Chapter 17:

Rose

We did take our sweet time before we were ready to start up the laptop and begin the bureaucracy part of the job, also I was kind of curious what Sydney had sent me.

So I think I would do that first. I had sent a text to Hans informing him we wanted to talk to him at his earliest convenience and were now waiting for a response. And seeing as we were pretty spent in the bedroom department -understandably after three rounds- we opted for loading the video Sydney had sent us.

Dimitri was seated against the headboard with me snuggled against his chest. His arms were wrapped around me and the laptop was on my lap. He had put on some trainers and I was wearing my panties and pajama top. The theory was that if we had some clothes on we wouldn't be as tempted and could actually get some work done.

Of course that was in theory. In practice Dimitri was stroking my leg as I was waiting for the computer to show the home screen.

"Stop it." I said as I slapped his hand away. "We actually have work to do."

He pouted a little bit. Actually pouted! "I think I am beginning to like this role reversal less and less."

I slapped him playfully on his chest as the computer made the tell tale jingle that it was done booting up.

I logged on into my account where Sydney had sent the video and downloaded it. I then clicked it for it to open. And again and again and again. "Easy Roza, guardian issued computer, remember? it isn't as fast."

Of course I ended up with four instances of the video open. I closed three and finally hit the play button.

It seemed to be a video of an Alchemist compound, security video's by the look of it. I recognized the stylized lily on the cheeks of most people on the tape. It took a few minutes for the tape to show our assailant, Sydney had indicated the exact time he came into frame in her email but seeing as it was only a few minutes in we waited it out, so we could see maybe something else on the tape that might be of interest.

That was four minutes and thirty two seconds of my life I wouldn't get back. Alchemists had a very boring job. But right on the indicated time our Moroi stepped into the frame. Not only did I clearly recognize the man's face, his tell tale arm was a dead give away. This was our attacker. I wondered what he was doing at the Alchemists site?

I wondered what information this would even give us, when another person followed him into the frame. This one I knew and recognized. Just like the other Moroi she had a very distinctive mark that couldn't belong to anyone else.

Natasha Ozera was behind him.

"Tasha?" Dimitri whispered. Obviously being as confused about it as I was.

I saw there was an attachment to the email. I opened it up and it held information about the man. "Apparently he is a bodyguard, a hired help." I said as I scanned the document.

"Maybe Tasha just used him once and somebody else hired him to attack Lissa?"

I wanted to believe him, but… "When Lissa got attacked they were all questioned. Tasha said she had never seen him."

Dimitri's gaze darkened. We were both starting to understand Tasha wasn't innocent in this.

"I wouldn't want to tell Hans I knew him either. Maybe she was just protecting herself. It doesn't mean…"

No it didn't. It was circumstantial evidence at best. But the pieces were starting to come together. "When she learned that Tatiana was running a trial for Moroi to learn to use magic offensively, she looked… I don't know, guilty. Like she had misjudged her."

"Which she probably did. We all were shocked that Tatiana had started that trial."

I understood Dimitri playing devil's advocate, and he wasn't wrong. But I knew she had something to do with it. I just knew it. "She had motive and she knew where my dorm room was. It was next to Christian's."

Dimitri got up and ran his hands through his hair. I was starting to see this as a sign of stress. He always did that if he didn't really know how to respond. "If he associated with Tasha and knew how to fight, he might have killed the Queen on his own. He could have followed you. Or, if he is a hired help, maybe somebody else hired him?"

I shook my head. "A Moroi needs both hands to use a stake. He couldn't have killed Tatiana."

He sat down on the bed again, slumping in on himself. "You really think she killed Tatiana and framed you?" He pleaded. He wanted me to say no, I wanted me to say no.

"Yes."

"But why would she? I know she didn't like Tatiana, but she liked you, she wouldn't let you take the fall."

I snorted and Dimitri looked at me funny. "What?" He asked.

"Tasha and I couldn't stand each other."

He frowned. "Really? When you met you guys seemed to get along."

I laughed a little as I started to straddle him, placing a few strands of his hair behind his ear. Dimitri could be so oblivious sometimes.

"That was before she made you an offer to be fuck buddies in the time where you and I were barely speaking and completely frustrated with each other."

"That was her trying to help. She was offering me an easy way out."

I shook my head. My poor, poor Dimitri was rather dense when it came to women, I realized. "She was completely in love with you."

