Chapter Thirteen - Family Ties

Gazing up towards the love of my life, I couldn't help but feel pure contentment washing through my entire being. It was an indescribable feeling, something that can only be believed once you've experienced it. It was as if I could take on the entire world and not even bat an eyelid. I could be staring death right in the face and I would feel just as invincible as I did now. All because I was wrapped up in the arms of the man whom I trusted with my life, blissfully resting in his childhood home in Russia.

"You're staring." His sleep-ridden voice startled me from my trance, and I furrowed my brows at him. We were laying tangled together, my hand resting on his shoulder with my chin atop of it. One of his hands was wrapped loosely around my back while the other rested on his stomach. His eyes were still closed, and he hadn't even flinched, still looking peacefully asleep.

"I'm admiring!" I corrected defensively, pinching his shoulder playfully. I felt his body vibrate beneath me as he chuckled, finally opening his eyes to look down at me. He smiled affectionately, and again the overwhelming sense of contentment was upon me. "Good morning, Malýshka." I hummed happily, burying my face into the crook of his neck before placing a kiss at the base.

"Good morning, Comrade." I purred.

"Someone's affectionate this morning." He noticed with an amused tone, kissing the top of my head while shifting slightly so that both of his arms were enveloping me. "Any particular reason why?"

I shook my head, still buried within his neck as I soaked in his scent. "Just happy, I guess. In love."

"As am I, Malýshka."

We lay down like that for an immeasurable amount of time, reveling in each other's embrace while Dimitri muttered comforting words of Russian into my ear. I didn't know what he was saying, but I made no move to ask, simply enjoying the sound of him speaking in his native tongue.

"How are you feeling?" Dimitri asked testingly, running his fingers up and down my spine lightly which sent small shivers of joy through by body. "About the whole Strigoi situation."

"I'm okay," I answered truthfully, shifting myself so that we could at least see each other's faces now. I pursed my lips as I rested my head on his shoulder, making small circles on his bare chest with my index finger. "Missing St Vlad's a lot more than I thought I would. Lissa, Eddie, Alberta. Hell, even Firecrotch!" I laughed incredulously, though completely meaning my words. "I know I probably should be a lot more scared than I am, but I'm not."

"It's in your blood," he shrugged simply, as if that was supposed to explain everything. "You're a Guardian - fighting Strigoi is in your nature. From the youngest age we're taught to fight and to kill, but never to fear. We're taught that emotions cloud our judgement in the battlefield which is why we should never let the fear override us. To use an age old Moroi quote - you have two choices; to conquer your fear or to let your fear conquer you."

I contemplated that for a moment, silently agreeing that my fearless attitude to the Strigoi did stem from my Guardian teachings. While a human's first instinct to seeing a Strigoi would be to flee, mine was to fight. I remember barely even thinking before I attacked Isaiah and Elena, acting impulsively rather than being scared of the things they could do.

"Do you think they'll come after me?" I asked in a quiet voice, stopping my motion with my finger and looking up at him. He was peering thoughtfully into my eyes, silently contemplating my question.

"I do." He admitted with a slow nod. "They proved their desperation to have you by breaking through the wards of the Academy merely to give a message. I think once they find out you're not there, they won't stop until they find you." He must have heard my sharp intake of breath since he tightened his grip around me and placed a lingering kiss to my forehead. "But I won't let them get to you, Roza. I will protect you with my life, no matter what or who come after us."

I opened my mouth to say something in return, but was swiftly interrupted by loud and obvious knocking at Dimitri's door. "Breakfast is ready." Viktoria called through. "Please don't make me come in there and get you. Mama wants the entire family together, and I'd rather not see whatever you two are up to."

I giggled at her words as her creaky footsteps soon faded away while my intimidating, 6 foot 7 Russian buried his face into my hair, embarrassed. I pouted as I tried not to laugh at him, instead stroking his hair soothingly. "Come on, Comrade. I'd rather your family not think I was some floozy."

A little after four in the afternoon, I found myself stood in the kitchen alongside Olena while she prepared some pre-made food for Dimitri, myself, and Viktoria to take back to St Basil's. While the food at the school was good, much better than at St Vlad's, she had told me that there was nothing better than a home cooked meal made by mother. Dimitri had agreed with her, before heading into the back room to entertain Paul.

I was washing the dishes in the sink, finding it rather therapeutic, while she seemed to be cutting up some vegetables and placing them into a pot on the stove. I placed the final plate onto the drying rack before turning to watch Olena, drying my hands on an old, tattered tea towel.

