Hey everyone, I hope you all had an incredible Christmas and New Years. I just wanted to take this time to apologise for the delay with this chapter, I have explained more at the end of the Chapter which I really hope you'll read, especially about my new story idea! Thanks again for sticking with me through all of this, you have no idea how much I appreciate all of your support. Anyway, on with the chapter!
The rest of the week carried on in a similar way as the first day. Dimitri and I would sleep during the day. We would fall asleep on opposite sides of the bed and then wake as a tangle of limbs. And though we shared a few more heated moments, none of it went as far as that first day.
Once we awoke to see the moon making its way up into the sky, we would get ready and head out to a different part of town and hunt down those Strigoi.
The job was difficult, and it was taking its toll on the both of us. There were plenty of Strigoi around here, but they weren't very willing to give up information. Though after torturing and inevitably killing what felt like thousands of Strigoi, we finally got the information we needed. The location of Victor and Robert's hideout.
It was only about an hour's drive from where we had been staying, and by the way it was described, it would be easy enough to find.
But Hans and the Queen's words repeated over and over clearly in my mind. Although we knew the location, I hadn't seen the place with my own eyes, and I wasn't going back to Court unless I was one hundred percent certain we had the right place. That's why Dimitri and I were on our way there right now.
I had insisted on driving, Dimitri had injured his shoulder slightly the previous night, and although it was nothing to worry about, it was still a bit stiff. Together we had accumulated a fair amount of injuries while making our way through the population of Strigoi in the area, luckily none of it was fatal, just a scratch or two.
The pierce wounds from the Strigoi bite on the first night were almost completely healed by now, but I still caught Dimitri studying them carefully every once in a while.
My hair was tied up today, with only a few strands framing my face. I glanced out of the corner of my eye while I was driving along the road and saw Dimitri watching me. He looked out of the window when he saw I had noticed.
We were both tired and worn out; I would use that as an excuse for my lack of patience with him.
"Alright, let's talk about this." I said abruptly after we had spent the first half of the journey in almost comfortable silence.
His dark brows furrowed in confusion as he looked at me again. "What are we talking about?" He asked, his voice low and rough after not speaking for some time.
I glanced at him again while I spoke to I could watch his reaction carefully. "You, your obsession with the scratches on my neck from that bastard Strigoi."
His brown irises darkened as they flickered down to my neck again before meeting my eyes. I tore my eyes away from his face to look at the road again, but I could still feel him watching me. "I... I'm not obsessed with them. It's just weird seeing them again, after... from when I... It's just difficult to see them there when I know I did the same thing to you back then." He sounded almost broken when he made his admission. Dimitri Belikov had always been so eloquent and well spoken with his words, even with the language barrier; this had to be one of the first times I had ever heard him stumble over his words.
"But it wasn't you that gave them to me this time. Or last time, the person who kept me there wasn't you Dimitri, you know that." I told him sincerely while glancing from him to the road. I was starting to regret my decision to drive; I wanted to see his face when I spoke to him.
"I know, I'm sorry. It's just the last time I saw you with marks on your neck was when I was a Strigoi, and I was the one that gave them to you. It just brings back... not so pleasant memories." He finally said.
Of course it would bring back memories for him. If anything, I was being selfish for taking the situation so light-heartedly.
"I'm sorry." I said as I took one hand off the wheel and pulled the hair-tie out of my hair, letting it fall around my shoulders.
My hair was starting to grow longer again now, it just about came down to my breasts.
I didn't need to look to know that Dimitri was watching me. "You didn't have to do that." He said, meaning taking my hair down. "And you should never apologise to me, you have done nothing wrong."
I decided not to respond to that, we had had this conversation far too many times.
I followed the GPS until we reached a dirt-track road. The GPS couldn't take us directly to the address, because it seemed to be situated in the middle of a dense forest, and this lane seemed to be the only entrance point. That would not be useful in a fight.
"I say we hide the car somewhere and walk down the road until we reach the house." I decided after we sat in silence for a moment thinking of our best strategy.
Dimitri considered my words for a moment until he nodded. I drove a few minutes down the street until we came upon a rundown gas station. The car would blend in well enough there.
We checked our weapons twice before we finally declared it time to go. It was daylight now, so Strigoi were not an imminent threat to us, but that didn't mean we wouldn't be spotted by Moroi or any potential Dhampirs that were working for the brothers.
We didn't talk once we reached the road that would lead us to the house; we needed our wits about us.
The road was as straight as a ruler but seemed to go on for miles; we were surrounded by nothing but thick woodland on either side.
We had been walking for some time when we finally saw the metaphorical light at the end of the tunnel.
