Goodness I just love writing! It is so much fun. ;) Anyway, enjoy and review! I don't own anything.
-GuardianRoseHathaway
Chapter Seven
I couldn't believe it. It couldn't be... I closed my eyes and opened them again. I blinked a few more times, but there was no mistaking it.
Victor Dashkov had his hand pressed to my mouth to stop me from screaming, and I was in such a state of shock that I couldn't fight him. I just stared wide eyed at the man that I had broken out of jail... and then lost while fighting with the strigoi version of the guy Victor had been impersonating. The same guy who was currently talking to the Moroi councel.
I turned my eyes toward his brother, Robert, who was now openly staring at me. My thoughts went to Adrian... Why hadn't he realized that this man was obviously not Lissa? But I realized to things at the same moment: Adrian had been drunk and smoking, and Robert's aura, like any spirit users, would have been gold. Oh, Victor was good.
What I didn't understand was why he had bother to help me. I yanked back harshly, removing Victor's hand from my mouth and looked at him.
He was looking... shit, he looked really healthy. I don't know how he did it, but he was looking just like the man I had known, back when I had actually liked him and not realized he was a complete psychopath who was trying to use my best friend.
"Now, Rosemarie, do not be startled, and don't do anything rash. We are here to help you," Victor said in what I supposed he thought was a soothing tone. And while he had helped us, indirectly, bring Dimitri back, I still felt creeped out being with him and his lunatic brother.
"Oh really, you want to help me? Then why the fuck were you hiding your identities? You know, you guys are very poor actors. You were nothing like Dimitri and Lissa," I said, packing in some patented Rose Hathaway bravado. But Victor just smirked.
"Oh, really?" he asked, and then he did a pretty bad imitation of... well, me. "Liss, what is wrong with you? You have been acting strange the whole time you have been here. Are you okay? I want to hear from Lissa. Yes, you definitely had it all figured out," Victor commented lightly, leaving me more worked up then ever.
"What do you want?" I hissed. He chuckled.
"Ahh, Rosemarie, you really need to learn to be patient," he said. He paused for a moment, and then turned to look at me with those eyes that were startlingly like Lissa's. "We want to help you," he said, once again trying to use a soothing voice and failing completely. Or was he? I relaxed slightly against the seat, though I knew my body would be able to react in an instant if they did something. Besides, they were just two Moroi, whereas I was a kickass dhampir guardian. Minus the guardian part, until we figure out who killed the queen, that is.
"Oh, you want to help me do you? Well, I don't feel very helped right now," I snapped. Victor just rolled his eyes.
"Come now, Rosemarie, you know that is not true. You are here, instead of that jail cell, aren't you?" he asked, bringing me up short. Yes, that was true, I was "free'' for all intents and purposes, but come on. I was also hanging out with one of the guys I dislike the most and he had tricked me into thinking he was a certain Russian god that I love.
"Why?" I asked him. He shrugged.
"That is for me to know and you to not find out. It is enough, though, that I know about Vasilisa's sister and I have a pretty good hunch who killed the queen," Victor said reasonably. Or at least he seemed to think so. But I was in complete shock, with my mouth gaping open as I stared at him.
"You know about Lissa's... It's a sister?" I asked him. He nodded.
"Of course. And I am pretty sure I know who and where she is, but of course maybe you have some theories yourself?" Victor asked me, lifting one eyebrow like every single person in this whole damn world seemed to be able to do. Except me.
I sighed and thought it through. If Victor had any leads- which I definitely had none- then would it really hurt me to go with him and see where this leads? And anyways, like I had thought about before, I was a lot tougher, quicker, and deadlier than either of them were. If things got bad I could be gone in a second. I turned to look Victor straight in the eye.
"I will go with you, but only because I want to help Lissa. But before any of us does anything, you need to tell me what is going on. Now." I was firm and my voice was cold, and Victor's eyes widened a bit. But before he could answer I was sucked back into Lissa's head.
"I can't believe Rose got out. She had an escape plan this whole time and she didn't bother to share it with us," Lissa said, bitterness flowing through her words. And her mind was in pretty much the same state; she was bitter because I had left her behind. Of course, that had been unknowingly, but still. She was upset and worried because she didn't know where I was. She took a sick satisfaction in that at least everyone else seemed as clueless as her. And that was when I realized that nearly everyone I knew was gathered together in her suite to discuss this.
