Chapter 23: Shadow Kissed

"Roza?"

"Roza, open your eyes for me" Dimitri said.

I shook my head and snuggled closer into him.

"I have pizza for you" Dimitri stated.

I took a sniff and heard a soft chuckle from Dimitri. I then risked opening one eye to look around.

"Liar" I said as I went back into his chest.

"Oh, Roza, if you open both eyes, I promise I'll get you pizza" Dimitri promised.

I took some time to think about it and I finally opened my eyes and was greeted with the chocolate brown eyes that I loved.

"Hey" Dimitri said.

"Hi" I smiled at him.

"How are you feeling?" He asked.

"I don't know, where are we? I asked for the first time looking around. Dimitri was cuddling me on a bed in a generic looking room, definitely not our bedroom.

"It's one of the guest rooms close to the dining room we were in. We brought you in here after you fainted." Dimitri said.

"Yeah, not one of my finer moments" I said.

"Roza, you've taken Lissa's darkness, sparred more than your body is used to, barely ate and then found out that you might have the ability to become pregnant by a dhampir. I'm not surprised you fainted." Dimitri said.

"Do you want to try and sit up?" Dimitri asked me.

"Okay" I said.

Dimitri helped me up supporting my back and carefully watching me.

"How do you feel?"

"A little dizzy"

"I'm not surprised, here drink this" Dimitri said as he gave me a bottle of water. I drank about half of it.

There was a knock on the door. "Come" Dimitri said.

"Rose, are you okay?" Baba asked.

"Yeah, I'm okay" I said.

"Can we get you anything?" Baba asked, the concern in his voice evident.

"You could get her pizza" Dimitri said.

"Done, Dr. Morozov is here to check on you." Baba said as the doctor entered and Baba left closing the door behind him.

"Rose how are you feeling?" she asked as she was taking my pulse.

"Okay" I responded.

"Mr. Mazur informed me that you had quite the shock this evening on top of what you went thru today" she said.

"Yeah, I guess it has been a crazy day."

"What do you think we should do?' Dimitri asked.

"Well, first I would like you to continue to drink fluids, you are probably dehydrated from this morning. Secondly, I have been told, you didn't eat much today, so I would like you to eat. It doesn't matter what you eat, just eat what you feel like. Thirdly, you are to rest today, tomorrow and Friday, no exercising and no sparring. And lastly, I have a pregnancy test here for you to take if you would like, as I heard that there was the possibility of you becoming pregnant by another dhampir" she said as she looked over at Dimitri.

"The instructions are on the package. I'll leave you to discuss this between you two and I will be in the dining area if you have any questions." She said and she left Dimitri and I alone.

I turned to Dimitri and he was holding the pregnancy test in his hand reading the directions. As if sensing my stare, he looked up at me. "Milaya, I know you are not ready for a baby yet. We both had resolved that this was not a possibility, but I can't deny that I am excited that this is a possibility. One day" he clarified.

"We are together now, whatever happens, we will deal with it together okay, but let's take the test first before either of us starts to panic" Dimitri said.

He took my hand and led me to the bathroom and he handed me the stick and I peed on it. Dimitri set his phone for two minutes. I sat down next to him on the edge of the tub. He put his arm around me and I rested my head on his chest. He kissed the top of my head and started whispering to me in Russian, which always seemed to calm me, even though I had no idea what he was saying.

The alarm on his phone went off and I jumped as it seemed the alarm was so loud compared to the quietness of the bathroom. We looked at each other and Dimitri reached over and grabbed the stick, but before he turned it over, he said "Roza, regardless of what this says I'll always love you and take care of you."

With that said he turned it over and it said 'Not Pregnant'. I let out the biggest breath and Dimitri pulled me onto his lap and said "One day, maybe we will do this for real. But only after we have planned for it, okay?"

"Okay, thank you Dimitri. I feel like I keep thanking you for everything you do for me and I never do anything for you." I said.

"Roza, I wouldn't have it any other way. I am the luckiest man in the world and I am here for you, however you need me to be."

"I love you" I said as I kissed his lips. I pulled back first and said "so, someone mentioned pizza?"

Dimitri laughed "Come on" and he grabbed my hand and we walked back into the dining area. Baba, Mom, Pavel and Dr. Morozov were there.

