"Rose?" Lissa asked confused, eyeing Adrian oddly.
"Rose is watching, Liss." Adrian said, never taking his eyes off the aura surrounding her. Even in a different state, the intensity that Adrian was using to study me being inside Lissa's head was unsettling. "And you won't believe what she just did."
"What did she do?" Lissa asked concerned.
"She took my Darkness."
"She can do that!?" Lissa shot up from her seat, rushing at Adrian, trying to study his aura, but she was still learning so she wasn't very good at it.
"Apparently."
"How do you know she's watching? Do you feel any different? Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, better than I have been in about a decade, really. Your aura has a ring of Darkness around it, almost a solid black, but it isn't connected to your aura, it's separate. It's definitely Rose." I started shifting uncomfortablely in the tub. Adrian's gaze, though looking at Lissa, was piercing my soul.
"Rose? Rose, if you can hear me, could you just call me? Let me know that you're alright? You've made everyone here sick with worry. Dimitri's gone off his rocker looking for you. He went to Guardian Croft, but he said that you had taken a leave of absence and said you didn't know when you'd come back." Lissa said soothingly. I found myself wanting to contact her, just to ease her worry. I didn't want her to worry, I just couldn't be at Court anymore.
Both Adrian and Lissa sat quietly, as if I could answer them through the bond. Wait. I haven't tried in a while, might as well now.
"I can't come back, Liss." I pushed through. I was actually surprised when she answered me.
"Why not?" Lissa's voice echoed in my head "What happened? Why'd you leave?"
"I just couldn't be there anymore, Liss. I don't expect you to understand, but I didn't belong there, and I didn't have a reason to stay any longer."
"Is this because of Dimitri?" Lissa asked timidly. I stayed silent for a few moments, trying to piece together an answer that she'd accept.
"Yes and no. Dimitri was the last thing holding me there, but I left for myself. I need to do something for me."
"What happened between you two?"
"That's between the two of us." I said sharply. I thought that the Darkness would continue to fight off the heartbreaking numbness I felt whenever I talked about Dimitri, but it was still there. I was shocked to find that I was still capable to such an emotion, I hadn't felt this sort of pain since leaving the church. "I'll be checking in from time to time, Liss. If Adrian is around when I do, I'll continue to take his Darkness, and yours."
"No, Rose! You can't do that!" Lissa shouted, causing my head to throb.
"I don't get hurt by the Darkness anymore. It doesn't control me, I control it. I'm fine. I can handle it, and you can't stop me, anyway." I said, and before she had a chance to respond, I left her mind, closing of my end of the bond so she couldn't contact me.
I leaned back in the cooling water, trying to piece together all the information that Lissa had shared in our short conversation. Croft is keeping my secret, but I really shouldn't be surprised by that. I'd always been a thorn in his side, but he's never given me any reason not to have my trust. It wasn't like I told him where I was going or why I was going. I'm sure that Dimitri seeking him out gave him a pretty good idea as to why I left.
Dimitri. Just thinking about him made my heart stir, but I pushed the feeling aside. That was a feeling that could get me killed. I should have listened to him at the academy, then we wouldn't be in this situation. I would still be guarding Lissa, and he would be my partner. Nothing more. I had no one to blame but myself, but I wasn't going to make that same mistake twice.
He'd made it clear that his love had faded, and, now, so had mine. There was something in the back of my mind that was nagging me, though. I tried not to investigate it, but the more I ignored it, the louder the nagging got.
Dimitri's gone off his rocker…
That's what Lissa had said, right? What could have caused Dimitri, master of control, to go off his rocker? It couldn't be me, could it? No. I've already established that he didn't love me, most-likely didn't care for me. There's a lot going on right now in Dimitri's life, any number of them could have cause a mental break.
I do hope that he pulls himself together, though. He's really the only guardian that I trust with Lissa. However, she wasn't my responsibility anymore. I'd left a recommendation with Hans, but if Dimitri wasn't fit to be a Guardian, I trusted Hans' judgment to find a couple of Guardians that could do a decent job.
I pulled my relaxed body out of the cold water, pulling the plug and watched as the water swirled down the drain. I could smell food cooking downstairs, and knowing that lunch was soon, I hurried to put some clothes on. I stepped into a pair of jeans, and yanked a t-shirt over my head after donning a bra. I parted my hair down the middle, braiding each side, and draping them over my shoulders.
