Chapter 11

As I stared at him, there was something tugging at me. Everything over the past twenty fours had gone so fast and most of it had been a blur. I couldn't put my finger on what was bothering me aside from my love triangle, Victor and finding Lissa's sister, there shouldn't be anything else making me feel uneasy inside. But there was something. Maybe it's because I know I love Adrian and breaking his heart is not something that I want to do. Or maybe it was because when I started back into him about Lena, he avoided eye contact and said he didn't know her that well. I felt at that moment that he had lied to me. I guess I just need to talk to him about Lena first.

Lissa and Christian had gone back upstairs to watch tv, Mikhail and Sydney were sitting on the couch with her laptop pouring through information trying to find anything they could about Sonya Karp, Dimitri reading and Adrian…..still staring at me as if something was wrong with me. It was kinda creepy, like he was seeing inside me. Figuring out what I was about to do.

"Adrian?" I said quietly

His eyes really looked at me then and he smiled. God, how I love that smile.

"Can we talk somewhere private?"

"What's with the private talks with everyone, are we all in trouble?" He cocked his head to the side and chuckled.

"No" I tried to keep a serious face and tone so when we did have this talk…..when I said what I had to say, he would know that I am not confused anymore.

The smile that had spread across his face faltered and my heart started sinking. This was going to be so hard.

"Sure little dhampir, your wish is my command." He said getting up from the loveseat and walking towards me. I turned and headed into the back of the kitchen where the dining room met it. I sat at the very end of the table trying to be sure that we were far enough away so the others in the living room didn't hear us talking. As long as everything remained calm, as long as I remained calm then they won't hear. I thought about going outside to the back porch but with there just being a Strigoi attack….

"Oh my god!" I said a little too loud startled at the realization that they got in here before I even realized they were near. My radar had failed….or had it? I was thinking hard about what was going on before they attacked. Lissa was pulling me with her emotions. I was fighting to stay within my own mind. I did feel a little nauseous but not like I have in the past so I didn't pay attention to it. I thought it was because I hadn't really eaten anything for some time.

Dimitri and Mikhail came running into the dining room from the living room entrance, stake drawn, not sure what to expect. Adrian was looking at me, eyes squinted trying to figure out what was wrong.

"I didn't fell them as strongly as I have in the past." I said sullenly

"What are you talking about?" Mikhail asked confusion setting in.

Dimitri answered for me. He knew exactly what I was talking about. "The Strigoi. Rose has been able to 'feel" them before they get close. It's one of her gifts from being shadow-kissed and in tune with life beyond here."

Mikhail nodded as if understanding exactly what Dimitri said. Then he looked at me and asked, "What do you think could be the cause of this Rose?"

"I'm not sure. I was thinking about it and the only thing that seems to come to mind is Lissa. She had so many emotions when we were talking about her sister that I was being sucked into her mind and fighting to stay out."

"Well maybe that's what it was." Dimitri said "Don't worry about it right now. I called Abe and let him know that he needed to bring back more wards since the ones here obviously aren't working anymore. He said it would take him longer to get back but he would be here by tomorrow afternoon."

At that he walked back to the living room. I am sure going back to his novel. Mikhail followed surely going back to search for Sonya after seeing Dimitri, how could he not want to find his love? I was still bothered about not feeling the Strigoi before they got here but I had to put it to the side for now. Maybe Lissa and I could practice somehow to see if it really was her who got in the way of my radar detector. For now, it was time to talk to Adrian.

"You okay little dhampir?" He asked as he sat in the chair next to me and reached for my hand. I wanted to pull away but I couldn't.

"Yeah, just confused about my detection system."

"Is that what you wanted to talk to me about?" One eyebrow lifted questioning my intentions here.

Information first, heart break second I thought to myself.

"I know you pretty well Adrian and I can't help but feel like you were lying to me, to all of us about how well you know Lena." I looked him square in the eyes once again so I could read his face.

