Ok, so I am getting my copy of Spirit Bound tomorrow, so I won't be updating for a while - I'm a slow reader lol.
I had a lot of fun writing that last chapter, so I'm glad you all enjoyed it!
"I need a drink," Alberta groaned as we left the white room.
"Me too," Dimitri admitted.
I walked with them, hoping they would let me in on that drink. Today was definitely one of those days. We walked out of the Officials Building and followed Alberta down one of the many streets in Court. It turns out her definition of a 'drink' was a cappuccino - extra cream. Dimitri ordered a mug full of espresso. When it was my turn to order, I just got some hot chocolate since I never got into the taste of coffee. It seems like Guardians eventually come to rely on the stuff since they get long shifts, but as of right now, I couldn't stand it.
"I got this," Dimitri said, and paid for my drink along with his.
"Thanks," I told him, and the three of us took a seat at a table in the corner of the coffee shop. Alberta and Dimitri immediately started drinking, but I took the time to blow my hot chocolate.
"Did you tell the Council that Dimitri and I don't get along when we work together? Why couldn't you tell them about…" I trailed off, not really sure how to phrase it. Dimitri's hand squeezed my leg under the table.
"If Alberta told them about our romantic relationship, I would be discharged and you wouldn't be certified as a Guardian. It would be a conflict of interest, and we could never protect Moroi," Dimitri said sadly. "This way, we still keep our jobs and stay together."
"This sucks. I thought after Graduation we could stop pretending. I'm tired of all this running around," I groaned, took a sip of my drink, and burned my lip. "Owww," I complained and sucked on my injured lip.
"As long as it doesn't get to the Guardian Council, we don't have to hide it among our friends or among other Guardians. When we move to Court we can settle things down, but before Graduation, we can't do much of anything." Dimitri said with another squeeze and then drank deeply from his mug.
"It may not seem like much Rose, but we did get a lot straightened out. It sounds like they are prepared to assign you as Lissa's Guardian when you graduate. And Dimitri will be Adrian's, so there is no problem," Alberta said.
"No problem…" Dimitri said and then stood up, "I need another cup."
I laughed as I watched Dimitri stand on line to order another cup of coffee. "So how is the school in Maine looking?" I asked Alberta.
With a sigh, she told me about the physical damage to the school and the emotional damage to the staff and students. They were able to find an abandoned building about 15 miles away that looked to be their hideout for the attack. 27 students (Moroi and Dhampir) were found dead in the building and another 4 are missing.
"I will be back on Wednesday, with another 15 Guardians to help increase our security," she said as she finished her cup.
"Where are these Guardians coming from? Why don't we just normally have all these extra Guardians?" I asked.
With a sad look, Alberta said, "They reassigned these Guardians to our school. They were forced to leave their charges. The Council took them from non-royal families."
This angered me, and I told myself that I have to tell Lissa about this other injustice with Guardian assignments so she can work on fixing it.
"I have a shift starting in 5 minutes, so I have to go. It was nice seeing you again. I hope you are doing well in practice," Alberta said with a hint of humor.
I smiled innocently and waved goodbye. Dimitri came back with a travel cup and suggested we go back to his room.
"You don't have a shift?" I asked as we climbed the stairs.
"No. I had one last night into this morning before the meeting," he said with a long sip of his coffee.
When we got to his door, he dug around in his pocket for the keys, and a Guardian walked by.
"Hi Dimitri," the guy said as he passed by.
"Hi Chris," Dimitri replied and held the door open for me. Chris was still in the hall waving at us when I walked in and Dimitri followed me in. It was so simple, and it was obvious Dimitri did not worry about hiding the fact that I was in his room.
"Who is Chris?" I asked, sprawling out on the couch that was a million times more comfortable than what was in that Council room.
"A guy I know from when I guarded Zelkos," Dimitri said and threw out his empty coffee cup.
I knew that was a touchy subject with him, so I dropped it. He walked over to the couch and slid in behind me. His hands wrapped around my waist and his chin rested on my head. My back was to his chest, and we just lay there for a while, enjoying each other's presence.
I slipped into Lissa's mind to see if she was still with the Queen, and sure enough, she was getting a manicure with her. The Queen was talking about some royal family that was visiting the Court in a week, and Lissa was taking mental notes of everything the Queen has said in the last 2 hours. I stayed for a while and enjoyed the manicure she was getting, and then stepped out of her mind to return to mine. It seemed like she would be with the Queen for a few more hours, I can meet her after dinner.
