New and improved ! This is the new Chapter 1 to The Struggle Against Desire. The story is the same, obviously, but I have added a few extra paragraphs that go into extensive detail about Dimitri and his thought process.
I will be doing this for all chapters where I see fit as there are things I would like to edit before continuing.
Read and Review !
Bronte xox
Chapter 1 - The Great Escape.
I was never one to like being isolated from the world. Yet here I sat, curled up on my bed for the sixth day in a row. I was feeling extremely claustrophobic, bored, and more than anything, worried about Rose. I knew, without the shadow of a doubt, I had hurt her so badly when I told her that my love for her had faded, but that didn't mean I didn't stop caring about her. It was because I cared so much for her that my love was gone - because I had terrorized her... used her for food, to satiate my ever present hunger as a Strigoi. There would always, however, be a part of me that yearned for her. Even now, curled up in isolation, feeling hollow, I knew I still cared for Rose. It was only after I had been thrust into exile, and with nothing to do, that I had begun to realize that, although I no longer loved Rose, I still cared deeply for her and felt concern for her wellbeing. Was it the overwhelming desire to protect her that made me close off, made me stay away? I couldn't be sure. There was nothing that I was sure of anymore.
I was under house arrest, wallowing in my ever present despair. Strict rules had been placed on me after I took down those guardians that were coming after Rose. I didn't blame them for chucking me in here and posting guardians around my room. I had undone all the progress I'd made toward becoming accepted within the Moroi world again. All that effort and unwavering persistence on Vasilisa's part to get me back into the community had been shattered in a split second. One moment of loss of thought and reasoning, and I was once again ostracized. Ever present was the feeling that I would never be welcomed back into the world that I had grown up in and devoted my life to in the most literal of senses. My life felt void of reality being surrounded by whiteout white walls and no company. The silence in my room was deafening and it unfortunately left me with infinite amounts of time to think, let my mind wonder back to the past, focus on the present, and stress about what the future held for me. My time as a Strigoi had left me emotionally scarred and tortured, and I knew it would affect me for the rest of my life. My future. . . It looked bleak, to say the least.
Being Stigoi . . . it changed me. How could such a horrifying and damaging experience like being forced to become the creature you loathed and had spent your entire life destined to destroy, not cripple you beyond repair? Every day I was wracked with guilt and sorrow. Not for myself, but for the lives I took, the people I hurt and most of all, shattering my family who I was yet to speak to. I didn't even know if I could speak to my mother. There was a possibility that when the time came to contact her, she would not want to see me, not want me back in her life. My mother - warm, gentle and loving - would most likely be terrified of me, much like the rest of the Moroi world were. How could anyone trust a monster? No mother in their right mind would trust someone who used to be a Strigoi to come back into the lives of her children and grandchildren. It hurt me to realize that I wouldn't blame her one bit if she decided that she never wanted to see me again. I would probably take the same course if my children were in danger - not that children would ever be a prospect for me. Not after everything I had endured over the last few months.
My soul – if I even still had one, which I doubted – had been ripped from the world of the living and thrust so violently into the world of evil in such a violet way. I didn't think there would ever be a time when it felt whole within me again. Stirogi didn't possess a soul. Was a soul something that one could ever get back once it has been tainted? I didn't think so, although Vasilisa had stressed countless times to me that I did have a soul, that it had been resurrected when she brought me back from the undead.
I looked up when I heard a tap on the door, startled out of my unrelentingly abusive thought process. The guardian stationed inside my room looked at me with gauging eyes, shifting uneasily on his feet, before moving toward the door. He opened it slowly and peered out. I heard a faintly familiar voice. A man's voice, laced with a slight Turkish accent. Abe. There was no doubt in my mind that that was in fact Ibrahim Mazur. Rose Hathaway's infamous father.
He appeared in my door way, stepping inside, my guardian following him. I wasn't allowed privacy, especially when people were visiting. Not that I'd actually had any visitors. I don't know how Abe got in here. But, he was a man of power. And he liked to throw his power around in order to get his own way.
"Mr. Belikov!" I winced at the obvious drop of my official title as a guardian. Oh well, I guess I'll have to get used to it eventually.
I nodded in acknowledgement. "Ibrahim."
