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DropDead Gorgeous!

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Chapter 21

Cold Nostalgia

Before another song had started, another student – a Moroi – cut in and offered me a dance. I obliged to dance about half the boys in school and I received many subtle unappreciative looks from other Moroi and dhampir girls. Trying to look calm and carefree was my main objective as I filled in my "ideal" heiress role. When another song ended, I subtly whisked away from the thickening crowd of dancers to get some fresh air. As I walked down the crowd, I received many greetings and compliments. I smiled and my eyes landed on a pair of jade green eyes on a golden mask.

Hi Rose, I hope you're having fun, she sent before smiling and tugging Christian with her, letting me make my escape.

Thankful for Lissa with her quick thinking, I casually strolled away.

Involuntarily, I felt goose-bumps cover my arms. Not bad ones but they were those weird signs that I get when somebody was watching me. A significant somebody.

Of course, there were people watching me, I tried to ease myself. I ignored the goose-bumps and walked past the last group of people in the ball room when another set of goose-bumps jumped out. I automatically looked around me as inconspicuously as I could.

When I saw that nobody was watching me, I reasoned to myself that maybe my body was just playing tricks on me.

I walked to the nearest open space and found myself in a balcony. Alone. Cold air splashed on my naked skin but it wasn't followed by goose-bumps – I was quite immune to the weather changes except when it gets too and that brings me back to where I was. It was very cold because of the early November evening. Still, Hobson was not as cold as the Montana Mountains.

Absently, I inched toward the fringe of the balcony until I could see an extravagant garden with two lit lamp posts on each side of a wrought-iron bench and many tiny lights on the ground made the garden look more beautiful. As I could see, there were various kinds of flowers but what caught my attention was the fully-bloomed shrub of red roses at one side near the bench.

I don't know because I am not a botanist but was it possible for roses to bloom during fall? I thought they only bloomed in late spring or when-not.

I ran a hand on the smooth, cold surface of the of the balcony's marble deck and stared in awe at the garden. I didn't know how long I stayed there, watching and inhaling the fragrant scent of the garden but it was probably not too long because when I heard a gorgeously accented voice, he sounded calm and patient as if he had just found me when strolling by.

"You must be cold." (FB de ja vu) he said as he put his tuxedo blazer on my bare shoulders.

I turned to look at him on my side. His elbows were on the marble top, his tall figure facing the garden. My heart made a little flip when his aftershave hit me.

"Good guess." I told him and tugged his blazer around me tightly. I could see that his sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, revealing tanned, muscular arms that made me feel little and defenseless.

"Aren't you cold?" I asked him, pointing at his sleeves.

He shook his head, making a few strands of silky brown hair rally out of his low ponytail. An annoyed look crossed his face and he tied his hair back again.

I cocked my head to one side. I preferred his hair worn down. With deliberate hesitation, I reached out for the band on his hair and slid it out.

"There," I breathed and grinned, a little embarrassed.

What? The Rose Hathaway's embarrassed? No. Way.

"I like it better when your hair's down." I said, still keeping the weird accent, and ignored my mind's internal debate.

He looked at me with an intensity that seemed to burn the air between us, making me breathless. Suddenly, with gallantry that surprised me, he put an arm around my waist smoothly and faced me to him – stroking my cheek with his other hand.

"It is hard to pretend someone you are not, yes?" he asked a while later, looking at me through his phantom mask.

"Yes, it is." I said in my original American accent that I had grown with. It's hard; considering my molnija marks and every patch of blemish I held as a precious treasure that I had achieved were covered up and even my identity was changed, I wanted to say but didn't.

I realized that he made me see that reason. That was one thing I loved about him – he makes me see things that I hadn't seen before.

He smiled at me, making my heart leap yet again. My vision around me into an insignificant blur – sometimes I felt that I only live for those rare smiles he lets out at seldom times of humor. He nodded slightly as if he knew something that I didn't.

