Vampire Academy is all Richelle Mead's...

Dimitri let Zeklos go, only his promise to Katya keeping him from following the Moroi and demanding that he leave the school and never come back to Siberia again. He entered the doors to the novice dorm a minute after Katya, but she was still there – standing at attention. Novices were usually allowed flexibility around curfew, but it took Dimitri no time at all to realize that leniency was not in play tonight. He joined Katya at attention, not waiting to be ordered.

Guardian Rybalkin stood in front of Katya. He didn't speak, and Katya stayed silent as well. An expression Dimitri wasn't expecting - and one he was sure he misread: relief – crossed his face. "Novice Belikov. Are you aware that you are returning past curfew?"

"Yes, Guardian Rybalkin?" He wouldn't make excuses. Eyes forward, back straight, he waited with Katya for their punishment.

Rybalkin's shoulders dropped slightly and he exhaled – not in a sigh, but in a release of tension. "I realize the novice curfew has not been enforced recently. You will appreciate that circumstances have changed."

He sounded both tired and overwhelmed – unusual in itself for stoic Rybalkin - but his tone was firm and did not invite questions.

Still at attention: back straight, hands at his sides, eyes forward, Dimitri could only nod. "Yes, Sir."

"This is your only warning. If you are late again you will be on monitoring duty for a week. Dismissed." He turned away, not waiting to see if they complied. Dimitri stayed frozen until Katya tugged him toward the stairs. He recovered and pushed past her. He wasn't angry, but she if she was going to be with Zeklos he couldn't be around her. She followed him, not understanding and intentionally not acknowledging his mood.

"They're taking the 'real world test' a bit far," she called up, half a stairwell behind, sounding both annoyed and amused.

He climbed faster, not running but taking the steps three at a time – easy to do with his long legs. He had to get away from her, away from the memories she was triggering, but his novice training was too strong. Despite the awful images in his head, he was still processing the new curfew and the guardian's response.

"They're not telling us something." He muttered, still climbing.

He hadn't meant to say it out loud, but Katya heard him. A full stairway behind now, she called up to him, her voice intentionally conversational. "What do you mean?"

He kept going up the cramped, Stalin-era cement stairway. He wished he could talk to her, get her input and help with understanding the bizarre guardian response, take advantage of how hard she was trying to be his friend, but he just couldn't. Not now. "Nothing."

"Dimitri."

Her tone made him stop, one hand on the worn metal handrail, one foot on a higher stair. He'd just been with Malina, just realized that the Moroi girl could be more than a casual bed partner. But despite his friendship with Katya, there were still moments –like now – when he wished they could be more.

"Dimka," she repeated, more softly. She was still half a flight of stairs away, the fluorescent lighting flickered sickly. He focused on the sick flickering so he wouldn't get caught in the memory of other times she'd whispered his name. He continued up the stairs but more slowly, one stair at a time, letting her catch up.

They reached the third floor landing and he stopped, hand on the doorknob. "They're being inconsistent," he volunteered finally. "Sending us and Moroi - especially Moroi - out to the wards; then cracking down on curfew."

She shook her head, carefully. "They're training us."

"Modeling unsafe practices and imposing illogical restrictions is poor guidance – unless there's something that explains the contradictions."

"You and Ivan," she smiled, still cautious. "You're both acting like there's a guardian conspiracy.

Zeklos again. He couldn't escape. "What did Zeklos say?"

"He just said that the guardians are acting different than they did at his old academy."

He regretted asking. It didn't matter what Zeklos said, and besides, it was impossible to know if he was telling the truth. He turned the doorknob. Katya touched his hand.

She took a step back, something she did when she wanted his full attention. He was so much taller than she that over the years she'd adapted: stepping back allowed her to look him in the eye without straining her neck.

"I'm worried about you."

"I'm fine."

Her expression said she saw the lie clearly - and the pain behind it - but she didn't push. She tried for an intentionally lighter tone. "Why were you late? Did you fix things with Malina?"

He pushed his feelings for Katya aside. He was used to pushing those feelings away, and he was good at it. Malina baffled him but he'd enjoyed being with her and he was looking forward to spending more time with her. He smiled, thinking about the pool game and her aggressiveness outside by the tree.