"Oh come now, Dimitri. Call me Abe." He flashed me an overwhelmingly white smile. He was dressed in a grey suit which was played up by a bright purple dress shirt underneath and a multicolored handkerchief in his breast pocket. It took some getting used to, but the overall affect was very Abe. It was a similar outfit to what he had worn at Rose's hearing. Quirky.
"What do you want?" I asked a little more rudely than I had originally intended. Abe had never shown any ill will toward me, and there was no reason I should encourage it. Being in the position I was in, there was no way I should be trying to push people away. I needed all the allies I could get.
"Well, I am here on behalf of Vasilisa Dragomir," I sat up straighter to listen. He had caught my interest. Abe looked around, his eyes sweeping over the guardian and then a stack of western novels sitting on my night stand. He walked over to them and picked up the top one. I couldn't see what it was called. "She wanted me to check to see how you're doing as she was unable to get over here herself, what with the funeral to organise and an outfit to assemble." As he talked, he slipped a tiny piece of paper inside the book and set it back in its place. I glanced at the guardian. He had missed the small movement. It was a bad miss on his part. Guardians were trained to see and hear everything. Abe slipping paper inside a book was something even a novice should be able to see. But, for once, I was glad that a guardian had slipped in his duties. It made my life a little easier.
"So," Abe said turning back to me. "How are you doing in here?" he surveyed the room. "Small place." He muttered. I ignored him. He should try being locked up in this closet of a room. It was a nightmare for someone who was brought up being in on the action, and for me to be sitting around doing nothing was like my own personal version of Hell wrapped up in a little box. I was itching with anxiety every time I heard a noise outside, wanting to jump into action and get myself out of here.
"Vasilisa sent you this," Abe produced a small jewelry box from the pocket inside his jacket. He handed it to me.
I carefully took the box from his outstretched hand. Opening the box, I saw, nestled in the deep plum silk, was a men's wristband made from platinum. There was an intricate design engraved around the band, and I realized with a start that the design was an exact replica of the pattern on my old silver stake. My heart clenched a little at the thought of my lost life and career as a highly regarded guardian. I shook off my morose feelings. I gently lifted the band from its box and flipped it over. There was another engraving on the other side. Bravery. Loyalty. Love. The words were all in Russian. I knew Vasilisa had put a lot of thought into this gift. For a moment, I allowed myself to feel a little contentment, knowing there was someone who I hadn't hurt and who still cared for me. For the first time in what felt like an eternity, I was feeling emotions other than hatred, guilt and anger. There wasn't just contentment; I also felt a small tug in my heart. It wasn't of an intimate nature – it was more that I knew for sure that someone cared for me and that I truly wasn't alone.
"Thank Lissa for me, please," I said quietly to Abe, not trusting my wayward emotions not to choke me up. "And thank you for bringing it to me. That was very kind of you."
"It was no problem, really."
Hesitating briefly, I asked the question I was burning to know the answer to. "How's Rose going?" I asked in an undertone, ensuring my guardian couldn't distinctly hear what I asked.
"She's . . . Well, she's not great," Abe said, worry creasing his brow. I realized suddenly, that, although he didn't know his daughter well, he genuinely cared for her, maybe even loved her. "She's scared, although trying not to show it. She wants to be strong." Of course, I thought. Rose was the strongest person I had ever met. I used to think of her as a warrior - brave, beautiful and passionate. Unhindered, thoughts of Rose curled up in a stark jail cell, cold and dark, made my blood run cold and my anger spike at the injustice of it all. No one as good and pure as Rosemarie Hathaway deserved to be locked up in a cell to rot.
I nodded in response to Abe's words, deciding that I had heard enough. "Well, thank you for dropping by. If you don't mind, I'd like to rest," I told him, glancing briefly at the book that held the little note.
"Of course, Mr Belikov," Abe said grandly, returning to his usual demeanor. He swept closer to me and held out his hand to shake mine. Meeting his hand, Abe slipped a roll of bills into my own hand. "It was nice to see you," Without another word, the mobster left the room, sweeping past the guardian with a swift nod in his direction. Money? What do I need with money? I shoved it quickly out of site under my pillow.
