Eep! I'm so sorry for the long delay between uploads but I was on a block for a while with this story but I'm fairly sure that I've finally got it back on track so hopefully the future chapters won't take as long between uploads! I hope you enjoy this chapter because there will be a Drew and Kai moment going on here!

Lyn xx

~x~ Chapter 35 ~x~

"You didn't get into trouble with the Headmaster already, did you?" a familiar voice commented in amusement from behind me and I whirled around in surprise.

Well speak of the devil. I had been so absorbed in my own thoughts that I didn't even notice him approach me.

"Why do you ask?" I frowned, wondering why he would ask such a thing.

"Apparently you were being escorted by Jenson and Maxwell to his office earlier. You didn't answer my question."

"I'm not in trouble. He just had something that he wanted to ask me."

"Oh really? It's not that usual for the Headmaster to need to personally ask a student something."

"It wasn't really anything that serious. He just wanted to make sure that honestly nothing happened during that little trip of ours."

"That was it?"

"I might be a trouble maker, Ozera, but even I won't be stupid enough to do something too serious so soon. Not if I want to have any chances of staying at this place long term."

"I've been meaning to ask, but you seem to be quite close to a few of the Guardians here. Why is that?"

"I'm pretty sure I've told you before, but you really do ask a lot of questions, don't you?"

"Only because you seem to be very interesting."

"You are a pretty big mystery yourself. I still can't work out whether you're an open or closed person. You obviously have something else you want to say so why are you beating around the bush? It's not very like you to not get straight to the point."

Drew glanced at me for a moment before giving a wide smile. "Nothing gets past you, does it?"

"Right back at you." I grinned. "So what did you want to say to me?"

"Eric Cooper is up to no good."

"I knew something was up!" I pointed at him. "I knew something felt off back at lunch."

"You were right."

"But I'm sort of glad."

"Oh?"

"I'm glad that you're telling me the reason why you seemed to be so closed off back then. I would hate to be back at square one with you."

Drew smirked and stepped towards me. I watched him warily and stepped away. He seemed to enjoy cornering me and we continued that process until I was pressed up against the wall and he had his hands on either side of me head. I stared up at him in confusion, wondering what he was up to.

"If someone catches us in this position, there will be a lot of rumours for sure, you know?" I arched my brows up at him.

"Rumours don't mean anything to me. It's not as if it could harm me."

"So, you're deciding to play it cool, are you?"

"So it seems. So, why would you hate to be back to square one with me?"

"You're a tough nut to crack, Ozera. It doesn't take a genius to work that out."

"No, especially when you are the same."

"Precisely. I would rather not have to go through trying to break through your exterior again and be total strangers like we were at the start. You're confusing and complicated enough as it is, I'd hate to have to go back to when you were closed off and less carefree with your words."

"I'm never carefree with my words."

"Fine, less open about what's actually on your mind." I rephrased. "Either way, it causes headache to try and figure out what you mean to say when you are more cryptic and vague which is how you get when you're talking to someone you don't particularly have an interest in."

"Ah, so, you're aware that I'm interested in you."

"For whatever reason that might, yes. I'd have to be blind not to notice that. But then again, after today, it seems that the whole damn school is interested in me in some way shape or form."

"Well, you are just such a big mystery to us all."

"And that's the way I intend to keep it for a good while yet."

"But not to everyone."

"Hm?"

"You're not nearly half as mysterious when you're around Maxwell. For some reason, you seem oddly more relaxed and comfortable around him and with Castile. Why is that?"

"Maxwell was the one who caught me. He understands some things better than you do. As for Castile, we bonded over the fact that we both love the kids in the elementary division."

The expression that Drew gave me told me that he wasn't buying my explanation one bit. While it may not have been a lie, it certainly wasn't the truth either. Both he and I knew that but he didn't put his doubt into words.

We both glanced to the side when we heard a gasp and we noticed someone staring at us. Neither of us moved and the stranger dashed away.

"Seriously, you've got to move." I laughed and nudged at his chest playfully.

"Don't go out with Cooper."

