A/N: I hope you enjoy this next chapter.
Dimitri
Chapter 5
One Month earlier (the day after New Year's…)
"So, where are we headed?" Rose asked.
Once the plane had landed, we packed all the luggage into the SUV and headed out of the airport.
"We are picking up our assignments and dropping off Sonya and Mikhail," I answered, sliding in next to her in the car.
Rose grinned, as she turned to Sonya. "Are they stashing you two at some top-of-the-line safe house?"
Sonya laughed. "Something like that," she replied evasively.
Rose turned her attention to me, lowering her voice. "I'm curious…what do you think our assignment will be like. I mean undercover work is always exciting, but Hans seemed to be a little tight-libbed on the details before we left."
I gave her a pointed look. "This isn't a vacation, Rose. This is serious."
She was close to rolling her eyes, and it was hard not to almost grin. It was a fine balance in loving her care-free attitude at the same time making sure she took the assignment with a seriousness. She was always hounding me about my inability to loosen up, but that was where she did the loosening up for the both of us.
"Seeing we are already a couple in love, it would make sense if our covers were also in love," she observed, wiggling her eyebrows.
"We'll find out when we get there."
She scoffed. "Really? Not even a guess? You aren't interested at all?"
My hands were neatly folded in my lap, and it took everything to keep my lips from turning upwards into a grin. "No. Whatever the task is, it will get done."
She brought her hand to her mouth in a mock yawn. "Boring! Come on Comrade, I know your curious."
I turned to her, lowering my voice so only she would hear me. "Alright. There is one thing that I am very much looking forward to."
Her bottom lip fell open, her breaths coming out in little pants. The subtle action sent a need straight to my groin. If we were alone, I would have reached for her face and kissed her like she deserved to be kissed. Instead, I schooled my expression and kept my hands to myself.
"Yeah? What's that?" her reply came all throaty.
"The look on your face when you see your first part of your assignment."
Her eyes narrowed, as she crossed her arms over her chest and sank back into the chair. "You're no fun."
This time I laughed. "I'm a lot of fun."
She glanced over. "Mark my words, Comrade. Payback is a bitch. Especially Rose Hathaway, payback."
I grinned. "Don't I know it."
We sat in silence until the SUV pulled up to the gates. Rose leaned forward to get a better look out the window, before she turned and looked at every face in the vehicle, leaving me for last.
"Seriously? Hans thinks the best safe house is at St. Anna's?" Her expression turned panicked. "We aren't staying here, are we?"
The car came to a stop, as I jumped out first, followed by Rose, and then Sonya and Mikhail.
"Relax, Rose. We are only staying here for a few days. Sonya and Mikhail will be staying here while we are on assignment."
Rose made a noise that sounded like someone had just released a valve on an inflatable. Mikhail and I both grabbed the bags as we made our way towards the campus at the head office.
Sonya fell into step with Rose. "While Mikhail and I are here, I can use the school's science equipment for anything you and Dimitri find in the field. My prior teaching background will help as far as additional resources for the school."
"And I can help train the newest class of guardians," Mikhail added, as he got into step with Sonya. She looked over to him, love shinning in her eyes.
I was happy for the both of them. They had been through so much, with Sonya's spirit abilities causing a strain in their relationship. At the time, no one really understood the rather rare elemental magic, but now that we did, and still studied the wide variety of what it could do, she was able to manage it better.
They had been married for two years now, but the way they still looked at each other, was the way Americans liked to sum it up as the honeymoon stage. The stage that I hoped Rose and I would never leave.
"I guess that makes sense," said Rose.
"Since you and Dimitri will be here for a few days, I am sure the guardian novices would welcome instruction from you as well."
Rose's eyes lit up as she looked back at me. "Oohh…that would be fun. Can we? Can we?"
I smiled. "I'm sure we can fit it in between," I answered.
We set our bags outside the hall, as the assistant that greeted us advised that the headmaster was waiting to see us.
"Ah, there are our guests now," A man behind the desk greeted as we filed into the room. His eyes landed on me. "Guardian Belikov, it's an honor to have you here. I have been looking forward to meeting you for some time."
I bowed my head slightly at the compliment. I could feel Rose's eyes on me that I had been the only one singled out, when she had practically made a name for herself in the last couple of years.
"It's nice to finally meet you, Guardian Croft."
"Croft?"
My lips twitched, when I heard Rose's gasp at the mention of the last name. I'd be lying if I had said this was one of the surprises, I couldn't wait for her to become familiar with when she learned of her assignment.
Ian Croft. Younger brother of none other than Hans Croft. It was hard not to have a little fun at Rose's expense.