I didn't immediately dive for the book like I so desperately wanted to. No, instead I waited and waited for half an hour, although it felt like about ten hours. Eventually, I thought I'd left enough time so as to not look suspicious, and leaned over and grabbed the book. I flipped through the pages as though looking for my page. I found the folded paper about mid way through the novel. Small cursive handwriting covered every inch of the square of paper. It read;
Dear Dimitri,
I hope Abe managed to deliver this paper to you safely, and out of sight of the guardians. I also hope you enjoy your gift. It's a 'thank you in advance' gift for what I'm about to ask you to do. As you know, Tatiana's funeral will take place tomorrow and we have decided that now is the time for Rose to leave Court. With you. We have devised a plan to break out Rose. But, we are going to need your assistance. A diversion will take place at the funeral tomorrow – a diversion that will need all guardians present. We are relying on your guardians being called in to help clean up.
Before our distraction takes place, Mikhail and Eddie will take up a post near your building and wait for the guardians to go and assist. They will then go about getting you out. Obviously they won't leave you totally unguarded; but we are hoping for a limited number of guardians staying back. We can't afford for this to take up too much time.
Once you are out, you will accompany Mikhail and Eddie to the prison. Guardians will need to be fought once again in order to get deeper into the prison where Rose's cell is. Adrian will meet you there and use spirit to ensure that Mikhail and Eddie are not recognised. They will explain to you in detail about that when they see you.
The money Abe gave you is for you to use when you get Rose out of court. Basically all you have to do is keep her safe and out of the way while we look for answers here at court. Eddie will give you a map and a set of keys to a car when you see him.
Please, Dimitri, keep her and yourself safe. Don't do anything stupid that could get yourselves killed. Hopefully it won't be long before I see you again.
Stay safe, love Lissa. xx
There was a number scrawled at the bottom, along with a name. Sydney Sage. I was to make sure to call her so she would be able to tell us where to meet her. I bit my lip in thought. I admit, I was nervous about their plan. What if something went terribly wrong? And what exactly was their planned diversion? I slipped the paper into my pocket and reached back under the pillow to retrieve the bills, also putting them in the pocket of my jeans. I looked at my clock. It read 12:53am. The funeral was taking place during the day time, so it would be harder to escape, but I trusted Lissa and the rest of her friends.
I settled down in bed, and waited impatiently for sleep to come.
Instead of a peaceful black sleep, I dreamt – no, I was wracked with nightmares. Glowing red eyes – my eyes – haunted my dreams. Stalking my prey – a pretty red-head girl of about eighteen – I slipped into a natural hunting crouch, readying myself for the coveted attack on the girl. She would scream, yes, and it would be my favourite part watching her terror turn to a blissful high and then her head would lull to the side as I drained her petite body of all its thick, hot blood under the glowing moonlight.
A low growl built in the back of my throat as I breathed in her scent. Yes, she would be perfect. My mouth was already pooling with venom as I thought about the feast that lay not five feet ahead of me. I slinked closer to the girl, closing the formidable gap between us.
I lunged to attack and . . . I woke with a start, sweating, gasping for breath. I clawed myself up into a sitting position, running my hands through my hair in frustration and, yes, fear. My heart racing, I glanced at the time. Middle of the night for us nocturnal creatures. My guardian, who was lounging in a chair near the door looked my way. He wasn't a bad person, just doing his job, and I often wondered if he felt pity for me.
"You alright?" He asked quietly, furthering my suspicion that he didn't like me being locked up anymore that I did myself.
"Fine," I said shortly, covering the fact that my heart was beating rapidly and sweat was still beading on my forehead.
Sliding out of bed, I ventured over to the bathroom, welcoming the cool of the tiles under my over heated skin when I leant on the wall. With still shaking hands, I cupped water in them and washed the icy water over my face, relishing in the cool of it. Looking in the mirror, I shuddered at what I saw. Dark bags hung under my sleep-deprived, albeit warm brown eyes. My skin was waxy with stress, aging me about ten years.
"I need to get out of here," I griped quietly. "Tomorrow, you can make it until tomorrow." The mantra formed in my head and I went with it, repeating it over and over as I slipped back into bed, cuddling down under the warm blankets.
Once again, I allowed sleep to claim me, although still frightened of what horrors of my past my unconsciousness would unwittingly dredge up.
