Vampire Academy: A Desperate Cause

Chapter 12 of my Vampire Academy story, enjoy.

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Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: Vampire Academy belongs to Richelle Mead.

Chapter 12

DIMITRI POV

I stared at the sight before me, Rose was breathless, dishevelled, had a few small cuts, but was alive. Behind her, the body of her attacker lay in a heap on the ground, Rose had her stake in hand. I cautiously approached and Rose relaxed her stance, straightening up; still fighting for breath.

"Roza, what...are you okay?" I gasped.

She managed a small smile. "I'm fine, Comrade...Just had a little...disagreement with a Strigoi...But it's taken care of."

I almost laughed at how casual she was being about it; but it was clear she was still trying to recover, to pull herself together from the fight. I could tell it had been intense. Straightening up fully and tucking her stake away, Rose walked carefully over to meet me halfway.

She had finally caught her breath and apart from the cuts, seemed to have completely recovered, I couldn't deny I was impressed by her composure.

"So, what exactly happened?" I queried.

Rose paused for a moment, gathering her thoughts, and then spoke. "I was just, sitting here, trying to calm down. He tired to ambush me from behind...We fought and I managed to beat. It was easy once I saw how, arrogant prick got too hot-headed and now he's dead, and no longer a wanted fugitive."

"Wanted fugitive?" I asked, confused, while also surprised at how she had handled things.

She nodded. "Take a good look, it's Jesse."

Looking over the body I realized that was indeed true, the Moroi turned Strigoi Jesse Zeklos was finally dead.

Smiling lightly I nodded to Rose.

"Good, one less fugitive to worry about. We'll have to inform the Academy." I stated at last.

She also nodded. "Yeah, well, let's get going, what's our next move?"

That reminded me of why I came searching for her in the first place.

"I'm glad you asked, I may have a, new lead...C'mon, I'll show." I told her.

Rose gasped in surprise but agreed and, after burning Jesse's body, followed me as I led the way back to our hotel. As we walked I noticed Rose shudder.

"Rose, are you…?"

She shook her head. "I'm fine, just...still creeped out by Jesse, he...urgh..."

I bit my lip, Rose noticed my reaction and nodded, confirming I had guessed correctly about what he had desired, no doubt why he had tried to convince her to turn as she later explained. Or why he was seeking to bite her, to weaken her resolve.

'It was only his arrogance and forgetting he could no longer cast magic that saved her.' I noted. 'He did have the upper hand, but Rose, she's learned a lot. She turned a disadvantage into a weapon to use against her enemy.'

It was a tactic that was used rarely, due to its risks, but for Rose it worked and for that I was grateful.

We soon reached the hotel and entered, after retrieving the key from the owner, who barely even glanced at me, we made our way upstairs. I was fighting to stay in control; for while he barely glanced at me, the owner had been shamelessly eyeing Rose and not a good way. Shaking her head Rose said softly.

"Relax will you, he's not the threat here, he's nothing compared to other things we have to face."

I sighed but nodded. "Alright, sorry."

We both smiled at each other gently as we entered our room. For varying reasons, Rose and I, whenever we took to a hotel, we only got one room.

Although, mostly due to the stares of the owners of these hotels, we decided not to make our relationship status obvious, opting for rooms with two beds. We were too focused on our mission to worry much about that anyway.

Once in the room I closed and locked the door and led Rose over to the desk where I retrieved all the documents and notes we were using to plan our moves and guide our search.

Using all these and a map to illustrate my words, I began to explain.

"The kidnappers were smarter than we gave them credit for." I began to point out the various details. "They're not hiding in the wilderness, or within cities, but are in fact, close to suburban areas."

Rose let out a low breath. "That explains a lot, then, the sounds I heard through Lissa's mind...the few things I could see?"

I nodded. "All helped narrow it down, along with some more calls from your father and the Academy...I finally have some good news Rose."

She tilted her head, questioningly. I smirked and, taking a pen, began crossing off names and circling those that remained.

"We've narrowed it down now, to two areas, just two areas to search for any clue, they're in one of those areas. I'm sure of it." I told her.

Rose grinned at that. "That's perfect, so putting everything together, we now know, it's here...We're so close, we can do this Dimitri."

I agreed. "Yes and soon, we're running out of time."

Rose knew I was right, it would take us at least a day each to reach each area and another day of searching, that is, if things went well and we had only eight days left.

Time was not on our side, we didn't stay the night, we simply checked out of the hotel and took to the rode immediately, heading to the first of the two remaining locations, our last hopes as everything threatened to still come down around us.

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.