Chapter 29 - Change of plans

Present day - March

Dimitri POV

I didn't know if we did the right thing by letting her have a moment to herself after learning about the rape. The selfish part of me regretted answering truthfully about encountering a girl during her sickness before, but it was only because I had wanted the chance to ask her if she recognized me or remembered anything about the time in Baia. I still felt that it was important to let her know that not even Spiridon and I were unaffected by her sickness, and that we could potentially be dangerous to her. Luckily it seemed that we had around three months until the next time, and we would be a lot better prepared for that one now that we knew what to look out for. It was crazy to think that we'd most likely still be together in three months if things remained unchanged.

It was even crazier how much that thought pleased me.

Things were a bit better between us three, but there was still a lot of tension. I was still angry with Spiridon for going against my command and pushing her for answers. He was still determined that he'd done the right thing considering the circumstances, only reluctantly admitting that he could've handled it better. Rose seemed more wary towards us, especially Spiridon, probably still processing all the new information we had given her and more aware of her vulnerable position. After our game of twenty questions, there had not been a lot of talking. Both Spiridon and I had endless questions for Rose, but right now we were forced to deal with more pressing matters. Once we had her secured we could focus on getting information out of her. Eventually we had just pulled over and set up our tent for Rose.

I took the first watch, and listened once again to her whimpering slightly in her dreams. I wanted to go to her, wake her up and comfort her, but it felt too imposing. Instead, I did my best to ignore the sounds of her pain.

This would hopefully be our last night in Russia if everything went according to plan. The plan was still not entirely set, depending on some minor details, and we had not indulged Rose with it yet. I was worried that something would go wrong and compromise her, but I knew that in the long run that it would be for the better. It was hard to not only focus on Rose now that I had found her, but others needed help too. And the terrifying truth was that she would never be safe if we didn't bring down the ones ultimately responsible for this all.

My phone vibrated silently, and I took it out of my pocket and turned off the alarm. I got off the hard ground and walked over to the car where Spiridon was sleeping with the car door open, most of his legs dangling out of the car. I shook him lightly, more than ready to switch places with him. Finally, after long hours of silent brooding, I could finally sleep a bit. With a groan Spiridon got up and I took his place, briefly wondering if the ground would be more comfortable.


Rose was sitting in the passenger seat while Spiridon was driving. She was touching everything on the dashboard, effectively fiddling with both the radio and the AC. I could tell that it was starting to irritate Spiridon, but probably due to him trying to get on her good side again he decided against acting on his irritation.

From the backseat I had a good opportunity to study her, hopefully without her noticing. I was a bit too tall for sitting in the back, having to sit slightly sideways, but I still opted to sit behind the driver's seat with less room for my legs so that I could get a better view of her. I tried to be subtle and avoid making her uncomfortable as I took in her profile, the thick locks of her hair neatly braided into one braid that fell over her shoulder. The bruises left by Moore had healed nicely, and her skin looked smooth and even again. There was only the slightest bruising left.

I bit down a smile when she found the button that turned on Spiridon's seat warmer. It wasn't that warm outside, but we were sitting in a warm car and I knew that it would annoy him. I saw when she turned it to the highest setting, then settled into her seat waiting for the effect to take place.

It was satisfying watching Spiridon fidget in his seat, more and more uncomfortable while Rose opened the glove compartment. From the corner of my eye I saw that she took out the CD's, reading all the labels, trying to appear casual. I was curious to see which CD she would choose, wondering how much she knew about popular culture. Much to my disappointment she put them back and closed the glove compartment again.

"What the hell! Did you turn it on?" Spiridon suddenly exclaimed, immediately turning his seat warmer off. He glanced at Rose with mocked anger, before grinning mischievously. "Let's see how you like your marshmallows roasted," he muttered and turned on Rose's on the highest setting. Rose immediately reached out to turn it off but he slapped her hand away.

She gasped with surprise and held her hand against her chest, looking lost for a second before gauging Spiridon's mood. When she was confident that he wasn't really angry her eyebrows furrowed slightly and only the slight twitch in the corner of her mouth revealed her intentions.

