Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. Richelle Mead is the author and owner of the Vampire Academy series. The original characters and plot are the property of the fanfiction author. The fanfiction author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
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AN: Thank you to those who reviewed chapter 6. As always, your support is appreciated.
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Chapter 7 – Special Assignment
Dimitri's POV – four years after Rose's disappearance
"Belikov," I said, answering my phone using the SUVs telecommunication system.
"Dimitri, it's Lissa."
I immediately sat at attention. The Queen occasionally called me to see how I was, but never during the human day. Why wasn't she sleeping? "Your Majesty –"
I heard a tsking sound. "How many times have I told you to call me Lissa when we're alone or amongst friends, Dimitri?" she demanded crossly.
I paused, wondering what had distressed the queen. My formality never angered her. It merely annoyed her. "Many times, Your Maj –"
"Yes …" she growled.
"– Lissa," I corrected.
"That's better. Are you at St Vladimir's?"
I frowned, wondering why she was asking. I'd been based at the Academy for two and a half years. Vasilisa had requested that I return to work to replenish the ranks of lost guardians ... and, knowing I felt closest to Rose at St Vladimir's, she'd offered me the cabin to live in to sweeten the pot. I don't know how she knew. Perhaps Rose had told her before the final battle … or maybe Adrian did (he seemed to know everything) but I'd never asked and she'd never said. I'd reluctantly agreed to her terms, which included a new role – one I hadn't been expecting.
"No, but I'm on my way back. I'm a few hours away."
"Good. I'm coming to see you. I've already alerted Kirova and Alberta Petrov."
Now, I definitely was worried. "What's wrong, Lissa?" I asked her urgently. "Are you in dang –"
"I'm fine, Dimitri, don't worry about me. I'll explain everything when I get there. I'll see you in a few hours." She hung up, and despite her assertions that she was well, I'd heard worry and stress in her voice. I consciously pressed my foot harder to the gas pedal.
After Tatiana abdicated and Vasilisa was crowned, the strigoi had made it their mission to destabilize moroi society by killing or turning the new, young queen. In the year following Vasilisa Dragomir's ascension to the throne, the strigoi attacked Royal Court on three occasions; each time breaking the wards just like they had at St Vladimir's. Once the strigoi understood how to do it, the knowledge spread amongst them quickly.
Wards were fueled by elemental magic: earth, air, fire and water. After the third brazen attack on Royal Court, Lissa injected some spirit into the wards, which made them exponentially stronger. Unfortunately, there weren't enough spirit users to go around and using spirit to ward a building or land was debilitating to the user. Each time Lissa wielded spirit in the wards, it weakened her mentally and physically, and she had no way of escaping the darkness using that much spirit created.
I'd been at Royal Court on a visit when I'd witnessed how the darkness was affecting her and I wanted to help her. I suggested a method of release that had always worked for Roza: physical exercise, or to be more exact, combat training. I invited Lissa into the Court gym, and gesturing to myself, I told her to have at it. She'd refused of course. She was a well brought up young lady and the Queen. She didn't engage in such activities. No amount of coaxing would convince her, and so, at the risk of being arrested for treason, I goaded her into attacking me.
I called her weak and useless. I accused her of being ineffective as a queen; of being a silly child easily manipulated by her royal council. "Why else would they vote a teenager onto the throne?" I'd snickered. It had worked – I could see the rage overwhelming her – but not enough, so I used my ultimate weapon: Rose.
"Look at yourself, Vasilisa!" I yelled. "You're spoiled and lazy. You claim that Rose was your sister and you loved her ... but that's not true is it!? You used her to make your life easy, and you never really gave a shit about her," I sneered. "You barely even grieved for her. You make me ashamed to be your subject –"
I'd scarcely spoken my last taunt, when she'd launched herself at me in a fury. She punched and kicked and pulled my hair. She used her nails to scratch me. She even tried to bite me – not a fang bite, but a 'full set of teeth' bite that leaves a perfect impression on the skin and a nasty bruise. The Queen pounded on me until she was exhausted and teary, and when she'd finally calmed down after almost an hour, Adrian said her aura was free of darkness.
I'd apologized for the things I'd said, and she'd understood that I hadn't meant them. Yet, Lissa was not as forgiving of her own actions – beyond mortified that she'd tried to bite me. I'd waved it off as unimportant, simply pleased that I'd been able to help her.
"Thank you for allowing me to beat you up, Dimitri," she sniffled. "You somehow knew just what I needed."
"It was my pleasure, Lissa," I answered softly. "The darkness needs an outlet. It was how … Rose got it out of her system. You must not wait so long next time."
She nodded agreeably. "I won't. It was actually kind of fun after the anger burned out of me. I can see why Rose enjoyed sparring with you so much," she remarked.
I smiled wanly. "You can beat me up any time, Your Majesty … I'll even let you win," I joked.
She snorted and giggled. "As if I could win any other way, Dimitri. You're a good friend."
Reaching her slender arms around my waist, she'd hugged me to her tightly and I – typically – was at a loss at how to respond. I glanced over her shoulder at Christian who rolled his eyes and made a hugging motion with his arms. He mouthed thank you to me and I returned her embrace. From that point onward, one of her guardians volunteered to be her pounding board whenever she needed it.
Fiddling with the radio, I found a station that played classic country music and settled in for the next two hours of driving. As I relaxed into the music that soothed me, I next recalled the meeting I'd arranged with the Queen after Rose's 18th birthday. She'd brought Adrian and Christian with her and we'd spoken in secrecy. Vasilisa had hugged me that time as well (she was a touchy-feely person, as Rose had described her) but I felt awkward returning it.
Christian Ozera only raised a dark eyebrow and smirked at my discomfort. "Oh, just hug her back, Dimitri. For God's sake, man, she's Rose's best friend – almost her sister."
"And my Queen," I'd answered formally, but I did reach my arms around her slender body and give her the semblance of a warm greeting.
"What news do you have?" Lissa asked as she retreated to sit with Christian on the loveseat. Adrian slouched in an armchair, a glass of vodka in one hand and a cigarette in the other. He only saluted with his glass in greeting.
I discarded my coat and sat down in the remaining armchair. "I assume Adrian has kept you informed of my progress?" There were nods all around. "As you know, I've been tracking strigoi across five states looking for Nathan Voda and Roza. Four days ago, I found and killed a former dhampir who had the information I needed."
Lissa gasped hopefully. "You've found Rose?" She'd spent months researching an urban myth about turning a strigoi back to their former state using a spirit infused stake wielded by a spirit user. I was unclear at this point, what progress she'd made, but she'd made me promise to bring strigoi-Rose back if it was at all possible. If there was any chance the myth was true, Lissa wanted the opportunity to try it.
I paused and shook my head sadly. "No, I'm sorry, Majesty –" (she glared) "– Lissa, I haven't, but I feel I am getting closer. The strigoi told me that Nathan Voda took a car and headed north toward Canada … and he took Roza with him. He swore before I killed him that she was still alive when he last saw her."
Lissa's face fell. "That doesn't mean anything, Dimitri. You know I felt the bond break. So, if she's not dead, then she must be strigoi. There are no other choices."
Christian had been watching me closely as I relayed the information and he must have noticed a look of hope on my face, because he sat forward. "Or is there?" he asked. I nodded once and turned to address Adrian.
"Adrian, you've been trying to dream walk with Roza. What happens?"
"Absolutely nothing," he said in a sulky tone.
I rolled my eyes. Of all the days for Adrian to hit the booze bottle. "Describe it to me, Adrian," I said impatiently, "it might be important."
He took a drag of his hideous clove cigarette and looked up at the ceiling. "I reach out to her mind and there's nothing there."
"So you can't find her … you can't connect?" I asked, seeking clarification.
