Chapter 44: Making Plans

My parents, Lissa, Christian, Dimitri, and I sat down at this beautifully decorated table. Pavel led Vika, Matt and Eddie to where we had just sat down and they all joined us. Two guardians started pouring champagne into everyone's glasses, then Baba clinked his glass with a fork and stood up.

"I would just like to say a few words to each of you on Janine and my behalf. Lissa, thank you to you and your family for taking care of Rose when her mother and I were not in a position to do so. I would have loved to have met your family, but Janine and I kept our distance to not allude to where Rose might be hiding."

I looked over at Lissa with a smile on my face because Lissa always felt that I did the majority of looking out for her, but in all honesty, she had been there for me in different ways. Lissa looked back at me with the same sentiment as she started dabbing her eyes as Christian was rubbing her back.

"Christian, thank you for caring so much for Lissa and Rose while at the academy and the ski lodge plus helping her survive the Spokane incident. Rose informed us about all the courageous things you did to protect Lissa from your aunt and Adrian, which helped Rose when the two of them were separated. Christian, Lissa, I want you to think of us as your family. You are welcome to stay at any of my properties and to use my resources, should you need them. We can talk later about what you like in a house and I will have it built or remodeled on all of my properties."

By this time Lissa and I were full on crying, we always thought of each other as sisters and Baba was ensuring we could continue to be like sisters.

"Thank you, Mr. Mazur and Guardian Hathaway, that is very kind of you and we appreciate your assistance." Christian said on Lissa and his behalf.

"Eddie, you have been Rose's friend, brother and protector since she first went to the Academy. And Janine and I are so thankful for everything you and Mason have done over the years. Please consider us as your family as well and we will help you with whatever you want to do in life, whether it is staying here with Rose or out into the Dhampir world or the human world."

"Thank you, Mr. Mazur, and I appreciate everything that you have done by brining me here to Turkey."

"Vika and Matt, you are new to the group, but from what I have seen I can see how much you care for Rose. Vika, you are a great fighter and have become fast friends with Rose. Matt, I have watched as you have protected Rose and Vika like they are the most precious people in the world. Please think of us as your second family and come to us if there is anything you ever need. And I hope the two of you will consider working for our family after Rose and Vika graduate."

Vika was wiping the few tears that fell as she gazed at Matt, so he spoke up and said "Thank you, sir."

"Dimitri, there aren't enough words in any language to express how grateful Janine and I are. You were able to find Rose and Lissa when they were on the run. You took the time to mentor Rose on top of your guardian duties. And mostly for loving her the way that you do. You have protected her, mentored her, helped her with her darkness and loved her and that is a debt we can never repay. So, Janine and I talked about it and we can sit down with your family, but I want to pay for all of their expenses and anything they could ever need. The Baia team is already guarding them and ready to help out with whatever they need. And before you object, Janine and I feel by protecting your family, it will put Rose's mind at ease."

"Thanks Abe and Janine, I will discuss it with them." Dimitri said.

"Lastly to Rose, Happy 18th Birthday, your mother and I are so happy to be back in your life and surrounded by all your family."

"Happy Birthday" everyone repeated as we clinked glasses and took a sip.

"Thank you, Baba and Mom."

I stood up and went to Baba and gave him a huge hug and then my mother. When I sat down, Dimitri put an arm around my shoulders pulling me closer and kissing my temple. I looked up at him and smiled and then rested my head on his shoulder.

"Rose your mother told me that she made you some Turkish food and that you loved it, so the chefs have prepared some of my favorite dishes."

Dinner was delicious and I was enjoying my new family's company at the table. Every once and a while, I would catch Dimitri staring at me with a lovingly look on his face and I would smile back at him. He was so relaxed talking with Baba, Mom and Pavel and holding my hand on top of the table. Dinner with friends who were truly family plus both my parents and the love of my life, was more than anything I could have ever imagined happening on my 18th birthday.

After dinner we were led to another larger living room where the rest of our team were waiting for us. They all screamed "Happy Birthday" with another huge cake. After the slightly embarrassing Happy Birthday singing, I walked up to the cake with Dimitri behind me. Dimitri pulled my hair back and whispered in my ear "Make a wish, love."

I blew out the candles and everyone cheered, a guardian helping, took the cake to cut up. We all sat down at a huge conference table with Pavel and Baba at the head.

Baba banged a glass to get everyone attention and started "Thank you for everyone's attention and joining us in celebrating Rose's birthday but we have some business to discuss. We need to start planning for the upcoming graduations for these young ones. I will direct your attention to Pavel for this part of the planning."

