LPOV
I decided to forget about Victor's and my conversation for now. I was dressed up and ready to get out of my room. There was no way I was passing up the opportunity to go out.
Seeing as it was nearly night time, I was planning on going out and doing some hunting. Whether I brought Dylan along or not was something I hadn't quite decided yet. But nothing and no one was going to keep me from going out there and doing some damage to whatever pesky Strigoi I could find.
"I see you're out and about."
I jumped out of my skin. I hadn't seen Valentin as I walked through the hotel. "Yeah." I smiled, turning to him. "Finally have the all clear from the doctor."
He nodded. "Funny, the doctor hasn't been to your room since you left the infirmary." he shrugged.
My stomach dropped. He had been watching the security cameras around my room? Was he watching me? "What makes you say that?"
"I've been stuck in the security room all week. Seeing as I was in front of those screens I thought I may as well keep an eye on your room to make sure nothing suspiciouswas happening."
I gulped. "Suspicious?"
He nodded, stepping closer and speaking so only I could hear. "No promise marks. You knew the Strigoi were coming and how many. I have never seen someone kill three Strigoi on their own the way you did. Being taken out of the infirmary even when you obviously needed to be in there. Not to mention that weird thing with your blood."
Suddenly Victor was beside me, and I just hoped to God he was here to help and not to enjoy the show.
"Straighten up, look him in the eyes and tell him if he has a problem talk to Terrance. You have no idea what he's talking about and you've got things you need to do."
I straightened up just like he told me before saying. "If you have a problem I'm sure Terrance can help. But I have no idea what you're going on about. Now if you'll excuse me, I have somewhere to be."
But Valentin just grabbed my arm. "I'm not the enemy Tia."
Pulling my arm away I just glared at him and walked away.
If Valentin figured out who I was I was doomed. He'd tell Dimitri and before I could even think about running, everyone would be in Las Vegas. My dad, Andre, Lissa and Sebastian too; to use their spirit to find my aura.
"I suggest you get out of here."
"Why? Is there something wrong?"
Victor nodded. "He's following you."
...
I had been trying to get Valentin off my tail for the last twenty minutes. But even with Victor's help I couldn't shake him.
"If I don't lose him soon, the moment I get back to the hotel he'll ask me what I was doing out here all by myself. We have to do something."
Victor nodded. "I know. But what do you suggest? Everything we've tried doesn't seem to work."
"He's a Belikov. Of course it doesn't work." I rolled my eyes. I was tired of walking around aimlessly. If he wanted to follow then he could do exactly that.
I headed into the nearest building, which just so happened to be a casino. It was packed and that's exactly what I wanted. I was going to weave around this place until he lost me. I was sure if he got lost in the crowd I'd be fine.
So, with the help of Victor still I went further into the casino until I couldn't tell where the entrance was.
"Where is he? Do you know?"
Victor shook his head. "I think he's gone."
I made my way to the first security guard I could find. He was tall and buff and very intimidating... for a human. "Sir, I'm sorry. I just... it's just. I think someone's following me. I was wondering if you could help me get out of here safely?"
Compulsion. That was my handy friend that convinced the security guard to lead me to one of the exits, and it was coincidently a different way from how I got in. I was sure there was no possible way he could have followed me.
So with that done I started hunting.
I was lost in my thoughts, thinking about what would happen if I really did get caught. I knew there was a chance, and I also knew there would be a time I'd have to go back. But I couldn't see it happening anytime soon, or well I hoped.
It wasn't until I started feeling ill when I remembered I was supposed to be looking for Strigoi.
"You feel that?" I asked Victor under my breath so no one else heard.
He nodded. "It must be close, on the hunt."
I took a few deep breaths before I started following my gut instinct; and by that I meant I went whichever way made me feel worse. As I kept going I noticed I was heading for an ally way.
This doesn't feel right. I thought to myself as I kept going.
I was fighting the sickness as I felt myself getting dizzier and fainter by the second. But the fact I had found a Strigoi meant I could turn around or give up.
Out of nowhere I suddenly got slammed with gut wrenching pain and nausea.
"What's a girl like you doing in a place like this?" I looked into the red eyes of the Strigoi who was now in front of me.
I realised then they must have been on the roof of the building I had been walking past. With how I was feeling it wouldn't surprise me if I had been walking as if I was drunk. So a helpless girl in an alley was enough to get this Strigoi excited.
