I do not own the characters, only the plot.
Rpov
Jesse waited for me with a grim expression. I sighed and pushed the chair back so I could sit on it.
"That bad huh?"
He nodded and added: "Worse."
I sighed. "Just tell me already." He pushed a few papers and magazines towards me.
"You know the local press?" I snorted.
"Press is dressing it up a little. Trash magazines, yeah, I am familiar with those." During my short career, some bored, spoiled moroi who called themselves journalist had dedicated their lives to spreading gossip about me. It was annoying, but I knew people that had it worse. Lissa was very exposed and always had been. At the academy, she had some sort of privacy but here it was a luxury she couldn't afford. Adrian and I enjoyed some privacy seeing as we traveled most of the time, but she lived here and had to deal with prying eyes.
I skipped through the pages. It wasn't good, but I had had worse.
"Why is this of any interest?" I asked him pointed, wanting to know the cause of his sudden interest in trash magazines. He sighed and took out his briefcase. He handed me a few papers that looked like email-correspondences. I recognized them: I had written several of them. These were my emails, a lot of them private. "Where did you get these?" I demanded harshly. He folded his hands.
"Relax, we are on the side. I got these from one of my own sources – I try to keep track of the gossip. Rose, I wanted to let you know because… Well, you can figure out how these surfaced," he gestured to the pages. I frowned and raised both brows, looking at him from the pages' edge.
"I have got a mole?" He grimaced.
"Not a mole; an enemy. These came from the central administration. Someone with direct access to the router. Every court-appointed email goes to the same NVRAM with direct backup and documentation. Whoever leaked these has access to your entire email history," he warned me. I ran a hand over my face in despair.
"I use an extern email for the shadier things, thank god. Who would do this?" I asked while trying to remember whom I had pissed off recently. I had lots of enemies, sure, but this was someone in the administration. It was a guardian or a commoner. I couldn't think of anyone that fitted to that description. Jesse shrugged.
"I don't know. Are you sure there is no dirt? If there is anything that can reflect badly on you, I might be able to help but you have to tell me." I shook my head.
"Everything can be blown out of proportion. I am pretty sure none of it is scandal material, but thank you." It was then that I speculated what his own motives might be. "Hey, wait - why are you helping me?" It wasn't because Jesse never helped me, but Jesse always looked out for Jesse first and foremost.
"We on the same side, mostly at least. Also, I need your help." I smirked. Of course, he did. There was always a catch.
"What can I do for you?" He didn't look all too comfortable. It was unusual seeing him without his charm.
"Mia is pregnant." I blinked. Not only was it unexpected but I also didn't get the problem. I almost congratulated him.
"You guys are married," I stated, feeling a smile threatening to break out.
"It isn't mine." I felt my mouth shape a little o. That was unexpected. They were newlywed, it made no sense.
"What are you going to do?" He sighed deeply.
"I am standing by her, for better and for worse. It isn't what you think it is. Mia didn't cheat on me." I raised my brows, looking at him doubtfully. Then everything fell into place and I felt horrible.
"Oh, god no!" Jesse nodded to confirm my theory. Poor Mia. "What can I do?" I suddenly felt compelled to help them.
I could see he was uncomfortable with asking. He was trembling and looked ill. Still, he swallowed his pride. For Mia.
"She can't get an abortion here. There are too many ways of it getting out. We can't trust a human doctor either - they wouldn't be able to help anyway. Moroi aren't like humans…" He trailed off. I nodded: Moroi had different anatomy than humans. If they went to a human clinic they might end up killing her.
"You need a moroi doctor that can keep tight." He nodded.
"And a way of getting out of court without being seen. I figured you could help?"
"Yes, of course. I'll make arrangements with a doctor in Philly. It'll be less than twenty-four hours. No one will be the wiser." He looked relieved.
"Rose?" It sounded like another favor. "There is one more thing: We will need to leave afterward. She is fragile, and I want her away from prying eyes. Could you…?" I sighed but nodded: I could pull some strings.
"I know a good center. They are very discrete, it is in Switzerland. You can't come with her there but trust me it is her best option." It was a facility that I had once admitted Adrian to. The darkness had been getting the better of him then.
"She will need a fake name," he pointed out.
"I know. I'll take care of it, don't worry. Thank you for this," I gestured to the papers.
"I was hoping we could be allies? I know we are friends, but we might need to rely more on each other in the future." I agreed. Good friends were precious, especially now. I took his hand.
"Of course. Mia is my friend, you know I will do anything to help her. We have gotten close, you and I, despite our past. I treasure that." My words were sincere and I could feel he had been as well. At least I had one ally in this war.
"Your hits are getting better," Dimitri noted as I punched him in the ribs again. I smirked, knowing he was covering up a grimace of pain.