Katya cheered at his expression then covered her mouth guiltily, but her eyes stayed bright. "Oh, thank god," she whispered, grinning. "Maybe you'll relax once you start getting some on a regular basis."

His smile vanished. "She's not like that."

"Really?" She sounded shocked. She'd teased him about other girls, but Malina was the first he'd defended. Her voice softened. "Do you actually like her?"

He suddenly felt uncomfortable talking about Malina with Katya. He tried to turn the doorknob again. "Maybe."

Katya stopped him again, squeezing his fingers gently. Her voice took on a tone he'd never heard her use. "It's okay, Dimitri. It's good. Not all Moroi are like your father. Most of them are worth protecting. This isn't just racial survival for us. They're hunted like animals. Protecting them is the right thing to do."

It was just a variation of what they'd always been taught: they come first. He should have just agreed and gone to bed. He was sure she wasn't really talking about all Moroi, though. He didn't try to keep the contempt out of his voice. "Like Zeklos?"

Her lips tightened but her voice stayed mild. "Whenever you want to tell me what's wrong I'll listen."

"It's nothing," he said. "Good night."

He didn't look back but he felt her eyes follow him all the way down the hall to his room. Only after he pushed his door closed did he hear her continue up the stairs to the female novices' floor.

For the next week and a half Dimitri tried to stay focused on his classes and Malina, and did his best to ignore Ivan and Katya.

The initial uproar after the Strigoi sighting settled surprisingly quickly. The guardians were kept busy with other campus emergencies - a small fire along the wards on the eastern side of campus and a water main burst near the wards to the south – but there were no more Strigoi sightings despite increased patrols and monitoring.

Changes were made, but student life followed the new patterns with relative ease. The Moroi students relaxed – only a handful went home – and most – though not all - of the Moroi girls disappeared from the novice dorm. Novices were held to stricter standards – stricter curfew just one of the small changes - but under the circumstances, no one complained.

The majority of the changes were made in the novice schedule. Monitoring continued to be a new mandatory hour each day, and novice pairs were assigned rotating three-hour blocks after hours, joining the guardians in 24-7 surveillance of the campus and surrounding areas. Criminal psychology was added to the standard curriculum. Advanced bodyguard technique moved to the end of the day and consistently ran long, and standard novice coursework instruction and practices intensified and extended.

The Moroi were not completely exempt from the changes - more Moroi-novice groups were taken to the wards (the official explanation continued to be "taking advantage of increased surveillance for magical technique instruction and bodyguard practice") and the Moroi professors were more visible in their work with their guardian counterparts. For the most part, the professors and guardians worked together in apparent solidarity, but occasionally, Dimitri could have sworn that the pairings were quietly antagonistic.

Dimitri's – and Zeklos's – questions about the uneven, inconsistent guardian response remained unanswered. Dimitri had chances to ask Nikitin for explanations – Nikitin often singled him out for advanced instruction and practice - but because Zeklos had originally raised the question… Dimitri couldn't bring himself to ask.

Dimitri's time and energy should have been fully directed at the new classes and extended practices. Instead, he stayed at the top of his class by sheer natural skill and luck. Malina took up some of his time and energy, but Ivan Zeklos continued to make his life a quiet hell.

Zeklos continued to ingratiate himself with his classmates and teachers. He was a model student, yet somehow managed to avoid becoming a teacher's pet. Away from class, he apportioned his time equally among the novices, Moroi, and Royal Moroi - at meals, during classes, while studying, and even in the recreation areas. With the royals he was immediately, inexplicably popular, polished, smart, savvy, and political; with the novices and other Moroi he was charming, friendly, genuine, and relaxed.

Dimitri knew it was all an act – carefully crafted, well performed, but still an act – but his skin crawled with envy as he watched Zeklos easily navigate every social level the academy had. Dimitri's own natural physical skills, serious temperament, and strong work ethic earned him respect, but he rarely felt anything but uncomfortable in social situations. He'd never minded before - he excelled in other areas – but watching Zeklos excel made him acutely aware of his inadequacies, and added another layer of agony whenever Zeklos was around.

