Chapter 18
DAMN does it feel GOOD to be BACK! Miss me? I know I've missed writing and more yet, reading your reviews! SOOOOO PLEASE REVIEW!
I've bought a new PC. I hate windows 8. I miss Windows 7 horribly! So, I wont be using my sister's laptop! Which is good. That thing is dinosaur slow!
"What did you see?""
"Nothing." Adrian said, "which should worry you. If I can't dream walk to him, then something is most definitely wrong. I'm not experienced enough to tell if there is someone in the room controlling him with compulsion or if it is a charm."
"It has to be a charm. No one is around him when his attitude makes a 360. He hasn't worn anything new, though."
"Maybe it's something he always wears. Maybe they charmed his stake. Perhaps they came into his room in the middle of the night and did some voo-doo thing to it."
"You might be right Adrian." I said hastily, walking out the door. "What should I do?"
"Take his stake away from him. If his attitude hasn't changed, then run like hell and think of something else that it could be. Knowing Belikov though, it has got to be the stake."
"Thanks Adrian." I said, then hung up. I didn't really like the "run like hell" part, but I did run to the stairs and down the first flight of stairs to his room. I formulated a lie to get Zak out of the room, knowing all too well that he would be the one to answer the door. He seems to like to be in control and show leadership- faulty leadership.
I knocked on the door and quickly messed up my hair as if I was in a fight. I laughed at myself in my head. My hair would be up if I was ever engaged in a battle.
I knocked on it again and again until he answered. It took a few minutes for him to answer. "It's one in the freaking morning Rose." Zak said.
"There are strigoi here." I said as worked up as I could and doing a damn good job of it. "I took two out, but they keep coming." It was an easy lie. It kind of feels too easy to tell him.
In an instant, Zak was awake and if I didn't move to the side, he would have knocked me over.
Yea. Way too easy. He needs to work on leaning me a little bit more, but I knew it wouldn't be long until he realized it was a lie. I probably have roughly five minutes, hopefully longer.
"I'll check the service desk. You get the others and make sure they don't mess this up." Oh how I wish I could deck him! Fucking prick. He walked away and I gave him the finger.
I walked in and shut the door. Dimitri was standing by the door. I walked up to him and he took a step back. I knew exactly what to do. I took another step forward and he took another step back until he almost hit the bed.
"I know you better than that Rose. Why did you lie to him?"
"It was a bit of fun really." I winked at him. I took a giant step to him and now we are close enough that I could feel his breath on the top of my head. "To be alone with you."
Before he could do anything, I pushed him on the bed and was on top of him. I ripped his shirt off and kissed him madly. Somehow, he felt the need to squeeze my ass and my hormones almost took control of me.
No. I told myself. Stay focused.
Oh, but his lips look so inviting….
I mentally slapped myself. Control yourself, woman!
I ran my hands down his chest and grabbed his butt. I just couldn't resist. He smiled wickedly at me and I winked at him. I bent my head down and our lips met and all I wanted to do was kiss him, but what I have to do must to come first.
I reached my hand down and grabbed his stake and threw it to the other side of the room.
Like a splash of cold water, Dimitri jumped.
"Rose." He said startled.
"I know." I said, getting off of him, but never breaking eye contact.
He grabbed me and pulled me into a hug. "Rose." He said again, this time, not in a startled tone. I held him tight and didn't let go until he pulled away a few moments later.
"How did you know?" He asked when he held me close.
"Your attitude." I said and he released me. I looked at him and continued. "You've been an asshole to me. It's not like you. And when Zak hit me, you stood up for him and not me. You would have beaten him ten feet into the ground."
"How did you know it was my stake that was charmed?"
"I actually didn't. Adrian took a guess at it. I had asked him to dream walk to you. When he couldn't reach you he said you must be under some sort of spell. He had mentioned it might be your stake that was charmed. Turns out he was dead on." I said.
He nodded and ran his hand through his hair.
"I don't know who did it. I don't know if Zak is under the spell or not. He is as reckless as ever though, so I guess it is a possibility…" I said, trailing on. I seriously doubt he is under some sort of spell. Honestly, I would guess he was the one who put the charm on Dimitri.
I ran through my head when Dimitri started acting all weird. I have no clue who would have charmed him when he is always surrounded by the Cobra's. It had to be when we first arrived, then because…Then bamb! My light bulb turned on. I knew exactly what happened. What if it wasn't a who, but rather an object? The keys! When we first arrived to Russia, we rented those two cars. The keys are silver or metal, which can hold a spell and the spell must have transferred to the nearest metal, which is his stake! But that doesn't explain Zak..
"What are your theories?" Dimitri asked.
"I think I know exactly what happened." I told Dimitri what I thought and he nodded in consideration.
"I don't know a whole lot about magic, but I know it can jump from one person to another. Like that lust charm. It was on you, which affect me too. Maybe the stake affected him too?"
