I awoke to Raven's cries and rushed into her room. She was sitting up with her and in her mouth muffling her wines a bit. "Babygirl, what's wrong?" I said approaching her crib. I gasped and grabbed her hand when I spotted a trickle of blood on it. I examined it, seeing scratches lining the surface. Looking back at her I saw the cause.
Her fangs have come in.
They were a bright white against her gum. I walked over to her dresser pulling out a pair of teething mittens, specially made for fang teething, and put them on her hands. I then made my way to the medicine cabinet and pulled out a tube of orajel. I placed it on her gums, careful not to nip myself on her fangs. I lifted her after and rocked her in the rocking chair. When she was back asleep I placed her back into her crib.
I pulled out my phone and texted Adrian the update on her teeth. He'd know what to do better than I would. The clock in the kitchen read 4pm. The sun wouldn't be setting for another few hours. I put on the TV and laid down on the couch, falling back into a dreamless sleep.
I awoke to the front door shutting, and quickly jumped up, ready to fight whoever the intruder was. My apartment had a small wall blocking the view to the door. I jumped around it ready to surprise whoever it was, and stopped short of punching Adrian in the face. "Geez little Dhampir i'm all down for foreplay, but at the door is a bit risky. These walls are all but paper thin" he said, flashing his signature smirk. "What are you doing! The key I gave you is for emergencies only!" I smacked his arm. Making him chuckle.
He held up a bag filled with bright crimson. "A blood bag?" I asked , my eyes going wide. "It's how we feed when our fangs come in, helps us gage too before hooking onto feeders," he explained. I looked at the bag again, cringing. I knew eventually Raven would have to feed on more than tented bottles, I just didn't realize it would happen overnight.
A cry from the nursery dragged both mine and Adrian's attention away from our conversation. We entered the nursery to see her standing on the side of the bed. "Looks like she'll be walking before we know it too" Adrian commented picking her up. We made our way into the kitchen, where he sat her into her highchair, and handed her the bag. "Don't worry, it's like second nature to her" he said as we watched her sink her teeth in. I looked away feeling my stomach slightly turn. "Rose, you're going to have to get used to this. She won't be able to go to the feeders till she's two" Adrian sighed, taking my hand. I knew he was right.
I looked back seeing Raven was finished. Adrian took the empty bag from her and threw it in the trash.
"Thank you for helping me," I told him. He gave me a small smile. "How about I finish cleaning up, and take Raven to daycare for you, and you go enjoy some coffee and a donut" he said "you look pale, could use the sugar" I rolled my eyes at him. Looking back at where some of the blood pooled on the high chair tray I decided to take him up on the offer.
Getting used to open feedings like this was going to be hard.
I changed and gave Raven a quick kiss on the forehead, and a quick peck to Adrian before making my way to the little coffee shop across the court. I sat at a small table in the back near two Miroi women who must not have seen me. "Well that doesn't surprise me about Vasilisa" I overheard. "She ran away before, right? Those Dragomirs can be wild ones. She'll probably go straight back to the first party she can find, once they catch Victor Dashkov"
"You're wrong," her friend said. "That's not why she went. She's actually pretty level headed. It's that Dhampir girl- the one with the baby- I heard she and Adrian Ivashkov went to Las Vegas to elope. The queens people barely got there in time to stop them. Tatiana is furious, and apparently Adrian is wanting to also adopt the baby she has. If you ask me, I think she's already his bastard, and Hathaway took her so they could raise her together"
Whoa. That was kinda a shock. I mean I guess people thinking us running off for some love affair to play perfect little family is better then for them to think it was to aid and abet a fugitive.
I made my way over to the headquarters, ready to face whatever punishment awaited. Turns out it was landscaping, in the scolding summer heat with Eddie. When I was laying gravel around the old Orthadox church. A figure appeared in my periphery, and I assumed it was Hans coming to give us another awful chore. Looking up, I was astonished to see Christian.