"Yes … no –" He stood up to replenish his drink. We waited for him to return to the sitting area, but he lingered by the bar, drinking the contents of his glass before refilling it again.
"Well, which is it, Adrian?!" asked Christian curtly. He was rapidly losing patience with Lissa's cousin, who was well on his way to being plastered.
Adrian scowled, shooting Christian a filthy look. "Watch your tone, firecrotch!"
"You don't get to call me that!" Christian yelled, "Only Rose does. Now, answer the damned question! Can you connect with her or not?"
Lissa placed her hand on her lover's knee in a calming gesture. "Christian," she cautioned softly.
Adrian scraped a hand through his messy hair leaving it more disheveled than usual. "Give me a minute. Let me get my thoughts together." I nodded at Christian, asking him silently to restrain himself. "It's … just … there's nothing there!" he slurred, swaying slightly on his feet. "It probably doesn't make sense to any of you."
I leaned forward eagerly. "No. Adrian, it makes perfect sense. If Roza was truly dead or strigoi, it would be like the phone had been disconnected, but you're getting a … a busy signal."
Lissa had a confused look on her face. "How is that possible? Adrian can always connect eventually when he dream walks. He does it to me all the time." Christian's jaw and hands clenched as he glared at Adrian.
"Yes, but Adrian can sense you. If you don't answer his call, it's because you're not sleeping. Does that sound about right, Adrian?"
He nodded and nearly fell over. "That's a simple anal-analogy, but yes, in essence (hiccup) that's (hiccup) correct." Lissa stood up and went to Adrian. She spoke to him quietly and he nodded, allowing his Queen and cousin to lead him back to his seat. Christian poured him a large glass of water from the carafe sitting on the coffee table.
"Adrian, what if something was only blocking the line … running interference?" I asked, watching him drink the water. He grimaced at what I can only assume, he considered an unpleasant taste. Lissa poured him another one and handed it to him with a 'don't argue' expression on her face. "Would you still be able to connect or would you get a busy signal?"
He looked at me blearily, but he spoke with a little more coherency. "Well, it would depend on what the interference was. Alcohol does it for me, so conceivably, it might work the same way for someone else … but I've dream walked with Rose before when she's been drinking." I frowned at him disapprovingly. "Don't look at me that way, Belikov!" he snapped. "She asked me for the liquor ... I didn't force it on her!"
"Never mind!" Lissa yelled. "Get on with it, both of you."
"Adrian?" I prompted softly.
"Well, if I had to guess, I'd say ... alcohol or drugs could interfere and if that happened, I'd probably get a busy signal. But it would have to be really heavy in their system for it to interfere to the point of darkness." I sat up. What darkness? I repeated my question to Adrian. "Well, when I said there was absolutely nothing, I meant I'm alone in a void."
I swore silently in Russian and rubbed my head in frustration. "Adrian … that's a very important piece of information you never explained before. A void is an entirely different matter. That's your busy signal." Adrian had a dumbfounded expression on his face and he replaced his water glass for the vodka glass before Lissa could stop him.
"What are you thinking, Dimitri?" Lissa asked. She ignored Adrian, but her lips were pursed with disappointment.
"One moment, Lissa. Adrian, could someone with a serious head injury cause this interference … this void you experience?"
He shrugged. "It's possible I suppose, especially if they were in a deeply unconscious state –" He trailed off as he got the drift of my line of questioning. "Like a coma," he breathed. He smacked at his forehead viciously with the palm of his hand. "Stupid. Stupid! STUPID ASSHOLE!"
I wanted to agree, but I couldn't. "Don't blame yourself, Adrian. It was only after I dreamed of Roza that the idea occurred to me either."
"Would one of you please tell me what the hell you're talking about?!" Lissa yelled, completely confused. "And what dream?"
Adrian answered. "That Rose is neither dead nor strigoi, but in a coma – a very deep coma."
Lissa gasped and collapsed against Christian. "But the bond –"
"It's possible she died for a short time, Lissa," I interjected. "It's happened before. It could have happened again."
"Where is she then?" Christian interjected.
"I think I may have the answer to that. Lissa, did Roza ever tell you about my grandmother?"
"Yeva?" I nodded. "She only said that you'd told her that Yeva sometimes knows things." She gasped. "Has she seen Rose? Is that what you're saying?!"
"No … yes." I stopped for a moment while I organized my own thoughts. "Yes, I believe Yeva has seen Roza, but I didn't realize who she was talking about. When I visited my family in Russia, Yeva told me that I would find love again in the garden where the roses grow. She also told me I would be a good husband and father and not to give up – that I would be happy once again."
Christian looked at me with pity. "Dimitri, your grandmother could have been talking about anyone. Rose isn't the only woman out there for you." I scowled at him for his blasphemy, but he talked on. "What about my Aunt Tasha? Yeva could have meant her. You've been friends with Tasha for years; she loves you and she has a rose garden. I suppose Yeva could have been talking about Rose, but really, Dimitri, how much faith do you place in your grandmother's rambl … um predictions?" Christian asked.
I ignored Christian's slur about Yeva, understanding most people's skepticism. "She's one hundred percent accurate … ninety percent of the time, but her predictions aren't fated. Different decisions by key players can change the outcome."
"Exactly … fate and key players," Christian stated. "Yeva never actually said Rose's name. You're just assuming she was talking about her … and I bet you didn't tell her that Rose was taken, did you?" I blushed guiltily. "Thought so. Dimitri, Yeva just said you'd find love again. You know dhampirs are infertile together, so you could not be a father to Rose's children … even if she was still alive," he argued rationally.
Lissa had been looking at Christian as he spoke and her face changed from hesitant optimism to disappointment as she recognized the soundness of Christian's speech. "Would you call Yeva, Dimitri ... ask her if she's seen anything else?" Lissa whispered, hope still evident in her voice.
"I don't need to. I had my own prophetic vision," I confessed. They all stared at me like I'd gone off the deep end. I recited the content of my dream on Roza's birthday. I left nothing out. Reaching over to my coat, I pulled a folded sheet of paper from the inside pocket and opened it. "I made this," I said, handing it to Lissa.
She stared at it for a long time and tears trickled from her eyes. "This is Rose from your dream?" she whispered.
I nodded. "Yes."
"She looks so frail," Christian commented.
Lissa passed the pencil portrait to Adrian. His hands shook as he stared at the drawing of Roza with very short hair and a scarred face. He made a guttural noise of distress and sprang from his chair, disappearing onto the balcony. The portrait drifted to the floor. We heard an agonizing howl of heartbreak, and then the sound of expensive crystal shattering. He'd thrown his vodka glass at the wall.
Lissa picked up the portrait and stared at it again. She chewed on her lip as she silently revised everything we knew. I studied the floor wondering where to look for Roza first. North. I would head north into Canada and work my way south to Montana.
"Dimitri?" I looked up, responding to Lissa's soft address. "You told us that dream-Rose said she woke up but can't remember. If that's the case, why can't Adrian connect with her?"
"I've been thinking about that too. Drugs might impede the connection as Adrian suggested."
Lissa shook her head vehemently. "No, Rose is NOT a drug user. Never!"
"Not illicit drugs, Lissa … medication."
"Belikov is right," Adrian said as he reentered the room. His face was flushed and his eyes were glassy. He walked toward us and collapsed into his chair. "Medications that target the brain could prevent a connection. Remember, Lissa, when you took those anti-depressants to control the spirit darkness. You couldn't perform magic and I couldn't enter your dreams either."
Lissa gasped and her eyes widened. "So, if Rose was alive, she could be depressed and on medication."
"Wouldn't you be depressed if you'd lost your memory?" Christian said, "I know I would be."