I awoke early the next day in anticipation of the day's events having, thankfully, slept soundly for the remainder of the night. It was about two hours before the funeral procession would start. I still had plenty of time. I got up and went into the bathroom to shower and change. I pulled the money and note from my pocket at set it on the bathroom sink.
The warm water of the shower helped to calm the nerves as it washed over my back, loosening the tension I knew was pent up in my muscles. I let the water run over me until the hot water started to dwindle. I turned off the tap and stepped out. I changed into clean jeans and a clean t-shirt. I slipped a thin black hoodie on over the top.
I made my way back into my room and sat on the bed. I could hardly go about casually packing a bag without raising suspicion, so I relaxed back onto the bed, taking one of my worn, but much loved, western novels. All I could do now was wait for Eddie and Mikhail.
Almost three hours had passed when I heard scuffling outside my door. The guardian inside looked at me, then quickly headed for the door.
"What's going on?" I heard him ask.
"Something's blown up over at the funeral procession. We need all hands on deck. Ensure that no one leaves before we find out who did this." A man with a deep voice answered him briskly and formally – just the way a guardian should respond in an emergency.
"Ivanovic, you stay here and watch him."
Good. Only one guardian was staying. I had hoped for this. I made sure I had everything, and I was ready to go when I heard more movement outside, this time there was also a thump as Ivanovic, I presume, hit the ground. Hard. The door flew open and Mikhail, Eddie and Adrian Ivashkov stood there.
"Hey Belikov," Adrian greeted me. I just nodded to him.
"Alright, we don't have time to waste. I trust you got Lissa's note?" Eddie asked.
"Yes." I nodded in assent.
"Good. So the plan hasn't changed. You, and I hope you're prepared for this, but you're going to be the one who takes the fall for this one. Also, Adrian will make sure that you are the only one seen when we take down the guardians inside the prison. Okay?" I nodded. I was prepared for this. I had assumed as much. But, if it meant I was going to be able to get out of here, and get Rose out, I was all for it.
Eddie threw over a pair of keys for a Honda. I put them in my pocket along with the cash and Lissa's note. "You'll also need this." He passed me a map. I opened it. It was a map of the U.S. I scanned it quickly and found a tiny town located on the map. It had a bright red circle around it. "This is where you're taking Rose." Eddie said, pointing to the town in West Virginia. By the size of it, one could hardly call it a town.
"And what role are Lissa and Christian playing in this?" I asked, worried. They, as Royals could not afford to be caught up in a jail breach.
"Safe and sound. No one will suspect a thing." Mikhail said mysteriously, banishing my fears for them.
"What about Abe? What's he done in this?" I knew without a doubt that the old mobster guy had a hand in all of this. From what I had heard of his reputation, this kind of thing was totally his scene. I couldn't help making a link back to Rose – she was very much like her father. I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.
"He orchestrated the whole plan. He was the mastermind behind it all. We blew up the statues over near the procession using his recently converted C4." I raised an eyebrow, but otherwise didn't say anything. Abe was known for his out there and generally dangerous plans. This certainly fell into both those categories. In all, I was completely unsurprised about his role. C4, though, seemed a little extreme. And dangerous.
Adrian checked his watch. "Come on guys, we've got to run if we want to make it in time."
We all hurried out the door and across the grounds toward the court's jail. There were no guardians stationed around the prison, for which I was thankful. They were all over at the site of the explosion. We quickly slipped in through the gates. We came into contact with two guardians whom we took down quickly, but we made a fair bit of noise. A group of guardians – three of them - came rushing up the narrow corridor. We met them with force. I knocked two down to the ground where they lay unconscious. I stayed back with Adrian while Eddie and Mikhail went further into the jail.
We could hear thumps as people hit the floor, but from what I could see, there weren't all that many guardians in there. The scuffling sounds stopped and we could hear Mikhail and Eddie make their way deeper in the corridor. They had handled their jobs admirably, taking down their attackers quickly and efficiently.
"What's going on?" Rose's demanding voiced sounded down the corridor. The sound of her voice made my heart constrict. She sounded good, like herself. It seemed that she was able to stay strong while being locked up. She may have been thrown in a high security jail for suspicion of murdering the queen, but nothing could dampen the girls' attitude. No, that was still firmly intact.
"Nice to see you too," Eddie said a little sarcastically.
