Chapter 11:

Note: There will be no flashback to the past in this chapter, due to a long present. Next chapter will have one.

Present Day:

My instinct was telling me I shouldn't kiss him, but my body wanted his lips to touch mine again. He was an addiction that was hard to shake and he was so handsome. I knew we didn't love each other, but that didn't mean that I wasn't attracted to him, that I didn't want him. But, could there ever be something between us again?

"Are you sure my dress isn't too much?" I said softly to him, feeling myself get even closer to him.

"You are beautiful with whatever you wear," He replied.

It was hard to say who made the first move because it was all a blur. My body tingled as his warm lips brushed against mine, but before I could take in the entire situation I heard a voice calling down the hallway towards us.

"Guardian Belikov and Guardian Hathaway, can you spare a moment?" boomed Guardian Steele.

Both of us quickly pulled away from each other and turned our attention towards Guardian Steele, who was quickly going down the hallway. Unlike the other guardians, he still wore his proper uniform. Of course, he wouldn't let loose just a bit. There always seemed to be something up his ass.

"You both need to meet with me tomorrow morning at eight o'clock, regarding something urgent. I highly suggest that you don't be late because I run a tight schedule."

"Got it," I replied, while Dimitri had a more formal reply.

Guardian Steele nodded and briskly turned around on his heel. He walked almost military-like away from us and I rolled my eyes. He was always about standing tall to intimidate others, but I was confident I could easily kick his ass in a spar.

Before he was out of distance from us, he stood in place and didn't turn around. "I suggest you two remember that you are guardians and work together. Maybe take that into account before starting something." He then proceeded down the hallway, out of distance from us.

"Fucking asshole," I said, loud enough for Dimitri to hear.

We briefly made eye contact with each other, neither of us knew how to respond to each other. What happened before Guardian Steele interrupted us? A mix of emotions swarmed me and I didn't know how to respond to the situation. By the expression on Dimitri's face, he didn't know how to respond either. We stared at each other and I crossed my arms over my chest, glancing at the ground.

"Rose, what happened – "

I cut him off, not wanting to hear the rest of what he had to say. "No, stop. We don't need to talk about it."

I stared at him, with a part of me wanting more than anything for the past to be completely different. What would our life be like if he didn't falter in the cave? What would it be like if he begged to see me after he was restored? I couldn't dwell on the what-ifs and the past because there was no point. The past was set in stone and I could only focus on the future. I guess Dimitri was right, it was a mistake.

"Thanks again for the belated graduation present," I said, raising the box and giving him a nod. "I'm going to go get some rest. See you tomorrow morning."

I didn't give him time to respond, but instead lifted up my dress and began walking quickly down the hallway. A small part of me wished that Dimitri would call my name, but I knew he learned not to push any further. As I approached the end of the hallway, I turned around to sneak a glance over my shoulder. Dimitri was nowhere in sight.

I leaned up against the wall, taking deep breaths, trying to calm myself from that encounter. Closing my eyes and clutching the box with my present, I could still feel the warmth of his lips against mine. Damn it, why was this still on my mind?

Opening my eyes and shaking the thoughts of the kiss, I changed directions and started heading towards the kitchens. There wouldn't be many people in the kitchen and I knew I needed a bottle of wine to help push away any thoughts of Dimitri. I sent Adrian a text to meet me in my room and that I brought alcohol, knowing that he would stop whatever he was doing to join me. I needed him keep Dimitri out of my thoughts for the night.

I woke up the next morning with a trail of kisses going down my neck on my naked body. "Don't stop," I moaned when the kiss hit my sweet spot on my neck. I felt his fangs casually brush against my neck and I wanted to feel the high from his bite so badly, but I knew I shouldn't.

Adrian and I were curled up on my small, not-so-luxurious double bed in my room. His lips moved up to meet mine and I caved into his touch, letting the kiss deepen in passion. My mouth opened up to his tongue, which gently grazed mine. Briefly pulling away I rolled myself on top of him, with his hands finding their way to my ass.

I pulled away suddenly, clutching either side of my head. "Fucking hell," I murmured, as dizziness and pain sear throughout my entire head. I felt weak and disoriented, after the night of drinking. In addition to that bottle of wine, Adrian had brought over some other hard liquor and of course, I caved.

