Building the Tension | ✔ | 18+

Chapter 37 - Safety in Numbers

When I got to Alberta's office, she was on the phone. I could still feel that Lissa was alive, but I couldn't feel her emotions through the bond at all. It wasn't even like when she was asleep; then, I could still feel her dreams. I had no idea what happened.

"It's an emergency!" I screamed, "Go to Lissa's room right now!"

Alberta put her hand over the mouthpiece of the phone and said, "This is Lissa on the phone right now. She just called."

"Just called? Adrian Ivashkov is in her room! I can't feel anything through the bond."

"Vasilisa," Alberta asked into the phone, "Rose Hathaway is here and says that you have," Alberta lowered her voice cautiously, "a Strigoi in your room. Are you being coerced, or have you been hurt in any way?"

A few seconds passed as Alberta got her reply. Alberta shook her head.

"Then could you please tell me what happened?"

"Oh," said Alberta, then a few seconds later followed it up with, "Oh, no!" She started signaling with her hands for guardians to mobilize.

"I see," she continued, "And you're sure?" She listened for another minute or two to Lissa's end of the conversation.

"Thank you, Vasilisa," Alberta said, "We'll send someone there right away," and she hung up the phone. "I'd like every guardian we can spare to go to Vasilisa Dragomir's dorm room right now. And be prepared to carry injured back to Doctor Olendzki's office. After you're done there, I have another place for two of you to go."

"What is it?" I asked.

Alberta hesitated. "Come on," I told her, "After my trials today, you know that I'm every bit as much a guardian as any of the guardians on staff who graduated last year - more so, even."

"Rose, give me a minute," she said, "I have to make another phone call." She picked up the phone and dialed, then said, "Headmistress? I'm sorry to bother you, ma'am, but it's rather urgent. The wards have been staked again and will need to be reinforced as soon as possible."

Another couple of seconds passed.

"Out on the northeast end of campus next to the pond - out by the old guardian watchpost cabin. Almost the same place as last time."

My heart thudded in my ears. Dimitri and Tasha were in the old guardian watchpost cabin when I left them almost an hour ago. How long had Adrian been on campus?

As soon as Alberta hung up her phone, the group of guardians ready to leave were standing there. "Rose, you might as well come along, too," she said, picking up an extra stake from a rack full of them and handing it to me.

"Guardian Smith?" Alberta said, "Since Rose is joining us now, I'd like you to head to the watchpost cabin. Another guardian will join you there shortly. Call my cell phone directly when you get there and report back what you find."

"Why not use walkie-talkies, ma'am?" he asked.

"The priority is the princess's room. I want the cabin investigated, but let's use some discretion."

With that, we all journeyed out towards Lissa's dorm room, running as a group.

"Rose," she said, pulling me aside as we ran, in a quiet voice, "I know that you know that Guardian Belikov is in that cabin. I have been told that he is fine. Drugged, but fine. Princess Dragomir and Jill Mastrano might be less so."

"What happened with Adrian?" I asked her, with a chill in my voice.

"I'm not sure I can believe what Vasilisa told me, but I'm also not sure I can't believe it. All the more reason to have every available guardian go there."