"Dimka seems happy." Olena pondered aloud out of nowhere, her focus never shifting from the knife and the chopping board. "Happier than before he left for America. I suspect you are to thank for that."

I smiled affectionately at the thought that I had assisted in his happiness, nodding slightly. "I know he makes me happy. I'd like to think I do the same with him."

"You never think about how different things could have been?" She looked up at me with a thoughtful expression, wiping the back of her knife on a clean towel. "If you hadn't fallen in love with your mentor, and he his student. You've both risked so much to get here, yet your lives could have been made easier had you not fallen for each other."

"You don't control who you fall in love with, Olena." I sighed kindly, taking the knife from her and turning to wash it in the sink. "Sure, things haven't exactly been easy for us. But that's what you do for love - you'd do anything for them, no matter what." I glanced out of the corner of my eye at her subtly as I rested the knife to dry. She seemed to be regarding me with soft eyes, and the ghost of an affectionate smile on her lips.

I wiped my hands dry once again before footsteps caught my attention, and I looked up to see Dimitri coming through the hallway with our bags over his shoulders. I smiled as I watched him through the archway as he placed them by the front door, besides where Viktoria's had already sat. We planned to leave immediately after dinner at around 7 so that we would arrive back at the school shortly after curfew. While Viktoria had raised her concern that travelling at night placed us under a higher risk of a Strigoi attack, Dimitri had reasoned that with a Guardian and two soon-to-be-Guardians on board, we would be more than prepared to defend ourselves.

He made his way over to where myself and Olena were standing in the kitchen, his mother focusing her attention back on the pot on the stove. I smiled up at him as he cupped my face gently, leaning down to press a sweet kiss to my lips. "You having fun down here?"

"Oh, lots," I grinned wickedly, turning around to pick the towel back up and wipe down the sides. "Your mother has been telling me all sorts of embarrassing stories about young you. You know, I don't think I could ever imagine you playing dress up with your Mama's clothes."

"Hey," he called out defensively as I skipped out of his reach to the other side of the kitchen to assist Olena in spooning the food into portable containers. "That was one time when I was seven - and it wasn't my Mama's, it was actually Babushka's old clothes from when she was younger."

"Clothes from the sixties?" I turned to him with a wide, open-mouthed grin, trying my hardest not to start laughing. "You know, I pegged you more as a rock-and-roll seventies sort of guy, not a pin-up fifties and sixties sort of guy."

"You're loving this, aren't you?" He rolled his eyes with an amused expression, and I smiled coyly at him as I turned to finish helping Olena with the food. When I wasn't paying attention, I felt Dimitri wrap his arms around my waist from behind, placing a soft kiss behind my ear. I giggled at the slight ticklish feeling, placing the container I was holding back on the countertops as I tried to squirm away from his touch.

"Hey! No lovey-dovey stuff while we're in the kitchen." It was Sonja who interrupted my giggling and Dimitri's teasing, and he reluctantly turned us both to face his older sister. She was watching us in the doorway with an amused expression, shaking her finger in a mock 'tut tut' motion at her brother. I could just picture him rolling his eyes as he let go of me with one last kiss to my cheek. "Rose, could you help me set up the table for dinner? Usually Paul would, but he's busy pestering Vik about become a Guardian."

I laughed with a nod. "Of course." I turned to give Dimitri a kiss on his nose before following her out towards the dining room.

She pulled out the centre drawer of the large, 19th century cabinet on the far side of the room, lifting and laying out the pieces for the table. I stepped besides her and took the stack of black and white spiraled place mats before walking over to the 8-seat dining table. "My brother's a good man, you know." I looked up from where I was setting the second mat down, seeing Sonja watching me with her arms folded as she leaned back against the cabinet.

"I know," I agreed plainly, moving to continue setting the mats at the other tables without further elaboration.

"He's respected in the Guardian community." She continued almost questioningly, clearly having an agenda to getting me alone with her in the dining room. "Best graduating score at St Basil's in the past twenty years, a Bloodmaster Level 7 at twenty-three, a respectable seven molnija to his name."

"What's your point, Sonja?" I snapped bitterly as I looked back up at her, narrowing my eyes challengingly at where she stood. I shrugged my arms in an open gesture as I spoke. "What are you getting at?"

"My point is that he has too much to lose because of a seventeen year old Novice." She announced definitively, looking me straight in the eye as she stood her ground. "I need to be certain that you know how much he is risking here just by being with you."

"Of course I know, Sonja, I'm not an idiot." I retorted in an almost offended tone, walking past her to gather the knives and forks from the drawer. If she wasn't going to set the table up, somebody else had to. "I know that his title is in danger. I know that if anyone was to find out about us then he'd be stripped of being a Guardian and probably be outcasted into the human world."

