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

Part 23

"What's that supposed to mean?" Dean's panic voice rose and I watched as Yuri took a step closer to his chair.

Alberta seemed unfazed by his outburst. "Until you can prove that you are disciplined enough to be trusted with protecting a Moroi out in the world, you will be doing extra training sessions in the morning before school along with community service after school every day."

Dean's face went white. "You can't--"

Just then the door beside me bursted open. I whirled and grabbed the person charging into the room franticly. Both Yuri and Jean turned, hands on their stakes.

My grip on his shirt loosened. Had I not recognized the dark locks, I would have pinned him against the wall.

I blinked.

"Eddie?" I whispered as his panicked eyes met mine.

Yuri recovered first. "Jesus, kid. Don't you know better than to barge in on a room full of Guardians?"

Eddie's stare stayed glued to mine. I almost read his expression before another voice grabbed my attention. 

"Mr. Castile!" Alberta exclaimed as she stood from her seat. "What on Earth are you doing?"

Eddie's eyes never left mine as he panted. "It's Rose." Rose. One simple word and my body went ridged. "The bond. I think she went to find Lissa. She's in some sort of trouble. She told us she was at the Northwest side of campus. The place between the pond and the fence."

All the way across campus...

"Is she hurt?" Alberta's voice quavered. 

Eddie nodded, "Rose was in a lot of pain."

Realizing I was still holding onto Eddie, I let go and glanced back at Alberta. She met my gaze for a second before looking at Dean and then Yuri and Jean standing behind him. "Take him back to his dorm. I'll be back when I can."

Both Guardians nodded without saying a word as they pulled Dean out of his seat and escorted him from the room.

"Belikov, come with me. If this is anything like the past situations Rose has been in, we're going to need a Guardian that she'll listen to."

I swallowed hard as I tried to process what we were about to deal with. Because even an angry Rose is better than the unstable Rose I have witnessed lately. 

As we left the room, Alberta took the lead, leaving Eddie and I alone. I glanced sidelong at the Novice weighing my next question. I needed to know, even though I already had a good idea. "How much trouble did it seem like Lissa was in?"

We were halfway down the hall now, with Alberta rushing ahead, grabbing any Guardian she could. Eddie turned to me and whispered, "Rose was inside Lissa's head, looking for her and then suddenly she let out the worse scream I've ever heard."

Chills ran down my spine.

I knew the scream he was talking about, I had heard that sound come from her throat long ago. When Victor was torturing Lissa. Rose had felt it second handily while navigating me to the princess' whereabouts. It had been one of the worst sounds I had ever heard.

My pace quickened.

Eddie fell easily in step with me. "She didn't explain much. Just that Lissa was in trouble and then she took off." Eddie paused as we passed a Guardian in the hallway. "I've never seen anyone run that fast. I tried to catch up with her but she was gone." He gave a half shrug. "I figured she could use some back-up. Not that she'd need it." He added under his breath.