At first, I was lying on the bed idly. But while my body remained relatively motionless, my mind ran miles. It sprinted relentlessly to places far beyond the walls of this God forsaken cage. I felt the paper tucked under my hand. Ambrose had given it to me under what I assumed had been an order from the recently murdered Queen Tatiana. Evidently another Dragomir still walked this planet. My mind reeled with the implications of it all considering the origins of this mysterious stranger. An illegitimate child of Eric Dragomir. I'd rather not believe it, but considering the woman who had told me supposedly hated my guts had been the one to tell me, I was a little less reluctant.
But that really wasn't important right now considering the fact that I was on my way to a trial sometime in the near future. Or was it? No one seemed to know much of anything. I had half a mind to believe that I would be the last one in on anything from here on out.
And, yet, when thinking about the letter, I couldn't help but focus on the very opening line.
If you are reading this, then something terrible has happened.
I may be no Sherlock Holmes, but that was evidence enough for me to suggest that she had known it may have been coming down to this. Question is: who had plotted and sloppily murdered the Moroi queen? Clearly people thought I had, but that was just a load of bull. Sure, we never quite saw eye to eye, but murder? Even I have my standards and that sure as hell wasn't one of them. Whoever had done it seemed keen on pinning the matter on me and getting me executed. I couldn't even fathom why someone would pick me for a scapegoat other than the fact that I was pretty much the perfect target in a sense. I seriously doubted that was enough. There had to be some larger picture I needed to uncover that would give this whole thing some twisted reasons for being the way it was.
Frowning, my fingers started drumming the mattress erratically. I really needed someone to talk to and bounce ideas off of, but my darling father-in-lawyer Abe Mazur had slithered off to do Lord knows what. Whatever it was, it was probably going to be him exercising every resource he had to crack this puppy open and win me back my chances of a future. Hopefully. Considering how I had picked him over a renowned Moroi attorney, I needed to start placing some serious trust in Zmey. From this cell I had next to no chance of finding a means to defend myself. All I had was him and whatever help he or my friends could scrounge up. Being confined really limited my options and I doubted I could seriously charm any of my stoic guards into being a pal and letting me out.
I sat up and ruffled my hair, contemplating whether I should check in with Lissa right now or not. I really wished I could break the one-way rule of our bond to let her know about the possibility of another Dragomir. While I'm sure the idea would be thrilling, I stopped myself at the reminder of this person's illegitimacy. Knowing how Lissa viewed the life she had had with her family as rosy and nearly perfect, hearing the possibility of her father committing adultery would probably crush her. Even I had a little trouble swallowing it. But when I had already heard the rumor of his skirt-chasing from an intoxicated Moroi in Las Vegas and from the queen of the Moroi herself, it was getting a little harder to refute.
I then decided against slipping into Lissa's head. Worry already radiated off of her like no other and I felt I could safely assume she was still conversing with whoever would listen to her about the injustices of the situation and how I of all people wouldn't slam a stake into Queen Tatiana's heart. I'd check in with her later. Right now I needed to think.
I swung my legs over the edge of the bed and stood, tangling my hands in my hair to give them something to do. There was really nothing I could do until Abe or someone showed up. Given that I probably had a very short list of potential visitors, I was waiting for Abe more than anyone else. I clung to strange hopes like Lissa compelling her way in here with Christian and Adrian or even Dimitri—
Dimitri.
All my thinking stopped as if a wrench had been through into the churning gears of my mind. I didn't understand him anymore. It wasn't to be said that I had really understood much of anything since he had returned from the nightmare of being a Strigoi, but now I couldn't tell heads from tales. He made he ache and feeling immense anger at the same time while still maintaining some glimmer of hope. It was a miracle the hope was sticking around. After blatantly turning me down again and again and even going so far as to tell me he no longer loved me, the past twenty-four hours suggested otherwise. At the café, he had initially given me the impression that he wanted me to approach him. Once it became a graver situation with royal guards coming to take me away, he had instantly jumped to my defense. The guardian I knew him to be and loved so dearly had reared its badass head. And then in the court room, that gaze of his…
He had told me with those eyes that he had been prepared to face any and all obstacles keeping me from him. All to keep me safe.
If he really didn't love me, they why would he have done any of that?