A massive wrought iron gate loomed ahead of us. The height of it towered over Dimitri's head and it looked thick and strong, a fence ran around the whole perimeter of the house and its grounds.
The house was something else completely. It was incredibly grand, and absolutely huge. It looked like something you would see in a movie, probably in a horror movie. The building looked incredibly old and yet it was very well maintained.
There was a long gravel driveway leading up to the front entrance, the path was lined with flower beds filled with perfectly tended white flowers.
I mentally sighed in frustration, there was no way we'd be able to creep up on the brothers if this was where they were staying, we would be wide open to attacks from all angles with only one way of escaping, we would have to be very smart about this.
The house practically radiated royal Moroi power; everything about it was perfectly well kept and pristine.
There must have been at least one hundred windows on that house, and almost every single one was boarded up with cardboard or wood panels as far as I could see from this distance. All except the ones on the fourth floor, which looked like more of an attic.
I was going to motion to Dimitri that we should get a closer look when we both stopped dead.
We both heard it at the same time, but Dimitri was the first to act.
His strong arms gripped me around the waist and he yanked me into the woods quicker than I could have thought possible.
His large hand covered my mouth as he pulled us down into a crouching position behind some bushes deep enough into the woodland that we wouldn't be seen.
The car sped past so quick that it caused bits of gravel to fly up from the ground in our direction. I put my arms up to shield us as Dimitri's arms were busy holding me close to his body. The sting of the stones making contact with my skin made me flinch ever so slightly.
The car skidded to a halt in front of the gates.
I leapt up out of Dimitri's vice-like grip and ran from the bushes.
"Rose!" Dimitri whisper-yelled even as I heard him follow after me.
I stopped just within the line of trees and watched as an arm poked out of the driver's side of the car; it looked like whoever it was was entering a code into a keypad that I hadn't noticed before. There were at least 10 digits in the code.
Dimitri's hand gripped my shoulder as if he was scared I was going to make a move on the car now. As if I would be so reckless.
The gate finally opened with a groan and the car sped through and up the long driveway before stopping in front of the main entrance.
The gate shut automatically after they were through.
Three figures exited the car and hurried into the house. The first two were very clearly Victor Dashkov and Robert Doru. The second was not so easy to recognise.
It was very clearly a woman, but she wore a coat with the hood up, so there was no way of truly telling who it was.
This information was enough, we had what we needed.
We weren't foolish enough to walk back down the road, and instead went back through the woodland. We didn't utter a word during the long walk back to the car; I think we were both secretly afraid that we would somehow be heard. Even the trees had ears in places like this.
We let out of a joint sigh of relief when we finally made it to the car and started the engine, that had been a close call. The whole operation would have been ruined if we had been seen or even worse, caught. I didn't even want to think about what would happen to us if Victor had seen us approaching his house. That house was likely filled to the brim with Strigoi. What he did to Lissa all those years ago back at the Academy way bad enough, I hated to think what he would be capable of doing now he was even more corrupt.
Now we were on our way back home, to Court. We would go straight to Hans and the Queen once we were through the gates, this matter couldn't wait. Then we would need to prepare for what would likely be the fight of our lives.
There we have Chapter 25! I just want to apologise for the delay in the update, I have been busy recently and honestly just lost all inspiration, I kept worrying myself about where this story was going, all of your reviews really encouraged me, but I just felt like I would let you down if I posted a chapter that wasn't very good.
In other news, I was on the way home from the shops yesterday with my Mum when I had what I think is an amazing story idea. I think the idea must have sparked from the Throne of Glass books, which I hope you've all read. I was thinking that Rose Hathaway is a famous assassin who has been pretty much living on the streets all her life, when she is kidnapped one night and taken to the King's Castle by the Head of the Guard, who would be Dimitri, and basically shit goes down. I will use the Vampire Academy characters with a storyline somewhat inspired by Throne of Glass. I've already written a story plan so I'm hoping I won't lose myself in it like I feel I have this story. The story would be set way back in the past, before phones and cars, where Kingdoms were ruled by Kings and Queens. So really, I just wanted to know if this is something that you would want to read. And also if you think the characters should have powers such as Fire and Ice. I would likely put this story on hold for the time being until I get some more inspiration, which I am incredibly apologetic for.
Anyway, sorry for rambling, I'm not even sure if people read these bits at the end! Please let me know what you think about the new story. Thank you so much for all of the incredible reviews, I'm so sorry that this chapter isn't very long, but I appreciate all of the follows, favourites and reviews soooooooooo much. Thanks again, please let me know what you think!