Baba said "Mark and Oksana went home, here is their cell numbers if you have any questions or want to set up another meeting."

"Thanks Baba" I said.

"We sent pizza to your place, so you can rest per doctor's orders" Baba said.

"Thank you, Baba," I said.

With that Baba and Mom hugged me. Mom said quietly in my ear that since I would be taking things easy for a few days, maybe we could spend some time together. I nodded at her and Dimitri said our goodbyes as we headed back to our suite.

When we reached the third floor, Dimitri directed me to our room, he told me to sit on the bed and he went and grabbed me t-shirt and sweatpants. He left the room and came back with a tray of food and drinks and set them down on the bed. He went into our closest and changed into sweats as well. He got us all set up in bed with food and we binged watch some reality tv.

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I woke up in the middle of the night and I was slightly disoriented with Dimitri chuckling behind me.

"What's so funny?" I asked.

"Your stomach has been growling for the last 15 minutes and it got so loud that it woke you up" Dimitri said trying to contain his laughter.

I tried to pout, but it really was funny as my stomach again let out a loud growl. Both Dimitri and I laughed so hard at that, that we both had tears streaming down our face.

"Come on, let's get you fed, you didn't really eat that much today." Dimitri said as we both got out of bed and went to the kitchen.

I sat on the counter as Dimitri went to the refrigerator to find some food. He handed me a bottle of water and said "Drink, you are probably behind in your fluid intake after everything that has happened today."

I downed half the water instantly, it felt so good on my throat, which was a little dry.

"What are you in the mood for?" Dimitri asked me.

"Food" I responded.

Dimitri chuckled "Yes, I figured that part out, what type of food? Never mind, I'll just pick things."

He started pulling out different dishes and made me a plate of food. I recognized some of the food that his family had made for us earlier in the day.

It was so much better than I remembered from earlier today and I started stuffing my face. At one-point Dimitri grabbed a fork and tried to take some food off my plate. I pulled my plate away and asked "What are you doing?"

"You are not going to share Roza?" He said as he pouted at me.

I studied his face for a long time and said "I guess, you can have a few bites."

"Thanks" he said sarcastically.

Thirty minutes later and I think that we had eaten half of the food in the refrigerator.

"Dimitri, I'm so full, I don't think I can move" I whined to him.

Dimitri shook his head and picked me up and brought us back to our bedroom. We still had about 6 more hours till we needed to get up for practice. We both got into bed and Dimitri pulled me to his side, kissed the top of my head and turned the light off. Within a minute or two, I could hear Dimitri's breathing even out.

I decided to slip into Lissa's head to see how she was doing. I hadn't had a chance to check on her since I took the darkness this morning. I easily slipped into her head and she was in the same room she had been in before. I was relieved to see that her darkness was gone and she was talking with Christian.

There was a knock on the door, Christian went and answered it, it was Adrian. He looked awful; I don't think I have ever seen him look that bad. He had dark circles under his eyes, he had a bottle of vodka in his hand and thru Lissa, I could tell he reeked from those clove cigarettes.

He was followed by five members of the royal guard. Lissa and I both had the same thought that the royal guardians were there to protect Adrian from himself and I assumed Christian had that thought as well. Unfortunately, that was not the case, which became evident as Adrian started yelling at Lissa demanding to know where I was. Lissa's guardians stepped in to protect her, but the royal guardians with Adrian mirrored her guardian's movements, causing a standoff between guardians.

Whoa, I thought, shit, Adrian is totally out of control and obviously his great aunt was not interested in stopping his behavior, but why. Christian got in front of Lissa to protect her alongside her guardians. Even though Christian and I did not always get along, I knew that Christian would do anything protect Lissa including dying for her, just like Dimitri would do from me.

From behind Christian, Lissa peeked her head out and said "Adrian, I do not know where Rose is, she was taken away by her parents for her protection. I talked to her last night after I had a nightmare that she got pulled into. The darkness has been building in me due to all the Spirit we have been using, she took the darkness away from me earlier today. That is all the contact I have had. I don't know where she is, she didn't tell me."

"I have been trying to dream walk her and I can't. I don't get it why can't I dream walk her" Adrian screamed.

