Rose's POV

Adrian was gone. He had left court sometime after giving me the information I'd asked of him, and he hadn't been seen since. Except by me. He had contacted me once more, when he'd told me he'd wanted to help. There was no doubt in my mind now that his parting words about checking in with me soon meant "I'll be talking to you in real life" rather than "I'll pay you another visit in your dream". He had wanted to come here because I had involved him, and it was my fault that he was missing now. Shit.

Lissa was watching me closely and I knew she was looking for any sign that I was simply trying to hide Adrian from her, but she wouldn't find one. Even though we hadn't seen each other in nearly a decade, my face was still an open book to her just as hers was to me.

"You really don't know anything?" she asked hopefully.

"If I'd known he meant to come find me, I—"

"So he knew your location?" she asked, unable to hide the hurt in her voice.

I groaned. "Liss, I swear, I didn't tell him, but he... he's sneaky."

"If he knows where you are, could it be that...?"

That he was still on his way? I wish I could tell her it was, but the truth was that it simply was not. Even if he tried travelling undercover, he would have been here by now. Either he had just run into some trouble and was laying low, or... no. I didn't want to think about the alternative.

Before I could relay that information to Lissa, though, the spirit world dissipated around me, and I woke up in my bed at the academy. For a second, I wondered if Lissa had simply lost control over the dream – after all, I had no idea if this was a completely new skill for her or if she'd learnt it years ago – but then I heard the loud knock on my door that must have ripped me out of the dream.

I almost had some hope that it was Adrian, but when I opened the door, I saw a young girl that looked vaguely familiar. It took my sleepy brain a few moments to recognise her as Sunshine's former roommate Jane. How she'd got past her dorm matron, all the way across campus, and into the guardians' quarters without being seen was beyond me, but that was only of secondary importance right now. The fact that she was here at all could not be a good sign.

"What are you—"

Before I could even finish my question, the words started pouring out of the girl's mouth.

"I didn't know where else to go because Mrs. Hoffman thinks I'm crazy and I know Sunny trusted you so I came to you because I woke up and my room was a mess and I know it wasn't me, but Mrs. Hoffman doesn't believe someone else was in my room, but I swear I didn't make that mess, and I think someone is looking for Sunny, and I don't know—"

Overwhelmed by all that jumbled information, I held up my hands. "Whoa, whoa, slow down. What's going on? Take a deep breath, and tell me everything from the beginning."

The girl did as told, and then started over, "You know how Sunny had those strange dreams, right?"

"I do," I confirmed, trying my very best not to let the rising panic inside of me show on the outside.

"And she was, like, in pain after and... I don't know, I heard it was possible that... what did Mrs. Stuart say again? Something about a fifth element and dream walking and..."

Well, good to know that Spirit magic was finally being taught and no longer kept secret. Whether that was help or harm in this situation, though, was yet to be determined. In any case, I didn't have time to think or listen to Jane's ramblings about Spirit right now.

Still, the girl kept going, "...I can't say why, but I just know it's connected to what happened tonight."

"And what exactly happened tonight?" I asked as calmly as possible. What she'd said before had made little sense, but if someone truly had been in her room...

The girl immediately started speaking much faster again. She was scared – terrified – and I knew I needed to calm her down lest she start talking about this to others.

"I don't know, I don't know, I was sleeping, and I didn't hear anything, until I woke up and everything was chaos and it wasn't me. You have to believe me!"

Shit. I did believe her, and the young Rose that still resided inside me wanted to tell the girl as much. I knew I would have absolutely hated it if someone had tried to gaslight me in this situation, but what was I to do? I had to keep Sunshine safe. Besides, a child really had no business getting involved in this.

"Jane, listen, we don't know anything about the nature of Sunshine's dreams. We don't—"

"STOP LYING!" The girl yelled. God damn it, she was going to wake up everyone on this floor at this rate. "Everyone keeps lying! Why won't anyone tell me what's going on?"

I took a deep breath. The panic inside of me had reached a new high when the girl confirmed that someone had been in her room, and I could not let it show. "Listen, we should get you back to your room. You're not supposed to be here."

"But I'm scared. You have to believe me, I am not imagining this."

Calling upon all the lessons I'd learned when taking care of Sunshine, I tried to put the girl at ease. "Look, I understand that this must be really scary, but it's completely normal for you to have such reactions after what happened with Sunshine. That night when she left must have been terrifying for you, too, and it is no surprise that it has left a mark."

"But she trusted you, she said you would never lie about important things."

Well, that certainly wasn't true, but maybe it would work in my favour. "You see? So trust me now, too. You are safe here. I promise, nothing will happen to you."

I did not believe that first part for a second. The latter, though? I was going to make sure nothing would happen to the girl. Or anyone else, for that matter. That was a promise I was comfortable making.

The girl did not trust me, that much was clear, but she appeared somewhat calmer. "Can you stay with me for the rest of the night, then?"

Absolutely not. I had just learned that Adrian had gone missing, and now it seemed that the campus may have been infiltrated by our enemies – no, I certainly did not have time to play babysitter tonight. I needed to get to Dimitri and tell him about all of it. But maybe...

"If it makes you feel better, I can see about getting someone to patrol your floor tonight?" I offered.

She reluctantly accepted. "Okay, but it has to be someone good! Like you or Guardian Belikov."

I suppressed a laugh. "We can't, but I promise, you'll get someone even better, all right?"

Alberta was going to hate me for this, I just knew it. But I also knew that she was reliable and the only one who knew about our little problems – or most of them, anyway. She would do what was necessary, whether she liked it or not.

"Now, let's get you back to bed, yes?"


Author's Note: Yes, yes, I'd hate myself, too, after dropping such a cliffhanger like last time and then disappearing for months. Apologies.