I pocketed my phone and headed downstairs toward the kitchen. I found Abe attending the stove, two pans in front of him. One was busy cooking some batter, from the smell I would guess crepes, and the other was heating a fruit compote.
"Hey, Kiz!" Abe called out in greeting as I approached him.
"Hey, Dad. Can I help with anything?" I asked, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek, watching his progress as he flipped a crepe.
"Yeah, the cream cheese is already softened, but now you just need to add powdered sugar to it. Make it as sweet as you want." He said pointing to the cream cheese on the island behind him, sitting next to the powdered sugar. I pulled down a bowl from the upper cabinet, depositing the block of cream cheese in first before adding the sugar. I grabbed a spoon and began mixing.
"I don't think I'll ever get used to you calling me 'Dad.'" Abe chuckled after a minute.
"Would you rather me call you something else?" I asked a little amused. I know the work my father did wasn't all legal, and I never really saw him as the parenting type, but he was fiercely protective of me, and I didn't feel comfortable calling him 'Abe.'
"You could always try for the Turkish word for father, 'Baba.'" He said after thoughtfully flipping another crepe. "But you call me whatever you feel more comfortable calling me. 'Abe,' 'Zmey,' 'Dad,' 'Old Man,' it doesn't matter to me. Just let me know so I can start answering to it." I laughed as I smoothed out my sweet mixture.
"I think I like Baba." I said with a decisive head nod. "It sounds better than 'Dad.' No offense, but you don't seem the 'Dad' type, but I can get behind 'Baba.'" It was Abe's turn to laugh.
"Why, thank you, Kiz. That means a lot to me." Baba chuckled after his laughter had died down.
"What's so funny?" Christopher asked as he entered the kitchen, sweaty, followed by ten other Guardians. I quickly worked out who was missing.
"Where's Guardian Nelson?" I asked with a smirk, which earned me Christopher's laughter.
"He's receiving a little chat with Pavel, apparently his performance this morning and just now wasn't up to par. He's most-likely going to be replace with a new Guardian tomorrow. Pavel's already put out a notice for a Guardian wanting to get away from Court and move out here indefinitely."
"Pavel does the job posting? Not Baba?" I asked slightly confused.
"Yeah, most people won't even apply to the job if they knew they were going to be working for Abe Mazur, no offense Boss."
"None taken." Baba said with a wave of a spatula, not taking his watchful eye off the last of the crepes.
"Anyway, when they come out for the interview, get the detail of the job, pay, housing, stuff like that, then Pavel reveals that they'll be working for Abe Mazur. They're given the choice to accept, but after hearing the benefits of the job, most stay." Christopher explained, taking the spot beside me at the breakfast bar.
"I like to think that they stay because of me." Baba said, setting down a large platter of unfilled crepes. "How many do you want, Kiz?"
"Let's start with five and go from there." I said, my stomach growling in anticipation. I watched as he spooned the cream cheese mixture onto one side of the crepe before folding it into fourths. He repeated this with four other crepes, piled those on a plate and smothered all of it in the berry compote. "Thanks, Baba." I said with a smile as he set the plate in front of me.
"No problem, Kiz." He returned with a smile before gesturing to the other Guardians to help themselves. I guess I was the only one that Baba made crepes for.
"It's still odd to see you interacting with your child. I've never seen you like this, Abe." Kyle said, taking the spot on the other side of me, his plate also having five crepes.
"I'd usually say 'don't get used to it,' but seeing as she'll be here indefinitely, you probably will have to get used to it." Abe said less kindly to Kyle then he would have to me. I saw Kyle ease back in his chair from the corner of my eye, and I turned to him with an angelic smile on my face.
"I don't see how I didn't peg you as his daughter the moment I first saw you. You're a younger, female version of your father."
"I'm going to take that as a compliment." I said before digging into my sweet, fruity crepes. I couldn't help the moan that escaped my mouth. Several heads turned toward me, most contained a lustful look, but Baba's held amusement. "This is so good."
"Thank you." Baba responded with a flourished bow.
It seems that now my body has adjusted to the Darkness, I was able to feel and enjoy just like I had before. Sure, there were some feelings that were dulled, like love and lust, but I almost felt like myself again. I felt happy for the first time in a long time. I smiled up at Baba, and he returned my smile. The worry that had lived in his eyes since I'd first gotten onto the plane yesterday had disappeared.