Adrian shook his head. "I don't think anti-depressants are the answer. If Rose is alive and not strigoi like we thought, then it's something else. With Lissa, I couldn't connect, but I could still sense her. She just didn't answer."
"So how do we find her?" Christian asked, playing along with our theory.
"Contact the human authorities," I said. "See if there are any open cases of unknown female victims –" Lissa's face paled and she shook her head negatively. "What? Why not?!" I roared, rearing to my feet angrily. "It's the quickest way to find her!"
"Dimitri, I-I can't authorize that," she declared sadly.
Adrian stared at his cousin in confusion and horror. Only Christian seemed to know what Lissa was thinking. Apparently, Adrian's ears and eyes weren't on the pulse of everything happening at Court.
"I-I don't understand," I said. I felt sure that Lissa would support any plan to find Roza. She stood up to pace the room, twisting her hands agitatedly. She eventually halted in front of me.
"Dimitri … with the strigoi using humans to do their dirty work, our society is skirting the edges of the human world more and more. Twice in the last several months we've come very close to discovery. Too close," she added. "The human authorities are less inclined to reject what they believe to be impossible, and they are asking questions. The Alchemists and our best Compulsors had a tough time cleaning up after the second strigoi attack at Court – and I'm not talking about the deaths of our people."
"Then what are you talking about, Lissa?!" Adrian snapped, "because I don't understand –"
Lissa interrupted, her expression grave. "Royal Court was photographed by the human government's satellites."
"What?" I breathed in shock. "How? The wards –"
"The wards were broken," Lissa said. "The magic that prevents strigoi entering our homes and compounds also prevents human technology from discovering us –"
"Except when they're not working," I said, as understanding dawned.
"Yes," confirmed Christian, "and with the advancement in human technology, it's becoming increasingly difficult to hide in plain sight."
"Human books and films about the supernatural aren't helping our cause either," Lissa added. "Between Twilight, True Blood and Harry Potter, the younger human generation is enamored with anything … 'other'."
"Moroi and dhampir teenagers aren't much better," remarked Adrian. "I heard a group of moroi girls talking excitedly about an appearance by Robert Pattinson – that actor from the Twilight movies – you know, the guy who plays Edward Cullen."
Christian's brow rose and he smirked. "I'm surprised that you know who Edward Cullen is, Adrian. That you know the actor's name is even more disturbing. A person might think that you're not quite the ladies man you profess to be –"
"Shove it where the sun doesn't shine, Christian!" Adrian hissed.
"Alright, enough!" I said, losing patience with their bickering. "Lissa, I understand your concern about being discovered, but how is that the same as making inquiries about Rose?"
She sighed. "We think we found all of the human officials who know about the satellite photographs. They were compelled to forget and the photographs were deleted … but we can't be entirely certain we got to everyone. If Rose has been under the constant medical attention of human doctors for five months, then they've likely noticed her … differences."
"It's not the first time a dhampir or moroi has been treated by human doctors in an emergency, Lissa," I argued.
"No, but it is the first time in modern history that one of us may have been cared for exclusively by humans. They would have tested her blood … checked her DNA to identify her. That blood is now a permanent record in government databases and medical facilities. After five months, our resources might not be enough to erase them ... even if we could find the correct samples … and that's supposing Rose is still living."
"She is!" I stated resolutely.
"The police would have files on her as well," added Christian, ignoring me. "They would investigate anyone with severe injuries."
"What I want to know," said Adrian, "is what happened to that bastard Nathan Voda? If Rose was found by the authorities – what happened to the strigoi who took her?"
Lissa reached for her phone.
"Who are you calling?" Christian asked.
"Hans Croft."
"Why?"
"Hans! It's Queen Vasilisa … Everything is fine. Listen, I'd like you to do something for me and I want you to keep it quiet … No … Hans, call the Alchemists and find out whether the human authorities have identified any strigoi activity in the past five months … Hmm, restrict the inquiry to the Rocky Mountains … Yes, okay, thanks." She hung up. "He'll call me back shortly."
We all waited silently and impatiently for the phone to ring. Adrian and I stood up and began pacing. Lissa sat staring at Rose's portrait. Christian rubbed her shoulders comfortingly, but I could tell he was skeptical and he didn't want Lissa to get her hopes up.
"Do you think she'll be okay?" Lissa asked after awhile.
I swallowed. "I think so … yes. She said she was safe … for now. That's what Yeva told me too. She also said they were safe and I would find them when the time was right."
"What-what about the child … do you believe she's pregnant?" Lissa asked me.
My jaw clenched and I glared at Adrian – the only likely suspect. Yet, I didn't want to believe that Roza cheated on me so soon after we'd been together. I was sure she loved me as much as I loved her.
Adrian held his hands up defensively. "Hey! Don't look at me. I had nothing to do with it!"
"Well it had to be a moroi and you're the only moroi I can think of that Roza might –" I had to swallow the bile rising around the next words, "– sleep with," I growled.
"It wasn't me, I tell you! You're forgetting, Belikov that Rose is shadow-kissed. Her physiology was changed when Lissa brought her back the first time. What is impossible for other dhampir females may not be for her … and she loved you, you cradle-robbing asshole. She'd never cheat on you. Believe me – I tried."
I wanted to pummel Adrian, but I was also stunned by his insight. Is it possible? Could Roza's child be mine? She said it was. What did she say the girl's name was … Molly? Yes, Molly. "I'm going to be a father," I breathed. My legs felt weak and I reached out to steady myself against a table.
Lissa's phone rang and she scrambled to answer it. "Yes … Hans, what did you find out?" She listened for a long time and her face fell. "Okay, thank you, Hans … Yes, goodbye." She exhaled and tossed her phone onto the table. "Nothing. There have been no police reports suggesting strigoi activity."
I was afraid of that. Another dead-end. I left my post by the table and collapsed into my chair, aching with disappointment. "It doesn't matter. I'll keep searching for her," I told Lissa.
"But the Rocky Mountains span three thousand miles in length and two countries – she could be anywhere north of St Vladimir's," Adrian said. "That's a lot of ground to cover ... and how do you know they're even still in North America?"
"I don't, but I'll search every square mile of this planet if I have to!" I promised. "I know Nathan took Rose north. Lissa, you felt the bond break about two days after he took her, so they probably got as far as Canada before he tried to turn her or kill her. I'll start there."
Lissa pinned me with a stern face – the face of a Queen with enormous responsibilities and endless worries. "You have one year, Dimitri and then I need you back. I'm sorry, but the strigoi are crucifying us. We need guardians of your caliber to keep us all safe."
I considered for a brief moment telling the Queen to go to hell, but I didn't. This was Lissa – Rose's best friend – and I knew she wouldn't give me a deadline if she had any other choice. On the other hand, had it been Tatiana making the same demand, I would have resigned on the spot and said to hell with the consequences.
"I will ensure that your salary is paid," Lissa continued. "You'll receive travelling expenses … and you can keep the SUV, but you must be discreet in your inquiries. If you don't find her after one year, you must return to your duties. I know I'm asking a lot, Dimitri, but guardian numbers are dropping and I'm running out of options. We need you – I need you. After the year is up and if you haven't found her … I will assign you to St Vladimir's. You can continue your search from there. You have my word."
I believed her. I had a year and the resources to continue my search. It was more than I expected. "I accept your offer, Your Majesty. Thank you."
"No … thank you, Dimitri. I know how hard this is for you to accept. It was hard for me to ask it of you."
I'd left Pennsylvania the next morning and headed west toward Montana to collect clothes and weapons from St Vladimir's. Afterward, I'd driven every major highway from one end of the Rocky Mountains to the other. I concentrated on larger cities at first – those with major hospitals, and I searched every public rose garden I could find … and some of the private ones. There'd been no sign of Roza … or Nathan.
