The Disappearing Act (Vampire Academy Fan Fiction Book 2)

Chapter 9: G.I. Jane

Chapter 9: G.I. Jane

                By the time we were supposed to pick Annessa up, we’d added almost half a new wall of information to the conference room. Conveniently, there were sticky notes, pens, and paper laid out for us on the center table, along with a condensed version of the room that read “Take Me” on another green note. She was weaning us for information, but also giving us something to work off of.

                What the hell was the Queen up to?

                It was a question for the road because Dimitri and I were both missing our little ray of sunshine. We were already getting attached to her, and the room of death was something we’d chosen to leave behind. We didn’t need to think about; we just had to plan the revenge.

                Dimitri pulled up in front of Mia’s house and I flung my door open before he’d even killed the engine. After spending a day in that hell-hole, I needed Annessa’s smiling face and breath of innocence. I needed my daughter.

                I knocked on the door, being greeted by a squeal of delight and a fairy version of Mia.

“Auntie Rose!” Annessa cried, shooting past Mia to wrap herself around my shins. Her hair was in two little braids and she had tiny green fairy wings strapped around herself. As I scooped her up, glitter fell off of her. She really was a sparkling child.

“Hi, zaika,” I smiled back as I used Dimitri’s pet-name for the girl, cuddling her into myself and not caring about the glitter ruining my Guardian black. They were concerns for another time.

                Dimitri was at my side moments later, cooing at his niece as she began relaying her day with Auntie Mia to us. I set her down seconds later, both of us laughing as she ran back to the living room.

                Mia closed the door behind us and led us farther into her place. I’d only been in here a few times since she’d recently moved before the wedding years ago. It looked cozy now; like she’d made a home of it on her own. I wondered if, like Cassie, she’d fallen in love since I’d disappeared.

                I was about to pick up Annessa’s miniature backpack, but Mia shook her head.

“Can I talk to you for a second, Rose?” she asked quietly, eyeing Dimitri. “Alone?”

                He nodded at me. “I’ll watch Annessa.”

                Mia led me into her small kitchen, our shoes padding against the carpeting. She offered me a soda that I politely declined, her eyes on the shadows moving in the living room.

“What’s wrong, Mia?” I asked quickly with my arms crossed defensively. She hadn’t spoken a word to us since we’d gotten custody of Annessa; she must have wanted something now.

“How are you going to keep her safe?” she demanded as she leaned back against her kitchen counter. Her eyes were sharp as she looked at me; this definitely wasn’t the keychain Lissa I’d known in high school.

                I blinked at her question. The kid was going to be around two Guardians constantly; how was that not safe?

“You need someone with you. For her,” she continued, sensing my confusion. “While you two are off on a killing spree, that little girl can’t be left alone in a hotel room. You need someone else. Unless you’re willing to let Dimitri go alone?”

                She was irritatingly correct.

                I tapped my foot impatiently, my lips twitching at the delighted squeal and deep chuckle that echoed through the hall. “And you suggest?”

                She met my eyes now, standing to her full, miniature height.

“Me,” she answered confidently. “I suggest me.”

                For the second time since being back at Court, I laughed.

                Mia, one of the remaining friends Lissa had and a homebody since leaving high school, wanted to come with me on a revenge streak. She wanted to be on the run and tour the world and risk her life protecting a baby that wasn’t hers. She wanted to leave Court to become a runaway; she wanted to disappear like we did.

                And it was the funniest thing since finding out I was going to be a mom.

“Rose, I’m serious,” she protested, eyes hardening at my chortling. “I’m perfect for–“

“No, Mia, you’re not,” I gasped out between heaves, trying to calm myself down. “You don’t understand what it’s like out there. Annessa will be fine with us; she’s going to have to learn about the monsters sooner or later.”

                Mia walked towards me, hands on her hips. She’d grown muscles since we’d been gone; she was one of the strongest Moroi I’d seen in ages. Training was really helping her.

“You’re going to get her killed,” she snapped, the frustration clear. “And what would Viktoria say to that?”

“She left her to us for a reason,” I retorted quietly as I forced myself to stay calm. Hitting her was not an option tonight.

“Because she thought you’d come home!” Mia yelled, her voice echoing.

                The living room went silent as we glared at each other, two blondes a breath away from throwing the first punch.

“Everything alright, Rose?” Dimitri’s voice came, cool but laced with the warning to Mia. He’d grown even more protective over me since being out in the world alone; the idea of doing anything for each other hand been tested in a myriad of ways, and keeping Mia from hurting me wasn’t beneath him.

“Perfectly,” Mia answered instead, her eyes still boring into me. “We’re almost done.”

                Annessa pulled Dimitri’s attention again, filling the silence once more.

“You’ve got a job here, Mia,” I said slowly, trying to force her into weighing her decision. Coming with us was a huge commitment; there was no turning back once we left.

                Plus, I didn’t want another person in our party. Dimitri and I had had a hard enough time trying to hide and disguise ourselves. It was going to be difficult enough with Annessa, but Mia, too?

                On the other hand, she had a point. Annessa would need someone to take care of her when Dimitri and I were conducting our business, which was most of the time. We were hunting, after all; there weren’t exactly a lot of days spent in the hotel room. And who better to take on as babysitter than a chick who could defend herself and the kid without drawing attention to a group of dhampirs?

“Rose, I can do this,” she protested sharply, backing down. I could see the fight sparking in her but, at the same time, I recognized a sadness that I could find in my own eyes more often than not. “Annessa loves me, and I’m so sick of this place. Lissa’s out of control, Eddie and Cassie are always off doing Vlad knows what, and one of my best friends is dead. I need this.”

                I looked her over once more, this tiny Moroi woman who’d gone from Barbie to G.I. Jane by age 30. Maybe she would survive the disappearing act, after all.