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-GuardianRoseHathaway

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Chapter Twenty Five

I was getting really tired of this sitting around thinking. I wanted to be kicking Strigoi butt, protecting Lissa, finding out who murdered the queen, something. But sitting here, waiting on my parents schedule? Not working for me. And sitting in a wheelchair being pushed around? Definitely not working. So when my parents went to sleep at night, my mother sleeping in the chair near the door and my father sleeping in the other bed.

I wasn't sure how I was going to do this without being caught. I had a feeling that Abe would have men stationed outside the door. But who was I to know?

I slipped off of the bed, concealing a groan of pain. My mother shifted in her sleep; she was obviously tired, otherwise she would have woken up. As it was, her eyelids flickered slightly. But the heavy sound of her breathing never ceased. And my father was out cold.

Thankfully I hadn't messed up my legs, and as long as I was careful, I should be fine walking. It was just abrupt shifts of my body that really hurt.

I walked quickly and quietly to the door, pausing with my hand on the doorknob as I listened careful. There was still just the careful sound of breathing. Sitting on the table next to my mother was Abe's wallet. Why he would leave it sitting there was beyond me, but I realized I would need the money. So I carefully picked the wallet up and stuffed into my jean pocket.

As I put the wallet away, I saw my hand. And the silver spirit ring was missing. I glanced around the room helplessly; I couldn't take the time to search around. And then I spotted it. Sitting on top of the television, the little silver ring looked as if it had been put there purposefully. I glanced at Abe's sleeping form; had he known I was going to run?

It didn't matter. I grabbed the ring and slipped on my finger. The image in the mirror flickered for a moment and then settled in, revealing a pretty brunette. She was slim and pale, just like any Moroi. But as I stared at the girl, I found myself disliking it. I liked myself. But there was no time to sit around and ponder. I had to leave. And without hesitating, I slipped out of the room, closing the door gently behind me.

I felt a slight bit of guilt. They were trying to help me, and they were getting me to Alaska. Just their pace was too slow. And they were practically coddling me. And Rose Hathaway does not like coddling. Although I had to admit that I probably wouldn't mind a certain Russian god coddling me. But after a moment of imagining Dimitri trying to coddle me, I shuddered. No, coddling was not something I tolerated.

As I walked down the beige hallway of the hotel, I started to wonder where Abe's henchmen were. He wouldn't seriously not have people stationed around the room, would he? But Abe was a bit weird. But then I finally spotted the henchmen. As I turned the corner to the elevators, two men appeared on either side of me.

"Where are you going, Miss Hathaway?" the one on the right asked. I grinned.

"I am going to go get some ice," I said lightly. But I was not fooling anyone.

"Miss Hathaway, we are going to have to take you back to your room," the one on my left said, and then he made a mistake. He put his hand on my arm.

I was injured, yes, but I was still a kick ass guardian. And I could still, literally, kick their ass. And I still had my left arm.

I yanked my arm away from him and twisted my body so I could kick him in the stomach. Being crippled, they had underestimated. And they were completely unprepared.

I got Leftie in the stomach and I heard an umph as the wind was knocked out of him. And then I turned and practiced my round house kick straight into Rightie's jaw. Leftie was finally recovered enough to try to tackle me, but I flipped around and smacked him in the jaw, which sent him into the wall. He slid down, knocked out. And with one final turn, I got Rightie in an underhanded stomach punch. And while it didn't knock him out, it left me enough time to slip into the stairs exit and get away.

I hurried down the stairs, trying not to jolt my body too much. And then, finally, I was in the lobby.

There was no one at the counter, which just worked better for me. Unseen, I slipped out the front door.

I paused right outside and pulled out the wallet. And stuffed inside was more money than I had ever seen. And at least two credit cards, but if my first excursions in Las Vegas had taught me anything, it was that I could be tracked if I used a credit card. For a moment my fingers hesitated over the cards; I could just throw them out. But I decided against it.

Having one arm was really annoying. I put the wallet in my right hand and pulled out two hundred dollar bills with my left. Sitting at a valet counter was a younger girl, probably in her teens, dozing off. I walked up to her and tapped her on the arm. She jerked away, and then a blush spread across her features.

"May I help you?" she asked politely, tripping over the words. I smiled and nodded.