It was a face I hadn't seen very often but enough to know it. Hurt? That's what it looked like to me when I mentioned Lena's name. He let go of my hand and rubbed his face. I could tell this was going to be hard for him to tell me this.

"Okay, we had a thing for a while but that's it. Nothing more than that. It was fun while it lasted but it didn't last. End of story."

"Did she break your heart?" I asked hesitant because I knew if he said yes, I may not be able to finish the second half of this conversation right now.

With a hard face he looked up at me and said, "No, I broke hers. Rose, if you guys are going there tomorrow, I don't think it's a good idea for me to go. She won't wouldn't even talk to you guys if she sees me. You heard the rumors about me breaking hearts."

"What did you do to her?" I asked with a stern voice. I heard plenty about Adrian's past from other people. I didn't know what was true or not. But I had certainly never heard it from Adrian himself.

"She was in love with me. I told her when school was done, we could find a place together and get married. I asked her to wait for me outside her dorm with her things, but I didn't show. I haven't spoken to her or seen her since then."

"Adrian! How could you do that to her? Why would you do that to her?" I was furious for this person I didn't know. I knew what it was like to lose the person you love.

"You don't understand Rose. There's more to it than that. Things that you couldn't understand." He was on the defense.

This was going to make things easier for me to break things off with him. I was seething with anger for this girl who was left waiting for her love that never showed. How devastating that must have been for her. To see her dreams shattered before her eyes. Maybe that's why she was at home with her mom. Maybe she was so distraught over what Adrian had done to her, she didn't want to be a guardian.

"I don't understand, nor do you have to explain yourself to me."

I was trying hard to stay calm. I needed to stay calm. No one else needs to know this yet. I will tell them on the way there tomorrow. I don't want the risk of them mentioning Adrian and her going berserk on us. But I was here with different intentions than defending this unknown girl.

I had to finish what I wanted to say.

"I know that's not really why you called me in here to talk to me little dhampir."

"Adrian, I…I"

He interrupted me.

"No need to say anything Rose." He looked at me with eyes of understanding. "I knew there was a chance that you would want to be with him again. I see the way you look at him. It's not the same way you look at me."

So he noticed what my mom had noticed. Has everyone seen this? Is it that obvious?

"I love you Rose and I want you to be happy. If I could bring you the happiness that I see he gives you, I would protest and give up a fight but I can't."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Adrian was letting me off the hook so to speak. I didn't really have to say anything, he already knew. But I had to say something to him.

"Look," I began, "you made me happy and you were there for me in times that I couldn't depend on anyone, not even Dimitri. That means the world to me. You will always have a place in my heart Adrian, it's just that Dimitri, he has my heart and soul. I can't ignore that."

"Thank you for telling me now. I was worried you would try to hold off for my sake. I would've broken up with you if I had to. You know me, the heart breaker." He flashed me a crooked grin.

I was still fuming about Lena and his teasing about being a heart breaker was pushing me over the edge.

"Adrian, how can you joke and make light over hurting someone so badly? You can't do go around hurting people like that!" My voice jumped up.

He too was getting upset now. "Rose, you don't understand! "

"Then enlighten me, would you? I would like to know how it is that you can joke about something so fucking cruel!" I was almost yelling and had to draw my voice back down.

Fury and hurt across his contorted face Adrian said something I never thought was coming.

"I was in love with her! I was going to marry her! My parents refused to allow that to happen! They forced me to leave her there! Forced me to walk away from her!"

He didn't need to say anymore. I too well understood what he was saying. He had met the same resistance with me and his parents. I thought about the way Nathan Ivashkov treated me. How his mom had told me that it was okay for us to have our fun because she knew I would leave to be a guardian so there was no chance of us going too far with our relationship.

He spoke calmly this time, "I made the biggest mistake of my life with her and I can't change that."

"Maybe you can." I said as a plan to reunite them was organizing itself in my head.

If she is his Dimitri and I am pretty sure she is. I would find a way to mend this between them. I had to. I owed it to him. He deserves happiness and I can't give him what he wants but just maybe she can.