Despite my year of searching, I'd never gotten any closer to finding Roza than Eduard Perez in Oklahoma. I'd spent months in Canada and equal time in Russia and Romania, yet no one had seen them … not even other strigoi. It was as if they'd disappeared off the face of the earth. The other mysterious disappearance concerned Sonya Karp. There'd been no sightings of her either and no guardian anywhere had confessed to killing her. Her file at Guardian headquarters was eventually marked "missing".
With no further leads to follow, I requested a meeting with Roza's father. Ibrahim Mazur refused me at first, having heard from Janine Hathaway about my relationship with his underage daughter, but I begged him to reconsider. He had the money and the connections to do things I wasn't able to. In hindsight, I may have been happier had I never met him. Rather than helping as I'd hoped he would, he'd broken my heart instead … this time permanently.
"Tell me why I should help the domuz," he spat (I winced, but felt I deserved the title) "who was romancing my teenage daughter? You were her mentor, her teacher and her protector! She did not need you to be her lover too!" he added slyly.
I felt my face flush guiltily. Zmey's mouth tightened and his eyes glittered black with murder, but I refused to look away – I deserved his censure. He smiled evilly and stepped forward. Suddenly, I feared for my existence. Shit! I thought in Russian. I could face down a pack of strigoi with hardly a shudder, but one Turkish mobster who just happened to my girl's father struck fear into my bladder. How the fuck did he find out about us?
"I see from your expression, that it's true!" he hissed, his breath hot on my face. "I'd hoped that Janine was mistaken, but I can see she wasn't. What do you have to say for yourself, Belikov ... and don't feed me any line of bullshit. If you want my help, you'll tell me the truth or you won't live to see the sun rise tomorrow."
I believed him. "No," I admitted, swallowing with difficulty. "You're not wrong. We were … very close," I said, choosing my words wisely. "We fought our feelings for many months before we finally succumbed. I love Rose deeply, and she loved … loves me just as much."
"She was a child!" he yelled. "You crossed a line, Belikov. You should have known better!"
"She was a woman!" I snapped back. "Age for a dhampir guardian is only a number … especially for Rose who'd seen and done things no child should ever experience." My chest heaved with emotion.
Zmey stepped back, his black eyes narrowed and considering. He leaned against the table and lit a cigar, puffing on it slowly as he contemplated what I'd said through a haze of blue-gray smoke. "Yes, I heard about Rose's adventures out in the world on her own. I admired her moxie. She was a lot more like me than her mother would have liked." He chuckled. "Kidnapping the Dragomir Princess and keeping her hidden for two years took real guts and ingenuity."
I frowned. Did he not know about Spokane? "Mr Mazur, I wasn't talking about that ... and she didn't kidnap the Princess. They decided to leave together to keep Vasilisa safe from Victor Dashkov. I was talking about what happened in Spokane." Zmey's expression was clueless. "You really don't know, do you?"
"Know what, Belikov?" he snapped, irritated that he was apparently missing vital information. I got the feeling that didn't happen often. I inhaled, and prepared to recite the story. Perhaps after hearing about Rose's courageous actions, Zmey might be slightly more … forgiving. I could only hope.
"Two winters past, just after Christmas, the St Vladimir students and faculty went to a ski lodge in Idaho when strigoi activity threatened the academy. I disclosed some information about a possible strigoi nest to Rose. We argued and in a pique of anger, she told her friend Mason what she knew. He and another novice went to Spokane with a moroi girl whose mother was recently killed, to hunt strigoi and to take their revenge."
"Admirable, but misguided," Zmey muttered. He pulled out a chair at the table and gestured for me to take one. I obliged and continued telling the story.
"Yes. Rose and Christian Ozera discovered what they'd done and followed them to Spokane. Unfortunately, they were all captured by strigoi, who kept them captive for days and fed off one of Rose's friends. Eventually, Rose came up with an escape plan and they managed to free themselves, except Rose was intercepted by an ancient strigoi called Isaiah and his younger minion. She told her friends to run out to the safety of the sun while she distracted the strigoi, but her friend Mason came back to help her. He was killed instantly … Isaiah snapped his neck, and Rose was devastated."
Zmey muttered in Turkish. I wasn't fluent, but I understood enough Turkish to recognize brutal profanity when I heard it. "What happened next?" he demanded when he'd calmed down.
"Rose had to fight for her life. She had no stake; she was weak from thirst and hunger and she'd just watched her best friend die." I paused, remembering Rose crouching over Mason's body protectively. "I was so proud of her. I knew she was a great fighter, but she surpassed even my expectations."
"How so?" Zmey asked curiously.
"She took a blunt sword from the wall and she managed to decapitate both of the strigoi with the help of Mia Rinaldi – a moroi water user who distracted Isaiah long enough for Rose to defeat him. When we arrived, she wouldn't let anyone near Mason's body. She received two molnija marks for those kills and she hadn't even graduated."
Zmey surreptitiously wiped a tear from his eye with his flashy neck scarf. I pretended not to see. "That's my kiz," he whispered proudly. "I didn't know ... Janine never told me." He sighed. "I missed so much of my daughter's life, Dimitri … at Janine's request, not by choice. I was only waiting until Rosemarie turned eighteen to seek her out."
"She always wondered about you," I told him. "She said that you must have had dark eyes and amazing hair. She was very vain about her hair," I added, smiling.
He stood up to stretch. "It's a Mazur trait," he agreed, raking a hand through his coiffed mane that was so much like Rose's silky tresses. "What did you argue about?"
"Pardon?"
"You said you and Rose argued. What about?"
I sighed. "Natasha Ozera offered me a job as her guardian. I considered it briefly to protect Rose. Somehow, Janine found out and she told Rose, who was livid and terrified I would leave her. She told me to take the job, but –"
"She didn't mean it," Zmey completed perceptively.
"No, she didn't."
"What was Janine doing there?" Zmey asked. "I thought she was guarding Lord Szelsky?"
"She was … is, but Lord Szelsky was visiting St Vladimir's that Christmas and Janine was with him. When we went to Idaho, they came with us. Rose hadn't seen her mother in years. She … didn't react well," I admitted. Zmey snorted, probably understanding better than anyone how difficult Janine Hathaway could be to get along with.
We spoke for hours that day as I told him about his daughter. Zmey produced two glasses and a bottle of Raki or Arrack – a potent, anise flavored Turkish brandy that could strip rust off of iron. I matched him glass for glass as I told him how Rose had helped to save Lissa from Victor Dashkov. He hadn't known about that either. I told him about her training and her determination to be the best guardian possible. I told him about Rose-logic, which confounded even the most rational person and he laughed uproariously at some of her pranks and revenge tactics. I told him how she loved the sun and how she missed it on the vampire timetable. I told him that she hated her full name and not even her teachers were brave enough to use it. I told him she'd despised Queen Tatiana. He'd huffed and muttered, "Smart girl, that one."
After five hours of talking, and one bottle of hundred-proof Raki, Zmey had delivered his decision. I'd explained about my search for Roza, the Eduard Perez intel, Yeva's vision and my own prophetic dream. I told him of all the false leads I'd followed; the inquiries I'd made, and my trips to Romania and Russia – all of which had proved fruitless. Finally, I'd sworn to him that I truly believed his daughter was alive and only waiting for us to find her.
"I love Rose, Mr Mazur, but I'm out of options. Please help me find her."
Zmey sighed and rubbed his forehead. He was silent for a long time as he drummed his fingers on the table and considered everything I'd told him. When he spoke at last, it caught me by surprise. "I believe you love my daughter, Dimitri, I do … and that's why I'm not going to help you." My lips parted in shock and I paled, but he continued unabated. "I know Yeva ... and she's uncannily accurate," he admitted, "but not this time. I know for a fact that Rose Hathaway exists no longer."
