Vampire Academy: Last Sacrifice (Dimitri's POV)

Chapter 13

Leaving the Keepers was...interesting. It wasn't like we'd got close to them or anything, but we were extremely grateful for their hospitality. Sydney promised that the Alchemists would come with more supplies soon. I tried to avoid all the women surrounding me.

Since I'd turned 13, I'd been a hot topic (excuse the pun) in the female species, but I wasn't used to it so much now due to my guardian status. However, I seemed to be permanently with them. Some of them twirled their hair at me, or batted their eyelashes, but it had no affect. I'd learned to block this out ages ago.

Mentally cursing Rose for attracting even more attention to us, I kindly declined all their offers, turning away before I could see their disappointed faces. This was not what I wanted. I wasn't capable of it. I vaguely noticed Rose having some sort of talk with Angeline and I hoped she was threatening her. Angeline looked like she was pleading and Rose seemed really upset to deny her of whatever it was that she wanted.

We ended up hugging the Keepers goodbye. It felt stiff and odd, but they'd gotten used to us pretty easily. I tried persuading Sydney to let me drive the car, but she was adamant. Rose had never told me that she liked her cars, but it wasn't hard to figure out. She typed the address I gave her into her GPS and we set off. Considering not much could happen in the car, Rose and I agreed we could sleep for a little bit.

The drive was six hours, which was definitely enough to gain what we had lost last night, Although, from the look on Rose's face, she was in Lissa's head. Her eyes were blank and she seemed dead to the World. I wondered what was going on. It had only been a few days since the funeral, so maybe they were having the new votes. Had they already had it? Oh God, what if they'd already voted? This would give us hardly any time to prove Rose's innocence. What if the new King or Queen was against Lissa's place in the Court? All these thoughts kept running through my head as I wondered what Rose was seeing.

I tried to keep myself calm. I would never sleep if I didn't. I focused on...I don't know. I just closed my eyes and drifted softly into blackness. I only saw blurs for the most of it, but Rose's beautiful face kept popping up, no matter how hard I tried to deny it. However, as much as I was enjoying seeing Rose, my dreams soon became injected with pain. The faces floated around her, with their pale skin and red eyes. Suddenly, I was flung into my nightmare.

I stood in the Academy's grounds. I was on watch and, as I strolled by Rose's dorm, I happened to realise that she wasn't in it. Shaking my head, I sighed. Hadn't she realised by now that I will always find her. People say I'm either amazing or stalker-ish, but I just have an uncanny sense of where Rose is. However, I couldn't seem to find her tonight. There was a scream and I whirled around to see her being tackled to the ground by five Strigoi.

"Dimitri!" she called. I tried to shout back at her but my "Roza!" came out as a gasp. One of the Strigoi, a blonde one, turned and winked at me. I felt as if I'd been possessed. This wasn't me doing this. I ran forward and I saw Rose begin to fight her way out, relieved at my presence. It was short-lived, because suddenly I leaned in and bit her with the fangs that seemed to sprout out of nowhere.

She gasped as I took her by surprise. Her shock turned to moans of pleasure and I felt a thrill that I could coax that noise that noise out of her. However, her fumbling protests soon fell away and I pulled away, holding a lifeless Rose in my arms. I seemed to regain my control and wept into her shirt, unable to believe what I'd done. I laid her down carefully and rampaged around the forest, killing everything in my sight, until I realised that I'd made a giant gash across her gorgeous face.

I woke up with a start. Sweat was pouring from my forehead and my eyes were as wide as saucers. I struggled to breath, and I wanted to sob into my mother's arms. I was suddenly aware of Sydney's presence, and felt embarrassed at being caught so weak. I took a deep breath and continued to stare at the highway and lights passing my window. My vision blurred and I tried to rein it in.

"You okay?" Sydney asked warily.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I lied, my voice hoarse with hidden tears. She dropped it, leaving me to deal with it myself. I put a hand up to my forehead and wiped away the beads of liquid that betrayed me so much. I wasn't sure quite where my sweat mingled with the silent tears that I wasn't able to stop. It was just...killing me. When I had regained control, I looked behind me at Rose. Her face was still blank and I couldn't tell what was going on at all. I mean, she could at least give us some signs that they were alive or something.

Was Tasha there? She was a good friend of mine, so maybe she'd help Lissa. Especially as Christian was her boyfriend. I watched Sydney take the selected turnings for about an hour or so. She didn't try to make small talk with me. She didn't bother giving me any anxious looks. And I was glad for that. I didn't want people worrying over me. In a way I was just like Rose. Never wanting people to worry, except for each other. I wondered if she cared at all. If she was bothered, or whether she really had moved on with Adrian. I hoped she had. I couldn't deal with her as well as al of this, no matter how much I yearned for her.

At least Sydney seemed oblivious. I think. Rose had never told me about her and Sydney's relationship. When I was a Strigoi, she'd mentioned her, but I didn't know how much she knew. My family had never mentioned her before, so she probably wasn't from Russia either. Definitely American. One last glance back at Rose before I checked the GPS. We didn't have long to go. I would wake her up, or bring her back, or whatever soon. It was necessary. My stomach churned at the job I was now going to do.