Dimitri's POV in Vampire Academy (Fanfic)

Chapter 19

I shot the guardian I'd spotted through the window before he even knew what had happened. He fell to the floor, his eyes empty, but I had already turned to my next enemy. The guardians filed off into different parts of the cabin, kicking in doors and firing off shots without a second's doubt. I was just about to advance into the room on the right with Alberta when we heard Lazar call from behind. 'We've found Dashkov!'

'The princess should be nearby,' she called. 'Have the others arrest him and go find her. I'll clear this room.'

I nodded and moved to join the others. When my eyes fell upon prince Dashkov, healed, healthy, and almost an entirely different man, I was disappointed to see that my colleagues had already disposed of his other guardian and apprehended him. Biting back my fury, I advanced and met his mocking eyes. Here was the man who had set me upon the student in my care, and tortured the Moroi that was my charge.

'Guardian Belikov,' he drawled, a bit breathless. 'Nice of you to join the fray. I see you were able to tear yourself away from your pup.' He smiled. 'For a while.'

If nobody else had been in the room, I might have strangled the man. Prison was too good for him. But giving in to my anger would only confirm what he suspected: that the charm had worked to full effect. He couldn't know that, not for sure, and I was not about to enlighten him. The best tactic was to pretend like nothing.

'Prince Dashkov,' I said instead, keeping my voice smooth and cold as steel, 'you are under arrest.' Seeing that I was not going to take his bait, Victor only gave me an amused look and raised his hands to be cuffed.

While Stevens and Lazar cuffed him and left to deposit him in one of the cars, the remainder of our party searched through the rest of the cabin. Yuri, who had gone to check on Alberta, was just inquiring about her absence when her voice crackled on the earpiece.

She was breathless. 'I'm in the woods, southbound. I have sights on the princess, and Rose.' Her voice was drowned out by two loud shots. The mention of Rose had me bolting out of the window, Yuri tight on my heels.

I was pelting through the woods, every coherent thought lost to me besides the compulsion to find her. I flashed quickly back to her tight-lipped nod in the car. Of course she had not intended to stay. Of course I should have known better. And if anything happened to her now...

By the time I reached them, it was over. Four psi-hounds lay dead on the ground, and...

'Rose!' The sight of her, unconscious, with her leg torn and her neck punctured, had me on my knees.

'She's fine,' Alberta said, giving me a relieved but attentive look. 'She lost a lot of blood. But they're all...they're fine.' Alberta was checking Christian's pulse with wonder on her face. He was lying on his back, blinking rapidly, with the princess unconscious at his side. 'The princess is exhausted. She...she healed him. I saw it with my own eyes.' Alberta's face lifted to mine, and if I'd ever doubted Rose's story, I didn't any longer. Alberta looked like she had just witnessed a miracle.

My voice was hoarse. 'Her magic, their connection...it's extraordinary.'

Alberta nodded to Yuri and the others, who had also caught up. 'Let's get them out of here.'

Leaving the princess and the Ozera boy to the others, I let myself focus on Rose. Sliding my arms gently beneath her bruised body, I lifted her easily into my arms. As I carried her back to the car, Alberta spoke again.

'She took on those psi-hounds herself. In that damn dress, no less.' She shook her head.

What remained of it, I thought, glancing down at her. Rose's dress was in tatters, and her heels must have been chucked in the fight. But the mention of psi-hounds nagged at my memory. Something that Rose had said, all that time ago. That the academy had sent them to hunt her and the princess down. It hadn't been the academy at all. It had been Victor. Not even he had been able to find her during those two years. She really had done it. She'd kept the princess safe. I relayed this information to Alberta, and she made a noise of disgust. 'To stoop so low as to let those beasts on the loose...I do hope we see the prince behind bars.'