"Since the attacks on St Vladimir's Academy, all moroi students and faculty have been sent to Court to finish their schooling. Dhampir students, faculty and Guardians have remained on campus to finish their education and protect the school." Pavel said.

I looked at Dimitri and rolled my eyes, of course the dhampir's would stay on campus to protect the campus.

"So, I have been in touch with Hans and Alberta as to the best way to finish everyone's education. Lissa and Christian, you have the option of taking your finals plus Christian's element testing here or at Court. Lissa will not be tested on Spirit, due to the repercussions to Rose, plus enough people have witnessed your healing abilities here and at St. Vladimir to count as your testing. I've sent a group of ten guardians to Court to check out Mr. Mazur's house and I am happy to report that no major damage was done. Someone obviously went through the house looking for information, but since we had cleared almost everything out ahead of time, I don't believe that they found anything useful." Pavel explained.

"The guardians have gone through the house and have disposed of all listening devices that they could find. So, we will have the house at Court plus we will rent a house outside of Court to use if we feel Court is unsafe." Baba said joining the conversation.

Lissa and Christian looked at each other for a minute and then Christian spoke up "Ideally, we would like to go to Court, so we could attend Graduation, but we will do whatever is safer."

Pavel continued "With Hans on our side, I believe we can make it safe for everyone. Abe and I decided that we are pulling most of the guardians from all of the properties and leaving just a skeleton crew behind. We even have retired guardians who have asked to come help joining us, so I believe we will be able to make Court safe for everyone."

I tuned to Dimitri as he turned to me and we both knew what each other was thinking. I couldn't believe the lengths Baba was going to, to help me graduate and not only me but my friends and Dimitri's sister.

"As for Rose and Eddie, you can go to St Vladimir's for your trials and promise mark and then join Lissa and Christian for graduation. With no moroi on campus, there are more guardians available for protection, plus Hans said he was sending extra guardians. Or you can do trials, promise mark and graduation with Vika at St Basil's. And Vika, you can do the same at either campus and since St Basil's runs on a different schedule, you can come and watch Eddie and Rose and then come to Court with them. Then everyone can fly out to St Basil's for trials" Pavel finished.

I looked at Dimitri to get his opinion and he looked at me and asked "What do you want to do Roza?" I took a quick look at Eddie and said "I think I'd like to go to St Vlad's for trials and Court for graduation. It won't be the same, but it will be as close to normal as it can be."

"Eddie?" Dimitri asked.

"I agree with Rose, I'd like to go to St Vlad's and Court." Eddie stated.

Dimitri nodded at him and looked over to Vika and asked "Vika, what would you like to do?"

Vika looked at Matt and he nodded at her; I am sure they had a previous conversation about it. In a quieter voice than normal, she said "I'd like to go with everyone, but to take my trials and everything at St Basils so my family can be there and I can complete my training with my friends."

Dimitri nodded back and gave her a comforting smile, only a big brother can. I knew Dimitri would do whatever he could to make his sister's wishes come true and it made me love him even more because of it.

Baba spoke up "Great, so I think we have our plan. Lissa and Christian will go to Court with a compliment of guardians, the rest of us will go to St Vladimir's for trials and the promise mark ceremony and then to Court for graduation. Rose, your mother, Pavel, Hans and I have spoken about your situation regarding your working position, Hans thinks it's best for you to take a leave of five years and same goes for both Eddie and Vika. After graduation, we will fly to St Basil's and we will also fly in the Belikov's for Vika's trial, promise ceremony and graduation."

"Dimitri, you and I will talk later, but in addition to planning guarding schedules, I would like you to organize with Alberta housing for Abe, the extra guardians and Rose and her guardians." Pavel stated.

"No problem" Dimitri said.

"Any questions?" Pavel said looking around the room. "Okay than have a good night. Rose, Dimitri, I will walk back with you to your place."

Dimitri and I thanked Baba and my mother for everything they had done and everything they planned on doing for us. I thanked Lissa and Christian as well and said goodnight to them.

Pavel walked back with Dimitri and I to our room, and he showed us where the safe was hidden and how we could open it. I would never have found it and Dimitri looked as shocked as I was as to where it was hidden. We walked back out into the bedroom and Pavel pulled out a small box.

"Happy Birthday Rose." Pavel said as he handed me the box.

"Pavel, you didn't need to get me anything." I said as I took the box. I opened it and gasped at what I saw. It was a miniature dog charm that looked just like the stuffed dog that he had given me all those years ago.

I looked between Pavel and Dimitri with tears threatening to fall, all I could say was "How?"

