Dimitri's Point of View in Shadow Kiss (Vampire Academy) (Book 3)

Part 11

Chapter 11:

After leaving Rose to bring the last box to Mrs. Davis, I made my way to the guardian’s main building to report Rose’s community service. Even though Kirova and Alberta never asked me to, I felt like it was the right thing to do. Considering I was assigned to keep Rose in line and report her disciplinary projects I figured this event was no different.

 And as my feet sloshed in the snow I couldn’t help but feel hurt about Rose’s earlier comments. Did she really not believe that I could get her into the trial? Did she really think I had that much power to do so? Her comments suggested that I did, and she looked at me as if I were a god who was capable of doing anything.

I shook my head at the thought; no I may not be able to do everything. But I was capable of doing a lot of things, and getting Rose and Lissa to that trial was just an obstacle I had to overcome.

As the guardian building peeped out of the darkness of the trees I quickened my pace. My feet were silent against the snow, mainly from my years of practicing fox walking, and also from being light in my stance. Twenty years of practicing this one technique will do that to you.

The soft golden glow coming from the windows casted long eerie blue shadows on the snow. Shapes were walking past the window’s frame. I could tell from the short hair and the tense body that one of them was Alberta’s. The wind picked up making me quicken my pace even more.

I was soon bathed in the warm glow. Shutting the door behind me I could actually feel my face defrosting. How long have I been walking? I’ll never know.

Alberta’s head shot up from the corner she was standing at the instant the door locked in place. She nodded and gave me a small smile. “Belikov. You’re here to report Rose’s community service I presume?”

I nodded back and took a seat at the empty table. Emil was standing off to the side going over something with another guardian. “Yes, she, Father Andrew and I worked all day on cleaning out the chapel’s attic and sorting through the boxes that he kept up there. Then after we, Rose and I, brought them down to the lower schools and handed them over to Mrs. Davis.”

Alberta’s watchful eyes were on me the whole time. Making me nervous. She let a few moments pass before she nodded. “How is she doing?”

Her question shocked me. I knew Alberta cared about Rose’s field experience but that didn’t stop my racing heart from slowing down. After my confrontation with Father Andrew this morning I figured everyone would’ve guessed my love for Rose by now.

I kept my face as stone like as possible, not wanting to give anything away from last night. Especially my fight with Stan. “She’s doing better; Guardian Alto got her again last night. But this time it was different, he attacked and both she and Eddie jumped in leaving both their charges unprotected.”

I felt like a snitch but I couldn’t lie to Alberta. She was the one person that had control over all guardians at this school and if she found out I was lying I’d lose my job. And that meant losing my job of protecting Lissa and keeping a watchful eye over Rose.

Alberta had started to pace the room again. Her head hung low as she placed her clasped hands behind her back. Her face was thoughtful as she took in all my information. And I noticed for the first time she looked as young as she was. Not all tensed up and ready for a fight, her face was smooth, free of stress wrinkles and with her mouth slightly opened she looked her age. Alberta wasn’t as old as most guardians now a days, but she was pretty old. And all the stress of being a Guardian had taken her beauty away.

This thought brought me back to my first days of training Rose. It had been cold and we had been practicing outside for quite some time. When we came back inside I noticed her hands were cracked and blistered, and in some parts they had actually opened and bled.