Maybe it took him the chance to realize I was in danger beyond his control for him to knock back into his old self. The Dimitri that loved me as much as I loved him. I didn't know, but I sure as hell wished it was like that. That would make things simple and kindle my wisp of hope. Not that I should really be focusing on this right now. I may never even get to find out the answer to all of this if I didn't prove my innocence and escape the threat of execution.
With a dejected sigh I fell back onto the bed. It was hardly comfortable, but then again cells weren't exactly designed with comfort in mind. I was about to reverse my previous decision and slip off into Lissa's mind for lack of nothing to do when I heard sounds suggesting that Zmey was making his return. And when I caught sight of him, I was up and closing in on the bars instantly. He came to the bars with a nonchalant walk with an almost pompous swagger only he could pull off. He was still dressed in the same casual attire he had worn to the hearing with nothing bearing so much as a wrinkle.
"What catastrophes have you been out orchestrating?" I asked, happy that my Rose Hathaway spunk shone even in the face of death. For someone who had been cursing up a storm about how Abe wasn't taking this seriously, I sure as hell fell into the same line of light-hearted bantering without much trouble. What a hypocrite.
Abe glanced at the guards on either side of my cell door, ignoring me. "Can we get a little breathing room here? I'm trying to consult with the defendant if you don't mind."
The guardians looked to one another, but took a couple steps back. Maybe they knew who they were dealing with. Maybe not. It didn't really matter anyway since they still moved.
When he turned to me, it was hard to judge what emotion he was displaying. His hazelnut eyes gave me nothing other than the spark of a burning passion. It was the kind that went along with him having told me that nothing would harm me, no matter what. Being Zmey, I had the notion I should put my luck with him, but I couldn't bring myself to put all my eggs in one basket just yet.
"I've got my men looking into this as we speak," he informed me in a tone I assumed the guards wouldn't catch. "They'll be able to find out whoever did this even if they have to tear Court from the inside out."
"Good to know you're on the job," I replied dryly. "This is all just stupid and a waste of time since I didn't do anything. They'd do better with actually trying to find the real killer."
"This is the easiest way for the Moroi to regain peace among their people," Abe pointed out. He was being so serious I felt guilty for trying to stave off the gravity of everything. It really caused me to sober up in the blink of an eye. "Being the load of royal pricks they are, the easiest way is the way to go." Then, as if he felt it completely necessary, he added, "But we won't make it easy for them. By the time I'm through with them, they'll have nothing but a gaping hole in their house of cards."
His tone led me to believe that only hell itself could come between him and his goal. Which really it was all good news to me. I should have really started counting what little lucky stars I had left since they had given me a mobster for a father willing to take on the Moroi judicial system in full force to bail me out.
"Any leads on who really killed Tatiana?" I asked, folding my arms and shifting my weight to one leg.
"Yes and no," said Abe.
I resisted the urge to groan. "Which means what exactly?" I asked.
"I answered yes and no because there isn't enough to say anything for sure. What's fairly obvious is that this is more than likely an inside job," Abe explained. Oddly enough, it started reminding me of the Tarasov incident where Lissa, Eddie and I had successfully conducted the extraction of Victor Dashkov from a maximum security prison way out in Alaska. Now wasn't the time to think about that though and I quickly tuned back into reality. "My guess is some Royal decided it was time to take out the queen."
A Royal could—no, it was probably more likely than just a simple speculation—be behind this. I probably should have thought of that from the beginning.
"A Royal would probably get much more out of this than I ever could," I said quietly, letting my disgust contort my features. "Makes you wonder why they never thought of that when they jumped on poor ol' Rose."
Abe's face lightened up just a little and he shook his head. "Again, you're the easier target."
"Fate just loves me like that," I replied, rolling my eyes.
Suddenly, I was rethinking the possibility of the Dragomir mess connecting to all of this. It was oddly coincidental that I had been in contact with the alchemist Sydney about files on Eric Dragomir being stolen not long before Tatiana had been killed. What if there was a connection? Even if there was one, what could it be? Unless…
What if someone didn't want Lissa in a position of power? Plenty of the other royal families were probably flat out against letting Lissa take her rightful place among the elite and powerful as the last Dragomir. Heck, the queen herself had used archaic law from the Stone Age to keep Lissa from casting her vote against the latest decree condemning sixteen-year-olds to an early death. But Tatiana had been the one murdered, so I really didn't understand how any of that worked; especially since I had gotten a letter from her relaying to me information that would grant Lissa voting rights.
