Dimitri's POV
A watered down version of the events, for my sake. That's what Rose had told me. I could accept that; I could lie to myself and imagine it wasn't as bad as the reality of it, but before me was something more awful than the beatings and feedings I had imagined. Randall stroked Rose's cheek and she closed her eyes in contentment; the smile on her lips grew wider. The whole picture was very intimate. I realized then that Randall wanted Rose in the same way I wanted her; not just in a primitive, animalistic way either. My stomach knotted and my blood boiled beneath the surface. I had suspected he was obsessed with her, but I didn't expect him to have… desire for her.
Randall left the room before my faulty composure could snap and I would attack him. As furious and even jealous that I felt, it was easy for me to tell Rose was acting. I had seen her under compulsion before, and she definitely wasn't now.
Plus she reacted when Vika accused Rose of sleeping with Randall. This obviously wasn't part of our plan, but like all things, I decided to trust Rose and follow her lead. "Give it a break, she's under compulsion," I told the girls. Rose looked at me, probably trying to see if I had also fallen for her act. I winked, the only signal I could give her that the others wouldn't notice. She started laughing at me, "You say that like it's a bad thing."
Her reaction was so out of the ordinary that I thought she really was under compulsion for a minute. Then, just as fast as he disappeared, Randall was back with Rufus Tarus, of all people. "What's so funny?" Randall asked.
"Oh nothing," Rose said as she turned to face Randall. She paused when she saw Rufus, both of our minds connecting the dots at the same time. While Rose broke into another fit of laughter, I bared my teeth at the treacherous vermin, I should have seen it coming.
"Let me guess, you helped kill the queen, too"
Rufus offered a tight lipped smile, "Hello Princess Hathaway. I hoped we could have a friendly discussion about your future, but that's going to be difficult when you have guardians waiting to ambush the building."
I knew immediately that Rufus' guardian had been the one to give us away. He was the only one who would have known that Court guardians were sent off with the princess. We were too blind to think of Randall's connection within Court walls. We assumed Rufus helped Tasha break out of prison because he needed Rose under security to have meetings without her - completely blind to other motives he may have had.
"What?" Randall was in front of Rose before I could blink, I crouched instinctively but didn't intervene, only because I didn't want to turn my back on the Strigoi standing near my sisters. Randall had a grip on Rose's hair, pulling it back to make her look him in the face. "You brought guardians with you?" Rose nodded, her face completely emotionless, she wasn't even faking a compulsed look of awe at this point. I reached for my stake, waiting for Randall to lash out, but he only brought his face fractionally closer to Rose's. "And when will they 'ambush' the building?" he demanded.
My hand gripped the cool metal of the stake, I regret not using it on Randall in the hotel, but then he couldn't have led me to my sisters. Rose flashed a cheeky grin and pulled out a burner phone from her pocket, "They're coming right now."
Randall grabbed Rose's hand in frustration and squeezed until there were cracking sounds. Rose yelled in pain and dropped the broken phone to the floor; I was certain Randall had broken her hand, too. Without thinking, I grabbed the chair behind me and swung it at him, making him stumble, bending over to clutch his leg. I doubt it had hurt him - his reaction was just instinct, but I still took pleasure in seeing his discomfort. Now that Rose had dropped her act, she had no qualms about kicking Randall in the face and sending him to the ground. This all happened in a matter of seconds.
Before we could inflict more damage, Randall's men were on top of us, trying to hold us back. Rose and I quickly deflected their blows, but it didn't take long for me to notice that they weren't really trying to hurt us. "Stop!" Randall shouted, now standing behind us. The Strigoi backed down and returned to their spots along the wall.
I was about to lunge for Randall but Rose gripped my wrist with her good hand and pulled me back. "Don't" she warned me. I looked at her incredulously, but her gaze was on Rufus and his guard. Then I understood why she wasn't attacking; both men were holding guns pointed at my sisters on the ground.
