Putting omelets on the table in front of Janine and Rose the following morning, Dimitri quickly ate his own before checking the bedroom to make sure all evidence he'd been there was erased. Putting on his duster, he looked to Janine and said "I have my phone on me. I'll stay away until you text."
Rose looked between her mother and Dimitri confused.
"Your mother and I thought it's better if no one knows I'm staying here, Rose. It would hurt your reputation."
"Oh." One word, yet so loaded. "Is that why you didn't come back until Adrian left last night?"
Damn, she was perceptive! Dimitri nodded, taking off before she had a chance to quiz him further. It killed him to walk away, knowing Adrian would be there soon to regale Rose with amusing stories and openly flirt with her, but what could he do? This is the way it had to be. Walking away from guest quarters, Dimitri soon found himself with the same problem as yesterday - what to do with himself?
He started by sitting down on a bench near the running track to listen to his voicemail. All from Alberta from the day he'd been traveling back to the Academy asking him to contact her urgently, except one from Tasha. She'd heard from Christian that he'd left the Academy, but not that he was back visiting. She offered to put him up if he needed a place to crash and reiterated that her previous offer still stood if he'd had a change of heart. He sighed. That wasn't going to happen.
Deciding to go for a walk, Dimitri's feet automatically found their way to the well-worn path that ran beside the Academy's wards. With extensive land, the Academy was huge – and accordingly so were the wards. In years past there would have been at least a dozen Guardians patrolling the wards every shift. With the shortage of Guardians, these days they'd be lucky to be able to roster a couple. Figuring he might as well make himself useful while he was here, and that he'd be unlikely to run into anyone out here, Dimitri purposefully started striding along the path, carefully inspecting the ward line for stakes or any other signs of disturbance.
He'd been walking for close to three hours when his phone pinged with a text. Reaching into his duster, he smiled when he saw it was from Rose.
Comrade – lunch at the suite at 1 am.
I've ordered from the cafeteria but
would love a chocolate donut. R xoxo
With a huge grin, Dimitri left the ward line, taking large strides towards the Academy buildings and specifically the Guardians' lounge. If Rose was asking him for a chocolate donut, it meant the cafeteria was out – however, there'd usually be one or two left in the Guardians' lounge. In the past, he'd occasionally picked up one before their afternoon training session, giving it to her as a treat afterward.
Walking through the commons, Dimitri cut through the administration building and let himself into the Guardians' lounge. Thankfully it was almost deserted. Unfortunately, Alto was one of the few in there, alongside a few other off-duty Guardians.
"Ahh, Belikov? You sure you should be in here? This is the Guardians' lounge after all?"
"Alto," Dimitri said with forced control. "Yes. This is the Guardian's lounge, and I'm a Guardian. I do not see the problem?"
"Yes. But not an Academy Guardian. The way I heard it you resigned. Ran away, leaving an almighty mess behind you as far as I can tell."
Dimitri's jaw was tensing. He was trying not to let Stan get to him, but it was difficult. Especially when what he was saying was true. Ignoring him, Dimitri walked to the buffet, happy to see there were several chocolate donuts left. Bagging two of them, he slipped them into a pocket in his duster, leaving the lounge before Stan started in with his next insult.
Feeling distinctly less cheery, he walked across to the guest quarters, arriving at the door right at 1 am. Knocking once, the door was opened by Adrian.
"Belikov? What are you doing here?" he asked with an irritated tone of voice.
"Lord Ivashkov," Dimitri replied civilly. "I'm here for lunch – Rose invited me." The urge to punch Adrian in the face was still there.
"Hey, Comrade. Come on in" Rose sang out from inside the suite. "Lunch should be arriving any minute."
"Ahh good – I'm hungry," Dimitri said, pushing past Adrian into the unit. "Janine" he acknowledged politely, nodding to where she sat on the sofa. Fishing in his duster, he pulled out the bag with the chocolate donuts. "Since you're providing lunch, I thought I'd bring dessert," he said, handing the bag to Rose.
She peered inside. "Ahhhh you know me too well – thanks, Comrade!"
"How'd your morning go? Find out much of interest at the library?"
"No. The stuff Adrian found was stuff Lissa and I had already read ages ago. Still, it was worth a try."
"That's a pity. Still, there must be more information out there somewhere."
"Yes – I'm pretty sure the library at Court will have what we're looking for" Adrian replied for her. "Their collection is substantial. We can take our time and search when you're visiting, Rose."
Dimitri looked up, catching a loaded glance between Janine and Rose. So it looks like Rose's timeout decision had been made.
"You're heading to Court to recuperate, then?" he asked lightly, his heart feeling as though someone was squeezing it in much the same way one does when juicing an orange.
"It's one option," Rose said evasively, not meeting Dimitri's eyes. "I haven't decided yet."
"Of course she'll head to Court," Adrian said. "It's the only logical place. She can keep up with her studies at the Moroi school there and also research Spirit and being shadow-kissed. With the distance from Lissa, she'll be able to recover."
The arrival of lunch prevented further discussion. Curry chicken with almonds and garlic bread. Rose and Janine had large serves, Adrian and Dimitri only nibbling at theirs. Dimitri's stomach was a ball of nerves. The last place he wanted Rose to go was Court. As the Queen's nephew, Court was Adrian's turf. Even if Dimitri followed Rose there, he knew Adrian would make life as difficult for him as he could.
