"Rose!" Dimitri's smile vanished. I looked down, my eyelashes hooding my gaze. I heard Dimitri walk over to me, saw his shoes as he stopped in front of me. He had big feet. "Rose." He said my name softer. I didn't look up. So he placed his hand under my chin and tilted my face up. "Roza, look at me." I did and I saw the tenderness in his dark eyes. "You know how I feel about you. And you know it's best if we don't talk about it."
"But I want to talk about it. You've never said how you felt." He touched my jaw line before letting his hand drop.
"We can't, Rose. And you know it." I felt the urge to be extremely childish and throw a tantrum. But I restrained myself. Whoever said Rose Hathaway didn't have self control didn't know what they were talking about.
"Are you going to make the bet or not?" He stared at me, obviously a little frustrated. Finally he said, "Fine. But I'm changing my terms. If I win, we don't talk about this, and we behave as we should." That one hurt. But I tried not to show it. So instead, I wiped my face of emotions and reached out a hand for him to shake. He took it and shook hard, his gaze never leaving me.
I turned away and began to tie my hair up. I stretched out, Dimitri doing the same. The room was quiet. Dimitri was still staring. After a while, I was just feeling antsy. "Okay, I'm ready." Dimitri only nodded. We took our positions in the middle of the room. Dimitri nodded once to let me know it was starting. He struck out first, going on the offensive. His attacks came fast and hard, leaving me to concentrate. I had to focus and anticipate the hits. Dimitri landed a blow to my side but I had to breathe through it. He wasn't trying to hurt me, but he trying to back me up into a wall.
If I didn't go on the offensive soon, I was going to lose. So I tried to fake right and roll left, out reach. Dimitri had anticipated the move. He was on me yet again. I was feeling flustered. I ducked and struck out at his legs, knocking one out from under him. I took the chance and hit him hard on the right side, knocking him even further of balance. But he grabbed my arm and spun me, trying to pin my arm behind him. Instead I spun and hit his legs again. I succeeded in getting on the mat, but unfortunately he had ahold of my arm and I went down with him. And then the grappling ensued.
I rolled out of the way as he tried to pin me with his weight. If he got on top of me, I would lose. I wouldn't be able to move him. I tried to push myself back onto my feet but I had to fall on my back to dodge a kick.
Dimitri sprang to his feet, giving me barely a moment to get to mine. He charged me again but overshot a punch, giving me an opening. I didn't hesitate in taking it. I hit hard, I hit fast, and I tried to back him up into the corner. I should have known I would ave had to pin him. Dimitri hit off the wall behind him and spun over me. He landed on his feet behind me and had me down in seconds. I still tried to squirm out of his grip but he used all of his weight to keep me on the floor. He pinned my arms above my head and he had me.
My breathing was rough, my face was red, and my pride was hurt. But what happened next made me forget it all. Dimitri touched his lips to mine so feather soft I had to focus on the contact to know it actually happened. When he pulled back, he released my hands and rested his head on my chest. He was breathing hard too. I didn't know how to react. "I dream of you, I think of you, I miss you when you are not around. I breathe your scent wherever I go, I hear your laugh, see your smile. I live for these moments when we are alone. You are my world, Roza." I bit my lip. He ran his hands down my sides. "And I am sorry that I am unable to show these feelings anywhere but this training room." He looked up at me with those large eyes. He could probably hear my heart beat a thousand times per second.
He moved upwards so his face was level with mine. "But you're smart enough to know this can't go on."
"I don't want to be with anyone but you, Dimitri." I said in a whisper. I touched his face. His skin was smooth and perfect. "I'll be eighteen soon and-" He sat up and pulled away from my hands. I followed suit slowly. "What's wrong?"
"That's not the problem, Rose. We'll both be Lissa's guardians." I paused. I hadn't thought of that. If we were romantically involved while we were supposed to be looking out for Lissa, she could get hurt. We would be looking out for one another, not Lissa. I couldn't jeopardize Lissa. But I didn't want to lose Dimitri.
"You're right." It killed me to say it. My mouth grew sticky and my eyes blurred. "But we aren't her guardians yet. And we won't be for another year." The smile he showed me was sad and tragically beautiful. He moved close to me and cupped my face, leaning his forehead against mine.
"My Roza. I love you." After that, restraint went out the window. I pushed my lips against his, tangling my hands in his hair. It was a desperate kiss, but he responded all the same. His lips were soft and hot against mine, his hands strong against my back.
When his lips moved with mine, my whole body went up two degrees. His tongue ran along my bottom lip, parting my lips as he pressed me harder into his tight body.
When the kiss was over, it was much too soon. We just rested our heads against each other. "I love you too, just to let you know." Dimitri chuckled.
"I know Rose, I know."
That was the best training session, ever. And when it was over, I felt like It'd never happen again. Lissa would be our charge. Dimitri and I wouldn't be together as long as I was protecting Lissa.
I wondered how that was going to work. Always being together but never really being together. Sounded kind of awkward.
As I contemplated my future, the cell phone Lissa had given me rang. I answered it without looking at the screen. It could only be one person. "Hey Rose."