"My Strigoi will not hurt you, and Rufus will not hurt the girls, as long as your guards don't attempt a rescue," Randall warned, inspecting the bed of his nails as if he were bored. "It's a little late for that!" Rose seethed. Randall's anger flared and he moved in on Rose. I was about to step in front of her but she moved first, reaching behind her to keep her grip on my hand, both for reassurance and to keep me immobile as she faced Randall. He stopped just a breath away from her, staring her down.
"What, too afraid to fight me?" she taunted him. "Afraid I'll win?" Randall sneered, bringing his face level to hers, his hands on his knees, "You don't scare me, Rose. You will bow to me." I growled at his insinuation, but Rose just giggled. Actually giggled. She shook her head and released her grip on my hands. "Oh Randall. You just don't get it, do you?"
He cocked his head to the side, giving her an amused look, like he was indulging a small child. Rose sighed dramatically, "Everyone wants poor Rose Hathaway to do what they say. Everyone wants to control me. If you knew anything about me, you would know that I don't like being told what to do." She released my hand and threw a punch at him so suddenly, it caught us all by surprise. I smirked when I realized Randall had broken the weaker of Rose's hands. She still had a lot of fight left in her. It wasn't long before she got Randall on the floor again. He held up his hands to his Strigoi, preventing them from helping him. Rose stood over Randall with her fists still clenched, and spat on him.
"I'm a fucking princess! You're the one who will be bowing." I'd never heard Rose sound so terrifying, but I liked it. Apparently, I wasn't the only one enraptured with Rose's dominant nature. Randall panted, "You're magnificent." Rose narrowed her eyes at him, but he wasn't the goal anymore. She shifted her attention to Rufus and Julian; the elevator signaled the arrival of Rose's reinforcements at the same time. We had to act now, before the guardians got to us and Randall took matters into his own hands.
Rose glanced at me; in that single look I knew what she needed me to do. She flicked her gaze to the guardian next to Rufus and back to me and I gave her a quick nod. Julian seemed to know what was about to happen but didn't have time to stop it. Rose and I jumped at the same time, she went for Rufus and I went for his guardian. A gunshot went off, followed by several yells of surprise. I wasn't even sure whose gun went off, but I twisted the guard's arm to make him drop the weapon.
"Get the girls!" Randall yelled. I couldn't split my time between him and Rufus' guard, so I grabbed both sides of his head and brought my knee up at the same time I slammed his head down. He slumped over and fell on the ground with a thud.
Rose took after me and quickly knocked Rufus out. By the time the guardians found us through the maze, guided by all of the noise we made no doubt, my sisters were in the hands of the Strigoi, Randall watching on. There was blood oozing out of Karolina's left leg, where the stray bullet had landed. Her struggle was useless, seeing as she was both tied up and in the arms of a killing machine. Tears were silently streaming down her face as she bit down on her lip to prevent herself from reacting to the shot anymore. It wasn't a lethal shot, but she would need medical attention soon.
My sisters couldn't fight their way out of this alone. Seeing the rage in Vika's eyes, and the calm resolve of Sonja, and Karolina's silent pain, made me realize something; this whole time I'd been thinking of them as victims of Randall, but they were all trained in combat and very capable of aiding us in their escape.
A shadow in the corner of my eye moved slightly, catching my attention. I flicked my gaze over to see Tasha. She must have moved over to the corner near Randall while we were preoccupied and pressed herself up against the wall. I had all but forgotten she was there, which is obviously what she wanted. She held a finger up to her mouth.
I decided then that I would let her get out of here. I would let her stay quietly in the corner, and watch the pieces fall where they may. I wouldn't call it forgiveness, but despite what she had done to me and my loved ones, I would not be the one responsible for her death. I looked away from her, respecting but not acknowledging her plea for my silence with a nod or a wink.
Randall held up a hand, his fingers in position to snap, and grinned victoriously at Rose. "I'll hand the girls over to your guardians if you leave with me. I promise." I knew there weren't many ways out of this without shedding more innocent blood.
