I stared into those red-rimmed eyes, frozen with fear. The nausea I felt got worse as he came closer.
"What are you doing out here all alone?" He asked, amused. His voice was like an icy wind against my skin.
"Looking for ticks like you." I said. My hand was on my stake in my belt, and I noticed his eyes moved to my hand. He smiled, causing my skin to crawl. I noticed he looked very young, maybe nineteen. He took another step closer and but I pulled my stake. His grin only widened.
"You're a little young to be carrying such a dangerous weapon." He said. I rolled my eyes.
"Wrong. I bet I can still whip your ass." I snapped. He growled, and lunged for me. I sidestepped and dodged his attack. He swung at me, trying to grab a hold of me, but I raked my stake across his skin, causing him to growl and cry out in pain as his skin sizzled. I threw a fury of punches and kicks, trying to find an opening to his chest. When I got close enough, he made his chest an extremely hard target. He grabbed a hold of my digging his nails into me, causing blood to pour out of my arm. I ignored the pain, and focused on the adrenaline coursing through my veins. I had to kill him. It was kill or be killed and I was not planning on dying. He lunged at me, but with a speed he was ready for, I struck out with a fierce kick, catching him right in the face with such a force he stumbled back and almost fell. I used his falter to my advantage. I kicked his legs out from under him, causing him to fall flat on his back. I fought to get to his chest, but he was good at making sure his heart was protected. I struck out with a powerful punch, catching him off-guard. I drew my stake above my head, and plunged it into his chest. He grabbed a hold of my arm, squeezing. I felt bones popping, but I couldn't let it stop me. I pushed harder until I felt the life drain from him, and his hand slipped off my arm. I watched as his eyes glazed over. He was dead. I stood up, staring down at his body. My legs turned to mush, and I sank to the ground. I wasn't sure why, but a few tears leaked down my face. I looked down at my arms, covered in blood, mine and his. I then heard more footsteps, coming fast towards me. I looked up to see Dimitri.
"Roza." He said. I didn't even have the strength to yell at him. He ran over to me, and bent down.
"God, your arms." He said, taking one of my arms into his hand.
"I'm fine." I said. He turned to look at the strigoi's body, with my stake sticking out of his heart.
"Did you-?" He asked. I nodded.
"You staked him?"
"I did." I whispered. A ghost of a grin flickered across his face.
"Your first staking." He said. I nodded.
"It's a lot harder than you make it look." I murmured. He smiled a bit.
"It is. I know. Come on. Lets get you back to the house so Liss or Adrian can heal you." He said.
"I'll be fine." I assured him. I tried to stand up, but my legs still turned to Jello beneath me, and I started back towards the ground. He caught me, and wrapped a secure arm around my waist. I looked up to meet his eyes.
"Thank you." I said. He stared at me, locked intent to my gaze without saying anything, but then nodded.
"Come on." He said, pulling me towards the house.
"My stake." I said, motioning to the strigoi. He walked me back over to him, and bent down, pulling it out of the dead strigoi's chest and handing it to me. We then started back towards the house. The pain in my arms was becoming worse with each step. It was easy to ignore when I was fighting, now it was all I could focus on. My legs were becoming more and more weak. When we made it to the door, I stumbled inside, almost falling and nearly bringing Dimitri down with me. I moaned at the pain in my arm. Sebastian was at the door immediately along with Adrian
"God, Rosa, what happened?" He asked. He took me out of Dimitri's arms, and pulled me up into his arms against his chest. He carried me into the kitchen and sat me on the counter.
"There was a strigoi." I said. "He attacked me, and I…I killed him." He touched my arm and I grimaced at the pain.
"Are you okay?" He asked. I nodded.
"I'm fine." I said. I slid down off the counter, going to attempt to stand, but my legs still wouldn't hold me. He caught me, but I leaned up against the counter for support. Liss and Tasha came in with all the noise, followed by Christian coming in from downstairs.
"Oh God, Rose… what happened?" She asked.
"Strigoi." I said.
"Are you okay?" She asked. I nodded.