"Hey Lissa. What's up?"
"Are you coming by Adrian's?" Shit, I'd completely forgotten.
"Uh, yeah. I just got out of a session with Dimitri so I kind of want to shower."
"That's fine. I'm not going over for a bit. Want to walk over together?"
"Yes. I'll be by to pick you up in like a half hour?" There was a deep voice on the other side of the phone and then Lissa giggled. It was a girlish giggle.
"Um, could you make that an hour?"
"Oh, gross. I'll see you in an hour you hormone driven teenager."
"I am not a 'hormone driven teenager'." The sullen note in her voice made me smile. Oh, the indignity of it all.
"Uh huh, okay. I'll be over in an hour."
I was true to my word. An hour later, I showed up at Lissa's dorm room. I was just in time for her and Christian's goodbye kiss. And then Lissa and I were on our way to Adrians for Lissa's lesson. She wanted me along because while she was learning about spirit, she was also learning how to explore our bond. And she liked telling me that she was about to invade my mind before she did it. I was thankful for the warning. She was working on being gentle because recently it felt like being hit by a bus.
When we arrived, Adrian was virtually sober. He used alcohol to numb spirit's effects. But it also numbed his abilities. So he got sober for his and Lissa's meetings.
He was a little bleary eyed when he let is in, but at least he was coherent. "Hello cousin." He greeted Lissa. They weren't really cousins, it was just a way royals like to greet each other. "Rose, always a pleasure." He kissed my hand causing me to roll my eyes. Even without the booze he enjoyed hitting on me. "What are we working on today, Lissa?"
"You wanted to work on compulsion, remember?" The right side of Adrian's mouth quirked up on a half smile.
"Oh yes. I remember now. And then we work on dream walking, correct?" Lissa nodded. I was more interested in the latter. Adrian seemed to know a lot about dreams and perhaps through Lissa's questions I could learn some things. "Shall we sit? I have refreshments if anyone wants them." His white shirt was tight enough to show his lean Moroi build. They all had that lean muscle. Lissa was tall and super model thin with golden hair, milk white skin, and jade eyes. I was her polar opposite. I wasn't short, about 5'7, with tanned skin from always being outside, dark eyes, and even darker hair. I also had all the curves Moroi women didn't have. I always knew Lissa was self conscious of her small bust. She just didn't see how gorgeous she was.
"Water please." She asked politely.
"A coke. Like, just coke." Adrian cast me one of his smiles as he got both of our drinks. "Okay, now where do we start?"
Okay, so the whole compulsion lesson was boring. I would have fell asleep if I wasn't so afraid of sleeping. I mostly just sat and read some of Adrian's books. And I'm not much of a reader.
"Alright, I've had about enough of this. Let's move onto dream walking." This was what I'd come to hear.
"I can't seem to figure it out. I try doing what you say, seeing the person, holding onto them, and like stepping into…whatever it is you step into, but I can't seem to figure it out." Lissa was very animated as she spoke, her eyes alight curiosity.
"It's like how you tap into your bond with Rose." I waved, Lissa rolled her eyes but smiled. "You feel that draw, you hold onto it, and step into it." Lissa bit the inside of her lip.
"Are you the only person you know that can dream walk?" I asked Adrian, his attention turning to me.
"I haven't even met another Spirit user other than Lissa. So, no."
"Can anything else other than Spirit users walk dreams?" Adrian thought about it but just ended up shrugging.
"I actually don't know. I haven't heard of anything but I'd also never heard of someone bring a person back to life." He looked at me, probably at my aura. He told me I was surrounded in shadows. I was Shadow-Kissed after all. "It's possible." I'd wished he'd known more. I guess I'd be doing my own research. "But back to the lesson, you need to create a tie between you and the person you want to visit."
"I've tried, I can't figure it out."
"Here, why don't you try going through your bond. Try easing into Rose's head and get a feel for that. Once you get that down, it's pretty much the same thing with dreams." Lissa turned to me and stared at me.
"Can I try?" I sighed theatrically.
"Well…since you asked so nicely." I flashed her a smile as I pulled my sweatshirt up over my head. "Have at it." She flashed me one of her radiant smiles before closing her eyes.
When I went through our bond, she had no idea I was there. However, when she tapped into our connection, it felt like someone was rearranging my brain. I don't know why, it just worked that way.
I felt her immediately. Though it was a little better this time. At least she didn't ram into my head. I felt her going through my emotions and for a second I was terrified she'd find out about Dimitri. But then an entirely different feeling began.
That cold paralyzing fear spread throughout my body. I started to hyperventilate, my limbs started to shake, and my heart hammered against my ribcage, threatening to break out of my chest. I felt Lissa withdraw, but that fear was still there. "Little dhampir…" And so was he. The fear amped up.
I was vaguely aware of someone yelling my name, of blood dripping from my nose, and my limbs going completely numb. But what I was really focusing on, was the feeling of teeth against my throat. I was really truly focusing on the feeling of said teeth piercing my skin. And then the blood started to leave my body, leaving me cold.
Suddenly, all went black.