"Figures" I said "you know you'll get in trouble if someone sees you talking to me" Christian shrugged and sat on the edge of the stone wall. "Doubt it. You'll be the one who will get in trouble, and i don't really think things can get much worse for you"
"True" I grunted.
He sat there in silence for several moments, watching me shovel piles of gravel. Finally he asked "So how, and why did you do it?"
"Do what?"
"You know exactly what. Your little adventure"
"We got onto a plane, and went to Las Vegas. Why? Hmm let's think. Because where else will we find pirate themed hotels, and bartenders who don't card much"
Christian scolded "Rose, don't bullshit me. You didn't go to Las Vegas"
"We've got plane tickets and hotel receipts to prove it, not to mention people who saw the Dragomir princess hit it big on the slot machines"
My attention was on my work, but I suspect Christian was shaking his head in exasperation. "As soon as I heard three people had broken Victor out of prison, I knew it had to be you. Three of you gone? No question" not far away, I saw Eddie stiffen and glance around uneasy. I did the same. "I heard it was humans who broke him out" I said "actually I heard he's turned Strigoi" Christian scoffed at that. "And I heard that one of the guardians remembers attacking his friend, and said he felt like he was being controlled. Anyone with that kind of compulsion could make them think they were seeing humans" I refused to look at him and slammed the shovel into the ground. I bit my lip to stop any angry resorts.
"She did it because she thinks Strigoi can be restored to their original form" my head shot up, and I stared at Eddie in disbelief, astonished he'd spoken. "What are you doing?"
"Telling the truth," replied Eddie. "He's our friend. He's not going to report us"
no , rebel Christian Ozera was not going to report us. But that didn't mean I wanted this out. It's a fact that the more people who knew, the more likely it was to get out. Unsurprisingly Christians reaction was the same as everyone else's. "What? That's impossible. Everyone knows that"
"Not according to Victor's brother," Eddie said. "Will you stop it!" I exclaimed "you can tell him, or I will" I sighed. Christians pale blue eyes were staring at us, wide and shocked. "Spirit has limits, Rose. you might have been brought back, but Strigoi are gone" he said.
"We don't know about spirits full range" I pointed out. "Don't you think if spirit could do that, that St, Vladimir would have figured it out?" Christian asked. "Maybe he didn't know how!" I exclaimed.
"How is it done?" he asked. I explained to him about the charmed stake. "Sounds simple enough" Christian said. I sighed "A spirit user has to do it"
Christian paused. "And she wants to do it" he said, catching on quickly. "Because she would do anything for you"
"She cant" I said
"Because she doesn't have the ability, or because you won't let her?"
"Both" I cried. "Im not letting her go near a Strigoi. She's already….shes already tried charming a stake, but hasn't had luck in it thank god" Christian looked at me "Rose this could change everything" I shook my head at him "I don't care, she's not a warrior. So unless we find a user who is...then…i'd rather Dimitri died"
Eddie threw down his shovel "Really? I wouldn't have guessed that" his sarcasm could rival my own. I spun around to him, not able to take it anymore. "Im sorry, okay? I'm sorry that I let Dimitri go!" christian was wide eyed at that.
We heard footsteps coming around the building, and christian ducked behind the wall he was leaning on. "What's all this commotion? I said no talking before you came out" Hans spoke rounding to face us. "You" he pointed at Eddie "I have desk work with your name on it. Hathaway, you stay here and finish" Eddie shot me a sympathetic look before going back with Hans.
I continued my work for a while more before feeling the tug on the bond. I was pulled into Lissas head, wondering who was going to see her when she wasn't expecting anyone. She opened the door to find Christian standing there. "I know about everything, about bringing back Strigoi" he said, laying his eyes on her. "And what you're here to stop me?" she asked, he chucked. "No, I'm here to help" she gave him a quizzical look.
"Rose was kicked off of the Lehigh trip right?" she nodded "good i'll come with you then, and together we can figure out how to steak a Strigoi" he said. I felt a smile spread over Lissas face as she agreed.
Motherfucker.