"But my dream –" I protested.
Zmey held up a hand. "I know that you want to believe it, Dimitri, but your mind simply gave you what you craved most – contact with the woman you loved … on her birthday no less." He leaned forward and grasped my shoulder in what was supposed to be a comforting grasp, but I only saw it as a betrayal. "Rose is gone, Dimitri, and she's not coming back. You need to let it go. It's for the best. If I thought there was any benefit to continuing your search, I would help you – but there's not. Rose died, Dimitri. She died."
I could hardly articulate my thoughts and I'd lost the power of speech, when something Zmey said struck me as odd. "How do you know Rose is dead? What proof do you have!? No one's seen them –"
"I just do, Dimitri," he replied coldly, releasing my shoulder. "Leave it at that."
"I can't ... I won't!" I roared. Without consciously making the decision to do so, I bolted from my seat and tackled Zmey off his chair. He fought back, and he was surprisingly strong, agile and skilled in combat. The alcohol in my system impeded me, and he had me pinned to the floor in mere seconds, his forearm at my throat and his knee digging into my chest. He must've had the constitution of an ox – the Raki seemingly not affecting him in any negative way. It wasn't often that anyone was able to defeat me. Rose had been an exception. Apparently her father was as well.
He glared at me menacingly. "I'll let your mistake pass this one time, Dimitri, because I understand your grief and anger … but don't you ever try that again, or I will kill you. Am I clear?"
I grunted. "Yes." Fuck! What was I doing?
He let me go and jumped to his feet, adjusting his clothing and combing his hair into place with his fingers. I stood up and rubbed my throat. I'd have a bruise there tomorrow. Zmey pulled a file from the depths of his briefcase and dropped it onto the table. "There is my proof. That's a police report about a crash involving a car and a truck that occurred two days after Rose was kidnapped. There were two unidentifiable fatalities."
My heart stopped and tears sprang forth in my eyes. No!
"Yes," Zmey replied. I'd unknowingly gasped my denial aloud. Zmey continued to speak in an unemotional voice. "The bodies were burned beyond all recognition, but my own people were able to confirm it. The ash, which was all that was left, was confirmed as being strigoi. One male and one female. The woman was Rose."
I felt my heart thumping erratically in my chest. It couldn't be true. I would know if she was dead … wouldn't I? Vasilisa believed her gone after so long and no concrete leads to follow. So did Janine Hathaway. Hell, Rose's mother hadn't even entertained the idea that Rose could still be alive. She'd left and gone about her business, returning to her charge as though nothing soul-destroying had ever happened. Christian had always been skeptical, and even Adrian was beginning to give up hope. Could it be true? Was Rose turned strigoi and then finally killed only hours later?
"How-how do you know the woman was Rose?" I stuttered, my voice barely discernible.
Zmey paused. "The Alchemists on my payroll proved it. I gave them a DNA sample taken from Rose's belongings – some hair in her brush. They were able to acquire enough evidence to confirm a match. There's a copy of their report in the file too."
I swallowed the bile rising into my throat from my churning gut. "How … why haven't you told anyone what you know?"
He sighed, obviously frustrated by my continual questioning. "I had my reasons, Dimitri ... and most everyone already believed that Rose was dead or strigoi, so it seemed pointless to bring it up again. Janine refuses to discuss Rose and until today, I never realized how obsessed you'd become."
"Because she's NOT dead!" I screamed in denial.
Zmey looked at me with pity and something that might have been frustration. "She IS dead, and that's why I am telling you what I know. Mourn for Rose and then let her go, Dimitri. Find a new purpose in life and move on. It's what Rose would have wanted if she loved you as much as you said she did." He pulled his coat on over his flashy suit and closed his briefcase. Our interview was over. "You can have the police file, Dimitri," he said, "perhaps it will give you the closure you're looking for. I'd appreciate it if you didn't share what you know with any others. If the moroi found out how close the humans came to discovering the existence of strigoi, there'd be mass panic."
Zmey had left me in my misery with only a file for my trouble, and a killer hangover the next day. I hadn't seen or spoken to him since then. Our meeting took place a year and half after Rose was taken and just days before Lissa expected me to accept a new guardian position. I'd read the police report and the crash of the car had been gruesome – unsurvivable – even for strigoi. Only the truck driver survived because he was in the drivers cab a considerable distance from the high-speed impact. He'd been mildly injured and had jumped clear before the fire took hold. The report said he didn't even see the car before it slammed into the turning trailer. He'd been unable to tell the authorities anything of any import about the victims or what happened.
As instructed, I'd never shared what Zmey told me with anyone else, not even the Queen. Strigoi killed in a car crash investigated by human authorities, which came just months before Court was photographed by those same humans, would have instilled mass panic ... and Lissa's possession of the throne was still new and tenuous. If the council members knew about this too, they'd ask her to abdicate her position. I had a greater appreciation now for her decision not to publicly search for Rose. The world just wasn't ready for the reality of vampires.
On my way back to St Vladimir's, I stopped at a bank in Missoula that the moroi exerted no control over, and I rented a safety deposit box. I slid the file inside and locked it securely, keeping it safe from prying eyes. If it became necessary … only then I would tell the Queen. In the meantime, I pushed aside the voice in my head shouting that my actions were treasonous, but, it was for the best. If she knew about this … Lissa would freak out, to coin a phrase Rose had often used.
I went back to St Vladimir's with my heart breaking and slowly accepted that Rose really was gone forever. Her bond with Vasilisa had broken proving that Rose had indeed 'died'. Adrian was unable to find her in the dream ether despite the existence of the mysterious void, and her own father had definitive proof that she was dead. Yeva had imparted no more words of wisdom before she'd died last summer, and I'd never had another prophetic dream … at least, not one that I remembered.
I'd found myself letting Roza go as Zmey had suggested … and I gradually moved on with my life, but I never forgot her. She was the love of my life and there'd never be another woman like her … not for me. She'd been my soul mate. My perfect match. My one and only.
I arrived at St Vladimir's two and half hours after ending my phone call with the Queen. It was early-afternoon and our meeting was scheduled at 4 p.m. When I pulled up to the gates, a guardian I didn't know came out of the guard hut to meet me. I pressed the button on my door to lower the window.
"State your business!" he said gruffly.
"My name is Guardian Dimitri Belikov." The other guardian eyed me with mistrust, noting my casual attire of jeans and dark red, long-sleeved t-shirt. Definitely not the usual guardian attire.
He held out his hand and barked, "Credentials!" I fished my identification wallet from the glove compartment and handed it to him. He walked back to the guard hut to scan the holographic seal on my photo Id card. The other item in the wallet was my guardian badge.
Guardians were issued with credentials and rank insignia ever since a shrewd strigoi compelled a moroi tailor to hand over several new guardian uniforms. Five strigoi wore the uniforms, disguising their red eyes and pale skin, and simply walked into Royal Court – no questions asked after their human lackeys brought down the wards. The havoc they'd wreaked before being discovered had been horrific. Ten moroi were killed and the strigoi intruders had gotten within two rooms of the queen before being apprehended. Three guardians had died that day. Vasilisa had begun infusing the wards with spirit after that battle.
The strigoi demonstrated how easy it was to infiltrate what was assumed to be an impenetrable compound. There were actually two lines of wards at Court – the outer barrier and an inner barrier. The strigoi had breached both of them. After that day, all guardians were issued with credentials they were required to carry at all times. No guardian got in or out of a moroi compound without their movements being monitored.