After lunch, Dimitri did the dishes while Adrian sat beside Rose extolling all the virtues of Court. Hell, he made it sound so amazing Dimitri almost wanted to go there again himself! Janine sat on the sofa opposite saying little but listening a lot. Rose appeared to be trying to get Adrian to go, but he wasn't taking the hint. So eventually she stood up and thanked Adrian and Dimitri for visiting but said she was tired and needed to lie down. Taking their cue Adrian and Dimitri both stood to leave.
Showing Adrian to the door, Janine said "Dimitri? Can you wait a moment? I'll pack up the dishes for you to take back to the cafeteria if you don't mind?"
"My pleasure," he said, stepping back to the kitchenette and starting to load the empty dishes into the cardboard box in which they'd been delivered.
As the door closed behind him, Adrian was furious. How stupid did they think he was? It was so obvious Dimitri was staying there with Janine and Rose. The fact that no one on campus seemed to know where he was sleeping was suspicious enough, but the fresh smell of his deodorant when he'd picked up Rose this morning was a dead giveaway, as was the soaking frypan and three plates in the sink from their breakfast. Finally, the question about the library had been the clincher. Dimitri had spoken with Rose after he'd made his arrangements with her last night.
The idea of that fucker staying there irritated him beyond words. What the hell was Janine thinking? And where the hell was he sleeping? Adrian couldn't imagine Janine would let Dimitri sleep with Rose, but if not then where? The guy had pissed off, leaving a vulnerable Rose bereft – yet somehow he was welcomed back into her life and her bed?! Once Adrian made her his, he'd make sure Dimitri's name never crossed her mind again. He waited on the stairs to the second floor for ten minutes. As expected, Dimitri didn't appear with the cafeteria dishes. And that made Adrian even angrier.
Once Adrian had left, Rose came back out to the living room, Janine sitting beside her on a sofa.
"Thanks, Mom. He's annoying trying to casually touch me all the time, and the flirting is getting over the top. I've tried to explain I'm not interested but he's just not taking the hint. It's actually a bit creepy."
"Anytime Rosemarie. But he does have a point. We need to discuss where to from here. Things can't go on like this forever. Dimitri – can you join us please?" Dimitri sat on the sofa opposite Janine and Rose, his stomach churning with tension. "Do either of you have any ideas?" she continued.
Rose looked hopeless, shaking her head.
"I don't. I don't want to go to Court. The school there is only for Moroi, so I'd be missing half my studies. I also know Adrian will be all over me if I go, but I can't think of where else."
"I have an idea, but I'm not sure you'll like it Janine" Dimitri offered.
She shrugged. "Let's hear it."
Looking nervously at Rose, Dimitri said "What about St. Basil's? Rose could go for a month or two visit. They run the same subjects she does here and they teach in English so the disruption to her academic schooling would be minimal. They have a more comprehensive combat training schedule than here, which would give Rose a chance to skill up in some different combat areas. I have a sister Viktoria who attends in Rose's year so she wouldn't be completely friendless or alone over there. In fact, she could spend weekends with my family in Baia if she wanted to so my Mama could keep an eye on her. Finally, there are a lot of the original scrolls and texts about St. Vladimir over there which might give insight into being shadow-kissed."
Janine was thinking about it, considering the possibilities. "And what about you Dimitri? How would you fit into all this?"
"I'm not sure. I hadn't thought about where to next after here. I could always get a posting back at St. Basil's. That way I could still be involved in Rose's training and be there if she needed a familiar face."
"Do you think they'd have an opening for you?" Janine queried.
"Yeah. There's an open invitation for Blast and Blood Master graduates to come back and teach. I'm pretty sure they'd be receptive to a two-month combat intensive if I suggested it."
"You're a Blast Master?! What level?"
"Um – Blood Master, actually. Level seven" Dimitri said, flushing.
"Damn! I had no idea" Janine said, very impressed.
"That's why my combat skills are so good, Mom. Dimitri's been training me forty hours a week for months."
"So what do you think Rosemarie?"
"I think it's a better option than Court. I really want to get away from here as quickly as possible. I can feel the darkness when I'm around Lissa, and I want to get away from all the gossip. It would help if Dimitri were there, too. I don't want to fall behind in my training, but right now he's also the only one I feel I can trust." She said it without rancor, but Janine understood nonetheless. She, Alberta and Lissa had all let Rose down.
Janine nodded, looking at Dimitri with undisguised deliberation.
"Janine, I guess it comes down to whether you trust me to do the right thing by your daughter. If she visits St. Basil's, and if I go at the same time, you have my word I won't take advantage of her, force anything on her or act dishonorably towards her. I know you might not believe it, but her safety and welfare are very important to me. In some ways more important than my own wellbeing."
There was a long pause while Janine regarded him. "How soon would you go?" was her only reply.
"I'd like to go as soon as it can be organized. Tonight or tomorrow, if possible. Dimitri? Should Kirova call, or do you know people there to talk to?" Rose answered for Dimitri.
"If it's agreed I'll call. I'm on good terms with the Headmaster and the Head of Guardians there. If we made it eight and a half weeks, then you could return at the end of Spring break? It would be a more natural transition that way."
"I'd like that. I'd like to leave without anyone knowing. Mom? Should he make the calls? I just want to disappear."
Janine looked at Dimitri long and hard before nodding. "Call who you need to. Let's get you both on the next flight out."