The phone did not finish the second ring before Abe answered the phone, but he didn't respond for a few moments. Switching the phone to speaker, Dimitri and I listened to scuffling on the phone before Abe's voice rang through the living room.
"What I found is rare – even more rare than Spirit. From what I've read, this has been considered a myth, but now that you've told me you've both experienced it…fascinating," Abe says quickly, awe ever-present in his voice. It is weird to hear Abe so rushed, and I quirk my brow up at Dimitri and he shrugs, as clueless as I am about Abe's demeanor. "What did you find?" Dimitri asks, running his hand over the top of my feet.
On Abe's side of the phone we can hear a door close and pages being flipped. "In loose translation – you are turning into a different breed, one that can survive like Moroi but are immortal and much harder to kill. Soon you won't look like Strigoi, you'll slowly revert back to how you looked when you were Dhampirs."
I'm stunned, this seems more like a fairytale than anything. "How does this happen?" I ask, twisting my hair around my index finger, trying to sort the thousand questions flowing through my head, although some of these questions have a much deeper, Russian voice.
"It's because of you, Rose. The Spirit that ran through you when you were Dhampir carried over after you were tur- uh awakened. When exactly did you two experience the memories and such?"
"A few months ago," Dimitri says. "No, what were you doing?" Abe says with a sigh.
"I had just awakened Eddie, and I brought up to Dimitri that it felt good. So I asked him to feed from me, within seconds of him doing it, it was like my mind was being assaulted," I explain placing my phone in my lap.
Back and forth we answer questions, flip flopping between telling Abe what we have experienced and asking about things he's found. Knowing that eventually we would slowly become more "human" was unsettling, but Dimitri and I were both curious on how far it could go.
"You will have to be careful when you lose your tempers. While you may be able to feel normal emotions, your anger will force the more Strigoi part of you to become the forefront personality. It can be more dangerous than if you were normal Strigoi. Have you and Eddie fed from each other the same as you and Dimitri have since you awakened Eddie?"
"Once, but there were a few days between that. I fed from him one day and a few days later he fed from me. Why?" I ask, glancing towards Dimitri again to see his face set with focus.
"Try to prevent feeding with others, this shouldn't become common knowledge. You also don't want to be bound to more than one person. You could become unstable," Abe says seriously and I nod, even though he can't see me. Watching me nod to myself, Dimitri sits at the other end of the couch and chuckles. I frown and wipe the small pillow I am resting against at Dimitri with a huff. "How do we know if we have "bonded" completely?"
Abe makes an uncomfortable grunt in the back of his throat, clearing his throat before saying bluntly. "Feeding at the same time during sex."
Dimitri and I both start laughing at the uncomfortable tone Abe carries. Who would have though this badass mobster would get uncomfortable the though of his Strigoi daughter having sex?
"I guess we checked that box, eh Comrade?" I jest, rubbing my foot over the seem of his jeans while smirking as I can hear him thinking about what happened earlier.
He narrows his eyes at me, a low growl rumbling in his chest when grabs my foot to stop my ministrations that are not doing anything to help the not so small problem growing in his pants.
"There is a lot here that I need to show you, I'll be back in Russia next week, we'll talk more then," Abe says before disconnecting the call and I laugh harder at how quickly he wanted out of that phone conversation.
I scoot down and lay my head against the armrest of the couch, closing my eyes and going over everything that Abe had told us. I can understand what Abe meant about our tempers bringing the more dangerous parts of us to light, especially with what happened between Dimitri and I three weeks ago when I fed from him unintentionally. The look in his eyes was crazed, and I could feel his anger rolling off him in waves. Dimitri shifts and leans over me, caressing my cheek with the back off his fingers.
"I don't know what makes me feel more guilty; slapping you across the face or what happened that night," he whispers and I open my eyes to see his face hovering over mine, eyes shining with guilt. I stretch my neck up and brush my lips against his.
"It's ok, I don't blame you for either of those things. We'll figure out how to control it better."
He smiles softly and snakes his arms between me and the couch, pulling me up and flipping the two of us over so he was laying on his back and I was sprawled across him. I rest my face in the crook of his neck and he rubs his hands on my back in an affectionate gesture, humming a tune of some country song under his breath.
"How do you feel about the list?" Dimitri asks and I huff, pushing up and folding my arms on his chest, resting my chin there.
