Chapter 35:

DPOV

The sun was setting and I could feel Rose getting anxious in my arms. We had been sitting here in the sun for a while now. Rose seemed to be enjoying herself. Although I was sweating like an otter. I suppose Rose was built for this kind of weather with her Turkish heritage, I on the other hand was built for subzero temperatures. But I didn't dare leave her. Adrian was inside, his Moroi skin not being able to take this kind of weather. He sometimes called to me through the bond asking if we needed anything or how it was going. I would simply look in his direction and nod.

But we would have to go inside soon. The sun was setting and I had to work something out for dinner. Adrian and I had been living off of fast food and room service for a while. And although I knew Adrian didn't mind and Rose probably didn't either, I couldn't take it anymore. I needed a home cooked healthy meal. This was the first time in a while we actually had a kitchenette in our suite so I was making the best of it. I had told Adrian to get some supplies when they were out shopping. He had no clue what I was making but I saw Sydney smile knowingly. She had spent some time in Russia I knew. And maybe the thought of food would entice Rose to come inside.

"Rose, I need to start dinner, you want to help me?"

She got up from her comfortable position on my chest and lap and looked at me as if I was crazy but she didn't say anything. I knew Rose was a bad cook but I also knew she wouldn't stray far from me.

She got up and I did the same. I went inside and she followed me, albeit being a little reluctant. I went to the fridge and started pulling things out. I thought maybe Rose would really help me but she sat down in the chair facing me. I guess I would do everything myself. I started chopping up the vegetables and starting a broth. Rose watched every move I made. I was actually enjoying myself. I was reminded of the times my mother and I would cook together. I had grown up with only women in the house with the exception of my little nephew. He would be a lot bigger now. But I knew how to cook and take care of a household. Even though my mother took care of everything, she did make us do chores and I always wanted to help her so I helped around the house a lot.

I was in my own zone making dinner when I looked back around to Rose. She wasn't watching me anymore she was staring outside watching the sunset. I looked down at her hands. She was scratching her arms in a nervous manner. I saw she was drawing blood. I strode over to her covering the few feet towards her in record time. I crouched down in front of her, taking her hands into my own and taking them away from her arms.

"Rose please stop."

She didn't seem to register I was there. I could feel her hands resisting me. They wanted to go back to their original task.

"Roza, please."

She stopped and looked up at me. She still didn't say anything but she dropped her hands to her side. I got up and took a wet cloth. I started to clean the cuts on her arms. Adrian walked in at that moment.

"What happened?"

I sighed and continued.

"She doesn't like the dark."

Adrian shifted his gaze outside.

"Well, that is just perfect. The night is only, what 8 hours a day."

I knew he was right. Rose needed to learn to accept the dark hours again. She couldn't fear the dark anymore. If she was ever to return to her old life she needed to get past this. But maybe it wasn't just the dark, maybe it was this place. Las Vegas. The place that had been her feeding ground for what a few weeks, months? Maybe she wasn't scared of the night. Just had bad memories of it.

"I think it is a good idea to get out of here."

"Dimitri, nobody knows she is back yet, and I think for now it should stay that way. We don't know how people will react when they find out she is turned back."

I nodded, we needed a place where a Dhampir girl will go unnoticed. That nobody questions the fact she isn't exactly talkative. Where she will be safe and can heal in peace. I immediately knew where we needed to go, I just didn't know how to get there.

"Adrian can you take over, I need to make a phone call."

Adrian moved over and I handed him the cloth, he refused and humphed at me.

"Phf, Like I need that."

He crouched down in front of her and I could feel him healing her through the bond. The feeling was amazing; the world seemed a bit brighter when he was healing Rose. Rose didn't resist. When he was finished I felt the wonderful feeling disappear and I thought I felt a speck of darkness but it was gone before I could look into it any further.

I took out my phone.

"Who are you going to call?"

I smiled.

"How would you like to meet your cousins?"

I dialed the phone number I knew by heart.

I switched to Russian.

"This is Olena."