"What have you got against him? Everyone else seems to like him alright."

"Well, clearly not everyone since according to you, Jenson said the same thing."

"You listen too carefully."

"There's no such thing," he scoffed.

"Well, in my mind, there definitely is, especially if you pick up on things like that. I mean, seriously, just how much attention do you pay to what people say?"

"Don't you do the same?" he arched his brows.

"Well… yeah, but that's beside the point!" I protested.

"It's exactly the same. You're just being stubborn, that's all there is to it."

"And so what if I like being stubborn?"

"There's nothing wrong with it, it just means that I'm right," he smirked.

"And you're still as evasive as ever. Seriously, back up, Ozera."

"Only if you say that you won't go out with Cooper."

"I don't have a reason to reject him."

"So you're just going to wait for him to make the wrong move first?"

"I only have your word that he's up to no good."

"Isn't my word good enough?"

"I hardly know you, Ozera."

"And yet you let me into your apartment and let me stay the night alone with you."

"That was an emergency."

"You could have kicked me out and given me to the guardians."

I paused and stared at him in shock. "There wasn't any reason to kick you out…" I murmured.

"So you don't do things if there isn't a reason for it?"

"That's pretty much my principal most of the time."

"Normally, I would say that it's a good principal, but not on this."

"What do you expect me to say to him? Oh, sorry, let's stop our agreement because Ozera told me that you're bad news. I can't just say that to him, I have to have a reason."

"Are you that desperate to have a boyfriend?" he snapped.

I gasped and glared up at him in fury. "Take that back."

"No, because that's precisely what it looks like you're doing right now."

"Take it back!" I hissed. "If I really wanted to have a boyfriend, I wouldn't have come to any type of agreement and just decided to go out with him straight out. If I wanted to have a boyfriend, I would have one by now." I shoved him in the chest, harder this time and he stumbled away from me with a slight wheeze. "You don't have any right to butt in like this."

"Are we friends?"

"Yes, we are, but that doesn't mean that you can tell me who I can and can't go out with. You can make suggestions but you can't dominate my life like this." I shook my head.

"Why won't you listen to my advice?"

"I am listening. I'll take heed of your warning but this doesn't change anything."

"This conversation isn't going anywhere, is it?" he sighed and ran a hand through his hair in frustration.

"Nope. So, I say we just drop it."

"At least promise me one thing."

"It depends what it is."

"Be careful around him. Trust me when I say, that guy is up to no good." Drew told me firmly and I couldn't help but believe him.

Some deep part of me knew what Drew was trying to say. Even I knew that there was something about Eric that just didn't sit right but at the moment I couldn't really explain why he made me feel that way. I didn't know whether he was threatening or not but I was certainly going to find out. If he was trouble, I would definitely find out and I would be more than happy to teach him a lesson. If he wasn't, then I got to have a nice time. I was willing to accept either situation, and it definitely wasn't up to Drew to decide for me no matter how sincere and serious he was about it.

"I promise to be careful, but that's all." I told him with a level tone.

"Well, that's better than nothing," he sighed and took a step back so that there was a normal distance between us now.

"And it's all you're going to get." I scoffed. "You know, this would be a whole lot easier if you would just tell me why you don't like the guy so much."

"It's not my story to tell."

"So, someone else is involved with your tremendous dislike towards Eric Cooper?"

"Yes."

"I've been wondering something. How often do the four of you royal elites train outside of class time?"

"Usually we put in an hour every day."

"Wow… that's some real dedication for you."

"It's not so much training, more like fitness maintenance. Actually training we put in a couple of hours a week depending on how busy we are."

"How often do these training sessions involve magic?"

"What's with all the questions?"

"I'm just curious, that's all. Don't forget, you guys are on a ban."

"Like that's going to stop us."

"You've got the balls to go up against Belikov's command?"

"Not quite. But since we're Moroi, there are other things that we can train in aside from physical combat. She never did specify what kind of training we were banned from and our magic classes require us to train as homework and I doubt the ban extends to that."