To be honest, I'm conflicted. I want to finish the list because both the people left have done me wrong personally and indirectly, but they are still people. I used to love Lissa, but I'm still jaded by how she would casually disregard my concerns or feelings when it suited her needs. Tatianna on the other hand, was a horrible monarch, and put more lives of Dhampirs at risk every day. She has even gone as far to lower to graduate age to sixteen – I was not ready at sixteen, so who's to say anyone else is.
Smoothing down my curls, Dimitri looks at me intently, waiting for a verbal response even though he can hear my inner monologue.
"The list is still in place," I say and close my eyes, resting my cheek on my folded arms and I move to become more comfortable on his chest. He doesn't say anything, he simply wraps his fingers in the ends of my hair and continues to hum quietly, and I smile at how comforting it is.
It took a lot of pleading, but I was finally able convince Dimitri to go out to the market with me. I had never been to a market this size, and I was bouncing with excitement when we finally walked in. There had to be over 100 vendors here, all selling different products. Some sold food and drinks, while others sold clothing and other day to day luxuries. I even found a lovely Cossack hat made from lamb pelt. It looks ridiculous on me, but I love it regardless. While Dimitri is looking at one of the booths, I gauge his mood before voicing a though that I've been able to keep tucked away.
"I have concerns about Ivan," I say cautiously. He moves his gaze to me and frowns, poking around to try and find my thoughts, but I have them neatly tucked away. "He has been a little too friendly with me lately," I add, pursing my lips at him.
"I've noticed that as well. Part of it is like the old Ivan, the overly friendly part. But I don't like the way he looks at you," Dimitri says, handing a few rubles to the vendor and takes his purchase quickly and sliding it into the pocket of his duster and out of my view.
"He kissed me the other night at the club. It was very chaste, and it was more of a brush of lips. He said he wasn't about to watch his best friend's girl get hit on after telling some guy I wasn't interested. Is that out of the norm for him?" I explain, leaning into him as we walked past a booth packed with people. Dimitri wraps an arm around my waist and pulls me close to his side.
"He was like that when we were teenagers. We used to sneak out sometimes and go to clubs, and he was the guy that would ward off creeps when women at the bar would say no. But he stopped once we graduated," Dimitri says, pulling me towards a table in the corner of the market.
I sit down and tuck my bag under the table between my feet and Dimitri walks to the stand next to us and purchases two cups of hot chocolate before returning. I thank him and take the lid off the cup, letting the steam swirl over the rim.
"So I shouldn't be overly concerned?" I ask, cupping my hands around the styrofoam
"I don't think so, but I will mention it to Ivan to ease back a little. I think I don't like the fact that he looks at you because you're mine. I find I'm a little territorial over you," he says sipping from his cup and winking at me when he finishes speaking. A little territorial is a large understatement.
I smirk and shake my head, reaching up to adjust the hat on my head. Dimitri can think all he wants about how 'cute' I look, I still think I look ridiculous, but rock it just the same.
Slipping back into the house and rushing to our bedroom with my bag of hidden purchases, I hide it in my part of the closet under my sweaters and breeze back downstairs, hopping on the couch when Dimitri and the rest of our group walked in.
"Why were you running through the house like a bat out of hell?" Eddie asks, cocking a brow at me.
"I have no idea what you are talking about," I say innocently, smiling and tucking my feet under me. We all congregate and discuss the plans now that Tatiana is conveniently coming to Russia to speak at St. Basil's and the opportunity is too good to let pass.
Two weeks is all we have to wait before we can cross another name off the list. Delilah has continued to yack away aimlessly, and the more she talks the more I understand how unintelligent she is. Not that I blame her, she was a human before she was awakened.
You look like you are going to dig Delilah's eyes out with your bare hands.
I roll my eyes and snort a laugh, drawing the attention on the room to me. Shit.
"You know, if you're going to open your mouth you should know what the hell you're talking about. The Moroi society is not like those books you read when you were a teenager. Shut up and listen to the people who grew up in that life before you get us killed," I say pointedly at Delilah, standing and walking out of the room before I rip her head off.
I holed up in our bedroom until the other left, spending the two hours playing with the new curling iron I bought and putting Hollywood style curls in my hair, and recognize my clothes in the closet, moving my purchases to a different spot where Dimitri wouldn't come across it.
Hearing Dimitri climb up the stairs, I slip out of the closet to meet him.
