Our New Adventure: Book Two (Vampire Academy Sequel Sequel)

Chapter Three

Then, his hand moved toward my stomach... and, I felt like I was being torn in half.

I let out a piercing scream, and Lissa flinched. She placed her hand, gently, on my stomach, and I felt her healing me. I let out a breath, and it didn't hurt me. Dimitri still looked worried. He opened his mouth, but Lissa cut him off.

"Dimitri, Janine, I think Rose has torn some tissue, and I've never dealt with that before. So, I don't know if it'll stay healed. Can you please leave for a moment?" she was so polite all the time

They hesitated, but left the room. Lissa turned to me, worry written all over her face. It took me a moment to realize I couldn't see into her head. The bond wasn't gone again, but it was burned out or something. I wasn't sure. Lissa took my hand, and looked me in the eye.

"Rose, are you okay?"

"I am now. Thank you. Are you okay?" I teased

 "Rose, do you remember when you were pregnant with Erik, and he tore one of your muscles?"

"Yeah, but that was a year and a half ago, Liss. I've healed"

"What if you haven't? You need to go to the doctor, Rose"

"No. I have to protect you"

She let go of my hand, and groaned. She began pacing around the room. "At least, tell Dimitri"

"He'll say the same thing, Lissa. And, I don't want him to worry"

She sighed, and walked out of the room. I can't believe she doesn't understand. Protecting her is a necessity. Besides, I'm fine. I'm healed. And, if I wasn't before, I am now. Dimitri soon came in, holding Erik, and I prayed Lissa didn't tell him. By the look on his face, I can see she had. He sat down next to me on the bed, and put Erik in my arms. I sat up, rocking Erik in my arms. He looked up at me, and smiled. I kissed his forehead, and he giggled.

"Rose," Dimitri whispered, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I was going to, Dimi. Lissa shouldn't have told you"

"Um, Lissa didn't tell me. I was kind of listening at the door. Don't look at me like that! You've done that plenty of times"

I laughed, and leaned my head against Dimitri's shoulder. I sighed. This would be a perfect moment if we were back home, away from all the Strigoi drama. But, I knew we would never be free of Strigoi. Just like we would never be able to be full-time parents. Thinking about that made my chest twist. I want to be a good parent, but I also want to be a good guardian. Everyday, every single day, I worried about this. I, obviously, wanted Erik to be a guardian, but I don't know how to juggle parenthood and being a guardian.

There was a knock at the door, and told whoever it was to come in. It was Sydney. She had a cut along her arm, and I wondered why she didn't have Adrian heal it. She walked toward the bed, a frown on her face.

"Eddie and I went to check out the scene," she wrapped her arms around herself. "and Susan's... gone. We couldn't find her body anywhere. So, we think she might be--"

"Don't finish" I said "How much of a mess is there?"

"Enough to attract authorities. We should probably get going"

I nodded my head, and stood up. I grabbed Erik, holding him close to me. I grabbed his diaper bag, and announced the news to everyone. We didn't really get a chance to unpack, so we left pretty quickly. As we walked through the lobby, Lissa and I held our kids close to us, not wanting them to see the horrific scene. We made it outside, glad to see sunlight. The sun had just peeked up from the horizon, casting eough light to incinerate a Strigoi.