Shadow Rider (Vampire Academy Fanfic)

Chapter 10 - Rose

Lissa decided to retreat into her study. Her expression had been sober on the way, but as soon as the doors closed behind her, offering some sense of privacy - not counting the guardians -, an excited smile broke out on her face.

'Rose,' she burst out, eyes alight with withheld ideas, 'do you know what this means?' She sauntered around the study desk, approaching me even though she knew she shouldn't. 'For the Moroi community? For all of us?' She shook her head, seeming unable to really believe it herself. 'Those two...Casimir and Thanatia, they could accomplish so much, teach us so much.' She began to pace back and forth, brow creased in concentration. 'All I need to do is figure out a way for people to trust them. I tried back in the arena, but I still got the impression that people were not entirely convinced. I must work on that.'

I witnessed her internal struggle, worrying over this new responsibility that had been placed upon her. It seemed Lissa would never be able to return to university; at least not for some time. The continued stressing was bound to put her in a vulnerable position, where instability could threaten to overcome her. As her personal guardian, it was my responsibility to ensure that did not happen.

The only idea I could come up with that would battle that risk was some time-out. A holiday of a sorts. But time-out wasn't really possible for her right now. Too much was going on, and she was needed here at Court.

What she needed then were allies. People she could rely on for information, people she could delegate responsibility to, people that would help her in the decision-making process. The only political people I really knew were the few ones in my close friendship circle. They were already involved with helping Lissa, but it wasn't enough. We needed more people.

I suddenly thought of Adrian's mother, Daniella Ivashkov. She was a smart woman, kind too. I thought at first she wouldn't think so kindly of me anymore, considering how badly I'd treated Adrian, but then I remembered that's what she really had wanted anyway, for us to break up. She had known that what passed between him and me would only be a fling. So, reasonably, she shouldn't have too much of a problem with me. And it wasn't about me anyway, it was about Lissa. She could help her.

I decided I had to do something about that.

Before I could think any further on the subject, there was a knock on the door, and the guardians stationed there opened it to reveal my colleague, who was just about to relieve me of my duties. Lissa's head jerked up at his entrance, gasping out Christian's name.

'I'll go see him,' she announced to us all, and my replacement, along with several other guardians, followed her out of the room.

And me? I practically flew in Dimitri's general direction, fishing my phone out of my pocket.

'Where are you?' I asked when he answered.

'The training at the arena switched over to just magic, didn't have much else to do there so I headed back to our room. Are you off duty?'

'Yep, I'm coming your way.'

A minute later I was on his doorstep, and not bothering to knock, just headed in and found myself facing a truly extraordinary sight. It was déjà vu.

Dimitri stood tall in the middle of the room, just having come out of the bathroom. A towel was loosely wrapped around his hips, and he was using a small one to dry his hair. The smooth tan skin on his chest made a stark contrast with the crisp whiteness of the towels. While the restoration had initially cleared him of all cuts and scars, I noticed a few new ones had marked his body, no doubt caused by his and Christian's constant pair training. The small imperfections were what completed his perfection; he was to me the most attractive man on earth.