Hello my loves! This chapter is long overdue. Nevertheless, I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
I drifted through various dreams that night. My favorite one was when Rose, Adrian, Ivan, Tasha and myself were playing pool in a crowded basement clouded with smoke, all of us speaking in fluent Russian and complaining about final exams in the morning. It all made sense in my unconscious, something about it feeling undeniably right. I didn't think it odd when Rose threw her drink at Adrian, or that Ivan sang Karaoke songs in English without a Russian accent. There were neon signs in Cyrillic all over the place, easing my nostalgia for home.
The scene didn't last, though, and soon I was dreaming of other familiar faces. Any semblance of peace was shattered as I watched myself hunt unsuspecting people going about their daily lives. I felt trapped in my own mind; not knowing a way out and unable to wake up. The hunts morphed together; the settings no longer matching the person from that night. The little girl from the park was now pressed up against a wall in an alleyway, the drunken slob from the bar was now running in heels to the safety of his car, and so it went.
The nightmare finally ended when my muscles spasmed and I felt my whole body jerk, like I was being pushed from a moving vehicle. My mind went blank for a few seconds, barely processing the muffled sobs I heard.
I also heard Rose's voice speaking quietly, almost a whisper, easing me into an even more relaxed slumber. "You're still innocent," her voice was a warm caress, filling my veins and flowing through me. "I've seen what the blood does to people… good people. They get a drop of it and they're no longer themselves. You didn't have a choice, you were…" she sighed in frustration, searching for the right words. Go on, I thought, tell me what I was.
"You were the victim just as much as the people whose lives you took. I get the guilt, though. It can't be easy, coming back to your morals after living like that."
Her words draped themselves around me, and I found myself agreeing with Rose.
Lazily, my conscious mind was contributing to the dream now. In my mind, I saw her holding me the same way I once held her when she struggled with Mason's ghost following her. I wished it was real, that Rose could be my salvation once again. As it was, I felt like a weight had been lifted off my chest.
A voice different than my own but familiar in it's own way responded, "No, it's not easy." My mind quickly adjusted to bring Ivan into the dream, too. "I'm sorry for, uh, almost hitting you," Ivan said with a thick accent. Rose breathed out a small laugh, "Don't worry about it. Keeps me on my toes. I should probably get everyone else up now anyway."
There was a shift in the room, the creaking of floorboards as footsteps grew louder. Moments later I felt a hand close around my shoulder and shake gently. My whole body tensed and my eyes flew open to see Rose looking down at me with a humorous smile on her lips. She released her hold and held up her hands in mock defense, "Woah there, comrade. It's just me." I leaned back in the chair, letting reality sink in. A scan of the room reminded me of where I really was, shattering the dreamlike state. Ivan was propped up on the couch, watching me curiously. His eyes were puffy and he ran the back of his hand underneath his nose.
I looked back and forth from Rose and Ivan, slowly accepting that I had actually woken up from my nightmare when I felt my body spasm, and the last part of my "sleep" wasn't a lucid dream. Rose had really said all of those wonderful things that I took to heart, only she said it for Ivan.
Rose gave me a concerned look, but I schooled my face into my normal guardian mask before I could give away what I was feeling. "Hey, I'm going to go get the rest of our party up," she said gently, the concerned look still clouded her features. I could tell she was waiting for me to say something, and my simple "Okay" didn't satisfy her. She chewed on her lip, debating pushing it further.
"Well," she continued softly, "we still need to talk to Sonya." Rose gave me a meaningful look before disappearing up the stairs. I relaxed once she left the room and took her piercing gaze with her. With all the turmoil, I had completely forgotten our original goal in finding and transforming Sonya.
I stretched my arms and yawned, hoping for my disappointment to fade like my grogginess would.
"You had a nightmare," Ivan stated matter of factly. I looked over to see him rearranging the pillows on the couch to avoid eye contact with me. "How do you know?" I asked, tossing the blanket off of me and standing. Ivan shrugged, "You were kind of mumbling in your sleep. We would have woken you up but you got quiet real quick."
I didn't say anything, and Ivan took that to mean I was upset, which I was, but he didn't know the real reason behind it. "Hey," he said awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck with a sheepish expression on his face, "if it, uh, makes you feel better, I had a nightmare too."
