(I just want to share that when I browsed for Russian girl names I got "Vodka" and "Margerita" LOL XD)
{Very basic summary: Eva is the daughter of Rose and Dimitri Belikov. The more you read, the more you find out. Although I will tell you that she has a truly unique gift and doesn't quite know how to use it. It revolves around Spirit. An element no Dhampir in any sense, should posses. But she is not a normal girl.}
Perhaps Abe Mazur was a little daunting in the eyes of another, and perhaps he was an excellent mastermind and an artful blackmailer, but he certainly wasn't as clever a sentry as his granddaughter was an escapee.
The wintry air breathed lightly against the back of my exposed neck as I began to quicken my pace, and rounded the next corner. I tugged against the fleece coat to wrap myself up in it, it wouldn't be long before he found me again, but it was hardly very often I had the chance to go scouting in the streets of Missoula. There was a slight wave of guilt hanging over my head, for my grandfather only desired a night out with me, dinner and a movie; and I had stripped myself of any guardians in the finest and I mean finest shred of hope that I could wander off successfully this time. I inwardly praised myself for it, he was my relation, after all.
Before I rounded the next corner, I heard the only other audible noise apart my treading into the sloshy footpaths; voices. I gripped the ice-capped brick wall of what might have been an old store, my fingers curled around the corner of it and I peered around, finding something entirely unexpected to my eyes. Lone Children.
"Children?"
I spoke aloud, and I whipped around the corner with my back slamming into the side of the wall as indiscreetly as one could have possibly been. I may have had Dhampir genes, but I bore a closer physique of a typical Moroi. An ungraceful one at that.
"Who - Who's there?"
The voice hardly projected any sound, soft and afraid. I heard scuffling, and where I stood frozen, daring to run in the opposite direction, I had to remind myself that they were only children. Probably younger than I was. I made my move and rounded the corner, sticking closely to the wall. There was a boy, and he tilted his curious head forward, towards the little girl in the oversized frock.
"Who do you see?" He asked, his voice coarse and dry. He took a jagged step forward, hastily turning to allow his mellow eyes to wash over the unfamiliar figure. To wash over me as I stepped into the light. He was slightly taller, leaner, but the appearance of him looming over her gave sight as he inched forward.
"I won't hurt you," I declared bravely, although I doubted they would see me as much of a threat. "I was just passing through."
The boy heaved a sigh, giving a lazy attempt at kicking up at the sleet. "You shouldn't be here," He spoke. "It can be dangerous at the late hour."
I scoffed, a small grin rising at a corner of my lip. "Dangerous, ha, I think I can handle it. Whatever it is."
I knew plenty of what it could be, but I figured there were no Strigoi lurking around here if a small boy and girl could survive it. Which brought me back to face him. "I really don't think you should be here. You should go home."
His eyes widened and then narrowed, the small girl never looked up as she sat on the ground with her arms wrapped around her legs.
"Sheltered girl," he muttered, but my Dhampir hearing picked up on it. I gave him my best quizzical look and shifted slightly forward again until we were just a few feet away from one another.
"This is our home."
I gaped. "I - you - what?"
He gestured to the clearing where a few belongings were kept. And he was worried about my safety, well I was too enveloped in the worry of his. His mouth opened and then closed, flickering to something in the distance and then back to me. I hugged myself uncomfortably and said the only thing my mind could process in the wake of this news.
"I'm -"
"Young lady!" I spun around on my heel, unnerved by the new voice, and even more so to see my Grandfather standing before me with his arms folded across his chest. Both of his guardians were standing within distance.
"Come," And he offered his hand. It was calmly voiced but I could see his face lined with distraught and a glint of anger in his dark, dark eyes. Eyes as dark as mine. His gaze was locked, never straying from mine, but I knew even he couldn't be oblivious to the children and their surroundings. To ensure this, I looked over my shoulder.
"They will be taken care of, don't you worry." An eyebrow quirked and I wondered what those words held.
"Taken care of, but h-"
"Yes," he interrupted. "I believe you've had your fun frolicking around foolishly, now it's time for us to go." I listened. With one more glimpse behind me, I waved, but it was unreturned. I followed Abe in silence, siding along with one of his guardians. They were very quick and one of the men ushered me into the SUV even going so far as to strap me in. I swatted at his hand, and believe me I tried, but he persisted. I settled for folding my arms defiantly instead.
From the front passenger seat, my 'overjoyed' Grandfather glared at me.
"Eva." He growled in an undertone. "Just what were you thinking?"
"I was thinking at the time, why did those children have to sleep on the side-walk? And hey, why are we prancing about with silk scarves and they're trudging around in worn out frocks?"
Maybe the boy was right, maybe I was sheltered. I was born and raised at the Royal Court after all, and almost never stepped out in the outside world. And judging by the look on my Grandfather's face, I wouldn't be stepping out again, any time soon. So apparently where I came from, they didn't believe in telling us the truth.
"You are young," He spoke a level above a whisper. "Some day you will understand, but for now I believe we're better off heading back to Court and we can continue this discussion at another time." That was a statement not a question and I didn't dare to prompt him for any more answers just yet.
"Well, I had a nice evening."
He smiled, and if I didn't know any better, he looked a little worn out. So help me if I actually gave the old man a run for his money, but he knew, as well as any one else that I was to be securely guarded at all times.
Why? Because I was the wondrous daughter of two acclaimed Dhampirs of course. No seriously. Well okay, If you asked most people I was, but the other half (pompous Royals of course) claimed I was roguish when I wasn't under the eye of my parents, always looking for a way to find me out. However I disagree. But to the world of the Moroi and Dhampirs alike, I truly was a miracle in itself, for no two Dhampirs were able to conceive children together.
My mother was shadow-kissed with spirit lingering within her, and my father was a Strigoi-saved-Dhampir. So I guess the strength of two lives that had to be regained, only created a stronger bond that allowed me to be brought me into the world. This was legend, it was a life of no other. None other than mine.
