Rose's POV
I felt like I'd been hit by a truck when I woke up the next morning… evening? Whatever. When I woke up for my next shift. My sleep-wake rhythm was all but messed up at this point but it looked as though it wasn't going to be shuffled around so much for the foreseeable future. In fact, it looked like I was going to have a very boring week and a half ahead of me. After that, who could tell what was going to happen? Once the school year began, I would have to be scheduled for training lessons with the novices. The title next to my name on the schedule had confirmed what Emil had said – I had been hired as a guardian and an instructor. Still, that was over a week away. I had hoped to find out more about this entire situation sooner than that. Would that be possible? I wasn't so sure anymore.
After making myself a cup of coffee, I headed toward the front gate again. Halfway there, another guardian joined me. It was one I didn't know yet – he'd introduced himself as Guardian Ruiz – but he knew who I was. He had graduated from another academy earlier this year, and he never looked me in the eyes when he spoke. It was a strange feeling, and I wondered if that was what it had been like for Dimitri when he had first come to the academy many years ago. He'd been regarded as some kind of battle God by novices and guardians alike, and I knew that I'd had a certain reputation of my own. Not necessarily a good one, but was it really all that different? Probably not.
We relieved the two guardians at the gate – one that I had seen before and one that I had not – and then sat in silence for several hours. Ruiz tried to start a conversation once or twice, but I wasn't in the mood. I had other things to think about. Christian, for one, but I also realised that word of my presence must have made its way around campus, and that posed another problem. Sunshine.
She was reasonably good at keeping secrets, I had to give her that, but she would be surprised if she heard my name mentioned and might have let it slip that she knew me. One good thing about these shifts was that I would have time during the vampiric day to go find and speak to her. When Ruiz and I were relieved by the morning shift at six, I knew it was still too early to go looking for her. I considered my options – facing everyone in the guardians' lounge was one I discounted immediately, and going back to my room didn't seem right, either. While still early, it was late enough for there to be too much activity on campus to move freely without being discovered, so obvious snooping was out of the question.
I eventually settled for the chapel. It wouldn't be all too suspicious for me to be there, and I had a feeling it would be a good start to my search for answers. If Christian was anywhere on campus – which I started to doubt, but it wasn't impossible – I would have to find a trace of his presence there. Father Andrew was still at the academy and smiled when he saw me walk in.
"Rose! What a pleasant surprise. When I heard you were back, I wondered how long it would take for you to find your way here. I must admit, I didn't think it would be so soon."
I smiled back at him. He'd always been kind to me and though I didn't exactly have a lot of faith, something about him and this chapel was comforting. "Just reliving some old memories."
"Well, do take your time. I know it has been a long time, but should you still have interest in St. Vladimir and his guardian, I have some more books stored in the attic. Feel free to take a look at them."
My interest in Anna and Vlad was no longer as great as it had been once – especially now that the bond was no longer something to worry about – but it did give me a decent excuse to check out the attic. One of Lissa and Christian's old haunts back in the day. Surely, he would have gone there at least once if he was here. "Thank you, I think I will do that."
Unfortunately, I soon realised that no one had been in that attic in years. A thick layer of dust covered everything, and footprints would have been clearly visible if anyone had been here. It wasn't confirmation by any means, but it made me even more sure that Christian was not at the academy. Which would mean that Dimitri had abandoned him for one reason or another. At least I hoped he'd had a reason. Otherwise, there would be hell to pay.
I waited out the remaining time before nightfall in the church, contemplating where to go from here. No answers came to me. Eventually, it was dark out, and the day was about to start. I made my way to the elementary campus. Nobody questioned me when I walked into the Moroi dorm – what reason would they have to do so? I was an employee now, after all – but I tried to keep a low profile nevertheless. I made sure I wasn't being watched when I entered Sunshine's floor. I knocked on her door and it flew open almost immediately.
Sunshine didn't have a single dorm room, but a few days ago, her roommate hadn't been here yet. I was glad to see that that was still the case. She would arrive sometime next week, probably, but for now we had some privacy.
