Shadow Rider (Vampire Academy Fanfic)

Chapter 36 - Rose

In the aftermath of the attack, it was discovered that Thanatia was missing.

Dimitri and I, guarding Lissa and Christian, had been holed up in Lissa's room, the safest possible place to be during the attack. Dimitri and I both had wanted to jump into action, considering how protected our Moroi were, but Sergei gave us strict orders to stay with the Queen. When the danger was over, we made our way out into the Court grounds, to help in any way we could.

Casimir was naturally losing his shit.

'Where is my guardian?' he yelled at nobody in particular, as he had been doing all day. When Ash too found out that Thanatia was gone, he shut down completely, face white and stunned.

The Court was searched, with good and bad results. After literally everyone had been lined up in the Court grounds and counted, it was discovered that eleven people had died. Considering the Strigoi had been so many, it was a complete wonder that it hadn't been more. That was the good news. The bad news? The majority of the dead were novices from St.Vlad's.

The bodies had been quickly covered and collected, and cars with grieving families had already begun to arrive.

Lissa was hauled into meetings, surrounded by about twenty guardians, so I felt it was safe to stay outside, helping any way I could with the aftermath proceedings.

All guardians present at Court were ordered outside to protect the borders, and Moroi were rushed out to renew the wards, but there was no sign of the Strigoi. When we felt reassured that it was safe, our minds turned to those we'd lost. Grief had settled over the Court like a dark cloud, and only the cries and whimpers of parents and siblings could be heard in the still night.

Looking thoughtful and troubled, Dimitri turned to me and whispered, 'She can't be dead, right?'

I shook my head. 'No. Casimir would have felt that.' I didn't really know if that was true, but I had to believe.

'This is strange,' Dimitri murmured, a frown dominating his features. 'They were so many - why didn't they abduct people? Why only her?'

I remained silent. I couldn't figure it out either. Sure, most of the Moroi had been locked inside the Court when the alarm went off, but the Strigoi still had the opportunity to snack on or abduct many more dhampirs than what they did. Why settle for twelve victims?

'I know what happened to her,' said a novice. I recognised him.

Trey Clinton.

Casimir pounced on him, grabbing his shirt. 'Where is she?' he demanded.

Trey's eyes widened as he took in Casimir's tall, enraged form.

'Get off and I'll tell you!' Trey protested, trying to shake Casimir off.

Casimir let go reluctantly, making an effort to rein it in. I shot him an incredulous look, eyebrows raised.

But he didn't register my silent message for him to get a grip. His eyes, too wide, seemed half-crazed, unseeing. I shot Dimitri a questioning look, but he shrugged. He had no idea how to handle this either.

I sighed and stepped forward, gripping Casimir's arm, prying him off Trey.

'Casimir,' I said, with forced calm, 'you have to calm down.'

Casimir's eyes slowly refocused, and he visibly swallowed. 'Okay,' he confirmed.

I nodded. 'Look, I know the very first thing you want to do is head out into the wild and find Natia.' I gazed at him seriously. 'But there's going to be political chaos. Never before have the Strigoi attacked the Court. They've killed children. They were so many, they could have caused way more damage than what they did. Do you know what this means?'