"I don't know Adrian, maybe the darkness in you is preventing it or maybe she has been awake all this time" Lissa said calmly, but I could feel she was terrified. "Why don't you get some rest, we can take a few days off from practicing Spirit, and then you can try to reach her again. And if I hear from her I can let her know you want to talk with her and maybe give you a time frame to dream walk her" Lissa said, but I could tell she was lying so she could appease Adrian.

Adrian seemed to agree with that plan and left. After the door close, Christian turned to Lissa and said "That was weird and why does the Queen care if Adrian finds Rose, I thought the Queen hated Rose."

"Yeah, that is weird. Next time I talk to Rose, I'll let her know." Lissa said.

"Lissa" Christian started then stopped and took a deep breath "Adrian has never been my favorite person, but I generally felt he was harmless." Christian took another deep breath "Maybe I am paranoid, but I have a bad feeling, if he has royal guardians supporting him, we have no real defense against him." Christian inadvertently offended the guardians around them, but he did have a point.

"Are you sure there is no way to get to Rose?" Christian asked.

"No, not unless she calls me." Lissa said.

I pulled out of Lissa's head and jumped out of bed startling Dimitri, who jumped out and grabbed his stake and went into a defensive stance.

"Roza, what's wrong?"

"It's Lissa and Christian, Adrian is getting really unstable, but it weird, Adrian has the Queen's Royal guardians with him. It doesn't make sense, why would Adrian have royal protection at Court?" I pondered.

"I don't know, but it can't be good" Dimitri said.

Before Dimitri could say anything, I called Baba. I figured he must have some contacts at Court to help Lissa and Christian.

"Rose?" Baba asked "Is everything okay?"

I tried to explain things but I knew I was making no sense.

"We'll be right over" Baba said.

Dimitri and I went out to the living area and two minutes later, Baba, Mom and Pavel came up the stairs.

My mom spoke first "Rosemarie, what is going on?"

"I went into Lissa's head to check on her to make sure she was okay after I took the darkness this morning and she was. While I was still in her head, Adrian came over and was very manic and very drunk."

"Just like Oksana said he might be?" Baba asked.

"Yes, he was demanding to know where I was, but the weird thing is he had royal guardians with him and there was a standoff between Lissa guardians and the royal guardians. So much that Christian took a protective stance in front of Liss." I explained while Dimitri pulled me closer to him.

"Hmm, that's interesting, how does the Queen benefit by getting to Rose?" Baba pondered out loud.

"You think that the Queen is after Rose?" Dimitri asked alarmed at this new information.

"Yes, unfortunately, I think so. There is no reason for Adrian to need royal guardians at Court. He doesn't even get royal guardians outside of court." Baba pondered.

Mom, Pavel, Dimitri and I all silently looked at each other as those the answer would magically appear.

Baba finally spoke up and said "Let me make some inquiry to see if anyone has heard anything. And in the meantime, I will send some guardians to increase Princess Dragomir and Lord Ozera's protection. I probably should have done that sooner since Tasha will know that the Princess is your achille's heel so to speak."

"Thank you Baba" I said as I hugged him.

"Not a problem Rose, this is my expertise" Baba said with a wink. Mom hugged me and left with Baba and Pavel.

"Come on Roza, let's try to get some sleep" Dimitri said.

"I don't think I can sleep right now; I feel to keyed up after being in Liss's head" I said.

"I think I can help with that." Dimitri said.

"Comrade, I don't think I am in the mood for that either, sorry."

"Roza, you have a dirty mind, which I do love, but I was more thinking of snuggling in bed and watching a movie."

"Oh, that actually sounds good" I said.

Dimitri led me back to our room and we picked out a movie, some action movie about the White House being attacked. It was good enough to keep my attention but didn't take too much brain power to follow. I looked over at Dimitri and he was out cold, poor guy, my crazy life had definitely affected his sleep. Despite him always telling me at the academy, how guardians did not need much sleep, I think I put that theory to the test for him.

I snuggled down next to him and unconsciously his arms pulled me closer to his body. I started to become sleepy, so I turned the movie off and I was asleep shortly thereafter.

The next thing I knew, I heard an alarm going off. I was thinking I was back at that academy and I reached out to hit the alarm clock. But my hand collided not with an alarm clock, but a soft body.

