-Chapter 24-

Later that afternoon, Lissa tracked me down and my first thought was that Rose had told her everything, but she didn't look mad, so I assumed I was wrong.

"G—Dimitri," she caught herself and greeted me.

"Lissa," I greeted in return with a very slight bow. "Is everything okay?"

She hesitated, like she wasn't sure she wanted to talk about it, but she made her decision after a moment. "Did you ever find something out about someone that you wish you never knew?"

Oh shit, had Rose told her after all? Keeping my cool and collected face, I feigned innocence. "What do you mean?"

"My brother—" I could have literally breathed a sigh of relief, "—I was told something about him recently, that I just . . . I just don't want believe it. But at the same time, I keep thinking that maybe it is true. And if it is, that means everything I thought I knew about him was wrong. I just, I feel like my whole life has shifted off balance knowing he wasn't the person I thought he was. I feel like I've been trying to measure up to a lie."

I thought about it for moment, trying to find the right words to make her feel better, but also help her deal with what was happening. "Do you still love your brother, even with this new information?"

Lissa didn't even hesitate. "Of course, he was still my family. He may have been a terrible boyfriend but he was always an amazing brother to me."

"Then continue to love him," I said. "No one is perfect, even the people we love most, but that doesn't always change how we love them. So you should acknowledge the bad memories, and then leave them behind as you hold onto the good ones. And as for measuring up to him, nobody expects that of you."

"But I'm the house monarch, that means—"

I put a hand up and gave her a gentle look. "Lissa, we honour the dead not by becoming them, but by becoming the person they would want us to be. Your brother would have made a good house monarch because he was true to himself, and he'd want you to do the same."

Lissa took in my words with a deep and thoughtful look and as what I'd said begun to sink in, she beamed at me. "You're right, thanks Dimitri. I wasn't sure how I felt about you being my guardian when I first met you, but I get it, no one's going to be better than you—except Rose of course." She finished her comment with a laugh and I returned a polite smile and then she walked away with a new skip in her step.

The next morning I was walking the perimeter on guard duty when the call came through the comms.

"All guardians be advised," Alberta's voice carried into my ear, pulling my thoughts away from what happened with Rose yesterday. "Mr. Nagy was found dead in his classroom this morning. Cause of death is being confirmed but any information is to be brought to the guardian building immediately."

My mind started ticking over, trying to put the pieces together. It was like my brain knew what had happened, but I couldn't work it out. Who had the most motive for this? I hadn't been told specifically, but my gut instinct told me a Moroi had done it. The most common reason for a Moroi to choose to turn was for immortality and power. So who wanted power that badly, or better yet, who needed it?

I began to sprint over to the guardian building and around the back to the security section. If there was a Strigoi on campus, I knew protocol said to inform the other guardians, but I knew I needed to be sure before I sent the entire school into a panic.

When I arrived, the outer door to the security section had been ripped open. Stake at the ready, I made my way inside without a sound and I saw the guardians who were on watch lying on the floor. Watching every inch of the room, I went over and checked their pulses. Both alive, just a little banged up.

I made my way around behind the security desk, not once turning my back to any of the exits. When I looked down at the security feed from the cell room, I saw Natalie Dashkov and she had Rose pinned to the wall, completely trapped.

Completely forgetting all the caution I should have use, I charged through the door and ran down the hallway straight for the Strigoi. That wasn't Natalie anymore, it was a monster that would kill Rose if I didn't kill her first.

Natalie turned to face me, an annoyed look on her face, and then she charged back at me. I avoided her first attack, and after we circled each other for a moment, she launched at me again. I landed a kick that pushed her back a bit. I'd never faced a Strigoi so fresh, and it was obvious that she had no idea how to use her speed and strength properly. After some more back and forth, Natalie hit me and I slammed into the wall, but when she launched herself towards me, I found my opening and plunged my stake into her heart.

As I watched Natalie writhe in pain and scream as she died, I realised she wasn't even the youngest I'd seen turned, but she was still too young for this to be her fate.

I turned around and knelt down to check on Rose. I didn't hesitate to pick her up and carry her in my arms to the clinic.

"Hey, Comrade, you were right about Strigoi." Even in my arms, she sounded distant and I could see she was barely conscious.

"Rose. Roza. Open your eyes," I pleaded with her. This was becoming a theme for us, but this time was different, a broken ankle and a little blood loss were much less scary than whatever damage Natalie may have done. "Don't go to sleep on me. Not yet."

We exited the building and I picked up pace towards the clinic.

"Was he right?" she cryptically asked.

"Who?"

"Victor . . . he said it couldn't have worked. The necklace."

Damn it. Was she really choosing now to talk about this? I figured if it kept her awake and talking to me, I'd take it. "What do you mean?"

"The spell. Victor said you had to want me . . . to care about me . . . for it to work."