"Did you guys..." she trailed off. Although I couldn't see her face, I knew she would be frowning in deep concentration, trying to figure out what was going on. The keys in Mikhail's hand flashed in the light. She must have seen them. "Did you two just take on every guardian in this building?"
Mikhail unlocked the door as Eddie answered her. "Rose, there are no guardians in this building. Well, maybe one. And these guys." Eddie gestured in the direction of the earlier fight where the guards lay unconscious.
When she hurried out of her cell, which had ironically been mine, my breath caught in my throat. She looked a mess. Her long waist length hair was a tangled mess, but still exotically beautiful. Rose definitely needed a little bit of TLC. So it was a good thing Adrian was around. Because he's her boyfriend and I'm her... were we even friends? I wasn't sure.
"The rest of the guardians are all checking out the explosion," it seemed to have suddenly dawned on her. "Oh no. You had Christian blow up ancient Moroi artifacts."
"Of course not," Eddie said with derision evident in his voice. "Other fire users would have been able to tell if he did."
"Well, that's something," she said.
"We used C4," Mikhail explained offhandedly.
"Where on earth did you –" her eyes landed on me standing at the end of the hallway. I continued to survey the surroundings, my arms crossed over my chest. Rose's eyes bore into me, like her gaze alone was enough to pierce my soul, and to be honest, it once had looked right into my soul. Not anymore though. That was history.
"You're here too?" asked Rose, still staring at me with such uncertainty, like she wasn't sure I was actually there. "Aren't you under house arrest?" I was about to answer her when Eddie jumped in.
"He escaped," said Eddie in a sheepish tone. "It's what people would expect some violent probably-still-a-Strigoi guy to do, right?"
"You'd also expect him to come bust you out," Mikhail added, playing along with Eddie's game. "Especially considering how he fought for you last week. Really, everyone is going to think he busted you out alone. Not with us."
I still said nothing, even though I wanted to just whisper her name. But, I kept quiet. I couldn't help my gaze wondering as it slid over Rose, looking for any sort of injury. I breathed a small sigh of relief when I found she was physically okay.
"Come on," I finally said. "We don't have much time." We literally had about twenty minutes tops if we wanted to get out of here alive. But if they didn't hurry up, we were all going to die. Rose didn't move, instead she kept talking.
"There's no way they'll think he did it alone!" she exclaimed. I'll admit, my pride was dampened a little. Didn't she think I could take on these guardians alone? She continued. "They saw your faces." She said with a wave of her hand in the direction of the still unconscious guardians.
"Not really," Adrian's voice sounded from just behind me. He stepped through the door way. "Not after a little spirit-induced amnesia. By the time they wake up, the only person they'll remember seeing will be that unstable Russian guy. No offence." He threw the last line at me.
"None taken."
Rose stared at us, looking between Adrian and I. Slowly a grin spread across her face, lighting her eyes up. "Lissa lied to your mom earlier," she said. "You're supposed to be passed out drunk somewhere." To be honest, I was almost proud of the fact that he wasn't in fact passed out drunk. I had to hand it to him, even though it had been a tough week, he had managed to stay away from his spirit numbing vices long enough to be able to produce enough power to ensure that the guards would only remember me.
Adrian smiled in response to Rose's own smile. He truly was smitten. "Well, yes, that would probably be the smarter – and more enjoyable – thing to be doing right now. And hopefully, that's what everyone thinks I'm doing."
I could feel my agitation growing at all the meaningless, time wasting chit-chat going on. We had to get the hell out of here. "We need to go," I said firmly. They all turned to me, their light banter vanishing instantly. Eddie and Mikhail grew serious, their guardian masks slipping into place, ready for action. Rose looked ready to follow orders. And Adrian seemed as though he was okay with continuing.
Rose made to take a few steps forward, closer to me, but Adrian threw out a hand to stop her. "Wait – before you go with us, you need to know something." My patience was reaching breaking point, and if we didn't get going now, I was going to walk down there, pick Rose up and take her to the car by force. Ivashkov was just wasting time. "She does." Adrian insisted, meeting my gaze. He knew I was going to protest. "Rose, if you escape... you're more or less confirming your guilt. You'll be a fugitive. If the guardians find you, they aren't going to need a trial or sentence to kill you on sight."