"Guardian Hathaway. I've heard so much about you," Ian said, his voice deadpan.
Her expression turned smug, as she straightened her posture. "Thank you."
"That wasn't a compliment," he retorted.
Her lips pressed together, as her expression stiffened. "I see the family resemblance," she muttered.
Ian's expression screamed his disapproval, before he turned his gaze to Sonya and Mikhail. "Sonya, I can't tell you how thrilled we are to have an established spirit user with us." Finally, he looked at Mikhail. "Guardian Tanner. My brother tells me that you are one of the best."
"Oh, come on!" Rose scoffed, her hands flying up.
Ian's eyebrow arched at her outburst, as I shot Rose a look of warning to behave. She met my gaze, her own look of defiance, before she resigned and let out a small huff of annoyance.
"Headmaster Croft—"
"Ian, please," he corrected me with a warm smile.
"Ian. We were told that you would have the details of our assignment here."
He nodded, as he pulled out the drawer to his right and pulled out two folders. He passed them both to me. One with my name on it, and one with Rose. He pulled out a similar set of folders that he handed over to Sonya and Mikhail.
I flipped over the folder, Rose doing the same as we looked over our detailed dossiers of our undercover work.
"You will maintain your first names to keep as close as possible to not complicate the undercover work," said Ian.
"Rose McDaniels. How boring."
"Rose," my voice taking that warning tone again.
She looked in my direction. "What? I mean, it could have been something way cooler. A badass name. You know like James Bond has."
I sighed. The things she worried about. It reminded me of the time when we were hiding in the caves with the Keepers, a group of Moroi, Dhampirs, and humans that lived with rules and rituals of olden times. During Rose's time there, she had been more worried about whether the bacon was real versus being caught and put on trial, or facing down a Strigoi.
She leaned over my shoulder to look at my folder. "Dimitri Zolotov." Her whole face scrunched up. "See. They gave you a freaking mobster name. Seriously!"
"Rose!" I hissed quietly.
"I see what my brother means about you," Ian said, his accent becoming more pronounced.
Luckily, my warning look was enough to keep her from saying anything further, as she looked back at her file. Ian picked up a remote on his desk, and flipped a button that suddenly had the wall to the right of us opening outwards to produce a screen. He hit another button; a live feed displayed with Hans on the other end.
"Good. You made it," said Hans, already down to business.
"Good to you see you, brother," said Ian.
Hans nodded at him, never once slipping out of his guardian mode.
"By now, Ian should have provided you your assignments. The research we have been able to confirm as creditable, tells us that the heart of this operation is out of a nightclub about thirty miles from the academy and closer to the major metropolitan city of Boulder," he explained. He turned to face me directly. "Guardian Belikov, your undercover assignment is that you have recently been hired as the second in command to the head of security. This position should put you in a prime opportunity to get access to all the inner and outer day to day club business."
"That's perfect," Rose chimed in. "And I assume I can be one of the security details…" her voice trailed off when she looked again at her dossier. "A cocktail waitress? Oh, come on!"
"Ah, Guardian Hathaway. I handpicked your assignment specially for you," Hans added.
I could see the color rising to Rose's cheeks. To say she was angry was an understatement.
"A cocktail waitress? Surely, I could bet better useful somewhere else."
Hans clasped his hands in front of his waist. "On the contrary. Your need will be to get close to the other waitresses. My understanding is that one can learn a lot from something you call, girl talk."
I moved closer to her, keeping my voice low. "Take the assignment," I whispered.
I knew that Rose wasn't happy. She exhibited the same features she had the time she was tasked to be Christian's guardian during her guardian assignment instead of being given Lissa. She had put up a stink at first, but once the assignment had been over, she had realized the benefit to our plan. I was hoping she would remember that as I met her gaze and told her that very thing with my eyes.
She nodded reluctantly, before letting out a disgruntled sigh, and returning back to her folder. I already knew the remaining details, that I was sure Rose was really going to hate when she had a chance to finish going over the details.
The biggest detail, being that on this assignment, we were supposed to act as if we didn't know each other. Hans and even Lissa agreed that we would make more headway if both of us appeared available and able to build rapport with the staff.
Most working teams didn't trust outsiders, and if Rose and I came in as a package deal, the likelihood they would warm up to us would be even less. It wasn't that I liked the idea that either of us was going to have to appear available, especially in an environment where men came to get drunk and generally get handsy. If this nightclub was like any of the nightclubs in Russia, I would definitely have my hands full from a security standpoint. At least my position still afforded me the opportunity to put my fighting skills into action.
