Disclaimer: I don't own VA. Would I really be posting these stories if I owned any best selling books?
Yeah, I probably would. But really, I don't own Vampire Academy.
A/N: I want to clear up some confusion. I have not read Last Sacrifice. I am still trying to get it. So this story is based after Spirit Bound. Not during or after Last Sacrifice. Is it less confusing now? Hopefully.
As I promised, lots of Drama in this chapter. It's going to be long, just a heads up. To answer some of the questions in the reviews, some of the answers will be in this chapter. So read, enjoy, and at the end review! Thank you for the reviews! I love them! It always makes me happy to see a new one up there. Now, onto the story!
Adrian and Ayden signed up for their time with the feeders. Adrian still held Ayden's hand, but neither of them really noticed. Adrian looked around the place, just out of habit. Then he saw a familiar figure. Black hair and a tall build. The figure turned around and Adrian got a look at his face. Christian Ozera. Christian obviously saw them, because he had a cocky smirk on his face, and he was headed over to them.
"Ayden Fairmont." the guardian called. Ayden smiled and let go of Adrian's hand to go to her feeder.
"Who was that?" Christian asked, reaching Adrian.
"Why if it isn't the hot head himself." Adrian smirked.
"I'd thank you for your generous opinion, if I wasn't so curious to know who your new play to is." Christian said. Adrian sighed.
"She isn't my play toy." he said.
"Play thing, then?" Christian continued.
"Always the charmer." Adrian smirked.
"Of course!" Christian laughed. Adrian looked back in the direction of Ayden. He could only see her shadow. "So who is she?" Christian asked.
"A very good friend of mine." Adrian replied, but even as he said it, something about it felt like it wasn't enough.
"Just a good friend?" Christian asked. "It seemed like you two are way closer than that." he added.
"Lord Ivashkov." the guardian said.
"I'll see you later Christian." Adrian said. "Tell the girls I said hi." he added, and walked over to his feeder, leaving Christian.
When he got there, he saw a middle aged woman sitting there, looking spaced out. She looked up at Adrian and smiled.
"Hello there." she said.
"Hello to you too." Adrian said.
She smiled and tilted her head to the side. Adrian sat behind her and brushed her hair away to expose her neck. A few bite marks were there, showing that she has been drunk from before. He rubbed the spot were he was going to bite her. She took a quick intake of breath, preparing herself for the bite. Then Adrian did his business.
After he was done, he walked back to the desk to see Ayden talking to Christian. Oh god. Adrian sped up, catching the end of their conversation.
"I wouldn't say that." Ayden said. They both laughed. Then Christian looked at Adrian.
"Hey Adrian. You never told me Ayden was so funny." he said.
"Must have slipped my mind." Adrian said.
"You two know each other?" Ayden asked.
"Didn't he tell you? I'm like his best friend." Christian joked.
"Wouldn't go that far." Adrian said. "Christian is dating Princess Vasilisa." he added.
"Wow. Your dating a royal?" Ayden asked surprised.
"Aren't we all?" Christian said.
"What do you mean?" Ayden asked.
"Your dating a royal too." he said.
"Who?" she asked. Christian laughed.
"Your funny." he said. She looked at him confused.
"He thinks you and I are dating." Adrian told her. Her eyes went wide.
"Oh! No! No, no, no! Were not dating." she said. Christian looked at her unbelieving. "There's nothing going on between us." she added. Adrian kind of felt bad. She's saying it like it would be a bad thing if they were dating.
"Still hung up on Rose, huh." Christian said. Adrian looked at him coldly. Sure now he brings her up.
"Wait, what?" Ayden turned to face Adrian. "Guardian Hathaway? She's the dhampir you dated?" she asked. Adrian said nothing, he just stood there looking at her.
"He didn't tell you?" Christian asked confused.
"That's why your always talking about her." Ayden said. Adrian couldn't tell if she was just shocked or pissed. Her aura was a mixed color. "So who she dump you for?" she asked.
This is something Adrian couldn't tell her. He wouldn't do that to Rose. If anyone found out that Dimitri and Rose were together then she would be pulled out of Guardianship over Lissa. He couldn't do that to either of them.
"It's not something I want to talk about." he finally said. He knew his answer would either get her sympathy or just piss her off. He's gambling here.
"That's okay. You don't need to say anymore." she said. That answer didn't help at all in telling if she was pissed or sympathetic. Jeez, she's hard to read.
"Well, uh. I guess I should go. Lissa's waiting for me." Christian said. Ayden nodded.
"We nee to go too." she said.
"Okay. I'll see you guys around." he said. Ayden waved bye as he left.
"Where do we have to go?" Adrian asked her.