The look of horror and disgust on his face was almost comical. I don't think he meant to look like that and he quickly covered it up with confusion again, but I had seen it. The thought of Tasha and himself being romantically involved was not appealing to my comrade. Something that made me feel a lot better.

"But even if she was then, she was dating someone now… uh… Moore, I think."

"Ah, yes, I remember. Guardian Ethan Moore." The moment it hit me, I hit Dimitri, slapping him several times on his chest to get his attention- not that I didn't already have it. He was rubbing the spot. "Guardian Ethan Moore, who is a Guardian stationed in the palace!"

"That is how she got in." His voice no longer held any doubt, it just held sadness. One of his oldest friends had committed treason and killed a person. "Hans got this information too, right?" He asked.

I nodded. "Sydney sent me what they sent him."

"So he is probably investigating her too."

Speaking of the devil, the laptop made a jingle sound and a large circle with Hans's name on it blinked to get our attention. I pressed the button to accept the call and Hans's name was replaced with Hans's face. Realizing, I was only in a pajama shirt and Dimtiri was bare chested as we were obviously in a hotel bed, only a little too late.

He raised an eyebrow but didn't comment on it. "I was surprised to hear from you two so soon. But I am glad everything went well. I wasn't sure you two would-"

"Survive?" I supplemented a little bitter.

"Well, yeah. you took out twelve Strigoi, with three guardians and a Moroi?"

Time to come clean. "Eleven and it really was no big deal." Except Sonya had healed us on site. I had needed some psychological healing as well as physical and Dimitri had told me Sonya healed a few broken bones. But Hans didn't really need to know that.

"You had extra help didn't you?" He said, doing the math in his head about how impossible our odds would have been.

So I told him the story of how we restored Sonya and she had been a big help. He already knew we had handed Viktor over so I had told him exactly why he was there. It also meant telling Hans about Lissa's sibling. Furthermore, I shared our suspicion of Tasha, telling Hans all the details he hadn't known yet. Not all of them would hold up in Court. 'She looked rather guilty when I looked psychically through my best friend's eyes' wasn't really the best defense.

He leaned back in his chair and whistled. "You have been busy… and keeping secrets from me."

I shrugged. "Sometimes Rose plans actually work out." Dimitri snorted next to me and I looked at him fouly.

"So you are coming back to Court?"

"As soon as we have Lissa's sibling."

"I'll inform the Council of your mission's success."

"I am sure they will be disappointed." I pouted.

Hans looked over the two of us for a moment. "Perhaps, but they can not deny your skill anymore, nor can they deny Guardian Belikov his job back. I will make sure that news of this mission spreads. You two will be heroes."

I smiled. "Not just us. Make sure you tell them about Mia and Mikhail too."

He nodded. "I'll be looking forward to seeing both of you back at Court." he disconnected after that.

I leaned back into Dimitri. "If only he actually meant that." This made Dimitri laugh and pull me closer.

Dimitri

We were done. We had made it. We had taken out as many Strigoi strongholds as we could and crippled their operation on the east coast, we had found Lissa's sibling so she could get her quorum and change our world for the better and we had found a very solid, if not depressing lead on whoever killed Tatiana.

Sometimes I am amazed at what Rose can do when she puts her mind to it. Yes, amazed, I am going to go with that. Petrified sounds so negative.

If you looked at her resumé since I had known her, it was nothing less than impressive and crazy. And most of her crazy exploits didn't even make it on her resumé.

And she was all mine. I never wanted to let her go. Her earlier words came back to me. For me to truly be with her, for us to think about the future, I had to forgive myself. I had seen the moment Rose had forgiven herself for what she had done to that man. I could physically see her getting lighter.

She had accepted that even though she did a horrible thing, she hadn't been in control and it shouldn't ruin her life. I know she will always remember that moment, but remembering and blaming yourself for it were two different things.

If she only knew how much she had taught me these last few months. And she was right. I had my life back, I was glad to be alive, and I was going to make the most of it. Starting with something I should have done a while ago.

"Rose, do you think I can use the laptop to call my family?"

She smiled as she handed me her laptop, then she pulled it back. "Maybe I should call them and then slowly let them know what is going on. They might faint if they see your face on the screen."

Yeah, I hadn't really thought of that.

My mother didn't have an account but my sister did. They should be home right about now. I thought about calling them on the phone, but I really wanted to see their faces, and I imagine they really wanted to see mine - after they realized I wasn't a bloodsucking monster anymore.

