Disclaimer: See previous chapters.
Okay so I promised this a long time ago but I was a bit distracted by the giant chocolate lab that kept trying to attack me. Apparently my laptop tastes like kibble or something. So at least I got this finished and it's a nice long one too!
36
Abe Mazur was…well…something. There aren't really words to describe him and I just didn't know what to do about him.
After the airport introduction we went to his car, and did he have a car. When he walked up to it I just kind of stared. The other Guardians didn't say anything as I gawked.
It was black, it was a convertible.
It was an Audi S5 Cabriolet.
I knew this because Lissa and I had played with the build your Audi thing on their website. I had picked this one because it was well it was a convertible and an Audi.
An Audi that cost over seventy thousand bucks with all the bells and whistles.
This one definitely had all the bells and whistles plus a few Moroi touches.
Mazur smiled at me, "I take by your expression that you admire my car?"
I did a nervous little breath hitch or whatever you want to call it, a laugh maybe. "I very much like your car," I said walking over to the passenger side. One of his Guardians, Slone, was already sitting in the back. He looked scrunched but wasn't showing anything on his face. The other Guardian whose name was Kimble stood right next to Mazur. I had to hide a chuckle when Kimble was introduced because I immediately thought of Kindergarten Cop.
"Well then Miss Hathaway," Mazur said gesturing me to take the front passenger seat. I looked at the two Guardians and they didn't blink. I shrugged and sank into the plush leather. I had assumed Kimble would be driving.
Nope.
Abe took the wheel and tore through Ireland at speeds I wouldn't even drive.
I had absolutely no idea as to where I was. He pointed things out, town names and such but they all sounded like bagel to me.
"Okay so I have absolutely no clue as to why I'm here or who you are or where I am," I say looking out the highly tinted window.
He laughed under his breath, "I figured you didn't know anything by the way you haven't said a word. I was warned several times by several people about you," he said giving me a sideways glance. "Apparently you have a few people scared out of their wits."
I rolled my eyes back to the window, "I seem to have that affect on people."
"No matter, fear is an untrustworthy emotion that I don't deal with. The amount of warnings I got against you did nothing to sway me considering your skills."
His words were said in a very calm amused voice. "How many warnings did you get?" I ask perplexed
"Several," he said with a smile. "You have mixed reviews and reading over your history well, I must say you are quite impressive. You killed your first Strigoi before turning 18 and then survived a battle after being captured and then did it all over again. Not to mention a few other things and of course the numerous black marks on your record," he said with a sarcastic smile.
He was referring to the little trip Lissa and I took. And of course all of the other things I've done.
"And yet you still decided to take me," I say leaning back in the seat.
"Black marks mean nothing more than the fact you are willing to bend the rules when necessary or in your case break them entirely."
I bit my lip, "Most would say that is a bad thing."
He kept his eyes on the curving road, "I think you'll see that here, we don't care about a few broken rules."
That's when I got it. Abe had to be some mobster guy that other Moroi would see on my record and decide that I wasn't worth being a Guardian. This assignment was to ruin my reputation I just knew it.
Well, bring it on.
When I saw the car I knew that he had to live in a big house. I was surprisingly wrong. It was a modest house if you could even use that word in a sentence describing something of Abe Mazur's.
Though it was perched on a cliff overlooking the most beautiful view I have ever seen, in my life.
It was white and absolutely spotless from the blue shutters to the tin roof. A paved walkway led to a door that looked like it cost more than anything I owned put together. The house might be small but it was expensive, I was sure of that.
"Welcome to my humble abode," he said opening the door. Kimble had gone around back and I felt like an ass. I was here to be a Guardian and I was completely failing.
When I started to look around Mazur grabbed my arm and pulled me into the house, "You can start being a Guardian later tonight when we go out. For right now I need to show you where you'll be staying."
I felt like my eyes were going to bug out of my head.
The inside was like walking into a dream. Hardly anything matched, the furniture in the huge living room was an array of different styles and colors. The walls were white and there was a black leather sofa with a red love seat and a royal blue chair was next to a dark wood end table. A black coffee table held a bowl of actual fruit, none of that ridiculously stupid plastic crap. There was a huge flat screen over a mosaic fireplace that looked like it was actually used and not there just for decoration.
From what I could see of the kitchen it was completely stocked with every expensive kitchen appliance ever made and had marble countertops. We didn't stop there though he led me down a hallway with a lightwood floor and grass green walls. There were paintings of landscapes on the wall every few feet and everything looked expensive to the tables with vases filled with flowers between each door to the door knobs. The hall went into an L shape and he stopped.
"These two rooms are Kimble and Slone's rooms," he said pointing to a door at the end of the hall and to the first door we had passed. "This is mine," he said pointing to one in the middle, "This is yours," he said point to the door the left of his.
I went to it and opened the door.
"You have got to be kidding me," I say letting the door fall open.
"I most certainly am not, I believe in comfort and if the people I'm ensuring my life to aren't comfortable then what does that say for my comfort?"
