Mase'sPOV
"Where'd you disappear to?" I asked Rose when she joined us for breakfast.
"Yeah, Rosie. Gone over a week. How come?" Christian added.
"You'd love to know. Wouldn't you?" the living legend in her own right laughed.
"Yeah." the group responded in unison.
"Okay! Okay!" she laughed and threw her hands up in a sign of truce. "Russia."
"Wh-what? W-where?" I stammered out. Surely I'd heard wrong. "Why?"
"I was in Russia for little over a week." She shrugged her shoulders as if it were nothing. "Oh! Pick your chins up off the floor! I'm sick of seeing fish mouths and hero worship. I was sent to Dimitri's old school to help out in a rescue mission, then to replenish numbers until the marking and memorial. I got that look and attitude from students and staff- Guardians included."
"You really don't get who your mentor is, do you?" I asked.
"Other way around. My mother and I were the only ones from the ski lodge to be called. I'm more feared and respected than he is. I'll graduate as his superior. I've not heard the end of it all week."
"Say what?!" Eddie shrieked before I could.
"I'm considered as scary and lethal as my mother. I've been placed in her league. She's Dimitri's superior. I've been told, repeatedly, I'll be Dimitri's boss if I graduate to be Lissa's Guardian."
"'If'?!" I screeched. Seriously? The girl was practically the best Guardian out there, already, and she was doubting she'd get Liss? Others were doubting her badass-ness?
"You forget, I've got a bad history and a reputation. One that I may not be able to outlive, no matter how many kills I have."
"How many do you have now?" Eddie and I asked, moods having turned as somber as hers.
"I don't know. All I know is that it's over a dozen. Possibly closer to two dozen."
"You don't know? Then how were you marked?"
"With a star. A battle star. It means 'we lost count'."
"No one will ever know how lethal you are?" Eddie asked.
"No. Not how truly deadly I am."

And, if looks could kill... the face she pulled and the sitting position she altered to... The power that radiated from that, combined with her godly good looks... Well... She could kill in a millisecond, with a single glance. I was a goner. I wouldn't be surprised if half of the current Senior boys at Belikov's old school were goners. Every male Senior here wanted her. And none were getting her.

I still couldn't wrap my head around that. She'd changed so much in so little time. I guess innumerable kills, and having Belikov as your mentor, would do that to you. She could have any guy she wanted, but she'd chosen not to go near them since the Jesse Zeklos and Ralf rumours.
"So, Rose..." I started. This wasn't really something I wanted to know, but I'd enjoy the teasing and sarcasm- so would she.
"Yes, Mase?"
"Any cute guys in Russia? Meet any hotties? Make any new friends?"
"No cute guys, and no hotties. But, I did make some good friends." She smiled happily, but cautiously.
"You got the chance to be around guys you didn't know, and you ignored them? Didn't find a single one even slightly intriguing or enticing?" Lissa asked.
"Not a single one. And as for my new friends..."
"Oh! Come on, Rosie." Christian groaned. "Spill."
"Okay, okay!" she laughed. "They're Dimitri's sister, her boyfriend, and her nephew."
"Y-y-you're friends with your mentor's family?" Eddie stuttered out.
"How did that happen?" I asked,
"Vika was assigned as guide for Mom and I."
"And she took you in under her wing? Just like he did?" I asked curiously.
"Yup. Olena- Vika and Dimitri's mother- visited Vika and Paul, and they made me meet her. She's really nice, and sees me as another daughter."
"Say what?!" I exclaimed. She was now in the Belikov/ Belikova familial league?!
"How'd you manage that?" Eddie questioned.
"Paul and Vika see me as a big sister. And Olena is very loving and accepting. So, anyone her children and grandchildren see as family, so does she."
"Does that no make things awkward between you and Belikov though?"
"Do you mean Dimitri the badass? Or, Dimitri the gentleman?"
"Huh?" I asked in complete confusion.
"Oh. Forgot to mention, Dimitri turned up to escort me home. And Olena arrived minutes later. It's too hard to explain properly, but, basically, not totally awkward. A little uncomfortable seeing a badass turn into a gentleman, but deal-able."