Tainted Happiness {Formerly Returned} (Book 4) (Completed)

Chapter 14

Melanie POV

*************

I held my emotions in as I walked Dave into Rosa's hospital room. I wanted him to see exactly what he'd caused. He deserved to suffer over it. It was his fault that there was a good possibility that I would never get back my best friend and bondmate. I wanted him to suffer, but I never meant to make him cry.

The second he walked into the room, he rushed over to Rosa's side just like he had after she gave birth to my God-daughter, only this time he started crying rather than remaining like stone. It was his crying that made me discover that not only did he have feelings, but he didn't cry tears. He cried blood.

"What is he doing here?" Laura demanded, seeing Dave walk into the room.

"According to Dimitri and Jacob, he's the only one that can help us get Rosa back. I have no idea how, so that's why I've came up with a little mission for you and Rose." I explained.

"What kind of mission?" Laura said, a little skeptically.

"I need you and Rose to go to Court and see if you can talk to Ekaterina Zeklos. Ekaterina is an old, former Moroi queen who has the throne before queen Tatiana Ivashkov, the person who reigned before Lissa. She is very knowledgable and knows little pieces of information that have been lost over time. Pieces of information that could be of great use to us with the current situation." I replied.

"Will I be taking Kait's truck?" Laura asked hesitantly, obviously not wanting to drive the huge, silver pickup.

"No, you will be taking a plane. I've set you two up with a meeting with Lissa, who will escort the two of you over to see Ekaterina. The Royal Court is sending a plane to the Toledo Airport that will arrive in roughly two hours. Get your stuff and find Rose. We leave in ten minutes. Dave is staying locked up in Cuddy's office with Mikhail until I return."

"What if Ekaterina doesn't have any answers?"

"Then we'll play it by ear. Trust me, she'll have something. At the very least she'll be able to give us a further explanation of what we already know." I assured her.

"I was eating! What do you guys want?" Rose shouted as she barged into the room.

"Pack up your food, Rose. I'm sending you and Laura to Court to meet with Lissa and Ekaterina. We're leaving for the airport now." I explained, grabbing Rosa's keys and dropping Dave off with Cuddy.

"What on earth is he here for?!" Cuddy yelled when she saw Dave.

"I need you to babysit him for, at the longest, an hour. A Guardian will be arriving in about five minutes to make sure he doesn't go out of control. I need to take these two clowns to the airport. They're going to the Moroi Royal Court for a last minute trip for more information on the Kait situation." I explained.

"Just try to hurry back." Cuddy said through clenched teeth.

"I'll be back as fast as I can. I really appreciate this." I said, leaving her in the office with Dave.

"You left him with her?!" Rose belted.

"Mikhail is coming in a few minutes. He's probably already here, but just looking for a place to park."

"This could put the entire hospital in danger. You realize that, don't you?" Rose scolded.

"And taking him with us could put not only the entire hospital in danger, but a major airport as well. Which sounds like the better option?" I retorted.

"Why are you two arguing about this? Who the hell cares! His very existence puts this entire planet in danger!" Laura yelled.

"She has a point." I sneered.

"Hey, it's Mikhail!" Rose called out, seeing him walking up to us.

"Right on time, just as I'd expected." I stated.

"Don't worry. He won't do anything as long as I'm here. I won't stand for it." Mikhail assured Rose, walking into the hospital.

Rose sometimes tended to be an annoyance. Don't get me wrong, I loved her as a friend and she almost felt like a daughter to me, but she proved to be quite arrogant, smart-mouthed, and even quite reckless at times. Yet somehow that was all part of her charm. Part of me was glad that when I'd set up the meeting with the queen while Dave taking a shower that Lissa asked for me to send Rose along side Laura. It gave me some time to partly explain the whole Rosa situation to Dave as well as check in further with Dimitri and Jacob, and Mason, Maria, and Janine. No one had really kept track of everyone's progress with this whole thing.

Normally it's was Rosa's job to keep tabs on everything, but I guess I'd inherited that job when Rosa became Torn. Rosa was the person that kept us all functioning and working well together. Somehow with her around, everyone just worked perfectly together. At work it was mostly out of fear, but at home it was a combination of fear, respect, and necessity. It was easy to see that without her, nothing was functioning as it should.