"Out of here. My parents usually show up here around this time." she said. She grabbed his hand and ran out of there. Adrian didn't argue, but wondered where Ayden was taking him. She ran towards the gardens.
"Where are we going?" Adrian asked. She laughed.
"You tell me." she said. Adrian smiled and decided to just go with the flow.
They got to the gardens, and Ayden let go of his hand to jump onto the rim of the fountain. Adrian watched her spin and jump on and off the rim. She was a free spirit. She was, fun! Ayden spun again, and this time tripped.
Adrian ran to catch her, but was too late. Someone else was there to catch her fall.
Dimitri Belikov.
Ayden laughed at her klutziness. Then she got a look at her savior's face. She laughed even harder.
"Hello Guardian Belikov." she said.
"Miss Fairmont." he said, putting her down to the ground. "I haven't gained my guardian title back, yet." he corrected her. She rolled her eyes.
"Well you should." she said. "Your obviously not a strigoi. People are just too stupid to realize it." she added. Dimitri smiled at her.
"Thank you. Your opinion means a lot." he said. She smiled back. "You know that Guardian Jones and Sanders are looking for you." he said. Ayden sighed and nodded.
"Yes. I know. I'm avoiding them though." she said. He laughed and nodded.
"If they ask. I didn't see you." he said.
"Thanks." she said. Then Dimitri turned to Adrian, who was standing there shooting daggers at the guy.
"Lord Ivashkov." Dimitri said.
"Belikov." Adrian replied. They stood there, staring each other down. Ayden looked back and forth between the two, sensing the tension. "How is she?" Adrian finally asked. Dimitri's jaw set.
"She's fine. Worried about you though." he said. Adrian scoffed.
"Is she?" he asked. Dimitri nodded.
"She hasn't seen you around the court lately. She's worried you might have left and gotten killed. I'll let her know that your alive and well." Dimitri said. Adrian gave him one of his cocky smiles.
"You go do that. Tell her I'm well taken care of." he said, and glanced over at Ayden. Dimitri looked at Ayden then back to Adrian.
"I will pass the message." he said. "I must be going." he added. "Miss Fairmont." he nodded at Ayden. She smiled up at him and waved. "Lord Ivashkov." he nodded at Adrian. Adrian just looked at him.
"We'll see you around Guardian Belikov." Ayden said. Dimitri smiled at her and left. Adrian watched him go, muttering hateful words in his head.
"Can you say awkward?" Ayden mumbled. Adrian chuckled at her comment. "You have beef with Guardian Belikov?" she asked him.
"You could say that." he replied. Then he finally looked at her. Her hair blew against her face. She sighed and pushed it out of her face. Adrian laughed and took her hand. "We could run, or we could take a nice peaceful walk around the garden." he said. She smiled.
"Peaceful sounds good." she said. He squeezed her hand and lead her around the garden.
A while later, they were sitting on the rim of another fountain. They stared into the water, while they laughed at Ayden's last joke. Ayden ran her fingers through the water, creating ripples. Adrian watched her, looking at her aura. It was a light blue. She was really calm and relaxed, but black always ringed the outer edges. Adrian figured that it was because she killed strigoi, but something told him that it wasn't the whole story.
"Why are your parents so strict with you?" Adrian suddenly asked her. She looked up at him surprised at the question.
"It's a long story." she said, looking back down at the water.
"I've got time." Adrian said. She looked at his reflection. She bit her bottom lip. "If you don't want to tell me that's okay." Adrian added. He didn't want to force it out of her. She shook her head.
"I do want to tell you. I'm just afraid that," she paused. She looked up at Adrian. "that you'll hate me." she said. Adrian looked at her confused.
"Why would I hate you?" he asked. She sighed.
"Because I wasn't," she stopped and shook her head. "I'm just going to tell you." she let out in a rush. Adrian looked at her concerned, and waited for her to explain.
"It was summer time, and my family went to our usual spot in New York. My older brother, Damien, was my parents favorite child. He was the perfect moroi royal, even though he wasn't a royal. He was smart, persuasive, and just wonderful. I loved him, I really did." she said. Adrian nodded, encouraging her to go on.
"I was in a bad mood, and Damien wanted to cheer me up. My parents loved me, but they were more concerned about their son. So when Damien told them he was taking me out, they protested. But Damien talked them into letting us go." she stopped. Adrian could see her aura turn purple. He reached out for her hands and squeezed them, giving her reassurance. She continued.
"Guardian Teller went with us. Damien took me to see a movie and get ice cream." she smiled at the memory. "I was making fun of him for crying at the sappy part of the movie, and he wiped some of his ice cream on my face." she laughed. "Then as we left, Telly got a bad feeling." her smile faded, and a sorrowful look came across her face.