"Hey," I punched his shoulder like my old self and I saw him flinch a little. "What did you mean about that nod?" I lifted his chin to look at me.

His eyes held a bright tell-tale sign that he was, somehow, amused.

"Tell me." I growled playfully but I was serious. "Come on," I pressed myself closer to him – teasing him until he couldn't take it anymore and tell me what he was about to say. "Please?" I looked up at him and gave him my man-eating smile and he closed his eyes. I tiptoed and leaned my lips close to him. "Dimitri…" I whispered and his lips brushed against mine as I did it. When he didn't say anything – just keeping his eyes closed – I lightly ran my tongue over his lower lip and I heard him moan. I mentally chuckled – it was actually working. I clutched his hair and pulled his face down to me so I wouldn't tiptoe any longer. I kissed his lips, teasingly biting his lips until he gives in. Eventually, my provocative coercive kisses turned deeper when he kissed me back. Hungrily, I might add. Filled with so much zest it was illicit.

We, if not reluctantly, pulled apart. It was that or get caught. We had heard someone approaching in a fast sprint. I consciously patted my mask back to place as I took in Dimitri's slightly flushed face. His lips had no sign of red lipstick but it was a little swollen. He nodded at me, reassuring that I was good to go.

I looked back at the garden, trying to look nonchalant when I caught a chancy sight on a bark of a tree near the lamp posts. I squinted but a voice made me stop and look back at the balcony's entrance arch.

"Rose, you have to go. Strigoi are here." Stas panted from the arch and bile rose to my throat. His tuxedo was askew and his hair was a mess.

"WHAT?!" I shouted, outraged. "What the fuck are they doing here?! Aren't there wards here?!" I threw questions at him.

"They had humans with them. They took us by surprise. They seemed to know that we would stray from our standards in this palace. The Romanov Palace is a holy place – no area for Strigoi." He gasped out and took support from the gargoyle statue on the deck.

"Then what are they doing here?!" I knew that asking was just wasting the time but I just felt helpless.

"We don't know yet." He said gravely and then screams started to emanate from the peaceful palace.

"What the hell?" I bellowed as a pale-skinned guy grabbed Stas' shoulder by surprise. He was probably human when he was awakened because of the poor reflexes he had – not trained enough. Stas took out his silver stake from his holster and chucked it to the Strigoi's cheek in an adroit manner. The Strigoi howled in pain and took Stas' arm and pulled him to his side quickly but before he could do anything to him, Dimitri got into action, staking him squarely in the heart.

The Strigoi staggered back and collapsed.

"Rose!" Dimitri called to me. "You have to go. Escape." He said and took my shoulders to shake it hard. "Go."

"No." I knew that I was wasting time again but apprehension and truth just drowned me in – making me dysfunctional.

One red rose each for the months we haven't seen each other

And a black, withered one for the day

I will see you again.

There was one, black withered…rose on my bed that day. And that day was just yesterday. One day. Today.

"No." I choked out and Stas shouted something at me before grabbing my wrist roughly. But before he could drag me out of the balcony, I caught a clear sight of the tree bark.

xD was etched.

Oh, no fucking way!

"Where's Lissa?" I stopped at out tracks. Blood drained out of Stas' face at the mention of Lissa.

He groaned and closed his eyes. "Petrov wasn't with her." He growled through clenched teeth. He looked up at me with a pleading expression. "Rose, we didn't know…"

My hands clenched tightly into fists. "Well, that is just utter bullshit." I said and roamed my eyes for the nearest empty room. There was a plain white door at the corner and I dragged the boys inside.

No time to explain, I reached my mind out to Lissa's.

Lissa POV

"So, Christian, what did you think about the heiress." I asked, quite skeptical, and took a bite of my cookie.

He popped his whole cookie into his mouth without chewing. Ew. He frowned, considering.