"Momma, hi, it's Dimitri."

"Dimka!, how are you? Is everything okay, I haven't heard from you in months, I was so worried, I thought something had happened to you. How could you not call me, I was worried sick. How could you let your mother think the worst?"

"Sorry Mom, stuff… happened. But I am coming home and I am bringing company."

"You are? Oh Dimka, It has been so long. I would love for you to come, so I can whoop you myself for letting me worry."

I laughed. No matter how tall I grew my mother would always be my mother and if she said she would whoop me she would. Even though I knew she would be too glad to see me.

"Who are you bringing?"

"My charge, Adrian Ivashkov, and the reason why I am coming over. Rose, she has been… hurt and traumatized and she needs a place to heal, a place far away from the memories and far away from prying eyes."

My mother seemed to understand the implications. Nobody needed to know Rose was there or where she came from.

"Alright Dimitri, when will you be coming?"

"As soon as I can make arrangements, however, those can be a bit of challenge. I'll let you know when we are boarding the plane."

I hung up the phone and turned to Adrian.

"We need traveling documentation with fake names. At least for Rose, although I don't want anyone tracking us either. You wouldn't know how to get those would you?"

He smirked.

"I might know a guy"

I knew he would. It was either Adrian or Abe but I didn't want to get into that conversation yet.

Adrian left the room to make some calls. I sat down with Rose again. By now dinner was ruined anyway. I sighed and picked up the phone to order some pizza.

When the pizza came I knew I had made the right choice. Rose was practically inhaling hers and she had pizza all over her face and a big smile graced her features. I smiled back. It was good to see her this way. Adrian came back and started on his. Through the bond he said it was taken care of. We would get out ID's tomorrow.

After dinner, I really needed a shower. I had been sweating all day in the sun.

"I am going to take a shower. Will you be alright with Adrian, Rose?"

I saw her panic a little but she nodded anyway.

I was in the shower when the door opened and a naked Rose walked in. She stepped into the shower and put her head against my chest. I suppose she wasn't alright with Adrian. I petted her head. I didn't mind. I decided I was going to try and talk to her. Maybe if she could talk about what happened it would be better.

"Roza, you're safe now, no one is going to hurt you anymore. But please talk to me."

I removed some wet hair from her face. She looked at me and I could see tears in her eyes forming at the edges. She buried her face in my chest again.

"Please comrade, don't make me."

I was torn. On the one hand I couldn't be happy about the sobbing girl currently in my arms, but on the other hand, hearing her voice and her calling me comrade gave me hope. Hope that Rose could get back to herself, she just needed time.

That night was hell. Adrian and I both staid up with her and he eventually compelled her to fall asleep. I hoped going to Russia would solve this, getting her away from a Strigoi invested city. Luckily it was summer in Russia and there would be even more sun than here because we were higher above the equator.

Adrian and I both fell asleep, exhausted. When morning came I woke up to empty arms. Rose had been in them the entire night, but now she was gone. Adrian was snoring next to me and I pushed him awake. When I looked around the room I found her sitting in the window, one knee pulled up to her chest. She had opened the curtains and let the sun illuminate her face. I was staring at her. She was beautiful, in this light she looked like an angel.

Adrian tapped me on my shoulder getting me out of my trance. He smiled at me knowingly. He left the room in search for breakfast. I sat down next to Rose and she looked at me, I saw something in her eyes I hadn't seen in a while, peace. It was in large contrast to the look she had last night, one of pure terror.

Adrian came back into the room waving passports around. And not just any passports, Russian passports. I took them from him and looked down at them. He had used our own names seeing as they were Russian enough, hell I am Russian. Rose was now Roza Belikova, but there was no indication of a marriage on the paper so I am guessing Adrian had listed her as my sister. Funny.

"Why do we have Russian passports? And not American ones?"

"Because it will be faster once we land. Easier to get through customs. Besides you are a Russian native, if I had given Rose an American passport she would have to stand in another line being separated from you. They won't be able to track us this way. Social security numbers don't match. I have booked a flight from here to St. Petersburg for this afternoon."