"We've arranged for a safe house for you about ten miles from the nightclub. Anything you uncover, you report that first to me, and then you get it over to Mrs. Tanner. She will coordinate with Sydney and us here at Court on any noteworthy findings. Any questions?"
Rose lifted a finger. "Uh, do we have uniforms?"
Hans looked like he couldn't be bothered with the trivial question. "Ian has already made sure you will have everything you need. Anything else?"
He may have asked, but his tone was anything less than interested in having to address anything further. Ian clicked the screen off, the two sides of the cabinet coming back together to display the solid wall.
"My assistant will have someone show you to your rooms," informed Ian. "Mikhail and Sonya, I reserved a spot for you closer to the faculty wing for privacy."
"Thank you," they replied in unison.
Ian turned to Rose. "Guardian Hathaway, you will have a room in the female dorms."
She raised up her palm. "Hold up. Why can't Dimitri and I be in the faculty wing as well?"
Ian made a tsk sound as if the idea was completely unacceptable. "Because Sonya and Mikhail are married and will be guests for a longer period of time. On such short notice, this was the best I could do," he replied his tone clipped. He turned to me. "Guardian Belikov, you will be with our resident guardian staff. I would be grateful to you if you were able to review their protocols and procedures and make sure we have everything buttoned up. With Guardian Tanner of course."
"Yes, sir."
I grabbed Rose's forearm before she could protest, understanding our business with Ian had concluded. The moment we were in the hallway, she whirled on me.
"Before you say anything, don't." she huffed.
"It's not that bad," I said calmly.
She shot me her own warning look. "Oh, really?" She raised her first finger. "You get a prestigious undercover position." She added a second finger. "You get a badass name." A third finger. "You get a room worthy of your guardian status and reputation." Finally, her fourth finger. "I don't have a fourth, but I am sure there will be one before the day is up."
I shook my head, not bothering to reply as Ian's assistant met us outside his office with a bright smile. "Guardian Belikov and Guardian Hathaway. Good to see you again." Her hand extended out with two maps of the campus towards us. "I have marked the buildings for your rooms while you stay with us. Please don't hesitate to reach out should either of you need anything."
"Thank you," I said.
"Yeah, thanks," Rose said grumbly.
I placed my hand on Rose's shoulder as we left Ian's office. "Come on, I'll walk you to your dorm."
She groaned. "Not even here an hour and I am already back to being in a dorm room."
"It's not that bad," I retorted.
She glanced my way. "Oh, yeah. You happy that we won't be sharing a room or a bed for that matter?"
My expression faltered. She had a point. Ever since Rose had graduated and we officially became a couple, we had been living together. The only time we had been apart was if we were traveling due to our schedules. Those were some of the worst days. Any time that Rose and I were apart I hated it. I liked it least that I would be in the same area with only a few buildings between us and not able to be with her.
Rose must've seen the look on my face, because her look turned smugly. "That's what I thought."
"No way! Shut up. Guys! Guys! It's Guardian Dimitri Belikov!"
Rose and I turned; to see a group of Dhampir boys gawking in our direction. They ran up to the both of us, forming a circle as they shouted questions me. The closer they got; the more Rose was forced apart from me.
"Guardian Belikov, are you really a god?" asked one boy.
"Guardian Belikov, is it true you took on twenty Strigoi on your own and killed them all?" Asked another.
"Guardian Belikov, do you have super powers after being restored from a Strigoi?"
And so, the questions went on from asking if I would observe their form, teach them to fight, and help give pointers on how to get girls.
I looked up to see Rose roll her eyes, as she crossed her arms in front of her chest and watched the scene unfold in front of her. I was actually pleasantly surprised, considering most male boys her age ended up drooling all over her and making me have to cool off their hormones.
Rose lifted four fingers in my direction, as she mouthed, "This, right here!"
She took off in the direction of her dorm. It took me another few minutes before I was able to shoo away the rest of the novices so I could catch up with Rose.
Her door opened slightly, only half of her body coming into view once I had knocked on the door.
"Are you going to let me in?" I asked.
She shrugged. "Depends. Is your fan club still with you?"
"Rose…"
She huffed; walking away from the door. I took it as a positive when she hadn't closed it in my face. I walked in and closed the door behind me.
"Are you sure it's okay that godly Guardian Belikov is standing in my room? Alone. With me."
I knew she was mad, but she was so cute when she was. It was hard not to tease her. "I only make exceptions for one woman. The most beautiful woman I have ever laid eyes on."
Her eyes brightened, even though she rolled them up in her head. "Smooth, Comrade."
I took a step forward, reaching out so my hand gripped hold of her waist, moving my face towards hers. All I had to do was lean in and I would be kissing her. "Don't be mad at me, Roza. We already have to be apart for the next few days. I am going to miss you and this sexy body of yours."