Every set of eyes in the room now rested on Rose, gauging her reaction to the ultimatum she was given. I knew the odds of her getting a fair trial here at court were slim to nothing. If she stayed, she was just counting down the days until her death. If she escaped with me, she would have a chance. It was still a slim one, but it was there, and it was the best thing we had. I was a man of rules, I always abided by them, but in this scenario, I was all for breaking them. Rose reached her decision.
"Let's go." She said with finality.
We all hurried out of the building. I was anxious to get going with the plan. I could hear Rose say to Adrian; "You've got to be using a lot of spirit to pull off all those illusions on the guards." She observed.
"I am," Adrian agreed. "And I don't really have the power to do it for very long. Lissa probably could have made a dozen guardians think they'd seen ghosts. Me? I can barely make a few forget Eddie and Mikhail. That's why there had to be someone they remembered to attract the attention, and Dimitri's the ideal scapegoat." Glad I could be of assistance, I thought.
"Well, thank you." Rose murmured.
"Yeah, well, I'm supposed to be crazy right?" I would have said crazy wasn't quite the right word where Adrian was concerned. Insane, delusional, annoying. Take your pick. "And there isn't much I wouldn't do for you. The stupider, the better." I felt a flash of jealousy shoot through me. Why was I jealous? It wasn't like I was in love with Rose anymore.
We emerged onto the main floor of the prison. As I'd hoped, all the rooms and halls were still virtually deserted. The group hurried out the door and into the fresh air.
"Now what?" Rose asked.
"Now we take you to the getaway car," Eddie said.
The garages of the court weren't that far from where we were at the prison, but they weren't exactly just around the corner either. And we had a fair bit of ground to get across without being detected. Rose spoke my thoughts. It had always amazed me how in sync we always seemed to be.
"That's a lot of open ground to cover," she observed, scanning the area around us.
"I'm using spirit to keep us all vague and nondescript," Adrian muttered, trying to keep pace with us as we moved quickly across the Court grounds. He was doing well considering he didn't have the years of training the rest of us did. "People won't recognize us unless they stop and stare directly at us."
"Which they probably won't," said Mikhail. "If anyone even notices us at all. Everyone's too worried about themselves to pay much attention to others in all this chaos."
Everyone could see that Mikhail was right. Even though the church where the funeral was being held was a fair distance from the court's prison, enough time had passed that anyone over there had made it to this part of court. Some were seeking cover in their own houses, others were looking for their guardians for protection. And there were some who were heading to the garages, where we were bound for.
"People are freaked out enough to actually try to leave court. The garages will be crowded." Rose noted.
Mikhail obviously saw this as a possible advantage to us. "That could help us. More chaos."
"What's Lissa doing during all of this?" Rose asked.
"Lissa needs to stay innocent. She can't be linked to any part of the escape or explosion," I told her, my eyes never wavering away from the direction we were going. "She has to keep herself visible with the other royals. So does Christian." I could feel a slight smile tugging at my mouth. I fought to subside it. This was a serious time, and not one for smiling. People's lives were in the balance here. Mainly mine and Rose's. "Those two would certainly be my first suspects if something exploded."
"But the guardians won't suspect them once they realize the blast wasn't caused by magic," Rose mused quietly. "And hey, where did you guys get a hold of C4? Military grade explosives are kind of extreme, even for you."
But no one had any time to answer Rose's question, because out of nowhere, three guardians were blocking our path. Apparently we had been wrong when we thought they would be all out at the church. Without even thinking about it, Rose and I leapt into action, fighting together as if we had just been doing it in practise yesterday. Defensives instincts kicked into overdrive as Rose and I fought to make sure that they wouldn't be able to get a direct look at the others. It didn't matter if we were noticed, because we would take them down before they had the chance to alert anyone else. I knew Rose would be battling the same inner fight I was right now. Fighting against our own was not something we took lightly. It went against every I had been taught. Guardians fought together not against each other. It just wasn't right. And to make it even harder, they were guardians I knew and liked. Two of them were court guardians that I had always been friendly with and the other was a friend of Rose's from St. Valdimir's, Meredith.
I let Rose take Meredith whilst I concerned myself with the other two, much larger guardians. My aim here was to seriously maim but not kill. Never kill. I took them down easily and efficiently. They were out cold, but would recover, probably with a concussion and a few nasty bruises to the head.
