Chapter 45: Voice of Reason

Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy or any of its characters or plotline.

Chicago Blackhawks 2 down 2 to go and then we'll be Stanley Cup Champions! WOOWOO! Game 2 is on tonight yay!

DPOV

I was so excited to give Rose the stake I had made for her. All novices received a plain silver stake upon graduation, but I told Alberta that I had something special in mind for Rose. She knew exactly what I meant and permitted it.

A Guardian only gets his or her first stake once and I wanted Rose's to be from me. When she opened it I could see tears in her eyes.

She jumped into my arms. "Thank You." She whispered.

"I love you."

"I love you too." She replied.

When they announced that I was Christian's Guardian Rose nearly had a heart attack she was so excited.

"Why didn't you tell me?" she asked.

"I wanted to surprise you."

"Is that why you went to Court?" she asked.

"You amaze me how did you figure it out?"

"Adrian told me you hadn't been summoned so I knew you were lying. "She replied.

Damn him why did he have to know everything? At least she wasn't mad. That was something.

After the ceremony Tasha thanked me profusely for volunteering to be her nephew's Guardian. We both knew it wasn't the Queen's idea.

"I can't thank you enough Dimka." She said hugging me tightly. Thankfully Rose was otherwise occupied or I may have had to pull her off of Tasha. I haven't the faintest idea of why she's so jealous. She knows that she will always be the only one for me.

"He deserves to have his own Guardian and this way I can stay close to Rose." I told her.

"No matter the reason I really appreciate it. Now we will all get to be together for special occasions." I'm sure Rose will be just thrilled about that.

"I consider you a very good friend Tasha and I find it an honor to serve the Ozera's."

"Cut the formal crap." She'd told me with a laugh. "I thought Christian was going to fall over when you bowed to him and called him Lord Ozera." She laughed.

"He did seem surprised." I agreed.

When I announced the living arrangements I saw Abe and Janine glaring at me, but they didn't interfere.

I was slightly annoyed that Ivashkov gave her expensive jewelry, but the Princess explained how he'd infused it with Spirit and that made me feel better that it served a purpose, but did he have to give her Tiffany. I could never afford to give her such nice things. I knew deep down that she didn't focus on things like that, but it still aggravated me a little.

It was touching that Janine had thought to get her a computer. She would need one for school. I knew she wasn't too focused on what classes they'd be taking, but the Princess had decided to allow Rose to choose one of her classes each semester so she'd have something to keep her interest. I was amazed at how well those two got along. They were by far from two different worlds. It didn't seem to matter.

I was not prepared for Abe Mazur's gift to his daughter though. I found it strange that he would take us to the parking lot to get her gift until I saw it that is.

One of his guardians pulled up in a sleek black Mercedes SUV. The look on Rose's face as he whispered in her ear was priceless.

Did he know that she didn't have a license or know how to drive? This guy was really getting on my last nerve. I wondered how hard it would be to take out Pavel and Sergei? Eh he's probably shoot fire at me and I'd end up fried to a crisp.

"You don't have your license." I reminded her.

"Sure I do." She grinned and pulled it out of her purse.

Where did she get that? It looked authentic enough.

"But Kirova wouldn't let you." Said Lissa confused.

"Where did you get that?" I questioned.

"I have my sources." she said winking at Adrian and then Abe.

I should have known that those corrupt Moroi would be behind it.

"Have you ever driven?" asked Christian with a laugh.

"Sure Adrian let me drive to Missoula on my birthday."

I gave Ivashkov a death stare. Was it so wrong for me to want to be the one to have taught her to drive?

He just walked away and if my eyes weren't deceiving me he was making a move on my sister. I'd have to talk to her about it later. I wasn't too worried though Viktoria was a smart girl. There's no way she'd fall for a cad like Ivashkov.

I watched Rose's face light up as the Princess announced her gift as a trip to Hawaii for everyone. I'd helped her with the plans and I knew Roza would be pleased. I had a little surprise of my own planned for the trip.

We all disbursed and I had a few minutes alone with Rose before we were all meeting up for dinner to discuss our Strigoi issue.

RPOV

I had a plan, but I didn't want to just come out in the open with it before talking with Dimitri. He was my voice of reason and if I was going to do something crazy he would be the first to tell me.

So as soon as we were alone I sprung it on him.

"So I was thinking Adrian can pinpoint exactly who it is that was dream walking me and once we do that you, me, Eddie, Christian, Janine and Abe can go hunt them down." I finished explaining my plan.

He looked thoughtful then his brow furrowed and he frowned. "I don't like it Roza. I don't want you in any danger."

I sighed heavily. "Comrade, you can't protect me forever. Remember what we talked about?" I asked lifting my hair to show my promise mark. "I am a Guardian now whether you like it or not."

He stepped closer to me and ran his hand over the back of my exposed neck sending shivers down my spine.

"I know that and I accept it, but the point of being a Guardian is to protect our Moroi charges when Strigoi attack not to go hunt them down."

"I know that, but just listen for a minute. If we wait for them to attack it will be on their terms and they will have the upper hand. If we figure out their plan and bring the fight to a place and time of our choosing then we will have a better chance. I don't want Lissa anywhere near us when we fight them."

"Just the same if we leave them unprotected they could be attacked while we are gone." He argued.

Shit I didn't think of that. "That's true." I admitted. "I just can't stand the thought of just sitting around waiting for them to come and get Lissa. It makes me so mad." I raged trembling slightly at the thought of them getting their hands on her.

"Roza it won't come to that I promise. We are going to think through this, find out as much information as we can and go on the defensive. We'll be ready." He said trying to reassure me.

I trusted him one-hundred percent, but I wasn't sure that this would work.

"Let's just see what the others think before we make any decisions." He said.

I agreed for now.

JPOV

The meeting was utter chaos. The Moroi wanted to fight along side the Guardians. I could see the possibility of Lord Ozera and Abe being useful, but as for Lord Ivashkov and the Princess well that was another matter. They did not have any line of defense. The Princess argued that they'd need to be around to heal the wounded, but Rose put her foot down.

"No Liss! You need to be safe. I can't risk you. It's my job to protect you and I say no." she said forcefully.

"But Rose, I don't want you to always putting yourself on the line for me."

"Liss that is the way it's supposed to be."

Then they glared at each other for over a minute without saying a word. Both looked murderous. While this was going on Lord Ivashkov's eyes were moving back and forth from the Princess to Rose like a ping pong match.

They must be communicating through the bond I realized. Lord Ivashkov could see it in their Aura's. I was really starting to get the hang of all this magic stuff.

"Enough!" Guardian Belikov's voice rang out and everyone stopped talking and looked at him.

"Only fire users will fight and we will not seek them out. Is that clear?" He barked.

I'd never seen him be so forceful. I looked at Rose expecting her to throw a fit.

She remained quiet and stood next to Belikov supporting his decision. That was a surprise to me. She usually would be the first to jump in and fight. He really was a good influence on her.

I shot her a small nod of approval and she nodded back.

Please review! What do you think about Rose being all mature and stuff? Do you think it will last? Do you think Dimitri's plan is the best way to go or was Rose right and they should seek them out and fight on their own terms? Next up a move to the Royal Court Yay!