Collateral Damage

- SIX -

Once I realised that there was someone standing behind me I pushed my phone into my pocket. If anyone had asked to place a bet, I would have thrown all of my money onto it being Adrian. He just had this vibe, you could know it was him just through the feeling of his stare. "Was that your boyfriend?" he said, I glanced beside me where he had repositioned his stance.

"Yeah," I sighed, my sleep deprivation slowly creeping up on me. I didn't mean for my words to leave my lips sounding like I was annoyed but before I could apologise Adrian intently changed the subject by telling me that Lissa wanted me to stay for dinner.

"So, how is things here at the academy going?" I asked, sitting next to Adrian. Christian and Lissa sat at the ends of the table, and Charlotte and Andrew –obviously named after Andre– sat opposite Adrian and me.

"It's an intense responsibility but we make things work," Lissa said, taking a sip from her glass of wine. Personally that stuff has never appealed to me, I was happy sticking to my water. I nodded along listening to the family that sat before me have a loving conversation about the things that they had been up to during the day.

I knew Liss would always have the perfect family. She was born into one, and it was inevitable that she would lead one. I saw the way Christian and Lissa looked at each other. They had a sparkle in their eyes, like they would do anything for each other. It was almost like nothing had changed between the two, as if they were still the misfit teenagers that I was best friends with. Sometimes I saw the same spark in Scott's eyes when he looked at me and I wondered if my eyes adorned the same spark.

"Isn't that right Rose," said Lissa breaking me from my thoughts.

"What?" I said, my mouth full with food. The two children that sat in front of me giggled and Lissa looked at me with disapproving eyes, as if she was my mother. I didn't like that feeling. Even though the maroi's main source of sustenance is blood, they don't survive without human food either.

"I was just telling these two that when we were kids, we didn't like Aunt Mia and she didn't like us," I nodded along. I wondered why we were on this topic but then I remembered Char saying something about a girl from her class being bitchy and Lissa scolding her for her language.

"I can talk to the girl if you want Char," I said, fiddling with the edge of the tablecloth. The fourteen year old looked to her mother as if asking permission.

"Rose," Lissa began, no doubt running one of her lectures about the right and wrong ways to approach an issue.

"No Liss, if someone is causing her trouble then wouldn't it be better to deal with it. Or have you forgotten the ways we used to deal with people, I could have a little chat with her,"

"That's what I'm afraid of," Liss said looking at me telling me to dismiss the thought through the bond. It had been a long time since Lissa had spoken to me through the bond, I wasn't sure if I liked it. But Lissa was right, we weren't in high school anymore and I needed to stop acting like I was.

After saying our goodbyes Adrian and I left the Ozera family to their night routines. And he walked me through the courtyard. "You know they were dying to ask if you were going to talk to Dimitri and your parents while you were here," my parents, I didn't even know they were here.

"I hadn't really thought about it," I said studying the St Vladimir statue that stood in the middle of the grounds.

"Bull shit Rose," Adrian said, stopping us both in our paths, "You and I both know that Dimitri is the reason you left the Court in the first place, you don't fool me Rose."

I sighed wrapping my arms around my torso, I looked up at the rising sun –stupid vampire timetable– "I'm scared Adrian, I don't want to see him but I need to be here. We need to find Matilda." My bottom lip began to tremble and no matter how hard I tried to force the sobs back down they won and spilled out. Adrian wrapped his arms around me and rested his chin on my head. "You promised me you would protect her."

"I know," he said rubbing his hands up and down my back in a soothing manner, "I know I did Rose." We stood like that for a long time before my cries settled. "You can stay with me if you want."

Adrian walked me back to my rental so that I could obtain my clothes and belongings. He then showed me to a small apartment looking building. We walked to the top floor and I remembered this place as the one moroi teachers lived in. We stopped in front of a door that read 205, Adrian pulled out the keys from his pocket and we walked inside. The front door opened up into a living room, kitchen and dining room all combined. Adrian showed me to a bathroom and a spare room. Adrian's room was across from mine but I sighed a sigh of relief at the double bed in the spare room.

After a quick shower I told Adrian that I was tired and I was going to bed, and once my head hit the pillow I was in a deep sleep.