"No, because it would have affected all of us; the spell just affect you and Zak, so something on you two must be charmed."
"Then something of ours was charmed." Dimitri agreed.
I nodded. "Exactly, but I don't know about Zak."
"It could be his stake too or it could be that it is jumping to him, because he does wear a lot of metal on him."
"I doubt our magic friends would be so stupid as to charm the same object. They would want to make it difficult for us to crack, right?" I questioned.
The door flew open, hitting the wall before Dimitri could respond. It startled me a little, but mostly, my hopes disintegrated. I was hoping we had more time.
"You sneaky little bitch!" Zak yelled in Russian, pointing his finger at me.
I saw Dimitri flex to get up, his arm muscle flexing and his lips in a tight line, but he stayed where he was at.
Smart. I thought. Don't blow your cover. Behind him, Gabe walked in, making sure Zak didn't hear his approach.
I shrugged, pretending not to notice Gabe. If Zak doesn't notice Gabe sneaking up on him, then his guardian skills really needs to be worked on. "You two are joined at the fucking hip. I knew how to separate you and I took advantage of it."
He smiled his cruel smile. "Whore."
Gabe swung at Zak, hitting him on the side of the head, knocking his ass out cold. Zak landed with a big thump, hip first. Hopefully that will hurt just as bad as his head when he wakes up.
"I really hate this guy." Gabe said in Russian.
Dimitri got up and took Zak's stake.
"Hopefully this was it." He said, inspecting his stake.
I frowned. "I'd rather take all his jewelry off, just in case."
"What are you talking about?" Gabe asked. He gave Dimitri a cold look and turned his back to him and looked at me.
"Dimitri was under some sort of spell. I called Adrian to see if he was and sure enough, yes. Someone charmed the keys to the car and the spell transferred from the keys to Dimitri's stake."
Gabe turned around and looked at Dimitri.
"So you're going to kick Zak the fuck out, right?"
Dimitri frowned. "He was charmed too."
Gabe snorted. "Like hell! I lived with him. He is not under any sort of spell."
"I knew Zak way before you did. I think he is."
Gabe shook his head. "Trust me, he isn't, which reminds me..." Gabe said as he straightened up. "If he disrespects Rose one more time, he will find himself surrounded by strigoi with no one to save him. It's the least he deserves."
I couldn't agree more, but if Dimitri thinks Zak is under a spell, then maybe we should check it out, right?
"I don't know Gabe." I said. "Maybe he has been under the spell for several years."
"No. Trust me."
The thing is, I do trust Gabe, but I also trust Dimitri. What is the harm in just checking it out? Worst case scenario, Zak isn't under any sort of spell and Dimitri is left without a best man. I'll be damn if I have someone in my wedding disrespecting me or any of the Cobra's.
"Because Dimitri believes he is under a spell, we are going to check. There is no harm in doing so." I said as an order. "I'll get the other's you two stay here and make sure Zak doesn't try sneaking off. Dimitri, you get all his jewelry off, just in case."
He nodded and I left the room and went up the flight of stairs to grab the rest of the Cobra's.
Larisa, Tammy and Lev were lounging on the couch, watching TV. Zena and Denis were at the counter eating a sandwich. They looked up at me as I entered the room. "Your presence is requested in Dimitri's room."
They all got up. "What happened?" Larisa asked, putting her black hair up in a pony tail and grabbed her Cobra jacket.
"Dimitri was under some sort of spell. His stake was charmed, now we are trying to see if Zak is under the same spell. Dimitri assumed it was his stake, but we stripped off all the metals he was wearing just in case."
"How did you manage to do that?" Lev asked with a wicked grin.
"Gabe knocked him out."
Tammy smiled in amusement. "About damn time."
We took the stairs to Dimitri and Zak's room. When we entered, I was surprised to see Zak was still out cold and that no one moved him. I sure wasn't going to be the one to do that. Gabe and Dimitri had bind his hands and feet together.
"Sleeping beauty still sleeps, I see." Denis said.
"Well, you guys didn't take a number on this place." Zena said. She has a point. We usually destroy a building, start a war or something along those lines when we fight.
"Hey now. Zak's face did get a little destroyed." Denis said for the benefit.
"By what?" Zena asked.
"My fist." Gabe responded, and in response he cracked his knuckles, flexing his biceps in the process.
I rolled my eyes but smiles nevertheless, everyone else laughed except for Dimitri. I had the feeling he thought we were being rude. Spell or not, he deserved it, right?
We anxiously waited for Zak to wake up, but the hours passed and I grew a little worried. I didn't think Gabe hit him that hard. Or maybe it was the fall…
"Damn Gabe, you knocked him all the way into a coma!" Larisa proclaimed rather shocked, but she didn't seem to care. She thought that was cool. She hated Zak.
