Thoroughly enjoying the feeling of Dimitri's soft lips running over the column of my neck and his hands firmly placed on my waist, I sigh and wrapping my hand into his hair and tilt my head further to give him more skin to conquer. Sitting in the hot tub in the dead of winter is pleasurable, the intense heat mixed with the nipping cold just adds fuel to the rush in my veins.
"Where are you two?!" Ivan shouts from inside our house and I groan, pulling back a little from Dimitri's assault.
"We are out here," I yell back, adjusting my bathing suit top so he doesn't see my exposed chest. "He has a habit for walking in at the wrong times," I grumble and Dimitri smirks, brushing my wet hair over my shoulder.
I turn my head to look at the back door, waiting for Ivan to stroll through like he thinks he owns the place, and I shriek when Dimitri nips at the sensitive flesh of my collarbone. I smack his arm, spraying water over the side of the tub when Ivan sides the door open and shakes his head when he sees us, walking closer and standing a few feet from the hot tub.
"Can you two keep your hands off each other for five minutes?" Ivan asks and I shrug with a shit-eating grin. "I just got word from court. We have a slight problem."
"What could they possibly have done that we should be concerned about?" Dimitri asks, moving his attention to Ivan, rubbing circles into my waist with his thumb under the water.
"The Royal Guard had body cameras on them, including audio. They know that you were the one to kill Tatiana. They've put out a hit on a Strigoi, and there is a hefty reward for taking you out Rose," Ivan says, crossing his arms across his chest and pursing his lips out to the side.
I huff and rest my head on Dimitri's shoulder. This is not something we wanted to happen.
"What about Dimitri?" I ask, wrapping my arms around Dimitri's neck and pull myself against his chest.
"So far they only care about you," Ivan says. I nod against Dimitri's shoulder and lift my head up to look at him, hoping I was able to shield my thoughts fast enough that he wouldn't hear them. He would be less than happy if he knew what I was thinking. "Get us all the information you have on what's happening at court," I tell Ivan, giving him the cue to leave. Ivan flicks his eyes to Dimitri before retreating to the house and slipping inside.
If the Moroi put out a hit on me, I can guarantee that the Guardians would be extra vigilant to find me, and I am not about to put Dimitri in the line of fire for what I wanted. Tatiana was never his idea, hell the only person Dimitri wanted on the list was Randall; the rest was all what I wanted.
I just hope he'll forgive me.
Precisely five minutes after Dimitri left to meet Eddie and Jasper, I had my bag out from under the bed, cash in my wallet, passport in hand and I left the house. I know he'll be livid when he finds out I left, but I can't risk the Guardians finding him as well.
But life is never as easy as we think it will be. The drive to the airport was quick and once I made it to the desk and purchased my ticket, I slipped through security and sat, waiting for my flight to be called. I left the majority of my things behind and only brought the most basic clothing, along with the Topaz necklace Dimitri gifted me, wanting to have a token to carry with me because I don't know how long it will be before I see him again.
"You do know he is going to lose his shit when he realizes you're gone?"
Turning in my seat to look behind me, Ivan is seated perpendicular to me, looking at me with his bright eyes and a raised brown. I turn back to face forward and cross my legs, placing my hands on my lap.
"Oh I know, but you aren't going to be tipping him off. Go home, Ivan."
Ivan scoffs and stands to walks around the row of seats, gracefully sitting down next to me, tucking a bag under the seat. "No. I'm coming with you. I've been Strigoi longer than you, and I can help you hide long enough for all the heat to die down," Ivan pledges and I roll my eyes and huff. I have learned lately that when Ivan gets his mind set on something, he is worse than me.
"Why do you care so much?!" I snap, whipping around to glare at him and he has the most stoic look on his face I've ever seen. He frowns and looks down at his lap.
"Because I'm just like you two. After I met Amelie things changed, and I started to feel things again. That's why I warned you that others were going to notice, but I could see the loaded glances and the tender touches he gave you and recognized it."