In fact, I was certain any way out of here would require more spilt blood. As guardians, much more than ten guardians like Rose had said, slowly piled into the room to stand behind us, taking in the odd situation with their own eyes, the Strigoi visibly tightened their grip on my sisters.
The whole room was at a standstill, other than the occasional guardian trying to push his way into the area, nobody moved. Randall still had his hand up, looking imploringly at Rose. Soon enough the whole room was looking at her, waiting for her to make the next move. I knew exactly what she was going to do before she even moved, and while part of me could admit the brilliance of her new plan, I wasn't entirely on board with letting her walk into the lion's den.
She lifted her head up and straightened her shoulders. "Dimitri, Eddie, Jonah, come here please." Eddie and Jonah stepped up next to me, "Yes, Princess?" we asked at the same time; it felt strange to use Rose's formal title now. Rose licked her lips and blinked away her uncertainty before giving her commands. "Randall, bring the girls to these men, now. Once they are in their hands I will let your Strigoi take me." Her voice left no room for compromise.
Randall spared me a fleeting glance, narrowing his eyes. His lips twitched, "No. Dimitri will come too."
Rose shook her head slowly, "He's not part of this. It's just you and me." Randall's only response was the clenching of his jaw. Eddie shifted his weight to one leg to whisper in Rose's ear. She gave him a sad, wistful look and shook her head, "Yes, I have to." She turned around to face the guardians, almost completely ignoring Randall and his Strigoi.
"I'm going with Randall. It's the only way we can settle this without anyone getting unnecessarily hurt."
The noises of protest from the guardians and my sisters were cut off when she held up a hand, looking just as demanding as the monster she was trying to deceive now.
Her eyes shifted to the faces of each guardian in the room, sending a completely different message than her words. She slowly inched her hand to her jacket, where she smoothed down the material, showing us the outline of the stake she'd hidden. She gave us an encouraging smile before dropping back into her more serious attitude, "I'm prepared to make this sacrifice, and I demand you do not try to stop this," she rolled her eyes as she spoke, sending her point home.
Reluctantly, somberly, we all nodded our consent. Randall broke out in a grin, exposing his fangs. He brought his hand down and gave a sharp nod. "Then it's a deal." The Strigoi walked forward with the my sisters, each one of them showing a mix of anger and fear for Rose displayed on their faces. Karolina was limping, she bit down firmly on her mouth as she was dragged over. As soon as they were close enough I reached out for Karolina. Eddie and Jonah grabbed on to Sonja and Vika. The Strigoi let the women go, the one who held Sonja then gripped Rose's arm and pulled her with him. She didn't resist.
I held Karolina close to me, whispering to her that we would get her to a hospital soon. Her skin was paler than usual from the loss of blood, setting me on edge even more than I already was. Karolina leaned on me, letting me hold most of her weight. I knew that as long as I had her I would be useless in a fight and that was probably Rose's intention when she ordered one of my sisters to be turned over to me. I couldn't abandon my sister to join the fight, and handing her over to another guardian during any type of fray would just cause confusion and take away precious seconds, potentially putting us at risk. Whether I liked it or not, Karolina was my charge for now.
As soon as Randall touched Rose she shouted one infamous word amongst guardians that called the room to action; "Buria!" All the guardians except me, Eddie and Jonah rushed forward. Rose had her stake out and went for Randall's heart immediately.
He reacted fast, though, and grabbed the nearest shield he could find; the figure in the corner who wanted to go unnoticed. He pulled Tasha in front of him just as Rose swung her stake forward. I was shouting now, yelling for it to stop, but it was too late.
Tasha cried out as the stake plunged into her chest.
Rose's POV
I couldn't stop it. My arm had too much momentum behind it, I had too much fire in me as I came close to killing Randall. I didn't even see his arm shoot out to grab Tasha, who had been standing statuesque next to him. She was almost completely unnoticeable with all the other action in the room. If I had just one more second to register her face in front of me, I could have stopped it.
