Vampire Academy: Last Sacrifice (Dimitri's POV)

Chapter 22

Emily cooked us all a stew for dinner, and it was delicious. Robert and Sonya teamed up to create a spirit disguise for the Dashkov's. The Mastrano's may have no trouble taking us lot in, but there was no way they'd want to hide official criminals and fugitives that nobody could trust. Then again, weren't we official criminals and fugitives? She also managed to book a feeder to come over for the Moroi, which we were all extremely grateful for. Personally, I didn't think Victor deserved the luxury of being able to have a drink, but we needed them strong just in case we came to some difficulties. They were getting restless anyway. To give the Moroi some privacy, and to hide away from the feeders who would probably know about our criminal status, we headed upstairs. Emily told us to make ourselves comfortable, so we arranged showering times considering how long it had been since we'd had a wash.

We flipped a coin, and Rose won. She rifled through her clothes, only to pull out an impractical looking dress, and headed for the shower. I sat on the bed and sighed, listening to the sound of water running in the shower. Rose was humming softly and out of tune, and it made me smile a little, the corners of my mouth twitching up ever so slightly.

When I heard the hairdryer begin, I had my own shower, allow the warm water to soothe the rigid muscles in my back. I rolled my shoulders and relaxed ever so slightly, allowing myself one small luxury. Did I deserve it? Probably not. When I dried off, feeling much cleaner and generally better than I had when I'd stepped in, I pulled on a shirt and some jeans. My duster was left hanging up downstairs.

I walked back to the room we'd both been sat in previously and observed Rose sitting on the bed, her elbows resting on her knees, her eyes glazed over. She was wearing the dress she'd pulled out, and she looked even more stunning in it than I'd imagined. Why was she so perfect? I didn't want to love her. I didn't, I promise you. I tried.

However, as I turned and pulled my eyes away reluctantly, she started shaking. Her lips quivered, her hands were jiggling around and her feet were tapping the floor in some strange rhythm I had no part of.

"Rose?" I asked, worried. There was no reply. I took a couple of steps towards her. "Rose are you okay?" Still nothing. I knelt down in front of her and shook her shoulders. "Rose!" She blinked. "Rose, what's wrong? Are you okay?"

"No!" she cried, leaping up and shoving me aside as she stalked towards the door and flung it open. "I have to-I have to go back to Court. Now. Lissa's in danger. She needs me." What? Lissa's in danger? Who's attacking her? Who's hurting her? My guardian thoughts kicked in and I shoved them back down again, instead pulling out the responsible trainer.

"Rose. Roza." The name slipped out again. "Slow down." I reached for her arm and held on tight, but not so much that I could hurt her. "Tell me what happened." She began babbling about how Lissa had been attacked by a Moroi and then Eddie had staked the Moroi and how they'd found a death threat in Tatiana's room and how she was so worried. It blew my mind.

"Someone tried to kill her, Dimitri! And I wasn't there!" I understood her panic completely, but, as always, I was being relied on to be the voice of reason.

"But Eddie was," I told her. "She's okay. She's alive." I let go of her hand, suddenly realising I'd been holding onto it this whole time, and she fell against the wall, tired out.

"And now he's on trouble. Those guardians were pissed-"

"Only because they don't know the whole story. They see a dead body and a weapon, that's it. Once they get facts and testimonies, everything will be okay. Eddie saved a Moroi. It's his job."

"But he killed another Moroi to do it. We're not supposed to do that." I nodded.

"This wasn't a normal situation."