I jostled myself from my thoughts to face an inquisitive Abe. There was no doubt I hadn't been very good at keeping my epiphany from showing. However, I was unsure if I should tell Abe about it. At the same time, he was pretty much my only hope right now, right? If he knew where to start looking, then maybe we could get to the bottom of this before whatever window of opportunity I had left shut. Or before the culprit slipped so far out of reach that it would be nearly impossible to track them down. Knowing Abe though, any flight from the murderer would prove futile. He could probably find a needle in a haystack without even physically trying. He'd have people do it for him, but that's besides the matter.
"Care to enlighten me what you're thinking?" Abe asked, but it almost sounded more like a demand. A discreet one really, but one you instantly understood.
I still had qualms about telling him, but I decided to go for an indirect route. I'd decide later whether not I wanted to let him in on the whole Dragomir situation. "What if this has to do with Lissa being a Dragomir?"
His brow creased, but then smoothed out as if it had merely been a glitch. "You think this has to do with that whole incident with barring her from voting?"
How resourceful of him; he knew about it already without me explaining it to him. Not that I would really expect anything less from Zmey. To his question, I shrugged. "I really don't know, but it's an idea."
"Better than nothing," he said and I could tell he was making a mental note of it. I also had the impression that he wasn't completely satisfied, that he suspected there was more to it. He paused briefly before then asking, "Are they treating you okay down here?"
Now, that was a little surprising. I had anticipated a little more of an interrogation, but maybe he was trust me to tell him what I felt was relevant or something.
"As much as I think anyone would with a potential death sentence hanging over their head for committing regicide," I replied with a shrug. "Why the sudden concern about my wellbeing?"
"Can a father be worried about his daughter?" I think he was trying to pull for an honest expression, but it's hard to believe a face like that when Abe's probably one of the most shady characters I have ever had the pleasure of knowing.
I shifted my weight to my other leg. "Sure they can, but being a badass gangster kind of makes that seem impossible."
"Being a badass gangster also means I specialize in making the impossible possible," Abe said in a tone I could only describe as smug. I dared say I preferred this Abe to the serious one that had initially come down here.
"Glad to see you have pride in your mystical ways," I retorted lightly, sarcasm evident in my tone. A thought suddenly hit me and I was then asking, "Have you see my mom?"
Abe made a quick survey of the guardians to make sure they were oblivious to our conversation. He shook his head. "No, but she might just bring a firestorm down with her when she finds out."
I nearly groaned at that. Problem was, I could almost imagine that. My mother, Guardian Hathaway, was probably the source of my fiery attitude. Not that Abe didn't contribute to it, but there was no doubt that there were similarities between my mother and me. And while she would be a force to be reckoned with if she found her way here, I almost wished she were here. She was my mother of all people. We hadn't exactly been on the best of terms for the longest time, but now I found the idea of her present and ready to defend me something I needed. Despite all of that, she had her duties and a Moroi to protect. So the chances of her busting in were slim to none.
"Have you seen Lissa or Adrian lately?" I asked.
Abe gave me a gesture that suggested he hadn't. "Not really."
Before long, Abe was gone at the beckoning of one of his cronies and I was alone once again. Well, not entirely alone. The guards where there obviously, but all my attempts at striking up conversation with the guards proved useless. Apparently when picking the security detail to keep watch over me, they had specifically picked the most antisocial guardians available. The new bunch that came in sometime later didn't so much as flinch when I gave a frustrated yell and flopped onto the bed in defeat. Lying there left me feeling like one of those toy propeller airplanes with the rubberband wound as much as possible but with nowhere to go. I had four walls and myself. And Lissa if you counted the bond letting me know that she was getting ready for bed. If you could call it that.
Through the bond, I could feel she was just about as restless as I was, but I could tell she was tired. It had been a long day of trying to ask around and gather her closest friends to discuss the situation.
Honestly, I wasn't really feeling tired in the slightest, but it made me wonder about something else.
"Hey, what times is it?" I asked aloud.
When I got no response, I rolled over onto my stomach and sighed. "Oh, come on! I just want to know what time it is!"
Just when I though the jerks were set on ignoring me completely, one of them checked his watch. "Eight in the morning."
"Thank you," I replied. "See, now that wasn't too hard, was it?"