Pavel explained "Dimitri informed me of his wish to get you a charm bracelet, so I helped him and asked if it was okay for me to give you a charm. I just wanted to let you know that I will always be here to protect you as well."

I took a step towards Pavel and gave him a hug "Thank you, it's beautiful."

Pavel hugged me back and then took a step back and said "Enjoy the rest of your evening."

Dimitri followed Pavel to our bedroom door saying goodnight, then he closed and locked our door. He walked back to me where I was still looking at the charm from Pavel. Dimitri took the charm placed it back in the box and placed it next to the charm bracelet he had given me.

Dimitri took me into his arms and asked "How are you doing"

"Happy and a little overwhelmed." I replied truthfully.

"I kind of thought you might be feeling overwhelmed, rarely does a dhampir have any type of party for them. How about a nice long bath and a massage?" he asked with a thicker accent.

"Yes, that would feel so good" I responded. I walked into the bathroom and went straight to bathtub turning on the taps and finding the perfect temperature and plugging the drain. I added some bubble bath to the water and then I turned around but did not see Dimitri. I went into the bedroom and noticed the door was open, so I assumed Dimitri went to get something, I grabbed all the candles and placed them and lighted them around the bathroom. I shut off the taps once the water was high enough.

I started undressing when Dimitri walked into the room carrying two glasses and a bottle of champagne. He placed them down on the side of the bathtub and he turned to me looking me up and down, making me blush.

Dimitri took me into his arms and said "Every time I see you, you seem even more beautiful than before". I started blushing more, when he passionately kissed me. We slowly undressed each other than Dimitri slid into the tub and then I stepped in and started to sit opposite of him when he said "no, sit in front of me".

I took his hand and sat in front of him, he put his arms around my stomach and pulled me to him. I laid my head down on his shoulder as both of his arms encompassed me. This caused me to instantly relax into him and it was exactly what I needed.

He started speaking to me very softly in Russian, I didn't realize I had started to cry. Dimitri was wiping my tears away as he said "It's okay Roza, just relax, just feel the connection between us."

After a few minutes, I felt much calmer and relaxed more into Dimitri, curious I asked "How do you always seem to know what I need?"

"Well, honestly, I feel like we have a connection similar to your bond with Lissa. I don't know how to explain it but I feel like I know what you need by just looking at you."

"I can see that and I agree about our connection" I turned my head to look at him directly "I am so happy that you are in my life." He looked down at my lips as he cupped my face and kissed me. It was a soft lazy kiss but it was perfect. But he ended it too soon for my liking.

I turned around in the bathtub so that I was straddling him and started kissing him and running my hands threw his hair. While I kept trying to take the kissing to a more passionate level, Dimitri kept it at a lazy pace pulling back anytime I tried to deepen the kiss.

I growled at him in frustration, but he just smirked at me and went back to kissing me at his leisurely pace and slowly running his hands over my body.

Just when I thought I was about to combust, he surprised me by standing up in the bathtub, picking me up with him. I held on to his shoulders and then crossed my ankles around his waist once I was able to. He put me down to stand on my feet and then he grabbed a towel and started drying me off. But as he slowly dried me off, it was as if he was exploring my body at the same time and it felt very erotic to me.

Once he felt he was done drying me off, he hastily dried himself off and then he pulled me to him, kissing me passionately, literally taking my breath away. I tried to hold on kissing him as long as I could, his hands ran down my body to my butt and he squeezed it and lifted me up. I squealed as he did that and he just smirked at me and carried me to our bed and he threw me towards the center.

Then, a very playful Dimitri attacked me, kissing me all over my body. Once he made it back to my lips, he slowly began kissing me. We then spent the next hour or two, just exploring each other's bodies, kissing and caressing the new skin and areas we had discovered once again.

Eventually, he entered me and we slowly made love over and over again until a delicious ache took hold of my body. We fell asleep in each other's arms, as usual, completely exhausted from our extracurricular activities.

Something woke me up with a startle in the middle of the night causing a panic in me. I could feel Dimitri next to me and was reassured by his even breathing, knowing that if something was wrong, he would have been awake instantly.

I closed my eyes attempting to go back to sleep but as much as I tried, my brain would not let me. I reached for my necklace which was still on, so there was no chance that Adrian or anyone else was trying to dream walk me.

I slipped into Lissa's head and she was dreaming of hot naked guys on unicorns. I giggled to myself as I remembered suggesting that to her our last night in Portland when Dimitri found us.

