Hey guys Purrfictionist here! I'm sorry the time period in this story is far back but I'm trying to catch up! Have patience I noticed a few errors in the past chapters that I'm planning to correct later in the weekend and I'll mention the changes. Reviews are appreciated!

Chapter Ten

Jillian Mastrano

Skiing

I stuff my hands in my pockets and walk through the cold winter breeze towards my cabin. He liked me, Eddie had liked me. Sydney even noticed it and had told me herself and I had finally started noticing that gleam in his eyes when he's looking at me and the softness of his voice when he talks to me. But he didn't wait for me. He gave into Angeline, my sister like friend and now, he barely notices me. He even forgot about me back in the café when he had gone off with Angeline. I reach for the golden knob of my cabin and push it open after unlocking it with the key Eddie had given me earlier. I shrug off my boots and walk through Eddie's room that's adjoined with mine and Angeline's. I pull of my jacket and toss it in the chair besides me before I fall onto my bed next to Angeline's. I pull myself up higher onto the large queen bed and pull the covers over my head.

I close my eyes and let out a shaky breath as tears roll down my cheeks. Eddie had left me, and Lissa hadn't even said hi once. I felt her looking at me in the café but that was the closest thing to an interaction we had. Christian on the other hand was excited to see me. He was going on and on about his cooking classes back at his college and all the special treatment he was getting at court by being the queen's girlfriend which earned him a look from Lissa. It was fun talking to him but that had only lasted for a little over ten minutes before he went to go join Lissa in their room to freshen up for lunch. Rose talked to me for a little but most of the times she was busy guarding Lissa and Dimitri was always with Christian. Mia was being oddly quiet and pale ever since she had come to Spokane. I remember Christian talking about how close she and Mason had been. Adrian has been there for me all the time and kept me entertained by pointing out silly things about the waiters and Sydney has been keeping a steady conversation with me to but I didn't want to ruin Adrian and Sydney's day. I could see through the bond, even right now, how excited Adrian is to be alone with Sydney but when I'm around, he's always too concerned about me. I want him to be happy with Sydney.

I feel invisible again, just like I was back earlier this year at court. I feel alone. Sometimes I wish that I never learned that my father is Eric Dragomir. Sometimes I wish that Lissa can hurry up and change the hereditary laws so that I can become the useless little girl I originally was so that I can get my life back.

I hear a door squeak open and soft footsteps make their way into my room, growing louder by the second. I stiffen under the covers and tighten my grasp on my pillow. It can't be them, I tell myself. The sun's still out, the strigoi can't come out yet. The bed suddenly squeaks loudly and the covers around me crumple loudly as someone sits dwon next to me.

"Jill?"

I feel my heart stop as I take in the warm, familiar voice. I quickly dry my eyes and pull the covers off my face to find myself looking into a pair of hazel eyes.

"Eddie?" I whisper blushing. "W-what are you doing here?"

"I didn't see you at the slopes and I got worried that you got lost or something," he says. "Jill were you crying?"

"No," I say a little too quickly.

"You don't need to lie to me Jill," he says. "What's up?"

I blush and look down at my hands. I can't tell him how lonely I feel, he'll get too worried and Eddie's worried already, he's always worried about me. I rake my mind for something believable as I melt under Eddie's concerned gaze.

"I'm just nervous about skiing," I tell him which technically isn't a lie. "I never skied before."

He smiles at me and squeezes my fingertips. "I can teach you," he says.

"You can't do that, you should be with Angeline, it's the only time you get to be alone with her," I tell him shocked by my sad tone.

Eddie though on the other hand is completely impervious to this and shakes his hand. "You always come first Jillian," he says and I can't help but blush again as he calls me by my first name, something he does rarely. "Besides, Angeline's too busy getting Rose and Christian buried in snow."

I giggle and he shakes his head at me. "It's funny," I say. "You have to admit it."

"It really isn't, she should be here with me right now helping me guard you, she seems to forget that at times," he says grimly.

"She's taking a break, we're all on vacation now," I say gently. "Besides, it's pretty useless to have another guardian around when you're always there for me."

Eddie blushes and I feel my heart give a little leap gives me a small smile. I just made him blush.

"Come on," he says holding out his hand. "I'm going to train you to be the best skier ever."

I smile up at him and let him pull me up. He helps me into my jacket and patiently waits for me to slip my boots on. As soon as I'm all warm and cozy again, we head out the cabin and walk right into Mia Rinaldi. Mia looks up at me and Eddie and smiles.

"I was looking for you two everywhere," she says.

"We're just heading out to the training slopes," Eddie says. "I'm teaching Jill how to ski; do you want to tag along with us?"

"Sure," she says smiling at me. She grabs my arm and pulls me away from Eddie before leaning into say, "So how are your classes?"

"What classes?" I ask her as Eddie looks over at us curiously.

"Your magic classes and your self defense classes, he is still training you isn't he?" she says frowning as she looks over at Eddie.

