Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy or anything surrounding it (but I do own this plot :D)

RPOV

Reed Lazar was shadow-kissed.

As a sentence, it was so simple, but its lingering sentiments echoed around my head for a solid few minutes as I watched the boy in question disappear among the crowd.

He was shadow-kissed. Touched by death and scarred by the encounter for the rest of his life, only living as a result of his bondmate's will to save him in the aftermath. Yet for all I knew and had learned over the past few years about the nature of being shadow-kissed and its complexities, there was still the most basic of questions resounding in my skull:

How?

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Adrian too in a similar state of confusion. Obviously, we knew technically how Reed was shadow-kissed, but what we didn't understand was the exact details behind it.

"He's-"

"It's not possible…" Adrian said before I could finish, yet the uncertainty in his tone spoke volumes about his confusion.

"It has to be," I said.

Killian and Eddie looked first at us and then at each other before shrugging and turning back. "What?" Eddie said.

"Reed Lazar is shadow-kissed," I said.

"What!?" Eddie exclaimed.

At this, I saw Adrian's eyes shut. "How did I not see it…?" he whispered. "How did I not see…" He opened his eyes and strode away without saying another word. I made to chase after him, but both Killian and Eddie stopped me.

"I'd leave him be, Rose," Killian said.

I nodded and swallowed. "Reed is shadow-kissed. It's why his moods are so...volatile." I said, stopping for a moment to think of the right word.

"That means…" Eddie said as his eyes widened.

I nodded again. "His bondmate is our missing Spirit user."

"But...who?" Eddie said with a frown.

That was the question. Who was his bondmate? I had a strong hunch that if we answered that question then we'd probably answer every other question that had come up since the attack, which is when it hit me: we had very much found the apex of our investigation.

The question hung in the air around us for a few moments before Killian spoke and broke the tension. "Right, well...we'll deal with this later. For now, you two need to get to class. Rose, you are still on thin ice, and I won't have you getting into trouble for this, so let it be for a couple of hours and then we'll come back to it."

Rational, logical, and concerned: Killian O'Hara in a nutshell.

However, there was no doubt in my mind that Killian knew neither Eddie nor myself were going to be paying attention in the two lectures we had together that day, but as long as we were seen attending, Alberta and the rest of the Guardian committee would be off all our backs. Indeed, nothing that Guardian Peters had to say about the intricacies of guarding in a suburban area went in as my mind was still very much focused on that one sentence:

Reed Lazar was shadow-kissed.

So much now made sense, yet so much was left still unanswered. Fundamentally, Eddie's question of who the bondmate was rested very much at the centre of the issue and thus preoccupied most of my time. As it will surprise no one, my first thought went to Avery, but I suspected that was mainly derived from a place of jealousy rather than reason given that she had been established as an air user early on in our acquaintance, which realistically only left one option:

Headmaster Eugene Lazar.

It made sense the more I thought about it: Reed was constantly in and out of trouble, but most of the details were shrouded in mystery, indicative of his father's attempts to hide his true nature. I knew he was controlling for both Killian and I had seen him rather harshly disciplining Avery for drinking. Furthermore, this whole thing had neatly coincided with the arrival of the Lazar clan and Avery's flippant and indifferent reaction to her brother's antics appeared to suggest a slight ignorance on her part.

Either that or she was truly heartless.

I ran the possibility through my head over and over, and with every revolution, it only seemed more plausible. Even with Lissa - with the Queen showing such devotion to her and only casting Avery as a mere 'pawn' in Tatiana's wider scheme, the elder Lazar would certainly have held some sort of resentment for his only daughter being tossed around as though she were nothing more than a puzzle piece, and an expandable one at that.

Yet, why ghosts?

What on Earth (or in this case not Earth) did the Shadow World have to do with this? What possible benefit could come from bringing harm to those who had already passed? More than that though, how was he doing it? I knew for a fact that the wards had not been broken; heck, since the attack, more had been put up. So, what was it he was doing that was so powerful that it could overcome the magic of the wards and make ghosts appear despite their influence?

Questions, questions, and more questions. Over and over. By the end of the two lectures, I had managed to work up a killer headache. I had barely spoken a word to Eddie, but I don't think he was overly concerned about it. Actually, I suspected he was in a similar state.

"I'll see you later?" He asked.

I hesitated for a moment before shaking my head. "Tomorrow," I promised. "There's something I need to do."