"Roza, I am not your alarm clock" Dimitri said sleepily.

"Sorry, Comrade" I said.

Dimitri shut off the alarm which was on his side. "Well, I will have bruises, but at least you won't destroy alarm clocks every other day" Dimitri joked.

"Ha Ha Ha Dimitri, for your information is was every third day" I said smugly.

"Come on Roza, let's go, maybe the guardian dining area has chocolate donuts" Dimitri bribed.

I bolted up and jumped out of bed "You think so Comrade?"

"Maybe" Dimitri said as he laughed and shook his head.

We both got dressed and headed to the guardian dining area. I was surprised how full the kitchen was at this hour. At the academy, even after Dimitri and I finished working out, the academy dining area was still sparse when we arrived.

Dimitri and I got food including my favorite chocolate donuts. We sat down with Celeste and Yuri and the other guardians that we had met yesterday. Dimitri went to get coffee for himself and I begged him for one too. He took a sip and I watched him instantly relax. I took a bite of my first donut and moaned. The table laughed at me and before I could do anything, Dimitri took the rest of my donuts and placed them out of my reach and gave me a bowl of fruit salad.

"Fruit first, then donuts" Dimitri said. I stuck my tongue out him. Just then Vika walked in, I wasn't even sure her eyes were open.

"Wow, I guess not all the Belikov's are morning people" I laughed. I think Vika was trying to glare at me but the muscles in her face were awake yet. Dimitri being the caring big brother, got up and got food and a coffee for Vika and it made me love him even more. Vika sat down across from me and put her head on the table and said "this is way too early".

"Tell me about it, I used to have to meet your brother at 5 when we were at the academy" I said chuckling at Vika.

"That is plain torture and inhumane" Vika said.

Just then Dimitri came back to the table with a plate full of food for Vika.

"Morning Vika" Dimitri said after he placed the food on the table. He then refilled his coffee and got Vika a cup as well and hot chocolate for me. As I watched him, I could detect a slight twinkle in his eye. He was such a good big brother and I could tell he was enjoying taking care of Vika.

We all walked over to the gym and Dimitri found a bench and sat me down on it. Vika came over and sat down next to me after she had dumped her gym bag.

"I can't believe you're here" Vika squealed now that she was more awake.

"Sorry, I don't mean to seem like a crazy stalker or something, but Dimka talked about you all the time, I feel like I know you." Vika clarified.

"I know what you mean, he talked about you and your family all the time too" I said.

Just then Guardian Logan entered the gym and Vika just froze. "Uh, Vika, I think you are drooling" I laughed.

"What?" Vika asked "Oh, sorry, OMG he's so hot, who is he?"

"That is Guardian Logan, your mentor if you want him" I said laughing at Vika's reaction.

"No, no, no, he can't be. I'll trip over my feet and say stupid stuff. I'll make a fool of myself" Vika said panicking.

"Vika, relax, you'll be fine. Dimitri and I are both here for you, plus today is just about testing." I reassured her.

Dimitri and Guardian Logan walked over to us and Dimitri said "Guardian Logan, this is Novice Rose Hathaway, my girlfriend and this is Novice Victoria Belikova, my sister."

"Nice to meet both of you, please call me Matt." Guardian Logan said.

"Nice to meet you as well" I said.

"Hi, you can call me Vika" she said shyly.

"Alright, Matt and Vika, I am going to test both of you to assess your skills. While Matt's primary function is to be Vika's mentor, you never know what might happen. Why don't the two of you start stretching." Dimitri said.

I watched Dimitri walk over to Guardian Cooper, Guardian Ellis and Guardian Andreev and they shortly followed Dimitri as he headed back to where I was sitting. Dimitri introduce the other guardians to Vika, then he explained "Novice Hathaway will not be joining in the training for the rest of the week per Drs orders. Eventually, I would like everyone to spar with her, but for the mean time she will just be observing. The rest of the guardians will be arriving over the next week, we will go over everything then. But for now, I just want to see what level everyone is at".

I watched as Dimitri pulled Celeste and Yuri aside and speak with them. I am betting that he wants Celeste to do the testing again so that Vika is not the only female and he is asking Yuri as well, so it is not so obvious.

