The Disappearing Act (Vampire Academy Fan Fiction Book 2)

Chapter 15: A Twisted Family

Chapter 15: A Twisted Family

                I never realized how bright the lights of Vegas really were. They filled the night sky with neon colored stars and blinking signs. They left nothing on the horizon but hotels and casinos and bars surrounded by a desert that, at one time, must’ve been so peaceful.

                I wondered what kind of people came here before civilization ruined the natural beauty of the place. I wondered if my people came here; I wondered if the Strigoi feasted on them for dinner, just like they were doing now.

                I forced myself to stop thinking after that.

               

                I sat on the balcony of our tiny hotel room, my knees to my chest and my back against the dusty side railing. I kept my gaze on the cars chasing each other below, and on the lights glimmering in the distance. I tuned out the aching in my muscles and the tightness in my chest from what I knew. I needed a few more hours; I couldn’t deal with this right now.

                I needed a pretty view to forget about being chased to the car.

                I needed moonlight to forget about that strip club.

                I needed more alcohol to forget about that damn, out-of-control girl.

                Dimitri and I had run from the club as quickly as possible, speeding off before the goons had realized where we’d turned. We took a detour around the city, trying to lose any tail they may have had out; we were trying our best to protect Annessa and Mia.

                We didn’t say a word the entire ride back, both of us lost in our own thoughts and plans. I already knew what Dimitri would want, and I knew it’d be completely different from what I had in mind.

                I took a long swig of the concoction Mia had handed me, smacking my lips and pressing my forehead into the cool metal of the railing. She’d had these ready when we got back, along with leftover pizza; maybe having a mom around wouldn’t be so bad. Part of me wanted to yell at her for trying to get us drunk on a mission and the rest of me wanted to down Dimitri’s glass, too. I needed a minute to embrace my mid-mid-life crisis, and alcohol seemed like the most sensible option.

                Jill needed to be brought home. She also needed to be smacked over the head with a two-by-four.

                The Guardian training inside me told me I couldn’t let her go but, I hadn’t been a Guardian for four years. I had been a Strigoi killer, and I had sought out revenge for a crime on Guardians, and I had tried to save people, but I hadn’t been a Guardian. I hadn’t worn my blacks before I returned to Court; I’d buried my credentials in a dying rose bush because it had seemed poetic at the time. I wasn’t what I thought a Guardian should be.

                Didn’t that mean I could forget about the morals years of training had ground into me?

“Auntie Rose?”

                I blinked, my gaze snapping from the horizon and to the sliding door where a tiny head was peeking out. Annessa stared at me with those huge, Belikov eyes that made my heart melt. I remember those eyes turning red. I blinked the image away and found Dimitri standing above a still-brown-eyed little girl, who looked even more puzzled by my expression.