Glancing around told me that Rose had done what she had to do and Meredith now lay on the floor, knocked out. Rose's face was contorted into one of anguish and regret. Eddie sought to comfort his friend.
"You did what you had to do," he said with a sympathetic smile. "She'll be okay. Banged up, but okay."
"I hit her hard." Rose worried her lip with her teeth.
"The medics can deal with concussions. Hell, how many did we get in practice?"
We continued, finally arriving at the garages. Rose had been right, they were extremely crowded. People, mainly Moroi, were rushing to get cars and to get out of court. Someone was even asking if anyone knew how to hot-wire a car.
I kept my head straight forward and walked purposely toward the Honda Civic. We hurried through the people, making our way to the further side of the garage. A man stood near the grey Honda, arms crossed as he studied the windshield. He heard our approach and turned to face us.
"Abe!" Rose exclaimed when she lay eyes on her father.
Abe flashed her one of his trademark, unnaturally white smiles.
"What are you doing here?" I demanded. He wasn't supposed to be here. That wasn't part of the plan. He, like Lissa and Christian, needed to remain innocent in this. He, above all would be number one on anyone's list of suspects. Rose was his daughter after all. And he was her 'attorney'.
Abe merely shrugged his shoulders. "Vasilisa will make sure a few people at the palace swear they saw me there during suspicious times." He turned to face Rose. "Besides, I couldn't leave without telling you goodbye, could I?"
Rose shook her head. "Was this all part of your plan as my lawyer?" I don't recall explosive escapes being part of legal training."
"Well, I'm sure it wasn't part of Damon Taurus' legal training." Abe's little smile never faltered. "I told you Rose. You will never face execution – or even a trial, if I can help it." He paused for a moment before continuing. "Which, of course, I can."
Once again, I could feel my impatience building. Abe needed to shut up so we could leave. At this rate, someone would see us and we'd all be chucked in a jail cell.
"If I run, it's just going to make me seem that much more guilty." Rose mumbled.
"They already think you're guilty," said Abe. "You wasting away in that cell won't change that. This just ensures we now have more time to do what we need to without your execution looming over us."
"And what are you going to do exactly?"
"Prove you're innocent," said Adrian. "Or, well, that you didn't kill my aunt. I've known for a while you aren't all that innocent." I ground my teeth together at the double meaning in his words.
"What, are you guys going to destroy the evidence?" Rose asked, ignoring Adrian's words. She heard his meaning too and let it slide.
"No," Eddie said. "We have to find who really did kill her."
"You guys shouldn't be involved with that, now that I'm free. It's my problem. Isn't that why you got me out?"
"It's a problem you can't solve while you're at Court," Abe told her seriously. "We need you gone and safe."
"Yeah, but I –" I broke off her last sentence. I was getting frustrated at all the time wasting.
"We're wasting time arguing," I growled. I looked over to the other garages. Everything was still in a state of chaos and thankfully no one had noticed us yet. I handed Rose one of the silver stakes Eddie had given to me before. "I know everything looks disorganised, but you'll be amazed at how quickly the guardians will restore order. And when they do, they're going to lock this place down."
"They don't need to," Rose said slowly. "We're already going to have trouble going out of Court. We'll be stopped – if we can even get to the gate. There are going to be cars lined up for miles!"
"Ah, well," Abe said, twiddling his thumbs. "I have it on good authority there's going to be a new 'gate' opening up soon over on the south side of the wall."
Rose seemed to have finally realized who had supplied the explosives. "Oh lord. You're the one who's been doling out C4."
"You make it sound so easy," Abe said with a frown. "That stuff's hard to get a hold of."
My patience had finally reached its peak. "All of you: Rose needs to leave now. She's in danger. I'll drag her out if I have to." I meant it too. I would pick her up and carry her out. She knew that.
"You don't have to go with me," she shot back at me. "I'll take care of myself. No one else needs to get in trouble. Give me the keys."
I almost laughed outright at her request. Like I'd let her behind the wheel of a car. She would probably have it wrapped around a tree within three miles of court. She was being ridiculous.
"Rose, I can't really get in any more trouble. Someone has to be responsible for helping you, and I'm the best choice."
"Go," Eddie said, giving Rose a quick hug. "We'll be in touch through Lissa."
