Only got one review :/ hope this one's better than the last :)

I put two chapters together as one was very short so here you are :)

Chapter 18

I got to drive.

Victor and Robert were travelling with us after discovering their 'engine trouble' so the car was pretty much full. I had to decide where the best seating arrangements for everyone would for safety.

I put Sydney in the cargo space in the back, keeping her out of any firing zone. I put Robert in the passenger seat so that I could keep an eye on him and to keep him and Sonya separated. It also kept him and Victor away from each other. I sat Rose in the middle, with Victor and Sonya either side of her, knowing that she'd be able to keep them off each other.

We fetched our stuff from the house and started loading up the car.

"We have got to get rid of Victor and Robert now," Rose murmured quietly to me. "They've done what we needed. Keeping them is dangerous. It's time to turn them over to the guardians."

"Agreed," I said to her. She was right. They had done what we needed them to do, and now they were just two extra people for us to protect. "But there's no good way to do it. Not yet. We can't leave them tied up beside the road; I wouldn't put it past them to escape and hitchhike. We also can't turn them in ourselves, for obvious reasons."

She sighed after placing the last bag inside the car and leaned against it. "Sydney could turn them in."

"That's probably our best bet – but I don't want to part with her until we get to…well, wherever we're going. We might need her help."

Rose sighed again. "And so, we drag them along," She concluded.

"Afraid so," I replied.

"You know, when they are in custody, there's a very good chance they'll have quite a story to tell the authority about us," I said to her worriedly. It was something that had been in my mind since the Dashkov brothers had joined us.

"Yeah," she replied, her forehead scrunched ever so slightly. I had an urge to smooth out the soft skin between her eyebrows but refrained from doing so. It would be inappropriate to do so.

"I guess that's a problem for later," she continued. "Gotta deal with the immediate problems first."

I smiled at her mature attitude.

"Well, that's always been our strategy, hasn't it?"

She smiled back at me and I felt my breathing catch. She really was beautiful. Even more so with the sun shining on her smooth tanned skin, and pieces of her hair blowing softly around her.

We got everyone into their places in the car and we left shortly afterwards. It was fairly quiet, due to the fact that the Moroi were tired and in need of blood.

Every now and then, Sonya would instruct me to drive in a certain direction or along a certain road.

I glanced in the rear-view mirror every few minutes, just to make sure everything was alright. Sydney was gazing out the back window, also silent. Rose had the faraway look she often got when looking into Lissa's head, which left me no doubt of where she was right now.

"You're awfully happy," Sonya said after about forty minutes of driving. I looked in the mirror to see who she was speaking to. I then realised Rose was back with us in the car, looking quite happy.

"Lissa passed her second monarch test." Rose explained.

"Of course she did," Victor answered, sounding bored.

"Is she okay? Injured?" I asked her quickly.

"She's fine," she assured me.

Rose fell silent again, lost in her own thoughts.

Half an hour later, everyone in the car was asleep, excluding myself, Sonya and Robert. Robert looked close though and Sonya was staring out the side window.

A few hours later, everybody else was awake in the car as Rose arose from her much needed slumber.

"You were having a spirit dream," Sonya said suddenly.

"How'd you know?" Rose asked her, sounding surprised.

"Your aura." She answered.

"Auras used to be cool, but now they're just starting to get annoying," Rose grumbled and I cracked a smile.

Sonya chuckled softly and again, I was reminded how much better she was taken being restored than I had.

"They're very informative if you know how to read them," Sonya said. "Were you with Vasilisa?"

"No," Rose answered. "My boyfriend. He's a spirit user too."

I felt a small pang in my chest. I had completely forgotten that Rose was seeing Adrian.

"That's who you were with?" Sonya asked her, sounding very surprised.

"Yeah, why? What's wrong?" Rose asked.

I fought the urge to look back at Sonya as a car pulled out in front of me, drawing my attention back to the road.

"Nothing," Sonya answered. "Nothing's wrong."

"Come on, it sure seemed like – "Rose started but Sonya cut her off.

"There!" she said, leaning between the two front seats. "Take that exit."

I jerked the wheel to the left and the car swerved as I managed to make the exit she had told me to.

"A little warning next time would be helpful," I said to her as we got back on track.

I looked in the rear view mirror as I stopped at a red light when she didn't answer. Sonya's mood had turned solemn.

"Are we here?" Rose asked her, excitement in her voice. "And how long were we on the road?"

"Six hours," I answered her.

"Go left at that second light," Sonya instructed. "Now right at the corner."

Everyone became alert as we neared the house.

"There." Sonya said suddenly and I pulled into the driveway of the house she pointed to. It was an average sized brick house with a neat lawn.

"Do you know if your relatives still live here?" Rose asked her.

Her question was pointless. Sonya acted as though she hadn't spoken and just stared out the window.

"I guess there's only one way to find out," Rose said to herself, taking off her seatbelt. "Same plan?" she asked me.

Rose and I had discussed that she would go and I would stay in the car if we ever got to this house.

"Same plan," I agreed. "You go to the house. You look less threatening."

"Hey!" She said indignantly.

"I said 'look.'" I smiled.

Sonya, Sydney and Rose started to get out of the car.

"Be careful," I said, not being able to help myself. It was second nature for me to feel protective of Rose.

"You too," she replied and I smiled, my feelings a lot stronger than before.

I watched the three of them walk up the pathway. I could see the tension and nerves rolling off Rose as she rang the doorbell to meet her best friend's sister.

The door opened and a Moroi man appeared.

A conversation started and the tension in Rose's shoulders seemed to ease a little as she spoke.

That was until the young girl who Rose had introduced me to, what felt like years ago, arrived in the doorway, and her whole body froze as Jill Mastrano stood there.