When I came back, I felt Dimitri was asleep behind me. Even with the 2 cups of coffee, it took him 15 minutes to fall asleep. He must be exhausted. I slowly twisted myself around and still stayed in his arms. His relaxed sleeping face always made me smile and I gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before I settled myself for a nice nap.
A few hours later I woke up to see Dimitri still asleep in front of me. I probably should go check on Lissa now - she might be done with the Queen. A quick look in her mind made me realize I slept through dinner and she was waiting for me in our room. As soon as I started pulling myself up, his arms tightened around me and he whispered, "Stay with me Roza."
"I guess someone is awake," I joked, settling back down and brushing the hair out of his face.
"I didn't mean to fall asleep. It's been a long day," he confessed.
"Anything I can do?" I asked. I could try a massage, but I might end up hurting him.
"Just stay with me for a while," he whispered and bent his head down to kiss my collar bone.
"Hmm… I can do that," I growled, then pulled his head up to kiss him properly.
He responded with a slow and deep kiss that curled my toes. His hand slid its way up from my waist and massaged my breast under the shirt. I moaned into his mouth and he moaned back. Slowly, he lifted himself over me and one of his knees landed right between my legs making me gasp.
"No, no," he teased against my lips. He pulled my bottom lip into his mouth and gently massaged it with his tongue. His other hand roamed down and played with the zipper on my pants, but he wouldn't unzip me.
I was getting impatient and started rocking my hips against his knee, hoping to get some friction or make him realize what I wanted. He got the message loud and clear: he kissed me hard before he sat up and started wrestling his pants off. Just as I pulled mine down and kicked them away, Lissa called to me through the bond, 'Rose! I need to know what happened! Where the hell are you?'
With a sigh I reached down over the side of the couch and grabbed my pants so I can get back to her. Dimitri saw what I was doing and stopped stripping.
"What's wrong?" he asked, pulling his shirt back on.
"Lissa is looking for me and we have been gone for hours. I have to go see her or she will just keep worrying and it won't be good for either of us," I said, fully dressed and standing up. "Until next time," I promised, walking over to him and giving him a kiss.
He held me to him, refusing to break the kiss until we both needed air. "I'll see you tomorrow Roza."
"Goodnight."
I walked as quickly as I could back to our room and when I opened the door I was bombarded with the force that is Lissa.
"Where have you been? What happened in the meeting? Are you ok? Do you need food? Why are you so tired? Are you my Guardian?" she started, and there seemed no end in sight.
"I was at Dimitri's, I will probably be your Guardian, I am ok, and I would like some food," I answered as many of her questions as I could.
"You're going to be my Guardian!" she squealed and hugged me. "Does that mean Dimitri was able to get reassigned?"
With a laugh I told her that he was going to have to guard Adrian.
She stared at me with a serious look, then started laughing so hard she had to sit down. "But they hate each other!"
"Oh, they will be fine." I said, laughing with her. "He's still at the Academy, so Dimitri doesn't have to guard him 24/7, then we come to Court where again, he doesn't need 24/7 watch, just at school where the 2 of them will have to cooperate a little more. It's not going to be too bad." I said, hoping.
"Does that mean I'm not going to see you unless I'm at school?" she asked, worried.
"No, I'm going to make time to see you." I said with a smile.
"Good," she smiled back.
We talked about what the Queen told Lissa throughout the day. Exactly what was expected of Lissa and what kind of classes she was going to take. Since Moroi can't go out during the day, Lissa was enrolled as a part-time student that takes night classes. She only has 2 classes at a time. At this rate, she will graduate in 6 years instead of the normal 4, but many Moroi encounter this problem. It all depends on what the college offers. We talked about next year, what we wanted to do before we graduated, and about boys. Our boys.
"Christian seems to be hinting about moving in together," she admitted, blushing.
"Lissa! That would be so sweet… you out working and Christian making you dinner every night."
She threw a pillow at me to shut me up, then asked about what's going to happen with me and Dimitri.
"They said that as long as the Council doesn't hear of our relationship, we won't have to hide it after Graduation," I said, feeling a smile come across my face.
"Our lives are finally working out," Lissa yawned.
We fell asleep not long after. The next morning we packed up and went back to the Academy.
Christian welcomed us back, giving Lissa a kiss and me a wave. Dimitri had to go report us back in and cover his duties back on campus.
During dinner, we updated Christian on what's going to happen after Graduation, and he was excited to move with us to Court.
"I can't believe Graduation is only a month away," Christian said, holding Lissa's hand and looking elated.
"I know, I can't wait to get out of here," I agreed. I saw Tasha walk into the cafeteria with a tray of food and settle down at a table not far from the exit.