I nodded. We had to pack and get on our way.

The flight was… eventful. The flight attendant kept telling Rose to sit in her own chair, strapped in, but she would move as close to me as possible whenever she could, clearly not liking the restrictions of the seatbelt. The flight attendant wasn't amused and I even detected a hint of jealousy. Adrian took care of that though with excessive flirting, which did seem to distract the flight attendant.

But I knew his heart wasn't in it. He was thinking of Sydney. He didn't know if he would ever see her again. Mostly alchemists only deal with guardians. Most Moroi don't even know they exist. It would be unlikely that our paths would cross again unless we would specifically request Sydney. I was still thinking of a way to do that without raising suspicion. Adrian helped me to get the girl I loved back. I would help him in any way I could. And having his gloomy mood invade my own, wasn't exactly pleasant either.

I was glad when we landed at St. Petersburg airport and was pleased to see it was already light out. I had called ahead to reserve a car and thanks to Adrian's quick thinking in getting us Russian passports we got through customs quickly. I had phoned my mother that we would be arriving later that afternoon.

"I'll drive, the two of you get some sleep. It is a long drive to Baia."

The road to Baia was long but familiar. I had missed this. I had missed my home. Although for the last few years it hadn't really been my home anymore, I would always fondly look back on the time I spent here with my family, in peace.

As I was entering Baia I was getting excited and a little nervous. What would my mother think of Roza, what would my grandmother. I knew they would like the real Rose, but I hoped they would accept this one. Also I hadn't told my mother about Rose at all. She doesn't know I was sleeping with my student. At least Rose was eighteen now. Well actually physically she would still be a few days away from eighteen. She was turned about a week before her eighteenth birthday. Her body would have stopped aging and only started again when she was turned back.

I entered the street and woke up Rose and Adrian.

"I didn't touch your daughter."

I rolled my eyes at Adrian. I read his mind when he woke up. He did touch that person's daughter.

I saw Rose smile at his antics. At least someone found him funny,

I pulled up to the house.

"We are here."

I took a deep breath and got out of the car. Rose followed close behind me and Adrian was bringing up the rear.

I knocked on the door.

My mother opened the door with a dishrag still in her hands. She looked me over and she hit me with the dishrag. It actually hurt. Then she hugged me.

"Oh Dimka, I was so worried. I am glad you are alright."

After I squeezed my mother I straightened back up.

"Mom, this is my charge, Adrian Ivashkov."

My mother actually bowed a little.

"Lord Ivashkov."

Adrian smiled from ear to ear.

"See now that is how I deserve to be treated." He said triumphantly pointing at my mother.

I rolled my eyes.

"Mom, Adrian is fine, we don't want him to get a bigger head that he already has."

Adrian, however, decided to up the antes a bit and he hugged her before I could stop him.

"Auntie!"

My mother was confused.

I decided long ago that the best course of action with Adrian was to ignore him.

"And Mom, this is Rose"

Rose was hiding behind me, but at the mention of her name she peeked from behind me and looked at my mother. I nudged her forward a little. She was now standing beside me still tucked away under my arm. I pulled my arm away from her but I used it to pull a strand of hair behind her ear. Anytime I would touch her hair it seemed to calm her down.

"Rose, this is my mother: Olena."

Rose didn't say anything but my mother held out her hand for Rose to shake. She moved closer to me a bit and I just kept running my hand through her hair at the back. She eventually took my mother's hand and shook it.

"Well, let's get you inside."

We followed my mother inside and my grandmother was sitting in the corner watching everything unfold. I felt a shudder from Adrian as she was staring at him. He returned the favor and stared back. I knew he was reading her aura. I wondered what my grandmother's aura would look like. A smile come across her face and it was mirrored in Adrian. When she looked me over though she frowned. When she turned her gaze towards Rose, her expression was unreadable.

"I have made sleeping arrangements. Rose will sleep with Victoria. Lord Ivashkov, I mean Adrian will sleep in your room Dimitri, and you can sleep on the couch."

