone violent-psycho for one day, and that was all it took for him to manage to disappear.

I felt a few tears escape down the sides of my face. I closed my eyes, hoping to make the tears stop, but before I knew it, my closed eyes led to slumber, and I was out cold.