"Well, I am feeling in excellent shape lately," I noted. He tried to use the distraction of our conversation to surprise me but failed. I used the advantage to flip him over. I was breathing heavily and sweating like a man. Although I pretended to be the ultimate superior I was finding it challenging to be on top. We had been sparing for twenty minutes, during which he had proven that he was every bit of the god he used to be. I helped him up from where he landed. We were about to go for another round when Berk interrupted.
"Miss Rose?" I sighed at the look on his face. It was equal parts pity and stress.
"I am not going to like it, am I?" He shook his head.
"We need to move. Now. You are in immediate danger." I groaned and looked at Dimitri.
"Sorry, I need to go." He furrowed his brows and dropped his stance.
"I am coming with you," he insisted.
I started to protest: "What? No! You have a charge to take care off."
He shrugged. "Someone else can do that. Let's get you out of here, princess," he mockingly called me. I glared at him.
"Whatever."
Berk wasn't having our bickering. He grabbed me by my shoulders and steered me out of the building. We were already hurrying across the racetracks when he yelled to us:
"We have to run," he barked out. I could see the garage in the distance when I heard gunshots right behind us.
"Crap!" I cursed and felt a hand on the back of my head as Berk forced me to keep my head down. Dimitri turned around, gun in hand and fired at someone behind us. I didn't know if he hit anyone cause Berk pushed me inside the garage just then.
"Come on, let's go!" he barked to Dimitri who came running after us. He grabbed me by the arm roughly and pulled me into the backseat of a black SUV. Berk jumped into the front seat and took the wheel. Faster than lightning he had turned on the engine and pulled out of the parking space. I could see him grit his teeth as he drove full speed towards the slowly opening garage port.
"Heads down and hold on tight," he ordered. I did as told and looked at the structure of the mats in the bottom of the car while I heard bullets hit the bulletproof glass of the car windows. Berk drove us directly through the attack, and speed off. Our attackers had manual weapons, thank god, or the glass would have shattered from the bullet rain. He drove like a mad man, trying to get out of reach before they could puncture the wheels. He called ahead to the guardian on duty at the gate and asked them to open up so we could drive through without stopping. They were reluctant, but as Rufus did for me so many years ago, I took over and ordered them to open. When we drove through I could see the guardian pointing his gun at something behind us but I didn't dare to turn my head to see what or who it was.
"Where are we going?" I asked and brushed my hair back once it felt clear to sit up again.
"Out," was Berk's brisk reply. I tried to shake my hair back in place.
"I get that, but where? We can't just keep driving." He seemed to disagree. However, after I kept bothering him he had to give in.
"I'll find a motel. We can't use popular sights. It will be a little under your standard," he prepared me. I blew a few pieces of hair out of my face.
"That is fine, just don't get me killed. Who are we running from anyway?" He didn't answer right away which made me suspicious. "Berk? Who are we running from?" He briefly looked at me through the mirror.
"Eylem called: They had a break-in at Mr. Mazur's house. The guardians stationed at the door were shot and the maid knocked out. You will need to replace the door, they shot it open before they figured out you weren't there. We haven't found out who is responsible yet, but you are not going back before we know." I huffed.
"The hell I am! There is a pretty important election going on, remember? I have to be there. We can stay outside court but we are not staying away." He seemed to accept that he wasn't going to able to keep me away completely. "Did anyone die?" I asked, finding the mental energy to worry about someone else. He shook his head.
"No, but both guardians will need to take time off to recover." I nodded, feeling relieved: At least there weren't any more blood on my conscious. Finally, we pulled up at a motel. Berk went inside to order our room while Dimitri stayed in the car with me.
"You seem very unfaced," Dimitri commented once we were alone.
"This isn't the first time," was my only reply. He looked at me weirdly.
"What do you mean. How often does this happen?" I bit my lip. Telling Dimitri about the regular attacks felt like a defeat, but I owed him an explanation by now.
"We have had a few incidents. Nothing to worry about." I could feel his intense stare burning on the back of my head, as I checked my phone again.
"Nothing serious? Rose, those men were trying to kill you. They broke in, attacked your staff, then hunted you down, trying to kill you. How is it not a big deal?" I sighed and rubbed my face.
"It isn't anything that any royal doesn't have to endure at some point. I am trained for this remember?" Our argument was interrupted by Berk returning with the keys.
"They didn't have any rooms left with three beds, so I had to take a single and a double," there was an apology in the statement. One would have to sleep alone when it was best that we stayed together.
"You need to rest, you should take the single." I took the key to the double room and looked at Dimitri. "We can share, right?"
He nodded slowly. "Sure, no problem."
I am back! Sorry for the long pause.