Different colored badges were assigned to guardians depending upon their type of service. Guardians assigned to the Queen and her immediate family, which included Christian and her newly discovered half-sister Jill Mastrano Dragomir, were issued with gold badges. Gold credentials were highly prized amongst guardians. Other Royal Court guardians were given silver badges. Academy guardians had blue badges; guardians to royals had red badges and guardians to non-royal moroi were given purple badges. Novice guardians were issued with green badges, and special guardians – like me – were issued with black badges. Special guardians had the second highest security clearance and were rarely denied entrance to any facility. Only gold guardians outranked me, and Hans Croft outranked us all.
The gate guard returned and handed me my credentials. "Thank you, Special Guardian Belikov. Have a good day." The gates opened and I drove through, turning left toward the cabin in the woods where I lived when on I was on campus. I noted the royal jet in the distance. It was parked on the tarmac at the academy airport gleaming white in the weak autumn sunshine. Vasilisa had made good time. She must have been in the air when she'd called me, I concluded. The Queen making a visit to meet with a guardian was unprecedented and I wondered with greater urgency what could be so important.
Dropping my belongings onto the bed, I quickly stripped, shaved and showered before dressing in my formal guardian uniform comprised of a black military style suit, white shirt and black tie. My rank insignia – two silver stakes crossing each other inside a circle – were attached to the upper lapels of my jacket. After pulling my hair back into a neat pony tail at the nape of my neck, I grabbed my credentials, phone and keys and strode out of the cabin to meet with the Queen. She'd texted me the details earlier, and I entered Kirova's boardroom just shy of the appointed time. Ellen Kirova and Alberta Petrov were already in attendance, both yawning widely – it was technically still night for the two women. Each had a cup of very black, steaming hot coffee in front of them.
"Good morning, ladies," I greeted.
"My, you're chipper," Alberta groaned. Her eyes drooped wearily. "Don't you ever get tired, Belikov?"
I smiled. "I'm more accustomed to being awake during the day. I adjust my sleep patterns accordingly." As a Special Guardian, some of my work required me to be awake during the day to investigate strigoi activity amongst human communities. And, since humans were most active when the sun was up, the majority of my inquiries about any sightings were also made during the daylight hours.
Headmistress Kirova sat virtually insensible at the long table and didn't bother to greet me. She wasn't at her best first thing in the morning I'd noted over the years. She swallowed half her coffee and chased it down with a jigger of donor blood, shuddering delicately.
I'd just poured my own coffee when the doors opened and Queen Vasilisa swept into the room holding a thick leather document folder. Immediately Kirova and Alberta sprang to their feet – their sleepiness forgotten.
"Your Majesty," we three greeted formally in unison.
She took a seat at the head of the table and beckoned us toward her. "Sit, sit," she said, gesturing with her hands. "That will be all, gentlemen," she said, addressing two guardians who were stationed inside the doors. "You may wait outside at the end of the hall. Please don't let anyone enter until I tell you otherwise." The senior guardian hesitated, but bowed respectfully and retreated when Vasilisa raised a censuring eyebrow.
"Thank you for coming. I realize it's early, but this was too important."
"Of course, ma'am. We are always at your service," Kirova replied in a simpering tone.
I mentally rolled my eyes, much as Roza would have done, except Rose wouldn't have cared who saw her do it. Ellen Kirova was full of her own self-importance and promoted herself as being the woman behind the Queen, who'd cared for the young princess when her only family was tragically killed. Her words, not mine. Her posturing was tiresome and in truth, she cared naught about Vasilisa until it became apparent she would be the next Queen. Prior to that, Kirova was simply humiliated that the Dragomir princess had been 'lost' on her watch. Her reputation had been somewhat redeemed when I'd brought Vasilisa and Rose back to the academy five years earlier.
"Majesty, you sounded so urgent on the phone earlier," I said. "Are you sure that you're not in any danger –"
She waved her hand dismissively. "I'm fine, Guardian Belikov," she said formally. We usually only used first names when in private. "But something has been brought to my attention. It's rather worrying. I don't know how we missed it … we employ people to keep an eye on things like this!"
My brow crinkled in confusion. "What things, ma'am?"
She opened the document folder, removing a book and a file and held the book up so we could see it. From the corner of my eye, I saw Alberta stiffen and her eyes widened in alarm before her guardian mask slipped back into place. That was … odd.
"This was print-published about three months ago. A year before that, it was published as an eBook," Vasilisa explained. The dust cover of the book depicted a handsome young man and a beautiful girl dressed in black leather, holding stakes at shoulder level. The title of the book was, "The Guardians".
"I'm not sure I understand ma'am. Human authors are always publishing books about the supernatural –"
"That's true, Guardian Belikov, but not like this one. There are things in the novel that align too closely with our society to be coincidence. Guardians. Silver stakes. Elemental magic and three vampire races. Its rise to the top of the best seller list has been … meteoric. Millions of eBook copies have been sold. Teens and young adults all over the world are lining up to buy the print version. The printers can't keep up with the demand … or so I'm told," she advised us.
"Outrageous!" Kirova gasped.
Vasilisa ignored her. "The Council think it was written by a human with inside knowledge of moroi-dhampir society. Thank God she didn't use the terms moroi or strigoi, but she refers to the guardians as dhampirs. Her second book in the series is due out before Christmas, and there are rumors that Hollywood has bought the movie rights! I don't need this happening now!" she shrieked, slamming the book onto the table. "This entire situation is disastrous!"
The Queen took a moment to catch her breath, rubbing her forehead as though it pained her. It may have ... she looked paler than usual. I took advantage of the lag to take a closer look at the novel. "May I see the book?" I asked the queen calmly. I'd never seen her so agitated over something not related to strigoi activity. She nodded and pushed it toward me.
The author was R.M. Bellcamp. I read the blurb on the back cover. It said that the book was about dhampirs (half human, half vampire) who were guardians to a race of mortal 'peaceful' vampires called Aos'si who wielded elemental magic. The guardians hunted the immortal Dearg vampires to protect the Aos'si and rid the world of evil. The hero was a young man named Quentin and the heroine was young woman called Roxy.
The blurb made me smile. I opened the book and read the first few pages of chapter one that appeared to be narrated by the heroine of the story. The prose was engaging, capturing the reader's attention almost immediately as she introduced the story with youthful humor. I could see the appeal amongst young people. I could also see the similarities to our society as 'Roxy' gave the reader some background history, but I failed to see the urgency. There was nothing I'd read so far that pointed to any danger.
I looked up and saw Alberta chewing at her lower lip, almost nervously as she stared at the book in my hands. I don't recall ever seeing her display discomfort so visibly in all the years I'd known her. She brushed it off by shifting her attention quickly to the Queen when she caught me watching her. I frowned. What was going on with Guardian Petrov?
I shrugged and returned my attention to the book I held. It wasn't the first time vampires had been used in popular literature or movies and it wouldn't be the last. The internet was crammed with information about vampires – over six million pages to be precise. When the popularity of the Web boomed in the 80s and 90s, the moroi had taken steps to supplant (the generally accurate) moroi-strigoi folklore with misinformation. So far, it had worked to distract any human beliefs that our species existed.
"How can we help you, Majesty?" I asked, handing the book back to her. I assumed she had a plan that involved me, Alberta and Kirova … though what help Kirova would be was beyond my comprehension.
Vasilisa looked at me gratefully. "I want to know more about this author. If someone from our society did reveal our secrets then we have a huge problem. It's vital that we find out what she knows … if she knows anything, and we don't have much time in which to do it."
"Of course," I agreed.
The Queen opened the file in front of her and held up a sheet of paper. "This is a profile sheet about the author. It's not much … she's rather reclusive and United States privacy laws have tightened up in recent years. The Alchemists are finding it difficult to gain access to personal information. Her pen name is R.M. Bellcamp, but her real name is Rosa Campbell." I gasped when I heard the given name and Lissa glanced at me sadly. The Queen handed out copies of the profile sheet to each of us.
