And there was another flash.
"I'm so sick of this!" Christian said
"Yeah well I'll make it short. The note says that Lissa can join Rose because of the same reasons and to bond more." Adrian said simply.
"Okay?" Lissa said uncertainly. She got up, said bye to everybody and was led out by the guardians. Ivan started once she left.
WE DIDN'T HAVE THE ENTIRE…to think it was a designer knockoff.
"How would she know that?" Janine asked
"She's Lissa's best friend. That's enough of an answer, really." Eddie chuckled.
I crossed my arms…over on west campus."
Adrian whistled.
"Damn, Rose." Mason grinned and shook his head fondly.
A pink flush spread…screw you right back."
"Oh man." Christian shook his head and so did Abe for the same reasons.
"What an opening that is." Christian said with a smirk
Oh man, what an opening that was.
"Are you serious?" Christian deadpanned
"100%" Ivan snickered.
Only a head shake from Lissa…at nap time when it happened."
Alberta shook her head, remembering the incident.
"What did she do?" Abe asked eager.
"Why are you so excited?" Janine asked dryly.
"Hey, I have to see what my dau-" Abe said with a grin as he was defending himself but stopped when there was a water spray right in front of him which came from Mason.
"What-" He choked out. Janine stared at Abe who looked sheepish.
"You're her father?" Dimitri asked quietly. Janine nodded and so did Abe.
"Well shit." Eddie said
"Not really, I get where she gets it from." Christian shrugged
"I mean yeah, she does look at the two of them combined." Adrian agreed.
"Nah. She gets her looks from the dude." Mason said
"I have a name." Abe pointed out.
"Right. Sorry." Mason said.
"You looked too similar to not be related now that I look at it that way." Christian said, furrowing his eyebrows.
"Thanks." Abe said
"Maybe we should just read." Dimitri said, thinking about how Rose's father was Zmey…he did not expect it yet he wasn't surprised.
"Agreed." Ivan said and continued.
"Wait a second. What did she do that Dawn girl?" Abe asked Alberta.
"And I thought you'd let it go but I don't know why I did." The guardian sighed "Rose broke about 2-3 bones in the girl's arm by shoving her into a tree because she insulted Lissa." Alberta answered.
"Good job." Abe grinned and sat back in his seat.
"I think you've got to be one of the only parents who'd be happy about their child committing violence." Christian said dryly
"There was a valid reason." Abe shrugged.
The incident with Dawn hadn't…look on this girl's face, it was.
"Definitely. It's told every night." Eddie said.
One of the patrolling staff members… "Nice to see you again."
"How did she just go from giving out threats to being happy to seeing somebody?" Viktoria shook her head in amazement.
"I had nothing to do with it." Janine said. Abe just smirked.
"I still can't get over this." Mason muttered to Eddie
"If you can't, imagine Rose." Eddie said back
"We can't tell her. We're not allowed and I intend to follow that. Nobody else is going to tell either." Mason told him.
"Agreed." Eddie nodded.
He gave me a quick nod…happy she would get some normality.
Janine shook her head and Olena sighed in understanding. She understood that Rose was going through a lot and not just Moroi bite addictions. She knew it was more about Lissa needing her and relying on her.
We walked into the feeding…she didn't stop me from entering.
"How come they let her in?" Janine asked in mild surprise.
"They don't have a problem with dhampirs entering but they only thing is not a lot of dhampirs go to the feeding rooms." Alberta explained
She led us to one of the cubicles…about to get her next fix.
Everybody sighed.
Disgust poured into me…they took victims by force.
"Hypocrisy at its finest." Abe shook his head
Hypocrisy at its finest.
Everybody chuckled at that.
"Should've figured it out before." Adrian said
The feeder tilted her head…rush of a vampire's bite.
The Belikovas except Viktoria sighed, knowing just how Rose felt.
Lissa finished and we returned…had an appetite after drinking blood
"Sometimes we do crave pizza." Christian protested.
"With extra cheese." Ivan added with a grin
"So how'd classes go?"…bond contradicted her words.