My mood had increased dramatically from the melancholy, cold feeling I had yesterday, and I felt like my life was on the mend.
"When you're done, Kiz. Meet Pavel and me upstairs in my office and we'll talk about a training schedule." Baba said, coming around the island to give me a quick kiss on the head before he and Pavel left the kitchen.
"What training are you going to be doing, Rose?" Jasper asked. His sandy blond hair hung loose and sweaty around his face, making him look more like a surfer than a Guardian. Christopher, Kyle and Jasper were probably my favorite of the eleven Guardians in the room, my least favorite being the one that still hadn't joined us. He was probably packing, though.
"I'm going to start training with a sword. In Spokane, I actually found it more beneficial than a stake would have been. It's easier to keep Strigoi at a distance, but still get the job done. This time I want to know how to use the sword, though. Hacking a head off wasn't the easiest thing I've ever had to do." I said laughing. At the time, the events that occurred had been traumatizing, but now I'd been through worse and none of it bothered me anymore.
"So, you're hoping to go back to guarding, then?" Kyle asked, hope shining in his eyes. "I'd hate for the world to lose someone as talented as you."
"I'm not going to be guarding anymore." Sadness filled his eyes. "I'm going hunting."
"You're what!?" Christopher exclaimed from the other side of me.
"I'm going hunting. I know there are plenty of Strigoi in the city, I want to make the streets a safer place, not just for Moroi, but for humans. We've been worried about saving one race, but we completely neglected another. I understand that humans are much more populous than Moroi, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't protect them, too."
"So, you're just going to go around prowling for Strigoi?"
"No. I'm going to visit nightclubs that are usually visited by Strigoi. I'm going to have a personal Alchemist with me, and I'm going to lower the population of Strigoi in New York City." I said, raising my eyebrows, daring them to challenge me. The three of them hadn't known me long, but they'd automatically taken over the roles of older brothers, which was sweet, but I didn't need them breathing down my neck about how dangerous this was.
"Is it just going to be you hunting, or are you going to have backup, like us?" Jasper asked after taking a moment to process the information.
"I'd planned on going by myself, but Baba might have a problem with that, so it's possible I'll be taking a couple of you guys with me." Jasper nodded in acceptance, Christopher perked up at the idea, and Kyle looked a bit apprehensive. "But I'm about to go talk about my training right now, so I'll let you guys know in a bit."
I left them all with a smile, and ascended the stairs, going back to Baba's office. I heard voices coming from inside, but that was to be expected since Pavel had come up with Baba. I knocked, announcing my presence, and the conversation stopped abruptly.
"I still don't think it's a good idea." I heard Pavel say. The door opened a moment later, revealing Pavel. He gestured for me to enter. Baba was sitting in the same spot he had occupied earlier, so, naturally, I claimed mine. In the course of a couple hours, the sky over the ocean had become overcast and gloomy.
"What's not a good idea?" I asked, looking between the two men. Abe shook his head at Pavel.
"Nothing you need to worry about right now." He told me, after breaking their staring contest.
"Okay…" I said slowly, eyeing them both wearily. "So, training."
"Yes. I heard that you wanted to learn swordsmanship?" Pavel asked sitting beside Baba, directly in my line of sight.
"I would like to, yes."
"Have you picked the swords you'd like to learn to use?" I nodded. "Then we can start as soon as you want."
"Not so fast, friend." Baba interrupted my giddiness. "I want Rose to be relaxing just as much as she is training. We're going to make a schedule that will allocate time for her to be relaxing and time for her to be training."
I huffed, crossing my arms across my chest, turning to glare at Baba, he just glared back.
"Fine." I threw my hands in the air. I really didn't mind relaxing, but I really wanted to start training. "I'd like to run and lift in the mornings, and we can train with sword in the afternoon. I'll relax from breakfast until after lunch and then from dinner on. Does that sound good?"
"Sounds like a plan to me." Baba said with a pleased smile, Pavel shook his head in amusement.
"We'll start tomorrow, though. You've put me through enough today." Pavel said, rubbing his shoulder.
"Sydney will be here tomorrow, so probably no swords tomorrow. The day after we're going shopping and the day after that I'd like to check out the clubbing scene, so it will be Sunday before we can start with swords, hopefully that will give you time to recover." I told him with a smirk. I kind of felt back that I might have hurt him, but I know it couldn't have been that bad, besides I'd done worse to the Guardians downstairs.