Rose threw me a shirt and put on a vest herself. I knew Hans had noticed our attire and I am sure that we will have a conversation with Hans about that. But there was nothing they could do anymore. Rose and I could be together now, really together.

I called my sister's tablet. They had invested in one when I moved to the U.S. so we could facetime. It was a lot cheaper than long distance calls. My mother still didn't know how to use it, so Karolina set up her account on the tablet. I was always the one who called too. My mother could never figure it out.

But I used Rose's guardian account now. I didn't want to freak my family out by calling from my account. Getting a call from your dead son was hard enough without actually getting a call from your dead son's account.

I entered Karolina's information, but hesitated a moment when I wanted to press the call button. I didn't know why I was afraid of talking to my family. I know that they would be overjoyed that I was back. But still I hesitated, until Rose placed her hand on mine and together we pressed the button.

Rose moved in front of the camera and I stayed to the side out of the frame. It rang once, twice, three times. I didn't know if I wanted them to pick up or not, but the suspense was killing me. My heart was in my throat and there were nervous butterflies in my stomach- or maybe I was hungry.

After the fourth ring, my sister answered with a baby on her hip; Zoya. I had never seen her, I smiled. She was such a cute little thing. When she looked at Rose, she seemed a bit pissed.

"Well, well, well, look who decided to tell us she was still alive. Mama! It's Roza on the phone! She seems fine!."

Rose cringed, feeling a little guilty. I didn't really know the circumstances regarding her departure in Baia, but apparently she hadn't informed my mother she was okay. I saw my mother running towards the tablet, practically ripping it out of Karolina's hands.

"Rosemarie Hathaway. Have you no shame, have you no manners. Do you understand how worried we have been, young lady?"

I smiled, Rose truly was part of the family. In my absence they had taken Rose in and integrated her in my family. My mother was already treating her like a daughter, well daughter in law- otherwise it would get awkward.

"Sorry, Sorry. It all happened so fast. Besides, Yeva knew. She practically kicked me out herself."

I could hear my mother swearing in Russian and I nearly choked. My mother never swore, unless it concerned Babushka.

"I meant to call… but I wanted… I needed to be sure first…Okay I have to tell you something."

Rose started to tell the tale of what happened when she left Baia. The further on she went the bigger my mother's eyes got. A few gasps and 'oh my's later and Rose was at the punchline.

"So, I risked everything to see if it was true and it turns out… it is."

Without warning she turned the laptop in my direction. I think it was deliberate so I couldn't run away with how quickly she turned the machine.

My mother and I looked at each other for a moment, neither one of us really knowing what to say. So I raised my hand a little. "Hi Mama." I said as I waved a bit.

She stared at me and then the screen was moving and all we saw was the ceiling.

Rose peeked around the corner of the laptop. "Damn, she still fainted."

Karolina picked up the tablet a moment later, she was probably listening to Rose's story because she didn't seem so shocked as my mother. She touched the screen. "Dimka? Is that really you?" She said with tears in her eyes.

"Yes, Karo. It is really me." Then she started crying again and Zoya joined her mother, not really understanding why her mother was crying but not finding it very comforting. The baby crying had woken my mother up again and she stared at the screen.

"My boy? My baby boy! you are alive!"

"I am Mama, I am. It has been quite a ride, but I am back."

Rose left me alone with my family so I could talk to them. We didn't really talk about what happened since my restoration, my mother seemed to pick up on the fact I wasn't ready to talk about that yet. So she told me the latest gossip in town and asked about me and Rose. She made sure I was eating right and staying healthy like a good Russian mother would. Karolina was next and she showed me Zoya. She began to smile when I would talk to her in Russian. Karo was still crying, because she didn't think her baby girl would ever get to know her uncle, and now she would.

I promised to call again soon when Sonya and Viktoria were home again.

Once Rose heard me hang up she stood in the doorway to our bedroom. Her hands were crossed over her chest and she was leaning against the doorframe. "Now that wasn't that bad, now was it?"

No it wasn't. For my family I hadn't been a monster, I had been dead and now I was alive. I knew it wasn't that simple, a part of me had been in the Strigoi and vice versa, but maybe looking at it like that would help me accept things. Rose had said it too. I had to mourn who I had been. Because I had died.

I got a second chance now, and I wasn't going to waste it.

I got up from the bed and pulled Rose with me into the kitchen. "Now, first I will feed us and then." I leaned in and whispered into her ear. "I will satisfy my hunger."