11
"Rose," A pained voice was calling my name. I knew that I should have recognised it but I couldn't, I knew that I should have responded but I couldn't. "Rose."
I struggled, somehow managing to open my heavy eyelids, and looked up at a beautiful face that looked over me.
"Are you an angel?" I didn't think Strigoi went to heaven but I couldn't think of another explanation for the wonderful face.
"What the hell?" Okay, maybe not an angel. "Roza?"
That name triggered something in my memory. This was Dimiti, the man I loved. And oh god, I had just called him an angel. Yes, I did think he was that gorgeous but he was never going to let me forget it now.
"Dimitri? But, I was Strigoi, you staked me." The confusion clouded my voice, resulting in a few wavers as I spoke.
"No, you weren't." Dimitri's face mirrored my own confusion. "The bastard was drinking your blood, so I killed him. It's like I told you, I will never let you become one of those creatures."
"But I remember it all."
"It must have been a dream." He kissed my forehead and I realised then that I was wrapped up in his arms.
I was alive and it was wonderful. The dream me had been glad to be a Strigoi but I was more than happy that I wasn't, more like ecstatic. Sure the improved sight and hearing had been pretty cool but even just imagining the thirst and the excitement about a first kill, well that now made me feel sick.
"We should get inside." Dimitri said quickly. "Can you walk?"
I hesitated, thinking about the question and how much blood I had lost. "Not sure."
It turned out that I could just about walk, but had to lean on to Dimitri for a little extra support. The kind owner welcomed us and although she only spoke Russian, I could tell from her expression that she was worried about me. Dimitri reassured her that I just needed sleep and asked for a room for us for the night.
"I was so scared down there," Dimitri said as he helped me to lie down on the bed.
It was a double bed, but a small one, so when he joined me we had no choice but to snuggle close together, not that I was complaining. I had thought that I was Strigoi, I now realised how much of a risk it was in this job and decided that I would never again waste a single second of my time with Dimitri.
"So was I," I replied honestly. I had been intending to make some kind of joke, but I saw the truth in Dimitri's eyes and realised that his honesty warranted my own; I had been truly terrified.
I rested my head on his chest, thankful that we were both still alive, and fell asleep.
For the first time in a very long time, I had a completely dreamless sleep. When I woke up, light was streaming in through the window. I rolled over and found Dimitri reading his book, I grinned. His damp hair and changed clothes made me think that he had been awake for some time.
"Morning, sleepy head." He smiled that glorious smile and I melted inside.
"Good morning, what time is it?"
"About ten."
"Ten? Jesus, I didn't think you would leave me asleep for that long."
"I figured you could probably do with it. Anya said that she would make breakfast for us whenever you woke up."
"Anya?" I raised one eyebrow. From the sounds of it he had been busy whilst I was sleeping.
"The lady who we spoke with last night, she is the owner of this B&B."
"Ah, do I have time for a shower?" He nodded and I was glad. I could feel some dried blood on my neck and desperately wanted to get rid of it.
After I had showered, I took a minute to look at my neck in the mirror. It was badly bruised and I could still see where the fangs had bitten in. I left my hair down in the hope that it would cover the marks. Dimitri was waiting for me in the bedroom with clean clothes that I thankfully put on instead of the crumpled clothes that I had worn yesterday and then slept in.
"How's your neck?" Dimitri moved my hair aside. He looked at the bruising and then kissed it gently.
"I'll survive," I said lightly, grinning at him.
"You always do. Though, I sometimes wonder how."
We ate breakfast with Anya still rambling away in Russian. I was going to have to learn the language if I wanted to come back here again, I only prayed that Dimitri's family spoke English.
We arrived in Baia in the early evening, just as the sun was beginning to set. Dimitri parked the car and looked across at me. He could tell that I was nervous but didn't offer any words of comfort, he simply chuckled at my apprehensive expression.
"Strigoi you can handle, but you're nervous meeting my family?"
"Shut up, Comrade. I remember you being a little worried when I tried to take you to dinner."
"You'll be fine, they're going to love you! After all, I do." He smiled, kissing me softly before exiting the car.
"Dimka!" A girl, perhaps a year or so younger than me, ran out of the house and flung herself at Dimitri. They began speaking in fast Russian that I couldn't understand a word of.
Other members of the family came out and greeted him too. I remembered Dimitri telling me that he had grown up as the only boy in a house of women and I saw now just what he meant. Four women came out to greet him, one younger than me and two older as well as his mother. Even I could tell that they were all happy to see him, despite not speaking a word of Russian. I stood back a little, watching the reunion. Dimitri hadn't seen his family in a very long time and it was nice to see him so relaxed and open with someone other than me.
We were escorted into the house and I stuck close by Dimitri's side whilst he continued to speak with his mother and sisters.
After a few minutes inside the house, I turned to Dimitri and spoke quietly. "They do speak English, don't they?"
