Shadow Rider (Vampire Academy Fanfic)

Chapter 16 - Rose

It was a Sunday, my only day off all guardian duties. Last night with Dimitri had been romantic, steamy, and utterly exhausting. We were enjoying breakfast at ten in the vampiric morning, me devouring my usual pair of glazed doughnuts, Dimitri enjoying a bowl of kasha, a totally revolting Russian breakfast dish. It was basically porridge, but worse. I didn't mind the toast and egg he had on the side, which I'd already taken two bites off.

I was downing a second mug of hot chocolate when Thanatia strolled in, heading straight for the buffet without noticing me.

When she'd filled her plate to the brim with eggs, sausages and bacon - boy did she love protein - she sank into a chair next to us, a whiff of shampoo wafting over to me.

'Good morning,' she said, looking unusually cheery. Which in her case meant looking neutral instead of pissed off.

'Morning,' I replied, eyeing her wet hair. 'Have you already worked out and showered today?'

'Yes,' she said, nonplussed. 'I usually get up at seven.'

'Well, as do I,' I grumbled, 'but not on my day off.'

'I don't have days off. But I'm not "employed", like you are. Casimir and I are partners, I'm not his slave.'

'Partners?'

'Partners in crime,' she said, flashing me a smile.

'Huh, I didn't know you could joke.'

She started to laugh, choked on her drink, and spluttered some, then finally laughing some more. The display of joy completely transformed her face, making her look kind and pretty instead of intimidating. It was a nice change. I smiled back, offering her some napkins.

'So, when's our interview today?'

'Well,' she gestured towards me, 'whenever you want. I can do it now.'

'Sure, why not,' I said, finishing off the last of Dimitri's toast.

'I'll go find Mikhail,' Dimitri said, whom he'd grown to become good friends with. He nodded at Thanatia. 'See you around.'

I made sure to appreciate the view of Dimitri's backside before he left the room, not caring that Thanatia followed my gaze and then glanced back at me with a "wtf" look.

'I rarely get to see him lately,' I said to her, a bit defensively.

She cocked an eyebrow at me. 'If he's interested in my proposal, he'll want to stick around for at least a month.'

'Proposal?'

She relayed the details of yesterday's dinner. All the while, I felt a tinge of jealousy at not having the ability to eavesdrop anymore. I mean, sure, Lissa always told me what was going on in the end, but she didn't have an abundance of leisure time.

'An advanced training program? Is that why you were checking us out at the gym yesterday?'

She nodded, eyeing me carefully.

'Well, sign me the hell up.'

She smiled, looking relieved.

'Really?'

'Yep. I mean, at the magic demonstration thing, Casimir went totally spirit nuts on you, and you still kicked his butt. That's no easy task. So yeah, I'm in.'

'Okay, so don't take this the wrong way, but I want to interview you to figure out... what you're missing out on.'

She went on to explain how the guardian training worked in Scandinavia, where you could basically take advanced training while your Moroi was stuck at uni.