Eddie caught the word self defense classes and looks at Mia. "I don't think it's necessary for Jill to have training classes," he says. "Angeline and I are always around her."

I sigh and roll my eyes at him. Why can't he see that I need those classes? What if something happens one day and I'm left alone surrounded by Strigoi or a bunch of goons? What am I supposed to do then?

"Ignore him Mia," I say. "He's being a meanie."

"Jill," he says.

"Eddie," I say mocking his tone.

He shakes his head at me holding back a smile and hands me a pair of skiing sticks. "Let's get you on."

*TIME JUMP*

Two hours later, all three of our legs are sore, and we had gone all the way from the training slopes to the high slopes where Rose and the others were. I never noticed or even thought of the idea of Dimitri Belikov, the God like guardian skiing. I mean he's always so stoic and quiet. He seems more suitable reading a book in the library rather than skiing. But even at skiing, the man is a God but he's nothing like Eddie. Eddie's moves are quick and graceful. His muscles that are always tucked away underneath his shirt seem to flex under his thick jacket as he turns and dodges the pine trees before him.

My first trip down the small slope involved a lot of tumbling and falling which later turned into hard core snowball fights with Mia and I teamed against Eddie. We even bumped into Adrian and Sydney once who were screaming from all the snow being chucked at them. It was cute seeing the soft, boyish nature in Eddie that's always well hidden pop out from that sealed guardian mask Eddie always wears. Even Adrian seemed like a ten year old boy throwing snow balls at Mia, Sydney and I.

"We need to do this more often," Adrian says as we walk up the high steep hill we had skied down. We all agreed to meet back at the café at one and we were practically running with a half an hour to spare. None of us noticed how far we had gotten from the others. "We need the break."

Sydney smiles at him, and I mean she actually smiles at him. It isn't the usual smile she gives him and the others all the time but a true and genuine smile that's getting Adrian tingling all over. Sydney notices me and Adrian looking at her and blushes as she walks up to Mia.

"We should," Eddie agrees. "Mase and I used to come out here all the time during our winter break. Our families were close. Our parents are best friends and so are our siblings. My eldest brother even is married to Mase's sister. I just can't believe that he's gone."

A strange silence fills the air as we listen to Eddie open up about the hole in his heart. I reach out towards him and take his hand. He looks at me a little surprised when I give his hand a squeeze.

"I'll be your best friend now," I say.

"I think I reserved that spot first," Mia says elbowing Eddie's arm.

He chuckles at us two, lightning up a little, and stops walking all of a sudden to look down at his buzzing phone.

"What's wrong?" Adrian asks him sensing a shift in his aura.

"It's Angeline," he says pressing his phone to his ear. "Hey Ange what's up?"

Mia raises her eyebrows at me at Eddie's nickname for Angeline. I shrug and she shakes her head at Eddie smiling.

"You're leaving?"

I stop breathing and look over at Eddie as he frowns. I feel something rustle past me but I ignore the soft, butterfly like touch and look at Eddie intently as he nods at what Angeline's saying on the other line.

"Of course I understand, all right promise me you'll call. I will, I'll tell them, take care Angeline and tell your dad that I hope he gets better," he says before ending the call.

"Angeline's leaving?" I ask. "What happened?"

"Her father wasn't feeling and she said that she's in a cab right now to the airport."

"I hope it isn't anything serious," I whisper.

He shakes his head. "Angeline's dad is a pretty healthy man; I heard a lot about the Keepers from Rose and know for a fact that they're pretty fit. It's probably something small Jill," he says.

I nod and suddenly stopped walking. Eddie stops as soon as he senses my fear and looks over at me. Adrian reaches out to touch my arm and looks down at me with his green eyes.

"What's wrong Jill?" Eddie asks.

"Where's Mia?"

Sydney frowns. "She was right behind a minute ago," she says.

We all turn around to look at the blonde Moroi and find nothing but a bunch of tall pine trees and an endless valley of snow. Eddie reaches and down and grabs something from his boot. My heart pounds against my chest loudly as I take in the dagger. Eddie grabs me by wrist as he looks hesitantly at the woods behind us and then the way up to the cottage and I can tell that he is mentally debating whether or not he should leave Mia and get Adrian, Sydney and I to the cabin or go looking for her.

"Stay right by my side and don't go anywhere," Eddie says in a low, cold voice as he pulls me into the woods after nodding at Adrian who already has a tight grip on pale Sydney's arm.

"Adrian can you see her aura?" Eddie asks.

"I-" Adrian starts to say but is cut off by a loud crack, much similar to the sound of ice breaking.

We stopped walking and I felt Eddie's grasp tighten around my wrist as his large hand swallows mine. Suddenly everything grows quiet. All the birds that were chirping a minute ago stopped singing and the entire forest freezes in time. Suddenly, everything's falling apart and the forest breaks out in a chaos. Birds are crying, sleeping owls were aware and all the other forest animals were screaming and running away in various directions.

"What the," Adrian says.

Suddenly, a high pitched cry breaks out amongst the animals' only this one is human, and feminine. It's Mia.

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