Walking briskly through the dark alley I open my senses to my surroundings: the smell of damp concrete, the groups of oblivious humans stumbling drunk from the clubs down the street, the smell of their blood pumping through their veins. I smirk to myself as I round the corner and flip my long hair over my shoulder, catching a few of the men standing outside with their cigarettes hanging from their mouths staring as I approach.
"Excuse me, you couldn't possibly know where Adam Street is, do you?" I ask with a small hint of seduction. The young man directly in front of me looks me over with hungry eyes before removing the lit bud from his lips.
"A block over that way. There's nothing really over there but a martial arts studio though," he replies blowing a cloud of smoke and pointing to his left. All four of these men all scream money, and all are dressed like snobby playboys, one even looks like the familiar play-boy I used to call my friend. I throw a man-eating smile at them as I walk by them, throwing a thank you over my shoulder. If I didn't have a very important meeting, I would have stayed and charmed one or two of them, but I can't be late.
Heading towards Adam Street, the sounds of the main strip tamper off and the only thing I can hear is the sound of my heels clicking against the cement and the woosh of my dress as it shifts in the wind. I know that I stand out like a sore thumb, dressed in a blood-red slip dress that meets my midthigh and ankle-length black heeled boots in the late April night, but the point is to be noticed when I get to where I need to be.
I take in a deep breath as I reach the intersection and see the studio across the street. Now to lay in wait. The instant I step out of the shadow of the alley, I am pushed back forcefully into the brick wall of the building beside me.
"You're late." A familiar Russian accent says gruffly, and I giggle, running my fingers up the chest that has me pinned against the wall.
"Easy killer, I got lost. And you're early, the studio is still open," I say off-handed and rub myself against him. He growls and grabs my chin firmly, lifting my head up to meet his eyes.
"Still. I've been here for 10 minutes," Dimitri says, and I shake my head out of his grip. I don't understand why he is getting so bent out of shape over this, it's not his game tonight; it's mine. He asked me what I wanted to do after he awakened me on the bridge, and this was the first thing that came to mind.
"Comrade," I purr and reach up to grasp the back of his neck. Even as a strigoi, I still have an upper hand over him when I do things in certain ways. I pull him down to me and lick his bottom lip before crushing his lips to mine and he grips my hips tightly. "I promise, this will be the best meal, ever," I whisper against his lips. He groans and moves his lips down to my neck and nips at my skin, making me roll my head to the side.
Good thing I did, or I wouldn't have seen the people pooling out of the studio.
"We're going to have to pick this up later baby, we need to go," I groan pushing both of us away from the wall. He growls before standing up straight and turning his attention to the street.
"How do you want to do this?" He asks, running a hand down my back. I stand quietly for a few minutes observing the number of people in the parking lot before answering. I may have been extremely impulsive as a dhampir, but as a strigoi, I am a little more meticulous when I have my eyes on something. Many times Dimitri has told me how much value my mind is when it comes to formulating plans.
"I want you to head towards the house and I tail her from behind, just close enough to make her paranoid," I say turning and looking up at his crimson ringed eyes. He nods his head which causes his loose locks to shift in the breeze more and I have to force myself not to push him back to the wall and take him there.
"Meet you there," he says placing a kiss on my neck and stocking back down the ally. I shift on my feet and wait for her to lock the studio up.
Not 10 minutes later she leaves the studio and starts walking towards her house, not even taking her surroundings into consideration. You would think she would know better than that, given she's been ambushed before. Walking about 20 feet behind her, I stalk her quietly as she walks home while she is talking to someone adamantly on her cell phone.
From the context of the conversation, I can safely assume that it's Christian and I shake my head in annoyance. Maybe she'll have the common sense to look around soon, but she doesn't. Moroi are so stupid, I don't know why I ever wanted to put my life on the line for them.
Reaching her house without being detected, she unlocks her door and steps into her house and I walk around the back to slip in through the window she left open when she left for work.
I can hear her in the kitchen as I walk through the office that is quite disturbing and slink into the dark living room, sitting down on the couch in wait. I can hear Dimitri in the other room waiting for the right opportunity.
She hangs up the phone and drops it onto the counter before walking into the main room, still oblivious to the danger she is in.
She walks to the liquor cabinet about 8 feet in front of me, digging around and pulling out a bottle of vodka and pouring herself a glass before she tenses up.
"Hello, Tasha." I drawl and flick the light on beside me, casting a soft light in the corner of the room. She drops her glass and whirls around to face me, fear working across her face.
"Rose?" she whispers and a predatory smile crosses my face, fangs and all. I cross my legs and settle into the couch, reveling in the smell of fear rolling off of her. She collects herself and raises her hands, but Dimitri slides out of the hall and knocks her to her knees quickly, pulling her hands behind her back.
