I was stuffing my things in my suitcase when Lissa and Christian walked in. "Where's Dimitri?" I asked, puzzled. Lissa looked around. "He is packing. But, we need to hurry." She said. I threw the last of my things in. I zipped up the suitcase and pulled it to the floor. "Okay, let's go." I said, walking towards the door. I looked back into my room and stared at the chair where Adrian was just sitting. Shaking from my moment, I flipped off the switch and shut the door.
Tagging along behind Lissa and Christian, I glanced around. People were laughing and having the times of their lives. I was happy to be rid of them. I know that sounded harsh, but these people were a constant overflow of hate and misjudgment and that is why I needed to take a break from it all.
And so when we reached the charter plane we let the men take our bags and boarded the plane. I sat in the seat closest to the window, behind Lissa and Christian. I was nervously tapping my foot up and down waiting for Dimitri. He still wasn't here and the pilot was getting ready to start the engine for takeoff. I was beginning to worry. I got up and looked out the door of the plane. I could see Dimitri sprinting towards me with his bags in his hands. "Hurry!" I shouted. And he jumped on the plane just in time.
The door shut and we both took our seat. Lissa turned her head and smiled at me. We were all more than happy to be leaving, but I kept thinking about Adrian. Poor Adrian. He was stuck in the ravenous grip of his uncle's threats. Dimitri tapped me on the shoulder.
"You alright?" He asked worriedly. I shook my head. "I mean yeah I'm fine. I just, I'm just happy to be away from there." I told him. He leaned over to me. "Nothing is ever perfect Roza." He whispered to me, curling his fingers around my hand. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.
"I know Dimitri, but you're the closest thing." I said to him. He bent over and kissed me. "I'm nothing close to perfect." He retorted. I slowly lifted my head away from him. Gazing into his eyes and running my hand through his hair. He was so beautiful and precious to me. I couldn't let my eyes wonder away from his.
I didn't know where we were going so I decided to close my eyes. It would be night for us and I needed the rest. I dreamed of running. I was in a dark alley. I wasn't sure exactly where I was, but all I could see was smoke on the opposite end.
I cautiously walked forward, my guardian instincts on the wire. I was on high alert. I heard groaning as I walked closer towards the smoke. My hand went to my stake automatically, but when I reached for it, it wasn't there. I patted the spot frantically where it should have been.
"Looking for this?" A deep and vicious voice asked. I searched for the source of the voice. I couldn't see anything but darkness. I ran towards the smoke now, ready for a fight. But when I cleared it all I found was a body lying on the ground with a bag over its head. I hesitantly crouched next to the body and removed the bag.
I fell to the ground and immediately crawled backwards when I saw Adrian's cold, dead face. Crying out in distress and anguish was all I could do as I looked directly into Adrian's face. His jade green eyes had gone gray and his lovely face was smeared with blood. I lost all hope. And when I looked over to the left I saw his killer smugly smiling in the corner. Reece Ivashkov, the monster.
I think I was screaming because Dimitri shook me violently, trying to wake me up. My eyes flew open and tears ran down my face. "Rose! Rose what's the matter!" Lissa exclaimed, jumping from her seat. Christian looked behind his seat, concern etched across his face. I wiped the tears from my face and gained my composure. "Nightmare." I simply said to them. They all looked frightened, everyone accept Dimitri who looked very unsettled. He leaned back and sighed heavily.
Lissa had sat back down and Christian was whispering in her ear, probably trying to calm her down. "She's fine." I heard him say. I lifted up the shade on the window. It was bright outside and there were puffy clouds all around us.
I was so afraid that when we did return to Court, that my nightmare would become reality and Reece will have really killed Adrian. It was something I couldn't even process. It hurt me to even think like that. But the cold hard fact was that Reece could kill Adrian if he wanted to.
Adrian had saved Dimitri for me and now he had to work for Reece so he wouldn't kill me. It was all so confusing. I pulled my knees to my chest and rested my chin. Thinking about tragedy always brought back memories of when I was being held hostage by Dimitri. The sweet satisfaction I had of just being able to see him everyday, even though his intentions had been wrong.
I had been too stupid and selfish to care. I had been vulnerable and allowed him to get in my head. I had been naïve enough to let him talk me into letting him bite me, feed off of me in my pathetic attempt to salvage a part of what we'd had. It made me fall deeper and deeper into a hole of regret and torment.
