Chapter 26:

RPOV

The trials. They had been brutal. I had seen novices getting attacked in all sorts of situations. They were attacking in groups now too, to simulate the latest change in Strigoi strategy. I had had two encounters already and I took the guardians down. I was surprised at how easy it was. My own battle instincts and Dimitri's training prepared me well. I was worried about nothing. But I knew they were starting slow. They had to come up with something more for the girl who had three molnijia marks. But I was vigilant.

We were following our Moroi's classes and for the first time I was happy I had Christian as a charge and not Lissa. Lissa was in advanced calculus now and her next period was advanced ancient languages. I would die of boredom in this. But I was with Christian in cooking class. Although I never expected Christian to take this class, he was surprisingly good at it.

We were exiting the class and moving towards the cafeteria when I felt him. I could always feel him. Or smell him? I didn't know, I just knew when he was near. And usually, that gave me a warm fuzzy feeling on the inside. But not today, today it signaled danger.

He was coming at me together with three others. I pushed Christian behind me and blocked the incoming attack. I didn't only have to worry about Dimitri, I also had to take down three others. I needed to take the others down first and fast so I could focus on Dimitri. The real threat.

I blocked his second attack and kicked him in the gut, sending him backward. I engaged one of the others and staked him fast. He was so focused on my fight with Dimitri he hadn't seen me spin around and turn the fight on him. I grabbed the second one and used him as a shield between me and Dimitri. But the other guardian wasn't making this easy. He punched me and I stumbled back. I had been working on a new move. If I succeeded you couldn't block it. He tried to punch me and I grabbed his hand, twisted it and brought it down. I used my second hand on the ground to support my body. I swung my legs up and around his neck and in the motion of the movement brought him down. I staked him the moment he hit the ground. I looked up at Dimitri and I saw surprise and pride in his eyes. But I still had one left and Dimitri, I was now trapped in between the two.

All of a sudden the third guardian was on the ground. Eddie had come to my rescue, leaving me to deal with Dimitri. I had been waiting for this. And I could see he had too.

We moved towards each other. We had sparred a hundred times, but this was different. This was more intense. On the one hand, I knew Dimitri wanted me to win, but I also knew he wouldn't go easy on me, as a matter of fact, I knew he would give it everything he got, and so would I.

I punched, he blocked. He kicked, I blocked. It was like a dance. I could almost hear music, but it was the sounds of our bodies clashing, but it had a certain rhythm to it.

We were starting to gather a crowd. Dimitri and I weren't the only ones who were curious as to who would win.

I was getting tired, but so was Dimitri. I slipped up and he had pinned my hands behind my back, holding them in place. My back was pressed against his hard chest and I could feel his labored breathing. It was met with my own. His breath was hot on my neck and in that moment it wasn't about the win any more or about the other people who stood around us, we were in our own little world.

I knew from our time together at the ski lodge that sex and fighting were very similar to us. They came from the same animalistic place. And just like then, Dimitri seemed to match me at every turn. Feeling the same kind of adrenaline rush. We were made for this.

I could feel his grip lighten slightly because of the effects of our proximity. I pulled my wrist out of his hand before he had a chance to 'bite' me. I grabbed his arm and swung him around and on the ground. I immediately straddled him and placed my stake over his heart, 'killing' him.

The fight was done. I had won. I could hear cheering in the background. But I was more focused on Dimitri below me. The position we were in was very distracting. I looked into his eyes and saw pride and a whole lot else. I needed to get off of him before we would do something revealing in front of all those people. It was Eddie that saved us from that embarrassment.

"Wow, Rose that was amazing."

He helped me up from Dimitri and I was immediately surrounded by other students, Dimitri retreating into the background with the other three guardians.

By dinner time everyone was talking about it.

I was about to sit down with Christian when I was swarmed by novices, wanting to know all about the fight. I saw Christian roll his eyes. I was enjoying torturing Christian when I noticed Lissa was not here to stop me from doing so.

"Hey Christian, where is your much much better half?"

He glared at me.

"I haven't seen her since lunch. Can't you do that bond thingy?"

I was about to check on Lissa through the bond when I was sucked into her head on itself. She was in pain. I could see Jesse shouting in her face. There were other students around her. It seemed as if they were using their elements to torture her. One was hitting her with small rocks blown up to her with air, another constantly poured water over her. Yet another was burning her with specks of fire. And all the while Jesse was shouting at her to make them stop.

"Christian, we have to go, they are hurting Lissa."

I stood up and I didn't even wait for Christian to respond. But I noticed he was following me anyway.

I had noticed a lot of people on campus with unexplained wounds. I think I understood how all the other students were getting their wounds and keeping silent over them. They were being forced to compel their attackers.

Christian caught up with me.

I explained what was happening.

"Jesse and Ralf have been approaching royals including Lissa and me. They wanted us to be part of an elite group. They said they could make things happen for us."

I guess we figured out how they were planning on doing that. They were recruiting royals who could compel to further their own goals. I imagine it had something to do with the polarization of the royals at court, some pleading for Moroi to fight and some planning on actually enslaving Dhampirs using compulsion. No secret where Jesse ended up on that spectrum.

I was running across the courtyard to Lissa, although I had no idea where she was, based on the images from her mind I could not determine where she was other than not in the main part of campus.

I stopped dead in my tracks. Lissa's mother. She was standing in front of me again. She was pointing to the far end of campus. I looked at her and it dawned on me. She was pointing the way to Lissa.

