Times Change (complete)

Chapter 2

Rhonda turned to Syd, "please add a revealing potion to the spell. So that while Dimitri is traveling to the past, he can see for himself all of Tasha Ozera's treachery."

Sydney didn't say a word, she didn't even look up, but she did nod her head and grabbed more ingredients for the potion.

Turning back to me, Rhonda continued. "Tasha will show up around CHRISTmas, just as she did in this timeline. Stay away from her!!! And be sure that you keep her and Rose as far apart as possible at. All. times. You say or do, whatever you have to. In order to get Alberta to let Rose move into your dorm with you, or you into hers. You have to always, be together. The only way that you can truly protect her, at all times, is to be with her at all times. It doesn't matter how or where you are together, but as I said you need to be together, at all times. Never be apart. Also, get Alberta to assign you as Rose's undercover guardian, or something, so that you can be with her all the time. I cannot emphasize enough, that you need to be together at all times." I nodded, letting her know that I understood what she was saying.

I took my phone from my pocket and called Alberta.

Ring... Ring... Ring.

"Hello?"

"Alberta it's Dimitri, we have a problem."

"What kind of problem?" She sounded apprehensive, as well as she should have.

"I am about to be sent back in time to save Roza. Don't ask, because I simply don't have the time to explain it all to you. I need you to tell me something, anything. That I can tell you back then, that will get you to believe, anything that I tell you."

"Umm, ok. Remind me about my telling you about Art. If that doesn't work, then tell me about Rose's first birthday here at the academy."

"What about her first birthday?"

"Janine, dropped Rose off, three days before her fifth birthday. Rose didn't even know, that her birthday was coming. And the only way that I found out, is because I looked at her records. I asked her what she wanted for her birthday she, of course, told me that she wanted a pony. Well, you know we can't have live animals here on campus, plus most animals hate dhampir anyway. But, I had some errands to run in town, so I took her into town with me. While we were there I took Rose to a local petting zoo." She quietly chuckled.

"She rode several different ponies that day, she laughed and smiled more that day, than I have ever seen her. At least until she met you. I have still, never to this day, seen animals react to a dhampir the way those animals reacted to her that day. They wouldn't let me, get anywhere near them. But all of those animals followed her around like she was their mama the whole time that we were there."

Huh, that is odd. Especially, given how Lissa's cat in Portland reacted to my Roza. Maybe it was just the innocence of a child that drew them to her that day.

"Anyway, at the end of the day I bought her a stuffed horse as a souvenir and a birthday gift. From that day on she never let that toy out of her sight. When she was seven years old Jesse Zeklos and some of his sorry excuse for friends. Pushed her down and took the horse away from her. Then they set it on fire right in front of her. Rose cried for days at the loss of, as far as I know, what was the only toy that she's ever had."

"That is yet another reason for me to hate that little bastard."

"Yes."

"All right, thank you."

I hung up, turned to look at Abe, and growled. "I want Jesse Zeklos, and all the people that he hung out with when he was seven years old, dead."

"What happened?"