"Not only strong but smart as well. You just keep getting more impressive every time I talk to you."

"The feeling is mutual."

"Do I interest you?"

"I'm pretty sure I've told you before, you are full of secrets and that makes you interesting."

"I'm pretty sure I've warned you before not to dig too deep otherwise you just might find yourself burned." I smirked.

"Your warning was taken into account."

"And apparently completely ignored."

"I wouldn't say completely ignored. If it was, I'd be doing all I could to pressure you into telling me all of your secrets right now."

"If you tried anything on me, I'd whoop your ass right here regardless of who might be watching."

"And that is precisely why I'm taking it slow. I'll make you tell me your story one of these days, you can count on it."

"I wouldn't be too sure about that, Ozera. It's going to take a whole lot to make me talk."

"I'm a patient person, I can wait," he told me with a smile that made me doubt myself. If anyone was capable of finding out the truth first out of all the students, it would be Drew Ozera. He just seemed to be one of those types with the penetrating eyes that could see through everything and he certainly had the brains to piece together hints and turn it into fact.

"Are you usually this persistent with people?"

"Not usually."

"You're really weird, I hope you know that."

"You're not exactly normal yourself."

"I am too." I protested indignantly.

Before we could launch into yet another one of our pointless debates, which seemed to happen pretty often with Drew actually, Martin walked around the corner and paused when he saw me and Drew.

I glanced at him and gave him a smile. I could tell from the gleam in his eyes that he was curious but he kept his expression passive and serious so that Drew wouldn't suspect anything. Drew simply stared at Martin politely with a respectful glance before briefly inclining his head. "Headmaster Hunt."

"Prince Ozera." Martin inclined his head in return. "Valentine, I need to speak with you."

Drew turned to face me with an expression that seemed to say 'again?' and I merely smiled wryly at him with a shrug. "Well it seems that I'm being summoned yet again. Laters, Ozera."

"See you round." Drew replied as I walked off towards Martin.

The two of us walked in silence until we reached his office and as soon as the door was shut firmly, Martin began to inquisition. "I knew that you and Prince Ozera were close but I didn't realise just how close."

"You're imagining things, Martin." I told him flatly.

"Am I?" he arched his brows at me knowing full well what he had seen and I couldn't help but blush.

"Okay, so we have an odd relationship going on, so what? It's nothing serious."

"I never said anything about it being serious, little sky," he smirked.

I stared at him, flabbergasted, and slapped my own forehead at my own stupidity. "He has a skill of catching me completely off guard and making me feel totally lost." I sighed as I settled comfortably in one of the sofas in his office.

"Oh? What'd you mean?"

"Just what I said. I don't think he's worked out my secret yet, but he knows that I'm hiding something. He hasn't quite explicitly said that I've been lying, but he knows that sometimes I'm not telling the truth either. He also seems to like playing twenty questions with me."

"Twenty questions?"

"Basically asking me as many questions as he possibly could in the time that we're alone together."

"Why doesn't he just ask you whenever he sees you? Why only when you're alone?"

"I'm not really sure. He probably thinks that I'm more likely to answer if it's just him and me. He's pretty intense sometimes when he wants to know something."

"Well then, that's certainly a trait that the two of you share."

"I'm not intense." I scoffed.

"You are. That is one of the things that haven't changed. Once you've set your mind on something, you will stop at nothing to get it done. That's especially true when you want to know something."

"That's called persistence." I rolled my eyes. "No, I really wouldn't say that I'm intense. Persistent, definitely, but intense? Not compared to him."

"Since I haven't seen what you mean, I can't agree or disagree." Martin shrugged. "Prince Ozera has always had a keen eye for mysteries and you are certainly one of them. If something doesn't quite fit into context, he'll spot it right away. He's incredibly observant, even for a royal having grown up at court."

"I would've thought that growing up at court would do that to people." I commented dryly. "That court is filled with hyenas, you're either observant, or you get eaten and manipulated. It's life's worst survival game."

"I couldn't agree with you more on that. That is the main reason why we are keeping this secret. We want to keep you here, not drive you away."

