Eleven
Christian
I should have been listening to what my Aunt was saying. This was about my mom, about our plans, and yet my gaze kept straying to Rose and her almost impressive way of hiding everything she felt.
It was just the four of us in my Aunt's cabin, and her and Belikov had kept quiet for the most part. She'd been staring ahead like a perfect guardian, contributing when she needed to and smiling in all the right places. Belikov kept to himself as well, and I hated that. How could he just sit there with that blank look on his face as if he wasn't putting Rose through hell? As if he hadn't just abandoned her?
"So, there's plenty of conferences, balls, and the like coming up. I know it's not your thing, God knows it isn't mine, but we have to attend. Vasilisa will be such a spectacle, and I know I can be there to follow in her wake and make people listen to the truth."
I nodded, forcing my gaze not to flick to Rose once more. Lissa was the last person I wanted to talk about, but this was the whole reason I was staying with her. Because my Aunt was right. "How long do you think it would take to start Moroi training and for it to be effective? I mean, if The Queen had a sudden change of heart tomorrow."
She shifted in her chair. "Maybe a few months before there was any noticeable difference. I mean, Moroi already have training in magic, so making that magic offensive isn't such a long process as you might think."
But we both knew the truth: The Queen wasn't going to have a sudden change of heart tomorrow. This was an issue that would take years and years before any real shift in attitudes was taken. "And how long do you think it'll be before my mom attacks?"
"It's impossible to know that," my Aunt said, shrugging her shoulder. "All we can do is be as prepared as possible."
She didn't need to be prepared at all: she was going to be in her house in the middle of a human city, and that would stop her being attacked by the Strigoi when they came. Unless my mom was making a special effort to target her, too, but my Aunt had received no letters or threats.
St. Vladimir's was the one getting attacked, at least if they planned on attacking before the end of the school year, which was still three months away.
My Aunt's phone buzzed, interrupting the conversation, and she looked at me apologetically. "This is important. Do you mind if we cut this short? I think I'll probably be around at St. Vlad's a while, so we've got plenty of time."
I couldn't stop my glance towards Rose now, but she had no reaction at all. Her face was as stoic as ever, but I could see her attempt as reassurance when she met my eyes. She was hurting, badly, and my rage towards Belikov returned. "No problem." I hoped I hid my anger even half as well as Rose did. "I'll see you around."
Belikov stood, too. "I need to go and speak to Alberta about what rounds I'll be doing," he said.
The three of us stepped out of the cabin together, and I racked my brains for something I could do to distract Rose. Belikov spoke first, though. "Rose, can I speak to you for a moment?"
My body tensed. "She'll get into trouble if she's not guarding me." It was true, and a good excuse. Rose and always been complaining that Belikov was a stickler for the rules. Maybe he'd give up and leave her alone now.
He considered me for a moment before sighing. "Yes, you're right," he said. He gave Rose one more long look, which had my blood boiling, and then set off back towards campus.
"Come on," I told Rose. "Let's go practice some magic. It's been forever since I did that." Since before the field experience began, even. I'd been so pre-occupied with everything that I'd not gotten around to it for ages.
"He's not that bad, you know. I mean, he didn't really do anything wrong. I just take things like a pathetic piece of shit."
"He just left you. Who does that to someone they care about?" I was being a complete hypocrite and I knew it. It was a break-up, it happened all the time. If it wasn't for extenuating, I'd have dumped Lissa weeks ago and she'd have been devastated.
But it was different because it was Rose, and I couldn't quite deal with seeing her like this.
"It would have been a bad idea for him to stay. We weren't good for each other, and our situation definitely wasn't good for us. It's better this way, even if it doesn't look like it yet. What would the point of him being here, but us not being able to be together, be? It would have been harder, I think. Now I can just move on."
"Well, you would be able to if I wasn't dragging you around to see him day-in, day-out."
Rose grinned at me: a real grin that made my heart pound. "I might be a little bit pathetic, but I can really deal with this. Besides, it makes you feel guilty and then I get to watch you do magic, so I'm really happy with this arrangement."
This time it was a flirty nudge in the shoulder, and I hated the urge to wrap my arm around her shoulder and pull her into my side.
There we went, playing with fire again. As though we could just keep doing this and neither was eventually going to get burnt.
She'd said it herself about the situation with Belikov, and now we were putting ourselves in the exact same place.
It could only hurt.
