"What the hell happened to you, Hathaway?" Adrian looked at me with wide eyes.
I didn't have any time to see where I was or what I looked like before he was on me, scanning my body with a sense of abject horror. I didn't answer right away, knowing nothing I said would make him feel any better. Instead I decided to acquaint myself with the dream he created. It wasn't anywhere I recognized, but it was filled with beautiful plants. It had to be some kind of botanical garden, and I took a second to soak up the fake sun. I was still in awe of spirit dreams, and how real they could feel.
After giving myself those precious moments,I then made sure to give myself a once over to see exactly what Adrian had noticed about me. I still had the bandages on in the dream, and I'm sure I looked more mummy than human with the way Sydney had wrapped me up. If my hands weren't poking out at the end, I'm not sure I would believe I still had arms. Thankfully, there weren't any other visible signs, but I wondered if my aura could tip him off to a head injury.
"Oh you know, just another day at work," I tried to sound cheerful as I spoke. He humored me and kept the banter light.
"You know, if you told me where you were, I could have you all healed up in no time," he joked back.
"I think that's Lissa's specialty. I don't know when I'll need someone to bother me when I'm sleeping."
"I'll bring her along. The Russian, too, if it'll make you feel better," I scowled at him. "Okay, not the Russian. Though I doubt Lissa would be able to shake him. He's glued to the wall behind her 24/7," he replied.
"How is she, Adrian? I saw that she's not going to college anymore. I didn't think this would affect her so much..." I trailed off, examining some nearby plants. One specific plant was the same shade of green as Lissa's eyes, and I realized the garden wasn't as peaceful as I had previously thought.
"Well, you don't have to worry too much. Her political ambitions have never soared higher," He said dryly.
I hoped Lissa wasn't trying to get more involved in moroi politics on my behalf. I knew she wanted her seat on the council to help bring change, but I didn't want her charm wasted on trying to help me. It wouldn't do anything to convince Queen Tatiana, and it might even make her a few enemies. But at the moment I was powerless to stop it, stuck in the middle of nowhere, West Virginia.
"But she's okay, other than that?" I pushed on. I knew I needed to hear him say it.
"She'll be fine, Rose. It might even be good for her to learn some independence. She's always had someone there to help her fix her problems. This will help her learn to deal with them herself," he shrugged as he delivered the answer.
"Wow. Wisdom from Adrian Ivashkov? I didn't think I'd ever see the day," I laughed before starting again, "I never meant to leave her alone..."
"You can always come back. You know she'd welcome you back in a heartbeat. She might even send the Russian off somewhere else," he smiled slightly at the thought. I could tell there was still some animosity between them. Another thing that felt like my fault. I was quickly getting overwhelmed.
"I can't. I have an assignment here, remember. One from your dear old Auntie. I don't think she'd welcome me back in a heartbeat. In fact, I think she'd banish me from society," I said.
"I know, I know, We just..." he cut off as someone shook me awake and out of the dream.
I quickly sat up and looked over at Christian, who had his hand on my shoulder. He looked sheepish as he told me we were home. I looked up, expecting to see the outer gates at Court. Instead I realized we were back at the house in West Virginia. I wondered how it was so easy for him to call this place home when so much was missing.
It was late, and we all retired to our bedrooms to get some sleep. We decided to risk no one staying up on watch. There were only a few hours of darkness left anyway. Sydney asked if I was okay several times before she drifted off to sleep. I know it was still hard for her to relax enough to sleep in a house full of vampires. I felt the guilt I had from earlier intensify as I watched her, knowing staring at her wouldn't help her fear of us. I moved to the most comfortable position on my back and let myself fall asleep once more, this time dream free.
When I woke up the next day I was alone in the room. I had no idea what time it was, but I felt a lot better after having slept in. I quickly showered and changed before heading downstairs. I was the last one up, but Eddie looked like he hadn't been up much longer than me. They were all finishing breakfast Christian had made, and he slid a plate over in my direction. I thanked him before eating it all in minutes.
Sydney reminded me of the status report I was required to write to the Queen and her committee. I sighed and let everyone know we would have to have a meeting to debrief on what happened. I had to make sure the report was thorough and full of detail, so I needed to know what Eddie and Christian were doing while Mikhail and I were in the basement.
If I had known about the reports, I would have seriously reconsidered if my position here was worth it. Chrisitian agreed to take notes while everyone went around and shared what the mission was like from their perspective. From what I understood, Eddie had taken his strigoi down almost too easily with Christian's help. That made me feel better about splitting up, but I knew in the back of my mind that Christian could be more helpful in an interrogation. I made a mental note to switch up the pairings for next time.
When our meeting was winding down Mikhail asked me a question I was dreading. He kept his face devoid of emotion, but there was an edge to his words that made me think he was worried. I couldn't tell if that worry was for me, or for all of us.