Tasha snaps her head around to see Dimitri's face looming over her and she lets out a scream. I stand and stalk towards her before crouching and gripping her face in my hands.
"Nobody is going to hear you; you picked a house secluded enough." I purr and her eyes widen in alarm. With her hands pinned behind her, she can't cause either of us any harm with her fire, and I can't wait for the game to begin. She struggles in Dimitri's grip, but it's futile as he just grips her harder.
"Do you know why I am here?" I ask her, standing up and walking around her living room, looking over the photos she has laid throughout. She is silent and I pout a little, she isn't playing along. In a flash I'm in front of her again and crack my hand against her cheek, whipping her head to the side.
"I asked you a question," I growl, and she turns to look at me again.
"No. I don't know why you are here Rose. But I'm sure you have a reason," she spits, and I smirk, finally she is playing by the rules.
"Well, I think it's pretty clear that I've never really like you. Especially when you thought you could try to take what is mine," I say hotly and raise my gaze to Dimitri. He has a cocky grin on his face, and I wag my brows at me. Looking back down at Tasha I see the confusion on her face before it dawns on her.
"You were a child; he wasn't yours to begin with."
I scoff and click my tongue. She is falling right into the palm of my hand.
"That's where you're wrong. You were never a genuine choice, I merely was looking for a distraction," Dimitri says into her ear and flinches away from him. At least she isn't being a simpering girl cooing at him like she was the last time I saw the two of them interact.
I wink at him and walk over the coffee table and lift a few things and bring them over to her. She sees them in my hand and her breathing increases dramatically, making me smirk in victory.
"You know, these are quite invasive Tasha. Dimitri's what… 16 in these?" I ask flicking a photo around to show her the polaroid of a younger Dimitri. After finding these in her office earlier this evening, Dimitri confirmed that these were most likely taken from when they met at court shortly after Lucas and Moira awakened themselves.
These weren't the only photos we found, some of them included Ivan, some include me and even in those photos, you could see the pull between him and me.
"I-I don't know where those came from," she squeaks and I drop the rest of the photos to the floor in front of her for her to view. I knew that Tasha liked him when we met, but this goes beyond that and into obsession.
"Really? That's why there were so many in that box? I find that hard to believe," I say running a finger along the raised scar on her cheek. She squirms in Dimitri's grasp again and I nod to him. He yanks her up to her feet abruptly causing her to stumble slightly. He shifts one arm to come across her chest to keep her in place as I stalk close to her, close enough that her elevated pants fan over my face.
"Lissa really is better off without you," Tasha spits out. I let a shrill laugh escape my lips and Dimitri chuckles darkly.
"Lissa is getting exactly what she deserves. There's no one there now to pull the darkness from her pretty little head. She'll learn the consequences of her magic soon enough," I say sweetly. "Don't worry, I won't hurt Christian; too much."
That adds fuel to the fire, and she flings herself against Dimitri's arm, snarling at me, threatening me if I touch Christian.
"There isn't anything you're going to be able to do about it, Tash. You'll be dead already," Dimitri says quietly, and she stills. You can practically see the fear coming off of her in waves.
"Say nighty-night, Tasha." I coo before gripping her face and sinking my teeth into her neck. She struggles for a moment before letting out a breathy moan and slacking in Dimitri's arms, and she groans again when Dimitri's fangs pierce her skin too.
They say that revenge is best served cold but draining her hot blood from her body is just a suffice. After hearing the last thump of her heart, I step away from her and Dimitri drops her unceremoniously to the floor and flashes me a smirk.
"You lied," he says stepping over Tasha's body and cupping my waist and face. I hum reaching on my toes and lick the small line of blood from his lips.
"How so?" I ask sultry and he nips my lip.
"You said that would be the best meal I ever had. Nothing will ever compare to the taste of your blood, Roza." He growls and I shiver slightly. I see a glint of hunger pass through his eyes and pull away from him, stepping backward and swaying my hips provocatively.
"I'm still hungry, and I saw some very appetizing meals a couple of streets over. Care to join me?" I ask as he stalks me towards the door, never breaking eye contact. I turn my back to him and open the door and stepping down the stairs and out into the cold air, breathing in the smell of the wet grass and smirking softly.
Dimitri is silent as he follows behind me before grasping me tightly and spinning me around, pulling me tight to his chest.
"As long as you are dessert," He says and I wink at him, walking my hands over him suggestively.
"Promise. Come on Comrade, a girl's gotta eat!" I quip and saunter back to the club where those four lovely men directed me. Hopefully their still there, they all smelled delicious, and I claim the one that looks like Adrian.
A/N: This idea popped into my head while drafting a chapter for ALTMALTD and had to get it down. I have just finished it and I am the only one who has edited it, so I apologize in advance for any errors. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.