Rose hugged Mikhail, murmuring something I couldn't quite catch.
She hugged Adrian longer that the rest, and when he leant down to kiss her lips, I turned away. Once again, seeing her with Adrian made my heart jolt in a painful way and I still couldn't figure out why. They really were perfect for each other, and no matter what kind of reputation Adrian had, I could see he truly loved her. Otherwise he wouldn't have done all he had done for her. That was an act of love.
"Adrian, thank you for – "
Adrian held up his hand to stop her. "It's not goodbye, little dhampir. I'll see you in your dreams." Once again, unwitting jealously made an appearance. I squashed it, reminding myself that I was only jealous because they could have a loving relationship with each other without having to worry about reputations as monsters.
"If you stay sober enough." She joked.
"For you, I just might." Adrian said with a wink.
A loud booming sound interrupted the goodbyes. A flash of light was visible to the right of us. People screamed, probably worried it was another attack.
"There, you see?" Abe seemed quite pleased with himself. He bounced around a little on his feet. "A new gate. Perfect timing."
Rose gave him a hug. Abe gave her a fond smile. "Ah, my daughter," he mused. "Eighteen, and already you've been accused of murder, aided felons, and acquired a death count higher than most guardians will ever see." He paused. "I couldn't be prouder." Funny thing was, he actually sounded pretty damn proud of his daughter. What father wouldn't want to have their daughter on the run from the feds? I thought sarcastically.
"Goodbye, old man. And thanks."
Finally we were in the car and speeding toward Abe's 'new gate'. A few people had turned up to see what the commotion was about this time, but fortunately for us, no officials had made an appearance just yet. I manoeuvred the car neatly through the gap in the wall.
"Why is our getaway car a Civic?" Rose asked. "It's not really great for off-roading."
I didn't look at her, even though my mind was telling me to. Even just in her presence, I was affect by her. I pushed it aside. I didn't love her anymore. Which was a good thing. She didn't need someone like me in her life in that way. No, Adrian was good for her. I wasn't. Plain and simple.
"Because Civics are one of the most common cars out there and don't attract attention. And this should be the only off-roading we do. Once we hit a freeway, we're putting as much distance between us and Court as we can – before abandoning the car, of course."
"Abandon – " I could see her shake her head, letting it go. "Look, now that we're out of there, I want you to know that I mean it: you don't have to come with me. I appreciate your help in the escape. Really. But hanging out with me won't do you any favors. They'll be hunting for me more that you. If you take off, you can live somewhere around humans and not be treated like a lab animal," I cringed at the use of words. "You might even be able to slink back to court. Tasha would put up a good fight for you."
I didn't answer her for a long while. I was lost in my own thoughts. Did I want to go back? No, I didn't think I did. Being free was the best feeling I had felt in a long time. Even when I was restored to a dhampir, I didn't feelfree. I still felt like I was trapped. But, now, with the prospect of being out in the open air, free to do as I wished, being back at Court was sounding much less appealing. I finally felt alive again. As for Tasha putting up a fight for me, I wasn't sure it was her I wanted fighting for me. Something inside my head whispered; it's Rose. Always Rose. She's the one you want to fight for you every day. I ignored the voice. It wasn't true.
I finally answered Rose. "I'm not leaving you. None of your Rose-logic arguments are going to work. And if you try to get away from me, I'll just find you." I knew I would find her, and so did she.
"But why?" I don't want you with me." I frowned. That hurt. Why wouldn't she want me with her? I answered my own question; because I hurt her. Because she hated me for what I did to her. And that was completely understandable. I expected her to shy away from me after what I said to her. Any person would be upset.
"It doesn't matter what you want. Or what I want. Lissa asked me to protect you."And that is exactly what I planned on doing even if Rose intended to spend the entire time being resistant and difficult. I knew I could just take her by force if it came to it.
"Hey, I don't need anyone to – " I cut her off, already knowing what she was going to say. She didn't think she needed anyone to protect her. Well, bad luck. I'm here to stay.
"And," I continued over her. "I meant what I said to her. I swore I'd serve her and help her for the rest of my life, and she asks. If she wants me to be your bodyguard, then that's what I'll be." I gave her a look that hopefully conveyed the 'no arguments' message to her. "There's no way you're getting rid of me anytime soon."