"What did the strigoi mean when she said they had people looking for you, Rose?" He asked calmly. I felt my heart start to pound against my sternum.
"Oh. Well, I suppose I didn't make many friends during my time in Russia. Present company excluded," I said and nodded towards Sydney. She raised an eyebrow at me, curious about my answer. I knew it was too simple.
"It was more than that... she mentioned Guardian Belikov," he said, trying to keep things professional. I really didn't want to get into what had happened to me the months I had been gone. I didn't want them to think differently of Dimitri. But this was my team, and I needed them to trust me.
"When I was in Russia, Dimitri had... taken control of a strigoi operation. As far as I know, he had people looking out for me when I escaped. I don't think anyone told them Dimitri had been restored, so they're probably still following his orders," I tried to keep my expression as even as possible. I was in full guardian mode, not wanting to let my feelings slip through.
"You have hundreds of undead monsters hunting you?" Sydney looked at me with pure terror in her eyes. I forgot that she didn't know as much about my history as the others did. I sighed, knowing it would take a lot of convincing for her to understand it wasn't such a big deal. As I looked around the room, I realized the others seemed to agree with her.
"Not really. Just keeping a lookout. She didn't even know it was me until Mikhail said my name. So it shouldn't be a problem. At least not one we need to worry about," I tried to downplay the situation as much as I could.
Everyone still looked a little uneasy, and I spent the next few minutes reassuring them that things would work out fine. They insisted on resuming the night shifts, just in case. I relented, but I made sure my name was on the rotation. If they thought it was necessary, I wanted to show them that I took their suggestions seriously. We made a schedule for the nights and I could feel the room around me relax.
I dismissed everyone and Sydney let me know that I had a special laptop from Court I was allowed to send emails on. She also let me know that any fun websites had been blocked, and I wasn't allowed to contact anyone but Hans Croft and Queen Tatiana herself. Sydney had to type up her own report for the alchemists, and we worked side by side in silence for almost an hour.
It was almost too easy to pretend we were normal girls our age, writing essays for our college classes. The reality was so much darker, and she laughed when I told her my observation. I felt a sense of pride knowing she was starting to let her guard down around me, especially after our earlier conversation.
I fired off the email and wondered how long would go by before we were assigned our next mission. I knew we had a few targets that were pre planned, but I wasn't sure when we would start using the information from the interrogation to track down new targets. James Alder sounded like a serious danger to our society. It made me uneasy that he had people watching the roads to Court, and I hoped we'd get a shot at him soon.
I'd agreed to take the first shift of the night, so I couldn't fall asleep like I wanted to. I decided to join the guys watching TV in the living room. I asked Sydney to join us, but she declined, saying she still had some work to get done. I left her alone with her computer and felt myself relaxing as some animated comedy show played.
Relaxing meant it was easier for Lissa to pull me in. It was extremely early in the morning for her, and I was surprised she was awake. I wasn't surprised to see Dimitri there, but I was surprised at what they were doing. I felt jealousy flow through me and I tried to pull myself out, but it was unsuccessful.
He was showing Lissa how to deflect a punch. They stood apart as he demonstrated how to block the blow. He then moved closer and threw his arm at her in slow motion. Her reaction was sloppy, and it broke through my negative feelings and made me laugh. I didn't think she would ever have the coordination to really stop an attack, but I appreciated the effort.
My jealousy reared up again as they laughed with each other. I wanted Lissa to look in his eyes so I could see what emotion lived there. Sparring, fighting, moving together... that was our thing. It hurt to see him do it with someone else, even if that person was Liss.
"I don't suppose you ever had this much trouble teaching Rose, did you?" She asked. He laughed again, and it made me miss hearing the sound for myself.
"Rose is a natural at combat. That doesn't mean she didn't give me trouble," He responded hesitantly. I could tell he wasn't quite comfortable talking about us with Lissa.
"But you liked it, didn't you? It was good trouble," she replied.
"Good trouble," he had a pensive look on his face as he said those words. I could tell he was far away from the townhouse in Court. He was back at St. Vladimir's, in the gym, thinking about the kiss we shared up against the wall. Or at least, that's where I was at the moment.
"Would you tell me about it? How it happened?" She asked him. He turned to her, and I saw the pain clear in his eyes.
"Maybe someday, Princess," He replied, not wanting to let her down. She didn't push him, and they went back to basic defense moves.
"They'll come back to us soon. Don't worry. Christian promised," she told him confidently after a little more practice. He nodded back to her, and I could tell he didn't feel nearly as sure about it as she did. It reminded me that I refused to make that same promise. Still, a part of me hoped Christian would be right.
I slipped out of her head and out the door for my shift, more confused about my feelings than before.