I folded up the blanket and tossed it on the recliner instead of answering. Ivan came over and nudged my shoulder, "Do you still play pool?" he asked in a more confident tone. I simply shrugged, "Not really. I tried playing a couple games after you... died, but it wasn't the same without you cheating me every game." He bellowed out a laugh, God how I missed that sound. I felt a smile pull at the corners of my mouth; feeling lighter with Ivan here, my jokes didn't seem as half-assed when I told them to him.
"I never cheated, Dimka, you just suck at pool." I shook my head and held my hand out to him with a low chuckle, "We need to settle this once and for all. First chance we get, okay?" Ivan smirked at me and shook my hand forcefully. "You have got yourself a deal."
We heard footsteps nearing us and we both turned to see Rose and the others coming down the stairs. Ivan was still watching them when he said, "May the best man win," and I don't think he was talking about pool anymore. Involuntarily, my muscles tensed at his tone. Suddenly I felt threatened, like my place in this chaotic world was going to be shifted.
Rose had her arm linked with Sonya, she gave me a sharp nod as she led the Moroi into the kitchen area, their heads leaned in close to each other in deep conversation, both oblivious to the tension in the room.
I didn't know whether to trust Rose alone with Sonya, her line of questioning would be a lot more direct and aggressive than if she'd let me handle it.
They were in the kitchen for a long time, my anxiety increasing with every minute. What if Sonya refused to help us find the Dragomir child? We've already come so far, and I didn't want to let Lissa down.
Ivan stayed close to me the entire time as I only half paid attention to the Dashkov brothers and Sydney. He struck up a conversation with me about our mutual friends, asking about their lives now, and I welcomed the distraction. It was a fairly easy distraction, too. I only hesitated when Ivan asked about Tasha's crush on me.
"Did she ever make a move on you?" he asked. I groaned internally, but a slight pursing of my lips was the only outside indication of my discomfort. "She asked me to be her guardian last Christmas…" If Ivan had a drink in his mouth he would have spit it out. "You didn't tell me that last night!" His voice was filled with agitation and excitement, but the meaning behind my omission dawned on him. His face fell. "You turned her down, didn't you?"
I nodded slowly, I was so focused on the parts of my story that involved Rose in one way or another that I had completely forgotten to mention Tasha to him last night. He raised his eyebrows in disbelief and blew out a large puff of air, "Wow. That was… stupid of you." I flexed the muscles in my forearms and made a fist, resisting the urge to snap back at him. "I don't regret it, if that's what you're thinking," I muttered softly.
Before Ivan could speak, Rose appeared in the doorway and tossed something at me. "Think fast!" she yelled enthusiastically. I caught a set of keys, at the same time raising an eyebrow at her.
Rose offered me a victorious smirk, the same gleeful look she'd given me whenever she took me down in a sparring match. My heart skipped a beat seeing that smirk- seeing the old, carefree Rose ghosting her now exhausted features.
"Let's get going comrade, Sonya's taking us to the Dragomir kid."
"GO GO GO!" Rose shouted as she slammed the backseat door of the SUV, securing her and Sydney inside and dropping the plastic bags unceremoniously on the floor. I would have jumped to action immediately if it weren't for both women uncontrollably giggling. I gave Rose an are-you-serious look, "What did you do?" I asked in an peeved tone. She rolled her eyes at me, a huge grin still plastered on her face. "Well, if you don't leave now, we're all in big trouble. Sooooo… start the damn car and DRIVE!" She fell back into her seat, gripping Sydney's arm and laughing even harder, the kind of laugh that looked like an ab workout.
We were in Sydney's SUV in the parking lot of a superstore. I hadn't wanted to stop on our road trip, but I was outvoted… by everyone. Rose argued that we needed to get food, which I couldn't really dispute. I had reluctantly taken the first exit off the highway and opted to stay in the car with Ivan and Sonya while Rose took Sydney and the Dashkov brothers into the store.
The girls' laughter was inevitably intoxicating, and soon enough Sonya, Ivan and I were laughing too at their ridiculousness.
The source of our laughter appeared in the rearview mirror in the form of two men speed walking to the car. I instantly stopped laughing and gave Rose an accusatory glare. "You ditched the brothers in the store!" I seethed, truly pissed at her stunt. Rose's eyes widened like a deer caught in the headlights and whipped her head around to look out the back window. "Fuck! I thought we would have more time." she exclaimed. She turned to me in a panic, all humor vanished, "Listen, Dimitri, if you want to get rid of them, this is your only chance. Start the car before they get here." She gripped the headrest of my seat, silently begging me with big doe eyes.
