Hello – I'm back. I know it's been a while and I'm sorry! I won't give up on this story but you have to bear with me through slow updates for the next little while. Honestly, I'm working 60-hour weeks saving for my trip and I just don't have the brainpower most nights/weekends to write a chapter worth publishing. I never want to upload something shitty and subpar just for the sake of getting it out!
Sorry again for the wait. I hope that it is worth it.
RPOV
I lay tucked against Dimitri's chest, breathing in the scent of him. I hadn't slept a wink all night and I could tell by Dimitri's shallow and unsteady breathing that he hadn't either.
All too soon my alarm sounded. I was moving to switch it off when I felt Dimitri's free arm pull me back towards him, his hand moving to gently hold the back of my head.
"Another minute, Roza," he said quietly and I nodded, listening to the steady thump of his heartbeat as the alarm beeped loudly around the dark room.
After an immeasurable perfect moment, his hand released me, sliding down my body slowly. I sighed, giving him one last lingering kiss on his chest before I rose reluctantly from the warm bed.
He sat up, watching me wordlessly as I pulled on my clothes, his dark eyes never leaving me as I moved around our bedroom in the dim light.
As I pulled my hair into a ponytail, my phone buzzed. I picked it up, looking to see a text from Hans.
Final meeting in 5 Hathaway. You on your way?
I laughed humourlessly.
"Hans still doesn't trust me to be on time," I joked to Dimitri. My voice sounded strange and hung heavy in the air between us. We'd both been up for hours, yet had hardly uttered a word. Dimitri was silent in response, his dark eyes watching me as I fiddled nervously with my phone. Eventually, I sighed, putting my phone in my pocket and turning to face him completely. "Are you going to come down?" I asked.
He nodded, wordlessly rising from the bed and pulling on jeans and a long-sleeved shirt before he pulled his hair back.
I was relieved when he offered out his hand to take mine. We were still in this strange limbo following our fight. Although we had made up last night, I knew that there had been a definitive shift in our relationship, and I worried what that meant for us if – when – I got back.
I took a deep breath, squeezing Dimitri's hand tightly in mine as we made our way to the final meeting room.
As we pushed open the heavy doors I saw Lissa first. She was pacing back and forth across the length of the room, deep bags under her eyes. Christian was leaning against the wall, his eyes closed and his head raised towards the ceiling. His lips were moving slightly, almost as if he were murmuring something. If I didn't know any better, I'd say he was praying.
Hans, Lehner and several other guardians and council members were standing around the big centre table, pouring over a messy pile of papers and maps. They all paused and stood to attention as we entered the room. Lissa too halted her pacing, staring at me for a long moment with shining eyes.
"Hathaway, Belikov," Hans said with a nod. Dimitri nodded in return. I was surprised when his hand didn't leave mine as we moved towards the table. He'd always been so careful about our contact and intimacy in public, particularly in front of the guardian council. If Hans noticed or in any way cared about our unusual display of affection, he didn't comment on it.
"Have you gone with my proposed changes?" Dimitri asked, eyeing the documents on the long wooden table.
"Proposed changes?" I asked as I looked between Dimitri and Hans curiously. Dimitri hadn't come to any of the meetings in the past week. Last I was aware, he knew nothing of the mission.
"Yes," Hans said with a nod, ignoring my question as he slid a couple of files towards where Dimitri and I stood. "We're splitting into groups to make us more mobile and to decrease the risk of exposure."
"And the wires?" Dimitri asked, examining the group allocations before us carefully.
"He had to work all day and night, but Grant has managed to develop a less conspicuous wire and tracker."
Dimitri nodded, lifting a photograph of a tiny black device to study it closely.
"And there are no issues with transmission over distances?"
"No. We've tested it up to 10 miles and there's been no–"
I cleared my throat, glancing between the two men expectantly.
Dimitri let out a sigh, putting the photograph down as his eyes scanned over a report on broadcast transmissions that may as well have been written in Swahili as far as I was concerned.
"You didn't seriously believe I wouldn't be vetting this every step of the way?" Dimitri said eventually, his eyes finally rising to meet mine. "No matter how mad I am at you, I'll always look out for you."
I blinked away the tears that threatened to spill over, putting my arm around his waist and burying my face in his chest.
Hans cleared his throat as Lissa came forward, placing her hand on my shoulder as she turned to address the guardians around her.