"Then you know that, as his sister, I won't let you damage his reputation. Should anything bad go down between you two, then I will always back up my brother over you. No matter what."

"I do." I nodded as I placed the final set of cutlery down at the head of the table, looking back up at her. "I know you'd do anything to protect your little brother. And I want you to know that I would as well." I walked slowly so that I was straight in front of her, looking up confidently into her eyes. "I love him, Sonja, and I would never do anything to hurt him. Please, trust me."

Her gaze flickered between my eyes as she took in my words and my stance, clearly searching for any sign that I was lying. When she was satisfied I was telling the truth, she nodded, a slightly apologetic expression upon her face. She placed a hand on my arm and rubbed it soothingly with another nod. "I believe you, Rose. And I believe that he loves you, too. Like, really, loves you."

I laughed at that as I placed my hand on top of hers to give it a light squeeze of reassurance. She smiled at me then, and I felt a genuine warmth of approval coming from her.

"Thank you so much for welcoming me into your home, Olena, it's been a pleasure." I hugged Dimitri's mother tightly as we stood at the front door, ready to get on our way back to the Academy. Our bags had already been loaded into the trunk and we were bidding our farewells.

"Oh, please, Rose," Olena returned the hug just as tightly with a comforting rub on my back, before pulling away with a motherly smile. She placed a hand on my cheek and rubbed my cheekbone with her thumb. "I'd always dreamed of meeting the girl that stole my Dimka's heart. The pleasure's all mine." I grinned as she pulled me into another hug, muttering into my ear; "just make sure he visits home more often. Please?" I nodded genuinely as we finally pulled away, and she gave me a thankful nod.

I was just about to head out the door with Dimitri when Yeva called me from where she stood near the dining room archway. Dimitri glanced down at me peculiarly as I told him to go wait for me in the car, before heading over towards his Babushka.

"I have something I'd like to give you," she said as soon as I approached, reaching into an old leather jewelry pouch she was holding. I wrapped my arms around my torso as I watched her pull out an old looking dream catcher. It was unlike any design I'd ever seen, being woven with white leather and, instead of being circular, was decorated with two crescent moons on either side of a transparent gem. Natural white and brown feathers dangled at the bottom, curling around each other.

"It's beautiful," I said with awe, looking between the dream catcher and her. "Why would you give something like this to me?"

"Because I have a feeling you need it more than me." She said with a knowing smile, placing the gift back into the pouch before placing it into my hands. "In the Vrajitoare community we call them Sacred Hoops. They filter the good and the bad dreams, sending the good ones down their feathers while burning the bad ones in the spider's web. Hang this above your bed and I assure you that the demon that threatens to enter your mind will be kept at bay."

I tilted my head at her curiously at her words, wondering what 'demons' she thought were threatening me. At first I thought she was just talking about generic nightmares of the Strigoi, however the ominous tone in her voice made me think otherwise.

I opened my mouth to ask her precisely what she meant when Viktoria called me from beyond the open front door. "Rose, come on! I'd like to make it back before graduation, thank you very much."

I rolled my eyes at her and held my tongue to bite back a sarcastic remark, instead opting to thank Yeva for the gift. I gave her a hug in return as well, before quickly making my way out to the SUV. I climbed into the passenger seat just as Dimitri started up the engine, turning to look at me questioningly. "What did Babushka want?"

I shrugged evasively. "Just to tell me to keep you in line." I teased with a cheeky wink, making him laugh. He reversed out of the driveway while Viktoria and I waved out the window to where the rest of their family was stood at the front door of their house, Olena, Karolina, and Paul waving while Sonja and Yeva just smiled.

To the Guest whom left a review on the last chapter; I apologise if there are so many spelling and grammatical mistakes within my chapters that it makes it difficult to read. I assure you I try my best to make sure that is not the case, however if you still notice them then I do apologise. I will probably not be getting a beta reader as you suggested, again for which I apologise. I have a changing timetable which means that I cannot stick to a certain schedule, meaning sending stuff to a beta reader wouldn't be consistent for either of us. I also like to post 2-3 chapters a week, while most beta readers only have time to examine a chapter a week, which just wouldn't work for me. I'm sorry if this is disappointing to you, however I assure you that I will try my best to proof-read my chapters more carefully from now on to ensure it is as best as can be. Thank you for the advice, and thank you to everyone else who has been reviewing. I try to reply to every review and I hope it shows how grateful I am for your support.