I shrugged. "I'm looking for trouble." I replied. Fear pulsed through me as the Strigoi moved closer. Sure I had dealt with the queasiness before, but it had been slammed on to me too suddenly for me to pull myself together right away.
The Strigoi grinned, its pale skin making my stomach turn even more. "Well I guess you found it." he lunged forward.
I pushed everything aside and lifted my hand to rest on his chest. I didn't put any pressure there, I wasn't strong enough. But I simply released whatever power I could find and pushed it into his chest.
A sensation tingled through my arm as heat poured into him. Where my hand touched his chest a bright fire like glow seemed to appear. His skin glowed, losing its dead colour. He opened his mouth to scream but nothing came out.
I watched him fall to his knees, wide red eyes full of question and fear. I felt myself feeling better, as he got worse.
He had been young, otherwise it wouldn't have been that easy to kill him. It may have taken longer, seeing as I wasn't trying to kill him instantly, but after almost a minute he was dead. Nothing more than a wide eyed corpse with a hand print burned into his chest.
"What the hell did I just see?"
I didn't even bother turning around to look at Valentin. Instead I bolted for it.
I ran as fast as I could knowing there was no way I could stay here now that he had seen that. My feet pounded on the ground, even with heels on I found myself stable as I tried to get away.
A hand grabbed my arm and pulled me back, sending me falling to the ground.
I looked up at Valentin, his eyes full of anger, his nostrils flaring. He said nothing. He only grabbed my arm and pulled me up before dragging me back to the Strigoi body. He pushed me against the wall, one hand holding me there as he pulled out his phone.
"Use your magic. Get rid of him."
I glared at Victor, but I couldn't say anything. Valentin may have already seen me use magic to kill a Strigoi but I wasn't going to talk to a ghost in front of him as well. And I sure as hell wasn't going to use my magic on him when I didn't know if it would kill him or not.
"A quick zap, you don't even have to kill him. All you need is to knock him out so you can get out of here. We'll catch the earliest bus and we'll leave. I can get you to Europe."
I thought about it, but before I could even make a decision Valentin hung up and turned back to me.
"Answers. Now."
I shook my head, keeping my mouth closed.
He shook me. "God damn it Tia, tell me what the hell just happened! I don't want to have to report this to Court!"
Court. I wasn't sure why he would need to report it to Court, but just hearing it got me talking. "I don't know what happened, I just know I can do stuff like that!" I snapped.
He glared, looking me up and down as if he was trying to figure out if I was lying; which honestly I had only told him half the truth and it looked like he realised that. "Tell me Tia."
I could see Victor in the corner of my eye shaking his head, but what could I do? Kill him? Knock him out and run off again? I'd have no one with me, or I'd be a murderer. Both of which I didn't want.
"I'm a witch, okay?"
His eyes went wide, his hand dropping from my arm as he took a step back.
I moved away from the wall, rubbing my arm. "Happy now?" I glared.
"You're a witch?"
"Isn't that what I just said?" I snapped, obviously pissed off.
He just shook his head. "But how?"
I shrugged. "My mum's a witch too."
His eyes just seemed to grow even wider. "Your mother? Is she dhampir or Moroi?"
"Human." I snapped. It was a sore subject, what my mother was. I didn't like it when people automatically thought she was Moroi or dhampir.
"Human?"
I groaned. "God, are you going to do that all night? Yes, I have a human witch mother. Is there a problem?"
He shook his head, watching me as I walked to the Strigoi body. I looked down at the mark on his chest, the perfect print of my hand.
"So what do we do with him?"
He cleared his throat. "Do you know about alchemists?" I froze, but he continued as if he hadn't noticed. "When you graduate and become a full guardian you learn about them. They're a group of-"
"Humans that go around cleaning up whatever mess you dhampirs leave."
We both looked up at the sound of a new voice. It was a lady with long brown hair and a noticeable golden lily tattooed on her cheek. She was an alchemist.
Valentin stepped forward, offering his hand. "Valentin Belikov."
The alchemist simply looked at his hand with disgust. "Hm. Zoe Sage."
My whole body went cold as I looked at the woman in front of me. Never in my life did I think I would see my mother's family, but here one was, my Aunt. Yet all I could think about was the panic that seemed to overcome me...
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Love and miss you all xox
BaMbY