"Okay." He said with a nod. It was one of the things I loved about Eddie: his trust. It was not easy to earn, but when earned, that trust all but governed the relationship. Indeed, it certainly influenced our friendship; time after time, Eddie had trusted me when everyone else seemed to doubt. Perhaps it was naive, but I believed it did far more to inspire loyalty than to weaken his character. It also made him a strong and dependable friend, which was certainly something I esteemed, particularly considering everything that was happening. And so, with that nod and a quick hug, we parted ways.

Killian, for all his merits, did not have the same trusting nature. For as he stepped into my stride, he muttered the words: "This better not be legal."

I laughed. "I am shocked, Hazza. When have I ever broken the law?"

He cocked a brow. "I'll refer you to the reason I am following you around…"

"That was the Academy rules, not the law." I pointed out. "Very different."

He gave me a pointed look. "I'm afraid that while you are under the roof of St. Vladimir's, they are synonymous."

"Relax," I said. "I can assure you that my intentions are pure."

"Mhmm."

I rolled my eyes. "You know, you are going to be so disappointed when you realize I am right."

"Huh, I wasn't aware that Hell had frozen over…" he said, a smirk ghosting the corners of his mouth.

I gave him a gentle shove with my shoulder. "Rude," I muttered as we turned a corner.

In spite of Killian's disbelief, there was no dark scheme which I had concocted throughout my last lecture, but instead a realization. I had not forgotten Adrian's words over lunchtime regarding Lissa: his advice was usually something to be taken with a pinch of salt, but no matter how I tried to justify it, I had spent less and less time with my best friend and even though it hadn't completely driven a wedge between us, it was a slippery slope to be sure. And if it was indeed Headmaster Lazar behind everything, and if I was indeed right about his motivation, then one thing was for sure:

Vasilisa Dragomir was very much in danger.

"I love you."

"Rose, it's one o'clock in the morning" came the groggy, sleep-deprived response from the eye-rubbing Vasilisa Dragomir.

"Right, well - I can explain that," I said, coming into her room and setting the box in my hand down on her desk. "I've recently realised that I haven't exactly been the best of friends lately, so I am here to rectify that."

She remained frowning. "What are you talking about?"

"I made cookies," I said opening the box to reveal a selection of freshly baked white chocolate and raspberry cookies. "Well, Dimitri made them," I admitted, casting my gaze down to the box as Lissa eyed me sceptically. "I did try though, and Killian gave it a shot, but we gave up in the end and just asked Dimitri: it's why I am a little late. I thought we could revive our midnight tradition." I said with a smile.

At this, she smiled back at me. "When we were in Portland..." she said, remembering back to the nights spent tucked under a duvet with a solid helping of baked goods to keep us away from our troubles.

I nodded, reminiscing a little as I thought back to what seemed a lifetime ago. "Cookie?" I said, offering the box. She laughed, shook her head and shut the door. "Seriously, I would recommend having one: they are bloody brilliant. I had three on the way here."

"Only three?" she said as she took one from the box.

I narrowed my eyes. "Fine, five."

She laughed and plonked down on her bed. "So, what was this for?"

I sat down beside her cross-legged, placing the box in my lap. With a small sigh, I offered my reply. "An apology really. I know I haven't really been around that much."

"Rose, I understand. You don't have to be sorry." Lissa assured.

"I think I do. We've been so distant lately and I've missed having you around."

"I've missed you too," she said with a smile.

"And I know you've not been feeling too great lately-"

"What?" she said with a frown.

I felt my guilt rise. "I know you've not been feeling the best after the attack."

She shrugged a little, her gaze diverting. "We were all hit by it, some more than most," she said, her eyes flicking over to mine warily. "So, yeah, I guess I had been feeling a little down. And using my magic didn't really help. But I'm fine now."

At this, I frowned. "Are you sure?"

She looked up at me. "Yeah, of course," she said plainly. "What made you think otherwise?"

"Well, Adrian might have suggested something..."

She did not look impressed. "Has it occurred to you that Adrian might not know everything?" she said with a slight scowl.

I grimaced. "Oh, regularly."

I saw Lissa's face fall into a frown again. "Is that why Christian has been acting so weird today?"

Ah. I winced a little, having forgotten all about our friendly pyromaniac given the drama which had followed regarding Reed. "Maybe...to be completely honest, I haven't seen him since lunchtime when Adrian 'voiced his concerns'."

Lissa's scowl deepened. "I am going to kill him."

I hummed. "Maybe wait a little: he still has his uses."

She shook her head, her emerald gaze blazing. "He needs to keep his nose out of things that don't concern him."

I blinked. Somewhat taken aback by her uncharacteristic tone, which was intensified by my earlier concerns regarding her safety, I felt my brow furrow and eyed her sceptically. "Liss, you alright?"