But my brain was still not letting me fall back to sleep, so knowing full well Dimitri would kill me because I did not wake him up, I got up and put on his button-down shirt and a pair of leggings. I rolled up the sleeves of the shirt, while I inhaled the smell of Dimitri that I loved. I went to his nightstand and grabbed my phone off the charger and one of his stakes.

I walked out to the kitchen and living area searching for any dangers but finding none however it did not make me feel better. I did something that I never thought I would do and called the control room, where a guardian answered immediately.

"Control room, Guardian Kent speaking, what can I help you with Novice Hathaway?"

I was initially surprised the control room knew it was me calling but knowing Pavel it made sense. "Is everything all right?" I asked.

Guardian Kent hesitated "Yes, is there a problem? Do you need me to send additional guardians to you or do you need the night supervisor or Guardian Pavel?"

"No, everything's fine, I don't need any help, I am just being paranoid I think." I said quickly, dismissing my own fears.

"Okay, Novice Hathaway, call back if you need us."

"Thank you, sorry to bother you Guardian Kent." I said hanging up.

I then did something else that would piss off Dimitri, Pavel and my parents, I went down to the second floor to make sure everyone was okay. I knew for my own safety, even in my own house, I wasn't supposed to go to different floors by myself, but I didn't want to bother anyone with my uneasiness that was probably nothing.

As I walked through the second floor, it was quiet except from some snoring coming from a few rooms, no sign of anything wrong or anyone even having a bad dream. I went down to the first floor, with Dimitri's stake still in my hand and came across Guardian O'Brien who immediately stood up at my presence and drew his stake and was looking for any threats.

"Is everything okay Novice Hathaway?" he said continually looking around for threats.

"Yes, I'm sorry, it's probably nothing but I have a weird feeling…" I started.

"And you thought that investigating by yourself, while you left your blood master seven boyfriend in bed?" he asked.

"Yes" I chuckled at his logical thinking "I didn't know if maybe my parents were trying to do something like they did before, testing the security, so I came to check things out. I called the control room and they said everything was quiet but this feeling just won't go away."

Guardian O'Brien nodded and then pulled out his phone quickly dialing and waiting for the other person to answer. "Hey Cooper, everything okay on your end?"

"Yeah, what's up?" I could hear him through the phone.

"Nothing, I have Novice Hathaway here, just keep a close eye out for anything, okay." Guardian O'Brien said.

"Will do."

O'Brien hung up the phone and looked at me and said "Sorry, but you know I have to call him." he said as he dialed another number.

I took a deep breath and nodded at him preparing myself for the wrath of my protective boyfriend. Hopefully, since it was the day after my birthday and we had made love multiple times last night would cause him to remain calm.

Who am I kidding, it's Dimitri we are talking about and as much as he loves me, I just broke the cardinal rule between a guardian and charge. My ass was about to be handed to me verbally and eventually physically in the gym.

"Belikov" I heard Dimitri gruffly answer.

"It's Guardian O'Brien, I have Novice Hathaway here at the 1st floor east entrance, she is fine and safe."

Before he could finish whatever, he wanted to say, I heard a string of Russian words I knew without a shadow of a doubt were swear words. The line went dead and O'Brien put his phone back in his pocket and looked at me with sympathy and all I could do is wait for the 6'7 angry Russian on his way down the stairs.

Despite his size, Dimitri was really light on his feet and I only heard him when he rounded the corner of the last few steps. I first noticed his body, probably because subconsciously, I didn't want to see his face. He was barefoot and was wearing a pair of sweatpants, no shirt and he was carrying his other stake and phone. I took a peek at his face, and I don't think I have seen him this angry ever.

"Thanks, O'Brien" Dimitri said roughly and O'Brien nodded at him and gave me one last sympathetic nod.

Dimitri didn't even say anything, he just pointed up the stairs and followed me up the stairs. Once we reached our floor and bedroom, he pointed to out bed and spat out "SIT."

He paced back and forth for the better part of fifteen minutes, when I realized I had been still holding his stake, so I put it back on his nightstand. That action seemed to catch his attention brining him out of his rage pacing and he demanded "Why?"

I took a deep breath and started "I woke up suddenly, not knowing why, you were still sleeping peacefully and I didn't hear anything out of the ordinary. I figured if there was something in the bedroom, you would have heard it too."

Dimitri opened his mouth to stay something, but I stopped him and said with much more courage than I felt "Please, just let me tell you everything before you speak."

Dimitri softened his features slightly, crossed his arms and nodded for me to continue.