"School kids do tend to make a great deal of things like this." Olena said
Knowing I could feel…That's a sophomore class."
"Because the seniors take specialized classes." Alberta said
She eyed me…centuries and were strictly enforced.
"Rules that are absolutely bullshit." Christian rolled his eyes "But then again, rules are meant to be broken." He smirked slyly
"That's my life motto." Abe said with an evil smirk.
All Moroi had a small ability…like not going through puberty.
The Moroi nodded in agreement.
"Yeah but I'm pretty sure they still hit puberty because otherwise that would be extremely concerning." Mason said with raised eyebrows and glances at the Moroi in the room.
"Yeah hitting puberty twice would really suck." Eddie shook his head
"Are you serious?" Christian asked, actually looking slightly taken aback.
"Never been more serious." Mason said as if he was dispensing some wise information.
"What the actual fuck goes on in your heads but then again you seem like you have a point." Abe shook his head in all sorts of weird emotions.
And Lissa well, Lissa hadn't specialized yet.
Adrian sat up, looking even more curious.
"Is Ms. Carmack still teaching…about a lot but rarely spoke of.
"Now that is concerning." Karolina frowned.
We started moving again…out with her all that much.
Dimitri shook his head and muttered something under his breath.
Lissa shrugged and headed…really navigate them anyway.
"Yeah, Victor Dashkov wasn't really a people person. Always to himself. Never really cared much about him." Adrian said with a shrug.
Natalie's friends eyed us…but I knew that couldn't be true.
"These people have a wild imagination." Ivan said, not sure whether to laugh or look disappointed.
"Its not actually too wild but its absolutely ridiculous to think that about Lissa." Eddie informed him.
Someone else said you went off…lot of humans who want to do it."
"Smooth." Abe said with a nod.
"Really?" asked one of Natalie…wasted they don't remember anyway."
"People do get high on stuff during the wildest human parties but its not easy to find people who would agree to have somebody's teeth sunk into their teeth no matter how many endorphins they give them." Christian said
My already vague details…"Okay, thanks," I interrupted.
"There really was a certain amount of Natalie that you could listen to before it started to wish you were anywhere else but there." Mason sighed
"But she does sound like she knows a lot." Adrian pointed out
"She's royal so she would know relatively what was happening but other royals did know more." Eddie said, not having as much distaste for Adrian as much as the others just yet.
"It doesn't really - "…just as he passed by our table.
Everybody turned to look at Ivan.
"I don't know everybody in the family tree. It's a large family." Ivan shrugged.
Ah, Jesse. I'd forgotten about him…getting semi-naked with him
Janine shook her head in annoyance and disappointment and Abe did not look pleased either. Mason sighed and Eddie patted his back sympathetically. Dimitri shook his head again, remembering exactly how he had found her and Jesse.
He was a royal Moroi…a warning: flammable sign.
"He does not look that hot." Adrian scoffed, knowing who Jesse Zeklos was.
He met my eyes and grinned…If you ever get parole."
"Yeah…no." Janine muttered and shook her head.
He kept walking…"It certainly was."
"What do they even see in that son of a bitch?" Christian shook his head "I mean I don't even care about his looks but Jesse Zeklos? Guy's an absolute asshole."
"I wish I looked like you,"…novelty all Moroi guys wanted to "try."
The Moroi guys just shifted slightly uncomfortably at that.
It was ironic that dhampirs…what she couldn't have.
"That's just a person's nature." Alberta said
Lissa and I got to sit together…anxiety and sadness pouring out of her.
Christian scowled. He never liked the way that the others had treated the girls when they'd got back. He knew that Rose could handle it better but he knew that Lissa would have had slightly more of a difficult time to adjust because she wasn't as good as blending in with the academy students as Rose because she would occasionally try to be somebody she wasn't. Apart from the fact that that would be hard for her, the fact that everybody was treating her with the stares and whispers once they got back would be even more difficult for her.
"All right," I told her when classes…a second time?" Lissa asked quietly.
"If its for Lissa then she could." Alberta sighed
"And she would." Dimitri agreed.