That, unfortunately, wasn't going to work.

"Sorry Mom, but Rose will sleep with me in my room and Adrian can take the couch."

"But, but, he is royalty, He can't sleep on the couch."

Adrian, of course, couldn't keep his mouth shut.

"Yeah, Dimka, I can't sleep on a couch, I am royalty."

I turned my head towards him and glared at him.

He put his hands up in surrender. Rose giggled beside me.

"Actually Olena I have had much worse. Let me tell you I can't count the number of times I had woken up in a strange bed, someone else's couch or on occasion the floor without knowing how I got there."

Adrian offered as an explanation. My mother turned her attention to me.

"But Dimitri I don't feel comfortable with Rose in your room. I don't want you to take advantage of her."

This made Adrian laugh.

"Oh, he hasn't taken advantage of her in a while. Besides we will all have better nights rest if she isn't too far away from Dimitri."

My mother looked at me confused. I still was debating telling my family the truth. The fewer people knew about Rose's miraculous transformation the better, but how could I explain her behavior or my life for the past few months without including that.

I looked around and saw Rose was walking outside. She had seen the backyard and it was overflown with afternoon sun at the moment. I decided to take this time to get the bags upstairs and unpack.

When I came back down, Adrian and Babushka were in a staring contest again and Rose was sitting outside on one of the lawn chairs.

I sat down with my mother on the kitchen table, still being able to see Rose and Rose was still able to see me. She would check every few minutes to make sure I was still there.

"What does she mean to you, Dimitri?"

I was startled by her question but answered as truthfully as I could.

"Everything."

"What happened Dimitri? I haven't heard from you in months, I even called the school, they said you got a new charge and left after that horrible incidence."

I tried very hard not to get chocked up when thinking back to the raid of St. Vladimir's.

"I lost her mom. I lost her, and I felt like I died with her. She was so strong, and passionate, Rose was a whirlwind, and if she wanted something she would find a way. She knew duty like no other guardian I had ever seen, and I think I loved her since I first laid eyes on her."

My mother laid her hands on mine in an attempt to calm me down. I hadn't noticed I had tears running down my face.

"Tell me about her."

I swallowed and nodded.

"As you know after Ivan, I was placed at St. Vladimir's and I was to be Princess Vasilisa's guardian. However, Lissa and Rose had left the school two years before and hadn't been heard from since. So I first had to find them, I did and brought two very reluctant girls back. Rose was behind on her training and I was charged to training her and getting her up to speed."

My mother squeezed my hands again but this time it wasn't because she was trying to comfort me, it was of surprise.

"Rose… is your student?"

I looked down and nodded.

"Dimitri, how old is Rose?"

"Eighteen."

She looked at me and raised an eyebrow.

"How old was she when you met her?"

I sighed.

"Seventeen."

I saw my mother try and compose herself.

"Continue."

"Rose and the princess were bonded, meaning Rose could feel what Lissa was feeling and be in her head sometimes. Lissa is a spirit user and using her abilities meant slowly acquiring darkness which will eventually lead to Lissa going insane. But Rose found a way to take the darkness away from her and to put it into herself. I saw Rose being controlled by the darkness a few times and I realized just how much she was willing to sacrifice for her charge. Rose knew her duty as a guardian better then guardian's twice her age, and her sense of duty and her passion in always fighting for what she believed to be the right thing was what made me fall in love with her. I tried helping her as best I could with the darkness, I was the only one that could keep her grounded if the darkness was taking over and I thought her how to fight. She was strong mom, so strong, she could go toe to toe with me. I tried not loving her. I tried staying away from her, but I couldn't. The pull towards her was too great. Then the raid on the school happened. She was fearless and she and Tasha's nephew Christian mingled in the fight, taking on a lot of Strigoi. They were the reason the body count was so low. I was proud of her. But some students were taken and Rose couldn't help but go after them. She was the one that figured out the location to the Strigoi and where they were keeping them. She was the one who suggested novices could help. She came back for me Mom. We were almost safe. The students were safe. But I was dragged back to the cave by a Strigoi, I knew I was going to die and I accepted it. I had seen Rose with her mother safe in the sun. But she came back for me. She died because of me."

