A month outside the gates (a VA fanfic)ON HOLD

Chapter 40

Adrian'sPOV
I'd finally met the infamous Rose Hathaway last fortnight. And, damn! was she a looker. She was also addictive to be around.

The girl's aura was also quite something. (Girl?! The seventeen year old looked more like a woman.) I couldn't puzzle her aura out. It was ringed in darkness, but always glowed. It regularly brightly burned and shined. I didn't understand how it could be doing both. Until she fessed up to having a lover. Whenever anyone said something to trigger a thought of whoever-it-was, her aura would explode with affection and love. The explosion was often so bright it hid the darkness from my sight.

I was trying to puzzle out whom it was that elicited such a reaction from her soul. I was purely pissed, and certainly confused, when I found out that afternoon. I had been walking with the gang, and Alto had popped out of nowhere to test the three novices. Rose had burned with a hum of battle-lust when sparring with the Guardian. That battle-lust exploded into lust, love and affection when she took the fight up with Belikov. And his aura burned with the same love, affection and lust as hers. Belikov's aura then burned with admiration, awe and pride when he stepped back to watch her 'take down' the third Guardian.

I had never seen that happening. Belikov was supposed to be her mentor, her teacher. Nothing more. Yet he was clearly in love with- and addicted to- his student. Who just so happened to be The Rose Hathaway, the lethal Novice. And it wasn't as if the two had a choice. Their auras pulsed in sync, and glowed with a pure silver light when around the other. Said silver light was the sign of being soulmate's. It was the purest part of one's soul and could only be brought out by 'the one'. I'd only seen it a handful of times, my own parents were not included in that handful. Lissa and Christian, however? They were included. Now this student and teacher pair were included in the handful. Oh boy! No one was going to be happy when this came out. No one.

No one was going to suspect those two were an item. Their reputations preceded them. Big time.

I couldn't wrap my head around Belikov being a cradle robber. It just didn't compute. The man was a professional, straight-laced, duty driven and moral Guardian. Yet his aura flared with love, protectiveness and possessiveness whenever Rose was near. And he didn't even have to be able to see her or smell her to know she was around. He had an uncanny sixth sense for her, basically, had a 'Rose sense'.