Shadow Rider (Vampire Academy Fanfic)

Chapter 6 - Rose

Back at Lissa's parlour, I took my position close to her by the wall. Lissa had some boring paperwork to do, and I figured it was going to take a few hours. I adopted the all-seeing guardian stance while I let my mind drift.

Not surprisingly, I found myself thinking about the newcomers: Casimir and Thanatia. It should have been obvious the moment they walked into the courtroom that they were bonded. I recalled how Thanatia's eyes on several occasions had glazed over, how she moved fluidly as if synchronised with her Moroi, her fierce readiness to take on all of us to protect him.

I realised then that she reminded me of... me, or at least the shadow-kissed me of the past.

It had also weirded me out that she had been hanging out with Adrian. I mean, sure, Adrian was a smooth socialite who liked to flirt, but even I knew that he had something serious going on with Sydney the Alchemist. Of course, I'd gotten that information from Abe, and I couldn't entirely trust his assessment on youthful romance.

Still, what on earth could Adrian have said to entertain someone like her? Never once had I seen her wear a neutral expression – except around Casimir – and around Adrian she had almost looked civil. She just didn't strike me as the kind of person who was fond of making friends.

I envisioned the way Thanatia had reacted to Lissa's proclamation about compelling Casimir – the fury that had clouded her eyes. It was to be expected. Casimir was bleeding spirit's darkness into her. Hell, she probably dragged it out of him sacrificially. It was evident even from a mile away how much she worshipped her Moroi.

The ring signal on Lissa's phone pulled me out of my reverie. She snatched it up from the table, glancing absently at the caller ID. From behind her, I noticed her body jerk with attention.

'Christian!' she exclaimed into the phone.

'You're coming?' She listened for a while. 'Tonight?' she squeaked, barely able to contain her glee. 'What time do you arrive?'

Now it was my turn to jerk with attention. Christian was coming tonight? That meant two things: first, that Lissa was going to spend some quality time with her boyfriend, which allowed me to escape my guardian duties, and second, Dimitri.

Dimitri was coming to Court.

God, it had been so long since last time. Christian had wanted to launch out on a mission to investigate potential universities he might want to attend. That meant he and Dimitri had been gone quite a long time, Dimitri being Christian's guardian. They had been gone almost two months, and I was itching to see Dimitri again.

I felt Lissa's excitement spill over and pool inside my stomach, and I savoured this rare moment of happiness in a time so plagued by the growing Strigoi menace.

When she hung up, Lissa spun around to face me. 'Did you hear that? Christian and Dimitri are arriving here tonight!'

I smiled at her. 'I heard.'

'Oh god, this day is the best one I've had in a long time.' She closed her eyes briefly, as if putting this moment to memory.

'I second that,' I murmured.

She fixed me with a rueful smile. 'You've missed him a lot, haven't you?'

'You could say that,' I replied dryly. 'If only Christian could stay put.'

She laughed. 'I agree. And by stay put, I think we both mean stay put at Court.'

'Has he even decided what he wants to do yet?'

As far as I knew, Christian was into cooking.

'Not really. But I know – and I think he knows too – that he would love teaching; teaching magic, that is. God knows we need people like him. With this offensive magic movement... well, we need teachers that actually know the old magic spells, or at least want to learn them. Fire being the most useful weapon against Strigoi... well, you'd know all about that, Rose. You fought with him.' She smiled at me, pride for both me and her boyfriend shining in her jade green eyes.