A/N: I am sooooooo sorry that it has taken this long to get chapter nine up! I have been so busy with school, and updates will be further apart than they used to be. But, I start holidays in less than two weeks, and hopefully I will be updating much quicker.

Disclaimer: Richelle Mead owns all, except main plot.

Now, on with chapter 9, and don't forget, REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!

.

CHAPTER NINE

Rose's POV.

I was in training one morning with Dimitri. We were sparring, but I was failing horribly. Dimitri kept defeating me, and he was getting frustrated with my lack of focus. "Focus Rose, focus." He attempted to encourage me, but the frustration was crystal clear in his voice. I tried to clear my head and think properly, but every time I tried to think clearly, my thoughts eluded me like mice running from a hungry cat.

After Dimitri had pinned me to the ground for the millionth time, he sat back on his heels and stared at me. "Rose, what's going on in that pretty little head of yours?" He asked, a small smile tugging at his lips, although his face remained slightly worried.

I sighed. "I just keep wondering what happened to Jesse," I told him. "I know, I know," I said when I saw that he was about to protest. I had had a few bad incidents with Jesse Zeklos, and had been subject to his lies a number of times, but I couldn't shake the feeling that something was off here. "I would usually be the last person to be worrying about Jesse Zeklos, but what happened to him? No one knows, and it's suspicious. I mean, people are saying that it was the work of Strigoi, and I suppose it could be plausible, but the school has very strong and powerful wards surrounding the grounds. There is no way Strigoi could get on campus. Therefore, no way a Strigoi could have broken in and taken Jesse from his room. And, why Jesse? There are plenty of other Moroi, like Lissa would have been the most likely target of a strigoi since she is the last Dragomir, but no, they take Jesse." I shuddered at the thought of someone taking Lissa, especially a strigoi. I took a deep, calming breath, and stared into Dimitri's beautiful eyes awaiting the answers to all my questions. I knew I sounded like a small child begging for someone to tell them that everything was going to be okay, but right then; I honestly didn't care what I sounded like. I just wanted answers.

"Rose, I don't know why someone would take Jesse, and you're right, the school does have protective barriers around the grounds. It has all of us baffled. As soon as we realised that Jesse was gone, Kirova went down to check the wards. She told us that they were all still in place and stable. So, we don't think it was strigoi either, because there is no way they could take down wards and put them back up again, but, we can't rule out the possibility that, once again, the strigoi are working with humans... especially not after the Badica attack." He touched my face lightly. "You shouldn't worry about Jesse; you have more important things to worry about. Like graduation, and the dance. It's your last chance to have fun with your friends before you graduate and become a guardian. For now love, leave all the worrying to the guardians." He smiled and hugged me tightly. I breathed in the scent of his aftershave. Just the smell of him relaxed me. God, I loved him so much.

Dimitri tilted my head back and pressed his lips softly to mine, parting his lips slightly, it was sweet and full of love. He pulled away too soon and stood up, pulling me with him. "You need to get to class, Roza." He looked regretful, like he wanted to stay exactly where we were and never let me go. I felt exactly the same.

I snaked my arms around his slender but muscular torso, and hugged him tightly, and then left the gym and hurried to breakfast. I stood in the line and loaded my plate up with bagels and bacon. Yum. I searched the room for someone to sit with. I spotted Lissa, Christian and Adrian sitting at a table at the other end of the commons. I started towards them and slid in next to Lissa.

"Hey little dhampir." Adrian looked at me and smiled, then leaned over the table and kissed me on the head. I glared at him.

"Drunk already Ivashkov?" I asked him with a mock glare. Of course he was drunk. Adrian Ivashkov was always drunk. But, I liked Adrian; he was a nice guy despite being kinda perverted and totally in love with me.

"Ha, someone's gotta drink your share, Hathaway. When was the last time you let loose and had a drink?" He did not just say that!

"You know perfectly well why I don't drink anymore, Adrian. It blocks off my access to Lissa and I can't run the risk of not being able to find her if something went wrong." Lissa looked at me. I could feel hurt and regret coming through the bond. I turned to her.

"Lissa, it's not your fault, so don't feel guilty. And, besides, I don't need to drink anyway." That was true, I didn't need to drink. I had given up my partying days when we returned to the Academy. I gave her a reassuring smile and she sighed in relief. "Thank you, for making me feel better." She said through the bond. I nodded to her, and then turned to Christian.

"So, Sparky," I addressed Christian. I had come up with a whole lot of nicknames for Christian all to do with fire, because as a Moroi, he specialises in controlling fire. "Long time no see. Miss me?" I grinned innocently at him. Christian and I never really got along well, but after the strigoi incident in Spokane, we had been able to tolerate each other much better and had even become friends. Well, sort of.

"Yeah sure, I missed you like crazy Rose. I didn't think I would last one more day without you." He replied sarcastically.

We finished eating breakfast in silence, and then I went with Lissa to see the feeders. She put her name on the list, and we stood and waited for her name to be called. Finally, the Moroi working at the desk called; "Vasilisa Dragomir, you have Alice, Princess." We moved forward to the older woman and Lissa sat down beside Alice.

"Princess, it's nice to see you again, dear." Alice said dreamily. Feeders were technically drug addicts. They constantly craved the bite of a Moroi because the feelings that were released in the bite felt like ecstasy. I knew this because I had fed Lissa when we ran away.

"It's great to see you too, Alice." Lissa told the elderly woman, polite as ever, like the perfect royal she was.

Alice turned to me. "And, Rose Hathaway too! Such a pleasure Rose." I smiled in return.

Lissa leant forward and bit into Alice's bruised and scarred neck. Alice tilted her head to the side to give Lissa better access. She moaned as Lissa drank from her. After a few minutes, Lissa pulled away and ran her tongue over her lips.