Dimitri tested Vika and the guardians, the same way Pavel had tested us. A warmup, then timed run, sit ups, pushups and then sparring. He was saving the weapons training for later, since Vika had little experience as I did.

While Dimitri was watching the sparring, Guardian Brown came over and sat beside me and he had a photo album with him.

"How are you feeling Rose?" Guardian Brown asked.

"Okay" I answered hesitantly, not liking the idea that I might be gossip among the guardians.

He must have sensed my uneasiness and said "I was here yesterday helping Pavel monitor the guardians sparring with you."

"Oh" I responded.

"I thought if you were up to it, I could show some pictures from when you were young." Guardian Brown said.

"Sure, if you don't mind" I said.

"Not at all" he responded.

For the next half hour, we looked at pictures from when I was a baby up to right up to four years old before the academy. It appeared that as soon as I could walk, there were pictures of me in the gym with various guardians who were 'sparring' with me.

I don't know when my mother came to sit by me or when I had started crying, but I felt my mother put an arm around me. "Thank you, Chris," she said.

"No problem, let me know if you want to see the pictures again or if you want to talk." Guardian Brown stated.

I could only nod at him in response. I searched the gym for Dimitri and I found him off to the side watching Vika and Celeste spar. He looked at me with questions in his eyes. I knew he wanted to come and offer me comfort but also realized my mother was with me and he wanted to give us some time together.

I gave him a quick smile showing that I was appreciative of what he was doing and he went back to watching Vika and Celeste sparring.

"Would you like to go for a walk?" My mom asked me.

"Sure" I responded.

We walked along the pathway that surrounded the compound. Neither of us said anything for a while until my mom spoke up. "You used to call Guardian Brown, Brownie. I suspect that is where you get your love of brownies from. He would always find a way to sneak you a donut or brownie."

I laughed "Really?"

"Yep" She said with a big smile on her face. After that our conversation was easy, we talked about general things, not wanting to get into anything too heavy. But she did ask more questions about Lissa, Spirit and being shadow kissed.

I was upfront and candid about what I knew and had experienced. We were on our second lap of the trail when I noticed something flicking in the trees beyond the fence and ward line.

"Do you see that flickering?" I asked mom pointing to the area where I was looking at.

"No" she said.

"Hmmm" I stated still trying to figure out what I was seeing.

"Let's go back, Dimitri is probably done with the testing and it's almost lunch time."

I said goodbye to my mother and I walked up the stairs and into our room and heard the shower turn off. I peeked into the bathroom and saw my man drying himself off.

He looked up at me and said "Roza, you are drooling."

"Yes, I am" I said as I gave him my best maneater smile.

He wrapped himself in a towel and went to the sink to shave. I hopped on the counter to watch him shave and he gave me a kiss before he lathered his face with shaving cream.

I asked him "How did Vika do?"

"Really well, I am impressed. She's not as good as you, but I think with her having a mentor will help her." Dimitri said.

"Guardian Brown is going to help with the testing the guardians weapons training, so Celeste is going to stay with you and Vika. I figured the two of you could do your schoolwork." Dimitri stated as he washed the rest of the shaving cream off his face.

"Did you know that apparently I used to call Guardian Brown, Brownie and that he used to sneak me treats." I said laughing.

Dimitri laughed with me and then he gave me a kiss before he put on his aftershave and then he went into our closet to get dressed. We walked out to the kitchen to find all the Belikov women making lunch for us and the extra guardians.

"Mama is always happiest when cooking for a lot of people" Dimitri whispered in my ear. He then went over to kiss his mother, babushka, Karo and Sonya.

After lunch, Vika and I sat down at the kitchen counter and started doing our classwork. Baba had gotten a laptop so that Vika could do her work. Celeste was at the kitchen table doing her nails and reading some magazines.

About two hours later, Dimitri and the rest of the guardians including Guardian Logan returned from their weapons testing. Dimitri and Matt started working at the table to plan Vika and my training programs. It seemed like our training would be identical from what I was overhearing.

Matt then asked Vika to join him in the other room on the couch so they could discuss training. Dimitri came and sat next to me as he started to work on guarding schedules.

We worked for a while and then decided to have dinner in the meals area. We came back and the guys started watching a game on tv. It was a side of Dimitri I had never seen before. Vika and I sat in the kitchen talking about her, her family and growing up with Dimitri.

