me with was more filing.
What could I do? Nothing. I needed to see him again but didn't know how. I hated not having a plan. Lissa's encounter with Dimitri hadn't been nearly long enough for me, and anyway, I felt it was important to take him in through my eyes, not hers. And oh, that sadness... that utter look of hopelessness. I couldn't stand it. I wanted to hold him, to tell him everything would be okay. I wanted to tell him I forgave him and that we'd make everything like it used to be. We could be together, just the way we planned...
The thought brought tears to my eyes, and left alone with my frustration and inactivity, I returned to my room and flounced onto the bed. Alone, I could finally let loose the sobs I'd been holding in since last night. I didn't even entirely know what I was crying for. The trauma and blood of the last day. My own broken heart. Dimitri's sorrow. The cruel circumstances that had ruined our lives. Really, there were a lot of choices.
I stayed in my room for a good part of the day, lost in my own grief and restlessness. Over and over, I replayed Lissa's meeting with Dimitri, what he'd said and how he looked. I lost track of time, and it took a knock at the door to snap me out of my own suffocating emotions.
Hastily rubbing an arm over my eyes, I opened the door to find Adrian standing out there. "Hey," I said, a little surprised by his presence--not to mention guilty, considering I'd been moping over another guy. I wasn't ready to face Adrian yet, but it appeared I had no choice now. "Do you... do you want to come in?"
"Wish I could, little dhampir." He seemed to be in a hurry, not like he'd come to have a relationship talk. "But this is just a drop-by visit to issue an invitation."
"Invitation?" I asked. My mind was still on Dimitri. Dimitri, Dimitri, Dimitri.
"An invitation to a party."
Chapter Nineteen
"ARE YOU CRAZY?" I ASKED.
He gave me the same wordless look he always did when I asked that question.
I sighed and tried again. "A party? That's pushing it, even for you. People just died! Guardians. Priscilla Voda." Not to mention, people had just come back from the dead. Probably best to leave that part out. "This isn't the time to get trashed and play beer pong."
I expected Adrian to say that it was always a good time for beer pong, but he remained serious. "Actually, it's because people died that there's going to be a party. It's not a kegger type. Maybe party's not even the right word. It's a..." He frowned, grasping at words. "A special event. An elite one."
"All royal parties are elite ones," I pointed out.
"Yeah, but not every royal is invited to this. It's the... well, elite of the elite."
That really wasn't helping. "Adrian--"
"No, listen." He made that familiar gesture of his that indicated frustration, running his hand through his hair. "It's not so much a party as a ceremony. An old, old tradition from... I don't know. Romania, I think. They call it the Death Watch. But it's a way to honor the dead, a secret that's been passed on through the oldest bloodlines."
Flashbacks of a destructive secret society at St. Vladimir's came back to me. "This isn't some Mana thing, is it?"
"No, I swear. Please, Rose. I'm not all that into it either, but my mom's making me go, and I'd really like it if you were there with me."
Elite and bloodline were warning words to me. "Will there be other dhampirs there?"
"No." He then added quickly, "But I made arrangements for some people you'll approve of to be there. It'll make it better for both of us."
"Lissa?" I guessed. If ever there was an esteemed bloodline, hers was it.
"Yeah. I just ran into her at the medical center. Her reaction was about like yours."
That made me smile. It also piqued my interest. I wanted to talk to her more about what had happened during her visit to Dimitri and knew she'd been avoiding me because of it. If going to some silly royal ritual or whatever it was could get me to her, then so much the better.
"Who else?"
"People you'll like."
"Fine. Be mysterious. I'll go to your cult meeting."
That earned me a return smile. "Hardly a cult, little dhampir. It really is a