She blinked and I saw the fire in her eyes fall away as though it had never been there in the first place. "Yeah, why?"

I continued to frown. "Nothing," I said, though, of course, not at all meaning it.

She didn't seem to notice my deceit. "How is Guardian Belikov doing? I've been meaning to ask," she asked before taking a bit out of the cookie.

I elected to let her previous comment slip. After all, she was probably just tired - and it was Adrian so, understandable really. I was probably just overthinking this. "Yeah, he's doing great. Really great, actually."

"Oh my goodness, I can tell!" she said after another bite of the white chocolate and raspberry dream of a cookie. "You said he made these?" she asked, looking up at me.

I chuckled. "Yup. He is annoyingly good at everything."

She laughed a little. "I thought you'd be thrilled - having someone who can cook for you," she said with a wink.

At this, I laughed. "It is certainly something I am planning on exploiting."

She giggled. "I would expect nothing less."

I grinned. "Mhmm."

She smiled, her countenance softening. "So, you two are really serious," she said.

I nodded, a small smile crossing my features. "Yeah, we really are."

Her smile grew. "Oh, I am so happy for you right now," she said, biting her lip as she always did when she was excited but trying hard to not get over-excited.

"Are you sure you're not just excited for all the cookies you'll end up getting as a result?" I said my tone light and teasing.

She mock gasped. "How dare you even consider such a thing," she said, giving me a light push. She reached into the box and, having finished the first, pulled out another cookie. "Though I will certainly not be so rude as to object to a few baked goods along the way…"

I laughed. "So, how has your week been since I haven't really been around?" I asked, deciding to keep the conversation light.

She shrugged. "So-so. Tatiana is still on my back but hanging out with Avery has really been helping."

I felt a tightening in my chest as she said Avery's name. "I'm sure." I couldn't help myself from muttering.

Lissa thankfully took no notice. "Yeah, she's been absolutely amazing," she said. "Just in telling me to relax and not let everything get to me, you know. Some things are more important in life than school and work: life is meant to be lived."

"Yeah…" I said a little cautiously.

She shrugged again before finishing the cookie. "It's why I haven't been to any lessons this week."

My head shot up. "What?"

She didn't seem to notice. "It has been so good. I realise why you do it so often - you get such a kick out of it."

"Yeah…" I said, not really having much of a defence for that. "But aren't there, like, exams soon?" I knew for a fact that Lissa had eleven exams at the end of this year, all of which made up the bulk of her overall grade, and she had been stressing about them since we were about eleven.

I was not even kidding.

With this very much in mind, I was shocked to witness her laugh and shake her head. "Shesh, Rose: when did you become such a killjoy? Exams aren't that important."

Right.

This was not tiredness. Something was definitely up. In spite of my own low view of academia, this was serious: no way would Lissa ever miss an entire week of lessons and be so chill about it.

"Liss, you've been gearing yourself for years for these tests," I said.

She rolled her eyes. "Maybe I've just finally realised that there is more to life than just exams. Avery certainly thinks so. And so did you, once upon a time."

I frowned, my eyes scrutinizing over her features. "I don't think you can count either of us as 'role models', Lissa."

I saw her eyes widen before she fell into a sneer. "Oh my God, you're jealous."

"What?"

"You are jealous of Avery. That's why you are here!"

"I am not," I said flatly.

"Yes you are!" she said, rising to her feet. "You are jealous!"

And that's when I felt it.

The darkness.

I was no stranger to darkness, particularly not with Lissa, but this was something else. This was Darkness 2.0. Like bacteria mutated to become a superbug, this infection within Lissa was resisting well.

It was resisting me well.

Normally, when darkness hit I knew within moments - hell, I was often dragged into it myself- but this time I hadn't noticed it in the slightest. It was subtle but strong and for a moment, I could only watch as it consumed my friend.

"You are pathetic, Rose. Bribing me with cookies!?" she said, throwing one such cookie straight at me. "How old are you? Six!? And what grounds do you have to tell me what to do? I am better - I have always been better - than you: you are nothing. You are meaningless. You are pointless. You are nothing. Is it any wonder that I prefer Avery over you?"

I felt her darkness rise and tried to suck it out. But something was stopping me: it was as though there was a force pulling it from the other side, keeping it within her.

"Lissa! Stop: this isn't you." I said, fruitlessly echoing Dimitri's words to me from so long ago.

But it was to no avail. "You think you know me?" She said with a scoff. "You know nothing, Rose. You are weak and pathetic and have always been stupid." she spat.