I caught her staring at Matt and asked "How is everything going with Matt?"

Vika replied "Okay, but"

"But what?" I asked.

"He's so hot looking that I have a hard time concentrating around him. I worry that I am going to say something stupid. How did you deal with it?" Vika asked.

I laughed and said "I said stupid things, spaced out while he was talking and drooled a little as well. But he did as well and it became an endearing time for us as well."

"But what if he doesn't feel the same about me?" Vika asked biting her lip.

"Well, then he is not worthy of you and there are plenty of other men out there as well. Don't put a lot of pressure on yourself, just have fun for now. Safe fun!" I emphasized.

Dimitri interrupted us and asked "What are you two talking about?"

"Nothing" we said simultaneously and then we broke into a fit of giggles.

Dimitri raised his eyebrow at us. "Roza, I'm going to bed. Night Vika" he said as he kissed her on the head.

"Me too" I said "Night Vika"

I followed Dimitri to our room. He locked our doors and he said "Come on let's get ready for bed."

We brushed our teeth and I changed into my pj short set and Dimitri stripped down to his boxers. He got into bed and held the cover open for me. He pulled me to him and kissed my forehead and said "I love you Roza"

"I love you too, Comrade" I said.

I heard Dimitri's breathing even out and then a little snore started. Poor Dimitri, with everything that has happened over the past week, he hasn't gotten much sleep. Since I am not allowed workout, maybe we can sleep in on Saturday morning.

I was fidgety and couldn't fall asleep. I slipped out of bed and went into our office. I checked my emails from St Vladimir's which I haven't done in a week. I started regretting that decision when I saw the amount of emails that I had.

I started with the Eddie's email and a few other novice's emails, mostly just wondering how I was doing and where was I and if I would be back for graduation. There wasn't much I could do except reassure them that I was okay and hopefully I would be back for graduation.

The next batch of emails were from Lissa, the earlier on emails were her going on and on about Christian trying to hurt her. They were obviously from when the darkness was building up so I read but did not respond to them.

Then she had sent me an email explaining what was going on with Adrian, pretty much everything I already knew from being in her head. Her last email was thanking me and my father for sending then extra guardians.

I responded to her by letting her know I was in her head when Adrian stopped by and that I had relayed that information to my father. And how Baba felt that Christian and her needed more security based on Adrian's actions and Tasha's actions.

I explained that I didn't give her my cellphone number yet because I hadn't asked Baba yet if that was a safe thing to do yet, but I would ask him if it was safe to give out to her.

Then I took a deep breath and started looking at Adrian's emails and I regretted it. I should have just stopped after Lissa's. The first ten emails weren't that bad, just asking me where I was, to please call him and that his great aunt had secured a house for him and I and plenty of guardians for me.

Oh, god, this was not good, there were five emails per day, for the first two days after I left. Then on Wednesday, there were 100 emails, and the were getting progressively worse. I only read a few but they were getting angrier and angrier.

He was demanding to know where I was and I better tell him right now. He also said that if I wasn't at Court with his protection I would last long on the outside. My head was reeling with what he was saying and I was starting to get anxious about what amounted to threats, when I smelled my favorite scent in the world.

Well, my two favorite scents actually, pine and chocolate. I looked to my right and saw my Russian god standing next to me with a cup of hot chocolate.

"Hey" I said.

"Hi" he responded as he bent down and gave me a quick kiss.

He handed me the mug of hot chocolate and asked "How long have you been standing here?"

"Long enough to read Adrian's emails over your shoulder." He said as I saw his hands clenched.

"Yeah, what are we going to do?" I asked.

"Standup" he said and I did. Dimitri sat down in the chair and then pulled me down to his lap and he started working on the computer, stopping every once in a while, to kiss my head or my cheek. He collected all the emails that Adrian had sent and put them into a folder and forwarded the email to Baba and Pavel.

"Come on, let's go back to bed and get some sleep" Dimitri said.

I stood up and got into bed with my Russian god, who pulled me to him and he enveloped me within his arms. He started whispering to me in Russian and he was kissing my hair and with a few minutes I had relaxed in his arms. Just before sleep took me, I heard him say "I will always protect you my Roza."