With a fast hand she once again reached out to turn off her seat warmer, and this time she succeeded since he was overtaking another car and focused on the road. Spiridon immediately tried to turn it back on but she slapped his hand away, and then she moved both her hands to shield the button. One of her pinky fingers tried to reach his again but she didn't quite reach it.

"How does it feel to have tiny hands?" Spiridon mocked, which earned him a roll of her eyes. "Good luck staying like that until we arrive."

Ten minutes later, she was still holding her hands there, and I knew Spiridon well enough that he was only waiting for his opportunity. I could tell she was getting more and more uncomfortable, and I was curious to see how long her stubbornness would hold. I thought about joining their playfulness, but I wasn't sure how to do that. Being easygoing and casual wasn't really my forte. I didn't get a chance to join in before we passed the city sign of St. Petersburg, both Spiridon and I snapping into guardian mode again. Rose noticed the slight shift in our postures, and removed her hands from the dashboard. She looked a bit deflected, and I couldn't help but think that she needed more playfulness and joy in her life instead of everything being so serious all of the time. I vowed to myself to change that if given the chance.

"What's the address?"

I opened the last text message from Babushka, and read the address out loud while Spiridon typed it into the GPS we had taken from the SUV before abandoning it. When the GPS was done processing the new information it showed that we were close, less than fifteen minutes away, having entered the city from the right direction. I was somewhat amazed that Yeva had managed to select a convenient location, almost sure that it wasn't a coincidence. She just seemed to know things sometimes.

"Why are we going to that address? Are we meeting someone?" Rose asked while fidgeting with her sleeve. She was obviously nervous.

Spiridon dismissed her. "You can stay in the car, don't worry."

"I thought we were supposed to act like a team or something", she muttered under her breath. As always, she had a point.

"We need to pick up a package before the airport. Not sure how familiar you are with compulsion and charms, but Dimitri's grandma sent us something that'll help us hide in plain sight. You'll see what I mean soon enough, it's easier to show you than to explain. Us three can't be seen together or they'll know that you're a taken one."

"So in other words, we're not meeting anyone just yet. But once we get to the airport there will be others. We're not sure how many and hopefully it won't be anyone that we're close with, in case someone sees us" I added.

She looked thoughtful for a moment. "Not that I have that much experience with airplanes, but how can they not see us?"

"My close friend is an Ozera." I was going to add a brief explanation of who the Ozera's were, but she tensed up and it was clear that she had heard that name before. I stored that piece of information for later. "We will meet up with my friend at the airport and she'll hide us somehow. She's a Moroi and she can use compulsion if needed. The charms we're picking up are only a precaution." Yeva had insisted on having Oksana prep them for us. I didn't like our odds but this was the best plan we had come up with.


We stopped once more, right before the airport. Rose was fascinated when Spiridon added concealer to my neck, hiding some of my molnija marks. I could tell that Spiridon wanted to say some inappropriate joke about the situation, but he restrained himself and kept his focus on our impending mission.

There weren't many guardians with as many marks as Spiridon and I had, and in case Tasha was not able to hide us or his charm did not work as planned at least we weren't easily recognizable by that. Once Spiridon was done I did the same to him, concealing all but one molnija mark. I knew that counting the marks was something every guardian did in order to gauge the level of skill and experience of the other, and it would be to our advantage if others thought we were inexperienced or assigned to unimportant marks. Hopefully it wouldn't come to that, the charms working on Spiridon and Rose. There were only two charms in the package since we had decided against me wearing a charm in order for Tasha to be kept in the dark. I wanted to get three charms, just in case, but Babushka was adamant that only two would be for the better. As much as I valued Tasha's friendship, she wasn't one I could trust with this secret and Rose's safety. If Tasha knew I was wearing a charm, then Spiridon and Rose would most likely begin to flicker under her suspicion. Still, charm or not, hiding most of my marks would be beneficial in case someone spotted me.