He made sense, I didn't want to admit it but he did. I knew a lot of Moroi that barely thought anything about the living quarters of their Guardian's letting them stay in a tiny room with a cot. This I could definitely get used to.
The room was ocean blue with a wrought iron four poster bed with a matching bedspread with white silk drapes. There was a huge black wood dresser and a full length matching mirror. A black couch with red pillows was pushed under the two windows.
A desk with a giant black laptop and an artsy lamp stood on the opposite wall from the dresser. Another flat screen, this one a lot smaller, was situated on the wall above the desk.
"Um well thanks," I say turning to Mazur.
There was something in his eyes but it quickly disappeared, "My pleasure, we will be leaving at eight you will need to wear," he considered for a minute.
"Guardian gear?" I suggest.
"That will do," he said turning around and walking down the hall.
I watch after him then walk into my room.
"Wow," I whisper to myself closing the door.
I sat the heavy bag I had forgotten I was holding on the couch. I looked around and noticed a door fit so closely into the wall it was almost invisible.
I went over and pushed it open.
"Holy shit."
It was a bathroom.
A bathroom almost the same size of the room.
"How the hell does this all fit in this house?" I mumble looking at the pristine countertops and the giant walk in shower and a Jacuzzi tub that could be considered a pool.
There was even a linen closet with fluffy towels and washcloths.
I shook my head as I walked out of the bathroom. I dug in my bag for my phone.
I had six missed calls all from Lissa.
"Shit," I say as I feel Lissa's thoughts blast into my own. I feel myself stumble as I slide down into the couch.
Lissa was feeling lost, I could tell she was having a nightmare. That explained why I hadn't heard any thoughts from her while I was on the plane, she was asleep.
I felt her wake up so I decided to call her once my head felt right.
"Rose?" she asks with sleep still in her voice.
"Yeah I saw you called," I say nonchalantly.
"Oh yeah I did, a few times," she said sheepishly.
"So I'm here," I say tentatively.
"Oh how is it who is it?" she asked curiousness flooding into her voice.
"It's a lot better than I thought," I say looking around the room, "a lot better."
"I guess that's good, so you aren't like staying in a closet with just a blanket?"
I laugh, "Far from it," I say loving the feeling of the plush couch.
"So who is it?" she asks in anticipation.
"Um," I think of how to describe him but something tells me that I shouldn't.
"Well I think he's in his late thirties but looks a lot younger. He's got really dark hair and he's not as pale as most Moroi." I left out the fact I'm pretty sure he's a mob boss and could kill someone just as easily as I could.
"What's his name," she asks but I cut her off.
"Hey I have to go, work," I say mumbling into the phone.
"Okay I understand," she says quietly.
"Sorry Lissa," I say hanging up.
"What the hell is wrong with me?" I grumble sinking into the cushions. I couldn't explain why I felt that weird feeling about saying Abe's name.
I think over my messed up life and then call Dimitri.
"Roza," he says clearly as if he hadn't just been asleep when I knew he was.
"Dimitri," I say with a smile.
"So how is your new assignment?" he asks.
"Great for now but I have a strange feeling," I say looking out the window. Strigoi could easily break through the windows. I hoped there was some kickass security besides me and the two other Guardians. "How's yours," I add.
I can just imagine him looking at his surroundings, "Its fine, I've had worse."
"You aren't in a closet are you?" I ask taking Lissa's comment.
"A closet? No I'm in the guest room down the hall from their room. I find it odd that they are being so cautious. I haven't seen a threat to them yet but threats come in up in surprising places so I guess it's good to be cautious."
"Yeah," I say twirling the ends of my hair.
"So who is your charge?" he asks. He would never force me to tell him and he probably wouldn't be mad because he unlike Lissa understood completely.
"I can't really talk about him," I say fudging my reason, "I can tell you that he's not the stuck up Moroi I was expecting."
He was quiet for a minute before he answered, "I guess that will make it easy for you while you're there."
"I hope," I say putting my feet up on the back of the couch.
"I'm afraid I have to go," he says heavily.
"This sucks," I blurt out.
He chuckles, "I agree."
"I'll let you go, I'm going to try and sleep for an hour before I have to work," I say grudgingly.
"Goodbye Roza," he says softly.
"Goodbye Dimitri," I say longingly.
The phone clicks and I stare up at the white ceiling.
"Why does everything have to be so damn white," I say disgusted with the cleanliness of the unlived in room. My thoughts drift to the little apartment and how I would trade everything here to go back to that and Dimitri.
I looked at my watch that I had sat to Ireland time. It was almost six.
I went to the bed and fell face first into the pillows.
Okay so there you go, Rose's beggining of her first day. Well just wait till she gets out there and has to be on her guard. It's going to be intersting to see what happens oh and...okay gotta run. Need to make a stop to Barnes and Noble!
Hahaha thanks for reading guys and putting up with me, review!