Chapter 7

Dimitri's POV

As Pavel drove, the dark appeared to be getting dark. The hairs on my neck began to stand up – I felt like I was being watched that my current group was being stalked in the night. Zmey said that no strigoi would attack here but I really couldn't be so sure. Trees were getting denser and the road underneath us turned to dirt as we took a right turn off of the main stretch. A warm feeling began to overtake me, and I pulled at the collar of my shirt. I didn't typically suffer from anxiety but there was just something about this scenario – my body was on edge, my mind following.

I felt a hand on thigh before a light glow filled the back of the car. The pain instantly gone, and I whipped my head to look at Lissa, who at least had the decency to look a bit sheepish. She knows that I hate when she heals me. She may say that she hasn't felt the darkness since the bond broke, but it had to be having some sort of effect. "I know you hate when I heal you, but I honestly should have done it earlier. Before you tell me not to, I'm going to appeal to the logical side of your brain. We're traveling in the dark. In a forest. Outside of the wards. I need you at tip top shape, just in case". I nodded, understanding her reasoning; didn't mean I had to like it. She continued after I looked away from, "Plus Rose would kill me if I left you in pain.". Agony flared through my heart at the sound of her name. I still couldn't bare being without her. Another reminder of how I failed. I squeezed my eyes shut, pressing the balls of my hands into my eyes. 'Fuck! I wish she didn't heal me' I thought. I deserved the pain.

Sighing, I pretended I didn't hear her though I'm sure she knows I did. I know she's pissed at me for what happened. I'm pissed at me.

The car jerked to a stop and a large house loomed over us. Light poured out of the windows, and there were fairy lights wrapped around the banister of a wrap around porch. Clamoring out of car, I squinted into the night – not liking that I was not aware of my current surroundings; I really wish we could have gotten here with some daylight left.

Lissa and I each grabbed our respective bags out of the car before walking over to where Sebastian was standing on the porch.

"Well, I'm sure everyone is exhausted. It was explained to me that you guys typically sleep during the day. So let me be the first to say, "Welcome to our home"," Sebastian said with his back to the door. With his hand on the knob, he pressed down before turning quickly and smacking face first into wood. "Fuck" said Sebastian while rubbing his nose and facing us. Seeing our inquisitive glances, he explained "we almost never lock the door. Most of the family must not be home – which is odd. I didn't think they were going anywhere tonight."

I couldn't help but analyze him as I watched him unlock the door this time before walking inside and letting us follow. He was concerned about something – something was not going according to plan, and it was unnerving Sebastian. He was putting on a brave face for their sake. I didn't like this one bit.

Sighing, man do I feel that that is all I've been doing for the past day, I let Lissa go on ahead of me and enter the house first. She may have requested a friend, instead of a Guardian, but I was still going to be a gentleman. A gasp left her and I immediately rushed in behind her and saw what she was looking at.

The inside of the house was to die for. Gorgeous old stairway, door arches that appeared to be hundreds of years old. To the left was an open living room with a large fireplace, a portrait of a young man hung over it proudly, the lifelike expression his eyes gave off almost made it feel as though he was watching you.

Two decent size couches were placed around the fireplace, a bearskin rug nestled between them and animal heads on the wall. It was almost too pristine for me to even think about spending any time in here, like it was meant for a magazine rather than a family room.

"Make yourselves at home. I'll show you to your rooms in a minute. I need to check on my daughter…" Sebastian trailed off, before shooting up the stairs.

Lissa sat on one of the couches, placing her bag down on the floor next to her. She brought her knees up on the couch and hugged them to her chest. She tried to be strong, but a person can only be strong for so long and the last couple days have been incredibly draining for us all.

"Princess? You, okay?" I questioned as I sat next to her. She just gave me a look at the name before sighing and shaking her head.

She looked around slowly before whispering "what are we doing here? I want to be at home, I hate running away like this.". Janine looked at her from her spot across the way – she interrupted our conversation and said, "It's for the best.". Is it? Is it really? Not like she knows anything about what's here and why it is the safest place for us. She wasn't even clued into the location until last minute, like us.

I went to open my mouth to speak out against her but, to my surprise, Lissa spoke "Guardian Hathaway, please refrain from treating me like a child. You didn't know me as a child, you have to right to speak to me as such.", quickly and effectively shutting down any more conversation for now.

A low cough startled all of us, a jumpy bunch we were after the previous day's events. I know I needed to sleep.