She grinned. I could tell that she liked that some of the power between us was shifting back towards her. I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her to me, her body fitting snugly against mine.
"I would never want to disappoint such a god," she said teasingly in her seductive voice.
"That would be awful," I agreed, my lips softly caressing hers.
Her voice turned heady. "Any chance I could convince you to help christen this room."
I growled, as she trailed kisses all down my jaw and neck. As much as I wanted too, we were standing the middle of an all-girls dorm room where I'm sure the walls were paper thin.
I returned the favor in trailing kisses down her neck meeting her collarbone, which was her sweet spot. "We can't. But that doesn't mean we can't have one hell of a make out session."
"Yes…" she breathed.
In one swift motion, I moved my hands down to her ass, lifting her up so her legs wrapped around my waist. She gasped, her mouth finding mine as I laid her back on the bed, our kisses turning hungry.
"Dimitri…" she moaned.
I love the way she said my name. Especially, when she was in the throes of passion that I was eliciting from her with my hands and mouth.
"Roza…"
I felt her smile go wider. My hand lowered to the top of her jeans at her waist to pull up her shirt and trace my hand against the tanned skin of her stomach, when a knock appeared at her door.
"Uh, Dimitri?"
"Dammit!" Rose groaned, pulling back, her hand coming to her forehead.
"I'm sorry to bother you if you're in there. Ian asked if we could meet with Guardian Foster since he is free for the next hour."
I pulled back; easing off Rose, as I came to sit down next to her. "I'll be right there, Mikhail."
I waited until I heard his footsteps recede, before my shoulder bumped into Rose's. She clasped my hand in hers. "Go," she urged. "I still have some unpacking, and then I can come find you and see if you need my help."
A smile flickered on my lips. "I always need your help." I placed a kiss on the back of her hand.
She sighed; getting up to walk me to the door. I turned back, grabbing her quickly so I could place a kiss on her lips.
"Promise we will continue this later?" she asked.
I nodded emphatically. "Promise."
I opened the door, but just before I could exit, she grabbed hold of my wrist. "Wait one second." She dashed across the room to her closet.
"What is it?"
She bit her bottom lip as she reached for the hanger in her closet, her head peeking over her shoulder at me. "I know I was going on and on before about how you had all the cool stuff with this assignment, and I didn't have any advantages."
I was pleasantly surprised at her newfound outlook on the assignment. I leaned against the wall; the door still ajar as I crossed my arms. "I'm glad you are looking at the bright side of this."
Her smile went wider. "Oh, me too." Her look turned devious. "In fact, I just know you are going to be so understanding and supportive once you see me in this…"
She turned with an outfit that was on the hanger, and my jaw dropped.
I was definitely NOT going to be happy about this.
Rose
While Sonya and Mikahil got comfortable with their new home for the foreseeable future, Dimitri and I made quick work in taking a look at the protocols and procedures that St. Anna's was using when it came to training their new Dhampir's.
We still had another two days before our safe house would be ready and we would need to start in our new positions at the nightclub. Until then, we would make ourselves useful in helping to train and spar with the future guardians.
We were in Guardian Foster's office the next morning, Dimitri inquiring about the school's roster. He had come up with the brilliant idea in wanting to see the connection of students that dropped out and or went missing from the school in conjunction with the research we had collected around the nightclub.
"Here's everything you requested," Guardian Foster said, as he handed Dimitri the folder.
I had been sitting on the couch off to the side, but as soon as Dimitri had the details, I hopped up and rested my chin over his shoulder as I looked at the data. It was hard not to get distracted with Dimitri's hand resting on his chin as he poured over the details.
Then the data on the page jumped out at me. "Is that right?"
Dimitri let out a sigh. "Appears so."
"Four Dhampir's and two Moroi have gone missing?"
Guardian Tom Foster's expression turned melancholy. "I'm embarrassed to say that we didn't really put all the details together until the guardians from the court called."
"Well, according to this, it says four out of the six decided to withdraw."
I looked back at the file where Dimitri pointed out that additional information and confirmed that detail myself.
"It's not uncommon. With Boulder being no more than thirty miles, and then Denever not far from there, it happens from time to time." He shrugged. "Kids will be kids."
Dimitri's brows knitted together. Tom was right. It wasn't truly uncommon that Dhampir's might want to run away. Even though Lissa and I ran away for reasons now everyone understands, kids born as Dhampir's are bred for one reason. To learn how to fight and give up their life solely for Moroi. They come first.
