That's one thing Rose hated about being at St. Basil's; she had no idea where to go and hide when she wanted to be alone. She didn't want to go to their room – that would be the first place Dimitri would look for her. The Dining Hall was too public. It was just too damned cold to go outside, so Rose decided to check out a place she hadn't been to so far – the library. Taking two wrong turns she finally found the place, and as she'd anticipated at 8.30 am on a Thursday morning, the place was almost empty. There were a couple of Moroi juniors sucking face in a dark corner, and a myopic Moroi librarian poring over some texts at a desk near the front.
Spotting some comfy looking chairs in the corner Rose switched her phone off, plucked a mystery from the selection of English books on offer and flopped down to read. But ten minutes later she was still on the first page and had read the opening paragraph a dozen times. Realizing her temper, and not the book, was responsible she thought she'd instead try putting her time to good use doing more research about Spirit.
Tentatively approaching the librarian, Rose outlined what she was after, also explaining she couldn't read Russian. Ignoring the computer in front of him, the librarian walked across to a wooden drawer filled with old-school filing cards.
"There's very little call for the old scrolls and documents these days," he said by way of explanation. "So we've never bothered to catalog them on the computer. We have a lot, but not all of it has been translated, and sometimes much is lost in the translation. However, if you find anything that looks promising, I can dig out the original and check the translation is valid."
Opening a door, he led her down a short hallway to another room that clearly saw little use. Lined with bookshelves containing leather-bound books and scrolls, the librarian consulted the notes he'd jotted down at the catalog, pulling seven or eight massive tomes from the shelves.
"These are the translations from St. Vladimir and Shadow-Kissed Anna," he explained. "As primary sources, they're probably of most interest to you and also the most accurately translated. I must warn you, a lot of it is repetitious or just doesn't make sense. St. Vladimir, particularly earlier on, was prone to suspicion and paranoia and much of his writing centers on this. I've also read Anna's writings, but they're less interesting. They're the superstitious ramblings of a comparatively simple and uneducated Guardian."
Rose gave him a scathing look, which eventually he interpreted correctly.
"Right - well I'll just leave you with them then," he murmured, hurrying out of the room. Still feeling very out of sorts, Rose picked up the first book and flopped onto the large saggy dark green couch that occupied the center of the room. She must have fallen asleep because when she woke up her neck was sore, she was feeling hungry, and it was dark in the room. Checking her phone she saw eighteen missed calls from Dimitri, three from Vika and two voicemails that she'd check later. It was 8:00 pm – she'd been asleep for hours.
Half inclined to stay in the library overnight, the only thing prompting Rose to leave was the thought of food. So grabbing her gym bag, and leaving the journals for another day, Rose walked back out into the library and through into the corridor.
Dimitri would be on his afternoon shift by now. They usually had him outside patrolling the wards, so there was little chance of bumping into him. Rose was still beyond angry that he'd asked her to tolerate a weekend watching Tasha throw herself at him. It was bad enough at the Ski Lodge – Dimka this and that and continuously fucking touching! If that's the way he wanted things, fine – but damned if Rose was going to sit around and watch it!
Heading to the Dining Hall, still wearing a murderous expression, Rose was able to get in and out in under five minutes without making eye contact with anyone, taking with her a plate of steaming food. You weren't strictly speaking meant to take any dishes out of the dining hall, but seeing her thunderous countenance, the door monitors decided it wasn't worth their while noticing Rose abscond with her meal.
Not really sure where she was heading, Rose's feet ended up in front of Viktoria's dorm door. Knocking quietly Vika opened the door, relieved to see her.
"Rose! Where have you been? Dimka's been worried sick!"
"I was sleeping," Rose said evasively. "Can I come in?"
Viktoria stepped aside, letting Rose into her room. Flopping onto the floor, Rose shoveled down her dinner. She hadn't had anything to eat since 5:00 am, and she was ravenous. Waiting patiently for her to finish, Vika sat watching Rose, waiting to grill her.
"So what happened?"
"What did Dimitri tell you?" Rose asked back.
"Nothing. He just said you, and he had a disagreement about something," Viktoria said. "You can trust me, you know. I won't tell him what you say, and I won't tell him you're here if you don't want me to."
Looking at Viktoria, Rose could tell she was sincere.
"Do you know Tasha Ozera?"
"Tasha? Yeah, she's Karolina and Dimka's friend."
"Well, she wants to be more than a friend to Dimitri. Has done for ages. She flirts with him something chronic, and at Christmas she made him an offer – if he became her Guardian she'd start a family with him," Rose outlined, watching as understanding spread across Viktoria's face.
"Were you two together then?"