I followed where she had pointed and saw Lissa on the ground and Jesse and Ralf standing in front of her telling her to make them stop. The others are still torturing her.

But just before I could reach them I felt it. Lissa lost it. Darkness I usually took upon myself was seeping out of her in waves. She had given in and all I saw before me was one angry Moroi. She had compelled them to stop. All of them including Jesse. She took out the others by compelling them to go to sleep. But she had another thing in store for Jesse.

I heard him scream. Not an 'I hit my toe' kind of scream but an ear piercing absolutely petrified scream. He was terrified. I saw him trying desperately to get something off of him but I didn't see anything.

"I am making him see spiders."

Lissa replied to my thoughts. But the voice coming out of her mouth didn't sound like Lissa, it sounded like something dark and evil. I had to make her stop.

"Lissa please, let go, you're hurting him."

"Good, he deserves to be hurt."

Well, I couldn't quite argue with that but not like this. I would enjoy seeing Jesse punished for this later but this was taking it too far. I had to calm Lissa down.

"Lissa, please he's not worth it. He will be punished for this, but not by you. Let Kirova deal out the punishment."

I could feel her waiver for a moment. Just the slight jerk in her power. She didn't release Jesse, but the power didn't have a hold on her as much as it did.

"Rose, I can't let go."

She sounded more like herself, but she was no longer in control of her own power. I had to do something. So I dug deep and took the darkness from her, every last piece. The more I felt her return to herself, the more I felt myself being lost to the darkness until I no longer existed. I was hidden. I always knew I would eventually not come back from the darkness. That I would dig so deep I could not climb back out again. These were my last thoughts until there was only one thought remaining. Kill. I had to kill Jesse.

I launched at him, bringing him to the ground. I started to punch his face. His cries for help were lost to my ears. I could feel the bone break underneath my hands.

"Rose, please stop this."

Rose? There was no Rose where she was looking, only an animal with a single mind.

"Rose, please."

Her voice but a background noise.

"Roza!"

I stopped dead in my tracks. I knew that voice. It sounded so familiar. The girl I used to be remembered him. But could this beast she had become remember him too?

I felt his hands around me dragging me from my prey. I lashed out at him but he wouldn't let me go. He was pushing me further and further away from the bloodied mess I made.

"No, he needs to pay."

He gave no response but the tightening of his grip. He dragged me towards a cabin. The cabin stirred something in me and flashes of memories of the same hands that held me now holding me then. But in my memories, his hands were soft and caring. Here they were trying to cage the animal.

He took me inside and pinned me on the bed. I fought him with everything I had, mentally and physically. I could feel blood on my face and knew it wasn't mine. But he never let go of me. He begged and pleaded the girl's name. Her name sounded so beautiful coming from him. He loved the girl.

He loved me. He was calling my name.

"Dimitri?"

That was his name. I could feel the tug of him pull me back from the darkness, a single speck of light leading the way.

He looked at me and stroked my face. He was wiping away something wet from my face. I touched his cheek and I saw my fingers stained with red.

"Don't cry Roza, I am here. Everything is going to be okay."

"No, it's not. I went too far. The next time I won't be able to come back again. I nearly killed Jesse, I nearly killed you!"

I was sobbing into his chest. He needed to understand I was a lost cause. I had thought I was getting better at controlling the darkness, but I was wrong. I couldn't just take a little from Lissa, I had to take it all, and I paid the price. I lost myself completely. If Dimitri hadn't been here, I don't know how things would have ended.

"I only have a scratch. I will always bring you back Roza, I will never let you go, even if you have let go yourself. I hold a piece of your soul and I will use it to bring you back when you no longer possess yours. I know we can beat this Roza, you are so strong, and together we can do anything."

I wanted to believe him and when I looked into his eyes I knew he believed it with all his heart. He believed no matter how far gone I was he could bring me back. And I selfishly chose to put my faith in him.

He kissed me and with that kiss he sealed the deal. I will rely on him. I will borrow his strength when I can no longer find the strength within myself. Together we could do this.

I kissed him back with a fiery passion. I wanted to forget the world. I wanted to forget myself. I needed us to be one. I took his duster and shirt off and flipped him over so he was beneath me. I stripped myself of my shirt and bent down again to kiss him. His hands were going through my hair. I was reminded of our position earlier when we were fighting. I will do what I couldn't do then. I unbuckled his pants and pushed them down. I rid myself of my own pants and I took him inside of me. We both moaned at the sensation. I slowly started to move my hips up and down. Dimitri's hands were on my hips guiding me. My own hands on his chest, needing the support.

He came up and grabbed my hair, he kissed me while changing our position. He places me on the bottom and bends one of my legs towards my chest. I can feel him deeper inside of me. He uses one hand to keep my leg there and grips it hard with his fingers. The other hand is beside my head keeping his full weight distributed. His pace begins to increase and I match him trust for trust. I can feel my body respond as I start to near my climax. I can see his face stained with sweat. The sweat mixed with the blood on his face for which I was responsible. He fell over the edge and as he did he slipped his hands between us and rubbed my clit so I could join him.

He fell down next to me and pulled me close to him. He started to whisper soft Russian words into my ear. I laid my head on his chest and could hear his heartbeat. It was still racing from earlier events but was slowly returning to normal, my own heartbeat following shortly after. I felt at peace. I knew in that moment that he was right. Dimitri was my salvation. He could do what nobody else could. He was my light against the darkness and I knew as long as I had him, I would be okay.