"I see Sebastian has gotten you settled. Good. I'm Deacon and I'd like to welcome you to my home.".

Standing up and turning to face the cough, I noted that it was the man from the portrait – I looked back and forth between the painting and the person. He laughed and said "Yes, my sister is beautifully talented, isn't she.".

Guardian Hathaway was the first to speak, "You're positive the perimeters will be suitable to keep the princess safe?".

"Do not question my abilities. Abe knows me. I am a man of my word. If I said the princess would be safe here, I meant it" he all but growled out. I flinched a bit, the sound bringing back a few unpleasant memories of the Strigoi.

"Janine. Stop it," Abe snapped at her before continuing "I would trust Deacon with my life, just as I would Sebastian. Now you said you would trust me on this – don't fuck this up, it's a chance for you to make things right. Probably your only one.". I heard it, the thinly veiled threat, but I was so exhausted that I couldn't focus.

My eyelids must have started to droop while standing because Deacon immediately spoke "I am so sorry, please sit back down. I'm sure you're all exhausted and ready to get some rest. There is just one more thing… the basement is…" the slamming of a door open and close causing me to jump up alert.

"It's taken care of, Deacon, now I'm going to go and…" the most beautiful sound I ever heard rang out and any exhaustion I felt had evaporated. My heart hammered in my chest, and I felt as though I couldn't breathe. This isn't possible. She's dead. I saw the headstone. Abe PAID for the headstone. She's gone. This isn't real. You've passed out. Millions of thoughts ran though my head and all I could do was stand there like a wide-eyed fool.

"Roza." Her name fell through my lips like a prayer, and I couldn't look away from her eyes. Her now golden eyes. What the fuck.

3rd POV

Rose stared at the 5 people who were currently invading her living room – her previous mission summary forgotten. Three people she hasn't seen in years.

Everyone was on baited breathe. No one knew how the other would react. Like Dimitri, Lissa couldn't stop staring – her eyes welling up with tears – her best friend, her sister, was alive. Moving to stand in front of her, Lissa reached out and touched her shoulder, pushing on it, ensuring it wasn't a hallucination. Skin. She touched skin and Lissa wasn't sure how to react now.

Looking her up and down, Lissa let out a tiny yelp that got the attention of the everyone in the room. "Rose! Your arm! You're covered in blood. Oh, my Vlad, does it hurt?"

Lissa reached out as though she was going to heal it and Rose jumped back as though she had been burned. Her emotions were all over the place and she let out a choked sentence of "It's not my blood".

The sound of her voice immediately snapped Dimitri out of his head before he slowly goes "It's not yours…".

"Nope." Rose spit out. Her mind was frazzled. She was tired. She was covered in mud, blood and who knows what else; she wasn't prepared for this. She thought she had another week to prepare for this.

"Rosemarie. You're supposed to be dead." Janine said in a cold voice – she didn't want to, but she didn't know how to act either. She was devastated upon learning that her daughter had died but she never had the best motherly instinct. She never knew what to say when. When to offer a hug or advice, rather than strict guidance, and discipline.

"Nope. Alive. Sorry to disappoint, Janine." Rose snarked out while shooting a glare her way. Flinching, Janine looked away. "…I need a moment, excuse me," Rose said while trying to turn away.

Quickly Janine jumped closer and grabbed Rose, who pushed her off – she moved quicker than either Dimitri or Lissa had ever seen. Jumping away, and grabbing her arm, Rose looked as though Janine burned her. "Don't fucking touch me. You have absolutely no right to me or my time. "Rose seethed.

Barking out a sarcastic laugh, "I have absolutely no, right? Are you fucking kidding me? I deserved to know my daughter was alive this entire time." Pausing to whip around and stare at Abe, "AND YOU! You KNEW. This entire time, you knew! And you didn't say a damn word. How could you? I thought my daughter was dead. Dead!"

"She asked me not to tell you. She wanted to be dead to the Moroi, so I ensured that would happen. This is a life-or-death situation, which is why she agreed to help me." Was all that Abe said, sipping a glass of scotch that he had poured prior to Rose storming in.

"She asked you not to. You kept her secret because of that?!" Her face was as red as her hair and Dimitri was almost worried about her. He knew Rose didn't have the best relationship with her mother, but he still thought it was pretty harsh to let her think she was dead, but in retrospect, she let us all think that. He wasn't sure what his reaction to this should be – or how he felt; well, he knew how he felt but things were tense, and no one knew a damn thing.