"Lissa, listen to me: this isn't you," I affirmed again, rising to my knees on her bed as I strengthened my focus. Come on, you bastard!

But again, I was shut down. I let out a mental scream as I felt the darkness flare up across the bond. "You are so pathetic, Rose." she sneered, her normally lyrical voice cold, almost robotic. "It's no wonder you're whoring yourself out to your teacher…"

I felt myself freeze. No, Lissa: please...

"What is he? Like 30? How desperate are you!? He's probably old enough to be your father."

Lissa!

"And you actually love him? Ha! Makes sense really since your dad was never around. What a pitiful cliché you are!"

This isn't you. This isn't you. This isn't you.

"And what is he now? Just a blind, useless. old man. It's probably a good thing that he can't see, just so he can't see you for the worthless piece of crap you are."

There.

In among the flurry of abuse, I snagged my window and broke through the guard. For a moment, I found myself looking at myself through Lissa's eyes.

But there was something different.

Being inside her head was never the most comfortable of experiences - it felt cramped, unnatural and destabilizing to say the least. But that day it felt even more cramped than usual.

It was almost as if someone else was there.

And oh, how right I was! No sooner had the thought popped into my head did I feel a shift in her mind - like a shadow lurking in her periphery, I felt something move: panicked and afraid. Seconds later, I was shoved back into my own head with such force that it knocked me back. Lissa, for her part, had ceased in her raging to stagger back, gripping her temples with clenched fists. She had her eyes squeezed shut and she cried out:

"Get out of my head! Get out of my room! God, I wish I let you die."

"I hate you."

"Rose, it's three o'clock in the morning." came the groggy, sleep-deprived response from the eye-rubbing Adrian Ivashkov

I didn't feel particularly honour-bond to give Adrian the same courtesy I had shown Lissa. Heck, I didn't even feel that guilty for waking him up, not least because of the dreamwalking shit I had had to put up with over the course of our acquaintance. "Well, now you know how it feels."

He chuckled but let me in all the same. "This better be good: you have interrupted a very interesting game."

I looked around his room. It was a nice room with a large, stretched sofa facing a real fire that was surrounded by a marble mantelpiece, separated by a long rectangular coffee table; adjacent to the sofa was a small, tartan armchair and the bed (king-sized, of course) rested behind the sofa. Heck, it even had a full-sized kitchen, complete with an island, at the back of the room, with a door which I assume led to the toilet. In short: certainly, better than the standard-issued dorms that we were stuck with. However, for all the extravagance of Adrian's room, it seemed almost completely lifeless. His bed was still made, and I could swear I could actually see dust frosting the crisp, unscathed sheets. That same spotlessness continued everywhere I looked: there were no personal items on the shelves; no rubbish on the floor; his clothes, of which I knew he had many, were neatly stashed away in cupboards and wardrobes, out of the way and out of sight. Aside from the open decanter on the coffee table, the worn-in armchair and the presence of the actual person, I could easily be fooled into thinking that no one lived here.

"Don't you sleep?" I asked.

"Not often." He said shutting the door. "Are you offering to help?" he asked with a wink.

I scowled at him. "Definitely not," I said. He laughed. I sat down on the sofa and frowned at the empty table. "Sorry, what game were you playing?"

"Chess," he said as though it were obvious, although there was definitely not a chessboard or indeed anything remotely resembling a chessboard lying about this room.

I rolled my eyes, really not in the mood for his riddles. "You are terrible at giving advice," I said, getting straight to the point.

"Oh?" he said, plonking down in his chair and picking up his glass of whiskey. "How so?"

"I went to see Lissa," I said with a grimace. "It did not end well."

He cocked a brow. "And this is my fault because…?"

"It was your stupid lecture that started it all off."

He shrugged. "Michael I was the first Romanov Tsar of Russia. Was it his fault that they fell in 1917?"

"My point is," I said, still glaring at him, "that it is not just my bad friendship that is driving her away."

"I never said it was."

I all but growled. "Could you get off your high horse for a second and listen: I am pissed off already and I do not need you making it worse." I snapped.

At this, he looked vaguely amused. "You were expecting sympathy at three o'clock in the morning?"

"Touché."

He waved it off. "No, no: continue. I sense there's something you wish to tell me."

I nodded. "I think Eugene Lazar is our Spirit user."

Adrian paused. "Interesting."

I frowned. "Interesting?"

He nodded. "Interesting," he repeated. "Why?"

My frown deepened. "What do you mean: 'why'? He's Reed's father."

"And that makes him his bondmate?"

I threw my hands up. "Well, who else is it going to be? Avery?" I said.