I weighed the options in my head. I did want the Dashkov brothers gone, now that they weren't needed, as if Rose's pleading look wasn't convincing enough. Yet my instinct as a trained guardian wouldn't let me abandon two defenseless Moroi. Apparently I wasn't deciding fast enough because Rose moved her hand down and gripped my arm. "Dimitri," she implored, "do you really want to drag them around with us? We don't need them."
The part of me still dedicated to protecting Moroi went into overdrive. I glared at Rose, refusing to start the car. What she'd done was irresponsible and put the brothers at risk. Not that I would mind much if a random strike of lightning hit Victor…
Rose narrowed her eyes at me, knowing full well she had already lost this battle. With a humph she sat back in her seat and stared at the window with her jaw clenched.
The brothers reached the car and opened the door. Once they awkwardly climbed into their seats, we hit the road again, with Rose not speaking to any of us. Just as well. I was still pretty mad myself.
At some point I looked in the mirror to see the Dashkov brothers and Rose sleeping in their seats; Rose with her elbow on the armrest and her fist propping her head up. I found myself stealing glances at her at least three times each minute. It was rare to see Rose so relaxed, and after all the stress and pain she's been through it was a relief to see her in a more peaceful state. I couldn't look away from her, with messy hair and her mouth hanging slightly open.
Beautiful, I thought.
Looking at her then, I knew that if I got another chance, I would try. I would do everything I could, spend every last breath being what she deserved.
But I wasn't there when she needed me most, and Adrian was.
As much as I tried to deny it, I knew that I would lay down my life for her, and not because I'm sworn to protect, but because I can't stand the thought of her being harmed. The L word floated around in my mind, mostly as an abstract thought that I refused to form into something more concrete.
I spent hours glancing back and forth from the road to the woman in the rearview mirror.
I was about to suggest we get off the highway at the next exit when Sonya directed me to the exit anyway. She puffed out some air, "I think that's enough driving for today. Let's find a hotel and get some rest."
"No hotel," Sonya chimed in. "We don't have time to make sure a location is secure. It will be much safer to find a campground."
"Camping?" Ivan asked with a disgusted look on his face. He looked to me, hoping I would back him up. I actually didn't mind the idea of sleeping outdoors, but I knew Ivan was a royal through and through. His prissiness showed in moments like these.
I shrugged, "If it's safer, then that's what we'll do. Sydney can you find a store that sells tents and camping equipment?" She nodded, already staring intently at her phone screen.
"So it's settled," Sonya said. "And since we'll be spending the night together, I'd like to know a bit more of how you ended up searching for Vasilisa's sibling. Who told you about the child, anyway?" she directed the questions at me.
Ivan jumped in, "Yeah, and why aren't you at Court right now?"
After that I was bombarded with questions. I answered their questions as simply as possible, but with the situation being so complex, the whole story soon began to unravel. One question led to another and so forth, until…
"She murdered the queen?!" Ivan exclaimed.
"Shh! She's still sleeping," I hissed, checking in the mirror to confirm he hadn't woken her up. "And I didn't say she did it, only that she was accused and sent to jail to await trial. Vasilisa is working inside the Court to find out who framed her."
"So she didn't murder the queen?" Ivan asked, while his voice was quiet his tone was gradually increasing.
I sighed, not knowing how much more of this I could take.
"No, Ivan. Rose is innocent."
"I bet she's not that innocent," he commented suggestively.
If he were anyone else, literally anyone except for my best friend, I would have pulled over and punched him. Instead I just gritted my teeth. "Don't talk about her like that, you don't know her," I warned in a low voice, almost a growl.
Ivan snorted and rolled his eyes, "Oh c'mon, Dimka! I'm just messing around. She's not your student anymore, you don't have to be all protective."
My knuckles were pure white I was gripping the steering wheel so hard. I knew I had to tell Ivan about me and Rose, even if I wasn't ready to talk about it. If I tell him everything, he'll have to stop getting on my nerves like this.
"Woah," Sonya breathed, "Dimitri, your aura…"
I loosened my grip by a fraction. "What about it?" I asked harshly. Sonya didn't flinch or even blink at my tone, she met my gaze in the mirror and smiled fractionally. "I don't know what just happened, but some of the darkness in your aura vanished. There one second and POOF, gone the next. Ivan has the same darkness around him, so do I. It must be a coming back from being a Strigoi thing, but you have a lot less darkness than us, probably because you've had more time to heal. And getting angry at Ivan just now… I think it healed you somehow."