"This is our most important mission to date," she said gravely, demanding the attention of the room. "Get it right and we could change our world forever. I don't want any shortcuts taken. I don't want any compromises on safety. As we discussed in our meetings, there will be one fire-wielding Moroi for every three guardians. Look at which Moroi you are assigned to, it is important that you work with one another to protect them at all costs. The Strigoi will want to target them because they make an easier target and have the potential to do so much damage." She took a deep breath. "You know what to do. If we can manage to pull off an attack of this scale with no Moroi casualties, then there is no reason the council can argue against my implementing offensive magic."
There was a collective mumble around the room as the guardians nodded, excitement radiating off of them to form a tangible buzz around the room.
"And," she continued, her grip on my shoulder tightening ever so slightly, "at the first sign of trouble, I want Guardian Hathaway out," she ordered. "Mission be damned. That's an order."
Hans nodded. "This isn't a time for heroics," he said, looking towards me pointedly. "We want this mission to go off smoothly. If everyone follows the plan exactly then there is no reason why this mission shouldn't be a success. Do I make myself clear?"
There was another, less enthusiastic, collective mumble from the guardians. I could tell that the 'mission be damned' position hadn't been an entirely popular concept.
"Right," Hans continued with a clap of his hands. "Hathaway, it's time for you to get wired up. Everyone else, remain in this room for final strategy talks and your Moroi and group assignments."
My stomach clenched as Grant emerged, wires in hand.
"This way, Hathaway," he called, indicating for me to follow him.
Dimitri's hand tightened around my own, holding me in place. When I turned to look at him he bent down, his lips barely an inch from my own.
"I have to stay here, Roza," he whispered, his hand reaching up to cup my cheek. "I'll be part of one of the guardian groups on standby."
I swallowed around the lump in my throat. "You don't have to do that," I whispered back.
He nodded, "I do. I have to do something. I have to be close, to be able to get to you. Just in case." On the last word, his voice cracked slightly and my heart pulled in my chest.
Instead of responding I leaned forward to press my lips against his. I savoured the sweet kiss, my hand stroking back his hair gently.
"I love you," I whispered as I pulled back.
"Always," he whispered back, his hand finally releasing my own.
As I turned from my husband I walked straight into Lissa's arms, her grip like steel around me.
"I love you," Lissa said, her voice wobbling slightly.
"You too, Liss," I said, giving her one final squeeze before I moved towards Christian.
He looked a mess, his eyes bloodshot and surrounded by dark, bruising circles.
"Be safe," he said softly as he pulled me into a tight hug. I nodded mutely, trying my hardest to push my emotions back as they threatened to come pouring out to the surface.
Finally, I stepped back, turning to give them all one final wave before I headed towards Grant.
"How are you feeling?" Grant asked kindly as he placed a hand on my shoulder and led me from the room.
I closed my eyes for a brief moment, sucking a long breath in through my nose.
"I'm ready."
"Testing, testing, 1, 2, 3," I said quietly to myself as I pulled up to a stop sign. Less than five seconds later my phone buzzed with a response from Hans.
All clear. Delete this.
I took a deep breath, moving my hands from their nervous tapping on the steering wheel to delete the message.
With another shaky breath, I put my phone back into the cup holder and continued to drive forwards. When the familiar beat of a Nicki Minaj song came playing through the radio I smiled to myself, turning up the volume with a smirk.
"Hope you're enjoying this, Comrade," I said, chuckling as I remembered the look on his face when I'd first introduced him to her music. I believe the terms 'abomination' and 'demise of the music industry and society in general' were used.
My laughter died out as I glanced nervously around me. I was about twenty minutes from where my mother was 'being treated' for her injuries and about ten minutes from where we expected the Strigoi might intercept. The nerves were fluttering like crazy the closer we got to the destination. Never had I ever done anything so reckless or stupid in my life. And I had dropped out of school at 18 to go on a literal Strigoi hunting mission. Had anyone ever gone out with the intention of being caught by an army of Strigoi? I swallowed around my growing panic.
"You're okay," I whispered over and other again to the empty cab around me. I took another deep, shaking breath. The waiting was the worst part. Put me in the face of battle and I wouldn't bat an eyelid, but something about not knowing when I would be ambushed was making me feel as though I was on the edge of becoming a hyperventilating mess.
"Stop freaking out," I groaned to myself, forcing myself to focus only on the road in front of me.
I looked down briefly at the sound of my phone buzzing. It was Dimitri calling.
Why would he be calling?
I answered quickly. "Dimitri?" I asked in a shaky voice.
"Are you okay?" he demanded urgently.
"Um..." I said, focusing on the road in front of me. "Yes?"
"Nothing's the matter?" he asked. "You need to have a clear head. I need you to be focused."