Gabe shrugged, not caring one bit. He never did like Zak, so this wasn't a big deal for him, but I could tell he was worried too and was beginning to feel bad.
With a sigh, I bent down and picked him up and put him on the bed. I sat beside him.
"Zak?" I waited a moment. "It's Rose. Can you hear me? Are you awake?"
He didn't budge. My guess is that he is probably faking being asleep and waiting for us to leave so he can escape, or maybe he is in trouble…
One way to find out.
I opened my phone and called Adrian again for the second time today. I stepped out of the room and closed the door behind me so that if Zak was awake, he wouldn't know what I was planning on doing.
"Hello little dhampire, what happened?" Adrian asked in his mellow tone.
"Hey Adrian. I thought you would like to know that you were dead on about the stake being charmed. Could you do me another favor though? Gabe knocked Zak unconscious and I'm a little worried he put him in a coma… I was wondering if you would know if he is in a coma or what."
"Little dhampire, you believe he is pulling a fast one on you, don't you?" He chuckled. "And you want me to spirit dream to him and tell you if he is unconscious or not."
"Yes." I replied sheepishly. I hated using Adrian like this and his care-free nature made me feel even worse about it. It made me feel as if I was indeed taking advantage of him, and I guess I kind of am.
"It will take a while. I was able to go to Dimitri because I was tired. Being a dad is like being a full time employee without getting a break or a lunch." He laughed.
"Are you tired now?" I smiled. I'm such a bad person. I never even asked him how his kid was doing.
"No. The baby is asleep and mommy and daddy got to rest too."
"Well, do it when you can. I'm not going to force you to do it…" though, I wish he would do it now.
The door opened and Zena appeared.
"Rose, Zak is awake."
"Never mind Adrian. Zak is awake."
"Okay. Happy I could help." Adrian laughed and hung up.
Truth is I am kind of jealous of Adrian at the moment. He is wrestling with wanting more sleep and here I am wrestling with bad guys and seeing if someone is under the influence of magic. Why can't Dimitri and I be the ones with the happy buzz going on?
I walked into the room and Zak was staring up at me, his hazel eyes looked confused.
"What…was that?" He asked me. "I've never acted like such an asshole my whole life!"
Zak's face looked truly stunned and violated. "Rose, I swear, I would never hit a woman and I am so sorry. Forgive me." Zak looked down.
I frowned. Perhapse everyone stood corrected and Dimitri was right. Maybe Zak was a good kid. If so, then who in the world would put a spell on him for so long?
"Zak…"
Zak looked up to me, his ashamed face making him look much older than he was. He didn't say anything as he looked at me.
"Do you know anyone that would put that spell on you?"
His eyes filled with tears. "No." He made a fist and his knuckles turned white. "Whoever did this deserves to have a slow painful death! My recklessness killed so many good kids that had actual potential to be great guardians! I tried to stop myself many times to think things through, but the adrenaline of the fight or potential fight clouds my better judgment and it was impossible to stop myself. I had wanted it; the fight and the adrenaline. I lived for the fight. When I woke up it was like-"
"A splash of cold water," I cut in.
He looked up at me in curiosity. "Yeah. How'd you know?"
I frowned once again. "Dimitri and I were under a similar spell a year ago. Much like you, we had no idea we were under it until we broke the spell…" I let my sentence drift off as a memory flashed back to when I talked to Victor when he was in prison. He said that even if we didn't break the spell, it would have worn off. After all these years for Zak, it never wore off. Why? I turned to Dimitri in wonder. "Dimitri, why?"
"What?"
"Why is his prolonged? Our spell would have burned itself out. His didn't. His was prolonged. Why?"
Zena analyzed what I was talking about. "Perhaps because of metal?"
"My necklace Victor gave me was metal."
"Perhapse a lower spell." Tammy guessed.
"We need to talk to an earth user then." Denis said. "We are only dhampires, not moroi."
"Then we have to." Zak spoke up. "I'll be damn if this ever happens to me again!" There was a little bit of that vengeance in his tone. Not for strigoi, but for whoever made him that reckless rogue dhampire.
We left the room and went down to the lobby and I was getting hungry. "So, pizza anyone?" I asked as we all sat down on the expensive chairs that looked comfortable but wasn't.
Everyone laughed. "I guess we can't afford to investigate on an empty stomach." Zena said with a chuckle, her black hair blowing in the breeze. It was noon during the day, human time.
I smiled big. "Great! I'll be back." I left my little wallet up in the suite. I ran upstairs and opened the door and walked into the suite. I grabbed my wallet and turned around to see that Zak had followed me. He had his hands to his side and his face was expressionless.
"Hey Zak." I said and I felt awkward. Why did he follow me? Couldn't he of just asked to come with me rather than be creepy about it?
I got the feeling he had wanted to talk to me about something.
What do you think he wants to talk to her about? Good? Bad?
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