"I guess she looked kind of hot." He said casually and shrugged. I slapped his arm lightly, not believing that he didn't think Rose was hot. Rose tonight – AKA Turkish heiress – looked otherworldly hot. Ethereal in an exotic way. Even without make-up, Rose always looked hot. And beautiful.

"Aw, Lissa, even if she's wearing that lavish dress, expensive mask and probably a plastic body doesn't change how the way I look at you." He said and pecked my lips sweetly.

"Huh?" Callow as always, I didn't know what he meant by plastic body. "What's a plastic body?"

Christian threw his head back and laughed loudly, making a few heads turn in our way. "Oh, Lissa, I forgot about how naïve you were." He noted and stopped laughing. "Plastic surgery, honey. Do you actually believe that a Moroi could be that lucky having those volumes of flesh? And, oh, let's not forget about fake tan. No offense."

Oh, I got it. Well, better not to argue more with the case. I knew Christian well enough that he would win if I make a case out of it. I was never good at arguing but I always dreamt of taking law at a master's degree.

"You know, that heiress kind of looks familiar." Christian said all of a sudden with a sly smirk.

My eyes widened. "What do you mean?" I – mercifully – sounded pacified.

Christian rolled his eyes at me. "For the years you and your annoying dhampir best friend had accompanied me through the shadows of my life, you don't think I'd know you behind a mask?" he asked, cocking one brow up.

I gasped and quickly covered his mouth. He had long taken off his mask. "Ssshhh!" Someone will hear you!" I hushed and looked around the place cautiously. Luckily, there was nobody in sight. Or within hearing distance.

"Relax, Lissa. I already know it's a secret that should be protected. It's safe with me." Christian said through my hands.

"Please, Christian, do not tell anyone." I practically begged with my best puppy-dog eyes that I knew he couldn't resist.

"I wasn't planning to, Lissa." Christian smiled at me lazily as we walked through one of the many hallways of the Romanov Palace nobody was at. There were still many paintings James hadn't been able to show us. Christian and I stopped to admire a work.

It was, again, beautiful. The woman on the painting was sitting naked with her creamy white back and pink soles of her feet only seen. The lounge she was sitting at was beautiful and it matched the color of her skin. Her hair was the color of true gold and her eyes – in closer inspection – were green. Her skin didn't give out too much curves, though, but she was just slim in a healthy way. Her golden hair hung carelessly on her slim shoulders and one of her hands was on her arm, trailing her fingertips delicately on her upper arm. In small, italic letters at the bottom-right of the painting was:

05-09-08

"Radiant Sunshine"

M.R.

It wasn't long when I felt Christian's kneading fingers on the back of my neck. He knew full well that that was my weakness. I gave into temptation and kissed Christian. (Ugh. Sorry, guys, I don't know if I could write Lissa/Christian kissing scene. Sorry.) I shivered. Not from Christian's sensual touches but it was from the temperature. A big, cold gust of wind swept to us. I hadn't noticed that there was an open glass window just at the side of us.

And that was when I saw them – lurking red eyes. My breathing became labored and I frantically tugged and Christian's tuxedo. Tears sprung to my eyes as the fear overtook everything else.

Christian looked down at me. "Strigoi." I gasped out before he was slammed against the wall by an unseen force. It was enough to knock Christian unconscious.

I didn't' do anything. Didn't scream or call for help. I just stared at Christian's motionless body. A familiar chill ran down my spine.

My body stiffened and I managed to look back at the open window where a tall, slightly muscular figure was – leaning on the windowsill carelessly. Not afraid to fall knowing well that that was the cause of his death. His face was cast in the shadows but his bright red eyes only confirmed that the nightmares I had were true. He stepped out into the light with a smirk.

"Hello, Vasilisa." He greeted me and everything went black.

Ooh, what do you think will happen to Lissa?

What was wrong with Rose before? Will she save Lissa from Xander?

Who do you think was watching Rose inside the palace?

Please, pretty please: do REVIEW!

I'll UD soon!

Love lots.

Kate