"Rose!" exclaimed Adrian, grabbing her in a fierce embrace.
She gave him a passionate kiss on the lips, but I could see that her whole heart wasn't in it; she still felt feelings of love towards Dimitri. I felt so awkward in their cozy, cuddly, disgustingly romantic moment.
"You know, just because everyone thinks that we were trying to elope, they revoked my rights to go with Lissa for her birthday to Lehigh. I totally forgot about that! That's totally not fair!" exclaimed Rose in a whiny voice.
"Maybe you should have thought this through before running off to Vegas," teased Adrian, tracing along Rose's jaw line, stroking Rose's face affectionately.
Rose pouted, "Maybe I should have, but you know, this was important too!"
Adrian looked a bit jealous, but he was quick to shake it off. He was so patient with her. Even though her heart wasn't even in their relationship and she kept pining away for Dimitri; Adrian put up with it. I did a better job of concealing my disgust this time. I had practically melted away to the point that no one even remembered or noticed I was there, so no one even saw a slip in my composure, if indeed my composure slipped.
"Oh, Guardian Sterling...I didn't notice you," said Rose, cutting into my thoughts.
"Guardian Hathaway," I acknowledged.
"So, you're Adrian's guardian now?" asked Rose mildly interested.
"Yes," I answered.
I kept my answers brief so that they could not betray my emotions. I studied Rose's face and invaded her thoughts again. The moment I chose to enter her thoughts, I heard Lissa's voice loud and clear through their connection: "I want to talk to you now!"
"Look, I've got to go, Adrian. Lissa wants to talk to me," said Rose almost simultaneously, "I'll catch you later."
He nodded and released her, watching her walk down the hall.
***************************************************************************
It was early morning when they left and Adrian was definitely not up at the ungodly hour. I heard them walk by my room, but as per my duty, I stayed in Adrian's room, watching him sleep. I know that makes me sound like I'm some freaky stalker, but hey, it was my job and I certainly didn't mind being in the same room watching Adrian Ivashkov sleep.
The day went on like any other, Adrian trying to slip in a drink before breakfast and of course I stopped him, again...resulting in an irritated Moroi who wasn't talking to me again.
And before I knew it, the peaceful day turned hectic.
"Guardian Sterling, get down here now!" Hans Croft screamed at me as he ran past.
"Excuse me, Lord Ivashkov," I said bowing to Adrian.
"Just go," sighed Adrian.
I nodded and flew downstairs. At the same time, Rose was running full force at Hans screaming something about Lissa and Christian and about how everyone had been murdered and then something about–DIMKA?!
"I know, I know, calm down Guardian Hathaway!" said Hans calmly.
"Wait, what?! How did you know?" asked Rose confused.
"Serena called us to let us know," Hans explained.
Quickly, Hans arranged a rescue party to bring back Christian and Lissa. And for the first time, Rose provided an incredible amount of assistance. I guess the bond really did help to see what was going on and to know Dimka well was also an advantage. Rose was so propelled to do this because of two reasons: Lissa and Dimka. I hated it, but it was the only way to get my brother back.
We followed Rose and Hans' instructions very carefully, this was not the time to screw up; if we screwed up it meant the end of the Dragomir bloodline as we knew it.
Throughout the fighting, I was never allowed to get close enough to see Dimitri or even the interior of the building...it definitely pissed me off a bit, but I was so caught up in the fighting I didn't even know how much time had passed and before I knew it, Lissa, Christian, and Rose came out with Dimitri being dragged behind.
I took one look at him and I knew how crushed he was, how much pain he felt for what he'd done. I wondered if I was just messed up because I hadn't felt an ounce of remorse, but then again, I hadn't done things that Dimka had, I hadn't been Strigoi as long as he had.