"Absolutely." I spoke with certainty…I'd never expected this from her.
Christian hid a small smile. He was glad Lissa had stayed and even with all the stuff with Victor Dashkov, he knew that it would be good for Lissa's growth at the academy and in general.
"I saw you, Rose…"Not if not if you "
"She would do it for Lissa even if it meant that she couldn't get what she wanted in life?" Karolina asked.
"I think all guardians who are friends with their charges would do that." Ivan said with a small smile at Dimitri which he returned.
"All guardians would do that." Dimitri corrected
I couldn't finish, but she…had been growing all day.
Janine looked surprised at that.
"It might be better,"…following or watching us."
"Wait. She thought that somebody was following her?" Olena asked
"But why? Because I don't think that anybody would stalk her just because she's the last Dragomir princess?" Viktoria asked uncertainly
"It's about something else and it was for something much more important but I think they'll cover that in the books." Christian said carefully.
I didn't say anything to that…Lissa acting like her bothered me.
Everybody nodded in agreement, having heard about Sonya Karp.
"What's wrong?" Lissa asked…"A Rose ultimatum, huh?"
"You want to take those seriously." Mason nodded seriously.
"I'm serious." Words I didn't say very much.
Mason smiled.
"I want you to stay away…All the parties and stuff."
Janine rolled her eyes at Abe.
"Royal parties are the best though." Adrian said
"And you can go without…I can't avoid it."
"Of course you can." Christian said with a light scoff. He loved Lissa but she did have to understand that it was not compulsory to do what the others did. She could be amazing without being involved with the royals too.
"The hell you do…sometimes you aren't very nice."
"The truth's not always nice but its needed." Adrian said and when everybody looked at him, he just shrugged and ordered a glass of whiskey for himself.
"You don't keep me around…with the Dragomir princess
"She's not wrong." Ivan admitted.
You keep me around to tell…I didn't want any of that.
Dimitri sighed. He knew that Rose had always liked to be the life of the party and it did hurt him that she was having to compromise at the age of 17 but he knew that she was going to be a guardian and she would have to get used to it and he knew that Rose understood that well now. He knew what it felt like because even he had had the same lesson drilled into him since he was a kid and despite everything, Ivan had died. He had been absolutely shocked when Ivan showed up for the reading but he knew what power Saint Vladimir had possessed and maybe it was slightly more powerful than Lissa's that he was able to bring somebody who had been dead for a longer time back to life.
I wanted to go to all the royal…trouble and pulling crazy stunts
"Yeah and now we've got three dhampirs who don't mind getting into trouble and pulling crazy stunts." Alberta said, looking at Eddie and Mason who grinned sheepishly.
I became a novelty…they were completely unpredictable.
"That's royal politics." Christian said gloomily and disgustedly.
That cruel culture had eventually…world weren't worth seeing her hurt.
Everybody couldn't help but smile at the friendship the two girls shared.
"All right then," I said…heard the part about us leaving.
"I did." Dimitri said simply.
"You're late for practice,"… let me sleep in on Sundays.
There were a few snickers.
But as she went inside…A perpetually sardonic smirk.
Everybody turned to look at Christian who smirked.
Christian Ozera…at his own joke.
"It was funny!" Christian defended
"Amusing." Adrian said with a smirk. Christian rolled his eyes.
She didn't find it funny…Strigoi were made.
Christian scowled now, all signs of the previous smirk vanishing. He was not fond of his parents being brought up every single time somebody had to introduce him. Maybe nobody said it to his face but there were whispers. He'd got used to it but that never meant that he had to like it. He hated the memory of his parents coming back and being totally normal with him only for him to realize that they had become monsters. Even still, the image of the guardians coming into the house and the stakes going through their hearts haunted them. The image of his aunt's cheek bleeding and violence like he had never expected to see broke something inside of him but heck, he'd got used to it now. He had.
And there were two ways…They were Strigoi.
"News flash." Christian scowled. Ivan awkwardly cleared his throat.
"Chapter's done." he announced
"I'll read." Alberta said with a small smile.