Tasha screamed when I staked her. She let out a bloodcurdling sound, something I will never be able to forget. I pulled the stake out just as quickly as I forced it in. Somehow, I didn't hit her heart, I would have felt the familiar resistance of the muscle as I pushed the stake forward. Randall still held on to Tasha, using her body as a shield. She clasped at her chest as blood spilled out, turning her white shirt into a canvas of red.
"No," I whispered in horror, taking in the blood that covered my trusted weapon. I quickly stifled the part of me that wanted to cry out along with Tasha. I chose to fuel the darkness within me, something I never allowed myself to do - only now I had a choice victim for my violent tendencies. I honed in on the anger and rage, easily directing it at Randall. "How could you!" I screamed so loud I could feel the break in my vocal chords. I leapt forward and clawed at his hand, ripping his grip from Tasha. I practically threw Tasha to the side in my rush to leave Randall shield-less. I punched him with my broken hand, embracing the pain and yelling out in pain at the same time.
Randall tried to fight back, but he didn't know combat like I did. I wasn't concerned with a clean kill either, as far as I was concerned I could stake him ten-million times before getting his heart, and I still wouldn't be satisfied. Still, he was sloppy, and left his chest exposed too much. He was fast, but couldn't react in time when my stake went directly for his heart. A look of shock overcame his face before his eyes went blank.
I felt only fractionally relieved when my stake went into his chest, piercing his black heart. His face fell slack and his lifeless body toppled over. I followed him down, ripping my stake from his chest only to thrust it back in. I repeated this, grunting with the effort and crying out, ignoring the throbbing in my hand and the ache in my muscles. This could have gone on all night, but someone wrapped their arms around me from behind.
I jerked in the grip, instantly trying to defend myself until a familiar voice spoke to me, "Rose, he's dead. Stop, please." My muscles went limp in Eddie's arms. Once he was sure I wouldn't fight him he loosened his grip, but held on to me nonetheless. Randall's mangled body lay before me, his blood splattered all over the floor, and I'm sure I was covered in my fair share of blood. There wasn't a reason for me not to cry right then and there.
My fiery rage had died down the moment Eddie pulled me from Randall, and only an immense sadness was left. Eddie lended me his strength and held me up as I broke down in front of everyone. The other Strigoi were down long before I managed to kill Randall; all the guardians stood around the room, unsure of how to continue.
"Wh-where's Tasha?" I asked. Eddie hesitated, but let me out of his grip and stood up. I stayed on the ground, my legs were shaking too much to stand, and turned around to face the center of the room. Tasha was laying on the ground with her head in Dimitri's lap. He smoothed down her hair and said comforting words. I could see her heaving, the breaths too rapid and shallow. There was still blood coming from her wound. With my arms shaking as violently as my legs, I crawled slowly over to her.
She had tears streaming down her face, but she still smiled when she saw me. "Rose, I'm so… sorry," she coughed out, her whole body was seizing up now. I put both of my hands on the gaping hole in her chest and applied pressure, to hell with my broken hand. "We need an ambulance!" I shouted, but I knew deep down she wouldn't make it to a hospital. Besides, she was a traitor to the throne and the guardians had orders to kill her, anyway. Everyone in this room, save the few that know her, would rather see her die.
She brought her hand to mine on her chest and squeezed as hard as she could; which, in her condition, was very hard at all. "Please," she coughed, "please tell me… you forgive me?" I began to sob over her, letting my tears fall on her hand. "Yes," I choked out, "I forgive you. Tasha, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you." Tasha's smile grew a little wider.
Her breathing was slowing down now, and the blood wasn't coming out with as much force anymore. She shifted her gaze to Dimitri, who was still smoothing down her hair; his eyes were shining and he sniffled. "I love you, Dimka…" Dimitri opened his mouth but no words came out; his brows furrowed in agony as he stared at her. Tasha's smile faltered slightly once she realized he wouldn't say it back. She took in one last, shaky breath. "Please tell... Christian... I love him."