"I know. I want to stay here as well." I smiled warmly at him.

He seemed to stare sceptically at me for a few moments, as though trying to work out whether I had actually meant what I'd said or not. Eventually he gave a warm smile in return and took long strides towards me before sweeping me up into his arms. "I can't tell you enough how good it is to finally have you back and know how you are."

"I know that I was being really difficult when I first got back last week, but I'm glad to be back as well. Seeing everyone again has made me realise just how important you all are to me. I don't think we've had this conversation yet, have we?"

"No, I don't think we have," he chuckled. He sat opposite me on the sofa and kept one of his hands entwined with mine in a comforting gesture and I smiled at him.

"I am sorry for worrying you all those years ago." I told him sincerely. "I don't regret doing it, but I do regret the worry and stress and panic that I must've caused you guys. It was horrible and cruel of me to put you guys through that especially on the day of the funeral. It wasn't right for me to have done that, but I just had to get away. I couldn't stand the looks and the whispers and the conniving royals anymore. It was either run away or explode."

"It was a fight or flight situation and you chose flight. I have to admit, I think you made the right choice. Yes, we knew that there was every chance we might never see you again, but at least we knew that no matter where you were, unless you were under the captivity of Strigoi, you couldn't have been in a worse situation than when you were here. No matter how much we tried and wanted to, we couldn't protect you from the social hierarchy."

"They were royals, Martin, you guys aren't. Incredibly influential people with a whole lot of power and authority and friends, yes, but up against royals even you guys were struggling. I knew that, I could see it, and that's another reason why I left. I couldn't bear to see you guys being caught in that awkward situation six years ago. You guys are my family, but you also had to be professional to an extent back then."

"I can still remember how wretched I felt back then, wanting to protect you, to shield you away but couldn't because I was the headmaster and couldn't afford to openly favour anyone even if that student was you."

"It wasn't just you either, it was Rosette as well. She took it really hard to see me in the situation that I was in whilst knowing that there was nothing any of you could do to help. I was prey thrown into a den of hyenas. It's crude, but we both know that it's true." I added the last part when I noticed his grimace. "I know that there are nice royals out there, Lord and Lady Badica being the prime examples of that, but back then they weren't the ones who surrounded me. The ones who surrounded me were power hungry maniacs who wanted me as nothing more than a puppet at their disposal."

"Ah, yes. Lord and Lady Badica had certainly taken a liking to you, Kai. What did you think of them?"

"They were really nice. A little reserved and definitely incredibly high classed. I could definitely see them as royals with the way they held themselves and the way they spoke as well. I'm still really surprised with the way they reacted to what happened to Marissa though."

"They both knew that Marissa was at fault, you would have to be blind not to realise that Marissa was in the wrong."

"How is Marissa by the way? I know that it hasn't been all that long yet but is she settling in better wherever she may be right now?"

"I have been speaking to Lord and Lady Badica and keeping up to date with how Marissa is. She isn't attending a school with other royals anymore so the pressure to impress has dwindled considerably. She is doing better, or so I hear."

"So, she's not terrorizing other people's lives just to make herself look good anymore?"

"No, she has a guard with her to record her movements and behaviour. If she makes another serious mistake like what happened with you again, she would be forced home to be home schooled and kept away from all social events."

"Oh wow… the queen bee being banned from social events, I can imagine that would be rather torturous for her."

"Quite, I can only hope for both hers and her parents' sakes that she reforms, and soon, before she makes another disastrous mistake."

"So do I. I can imagine the type of talk that must've gone around amongst the royal families due to that mistake of hers." I shuddered. "How did her parents deal with it?"

"A lot of people respect Lord and Lady Badica despite them being a part of the branch family rather than the main and they have always known what type of person Marissa was from day one. There have been some gossip in court, but that is to be expected but their reputation is still as strong as ever, especially since they are the only royals so far to have had a conversation with the rumoured prodigy of St. Vlads."

I stared at him blankly for a moment before my mind exploded from shock. "Wait… what?" I spluttered and gaped at him.