"I tried to go back to sleep, but I couldn't, I felt for my necklace, which was still attached, so I knew it most likely wasn't anyone dream walking me. I checked on Lissa and she was having a nice dream, so I knew she was okay, but the feeling wouldn't go away. I got dressed, took my phone and your stake and went to the kitchen."

Dimitri visibly shook with anger at what I said, I knew he wasn't mad that I borrowed his stake, he was mad that he was right next to his stake and I failed to wake him up.

"I called the control room to see if anything was going on, then I went to the second floor to check on the guardians to see if maybe someone was dream walking them, but it was all quiet and then I went to first floor to check on those guardians. I didn't know if maybe my parents had set up another test but I didn't want to bother anyone if I was wrong."

It took Dimitri about another five minutes to start speaking and to be honest the silent treatment was worse than the thought of him yelling at me.

"Rose, I am so disappointed, you are weeks away from graduating and if this issue with your parents had not have happened, you would be guarding Lissa. What would you do if Lissa went on her own to investigate a potential threat, especially if you were sleeping right next to her? I expect so much more of you at this point, you can't go off on your own like you used to, I thought we moved past this."

I started to respond but Dimitri stopped me "You know that a guardian's best weapon is their intuition, if you thought something was going on, you should have woken me up. I don't care if you think unicorns are jumping over the bed."

I couldn't help but giggle slightly at his statement, even though he would not get the reference at this point.

"Wipe that smirk off your face" he yelled at me. "I can't believe that you couldn't trust me to let me know what was going on. I thought you loved me enough to trust me." I knew he was going to be mad, but at this point I realized how much I had hurt him and his doubt of my love cut me to my core.

At this point, Dimitri's yelling had woken up everyone on the second floor, but only Yuri, Celeste, Vika and Matt seemed brave enough to venture in. Yuri, Celeste, and Matt had stakes drawn and Matt asked "Everything okay?"

"Yes, everything is fine" Dimitri continued to yell. "Celeste, guard the charge" and Dimitri went into the closet and came out shortly after in workout clothes and left without saying another word.

Tears started streaming down my face at the word 'charge' and Vika came over and hugged me. Celeste kicked the guys out of the room and closed the door realizing some sort of fight happened but neither pushed me for specifics and just let me cry it out.

An hour or two later, through many episodes of sobbing, I was able to explain what had happened.

"Dimka only ever gets this mad because he cares. He just needs some time to cool off." Vika said and Celeste agreed with her.

"But you don't understand, he said he thinks I don't love him." I cried.

"Trust me, he doesn't think that. He's just scared that something could have happened to you. Why didn't you wake him up?" Celeste asked.

"I don't know" I said.

"I think you do" Celeste said staring at me.

I huffed "I guess I'm tired of being the one who is protected. I was anticipating a life of protecting Lissa and kicking butt and all I do it stay here behind ten-foot walls."

"And that's different than being at the academy?" Celeste asked.

After a minute, I started laughing like a mad woman, as Celeste had a point about being behind the walls of St Vlad's and my parents' complex. Celeste and Vika joined in laughing with me for a good fifteen minutes. Eventually, Celeste called down to get us some food and the three of us ate breakfast and binge watched some reality tv.

"So, am I under house arrest or what?" I asked starting to get anxious to do something.

"Well, Yuri, Dimitri, Matt and Eddie are in the gym working out." Celeste said looking at her phone. "Do you still feel like something is wrong?"

I thought about it and even though I had been distracted this morning, the feeling was still there. "Yeah"

"Then, yes, you sort of are under house arrest, the majority of the team is outside the doors, Pavel has been made aware and is searching for any new threats. I'm sure your parents are aware as well." I lowered my head at that thought. "Look" Celeste started "I understand Dimitri's anger, I don't agree with it, you are still a novice learning about our world. I am sure his anger is proportionate to his love for you. He is currently working out his anger, why don't you girls get ready for the day, nothing is going to happen until we hear from Dimitri and Pavel."

"Okay" I said.

Vika went down to her room to take a shower and I took a quick shower as well and got dressed in comfortable clothes. While in the closet, I saw my album from my birthday and brought it into the study to look at it by myself while Celeste and Vika hung out in the bedroom.

I'm not sure how much time had passed, but I was about halfway through the album when I smelled my favorite smell in the world. I looked up to see a freshly showered Dimitri looking at me with a loving smile. "I figured I find you looking at that and before you say anything, I need to apologize for my reaction. I never should have said what I said, I was just scared that you would go after a threat by yourself. But before we discuss that, there is something we need to talk about first." Dimitri said sitting down next to me, moving the album off my lap and taking a hold of my hands.