Christian was sitting next to her with his arm around her waist and a tired look on his face. Adrian was sitting next to the window with a cigarette in his mouth and the most confused and thoughtful expression I had ever seen. Dimitri was standing on the other side of the couch, as far away from Adrian as he could get, or so it seemed to me. Lissa, of course, was too preoccupied with her own thoughts to notice much of anything.
Alberta was standing with my mom and Stan, of all people. Abe was lounging in a chair with a slightly amused expression on his face, whimsical almost. Mia was standing with Eddie near the door, both looking somber. There were some more people that were there, but Lissa wasn't facing them and wouldn't focus on them so I had no idea who they were.
"Look, if it makes you feel any better, she didn't tell anyone what was going on, which is why we are all here," my mom said with a trace of worry and sadness in her voice. And it did give Lissa a bit of comfort.
"Personally, I think it is absolutely brilliant. It is amazing that Rose was able to get out without being seen," Abe, my mobster/lawyer/pirate father said. He had an amused smile on his face. Lissa glared at him, annoyed with his light take on this whole fiasco, as she appeared to think of it as.
"Adrian, you were the one who realized Rose was gone first. Tell us exactly what happened," Lissa ordered. Adrian took another puff of smoke and then lazely looked over at everyone from his seat next to the window.
"Well, I woke up in the middle of the night and decided to go see Rose, because obviously I wasn't getting through to her in her dreams, so maybe if I showed up in person she would listen. And besides, she can't escape from me by waking up. So I got up and went outside. Of course, it was really light outside with the sun and all, so I was kind of weak. And then of course I had been drinking and when I got outside I ran into you, Christian, and Dimitri as well as few other guards following you guys," Adrian said, addressing Lissa. Confusion coursed through her at his last words, enough to nearly obliterate every other feeling.
"Uhh, Adrian, I hate to tell you this, but you have been drinking way too much. It has completely fried your brain," Christian said, his blue eyes sparkling as he held back laughter. Dimitri, however, had a thoughtful and concerned look on his face.
"No, you guys were definitely there. Look, remember? I asked if you wanted to come with me, you said..." he trailed off as overwhelming silence greeted him. "Come on, you have to remember," Adrian said, his eyes looking from Lissa, to Christian, to Dimitri and back again to Lissa.
"Well, all I can tell you is I saw you guys there. And though the auras were dim because of the influence of the drinking and smoking, and being weak because of the sun, you had a gold aura..." he trailed off as something struck him. "Oh shit!" he yelled, darting from his seat, his eyes nearly wild.
"What, Adrian?" Lissa asked, also standing up. But Adrian wasn't looking at her. He was staring at Christian.
"Your aura was dark. Nearly black," Adrian whispered. He reached up and grasped his hair in frustration. "I was looking right at her and I was too fucking messed up to notice! I should have asked more questions, I should have-" Adrian cut himself off and stared in horror, his eyes seeing past everyone at some unknown thing. But then his eyes glanced at Lissa and then Dimitri and back again. And he voiced what everyone there was probably thinking.
"But if it wasn't you and Belikov with her, then who was it?" Adrian asked.
All chaos broke out, everyone talking at once. In one swift motion Dimitri was out the door with a concerned and focused expression on her face which Lissa noted with satisfaction. She felt that if Dimitri was working to find me, he would find me.
I pulled out of her head and stared at Victor.
"What have you done?" I asked with horror.
"What did you see, Rosemarie?" Victor asked with interest. I smirked.
"Your little stunt was not perfect. They now that I am gone, and Adrian released I was Christian," I said with satisfaction. And I also felt pride in Adrian. He had been able to figure out what had happened when no one else had been able to, even if it hadn't been the whole thing. He had at least reserved some semblence of sanity in his drugged up state that he had been able to remember a small detail like "Christian's" aura.
"Well, I guess it might have been a good idea to have Robert conceal your aura, since it so very distinct, but no one thinks of everything," Victor said with a sigh. But after a moment he shrugged and clapped his hands together. "Oh well. Anything else?"
"They are going to be looking for me, you know," I told him snarkily. Victor nodded.
"Oh yes, but the only problem is, which side will find you first?" he asked.
Okay, so when I first thought up this chapter I had really imagined something that would explain the breakout more fully. And I definitely didn't imagine that scene with everyone. Of course, we all know that Adrian is smart... ;) Yay Adrian! Anyway, Rose is not going to go for very long without getting answers, so very soon I will explain what happened with the breakout. Anyway, hope you enjoyed! Please review!