"Of course, I am so sorry, Rose," Dimitri's mother said. "We got a little carried away there and forgot that you do not speak much Russian."
"More like any." Dimitri elbowed me playfully. This wasn't a side of him that I saw very often but it was one that I certainly liked.
I realised that my nerves had been stupid. I had no reason to be worried because the Belikov family was kind and welcoming, as happy to see me as they were Dimitri. Was I really surprised that they were so kind when they were the people that Dimitri had grown up with? These were the people who had shaped Dimitri into the kind, caring, wonderful man that he was, so it should really have been no surprise at all.
Dimitri then introduced me to each of his family members; his mother, Olena; younger sister, Viktoria; and two older sisters, Karolina and Sonya. Karolina had two children of her own, a boy and a baby girl.
We had arrived just in time for dinner and Olena had made a large spread of food for us. We sat at the table and helped ourselves to some interesting looking food, I avoided some of it. There was one particular dish that involved cabbage and looked disgusting; I made a particular effort to avoid it. Dimitri laughed as I pulled faces at some of the things that I had been braver in trying.
"Try this." Dimitri passed me a slice of black bread before cutting himself some too.
I decided not to question the slightly worrying colour of the bread and took a bite; it was delicious and I wasted no time in telling them all so.
"Thank you, Rose. It was a childhood favourite of Dimitri's." She smiled kindly, not that I could imagine Olena Belikov being anything other kind. I glanced at Dimitri, I was going to like this trip. I would certainly enjoy hearing more about Dimitri when he was little. "Eventually, I taught him to make it for himself. I told him that if he was going to eat it all then he could make it for himself."
"I often make it in the US too."
"You do?" I was surprised, I had never seen Dimitri baking bread and I would happily watch. It wasn't exactly the sort of thing you expected from Dimitri; bread baking and battle god wasn't a common combination.
"Yes, Rose." He chuckled. "You are hardly ever at home though."
"They come first." I sighed sadly.
"So what's it like, being a guardian?" Viktoria asked me.
"It's great. I'm lucky because my charge is best friend, and because this guy is assigned to her boyfriend." I grinned at Dimitri. "Are you looking forward to being one?"
"Oh, I won't be a guardian," Viktoria replied. She didn't even seem bothered about it, and I was surprised. I couldn't imagine life doing anything other than guarding Lissa but it occurred to me that none of the women in Dimitri's family were guardians. "I get all the same training at school, and I like being able to defend myself but I'd rather use it in defence of my family than Moroi. It probably sounds a bit sexist but the men become guardians and the women stay at home."
"Huh," I said simply. I thought that it was crazy, but I didn't want to offend them so kept it at that. Dimitri looked at me, a slight smile played at the edge of his lips but his eyes showed just how amusing he found my reaction. I elbowed him, not quite as playfully as he had done earlier.
I noticed Olena watching us and looked at my dinner plate awkwardly. I had long since lost the strange feeling that had once come with being openly affectionate with Dimitri due to the previously required secrecy, but it still felt weird in front of his mom.
We were shown to our room later on that evening and, as much as I loved the Belikov family, I was glad to have some time alone with Dimitri.
"Is this your old room?" I asked, looking around the room. He nodded. "Wow, this is where you grew up."
I grinned and wandered around. There was a bookshelf that held a lot of books, some English and some with Cyrillic titles. There were also some CDs, most of which I wouldn't have recognised if I didn't know Dimitri's 'interesting' taste in music.
I then looked to the wooden desk, I could imagine a young Dimitri sitting in the chair and doing his homework over the summer. I picked up a small silver frame; it contained a photo of two young men. They both wore open, happy smiles and were stood in front of some kind of landmark that I didn't recognise. One was obviously Dimitri, but I didn't know the other. A moment later, I realised, this was Ivan. Ivan Zeklos had been Dimitri's charge before he came to the US and he had once told me that they had been close.
"That was one of the last days we spent together." I hadn't heard Dimitri approach, bad guardian form, but his voice came from right behind me. He took the frame from my hand and sat on the bed, I sat down beside him. "We shared a flat in Saint Petersburg with Aleksandr, Ivan's other guardian. We were just mucking about that day, wandering around the city and looking at the sights; we had all seen them before but realised that none of us actually knew much about them. Aleks took the photo."
"Was Aleks the guardian…?" I trailed off, knowing that I didn't need to finish the sentence.
"Yeah, I was here but they were still in the city. It was just a back alley, they took a shortcut home after a night out and… Well, you know how it ends; they were both killed. I should have been there."
"Oh, Dimitri, you couldn't have done anything." Unfortunately, I didn't entirely believe that either but I hoped that I had come across as convincing.
"I wish you could have met him, you would have loved Ivan." Dimitri grinned at me, but it didn't quite reach his distant eyes.
I pressed a kiss to his cheek and brought him back to the present. He put the photo back on the desk then lay back on the bed, pulling me along too, and kissed me properly.