"You only got three tents?" Sydney asked Ivan in disbelief as we unloaded the SUV. Ivan nodded, "One for the brothers, one for me and Dimitri, and one for the girls… hey, what'd I do wrong?" He called after her but Sydney had already walked to the center of the campsite where Rose and Sonya were arranging kindling for a fire.
Sydney made a comment to Rose that I couldn't hear, but whatever it was it made Rose walk over to us. She smiled empathetically at Ivan, "I don't know how much you know about the Alchemists, but they don't like being around vampires too much. The tent deal might be an issue… making her share a tent with a dhampir and a Moroi is a big deal for her." Rose gave me an exasperated look. Since I was the one to go shopping for the tents with Ivan, I was to blame here.
Ivan's shoulders sagged, "Shit. I wasn't thinking. I mean… I did get you girls the biggest tent, so she can space herself out…?" Rose shook her head and laughed at his uncertain tone as she reached for one of the tent bags. "Now that I've met you, I'm surprised you and you," she nodded her head in my direction, "were ever friends. Polar opposites."
I chuckled, grabbing the tent next to Rose's, "Some could say the same for you and Lissa."
Rose smirked at me, "I have no idea what you're talking about, comrade. I'm a perfect angel." She took the tent and walked back to the center of the campsite. Ivan shuffled closer to me so no one else would hear him say, "Yeah, an angel that could kill you."
Ivan and I set up our tent effortlessly before helping Victor and Robert set their tent up. Rose set up the girls' tent while Sydney and Sonya started a fire, just in time for the sunset. Ivan nudged my shoulder, he was facing the forest, blocking the other's view of him. He flashed me a cheeky grin before pulling a pack of chocolate bars out from under his sweatshirt. "The crackers and marshmallows are in the car. Shall we?"
Ivan had never had s'mores before, so I suggested we get the ingredients while we were at the store. It was his idea to surprise everyone with them, and I went along because the small gift would make them happy, I hoped. I smiled, thinking of the look on Rose's face when I presented her with chocolate. I didn't get that chance though.
Ivan walked over to Rose and offered her some chocolate, as he did he leaned in to whisper something to her that made her giggle. "You better be glad my boyfriend didn't hear you say that," Rose said. Ivan put his hands on his hips, "Now why does everyone keep telling me that? Where is this invisible boyfriend of yours?"
Rose only smiled wider, "Doubt his existence all you want, but be careful. If he thinks you're putting moves on me he'll haunt your dreams." She winked before turning to Sydney to offer up some chocolate.
Ivan turned to me while Rose wasn't looking and flashing me a victorious grin, somehow thinking that he was making progress with her.
The competitive part of me wanted to prove my strength to Ivan, but I felt guilty that it revolved around Rose. I knew that two friends competing for a girl's affection was wrong- especially if that girl already has a boyfriend. Rose isn't just some prize, but that doesn't mean I won't fight for her.
Ivan finally gave up and walked back to the car to get the s'mores stuff. Everyone found a place to sit on the ground around the campfire, Sydney strategically placed herself in between Rose and myself, the only two she trusted here. We passed around the s'mores, Victor filled the silence with mindless banter, but I noticed how intently Rose was listening to him as she stuffed her face with marshmallows.
"Young Vasilisa will make a great queen," Victor was saying, "she will unite people of different beliefs. The beautiful Queen Alexandra reincarnated. She will reign with a most forgiving nature-"
Rose coughed loudly and clutched her chest, "You don't honestly think Lissa will forgive you and let you back in Court? As soon as she finds your location you'll be behind bars again." Everyone was invested in the banter now, looking at Victor expectantly. "I'm not so sure about that, Rosemarie, seeing as she, with your help, was so gracious as to help me get out of Tarasov in the first place."
I suppressed a gasp, Victor had just confirmed what I had already suspected. The others in the circle, however, were much more vocal about their surprise. "What?" Ivan exclaimed, and at the same time Sonya choked on her s'more.
Rose never broke eye contact with Victor, her mood considerably worse than it was just a moment ago. "That was a temporary situation. We got the information we needed. You can go back to rotting in hell for all I care." Rose's tone would chill a Strigoi to the bone, her threat was plain and clear.
Victor only chuckled in that annoying way of his. His gaze brushed over me as he spoke, "Yes, you got the information you needed, but did you get want you wanted out of it?" Victor dragged his gaze back to Rose, but Victor's double meaning didn't go unnoticed. Ivan turned to me, a shocked and confused look on his face. I shook my head fractionally without drawing too much attention to myself. All the while I was panicking, turning Victor's words over in my head.