When I opened my eyes and looked over at Dimitri I could no longer picture the evil Strigoi he had been. All I could see now was Dimitri the guardian and dhampir. The man I had risked my life for. The man I could never possibly live without. And the man that I hoped would always be there for me. The man I loved.
We landed about four hours later. We were in California where apparently Lissa had requested, which was not so far away from Court, but still better than nothing. Lissa and I exited the plane first. We were all taken in a black SUV to a hotel on the beach. I looked at my surrounding in wonder. California was so nice.
The warm sun didn't affect me, but Lissa and Christian were wearing sunglasses to protect their eyes. The beach was pretty and the sand was so soft as we walked up to the entrance of the hotel. We didn't even have to check in. The guardians did all of that for us. They gave us our room keys and motioned us onto the elevator. We were on floor seventeen. We got off the elevator and went down the hall.
Lissa and I were in conjoining rooms while Christian and Dimitri were on the opposite end in two separate rooms. I watched as they both wandered down the hall and I walked into my room. It was elegant. There was a very care free feel to it. The bathroom had an open shower. It had no doors, only a shower head and handles for the water.
The bedroom was red. The bed was a cream color and there was an abundance of pillows. I set my suitcase near the dresser where the plasma TV was mounted on the wall. It was huge. At least sixty inches. I turned it on and when nothing interested me I cut it off.
Lissa walked in with the biggest smile on her face. "Isn't it wonderful?" She beamed. I laughed. "It is marvelous Liss! You picked a great place!" I told her. She put a hand on her mouth, still smiling. "You know Dimitri was the one who recommended California. He said it had always been a dream of his to bring the person he loved here, so I figured I'd let him have his dream." She said, making my heart warm. "Oh Lissa thank you so much!" I shouted, giving her a big hug.
We both giggled and jumped up on the bed. She looked me over mischievously. She was up to something. "Come to my room." She said, pulling me off the bed. I followed her into her room and stood by the bed. She opened her suitcase and pulled out a long, white box. "Open this." She told me.
I took the box from her and lifted the top. Inside was a beautiful evening dress. It was blue, which matched the nazar necklace my mother had given me. It was short and tight when I slipped into it. The neckline was low, but thankfully not too low.
My legs appeared lean and muscular and it made my curves apparent. I liked it so much. "Thanks Lissa. You shouldn't have." I expressed. She was happy and she patted me on the back. "I knew you'd look lovely." She told me. I laughed and when Lissa was done gleaming over the dress we walked out the door and met up with the guys.
Dimitri took my hand and spun me in a circle. "Ravishing." He chuckled, making my heart skip. He kissed me on the cheek and we all got into the elevator. When we were outside we decided to go to a nice restaurant down the road. We sat down and ordered our drinks. Dimitri sat close to me and wrapped his arm around my waist.
When our food came, I really wasn't that hungry. I pushed my food around and took a few bites of the steak. I set my fork down and sat back as everyone else ate their food. "Not hungry Rose?" Christian asked me. "No actually I'm not." I responded. "What is the world coming to when the one who always eats isn't hungry?." He joked. I half smiled. I was beginning to think of Adrian again, which had curbed my appetite.
When we were done, I paid for everything and we all left the restaurant. Dimitri held my hand as we wandered down the street. The sun was starting to set and I was exhausted. "I think I'm going to head to my room." I said aloud. Christian looked surprised and Lissa almost mirrored his expression. "Are you tired?" She asked. I rubbed my eyes. "Yeah I am." I told her. She hugged me and walked off with Christian while Dimitri led me back to my room.
When we were in front of my room I let go of his hand. "Should I stay?" He hinted. I turned slightly to open the door. Of course I wanted him to stay, but I couldn't sleep with him around. He'd be irresistible. "I'm going to sleep. You should get rest too." I said to him, walking into the room.
"I understand. You need to be alone. I won't disrupt you, I'll just go watch over Lissa and Christian." He informed. He was walking out the door when I grabbed his hand and pulled him to me. "Don't go." I breathed. He picked me up, shutting the door, and I wrapped my legs around his waist. He laid me on the bed. "Maybe we won't be interrupted this time." He teased. And then all of our clothes came off.
