It wasn't until a couple weeks later, that everything had really gotten back to normal.

We were back at the school now, and of course, we were the fresh gossip. Most of it wasn't true. I'd even heard something about how Victor had made some sort of monster that he was going to set loose on the world if he didn't get Lissa's baby.

None of us cared to talk about it with anyone else, but there were a few people who had worked it out. Everyone knew that Lissa was pregnant with Christian's baby now, but that was bound to get out sooner or later. She seemed happy about it, even a little bit excited. I had the feeling Christian was excited too, but was better able to keep himself restrained. These were tense times though. They were only a couple weeks into the pregnancy, so I hope they didn't lose it.

"Fancy meeting you here, little dhampir."

Adrian and Dawn were coming up behind me hand-in-hand. This was new. I looked pointedly at their entwined hands. Dawn blushed, but beamed at me. We'd become pretty good friends since she started at St. Vladimirs.

Adrian smirked. "Out of nowhere, the school decided that I needed to be protected or something if I'm going to stay here. They had an new extra student anyways, so," he held up their hands, "I'm stuck with her."

I laughed. "Right. And that's why you're holding hands. You don't see Christian and I walking around holding hands do you?"

"She didn't want to lose me, since I'm always find ways of getting myself into trouble. Christian and Lissa just sit around gushing all day. I know where the real danger is."

He wiggled his eyebrows at Dawn, who rolled her eyes. "You're nothing I can't handle," she said.

Adrian grinned. "You want to handle me?"

"And I'm going to be going now," I interrupted, before things got too far. "I don't want to be here when she kicks your ass."

Adrian put his arm around Dawn, and smiled. "I'd don't think I'd mind that."

I held up my hands. "Enough! Just let me get out of ear shot before you start anything!"

I started running. I was glad they were together. They were both happy, and after everything that had happened to both of them in their lives, they deserved some happy.

I found Lissa, Christian and Finn in the library where they were waiting for me. Just like everyday, we were spending it together, because of the whole guarding thing.

"And she finally shows," Christian said. "I was beginning to wonder if you wanted me to get kidnapped by some fake guardians."

I raised my eyebrows. "You were only beginning to wonder?"

"Have you seen Dawn around?" Finn asked me.

"Yeah, I saw her with Adrian a couple of minutes ago in the hallway," I replied.

Finn frowned. "What's she doing with Adrian?"

Uh-oh. He hasn't heard yet. "Well," I started. "She's guarding him now…"

His face relaxed. "She wanted to start guarding again. She just wants to get past the Radimir thing. If that's all."

I coughed awkwardly. "Right. The thing is…" I tried to come up with the right way to tell him that his sister was guarding and dating someone. Then I realized there was no right way. "Dawn and Adrian are dating."

"What?!"

Lissa and Christian were nodding. They were expecting it to happen any day now as much as I was. Finn, on the other hand, hadn't been warned.

"I'll give him a piece of my mind," Finn said, pushing back his chair, and heading for the door.

I grabbed his arm and pulled him to a stop. "You can't do that. I won't let you."

"He's done something to my sister! Adrian doesn't deserve her. She would never date a guy like him on her own."

"She would and she is," I snarled. His eyes widened in surprise. "Sorry, but you're making a big deal out of nothing. Adrian is a great guy, and you're lucky she's with him and not some moron."

"I can't believe she didn't even ask me about him though," he said.

"Do you need to give her permission for everything she does? You're twins for God's sake! You don't get to tell her what to do!" I shouted at him.

"Rose? Maybe you should keep it a little quieter," Lissa said. "People are starting to stare."

"Adrian may be a bit of a troublemaker, but he would never hurt your sister," I told him quietly.

Finn sighed. "Fine. I'll leave it alone."

I hadn't realized that we'd gathered a crowd, but looking around now, I saw that there were quite a few people here, and most of them if not all of them were talking about Adrian and Dawn.

I also saw Dimitri standing in the doorway, smiling at me slightly. He beckoned me over, but I shook my head. When he frowned I pointed at Christian and shrugged my shoulders, teasingly. He rolled his eyes, and gave me a look. I grinned and made my way over to him.

"If Christian gets mugged or something, it's all on your shoulders," I teased, but I stood in a position where I could still see him clearly.

Dimitri nodded his approval. "How's your stomach today?"

"Fine," I told him. I lifted up my shirt so that he could see. "See look, there's practically no bruise left."

He looked away. "Rose, you can't just show me your stomach in public like that."

"Oh come on!" I said, exasperated. "No one's even paying attention to us."

"But what if they were?"

"They would have seen you checking to make sure I was feeling okay today. But now, since you looked away, I'm sure they suspect something."

He blinked. "You're right, I'm sure no one's even paying attention to us."

I grinned at him. "I win."

He sighed, and crossed his arms. That was a signal for a change in subject.

"By the way, did the guardians go through all of Taylor's stuff yet?" I asked casually.

"Not all of it," Dimitri said suspiciously. "There are some papers and books that still have to be sorted."

"I need a favor," I said.

"I'll try to do it."

"I need you to get all of Taylor's stuff that has anything to do with being shadow-kissed, or a spirit user, and bring it to me."

He started to shake his head. "Rose, I can't just take his stuff."

"Why not?" I asked. "He's dead."

He sighed. "It's not that easy. The guardians might need it for something. I can't just take anything I want to. It's not a free-for-all."

"Okay. But if you can take it, could you get it for me?"

He nodded. "Yes. I'll do that."

We stood in silence for a minute before I said, "Don't you want to know why I want it?"

"Of course," he replied. "But I don't want you to feel the need to tell me."

"I think I'm shadow-kissed," I told him. "Lissa brought me back from the dead a long time ago, almost killing herself. That's how we got our bond. I've been trying to do some research on it to figure out what else it does, but I haven't been able to find anything out."

He looked like he wanted to ask a million questions. Instead he nodded. "I can see why you're interested. I'll do my best."

I guess he knew I wouldn't have any of the answers.

A/N - Hope you liked it!

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I. Goddess.