"Rosa Campbell is approximately twenty-two years old and lives in Montana, which is convenient … in the town of Whitefish. I believe it's about three hours north of here," she said, looking at me for confirmation. I nodded. "Her parents are Doctors Nicholas Dillard and Bridget Hanson. She was orphaned and they adopted her. She has a three year old daughter called Maili," she recited, pronouncing the child's unusual name as Mylee. "She doesn't discuss the child's father and he's not named on the birth certificate. Ms Campbell lives near Whitefish Lake with her daughter. Apart from being an author – which few people in Whitefish seem to know about – she is an accomplished horse rider, plays piano decently and teaches self defense classes to women at the local community center."
"Do we have a photograph, Majesty?" Alberta asked quietly. Her hands were below the table and I saw her cross her fingers. I studied her curiously while we waited for the answer.
Lissa shook her head. "No. When the Alchemists sent one of their agents to investigate, he caught the attention of the local sheriff. He didn't take kindly to a strange man asking questions. He became suspicious when he saw our man taking notes and holding a camera. The sheriff … escorted the agent to the town's borders," Vasilisa said with irritation.
I smirked inwardly. The Alchemists liked to believe they were stealthy and all knowing because they'd collected a great deal of information, but pen pushers weren't generally known for being covert private investigators.
"Dimitri, you're being reassigned," the Queen said suddenly, surprising me. "Despite Ms Campbell's efforts to protect her identity, someone knows who she is and has been stalking her in recent months. Her publisher is insisting upon a body guard. Congratulations, Dimitri. Your new charge is a human."
Kirova and Alberta both gasped. "What?!" I breathed in stunned surprise. The Queen's decree was unprecedented. Never, in our entire history, had a guardian been assigned to protect a human. "I don't understand, ma'am. Why wouldn't we just … retrieve Ms Campbell and compel her to tell us what she knows?"
She sighed tiredly. "I considered that, but she's too well known in her home town and she has a child. If she just disappears … her family, the police and her publisher will fly into a panic and it will be all over the news. I can't risk it … not yet," she qualified. "Hans Croft has arranged for you to replace the body guard hired by the publisher."
The Queen handed me a thick envelope. "In that packet is the information we have on Ms Campbell and your new credentials. You'll use your own name, but you are employed by Trident Guardian Services. They're based in New York and offer body guard services to celebrities and wealthy humans. Guardian Croft has taken the liberty of producing references for you, qualifications and a curriculum vitae that will stand up to scrutiny if anyone attempts to verify the details."
"I understand."
"You'll leave immediately. Ms Campbell is reluctantly expecting you tomorrow. Apparently she's not happy about her publisher's decision, but they forced her into it … something about a non-endangerment clause in her contract. You'll be staying in her home, and basically you'll be on duty 24/7, but you'll sleep when she sleeps and go where she goes. Find out everything you can, Dimitri. Befriend her and gain her confidence and do it quickly. Report back to me regularly and only me, do you understand?"
"Yes, Your Majesty. I understand." She nodded in satisfaction. "And if I can't win her confidence or find information of any value – what then?" I asked.
"Then, we'll have to go to Plan B."
"Which is?" asked Alberta, her guardian mask firmly in place. Vasilisa turned to address her.
"That's where you come into this, Guardian Petrov. I want you to set up a cell here at St Vladimir's ready for a human woman and a small child if it becomes necessary to … detain them."
Alberta glanced at the Queen aghast. She turned to me seeking silent advice, but I had none to give her. I, too, thought that the Queen was giving this author and her books unnecessary attention. I feared it would backfire on us.
"What is my role in this, Your Majesty?" Kirova asked eagerly. She was rejoicing because she'd been taken into the Queen's confidence.
"Your role, Headmistress Kirova is to keep our visitors a secret from the students if Plan B becomes necessary. You'll make sure that every comfort is extended to our guests, including medical attention." Vasilisa turned her head slightly to one side and she caught Kirova's gaze. "You are not to speak of this matter to anyone not in this room, Ellen. Do you understand?" Kirova nodded dully. Her eyes were glazed over as Vasilisa's compulsion took hold.
"Yes, I understand."
Vasilisa smiled. "Good. You will forget everything you've heard here today, until I tell you to remember. Do you understand?"
Kirova nodded like an automaton. "Yes, I understand."
Lissa grinned, pleased with her compulsion. "Excellent. Ellen, I want you to leave this room and return to your apartments. You are to wait there until it's time to begin your work day."
"Yes, ma'am," she slurred.
"Oh, and, Ellen, you will forget that I was ever here today. You will only remember, the Queen is at Court where she always is. Do you understand?"
Kirova blinked. "The Queen is at Court. I understand." She stood up from the table and left the room. Lissa turned to Alberta whose eyes widened, likely believing she was the next target.
"Guardian Petrov, please follow Kirova and make sure she gets back to her apartments. I'll be in touch," she said. Alberta had been dismissed.
Alberta stood and bowed her head respectfully. "Your Majesty," she said, acknowledging the Queen's instructions. I studied Vasilisa carefully until the door closed behind my colleague.
"What's really going on, Lissa?" I asked quietly.
"I already told you –"
"Lissa! I say this with the utmost respect, but … you're a lousy liar."
She sagged. "I never could put anything past you … or Rose," she admitted and I flinched. "I'm sorry. I know you miss her. I do too," she said gently, placing her hand over mine on the table.
"Yes. I always will."
"Dimitri, maybe it's time to –"
"No."
Lissa sighed. Ours was an unwinnable battle of wills when it came to me moving on from Roza's memory, and yet she kept trying. "Alright, Dimitri. I'll drop it … for now," the queen conceded.
"Thank you." I relaxed and stared at her pointedly. "You haven't answered my question, Lissa. What's going on? A book of fiction written by a human for teenagers should not have alarmed you this much."
She sighed and delayed her answer by going to the sideboard for a cup of coffee. "Would you like one?" she offered, the coffee pot poised over an empty cup." I shook my head. She sipped the brew and wandered back to the table.
"Claudia Lazar tabled the matter at the last council meeting," she began. "As you know, any moroi or dhampir citizen can bring a matter before the council." I nodded. "She found a copy of the book in her daughter's room and was alarmed by the cover art and the title. She brought copies of the book for everyone and read out specific passages, mostly those with the greatest similarity to our society. The meeting descended into chaos within minutes and I barely kept control. She implied that it was all my fault – that I failed in my duties as Queen while I focused on my 'pet projects'," she mimicked, adding finger quotes for good measure. "By the time I'd called a halt to her tirade, the damage had been done. The council members all believed the book revealed our secrets to the humans," she explained, looking utterly exhausted and fed up with the whole matter.
"And does it?" I asked skeptically.
She shook her head. "Not really. There are some references that are similar, but there are a hundred more differences. And even if there weren't, what human would believe it?"
I nodded. "Then why are you giving her assertions credibility by investigating?"
She exhaled wearily. "Because Claudia Lazar wants to discredit me and she's determined to block my next three Bills from passing. This … campaign of hers is a red herring and a ploy to distract me. She can't possibly believe this book is any threat. But, she has support from some of the other royal families for her causes and she wants me off the throne so her own father can replace me. If I can't convince the council that this R.M. Bellcamp and her book is not a threat to us, she has more than enough power to sway the council to vote against me – a lot of people owe her many favors," she added in explanation. "Any progress I've made to improve dhampir rights will be lost … perhaps forever."
I understood Lissa's dilemma. Lady Claudia Lazar was a fierce advocate for early guardian graduation, and she was just as passionately against moroi using magic as a weapon to fight strigoi. I wasn't sure what Lissa's other Bill was – I was out of the loop on current moroi politics. Claudia Lazar hadn't made it a secret either that she blamed Vasilisa for what happened to her niece. Avery Lazar had gone insane from overusing spirit and she'd nearly taken the then Princess Vasilisa with her.