"No talking unless it's absolutely necessary." I turned around in the driver's seat, nodding curtly to Rose who put on the charm. She immediately started to flicker. "Ready when you are," I added, and she shuffled down to the floor of the car, crouching behind the passenger seat with a blanket on top of her. Spiridon dragged one bag on top of her so she was more hidden, and put on his charm as well.

"Let's hope Tasha comes through on this," he said in a tense voice as we drove the last bit before stopping at the side-gate to the airport. A scruff security guard came to my window and I rolled it down, only saying the word Ozera to him. He immediately bowed down slightly with a sly grin before going back to the booth and opening the gate to us. As the car rolled through the gate I couldn't help my amazement at what a good old fashioned bribe could do for you in a difficult situation, silently thanking Tasha in my mind. I looked around and realized this had to be one of the shadiest airports I had ever visited, not much security lurking around. I rolled up my window again and rounded the corner of the building closest to us, giving us a clear view of the tarmac.

"What the fuck?" Spiridon exhaled as I let out a string of foul words in Russian. The private jet in front of us was not the Ozera's. The jet was white, with a gold-green tail. The crest was visible, proudly presenting a dragon in golden details.

The jet belonged to the Dragomir line.

We were fucked. Completely, utterly fucked. For a moment I was stunned, barely registering that the car was still slowly rolling towards the jet.

"Should we turn around?" Spiridon asked. I snapped out of it and made a sharp turn and headed for the back of one of the smaller buildings, hopefully allowing us to be more hidden there. My phone was already to my ear, calling the one person who I deemed responsible for this fiasco.

"What's wrong?" Rose asked timidly from under the blanket, but I wasn't able to focus on her. Spiridon shushed her just as Tasha answered her phone.

"What's going on?" I almost hissed into the phone.

"I know, I know, I'm sorry! I really tried Dimka, but you know how the family is. It's not like I have had any influence on the jet ever since Lucas and Moira turned Strigoi. I really wanted to help you and make the original plan work, but uncle Ronald really needed it elsewhere."

"You should've called, canceled the plan."

"But you can still go, please, nothing has really changed. Christian, you remember my nephew, is traveling with Lissa back to the Academy. They're dating now, can you imagine Christian with a Dragomir. Anyhow, I've already given them a heads up that you'll be flying with them back to the States and Lissa didn't mind at all. She was just happy that it wasn't just them and their guardians flying."

"When I asked for your help I made it clear that nobody could know about it and yet you've told them. You owed me one for Vinny." My voice was cold and I was thankful that I had not mentioned anything about Spiridon or Rose to her, planning on surprising her with them. Bringing up Vinny was a low blow but I was too angry to contain it.

"Don't you dare," she hissed. "Just because you managed to cut a few years of his sentence doesn't change the fact that Vinh is still in Tarasov. I did what I could, I did my best to help you. Don't throw that in my face. Don't throw him in my face. Besides, it's not like I said who exactly was joining them on the flight. I only mentioned to Christian and Lissa that a former classmate needed a lift."

I already regretted mentioning Vinny. It was true that she owed me one, I was the only one besides Arthur who had willingly risked our reputations in order to back up Vinny and Emil after they had raped that girl, agreeing to be their character witnesses. Our combined testimony had cut off several years from their sentences. Knowing what I know today, about how the sickness affected others, I wasn't so sure they belonged in Tarasov at all.

"You know what, take the ride, don't take the ride. You asked for my help and I did the best I could. I'm sorry it didn't go according to plan but you have no reason to be this angry with me."

Before I could answer and smooth things over she had already hung up on me. I knew I would have to amend that friendship later on, but now I needed to focus on the matters at hand.

"I say we fly. We can't stay in Russia any longer. We use the charms and admittedly take a bigger risk than we wanted, but this is our only chance," Spiridon said, and it was clear that he had heard what Tasha said. I briefly wondered if Rose had too.

"We only have two charms, what do you suggest we do? There's three of us and no Moroi to hide us with compulsion. We're going to need to enter the aircraft and be seen by both the Dragomir princess and Christian Ozera. Not to mention their guardians."