I could think back to my time at St. Vladimir's and pick out a handful of names of students who just weren't going to make it. No amount of training education was going to turn them into being the best guardian possible. Those that couldn't cut it…either left and attempted to perform jobs that humans usually occupied, or worse…they became blood whores.
I shivered.
I remembered seeing a few compounds of Dhampir's—the worse being the one a few years ago with Irina—that reminded me of what strip or drug house would look like. To think that young girls or even boys were in these types of places so young, only infuriated me.
"Has anyone notified their parents?"
Tom nodded. "We only got responses regarding the Moroi's, but even then, it was parents that are too busy traveling and enjoying their lifestyle to question any further."
I frowned. Another pitfall to our world. With the expectation that we grow up to serve the Moroi, most Dhampir women, including my own mother, will send their children to the academy to be raised so they can get back out in the field and serve their purpose.
It was rare that a Dhampir mother was involved in the child's life, let alone both parents. Most Moroi men took Dhampir women as side lovers to help continue our race while only marrying Moroi woman whose station was acceptable.
While us Dhampir's had our own set of unique qualities, one of the downsides was that the gene makeup meant we couldn't have children with each other. Well, except for Dimitri and I. Once he was restored from Strigoi, we learned that one of the miracles from the spirit transformation was it allowed Dimitri to father children. That was a whole different story.
"Which explains why, Lissa hadn't received and reports to look into it any further," I guessed.
"Even if the parents had been concerned, I doubt there would likely have been an investigation anyway," Tom divulged.
Dimitri's jaw clenched; his body stiffened. "What do you mean by that?"
Tom sighed. "Just that, as I look over the list of students…they were either loners who barely had any friends, or they were troublemakers. No one here even batted an eye when they left. Outside of the faculty of course."
I huffed. "So, what, that means their lives didn't matter?" I spoke up my words coming out haughtily.
Tom's eyes squinted at me. "I didn't say that."
"Because Lissa—"
"Queen Lissa," Tom interrupted me, doing his best to mimic Dimitri's quiet, soldier-like guardian mask. He was nowhere near intimidating, and only Dimitri had any effect on me like that.
Dimitri would be proud that I was going to ignore his comment. "Would have investigated this matter sooner to prevent any further concerns," I added.
Tom crossed his arms over his chest. "If we had known, we would have done everything possible."
Dimitri snapped the file shut. "Guardian Hathaway is right. It's no disrespect to you, Guardian Foster, but if the faculty reported these as they should, it would have caught the queen's attention sooner."
I was waiting for him to turn his defensive nature on Dimitri, but it never came. His expression morphed to one of shame, as he lowered his head. "Your right, Guardian Belikov. I should have pushed harder once I reported my concerns to the faculty."
Seriously! I just said the same thing!
"There's nothing we can do about it now," Dimitri said with a finality.
I wasn't done yet. "Are you saying you don't feel that Headmaster Croft failed to do his due diligence?"
"Rose!" Dimitri hissed quietly as he turned to me.
I shrugged. I thought I would get points for at least using his surname and title, but apparently still questioning the head of the academy was a no-no.
Tom's expression morphed into one that said he was appalled. "I didn't say that. Headmaster Croft is completely by the book. If he said he would take care of it, he would. The students always come first to him."
"That doesn't surprise me," I replied dryly. If he was anything like his brother, the apple didn't fall far from the tree.
Dimitri's next question brought us back to the point at hand. "It looks like the last student to go missing was a Dhampir about two weeks ago."
Tom nodded. "Yes. It was the day after that we were asked for our enrollment rosters, and then Guardian Croft asked us to put the school on lockdown."
I arched a brow. "Lockdown? Are your students used to being able to go off campus?"
Dimitri quick glance of approval at my question filled me with pride.
"It's frowned upon. Unlike some of the other academy's that are more isolated, with our academy closer to major cities, we from time to time have students that sneak off campus."
"Let me guess, and to the nearest nightclub that just happens to be less than an hour drive from here."
Dimitri rubbed his chin. "The last student, the Dhampir…has his room been cleaned out?"
Tom's face perked up. "It's been packed up, but hasn't been shipped out yet. We haven't had any new enrollments where anyone needed the room, and we typically give parents thirty days to claim belongings seeing we never know response times with their assignments," he explained.
"I want to see the room." Dimitri demanded.
I smiled internally. I loved my badass guardian. He never asked, he just directed. I still hadn't met one person yet, that dared to even go against Dimitri. Expect for me, of course.
"I would be happy to take you to the room."
Dimitri nodded. "Guardian Hathaway and I will also want to complete a perimeter check and ward check."
"Those are checked daily," Tom rebutted.
Dimitri crossed his arms, not backing down. "I don't doubt it. But, since we are here and we have experience with these types of things, it's better to be safe than sorry."