"Auntie Rose!" she said, then covered her mouth with her own hand. "Oh no. I'm sorry."
I looked around, relieved to see the corridor was empty. Still, I quickly entered her room and shut the door behind me. "It's okay, Sunny. No one—"
My sentence was interrupted when Sunshine threw her entire body weight against me in a hug. "I missed you!"
"I know," I told her. "I missed you, too."
She'd been part of my life for eight years now, after all. Not having her with me was strange. I just hadn't allowed myself to feel it yet. Not with so many other things taking up space in my head.
"I wanted to call you again, but Guardian Belikov took my phone away."
That stopped me dead in my tracks. "What?"
"He was very nice before, but then he came here and told me he knew I had it. And then he said it wasn't allowed, and I didn't want to give it to him, but he wouldn't let me keep it. I'm sorry, I didn't—"
"It's not your fault," I said, meaning it. I was angry, yes, but not at her. Oh, no, the subject of my ire was somebody else.
How dare he? He had no business getting involved in this in the first place, but taking away her only means of contacting me if something went wrong? No. No, that was unacceptable. I was going to kill him. Whether that was literally or metaphorically speaking remained to be seen.
But not now. Now, I had to calm myself. I didn't want Sunshine to see me angry, and I didn't want her to worry more than she absolutely had to. "It's okay, Sunny, we'll get you a new phone. And I'm here now. I'll be here for a while longer."
"I'm glad," she admitted. I knew she'd felt weird about being left alone, but I'd thought it was necessary. "Do I still have to act like I don't know you?"
Smart. So smart. My little Sunshine. "Yes, sweetheart, you do. I know you hate that, but it's important, okay?"
"Okay," she said with a nod. Then she seemed to think of something else. "What about Guardian Belikov?"
And there it was again. The anger. "What about him?"
"He knows I know you. Do I—"
"Stay away from him. Don't talk to him, don't let him take your stuff. If you see him, you walk the other way."
She furrowed her brow. "You don't like him very much."
"No. No, I don't," I huffed. Right now, hate was more of an appropriate word. "Are you going to be okay?"
"Yes." She nodded again. "But we see each other more now?"
"Of course," I promised.
I didn't find Dimitri that night. He was neither in his office nor in the lounge, and I had no idea where else to look. I'd have to try again the next day – which ended up being another bust. No Dimitri, no way to confront him. I did manage to speak to Sunshine again, and this time I had more time to catch up with her. She was making some friends, which was good, and she couldn't wait for classes to start. Meanwhile, I was still no closer to finding Christian, and I couldn't find a way to get Sunshine a new phone.
The more time that went by before I could speak to Dimitri, the more my anger grew. By the end of my Sunday shift, I was absolutely seething. I checked his office once more, but it was locked. I knew there was no way he would be in the guardians' lounge around the time my shift ended. He was trying to avoid me. With no other way to let out my rage, I decided to head to the gym.
I'd avoided that until now, afraid of what the other guardians would think when they saw me. I'd trained, and I'd had to fight the occasional threat, but I was out of shape. There was no way to deny that. I should have probably started hitting the gym as soon as I got here. If I was to teach combat classes to the novices, it would be mortifying if I wasn't in perfect shape. Especially since I've come to realise that they truly did think of me as some kind of legend. What a disappointment I'd be to them.
It was almost seven now, and the gym was by no means empty. I decided to check out the private training rooms and found a vacant one, where I immediately got to work. I didn't warm up before I started my assault on the punching bag in the corner, giving into the anger. I imagined someone else as I punched and kicked even though I knew I shouldn't have.
After a few minutes, the door to the room opened, but I didn't turn around. Whoever it was would realise that this room was being used and leave. When the door closed again, I assumed that was what had happened. In my anger, I had been stupid enough not to double check.
"Very bad form," came a far too familiar voice from behind me. "I taught you better than that."