By the end I was sobbing, my head in my hands. I felt someone take my head and place in on their chest stroking my hair and holding me. I first though it was my mother but when I looked up I saw it was Rose. I could no longer hold it together and I grabbed her arms and cried in her hair. She didn't move, just held me. Her way of saying she forgave me. That is wasn't my fault what happened to her, she made her own choice. I would never see it that way, but I was glad she didn't hold it against me.

My grandmother came in and sat down at the table. I wiped my eyes.

"Tell the rest of the story Dimitri."

I knew what my grandmother was implying. She knew what Rose used to be.

"They turned her, and for four months Adrian and I hunted her down and tried to kill her, It was the only way I knew to save her."

I was running my hands across Rose's cheek. I was telling the story to my mother and grandmother but somehow I wanted Rose to know, I did what I did because I loved her.

"But I couldn't do it. I couldn't kill her. Adrian found another way. A way to bring her back. She is a Dhampir again, but her time as a Strigoi and the transformation back has left its scars. I wanted to bring her here, so she could heal in peace. She likes the sun. And she doesn't stray very far away from me. The nights have been the most difficult but if I am around we can manage."

My mother nodded. She understood now why I needed Rose in the room with me.

"Dimitri, tell the rest of the story. Your story and that of that boy in there."

Adrian walked in at that moment and looked around the kitchen. Wondering what was going on. Rose sat back in her chair, she seemed attentive. I guess she wanted to hear this too.

I sighed.

"After the funeral for those that had been lost in the raid including Rose, I couldn't stay there, but deserting meant I would never be a guardian again. So Adrian had me transferred to him and together we went after Rose. It was funny, we were rivals in winning Rose's affection and ended up together to hunt her down. I had gotten some intel on her location but I was met with three Strigoi and I couldn't handle all three of them. One of them got me and… killed me. Adrian brought me back. He is a spirit user and can heal people, even if they have died. It is the same what happened to Rose. It is how the bond was created in the first place. Rose died in the car accident that killed the Dragomirs. But I suppose dying again meant the bond was broken. Rose is now free of the bond. Whereas I am stuck in Adrian's dirty mind."

My grandmother still wasn't satisfied. I thought I had told them everything.

"And what is Adrian to you other than a rival and a bondmate."

I looked at her confused then realization hit me. How did she know?

"Well, it turns out Adrian is my cousin."

I saw shock register on Rose's face. She hadn't known that part. I continued

"My father Randall, Randall Ivashkov is Adrian's uncle."

My grandmother nodded.

My mother now seemed to understand the relation between me and Adrian. We were family and like an older sibling I was trying to keep the rebellious younger sibling in line. She also knew why he had called her auntie. Even though Mom never married Randall.

"Well, I knew he was an Ivashkov, but you know there are so many of them I didn't know you two would be so closely related."

"Yup. Dimitri is the cream of the crop. Directly in the queen's lineage. Although the jury is still out if that is a good or bad thing." Adrian helpfully answered.

"Huh."

Rose hardly spoke anymore, but when she did I listened. Although, 'huh' wasn't exactly eloquent.

"She knows."

I was a little startled by that one.

"Who knows?"

"The queen! She knows you are her nephew, and she knows about us. She called me into her office and told me to stay away from her nephew, I assumed she meant Adrian. But she didn't, she meant you!"

Rose was getting angry, but I didn't notice. I noticed that Rose was forming full sentences and for the first time in three days looked like her old self again. But the moment was gone in a flash and the silent girl was back.

I was wondering if she was right about the queen. I knew the queen wasn't one to suffer fools and probably had been keeping track of my father for many years. I wondered if she had something to do with getting assigned to the princess, a prestigious position. I dismissed the thought, I doubt she even cared.