He shrugged, taking a gulp of the liquor. "Why not?"

"She's air." I pointed out.

"And he's earth." Adrian countered.

I blinked. "What?" I said. "How do you know that?"

"Oh, come on, it's obvious: everything about him screams 'I've specialized in earth'." Adrian stated. "But that aside, I saw him use it during a class tutorial. Oh, and his aura also confirms it, but I wouldn't exactly trust my judgement on that just now…" he said, trailing off a little before finishing his drink in one last gulp.

I knew exactly what he was referring to. "Hey, don't beat yourself up about that: I missed it too and I am the same bloody thing."

He smiled. "Drinks all around then," he said, pouring two new glasses.

I took the glass and clinked it against his. "So, it's not a Lazar then?" I said, leaning back. "Damn it." Back to square one.

Adrian just shrugged again. "I honestly do not know. Whoever is behind this is not only heartless but clever and manipulative and quite probably a megalomaniac."

"They're powerful too," I added. "Very powerful. I was forcefully shoved out of Lissa's head earlier."

His eyes flicked towards mine. "If they can do that, then I don't doubt their ability to conceal their true nature from the likes of me, or indeed anyone for that matter."

I took a gulp of my drink, forgetting that I actually really hate whiskey. I hissed a little as it went down before crying out in frustration. "Urgh! Why can't it just be simple?"

Adrian leaned back and closed his eyes. "Ah, why indeed."

"I mean...ghosts!" I said, pointing at the Moroi with my drink and getting a little hysterical in the process. "What's the connection there?"

He opened an eyelid. "Ivan Reitman?"

I scowled, before dropping my hand, my drink and then my head. "Urgh. Why can't we solve this? Why can't we just have a normal run at high school? Is that really too much to ask?" I said, knowing full well how pathetic I sounded, but really not giving a shit. "The man I love is blind, my best friend is all but possessed and there's an unknown megalomaniac torturing the deceased - how does that constitute 'high school'?"

But Adrian only smiled. "Oh, little dhampir: if it were normal, you would be bored out of your mind."

I smiled and laughed weakly, shaking my head as I did. "Yeah, I am really that messed up," I said, finishing the rest of my bitter beverage.

We sat in silence for a moment, but I could see that Adrian was pondering something. After a while, he smiled and asked: "Rose, how are you at chess?"

I put down the glass and frowned. "Not great," I answered honestly.

His smile widened. "It's not important," he said, pushing himself from his chair and sitting opposite me on the sofa. I retreated a little on instinct and even more when he reached for my hands.

"Woah, what are you doing?"

"Experimenting," he said, taking hold of my hands. He flipped them over, so my palms faced the ceiling, and he rested his own palms atop mine, stretching out two fingers on each as though to measure my pulse. "Copy me."

I frowned. "What?"

"Come on, what's the worst that can happen at this point?" he said, encouraging me.

I grimaced before complying and stretching out my middle and forefingers across to his wrist. "Alright, done."

"Okay, I'm going to try something: not sure if it'll work. I need you to close your eyes and think about falling asleep, but don't actually otherwise this definitely won't work."

Still grimacing, I closed my eyes and thought of sleep. The lure of slumber was working strong within me, but I strove to stay awake.

"Okay, that's good. You might feel a flush in a moment…" he said.

I was about to object when a wave of warmth spread across me, spanning from my wrists across my body.

"Ah-ha," Adrian remarked and I could almost feel his smile in his tone. "Right, I think we're ready."

"Ready for what?" I asked.

Again, I could feel his smile. "You'll see."

I continued frowning when all of a sudden, I felt myself floating. On instinct, I opened my eyes and glanced around: I was no longer in Adrian's spotless room, but what looked to be a void of mist and fog; I appeared to be surrounded by a colourless smog that shifted like smoke in the wind every time I moved. I turned my head and saw Adrian, who was grinning like there was no tomorrow.

"It worked," he said.

I, however, was not so chirpy. "Ivashkov, what have you done? Where are we?"

He said nothing but put his finger to his lips. "Shhh."

I felt the world shift around me, the fog parting and dissolving to reveal what looked like a library. Granted, I hadn't been to a lot of libraries, but I definitely did not recognize this one. Books seemed to plaster the walls around and were only separated by the deep colour of the wooden shelves that they were stacked in. Light shone in through stained glass which gave a golden tint to the entire room. I spun around and found myself looking at a table, made from the same redwood as the shelves and upon it, a chess board.

But that was the least of my interests: for I was much more entranced with what was behind it...

"Ah, Adrian - you're back. What was the–Roza?"

"Dimitri..."