That bastard. After everything I'd went through, that I put Rose through, in order to fix the mess that damned necklace had caused, Victor had gone and told Rose the truth anyway. Rose put her hand to my chest when I didn't say anything—I still hadn't decided what to say.

"Did you? Did you want me?"

I knew it was time to tell her the truth, I couldn't lie to her—now that she knew, she'd never let it go. "Yes, Roza. I did want you. I still do. I wish . . . we could be together." I decided I wouldn't mention that I'd been thinking about how to be with her before Lissa's rescue. I didn't want to give her false hope. I'd made my decision and everyone was better off if Rose and I weren't together.

"Then why did you lie to me?" I used our arrival to the clinic to avoid answering her, but that didn't take away her determination. "Why did you lie?" she asked again.

I kept my face straight when I finally answered. I knew I had to be the responsible one, and I didn't want her to know how much it hurt me. "Because we can't be together.

"Because of the age thing, right? Because you're my mentor?"

I could have stuck with that, told her that was the only reason, but I thought back on how seriously Rose took her duty to Lissa and I couldn't work out why I hadn't just been honest with her in the place.

Wiping a tear from Rose's cheek, I told her the truth. "That's part of it. But also . . . well, you and I will both be Lissa's guardians someday. I need to protect her at all costs. If a pack of Strigoi come, I need to throw my body between them and her."

Rose interrupted before I could finish. "I know that. Of course that's what you have to do."

"No," I told her. "If I let myself love you, I won't throw myself in front of her. I'll throw myself in front of you."

Before Rose could answer, the medical staff finally arrived and took Rose from my arms.

After Victor was stopped by the school guardians before he could escape, he was finally taken away by the royal guards, and life pretty much returned to normal. Lissa healed Rose of the injuries Natalie had given her and both girls returned to classes.

Lissa seemed to be doing a lot better since going on medication. I think our chat helped too as she seemed much less focused on her position among the royals when I observed her through my duties.

"Guardian Belikov," Christian Ozera greeted me before his cooking elective one afternoon. I greeted him with a polite bow. "Aunt Tasha wanted me to let you know she's coming to the academy over Christmas break," he said, and then ended with dramatic distaste, "and she's looking forward to seeing you again." Tasha and I known each other a long time and Christian was clearly hinting to Tasha's feeling towards me, which I had never returned out of respect.

I politely thanked Christian and continued my guard, but not for the first time today—heck, not for the first time during this class—my mind wandered to Rose. So, if Tasha was coming here, maybe an old friend would be just the distraction I needed from Rose.

Our training sessions had resumed as normal, at least as normal as they could. I could tell it was harder for Rose to fight her feelings, and to hide them, so I knew it was up to me lead by example. I kept my control and made sure to give nothing more than what I would have before the lust charm. From the outside, nothing had changed according to everyone else. But every now and then, we would each steal a glance at the same time and in those brief moments, I knew it would be no easy task to let go of my feelings for Roza.

"Hey, Comrade," she said one morning as she dumped her gym back and began to stretch. "What's on for today?"

I lowered my book and looked over at her, raising an eyebrow in the process.

"Running? Running." She wasn't surprised, but she looked like she was hoping I'd say no.

I returned to my book and waited for Rose to finish stretching and walk out to the track. After a few minutes, I knew she had finished stretching but she wasn't walking outside.

"Hey," she began, sounding nervous. "Would you want to join me today?" I looked up at her again. "'Cause, you know, it's been a while since I've beat my best time and I always do better when you run with me."

She'd made a good point, but it didn't matter—I didn't need a valid reason, I would have done it just because she asked.

"Okay, but if you don't beat your best time, you owe me extra reps this afternoon," I told her, putting my book down and having a quick stretch myself.

She thought about that for a second before coming up with her counter. "But if I do, you'll finally let me use a stake?"

I feigned consideration before flatly telling her, "No. But nice try, Roza."

Her expression elated a little when I called her Roza. I knew I would have to be careful about my use of her Russian name, but sometimes I just couldn't help it—especially when I know it puts that beautiful look on her face.

When Rose put aside the name, she looked disappointed. "Alright, alright, it was worth a shot. Well, let's get going, Comrade. You need to keep in shape so you can beat your own best time."

"What best time?"

"For how long it takes you to carry me to the clinic. Last time was okay, but I think you could have done better."

She turned and started for the track, so she didn't see the quiet laugh I couldn't hold back.

Thank you all for sticking it out to the end, I hope it was all worth it. Thank you to everyone who ever favourited/followed/reviewed this little old fic of mine. This is the piece that really got me into writing my own works. So I do hope you'll come find me on other platforms like Wattpad which are all listed in my profile.

Thank you, thank you, thank you again to this entire community, you have no idea how much you guys and Vampire Academy helped shape my life ten years ago to help me create the incredible life I've built today.

Love always,

WishIWasRose / darcyalex