I sat with my mouth gaping, not processing what he just told me. He was like us? What could he mean by that? I maul it over and the pieces started to fall into place. He was so shocked when Dimitri showed him that he could go into the sun, but when Dimitri opened the curtain he didn't move away from the sun, and he would suggest things that seemed so far off but worked with our new adaptions.
"That's why you came to find Dimitri, you wanted to be close to your best friend – you were lonely," I say softly, and Ivan lets out a heavy sigh. Ivan grabs my hand and squeezes it tightly.
"Amelie was a Spirit user when she was Moroi; that is why we started to change. She fed on me in a fit of hunger one night, and that is how it all started for us. She was slaughtered by Guardians a year ago," Ivan whispers and I wince. The person he loved in this new life was taken from him and it is what I'm trying to prevent.
We sit there quietly for what feels like hours, and I run what he said over in my head. He is trying to protect his best friend by keeping me safe.
"Fine, you can stay."
Ivan squeezes my hand again and rests his head against mine. I close my eyes and feel around in the back of my mind; Dimitri still hasn't gone home.
"Did you at least let him know that you left?" Ivan asks when my flight is called and I bite the corner of my lip.
Standing up and shouldering my bag, I look down at the floor and scratch the back of my head, refusing to make eye contact. "I left him a note," I murmur and Ivan scoffs.
"Oh, I'm sure he is going to love that."
Ivan and I have been hiding in Greece for three months now, and thankfully we've been able to dodge the Guardians that have found us. We tend to spend most of our time out in the daytime, where it would be the last place they would think to look for us.
I knew the minute Dimitri discovered that I was gone, just like when Lissa would get overwhelmed by emotions, I got sucked into his head.
He was frantic, but I could feel the pain and fear flowing through him so intensely that it made my heart hurt more. He moved like a whirlwind through out bedroom, ripping open drawers and closet doors to find some of my things missing, along with my necklace and a single bottle of his cologne.
He tried to poke around in my head but couldn't because I was in his, and I tried to send calming feelings to him, but that only made him angry. He felt betrayed and at that point, put his fist through the mirror over the dresser. I yanked myself out of his head and did everything in my power not to break down in the middle of our flight.
If Ivan has heard me crying late at night, he hasn't mentioned it. Dimitri still tries to reach me through our bond, but I don't respond in fear that it will let him slip into my mind and see where we are.
Ivan and I have been renting a place close to the water in the Ionian Islands, and we have been able to blend in well.
"Have you heard anything yet?" I ask Ivan, sitting across from him at a small table, playing with my cup.
"There was a large attack at St. Basil's, so most of the Guardians have moved to help the academy recover. The hunt for you has been put on a back burner for now," he says, lifting his sunglasses onto his head and sips from his glass of lemonade.
I nod and drain the last of my cup and set it in the sink. "I'm going for a walk, I'll be back," I call over my shoulder, shrugging my coat on.
While we spent most of our time out in the sun, I still like to walk the streets at night, it allows me to wander unnoticed and I can have time for my thoughts. Reaching up and toying with the chain around my neck I let my thoughts wander back to Dimitri, his presence in the back of my mind seems to be heavier than normal, but I brush it off.
Maybe letting my thoughts wander was a bad idea, but I only have split second to block my chest when a stake swipes towards it. Hissing when the charmed sliver slashes through my coat and grazes my arm, I lurch forward and advance my assailant.
A young Guardian by the looks of it, possibly fresh from school, he takes another swipe again and land a hard blow to his shoulder, knocking him off balance. The Guardian rights himself and sweeps my legs from under me, knocking me to the ground and pouncing on me before I hit the ground. I push my hands up against his hand that holds the stake, trying to push it away from me, but lands a blow with his other hand to my face and my grip loosens.
He raises the stake again and I brace myself, prepared to say my final goodbyes but another set of hands wraps around the Guardian's head and twists it sharply, snapping his neck instantly. The stake clatters to the stone beneath me and I push the body off me, meeting the eyes of the last person I expected to see.
A/N: I'm sorry it took me few days to update this story, I have spent the last two days anxiously waiting as my family had to rush our beloved dog to the University of Guelph because he has a collapsed lung.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.