"Well, why you girls are out shopping, I'm going to be conducting a few interviews with perspective Guardians to replace Guardian Nelson. I'll have to tell them that my daughter is here, but unless I offer them the job, I won't tell them who you are." Baba said.
"That's fine." I said, happy that the creepy Guardian would soon be out of the house.
"Of course, since this will be your house, you'll have final say on whether you approve of the Guardian we hire." Pavel stepped in quickly, adding information that Baba left out. There was a tense look that passed between them, but I didn't think much of it.
"I'm sure whoever you choose will be just fine. You don't need my approval, Baba." I said, turning my attention back to the beach below us. I really was feeling a swim, and I was supposed to be relaxing. "Is there anything else we need to discuss?"
"I don't think so, but I know you won't be far if I think of something that's pressing." Baba said chuckling at the last part.
"I'm probably going to go for a swim, so if you do need me, I'll be in the ocean." I told them, giving a Baba a kiss on the cheek before leaving his office and going down the hall to my room.
Opening my top right drawer, I pulled out my light blue bikini and began to undress. The color really complimented my skin tone, and showed everything to perfection without being trashy or unseemly. Observing myself in the bathroom mirror, I decided I was set, but grabbed a thin white kimono as a swimsuit cover. I didn't bother slipping on flip flops and headed downstairs barefoot.
I heard a couple wolf whistles from the direction of the kitchen and turned to see a couple Guardians lounging, checking me out. I narrowed my eyes at them, and they quickly averted their gaze adopting a terrified look. I smirked in victory and continued outside and down the path to the beach.
The sand wormed its way in between my toes, and I sunk into the beach an inch. The sand was warm, but I knew the water would be cool. I left my cover near the start of the beach, under a rock so it wouldn't fly away in the breeze, and started down to the shoreline. The wet sand caused me to sink further down. I stood where the water met the land, letting each passing of the waves take me down.
After I got used to the cool water, I walked out to chest height. I sucked in a deep breath and plunged myself into the salty water. Resurfacing, I looked back to the house. The Guardians had finished their lunch, and apparently decided to go for a swim, also. I treaded water and watched the well-toned Guardians trickle out of the house with board shorts on, distinctly lacking shirts.
Most avoided me, probably worried that Baba would go ballistic if he thought they took too much of a liking to me, but Kyle, Christopher, and Jasper started making their way over to me. In the time that they had reached me, I was half a mile from the shoreline.
"How's it going, Ms. Hathaway?" Christopher asked when he was a few feet from me, Kyle and Jasper a few feet behind him.
"It goes, Mr. Fleming." I said, mimicking his tone. "Do you guys not have anything to do?"
"Pavel actually told us to come out and keep an eye on you. I think you're more than capable of taking care of yourself, but he insisted." Christopher said with a roll of his eyes. "However, I think he just wanted to make calls to Court without the worry of us overhearing who might be coming as the new Guardian."
"Do you have any idea of who it could be?" I asked, moving closer to Kyle, finding the repetitive motion of treading water tiring, so I used his shoulder to keep myself afloat.
"Not a clue, but I heard that Abe wasn't going to accept anyone but the best, so I guess whoever it is they're going to be the best." Jasper said with a shrug.
"I'd expect nothing less from Baba." I said with a chuckle.
"So…" Christopher said with a sly smile. "Before we came out here, Pavel told us that Abe was going to leave it up to you to decide who would escort you to clubs when you go hunting. Have you given it any thought?"
"A little. The three of you would be my pick, though if Abe is hiring the best, I supposed he, or she, would be my first choice." Christopher and Jasper both let out squeals that could only be described as girly. Kyle and I cracked up laughing at them, but Kyle didn't share their excitement.
"Would you mind if I could be the designated driver?" Kyle said after our laughter had died down.
"That would be awesome." I said with a wide smile. "You guys do know that means you have to start training with me, right?"
All three let out loud groans, which caused me to laugh.
"Don't worry, we'll start Sunday, so enjoy it while you can."
"As you wish." Christopher said with a sigh, but I could see his excitement. I could imagine that the mischievous glint in his eyes was mirrored in mine.
"This is going to be fun."