"I don't know," I whispered. "I've never felt this... this powerless before."
There was silence on the other end of the line for a long moment before I heard the sound of a door clicking shut.
"It's okay," he said eventually. "That's completely natural. Everything's going to be fine, Roza," he reassured me. "I'm so close by. I won't let anything happen."
I nodded before realising that he couldn't see me. "I know," I whispered. There was a long moment of silence before I whispered, "I'm scared, Dimitri."
"I know," he said back and I closed my eyes for a moment, listening to the way his accent caressed over the words. "Perhaps some soothing country music would make you feel better?" He said wryly after another long pause. "Rather than that terrible Nicki Firaj."
I snorted out a laugh and Dimitri joined me.
"I've got to go," he said a few seconds later with a sigh. "I shouldn't even be talking to you. Hans will have my neck."
"Okay," I said. "Thank you, Dimitri."
"I love you," he replied before the line went dead.
I took another deep breath, laughing to myself when another modern pop song came blaring through the radio. My head instinctively started bobbing to the beat.
How could Dimitri hate this music? I thought to myself with a chuckle. It's classic.
I was still smiling to myself when a dark flash suddenly flew in front of the windshield. I slammed on the breaks, the car skidding along the road as it struggled to stop the forward momentum. Before it could screech to a stop another hard slam hit from behind. I screamed as a tree came into view through the windshield, struggling to quickly lock the steering wheel to the right. But I was too late. With a loud crash and the sound of grinding metal I was thrown forward and slammed backwards by the force of the airbag before everything went black around me.
I awoke with a thumping headache. My eyes felt like they were glued shut and it took me a moment in my confused haze to figure out why. I felt a sticky warm substance trickle down my face and over my eyes. Blood. I'm bleeding. Why am I bleeding? A crash and the groan of metal moulding around a tree flashed through my mind, bringing with it a surge of adrenaline. Strigoi. Are there Strigoi? With a groan, I raised my head. I was seated, but I wasn't in the car anymore. My arms were tied at an uncomfortable angle behind me, forcing my shoulders painfully back. I tugged gently at the ropes and tried to move my feet. They didn't budge and there was the feeling of something digging into my shins and ankles as I tried to move them. My feet were pulled at a strange angle too, to what I guessed were the legs of a chair.
I fought the grogginess as it threatened to take over again; pushing myself to keep my head raised as I forced my eyes to open and my vision came slowly into focus.
I sucked in a deep breath and flinched back as my eyes opened to find a pair of red-ringed irises staring directly at me.
The Strigoi smiled, his fangs coming into full view as he studied me closely.
"Hello, Rose," he said, his cold smile growing as he watched the panic rise in me. "I'm Gabriel."
He continued watching me darkly as I fought against my restraints, every instinct in my body screaming at me to get out of there. Now. He chuckled, watching my fruitless attempts to break free of my chains.
With another cold smile, I watched helplessly as his hand reached forwards and caressed my forehead, mopping up the hot, sticky blood that matted my hairline. I watched in disgust as he brought the hand back to his mouth, sucking on his finger grotesquely as he stared at me with a dark glint in his red eyes.
"Delicious," he said before he brought his hand back to my forehead. His fingers found the source of the bleeding and I let out a sharp scream when he pushed down, simultaneously pushing down on the wound and prying the skin apart. He continued to smile as he watched me writhing helplessly from my chair, pushing down harder as loud sobs racked through my body.
"Where's Vasilisa?" he demanded, pushing down harder until the pain was literally blinding. I thrashed around harder, feeling my shoulder pop painfully out of its socket in my struggle.
When I didn't respond he snarled, kicking the chair back effortlessly until my head slammed against the floor.
I let out another groan. My head was throbbing and I felt the familiar pull of blackness threatening to pull me under. At this stage I welcomed it.
"Ah-Ah, Rose," he tutted, as my eyes began to flutter shut. He used the collar of my shirt to pull me harshly back up off the floor. I heard the ripping of fabric and I closed my eyes in panic. The wires. I let out a loud sob; too scared to look down and see if the devices I was wearing were exposed. "No time for sleeping," he said forcing my eyes open with bloody fingers as they threated to droop shut. He slapped me and I moaned, fighting to keep my eyes open. The mission. I thought to myself as I pushed through the haze. You have to stay awake for the mission. He slapped me again and my eyes opened, blurring in and out of focus. His eyes seemed to glow red as he grabbed my face painfully between his hand, pushing my cheeks in and forcing me to look at him.
"Wake up, Rose," he snarled. "We're only just getting started."
I hope it was worth the wait!
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