"No. We were in love but trying to fight it. It was horrible. I wanted to be with him so badly, and she was staying at the Ski Lodge where the Academy had taken us all for the break, and she was all over him. Every time I turned around, there she was throwing herself at Dimitri, or constantly rubbing it in my face about their shared history."
"So why is this an issue now? She didn't end up getting him, did she?"
"She's visiting family in Russia and is going to be staying at your house this weekend. Dimitri said it's rude not to see her while she's here, but I don't want to go. I hate her and don't want to sit around watching her throw herself at him all weekend!"
"Do you think he has feelings for her?"
"No," Rose replied sullenly.
"Do you think he invited her behind your back?"
"No. He wouldn't do that to me."
Viktoria looked at Rose carefully. "Then why are you angry? If I were you, I'd spend the weekend showing Tasha who Dimitri is in love with. Dimitri's not going to cheat on you, Rose. But I wouldn't give her the satisfaction of having him all to herself for a weekend either."
Vika was right. It must have been the darkness because Rose had overreacted entirely. Rose had all but pushed Dimitri into a decision he couldn't back down from, now, even if he wanted to. And while she was angry that he'd ever considered Tasha's offer, she had to admit that it was a good offer given nothing had been decided between him and her at that time. But things were different, now. They were committed and very much together.
"Maybe I have been a bit unfair," Rose admitted sheepishly. "Is he very cranky?"
"A bit, but more surprised. I think it's been a while since someone told him to go fuck himself," Vika giggled.
Rose flushed. "Oh God! What's everyone saying?!"
"Not much. Inna asked him what happened and he snapped at her to mind her own business and do 150 sit-ups. No one dared mention it after that. He was really worried looking for you, you know. He kept trying to call, and you weren't answering."
"Yeah, I know," Rose sighed. "Can I stay here tonight? I don't want to face him until tomorrow."
"Sure. Take that bed. Can you text him and let him know you're ok? He's really worried, Rose. He loves you so much."
"Fine." Rose whipped out her phone, texting 'Am ok will see you in the morning, Rose.' She turned her phone off again before he had a chance to respond.
Rose and Vika spent the evening talking about the upcoming Spring Dance and the fact that Nikolai had finally got the courage to invite Viktoria as his date. She was pretty excited but was worried about what wear. At ten they turned out the lights, and Rose snuggled under the blankets on Vika's spare bed, secretely wishing that her Russian God was there to cuddle her and keep her warm but too proud to return to their room and receive the comfort she now so desperately wanted. Despite sleeping most of the day, she was still tired. Darkness did that.
Walking the wards, Dimitri sighed a breath of relief when he got Rose's text. It was a miserable night out, but those few electronic characters made him feel so much happier. He'd searched everywhere he could think of during lunch and before he started his shift, but there'd been no sign of Rose all day. He was beginning to worry she might have done something foolish, so was relieved to hear she was all right. He fired a text straight back telling her he loved her and he'd see her soon. He kept checking his phone hoping for a reply, but none came. Counting down the minutes until midnight, Dimitri was exhausted when he climbed into the van with the other Guardians and headed back up to the school. He just wanted to find Rose, wrap her in his arms and show her how much he cared.
Heading straight to their room Dimitri opened the door, disappointed to find she wasn't there. Sitting on the side of their bed for a minute he wracked his brain wondering where she could be. The only other place he could imagine her spending the night was Vika's room – so he set off down the corridor towards the Novice dormitories to check.
Knocking quietly on his sister's door there was no answer at first. After knocking a second time, Dimitri heard movement and Viktoria opened the door looking unsurprised.
"Vika? Is she here? I love her so much. Please – I'm worried about her," Dimitri implored. She nodded, opening the door wider so he could see Rose curled up on the single bed against the far wall. Relief and love washed over Dimitri. Without waiting to be invited, he walked through the door. Closing it behind him, he took off his duster, kicked off his shoes and started unbuttoning his shirt.
"What are you doing?" Viktoria asked, eyeing him warily.
"It's been a very long day, Vika. I'm wrecked, and I want to go to sleep holding the woman I love. I'll crash here tonight."
"The two of you? In a single bed?"
"Won't be the first time. We'll talk more in the morning," he said as Vika rolled her eyes and climbed back into her own bed.
Stripping down until he was just in boxers and a singlet, Dimitri lifted the blankets and slid in behind Rose. Her back was to him, but as soon as she felt his body, she rolled over and rested her head against him. Dimitri slipped his arm around her waist and pulled her against him tightly.
"I love you milaya. I'm always going to love you," he whispered.
"I know. I'm sorry Comrade," Rose mumbled back half asleep, slipping her warm hands underneath his singlet to caress his back. "I love you, too."
A smile on his weary face, Dimitri gave his beautiful sleepy woman gentle kisses on her lips and neck before closing his eyes and falling asleep cradling his gorgeous Rose.