"Yes. I asked him not to" was all Rose had said. Her attitude flippant towards Janine.

"Why?" Janine questioned, a tear slipping from her eye.

"Why? You have no right to ask me that." Rose said before trying to walk away again. She seemed on edge, and Dimitri's eyes were analyzing everything about her. From the bloodstains to the gold eyes, to the way her hands were twitching. She was tense. She wanted to hit something.

"Stop walking away from me. You always run away when things get tough. Oh, boo hoo, they wouldn't let you guard the princess, so you ran away. Again."

A pin drop could be heard. The temperature in the room growing cold as though a winter storm just blew in.

Sebastian appeared almost out of nowhere coming to stand beside Deacon, stepping forward as though he was going to lunge at Guardian Hathaway – the only thing stopping him, from what Dimitri could see, was the back of Deacon's hand pressing to his chest.

"Run away. Run away. Oh, that's rich. Coming from the woman who ditched me at the Academy the moment she could and RAN AWAY to play a role in someone else's family. Never called. Rarely wrote. God, Alberta stopped giving me your messages for years when I was 7 because I couldn't stop crying when I did get one. Every birthday, hoping you would just make an appearance or give me a call or a card, but YOU NEVER DID. The final straw though. Oh god the final straw," Rose raised her eyebrows, closing her eyes slowly and laughing before shooting her eyes back open and pining Janine with the fierce gaze behind them.

"I was catatonic." She whispered. "After everything that happened. My best friend couldn't care less about what I was going through. My ex-boyfriend (fucking ouch, Dimitri thought, his heart squeezing in pain at her words) didn't give a shit. I was about ready to give up on everything. I was motherfucking CATATONIC, and you STILL couldn't be bothered to care." Rose ended up screaming at her, nearly vibrating with anger and pain.

Janine looked away, unable to face her daughter.

"Out of everyone who I thought would care, it was the most surprising. Adrian fucking took care of me for 3 days. 3 whole days. Trying to get me to eat. To speak. To do something other than lay there, cry and wish for death." Lissa gasped in pain and grabbed Dimitri's arm in shock. She didn't know that. Adrian never mentioned that to her. God she really was the worst friend in the world to Rose.

"Then on top of it. Not only did you NOT GIVE A SHIT! You told him to seduce me out of it. You called me flighty and said that I was more into boys than duty and if he gave me a little 'special attention' like her previous 'predator mentor' of hers, then I'd fall into line like the good Dhampir Guardian that I was.". Dimitri flinched at being called a predator, he already had to overcome feeling sleezy for his relationship with Rose, but to know that Janine thought he was a predator was a bit painful.

Rose, noticing Dimitri's flinch (because let's face it, she noticed everything about him) said "You aren't a predator. She's just a miserable bitch."

Abe and Deacon glowered at Janine. Neither of them knew about this and Abe seriously regretted his decision. Deacon looked Abe in the eye and said "I think I made a mistake. She goes back with you. She isn't welcome in my home. The others fine. Her – no.".

Janine looked up as though she couldn't believe it. None of the words Rose had said appeared to resonate with her or the fact that Rose clearly didn't want her here. "You can't just kick me out. I'm still her mother!" Janine cried.

A chilling hollow laugh filled the air, and it made the hair on Dimitri's neck stand up. The sound so haunting, it froze him to the bone. Rose stepped forward, nearly standing next to Dimitri and Lissa, unaware of the fact that her hand brushed right up against his. She stood toe to toe, eye to eye with Janine. "Mother?" Rose sneered. "You're not my mother".

"What would you call me then? I did carry you for 9 months." Janine said with an eyeroll, assuming her daughter was being overly dramatic.

"I'd call you my incubator," Rose whispered menacingly before turning around to face Deacon. Dimitri's chest constricted, he had never seen Rose like this before and he was torn on how to feel about it,

Whispering to him she said, "I…I thought I could handle this, but I don't know if I can. I need a moment," before walking off. Dimitri making a move to follow her, not wanting to let her out of his sight. All he wanted to do was hold her and never let her go.

Deacon stepped in front of him, shaking his head. "Let her cool off. This was a shock that she wasn't expecting tonight. That none of you expected tonight and that is my fault. You two should take time to think about this as well. Process your emotions or else they'll explode like…. well like she just did.".

Turning towards Abe, Deacon growled out one last sentence, "Get her out of my house.".