I apologize that I'm not following the book plotline perfectly. I don't own VA!
Thirteen
Chapter 19
RPOV
"I really think you should stay away from Christian Ozera," I pulled Lissa into the cover of the trees along the courtyard after school. She rolled her eyes dramatically.
"He's not his parents, Rose," she informed me. I narrowed my eyes.
"He could've been the one that left the fox as some sick, twisted show of affection," I said. Her emotions turned stormy and she glanced around.
"No," she replied. "Definitely not. But I feel like I'm being watched again. And not just by the ones being obvious about it." I felt her irritation at being on display all the time.
"Just keep coasting through the middle like you've been doing. They'll stop staring and move on to someone else eventually," I assured her. She sighed and nodded, but I knew she didn't believe me. I didn't need the bond to tell me that; it was clear in her pale green eyes.
"You're gonna be late for practice," she shoved me, lightly. "Tell Dimitri I said hi." I smiled stupidly at the mention of my boyfriend and gave her a quick hug before jogging to the gym.
"Wow," Mikhail said, glancing at the clock. "You do know how to be on time." Dimitri choked on a laugh and I glared at him. He shot me his sexy half smile and my glare fell.
"What's the plan? Do I get to beat up the Russian today?" I asked, eagerly. Dimitri rolled his eyes and Mikhail shook his head as I approached them. Dimitri grabbed my hand to place a kiss on my knuckles but swore under his breath in Russian when he made contact.
"Is there a problem?" Mikhail arched an eyebrow at him as I frowned.
"Don't you have gloves, Roza?" he whispered, concern clear in his voice and eyes. I shrugged, looking down at my chapped and bleeding hands.
"It wasn't this cold in Portland," I admitted to the two men.
"Go ahead and fix up her hands in the office. We'll skip laps today so we can stay inside and out of the cold. If that shopping trip gets approved, we'll be sure to get gloves then," Mikhail ordered. My curiosity peaked as Dimitri lead me to the office. We sat across from each other while he gently rubbed lotion into my battered skin. His eyebrows were knitted together in worry so I caught his eye and smiled.
"It's starting, isn't it?" I asked softly, as he wrapped one of my fingers that was bleeding gently.
"Hmmm?" he asked, glancing back into my eyes.
"I'm starting to get like the other female guardians," I sighed. "They're still beautiful, sure but not in the same way. They get worn out and age early thanks to all the hours outside and manual labor. It takes a lot of their beauty away."
"That won't happen to you," he replied, just as softly, kissing my bandaged hands. "You're too…well, perfect, Roza." His voice was thick with emotion, and I pulled one hand out of his to cup his cheek.
"I love you," I murmured. He smiled at me and kissed me quickly.
"Love you more," he answered as we made our way back into the gym. Mikhail had set up a makeshift obstacle course and I bounced back and forth on my feet, excitement filling me.
"Sweet," I announced, looking around at the different challenges he'd set up in the short time we'd been in the office.
"I figured sparring wasn't the best idea with your hands looking like that either," he shrugged.
"You mentioned a shopping trip?" I asked, as Dimitri was going through the course.
"There's that dance in a couple weeks," he told me gruffly. "Prince Victor is taking his daughter to Missoula and has invited Princess Vasilisa as well. We're trying to get you and Belikov involved as a training exercise."
"Oh," I responded, growing less excited. I couldn't get all worked up over one, something that might not happen, and two, something that's pointless for me. Without being allowed to socialize, there were no dances in my future. My own musings were interrupted by Lissa's flash of anxiety. I slipped into her mind and once again saw her hands covered in blood. I gasped as I pulled myself back and took off at a sprint to the public bathroom I knew she was in. I knew Dimitri and Mikhail would both be following me, but Lissa was my only concern. I burst through the door, locking it behind me and went to the only closed stall.
"Liss," I hissed through the door. "Open up. It's me." The door opened slowly and she flung herself at me, crying into my chest. I soothed her hair back and murmured calming words in her ear as Mikhail knocked on the door.
"Give us a minute, please!" I shouted. The banging stopped and I brushed Lissa's hair out of her face. "Tell me what happened." I turned her arms over in my hands, seeing the even, angry cuts she'd made and my breath caught.
"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I know I said I'd come to you but you were at practice and there was so much blood. I tried to clean it up before Natalie came home so she didn't see. But it got too much and I needed to let it out." A sob escaped her throat and I hugged her again, pulling her to the sinks to clean some of the blood off. I was thankful for the first aid kit in every bathroom, as well as my sweatshirt. I quickly bandaged her wrists and tossed my hoodie at her to cover her self-inflicted wounds.
"What did you have to clean up?" I finally asked. Her eyes left me and traveled to the garbage can. I looked in and nearly puked. "Is that a rabbit?" I asked, not sure since it was literally torn to pieces.