Rose broke Victor out of prison, and now I knew why. Robert. Robert was a spirit user capable of transforming Strigoi to their original state. Victor and Robert were with Rose and Lissa in Vegas, about a week before I was transformed. I looked over to Rose, studying her. Once again, I had underestimated her. My heart clenched when I thought of the fact that she did all of that to get me back.
Rose cut me a sideways look before standing up and brushing the dirt off her clothes. The circled remained silent as Rose went to the girls' tent and crawled in. "I'll end you myself, Dashkov," she muttered before zipping the tent closed.
No one talked much after that. I knew that as soon as the others fell asleep, I wouldn't be able to avoid Ivan's questions.
Once the fire started to die down, the brothers went to sit in their tent with the fabric door hanging open. Rose opened the fabric door on her tent to let the other girls in; Sonya and Rose both went to sleep but Sydney laid on her stomach and watched the fire.
Ivan nodded to the brothers, "Do you think they speak Russian?" he asked in Russian. I remembered reading Victor's file a long time ago, giving me access to more information than most guardians could get. I shook my head, "The one only speaks Romanian, I'm not sure about the other one." Ivan nodded, "Good, then we can talk freely now."
I sighed, "Fine. What do you want to know?"
"Everything, I want to know why you get so weird around Rose and what makes her different than any other pretty dhampir, and why Victor was looking at you oddly... from the beginning" he stated. I groaned internally, "That's a lot."
Ivan leaned into me, "Exactly!" he hissed, "I've been alive again for one whole day and you're already keeping things from me. You never change," he mumbled. The glow of the fire accented his features, emphasizing his rage at me.
"I just like to keep things to myself, you know that," I said defensively. Ivan gave me a mirthless look. I sighed again, resigning myself to telling him what I've never said aloud before.
"So like I said last night, I was assigned to find the princess, that's when I met Rose. I thought she was strong. Not physically at first, she'd been out of training for a while, so she wouldn't have lasted long in a fight. The night we met she was weak from the endor-" I quickly cut myself off. Shit, I thought. I had no right to tell Ivan about Rose giving blood.
Too late. Ivan wasn't stupid. His eyes widened, "Endorphins?" he asked in disbelief. "She was high?" I nodded slowly, "She's not a blood whore," I said firmly, "but while they were on the run, Rose was the only source of blood for Lissa. It was how she survived. Anyway," I said dismissively, eager to get off the topic, "The headmistress at St Vladimir's wanted to expel Rose when we returned, but she agreed to let her stay and study there if I was willing to train her before and after classes so that she could catch up to her classmates.
"I didn't want to see that potential thrown away, and I saw how much she cared about the princess. I agreed to train her… if only I'd known what I was getting myself into…"
I continued the epic tale of how I grew to admire Rose, and then before I could blink, I was in love with her. I got wrapped up in the story, suddenly remembering the smallest details. I took my time with the story, giving Ivan details I wouldn't dream of telling anyone else. I told him about the conversation we had in the car the day we took the princess and Natalie to the mall, and the dress she wore to the dance, the lust charm, my jealousy over Mason, Spokane, when Rose started seeing ghosts… All the memories that were too sad to think of, and all the ones that were too happy for me to deserve reliving.
Saying the words aloud made me nostalgic for all the times I held Rose in my arms, the few times I could kiss her. These were the same memories I had obsessed over as a Strigoi, only now I longed for the human contact and not the blood rushing through her veins when I thought of her.
Ivan nodded along, listening to my version of events. Out of respect for Rose, I kept the details about the night in the cabin vague. However, I didn't have a problem telling Ivan the intimate details of our time in Siberia, though I tried hard to keep the emotions out of my voice. If Ivan was going to understand how I fell in love with Rose, he needed to understand the reasons why we aren't together now (other than Adrian). I ended the story with Lissa asking me to run away with Rose, which lead us here.
Ivan didn't say anything for a while, processing all of the information I had just told him. I gazed at the dying embers of the campfire, patiently waiting for Ivan to say anything. I felt a pair of eyes on me and looked up to see Sydney studying me intently. I thought that by now she would have gone to sleep. She was still staring at me with a blank expression when Ivan spoke.
"You're an idiot."
"Yeah, I know."
"I mean it. I get that you needed some space when you were restored. But you shouldn't have pushed her away, Dimka. You're also a hypocrite."