"I'm fine." I said. "Its just a scratch." Actually, I was lying. It was pretty deep. Dimitri wet a wash cloth and laid it over the cuts on one of my arm, and wiped the blood away, proving I was lying.
"God, Rose." Liss gasped. A tear ran down her cheek.
"I'll take care of it." She said, starting to lay her hand on my arm.
"No.. Its fine. It'll heal." I said.
"Rose, don't do this now. Its bad. It could get infected. Please." She said.
"Rosa, let her heal it." Sebastian said, meeting my gaze. I looked out the corner of my eye to see Dimitri nod at me.
"Fine." I muttered. She laid her hand on my arm, causing me to wince, but then I felt her magic flow through me, and the pain quickly subsided, and the wound pretty much closed up, leaving nothing but a tiny, pink slit on both arms. I met her eyes, and smiled.
"Thank you." I said. I tried to take a step forward, but obviously her healing didn't help my Jello like legs. I was weak. I fought hard.
"You should take her upstairs, and let her get some sleep." Dimitri said, looking at Sebastian. "She's weak." Sebastian nodded, and pulled me into his arms. He looked back at Dimitri and met his eyes.
"Thank you." Sebastian said. Dimitri nodded once, and turned to walk away as he carried me towards the stairs. In that one look, I knew what he was thinking. Dimitri wanted to be the one to carry me up the stairs. He wanted to be the one to take care of me, and make sure I wasn't hurt. I pushed the thought away quickly. Sebastian kicked our door open, and laid me down in our bed. I groaned as my body hit the bed. My entire body ached, and I was so sore.
"Rosa, are you okay?" He asked, sitting down next to me.
"I'm fine." I said.
"Are you sure?" He asked. I reached over and touched his face.
"I'm fine, Sebastian. I promise." I told him. He nodded.
"God, why didn't you call me when you knew there were strigoi." He asked.
"I didn't know until it was too late." I said, thinking back to the nausea I felt right before the strigoi attacked me. I didn't remember that when we were kidnapped in Spokane though. He smiled at me.
"You staked your first strigoi." He said. I nodded.
"Its not as easy as most guardians make it look." I said, remembering back to the day Natalie Dashkov had attacked me, back at school and Dimitri had saved me.
"I know." He said, chuckling. I sighed.
"My body aches." I moaned.
"We should probably get you out of those bloody and dirty clothes." Sebastian said. I nodded. He brought me my bag, and I grabbed a pair of shorts, and tank top, and changed in the bed. It was hard, but I wouldn't have been able to stand if I tried. I threw my dirty clothes on the floor, along with my bag, and curled up. Sebastian went and got a wet wash rag, and wiped the blood off me, and cleaned the dirt off my face. He was so gentle with me, and I loved the feel of his hands on me. He leaned forward and pressed his lips to mine.
"I'm glad your okay." He whispered. I nodded.
"Me too." I said. Sebastian changed his clothes, and crawled into bed with me, pulling me against his chest. I sighed.
"I don't think I've ever been that scared in my life." I whispered. He shook his head.
"You're an amazing fighter. You could take out any strigoi with ease. No need to be afraid." He whispered.
"I was scared I was going to die. I've never had to face a strigoi completely alone. I had Christian and Mia in Spokane." I told him. "They helped me, but I had to do this all on my own, and I've never been more terrified in my life." He hugged me tight.
"But I've also never felt stronger, now that I've staked him." I said. He smiled.
"That means, you get another molnija mark when we get back to the Academy." He said. I smiled. "You'll be tied with me." He said. I nodded.
"That's right. You better do some killing, or I'll surpass you." I told him. He chuckled.
"I already plan on that." He said. "But I don't mind." I reached up, and kissed him.
"Thank you for taking care of me." I whispered.
"Its my job." He said.
"Actually, its your job to take care of Liss." I informed him.
"You're my second job." He said. I giggled.
"Oh. Well, I guess that works." I said. He nodded. My eyes were starting to droop. He kissed my forehead, and grinned.
"I love you, Rosa." He murmured.
"I love you too." I said. I buried my face deeper into his chest, and closed my eyes, slowly falling asleep.