"We got attacked." she said. Adrian's eyes went wide. "Two strigoi. The first went after Telly and the other Damien. I didn't know what to do. I panicked. I screamed." she shrugged. Adrian rubbed her hands, trying to calm her down. " The stirgoi who was attacking Damien went after me. Damien then got killed trying to protect me." tears swelled up in her eyes. "Telly died trying to protect Damien. I was left on my own." she said. A tear came down her cheek and she looked down. "That's when I grabbed Telly's stake, and with rage, I burnt the stirgoi and staked them." she finished, whipping the tears away.
"Ayden. I'm so sorry." Adrian said. She shook her head.
"My parents blame me for his death." she said. Adrian looked at her horrified. That was totally stupid! And he thought his parents were bad. "If I wasn't such a brat that day, Damien wouldn't have taken me out, and he would still be alive today." she said.
"That's such bull shit!" Adrian let out. She looked at him shocked. "Your parents are blaming you for something that wasn't at all your fault! That is total and complete bull shit!" he let out.
"Adrian." she said. He shook his head.
"I'm sorry. I just cant believe your parents are that narrow minded." he said.
"Well they have to blame somebody. Just turns out that that lucky S.O.B. is me." she said.
"It shouldn't be you." he said. She smiled at him.
"Thanks Adrian. For not hating me." she said. He then pulled her in for a hug. She was shocked at first, and she just sat there. Then after a while she hugged him back.
"I wouldn't be able to hate you." he said, and realized it was the truth. She hugged him tighter. Then he let go of her and smiled at her. She smiled back, and Adrian could barley see the tips of her fangs. He looked at her lips, full rosey red lips. He didn't notice, but he was starting to lean forward.
"Ayden Leah Fairmont!" someone shouted.
The two looked away from each other to the side of them to see a tall red faced woman, and a hard set faced man. Ayden pulled away from Adrian as they came closer. She stood up and had a horrified look on her face.
"Mom. Dad." she let out. Adrian looked back at the other two. The woman had light brown hair with hazel eyes, and the man had dark black hair with dark colored eyes. They had some of Ayden's features, but not much.
"What do you think your doing?" her father shouted. Ayden didn't answer.
"Charles is waiting for you at our apartment." her mother stated.
"Who's Charles?" Adrian asked, feeling a bit jealous. Ayden's parents turned to him, giving him sympathetic smiles.
"We are truly sorry Lord Ivashkov. We promise, this girl will not bother you any longer." her dad said. Adrian held up his hand.
"Its alright. I enjoy your daughter's company." he said. Her father gave him a shocked look. "Now this Charles fellow?" he asked. Adrian hated talking so proper.
"Charles is Ayden's fiancé." her mother stated.
"WHAT?" Ayden shouted. Adrian didn't show it, but he was just as shocked. His jealousy sky rocketed.
"He's a nice man. You'll learn to like him." her mother scolded. Ayden opened her mouth to protest but her mother grabbed her arm. "He can offer you a great future." she said.
Thinking on his feet, Adrian interrupted.
"I guess it was wrong of me to invite Ayden to the Spring Ball as my date then." he said. Her parents looked at him doubly shocked.
"And," Ayden added. "If I was told about my fiancé, I would have declined, but I have already said yes." she said, playing along.
"So I guess I'll just have to make other plans." Adrian said.
"No, no! Don't think anything of it. Ayden would love to go with you." her parents said.
"But what about Charles?" Adrian asked.
"Well it hasn't been official. It was only a meeting anyways." her dad said. "We could just tell him, it didn't work out." he added.
Adrian was disgusted at how they treated Ayden. Like she was a pet they could just throw around. Like the only use their daughter had, was marring into successful families. But Adrian didn't show any of his feelings. He just smiled and nodded.
"Good. The date is still on." he said directly to Ayden. But before she could respond her parents butted in.
"Yes. She'll be there." they said. Adrian smiled.
"Then if you don't mind, I'd like to escort Ayden to her apartment." he said. Her parents nodded. Adrian held out his hand for her, and Ayden quickly took it. She waved good-bye to her parents and followed Adrian to her place.
"Thank you." she said. He smiled at her.
"No problem. Leah." he smirked. She gave him a cold stare.
"I hate that name." she said.
"Why?" he asked.
"Its my mother's name." she said.
He burst out laughing.
Juicy eh? Dramatic enough? I'm sorry. For those of you who wanted more detail in Adrian's feeding. I didn't want to go into it in this chapter. I'll give you the details in another chapter. So review, if you want that chapter, or even another chapter to this story. Thanks for the wonderful reviews so far. ^_^
BoOkWoRm OUT!