Tom nodded mutely. Any further argument on the matter, would only appear that the students and faculty's safety here wasn't the first thing on his mind.
"When was the last time the wards were replaced?" I asked.
"Two weeks ago," he answered automatically.
Dimitri and I both looked at each other. Right after the last student went missing. If what Tom was said was true, they were still at their strongest element and would surely keep out any Strigoi that even attempted to come near the campus.
Tom went over to his desk and pulled out a set of keys from his drawer. "If you would follow me, I can take you to his room."
As we filed out of the room, Dimitri and I hung back a little while Tom took us in the direction of the dorm. I thought after the first day, heads would stop turning in our direction everywhere we walked, but it seems Dimitri turned heads no matter where he went. He was a sexy Russian after all. My sexy Russian.
"I know that look, Comrade," I whispered as we started walking.
His head turned in my direction. "What look?"
"There's something you're holding back. Something from the meeting."
He nodded; moving closer to me, lowering his voice to just a whisper. "Something just seems off about the situation."
His tone and expression had me on higher alert. "How so?"
"I don't know yet. Something just isn't adding up," he replied evasively.
I didn't believe he was holding back. He would tell me what he knew. But I also learned over the years that when Dimitri's spidey-senses were activated, it was in everyone's best interest to take notice.
"You're hoping the student's room might give you another clue," I guessed.
He shot me that approving nod again. They really were like the best kind of drug.
"It's the best place to start."
Tom held open the dorm door for us as we entered the building. The few Dhampir's headed towards their class—which seemed to be training—gawked as we passed, their steps faltering.
"No way…."
"We have to take the elevator up, to the second floor," informed Tom. As we entered into the elevator the doors closing, Tom turned to the both of us. "I have been meaning to ask a favor of you both."
I arched my brow. "Oh?"
Tom's eyes darted back and forth between Dimitri and I, his hands stroking key after key in his hand. He appeared nervous. "We don't get a lot of famous and talented visitors here. I'm sure you're not oblivious to the attention you too are getting." He rubbed the back of his neck. "I was wondering, hoping, that you might have some availability to conduct a demonstration for our students."
"Of course!" I beamed right away. I would never shy away from an opportunity to show off Rose Hathaway skills.
Dimitri on the other hand looked at me with surprise that I would just immediately volunteer us both, especially considering the tasks already laid out ahead of us. I just shrugged and shot him a wink. I would make it up to him later, and based on the look I gave him, he knew it too.
Tom's face brightened. "Really?" He looked between the two of us, his eyes flashing with excitement when Dimitri gave a curt nod. "The students will be so excited. Thank you."
"Just let us know—"
"We have a mandatory assembly in the next hour. We can do it then," he informed, cutting Dimitri off from finishing his sentence.
I held my hand up. "Whoa. One hour? As in today?"
Tom nodded; his expression morphing into a grin. "Yes. I know it's short notice, but considering how talented you both are, and always prepared for the unprepared, this won't be a problem, will it?"
I suddenly wanted to punch Tom in the gut. Hard. Dimitri smirked as he looked at me, his brow raising as to say, you volunteered us.
I schooled my expression. "That would be no problem."
He clapped his hands together. "Perfect." We stopped at the door, Tom unlocking the bolt to the room. "I'll leave this in your capable hands so I can go and make the arrangements. Thanks again."
Dimitri laughed, as he stepped into the room.
"What's so funny?"
He was already in his guardian investigative mode, but he still humored me anyway. "When will you learn that your mouth gets you in more trouble than anything else."
I fiend mock hurt, as I stepped over to the closet to pull back the door and see all his clothes had been cleaned out already. "Watch it, Comrade. If memory serves me right, you like my mouth," I shot back, wiggling my eyebrows.
His eyes darkened with desire, his lips spreading into a grin. "I do, Roza. Very much."
And suddenly, I wanted to cross the room, grab hold of his face, and do very very bad things to him on the bed in this small and rather boring room.
My lips formed a sad smile. "As much as I want to take this a step further, my big mouth did get us into a training demonstration."
Dimitri laughed, turning towards the cleaned off desk that held one brown box that sat on top. I crossed the room until I stood next to him. Dimitri lifted the lid and tossed it to the side.
"His closet was empty. Is this really all the belongings that he had?"
Dimitri started shuffling around the box pulling things out to see the next item below. "It appears so."
I took a few books that were in his hand. "Tom was right. This student appeared to be a loner." I flipped the two books in my hand over. "Well, I will tell you one thing, he has the same interest in boring books as you do."
Dimitri glanced over his shoulder and looked over at the book. "That book is good. I have that one."