"Come on Rose, we are going to be late for class." She pulled me toward the door and I followed. We split when we reached the commons. I had theory class with Stan Alto and Lissa was going to meet with Adrian to talk about Spirit.

My classes that day went uneventfully, thank god. I wasn't sure this academy could take much more drama.

My afternoon practise with Dimitri also went without anything major, besides a few stolen kisses, but that didn't matter.

As I made my way back to my room, I ran into Alberta who was looking frantic with worry. "What's wrong, Guardian Petrov?" I asked.

She looked at me like she hadn't heard me. "Oh, Miss Hathaway, another two students have disappeared." Oh, no. Not again!

"Who?" I asked. "Who was taken now?"

Alberta looked like she didn't want to tell me, but she closed her eyes and put her hand on my shoulder. "Eddie Castile and Christian Ozera." I felt my heart drop and my legs wobble like they were going to give way.

Eddie and Christian, no, this could not be happening. Panic swept over me and I distantly heard someone calling my name. I turned slowly and faced Lissa. Tears glistened like diamonds on her puffy red face. Obviously, she already knew about Eddie and Christian. "Rose, we have to find them!" She cried, snapping me out of my panic stricken state of mind. I turned to Alberta who was still standing there, just watching us with blank and distant eyes.

"Guardian Petrov, do something!" I snapped at her. She seemed to come to her senses then.

"Yes, yes of course Rose. I'll send out guardians to search and I'll go and check Mr Ozera's and Mr Castile's rooms." She hurried away just as I heard footsteps come up behind me. I felt his arms wrap around my body and pull me tightly to his body.

"It's okay, Roza. We will find them." Dimitri whispered in my ear. I relaxed at his touch, but my heart felt like a brick, heavy and painful. He turned to Lissa.

"Princess," he bowed slightly in Lissa's direction. "You are wanted by Headmistress Kirova." She nodded and headed off in the direction of Kirova's office. I made a snap decision to go with her, and I pulled Dimitri along with me.

When we reached Kirova's office, Lissa knocked and entered upon being told to. Kirova looked up from a stack of paperwork and placed her pen down on her desk. "Miss Hathaway, you were not told to be here. Please leave." Her voice was crisp and full of authority. But, there was no freaking way I was going to let this self-righteous bitch tell me, Rose Hathaway, what to do.

"That's okay, Hedmistress, I'd rather wait in here with Lissa." I gave her a sweet smile and I could see her going slightly red in the face from anger. Well, good. I didn't care. Lissa needed me now more than ever, and to be honest, I needed her too.

Kirova started to protest once again, but Dimitri cut her off. "If you don't mind Hedmistress Kirova, Rose should stay here with the Princess. This is hard on both of them and they need each other." I shot him a grateful look. And my hot Russian god comes through for me again. I was so lucky to have someone like Dimitri Belikov on my side.

"Oh, very well, I don't care," Kirova relented, although she still looked extremely pissed off. Dimitri wore a smug look, reflecting my own. The Moroi bitch turned to Lissa. "Princess, when was the last time you saw Christian?"

"Oh um, just after classes ended. He said he was going back to his room to do homework. I never saw him after that." I could see she was on the verge of a breakdown, and I moved forward to put my arm around her slender shoulders. It was hard for me too, not knowing what had happened to Eddie, one of my best friends, but I couldn't fathom something like this happening to Dimitri. My heart ached at just the mere thought of anything harming Dimitri.

Through the bond that connected me to Lissa's mind, I could feel a mixture of emotions; hurt, anxiety, panic, worry, and anger at the guardians for not doing anything quick enough. But, most of all, I could feel that she was scared for Christian, the one she loved. There was also a great amount of worry for Eddie, but most of her energy was focused on her boyfriend and getting him back safely into her arms, where he belonged.

"Yes, okay, well, you may go Miss Dragomir." Kirova seemed distracted, like she didn't really care about the fact that she currently had three missing students, two of them were Royal Moroi. I shook my head, looking at Dimitri whose face remained impassive.

"Headmistress," Lissa began in a polite and calm tone. I could hear the pain and anxiety lacing her words, though. "How will you be proceeding with getting Christian, Eddie and Jesse back?"

"I'm not sure yet Princess. It's really a job for the guardians as they are the ones who will be conducting the find and rescue mission." Kirova replied indifferently. Her tone suggested that it was time for us to leave, so I stepped forward and grabbed the sleeve of Lissa's designer sweater, tugging her back toward the door.

"Let's go, Liss." I pulled her gently through the door, Dimitri followed closely behind us. Through the bond I could feel strong emotions emitting through to me. She felt overwhelming despair and crippling grief, she didn't think she would ever see Christian alive again.

"I'll see you later, I have homework to do." She muttered, before departing, leaving me standing in the quad with Dimitri. She didn't even give me a chance to help her.

I felt the hot tears well up in my eyes, and my chest constricted, I tried to swallow the lump in my throat. Dimitri turned to me, and after glancing around to be sure there was no one close by, he pulled me into the tight circle of his strong arms. I sobbed a little into his chest. Thinking about Eddie, I couldn't lose him too, not after losing Mason. As for Christian, we had never been best friends, but I didn't want anything to happen to him. I knew Lissa would never be able to move on if Christian died.

Dimitri held me in his arms for what felt like hours, then he slowly led me back to my room, supporting my suddenly dead weight body. He left my room with a quick kiss on my head, telling me that he had to go and see Alberta. I nodded and moved over to my closet. I would shower and sleep. I felt exhausted, but once I was in bed, I found I couldn't sleep. I took some strong panadol, and then I lay back down in bed, letting the drugs take effect.

Reviews :) just click that little button to review, and you will be rewarded!