It sounded like Rose drew in a big gulp of air before she didn't breathe at all. I itched to know why she was reacting to hearing Royal Moroi names but that would simply have to wait.

"I don't know, put her in a bag or something. She's small, she'll fit." He nodded towards a trolley filled with luggage that was right outside the entrance to the terminal. Several of the suitcases were large enough to fit Rose.

The bag on top of Rose moved abruptly to the side as she sat up, drawing the blanket away from her head and revealing her flickering face full of disbelief. "Excuse me?"

Without a word Spiridon snuck out of the car, and we watched him go through a few before grabbing a large, black suitcase from the trolley and started emptying the contents into a trash container. I spotted several purses with the letters LV on them, having seen many royals wear the familiar brown-beige patterns. He unceremoniously continued until the suitcase was empty before nodding for us to join him. I looked around once more and there was nobody to be seen at this hour, stepping out of the car. I heard Rose's car door open and close behind me, although her steps were as silent as mine.

"I'm not doing this," Rose said when she reached Spiridon and crossed her arms.

"Don't you think the princess will notice that we're carrying one of her suitcases?" I asked.

He was annoyed. "That isn't hers, I'm not stupid. It belonged to someone who's name I didn't recognize, probably a human. Look, do you have a better plan?"

I didn't have a better plan. I didn't have any plan if I was being honest.

"You and I wear the charms, she goes into the suitcase. Yes, it's going to be a pain in the ass for her, but honestly this might be even for the best. If we travel under the impression that we're being called to an assignment or something, without Rose, it won't raise any suspicions. The second we're seen with her, that's when the trouble starts. Or if our true identities are spotted. If she is hidden in the luggage, nobody will know about her, and if we wear the charms, nobody will know about us. Don't you think it's worth a shot?"

"I don't think it's worth a shot," Rose objected. Neither Spiridon or I were listening to her right now. "You both told me it's a long ass flight, what if I have to pee?"

Spiridon looked around and spotted an empty soda bottle by the container. He grabbed it and tried to hand it over to her. She looked like she wanted to shove it somewhere where the sun wasn't shining. "You have got to be kidding me," she muttered under her breath, refusing to take the bottle.

"She's right though, it's a long flight. Imagine being crammed up like that for so long, she'll get sore and uncomfortable."

"We can drug her," Spiridon said and shrugged his shoulders. The effect from our tranquilizing guns wouldn't last the entire flight, and even if they did I didn't feel comfortable doing that to Rose. She looked at me and it was clear that she was alarmed. She took one step closer to me, away from Spiridon.

"Okay, okay. No drugging then. But I'm sure there will be an opportunity to allow her to stretch and pee. We'll make an opportunity if needed," he added confidently.

I contemplated the situation for a moment, knowing that we needed to make a decision fast. I turned to Rose and looked her in the eyes, conveying my silent question. We wouldn't do this without her blessing, no matter what.

She shifted from one foot to another under my gaze, obviously struggling with a decision. She was muttering something under her breath and pressed her mouth into a thin line looking so utterly displeased, it made Spiridon smirk. Her brows were furrowed when she finally resigned, agreeing with our plan.

Without a word she crammed herself into the suitcase, which had more room than I expected. She wouldn't obviously be able to straighten her legs, but this was undoubtedly one of the largest suitcases I had ever seen.

"Try to be as silent and immobile as possible. I promise I'll keep an eye on you the entire time. I'll be close by as much as I can," I reassured her and started closing the suitcase.

"Wait wait wait," Spiridon exhaled. "Take this," he said and stuffed the empty bottle into the suitcase with Rose.

"Douchebag" was the last thing I heard her muttering before closing the zippers almost all the way.


Alesha and Telma here!

When we ended part 1, there were so many comments regarding Tasha's involvement. Already then we knew that it would be the Dragomir jet and not the Ozera's and we were so tempted to end all of your worries then and there. Hopefully we can make it up to you now, hope you all enjoy this turn of events :D