"I think so," she whispered. I finally unlocked the door and let Mikhail and Dimitri in. Extra guardians were called and Lissa was questioned, which I was allowed to stay for since I was keeping her calm. We stood outside the bathroom and I began to shiver, dressed just in jeans and a long sleeved tee. Dimitri draped his duster around my shoulders and rubbed my upper arms soothingly as Lissa spoke. Neither of us mentioned the cuts on her arms and I wondered if maybe we should.
"Time to get the girls back to their rooms," Mikhail said, as the guardians finished their jobs.
"I'll walk them," Dimitri offered. Mikhail nodded. We took Lissa home first, as she lived in a different dorm than us and I hugged her tightly in parting.
"I promise we'll find out what's going on here," I assured her. She let out a bitter laugh.
"I don't know how, with you locked away and me a complete and total mess," she gestured towards her tear-streaked face. I squeezed her hand reassuringly.
"We will," I promised again. "Hey, what's this about a shopping trip?" I watched as she perked up very slightly.
"Oh!" she exclaimed, grabbing my other hand. "Wouldn't it be fantastic if they let you come? If they let you shop for the dance, they'll have to let you attend it too!" I chuckled at her excitement and gave her another quick hug.
"I suppose," I whispered and we parted ways. Dimitri took ahold of my hand once more and I leaned against him as we made our way to our dormitory.
"Why did you give Lissa your sweatshirt?" he asked when we were about halfway there.
"She was cold," I lied quickly. "She had ran out of her dorm so fast to clean up the mess that she didn't put her jacket back on." He nodded, seeming to accept my small lie.
"You'd tell me if it was something more, right?" he asked, stopping in his tracks. I tripped, not expecting the halt in movement and he wrapped his arm around my waist to steady me. Our chests were pressed together and our eyes locked on each other. I smiled weakly.
"Of course," I whispered, my heart clenching at the lie. He leaned down and kissed me. I returned it eagerly, wrapping my arms around his neck and pulling him closer. When we broke apart and started walking again, I noticed a few Moroi students whispering to each other and staring at us. I fixed them with a pointed glare that shut them right up and we quickly covered the remaining distance to the dorm.
"Rose!" Mason called from one of the couches in the lobby.
"Hey, Mase," I greeted, smiling.
"Hey Belikov," his greeting to Dimitri was less enthusiastic.
"Ashford," Dimitri nodded back, still holding my hand.
"I got that book you were asking about last week," he informed me, pulling it out of his bag. I groaned; it was huge. I'd been attending church services the past two weeks we'd been back in a pathetic attempt for a social life. Some of the things the pastor spoke about struck a cord with me, reminding me of Lissa and something Miss Karp said to me before she was drug away.
"Thanks, Mason!" I exclaimed, taking the heavy, dusty book. "I'll catch you around."
"Yeah," he said, looking a little dejected. "Glad I could help. I'm happy for you guys, by the way." He gestured to our intertwined hands with a small smile. I grinned back at him then followed Dimitri up the stairs so he could walk me to my room.
"What's the book about?" Dimitri asked, curiosity lacing his voice. "Don't tell me you really did find God in your time away?" I laughed; he knew me too well.
"The priest mentioned shadow-kissed Anna," I explained. "While talking about Saint Vlad. That's what Miss Karp called me, before they took her." I shuddered slightly, both at the memory and recalling poor Miss Karp's fate.
"So you're actually reading something of your own free will?" he cocked an eyebrow at me.
"If anything in here can help Lissa and I understand why the hell I can experience life through her eyes, then yeah, I'd say I am," I held up the book, frowning once more at its weight.
"Well, if you ever need help sifting through it, our spot still remains unoccupied by anyone but me," he told me, smirking down at me. I beamed back.
"I might just take you up on that," I told him, reaching up on my tippy toes to kiss him. He returned it willingly, arms looping around my waist.
"Break it up, you two!" the dorm matron snapped from the stairwell. "You know you're not allowed in this part of the dorm, Belikov!"
"My apologies, ma'am," he swept her a bow, before running off to the appropriate floor of the dorms. The matron shook her head at us as I retreated into my room, to mull over the stupid book until dinner. I sat at my desk with the offending volume and began leafing through it carefully. I pulled a notebook at of my bag and began scribbling things I thought might be relevant down. I was at it for a couple of hours, when my stomach growled loudly, informing me it was dinner time. I made my way to the cafeteria by myself, not bothering to find Dimitri to walk with. On my way, almost every student stopped to stare at me or whisper something to their friends. I grew more and more confused until I got to the cafeteria. The room went silent when I walked in until a Moroi I barely recognized shouted,
"Hey, Rose! I bleed for you!" I glared at him, confusion filling me,
"Isn't it Rose who does the bleeding?" someone else added and my heart dropped. They knew. I searched frantically for a friendly set of eyes and finally landed on the table containing Dimitri, Lissa and Natalie. Some of her other friends were there too, but they didn't matter. Liss and Dimitri regarded me with sympathy and I tilted my chin up and made my way to them to find out more.
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