Zeklos's skill in consolidating his popularity wasn't Dimitri's worst level of hell: Zeklos continued to spend time with Katya. Watching them, Dimitri could almost believe that Zeklos was as good as he seemed. Watching them, Dimitri almost forgot to be worried for Katya's safety. Watching them, he could finally see why he and Katya had never worked - why none of his relationships had ever worked. He couldn't stand it, because even though he knew – he knew their relationship would explode in spectacularly ugly ways – but if what he saw could possibly be genuine, Katya and Zeklos showed him what he was missing.

They were happy. They spent the majority of their time with their own friends – Katya with her novice classmates and Moroi friends, Ivan with nearly everyone – but they watched each other, and smiled. No matter what they were doing they seemed constantly aware of each other, not so much seeking each other out to touch but holding themselves back from touching too much. Her arm would just barely brush him, his elbow would nudge her, their hands would meet briefly – then they would keep moving; continue on to their next class, next conversation, next practice. The didn't avoid each other – they ate some meals together, studied together, and, Dimitri heard, went on an official date the first Friday after Ivan started at the Siberian academy – but it was almost as if they were being careful to take things slow.

Unable to sway Katya in any way and restricted from a direct confrontation with Zeklos, Dimitri tried to concentrate on Malina. He noticed more and more just how beautiful she was – her green eyes flashing in interest or laughter, her slight Moroi curves accented by the clingy, form-skimming skirts and sweaters and tights she favored. More and more he found himself trying to make her smile. She came from a different world, though, and he struggled for common ground – or even basic conversation. She worked at keeping conversation going between them, but so much of his past needed to be edited or avoided, and so much of his nature was to be naturally reticent and quiet. His skills were physical: he had very little experience talking – about anything, really, but especially about himself. Malina tried hard to get to know him, though, and to fill the uncomfortable silence sometimes, she talked about herself. He got to know her a little in those rambling, nervous times.

She was the youngest of four: she had two older brothers and an older sister. Her parents traveled a lot but they did their best to bring Malina and her siblings with them on summer break. On short breaks during the year she usually stayed with her grandmother.

Her family had two guardians. Dimitri got the impression that in her family, the guardians were employees, with a status somewhat on par with her parents' accountant. Malina liked them, but they were older and rarely spoke to her. She'd gotten in trouble with them when she was younger because she'd snuck out a lot - to meet friends, boys, or just for a little adventure. She still tended to break the rules – he hadn't seen current evidence of any impulsiveness or thrill seeking but he believed her - but she'd slowly learned the seriousness of the Strigoi threat. Older and wiser and more cautious, she regretted causing her guardians extra, unnecessary work.

They fell into a pattern, meeting for most meals, homework, and finding creative ways and locations to be alone. They were awkward at talking, but there was no awkwardness between them physically. He didn't ask – and she didn't offer – for her to come to his room again, but she had no problem sneaking time together in utility closets, empty classrooms, and in the shadows of trees and between buildings. Her boundaries stayed firm but he thoroughly enjoyed her responsiveness and minimal inhibitions within the comfort zone she set.

She didn't cling or hover - he often had to look for her at meals or between classes - and she spent the majority of her time with her Moroi friends, but most nights she did go out of her way to watch his Advanced Bodyguard practice. The extra novice coursework and the extended class practices made the class run so late that the kitchen started extending their hours. Malina and a few other Moroi – more than Dimitri expected – observed the class, waiting to eat with their novice friends.

Friday night, almost two weeks after Ivan Zeklos had moved to Saint Basil's Siberian Academy and invaded his life, Malina observed his class and Zeklos joined her. They weren't alone: it was the last class of the week and quite a few Moroi – almost two dozen – were waiting to join their friends for various Friday night activities. At first Dimitri assumed that Zeklos was there for Katya and he was almost resigned into accepting it, but as practice continued, he realized that Zeklos was there for Malina.

Thank you so much for reading, favorite-ing, and especially for reviewing! I adore my reviewers, thank you all! :-D

Sorry for the cliffhanger, I've been trying to keep the chapters on this story short and sweet but they're getting longer and longer, and what happens next is going to take a while so I *had * to end it here. That, and Richelle likes to end on cliffhangers and I'm learning from the best!