"Yes, I need a taxi," I told her. Without another word, the girl grabbed her cell phone out and called a taxi company, giving them the address of the hotel. So we were in California. Her eyes kept drifting over to me. And then she hung up.

"Someone will be here in five minutes," she said. I nodded gratefully and then glanced over my shoulder towards the door, half expecting Abe to come storming out this very minute. And I had a feeling I didn't want to see Abe truly angry. I stood leaning against a wall, watching the door, prepared to run. The girl noticed, and after a few moments, she spoke.

"Why are you leaving? It is the middle of the night," she said. I shrugged and glanced back towards the door. Her green eyes moved over me, pausing on the cast.

"Did someone kidnap you?" she whispered, her eyes widening. I laughed and shook my head.

"No, not really. I just need to get some place and- Hey, you're a Moroi!" I said suddenly, my own eyes widening as I looked at her. And it was true. She nodded sheepishly.

"Ya," she admitted. I frowned and looked at her. She looked familiar, but I couldn't place her. She had light green eyes and straight dark hair that looked a little too perfect. Her face seemed familiar though. But I was just too damn tired and anxious to go into a deep examination.

"What are you doing here?" I asked her, gesturing towards the hotel.

"My mom figures that it would be good for me to have my own job, and make my own money. Character building, she calls it," the girl said, rolling her eyes. I was skeptical though. What type of mother would send their daughter out unprotected during the night. I glanced around, searching in the shadows, but found no one.

"Where is your guardian?" I asked her. She shrugged.

"I don't have one. Never have, probably never will," she admitted. I stared at her, dumbfounded. She must be an idiot.

"You do realize there are Strigoi out there, right?" I asked her. She shrugged again as if it didn't matter, but her eyes drifted around the area uneasily.

"I can take care of myself," she said decisively. And just then my taxi rolled up. I stared at her for a moment.

"What is your name?" I asked. She smiled serenely.

"Ariella," she said. And then she looked around again.

"Where are your guardians?" she asked. I shrugged and smiled.

"I can take care of myself," I mimicked. She giggled, and then the taxi beeped. I whirled around angrily.

"One minute!" I yelled. I turned back to her.

"It was nice to meet you," I said, almost unsure. Because it had been nice. There was something about Arielle. And then it clicked. She looked like Lissa. I gasped.

The same jade green eyes, the pretty face, the hair... I had thought it looked a little too good. She had probably dyed, although why anyone would want to get rid of that gorgeous blonde I had no idea. Being in California, her and her mom, her age... it all fit together. God, I really was out of it. Maybe I was still under the drugs, or something.

The taxi beeped again, but this time when I turned around I just gave the driver my middle finger. And with a disgusted look and a rude word, the man drove off.

"You probably shouldn't have done that," Ariella commented lightly. But I just smiled at her.

"What is your last name?" I asked. And while a moment before she had been light and sweet, her expression now became weary.

"Why do you want to know?" she asked cautiously. Which pretty much gave me my answer, but I still wanted to hear her say it.

"Ariella, I am a friend. Trust me," I said. Of course, I was getting really impatient. I wanted to hear the words come out of her mouth. I wanted her to admit she was a Dragomir.

"Why should I trust you? I don't even know you. What is your name?" she snapped. I raised my eyebrows.

"I will tell you who I am if you tell me your last name. And trust me, it will be well worth it," I told her. She sighed and looked away for a moment.

For a brief second I thought about just tackling her and taking her up to the room. But if she was Lissa's sister, I didn't want to frighten her. And it would be difficult to keep her contained and quiet with only one arm. And, if she was a spirit user, which I was hoping she was, then she could easily compell me to forget the whole thing. So I stayed where I was. And finally she turned to me and answered.

"My last name is Dragomir."

Go Rose! Only out for a moment and she finds Lissa's sister. Oh, she is good. :D I have to say, when I started this chapter, this was soooooo not how I imagined it. Like, at all. First, Rose didn't have the spirit ring or any money. Then, when I changed that, Lissa's sister was a boy. Who was just helping her get a taxi to Alaska. Except, now she doesn't need to go to Alaska, does she? She can just tell them to come here. The last two chapters have been kind of blah, a bit of filler, which every book has. You have to have it. But it doesn't change the fact that I think everyone wanted some more action. So voila! Anyway, hope you enjoyed! The next chapter should be up soon. Please review!