"This is not how I anticipated spending Christmas Eve," I pout crossing my arms across my chest. Dimitri shakes his head with an antagonizing smile and places his hands on my hips, moving me closer to him.
"I know, but now it's just us," he promises, leaning down to kiss me.
"No one else is here?" I ask, quirking my brows at him. He nods and leans down to kiss me again and pull away with a smirk. "Do you want your Christmas gift now or tomorrow?"
He frowns and knits his brows. "You didn't need to buy me anything Roza,"
"Really, because you bought me a Christmas gift."
He chuckles when he realizes he didn't hide his thoughts as well as he did and peak his lips. "I don't know what it is, but I know that you did buy me something," I say wrapping my arms around his neck and stretching up on my toes.
"So. Do you want your gift now?" I ask again. He nods slowly, curiosity crossing his face. I grin and push him to sit down on the bed and retreat into the closet.
"Close your eyes!"
Pulling the bag from its hiding place and talking the tags off and slipping into my outfit. Looking in the mirror as I pull my heeled boots on, I admire just how amazing this looks. A velvet short Santa's helper dress and a hat, I fix my curls and creep closer to the door.
"Eyes closed?"
"Yes, my eyes are closed," Dimitri chuckles and I tip toe out of the closet, holding the bell on my hat to keep it from rattling. Standing in front of him and cocking my hip out to the side and placing my hands on my hips I force myself to not giggle.
"Ok, you can open your eyes now," I say and bite the corner of my lip. He eyes opens his eyes, and they practically bug out of his head.
"Merry Christmas, Comrade!"
He chuckles and rubs his hands together before lurching forward quickly and grabbing me around my waist, tossing me onto the bed and I let out a giggle.
"Damn, that's a lot of Guardians," Delilah whispers from behind me and I smirk. Dozen Guardians compared to twenty Strigoi is not bad odds for us, but with having people like Delilah who are inexperienced may be an issue.
"Just stay with Jasper," I hiss to her, and move forward. I step closer to Dimitri and brush against him, running my hand up his arm. "Ready?" I whisper and he nods subtly, looking down at me and I watch the crimson in his eyes grow brighter as he pulls the Strigoi part of him to the surface. Doing the same, I silently motion to the rest of our team and we move towards the Queen and her convoy.
It is comical that these Guardians are the Queen's guard because they are pitiful. I was able to take three of them out before they noticed they were being ambushed. Dimitri took out four when I took out the firsts, and we pushed through efficiently. By the time we took out the whole guard, the snow was stained red and Tatiana stood in the center of it all, head held high as she stares us down.
I strut towards her, smirking predatorially at her as I watch recognition cross her face. "Well, well, well. Look what we have here," I drawl walking close enough to see small beads of sweat on her forehead.
"Rosemarie," she says, trying to maintain her regal composure, but it is slipping. I cross my arms and revile in the sound of her escalated heartrate and relax when I feel Dimitri's calloused hands move to my shoulders. "And Guardian Belikov. I guess the rumors about an illicit relationship between the two of you are true."
Dimitri chuckles darkly, kissing the side of my head and stalking closer, circling her. "What does it matter now?" he asks and Tatiana flinches slightly with how close he has gotten to her. Looking around at the others who have formed a loose circle around us, Eddie smirks at us and raises his brows.
"Are you going to let us have a bite too?" Eddie asks and I let out a shrill laugh. Oh no, I've waited for this for far too long to share. Even sharing with Dimitri is pushing it.
After coming back to full circle, Dimitri comes to stand behind me, running his hands over me whispering in my ear. "I've had the pleasure of the last two, she's all yours."
I smile jubilantly, turning to kiss him a saucy kiss and wink. Turning back to Tatiana I stalk closer, close enough to brush against her. "I have been looking forward to this for months," I purr, licking my lips in anticipation.
Tatiana is many things, but I know thought she would be one to carry charmed silver on her. In a swift motion, she produced a silver dagger and slashes it up my chest and face making me scream and stumble back, clutching my face.
Turning away, which could easily be my biggest mistake, but Dimitri cradles me in his arms and pries my hands from my face.
"You're ok, you're already healing," he says, looking over my head with a menacing glare.
I suck in a deep breath, turning to face Tatiana who has been knocked to her knees being held down by Ivan and Eddie. I growl and advance her, yanking her head to the side.
"Long live the Queen," I whisper in her ear and sink my fang into her neck.