I rolled my eyes. "Of course, you do." I tossed the book to the side. "If it wasn't for your hotness and incredible guardian skills, I bet you would have spent all of your time in your room."
"I value my solitude and privacy," he said deadpan.
"Which is amazing how you even love me at all," I remarked.
He leaned in and kissed my cheek. "More and more every day."
I was grinning like a schoolgirl who had just doodled her crush's name all over her workbook over and over again, as Dimitri focused back on the box that was now empty.
"Does this confirm your suspicion?" I asked, seeing his troubled expression.
He nodded; his arms crossed back over his chest as he worked through his thoughts. "It's the comment that the students that went missing were students that appeared to be loners that truly bothers me."
My entire forehead crunched together. "You think they were specifically targeted?"
His head tilted to the side that it was exactly what he was thinking. "It makes for the proper candidate, doesn't it?" He held up the books and few meager belongings the kid did have. "Keeps to himself, probably avoids any public functions, and spent all the time in his room."
I understood where he was going with this. "So, the least likely kid to want to go to a nightclub."
"It would be the last place he would go," Dimitri confirmed.
That only meant one thing, and I didn't like it. "Do—do you think someone from the school could be involved?"
Dimitri's expression soured, before I noticed his protective nature took over. "I don't know. I would hope not. That's why I want to check the perimeter and wards first."
"Makes sense," I agreed.
He finished putting the last of the items back in the box and secured the lid on top. "Still, I would like to cover our bases since we are leaving in another day. We should give Sonya and Mikhail a heads up so they can keep an eye on things."
"Good idea."
Dimitri put his arm over my shoulder. "Come on, Rose. You and I have a fight to prepare for."
I grinned. "Don't think I am going to go easy on you either."
He bent his head down and placed a soft kiss on my lips. "I wouldn't have it any other way.
Guardian Foster wasn't kidding when he had said that the entire school had turned out for the assembly. Granted, it was mandatory, but usually most students sat their numbly and played on their phones.
All eyes were on Dimitri and I.
Tom went on to hype up both Dimitri and my background, spending way more time detailing Dimitri's background. While he did have more Molnija marks then I did, I was catching up and next to him the next youngest guardian to ever obtain so many at such a young age. Especially, being a female Dhampir that didn't usually get the same level of respect as men. Except with Dimitri. He had always treated me as his equal.
"Please welcome Guardian Belikov and Guardian Hathaway!"
The crowd clapped and roared as all attention was on us now. Dimitri maintained his stoic demeanor, while I smiled and waved. Tom handed the microphone over to Dimitri who gave a rather responsible speech about a guardian's duty and being aware at all times.
The boys were enthralled with every word he uttered, while the females openly swooned in his direction. They could swoon all they wanted, Dimitri was mine and came home to me each night.
"Now, pay attention as Guardian Hathaway and I demonstrate some important skills."
"Oh, we are!" A rowdy boy shouted.
Dimitri's eyes narrowed throughout the crowd for the source of the comment, while I attempted to keep from busting out in laughter.
I turned from the crowd. "Come on!"
Dimitri scoffed. "It was rude," he argued.
I grinned. "Do you want to go and beat him up?"
He flexed his fist. "Kind of."
That caused me to break out in a laugh as we turned to face each other and get into position. "If you are trying to distract me, Comrade, it won't work. I'm not going easy on you."
He got into his stance fight, both of his arms coming up to hold in front of his face. "I wouldn't expect anything less."
We both circled each other, each of us determining how we were going to begin. The downside to training with Dimitri and being romantically involved, is that we both knew each other's methods and battle tactics. It was probably why most always asked for a demonstration. Our fights always went on longer than normal, and damn good entertainment.
Dimitri took a step forward. Then another. I backed up the first time, but remained steadfast on his second forward motion to get closer to me. When he took that third step forward, I jumped, throwing all of my body force into him. Dimitri instantly caught me as we both fell to the ground.
Dimitri landed on his back, but easily threw me off over his head. I somersaulted back to my feet instantly, crouched and already ready to attack him again. Dimitri was back on his feet again, wasting no time to advance at me. I blocked his first and second strike, missing his third as he cracked me good in the stomach.
I stumbled back; before lunging at him again, going for an easy shot that I knew he would block. That opened me up to spin away and quicky kick him back in the stomach. I misjudged my distance, so while the kick still landed, he didn't get the full weight of the force of my kick. I spun to kick again, but he caught my ankle and pushed me to the ground.
I groaned; but it would take a lot more than that to stop me. I rose back to my feet, smirking as I attacked him again with my battle cry that he always teased me about. Our fight went on and on with each of us blocking and getting a few good shots in here and there.