"How much time do you have, before –"
"Nine weeks," she said. "I have to convince them at the council meeting before Christmas, or –"
I frowned. "Or?"
She gulped. "They want to … neutralize her."
"And by 'neutralize', you mean –"
"Compel her to stop writing her Guardian stories, and if that doesn't work … kill her," she confessed quietly.
I gasped and my lips thinned angrily. "Your Majesty! We cannot just kill a human because she has an active imagination." I didn't say that my personal code of ethics abhorred the notion.
She glared at me. "I know that, Dimitri! Why do you think I'm sending you to find out what's going on. You're the only one I trust to do this. I'm depending on you, Dimitri … Rosa Campbell is depending on you!"
I suddenly felt the weight of the world resting on my shoulders. "Very well. I'll drive to Whitefish tonight."
"Thank you, Dimitri." She smiled wanly with relief. "Oh, I nearly forgot. You'll need this," she trilled, pulling a black compact from her purse. She handed it to me and I looked at it wondering what to do with it. "It's cover up foundation," she said as if that explained everything. I showed no reaction and she rolled her eyes. "It's for your molnija marks. Use that to cover the tattoos. Wear shirts with collars and leave your hair down. Hopefully, no one will notice." She slid the offending book across the table. "You might want to read this before you meet her."
We said our goodbyes and I escorted Lissa to her guardians. They used one of the academy's vehicles to drive to the runway and I heard the jet take off just as I was zipping my bags closed. I hadn't seen Christian this visit and I wondered if he knew Lissa was in Montana. I thought perhaps he didn't, otherwise he would have insisted on accompanying her.
Pulling my weapons bag towards me, I added a few stakes, two hand guns, conventional and silver bullets, a knife, two different swords, titanium-silver hand cuffs and leg shackles, colloidal silver, various other combat weapons, five books, three untraceable phones, lighter fluid, a package of disposable lighters, and my personal stash of Alchemist potion used to turn strigoi into dust. I took the bags out to the car and returned to the cabin for my laptop, phone, wallet and the packet containing my new identity and the information on Rosa Campbell.
Grabbing my duster from the hook by the door, I locked up and was driving out the front gates a few minutes later. It was 7 p.m. and the academy was just waking up to begin another day, none the wiser about my special assignment.
Alberta's POV
I stood under a tree in the woods where nobody could see me as I made the call. I'd known for four years that this day might come and I dreaded his reaction. I understood his reasons, but the guilt I felt over my role in his deceit was overwhelming. Whenever Dimitri had come back from another failed search, or left to follow yet another false lead, my heart had cried for the young lovers – but, I owed him and … he'd eventually collected as I'd always known he would. When he'd asked for my help all those years ago, my protective nature had overcome my good sense and I'd agreed, but it was never supposed to take this long.
"Merhaba," a gruff voice answered.
"Abe … it's Alberta."
"What news do you have?" he demanded, skipping any further niceties.
"They've found her!" I burst out.
He swore viciously in Turkish. "How?" he grunted.
"It was a fluke. They know about the book and the Queen wants answers. She's sending in Dimitri." There was silence on the end of the phone and I wondered if I'd lost the connection.
"Well that's something, at least," he eventually said in a calmer tone. "Belikov will protect her."
"Yes. He's never really given up hope even after you convinced him of her death," I said, pausing for a moment. "He's going to kill you when he finds out you lied to him." My warning wasn't just a turn of phrase. I actually feared for Abe Mazur's life, and not only from Dimitri. Janine Hathaway would gut and castrate him for keeping their daughter hidden.
I heard him sigh. "It was necessary. My enemies were at the gate with my daughter in their sights. The attack on the academy wasn't random, Alberta – you know this. Sonya Karp was paid an exorbitant amount of money to kidnap Rose and deliver her to Aristotle Gusarov."
My head bowed and I kicked at some autumn leaves on the ground. "I know. They almost succeeded. Had it not been for the accident –"
"My kizim would be lost to all of us," Abe said wistfully. "Only a few know that Sonya Karp finally died in that accident along with Nathan Voda."
"How is she?" I asked curiously, missing the young woman who'd been like a daughter to me. "Is she happy?"
Abe chuckled. "Rose is marvelous … or so I'm told, and my granddaughter is simply precious. I have photos of them. Gina sends them to me. I take them out and stare at them sometimes, imagining their human lives –" He trailed off, lost in his own thoughts. My God! Zmey had sent Rose his guardian housekeeper to keep watch over her? How had he managed that? "The book wasn't supposed to raise any red flags, Alberta," Abe said. "My emissary said he'd taken care of it."
"I've read the book, Abe. It's good and there are minor similarities, but nothing that should have raised this much anxiety in the Queen or the council. Humans are obsessed with the supernatural … they've been writing about it for centuries. Something else must have happened –"
"Hmm." I imagined him stroking his goatee – his steel-trap mind sifting through all of the possibilities, and then I heard Abe speaking in rapid, idiomatic Turkish to another man who stuttered nervously. I didn't understand a word. I was simply grateful that I wasn't the person standing in front of Zmey.
"Alberta, what is your role in the Queen's plan and who else knows?" he demanded. I explained what the Queen asked me to do and mentioned Kirova and her part in Vasilisa's plan, which triggered another spate of vicious swearing. "Ellen Kirova is a vapid, narcissistic excuse for a moroi!" he spat. "She's the last person the Queen should have confided in." I heard his fist thump the desk.
"Vasilisa compelled her not to speak of it to anyone … and to forget everything until she was needed," I told Abe hurriedly.
"Make sure she doesn't," Abe ordered menacingly. "She's now your responsibility."
I swallowed. "Yes, sir."
"Keep your eyes and ears open, Alberta. It's only a matter of time before Gusarov finds out about the Queen's interest. He has spies everywhere."
"I will … Abe, you need to tell Dimitri. He can't protect her if he doesn't know what he's protecting her from and … and Gusarov might already know," I revealed nervously.
"What?" he breathed. His soft tone was terrifying.
"She's being stalked ... for awhile now. Her publisher is forcing her to have a bodyguard. Hans Croft arranged for Dimitri to replace him."
Zmey growled. "I'll take care of it. I'll be in America tomorrow. Tell no one where I am. I'll be in contact," he said and then I heard a click. He'd hung up.
"Shit!" I mumbled.
A/N: Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Please leave me a review. I know many readers might not realize it, but hours of writing and research go into creating a work of fiction. This chapter alone took me 50 hours to write and edit – that's more than the average work week and I do work full time as well.
Well, it seems Zmey has some explaining to do. The lies he's told – oh dear. What do you think of Alberta's role in all of this? Next chapter – Dimitri sees Rose for the first time in almost four years.
Other notes …
I used the address of ma'am for Vasilisa sometimes because I didn't want the title of Your Majesty to become tiresome for me or readers. It is an acceptable informal address for the British Queen, so I applied it here. Ma'am is pronounced mam as in ham.
Turkish translations: Merhaba = Hello. Kizim = daughter. Domuz = pig.
I made up Claudia Lazar. There isn't a lot of mention about the Lazars other than Avery, but the Lazars voted for the age decree in the VA book series, so I thought she'd be a good antagonist for Lissa.
I'm also going with the VA movie inference that moroi can extend and retract their fangs at will. Hence the lack of a 'fang bite' when Lissa pounded on Dimitri to release the darkness. I noticed that Lissa noticeably extended her fangs in the start of the movie when she drank from Rose. Furthermore, when Lissa widely smiled in the movie, her fangs were rarely visible unless she was feeding. I'm going with the theory that some moroi like to keep their fangs extended all the time and some don't.