I thought I heard one of them let out a snort of laughter. It made me crack a smile before settling back down into the abysmal task of doing absolutely nothing. I ran mental circles and otherwise tried to think of very little. Lissa had fallen asleep somewhere along the way, so nothing there for me to take a peek at. As it got later and I thought about sleep myself, I realized I didn't feel particularly fond of sleeping right now. Sleeping meant dreaming and dreaming meant that I was probably due for a chat with Adrian. The very thought of it made me feel wide awake as a torrent of emotions began stirring within me.
What had happened between me and him a day ago was as fresh to me as ever. My neck still bore the mark of his fangs. I could recall with crystal clarity the intimacy and passion of our night together. And yet, looking back on it now, I couldn't quite—or really at all—stifle an immense feeling of shame. I had let him, a Moroi, drink my blood. Allowing for a Moroi to do that was something that generally only blood whores participated in. Really, I couldn't figure out how I had ever thought of any of that as a good idea. Maybe I'd been driven by the torrent of painful emotions that had struck me following Dimitri's claim that his love for me had essentially died. I know I had told Adrian that Dimitri and I were over, but I still felt that what we had done was rushed. It had been driven by primal instincts and a need for comfort after having my heart hollowed out by Dimitri's simple words.
Whether Adrian knew it or not, it was unfair to him. I had decided I would try with him, and that was the first thing we had done. Almost had sex. Impulsive passion between us. I probably made that decision under the influence of wanting to forget. I knew moving on was important, but it was hard to believe I had made such a decision so quickly without sifting through it all very carefully.
The more I thought about it, the more disgusted I felt with myself and the more I didn't want to sleep. I didn't want to see Adrian and feel my guilt mushroom within me. Not when I felt like I had wronged him yet again. And maybe now it wasn't even just that. While I seemed to have been able to convince myself that the door to my love with Dimitri had been shut, now I didn't know if I still felt that way. Or at least felt that way without a shred of doubt. Dimitri had jumped into action to ward off the royal guard, hadn't he?
Hope tried to well up in my chest, something wonderful and bright, but I made attempts to squash it. I chastised myself for even thinking about this right now. I couldn't help it though. Completely letting it go was apparently impossible right now. I wanted to believe in him and in the idea that there could still be an us in this accursed world. Lissa had told me not too long ago to give Dimitri time. But would that really solve it? For that matter, had my arrest changed something? He sure had resembled pre-Strigoi Dimitri before…
I was getting nowhere and knew that nowhere was where I'd keep going at this rate. I wish I could have entered Lissa's dream right then and there and tried to persuade her to do a little snooping for me, but I couldn't. I was no spirit user and even then she probably wouldn't. Infuriating as it was, she seemed overly protective of Dimitri. And that was aside from the fact that Dimitri seemed to adore her for reasons unknown. Okay, maybe not completely unknown. According to him, it seemed that her being the one who had driven the stake into his Strigoi heart and had brought his soul back to life meant she was the greatest thing to ever exist. I could understand that. Yet it escaped me how he seemed to have little respect for the work I had put into getting us that far. There would never have been another chance at life as dhampir for him if it hadn't been for me believing in fairytales. The lying and sneaking and break into security areas and even into Tarasov for Victor; it had all been me.
I stiffed on the bed at the thought of Victor. In the mess of events involving some Strigoi in a casino that had taken place in Las Vegas, Victor and his half-brother Robert Doru had gone AWOL. Who knew where they were now or what they were up—
Victor couldn't be behind this, could he?
To be honest, I felt justified in shooting that idea down. No. It wouldn't work for him. Even if he did remove the queen from the picture, no one in their right mind would put that sorry bastard in any position with any form of political clout. A moron could connect those dots. With what had had done, only those crazy enough to believe his insane agenda would swing his way. Not only that, but something told me Victor wouldn't be so quick to slam on the person who had given him freedom to begin with. While he answered to no one, I thought that of all people, he'd be one to respect the precious gift given to him. He could be half way to Antarctica with his brother for all I knew. At any rate, I was pretty sure Victor would be more apt to laying low for a while. Coming out to do anything drastic would jeopardize the miracle he had been given.
As if my thoughts were the undead incarnate (if that even made sense), they continued to cycle through topics until I had gone through the same ones at least five times. Somehow in the mess of things, I dozed off and succumbed to mental fatigue.