Then she died.
I don't know how to put it more eloquently, because death is an ugly event. The smile on her face fell as she let out the air in her lungs and her eyelids dropped. The whole room was quiet, except for my sobs. I had killed Tasha. I was crying too much to see in front of me, even Tasha's body became just a blur, though my hands were still pressed to her chest, her cold hand paralyzed on mine. Like karma, my own chest felt like it had been torn open, and I started screaming out from the pain.
My hands had done this, my plan had led to it. Randall didn't kill Tasha; that was all on me.
Eventually the guardians decided we needed to leave the parking garage. I had stopped crying at that point, simply seeing nothing as I stared silently at the scene in front of me. The alchemists were called to clean up the mess, and Jonah barked out orders to get into the SUVs. Karolina would be taken to a human hospital nearby for treatment before being brought back to Court.
I walked to the cars in a sort of trance. Someone was already sitting in the passenger seat of the first SUV so I climbed into the back. I tucked my knees up and hugged myself for some semblance of comfort. It wasn't long before Dimitri joined me, closing the door softly behind him and wrapped his arms around me, but I tried shrugging him off. I couldn't look at him when I spoke.
"Don't you have to drive the car you brought here?" I asked.
"I got another guardian to take it for me. I wanted to be in your car." His voice was soft, careful. He was on the verge of breaking down. He wrapped his arms tighter around me, his head resting on my shoulder.
"Why?" My lips trembled.
He looked up at me, I could barely make out his features in the corner of my eye but I still refused to look at him. "Roza, it wasn't your fault."
Of course, I thought as my fingernails dug into my knees. Of course he knows exactly what I'm thinking. A sob threatened to break through me, just as I had started to calm down. I took a settling breath to avoid crying out again. "Stop," I pleaded in a choked whisper. I wished he would just go away.
He only held me closer. "Roza, please. I just watched my father and an old friend die. Please don't push me away. I need you."
That did it. I couldn't hold back the tears again. I threw my arms around Dimitri and squeezed him as if holding him tighter could alleviate my pain. "I'm so sorry, Dimitri. I'm so sorry," I breathed between sobs. Dimitri buried his face in the crook of my neck, I could feel his own silent sobs racking through him.
When we both finally calmed down, I noticed that Jonah had gotten in the driver's seat some time during my breakdown. He looked at me sympathetically, "Are you ready to go, Princess?" I rubbed the heel of my palm across my face to wipe some tears away, effectively doing nothing to disguise my emotional state. "Yeah, let's go," I croaked out, my voice damaged from all the screaming and yelling.
Jonah started the car and drove off. I curled into Dimitri; trying not to feel guilty about the sense of ease that came over me when I was with him. I must have been more exhausted than I realized, because I drifted off sometime during the car ride.
The horror filled image of Tasha's face when I staked her projected itself on the backs of my eyelids. I heard her screams piercing my ears over and over again, getting louder each time. The triumphant look on Randall's face when Tasha took the blow for him…
Suddenly I felt my whole body being thrusted to the side. I woke up with a jolt, coming back to the reality where Dimitri's arms were still around me. "Sorry," Jonah muttered from the front seat. "I didn't see the pothole."
Dimitri cupped a hand under my chin and raised my face to his gaze. He used his thumb to wipe my cheek. "I can't get her face out of my mind," I whispered. He understood exactly what I meant. I didn't have to explain my feelings to Dimitri, because he just knew, somehow. He knew that I would carry this guilt with me and there was nothing he could do to change that.
He was the only person who would respect that, despite Tasha's crimes against me and his family. He would carry his own grief, and I would be there for him. Looking into his eyes, I found a sort of solace; an acceptance to feel the guilt that charged in my blood.
"I've got you, Roza. Always."