We both stepped back; the fatigue and sweat pouring from our heads. "You're holding back, Rose," Dimitri observed.
I grinned. "So are you."
And I attacked again.
We grappled; this time I landed a solid blow against his cheek. I heard the students gasp, at the hit as Dimitri stumbled back, but my triumph was short lived when Dimitri managed to pull some Yoda move on me and spin me so his arm was around my neck, my back against his hard chest. My chest was fully exposed to him, and had I been a Strigoi, he could have easily ended me right then and there.
I struggled against his hold, and every counter measure I launched, he easily blocked. "No…fair..." I gritted the words out through the pressure on my windpipe. "You learned something new."
I could feel his lips spread into a grin; his lips so close to my ear it sent a shiver down my spine. "You'd be surprise what you can learn from a book."
I couldn't help but smile at the comment having teased him earlier. My few additional attempts failed to secure any blows, but I was able to break out of his initial hold. We were both facing each other now, panting since we had been grappling for the last twenty minutes.
I could see the set determination in Dimitri's features as he took a step forward, and I knew with his stance, he was going for the kill shot. He took another step, but then everything went still.
A loud scream tore through the outdoor bleachers. Dimitri and I snapped to attention, both of us focused on the area in which we heard the loud piercing scream. Not just any type of scream, but the type that was bloodcurdling and usually followed by incoming danger.
Dimitri turned towards Tom. "Get everyone inside. Follow procedures!"
I grabbed for the stake in my boot. It didn't make sense since it was broad daylight, so it couldn't be a Strigoi attack, but it was my only immediate weapon between me and whatever we would be running too.
Dimitri did the same as we took off in the direction of the scream. We rounded the campus where we had been completing the demonstration towards the back of the school that was mostly used for obstacle courses for Dhampir training.
There, at the edge of the academy and the tree line stood a female Moroi, with her hands clasped on her cheeks as she let out scream after scream.
Dimitri and I reached her, my hand came up to grabbed hold of her shoulders and pull her attention to me, while Dimitri scanned the entire area around us in a three-sixty rotation.
"What? What did you see?" I cried.
The Moroi's eyes were bugged out wide, her complexion even more pale then normal for a Moroi. Her entire body was shaking, her mouth opening, but no words coming out. It was as if she was literally scared frozen in place.
I jerked her shoulders to me. "Snap out of it!" I yelled.
"Rose!" Dimitri snapped.
I took a breath, trying to calm my annoyance at the fact that something was going on, but without her giving us any indication, we were sitting ducks. Besides, Dimitri was better at handling basket case females. He had with me anyway.
I stepped back. "Hey…your welcome to try."
He let out an exasperated sigh. "Stand guard."
"Gladly!"
We switched positions, Dimitri standing in front of the frightened Moroi, his hand softly coming down to her shoulder to let her know he was there.
"What is your name?" he asked softly.
"M—M—Molly," she stammered.
He nodded. "Molly. Ok. Molly, Rose and I are here to help. We are here to protect you. We won't let anything happen to you," he said in a calm reassuring voice.
Her eyes flashed with understanding, her head nodding up and down as if his proposal was a very good thing. "Please…please don't let him get me," she begged through a cry.
"Who, Molly? Who is trying to get you?"
Her hand that was at her side came upwards until she pointed behind Dimitri into the tree line. I immediately, looked in the direction, but even with my senses I couldn't see anything. Dimitri did the same before he turned back to Molly.
"Eyes red. Skin so pale. He could jump and fly. It was like he could fly!" she cried, grabbing hold of Dimitri's shirt as she somehow found her strength and pulled him to her.
Dimitri grabbed hold of her hand, slowly easing her grip on his shirt until she released him. Dimitri and I looked at each other, our glances saying everything.
Dimitri took a long swallow. "Molly, are you saying that what you saw was a Strigoi?"
Just saying the word, caused her entire body to shiver uncontrollably. "Yes. No. Yes. It was Strigoi. It was…." She pleaded, asking us to believe her as she looked between Dimitri and myself.
"Molly, Strigoi can't come out in the sunlight. They would combust in the sunlight," Dimitri reasoned.
She shook her head. "It was Strigoi. It was."
It wasn't that we didn't want to believe her, but under extreme situations one could embellish what they may have seen due to the circumstances.
Her eyes glanced over Dimitri's shoulder again as she pointed in the same direction, another scream ripping from her mouth.
Dimitri and I both turned at the same time to look back out into the woods where she looked.
Red eyes.
Pale skin.
Standing in the middle of daylight just outside of the wards.
A sadistic smile on his lips.
Strigoi.