"How so?"
"You taught Rose about Strigoi. How they lose their humanity and become something their not. Then you go and hold yourself accountable for hurting Rose. She must have known she was in danger when she went to hunt you… you have no responsibility for what happened."
"But I still can't live with the idea that-"
"Plus you still want her. I know you do. I mean, I didn't really see it before, but now it's obvious. It explains why you had a stick up your butt when I was checking her out."
I laughed without humor. "You're right," I admitted. "I want her back. I want everything we promised to each other months ago." I couldn't believe I was saying the words aloud. "But it doesn't matter now." Ivan raised his eyebrows, "And why not?"
I scoffed, "Because she's dating Adrian! And from what Lissa's told me, she really likes Adrian. He's not just some fling; it might have been for fun at first but now… now it's serious." Ivan gave me a look of disgust and pity, "How serious? He's a royal Moroi, it can't be that bad." The way he said "royal" implied what we all thought about dhampir relationships with Moroi of status; they weren't meant to last. Again, I felt guilty for invading Rose's privacy, but I needed to talk to someone about what was bothering me. "He bit her" I confessed, "Sexually, I think not like when she gave blood to Lissa. I saw the marks on her neck the morning she was arrested, and when I commented on it she didn't deny he bit her. She just told me it was none of my business."
Ivan took a deep breath, "Shit, man." I nodded in agreement. Shit is right. I looked back over to the tent where Rose was sleeping, and saw that Sydney was still watching me. She was starting to make me uncomfortable, and I hoped she would go to sleep soon. Ivan clapped me on the shoulder, tearing me away from Sydney's gaze. "Thank you for telling me all that. I should have laid off Rose when you told me to. I'm going to get some sleep, but you need to do some hard thinking about what you're going to do to get your life back in order" he said lightly, but I knew he was being serious.
"Goodnight, Ivan" I said in an exasperated tone. Ivan crawled into our tent and laid down. I would wake up Rose in a couple hours so that I could get some rest before we hit the road again. The last red glow from the embers in the fire were almost completely out now, and the air had gotten progressively colder throughout the night.
"She's a good girl," Sydney said into the night, so softly I barely heard her. It took me a moment to process that she had said the words in fluent Russian. I sighed, "I forgot that you speak Russian" I admitted, ashamed I had so blatantly let another person hear me discuss Rose, "I suppose you're going to tell her about this?"
Sydney shook her head "Your friend is right, you're an idiot. Just do the right thing, and let Rose make the decisions from there." She turned on her side and curled into herself, firmly ending the conversation as she tried to fall asleep.
The bugs made a lot of noise in the dead air as I pondered what Sydney had said. Their constant ringing almost matched the noise inside my head. Would the right thing be to simply tell Rose how I feel, and let her live with that? Or was I to get down on my knees and beg for a second chance? I could do either of those right now, yet every moment I spent near her I wanted to do the latter option more.
I had plenty to occupy my mind; I found that studying the features of the woods surrounding me helped to keep me relatively calm while my thoughts were in turmoil. We must have been near a city though, because the sky was washed out and the stars weren't visible. Shame, I could have gone for some stargazing right now.
When I woke Rose up, about three hours later, I debated telling her what was on my mind right then and there, while everyone else slept. But I held back, Rose had enough on her mind right now, and didn't need me complicating things. With a heart full of regret, I went to my tent and pulled a fleece blanket over me.
I fell into the blackness of sleep quickly, hoping again for a dreamless night. No such luck for me; almost as soon as I felt my body relax I found myself standing in the same suite where I held Rose captive for weeks. Every detail was exactly the same here, the only difference was that Rose wasn't with me.
"Where are we?" Adrian Ivashkov asked, roaming about the room and studying the features. Without a doubt I knew I had fallen into one of his Spirit dreams.
I finally got in some writing time! I've had this chapter floating in my head for over a month now, and I apologize for keeping you guys waiting. For those of you still in school, how is the beginning of your school year? I can't believe how fast this semester is going. Sorry if the writing style in this chapter seems rushed, but I had a lot of ideas to get down... so yeah, I rushed. Oops.
I'm curious, now that you've met Ivan (or at least, my version of him), what do you think of him? I THINK IVAN DESERVES LOVE. I JUST DON'T KNOW WHO DESERVES HIM YET AHHHHHHHHHGGGGGG.
The plot thickens! Let me know what you think (REVIEW PLEASE)!