"Hungover?" Adrian said, with a gleam in his eyes.

"Very," I muttered, massaging my temples. "And let me guess, you are perfectly fine?"

"I can handle my alcohol well, thank you," He replied. "What time is your shift?"

Cursing, I quickly got off of Adrian to grab my phone and look at the time. It was seven forty-five, I had to meet Steele in fifteen minutes. I ran across the room, trying to find a clean pair of guardian clothes to wear. Maybe Christian was right, I should be keeping my room more organized. Finally coming across a pair, I threw on panties, a bra, and my guardian attire. My head was pounding and I knew I needed food, water, and ibuprofen, but I didn't have the time.

I sat down on the edge of the bed, to put on my shoes and felt Adrian smoothing my hair. I did not even want to know the state of my hair. "Don't forget your new stake," Adrian said. He was referring to the stake Dimitri got me as a gift. I didn't outright tell him about the very belated graduation present, but he noticed it last night sitting on my desk.

"I'm good with my old ones," I said, quickly grabbing two from my desk. I glanced at the stake Dimitri gave me, still feeling very touched by his gift.

"Leave whenever you want, Adrian. I'll see you later tonight," I told him, grabbing my coat, gloves, and scarf. I shut the door before I could hear any of his comments, taking a deep breath before I began walking down the hallway.

I started to briskly walk down the hallway, as I button on my coat and slipped on my gloves. Naturally, Steele's office would be in the main building and away from everything. Cursing as I checked the time, I quickly stepped up my pace. The last thing I wanted to do was further piss Steele off. Ever since Hans disappearance, Steele had become quite hostile towards me. Not sure why considering I helped interrogate a Strigoi.

As I hurried across the Court property I saw Eddie emerge in the distance from one of the nearest food places, that most guardians would go to. "Hathaway!" He hollered, quickly running up to me.

"Keep my pace or leave," I said. "I have a meeting with Steele that I can't be late to."

He kept my pace easily, considering he was way taller than me.

"Have you talked to Dimitri lately?" He questioned.

I looked over at him briefly, before looking in front of me. "Why do you ask?"

"He seemed completely off when he showed up last night to trade shifts. Broodier than usual, as if something was on his mind. Just wanted to know if you knew what could be wrong with him."

Shrugging, I continued my pace. Weren't we both thrown off by that brief kiss last night? It was unexpected and I still did not know how to feel about it. "I really don't know, Eddie," I replied.

"He wouldn't even talk to Tasha, according to Jill. Which is weird because they seemed close to the resort."

We made our way to the main building where Steele's office was located. Checking my time, I saw that I had a few more minutes. "Eddie, let's talk about this later. I really need to get to this meeting. See you for training after my shift?"

"Yeah, Hathaway see you around. Hopefully, Steele isn't a complete asshole."

I laughed and quickly ran off.

Dimitri was already in Steele's unwelcoming office when I arrived. After Steele took over as head of guardians at Court, he had completely redone his office. Instead of the warm and inviting feel that Hans always had it was cold and put off. I guess one could say Steele was the definition of a minimalist, with the extreme lack of decorations. Apart from a picture of Queen Tatiana and a standard cuckoo clock, there was nothing else that could be categorized as décor. He didn't even have a coffee maker.

His wooden desk sat in the center of the room, with multiple file cabinets lined up behind him. The room was relatively small, making it feel more like an interrogation room instead of an actual office. He sat at his desk with his hands resting on it and crossed together, looking annoyed at my lack of an appearance.

"Knock, knock," I said, knocking on the slightly opened heavy wooden door.

"You're late," Steele said sharply, sitting up straighter in his chair. I swear this man had a superiority complex.

I looked at the clock on the wall and realized it was still a minute before eight o'clock. "Actually, I'm early, but nice try," I smoothly said, taking the chair next to Dimitri.

"Rough night?" Steele commented, opening up a few folders on his desk.

I glared at Steele, not even bothering to look towards Dimitri. I started to regret not looking in the mirror before I left for this meeting. I could only imagine my even messier bun and my make up being smeared. Maybe I ended up going a little bit overboard with the drinking, but I mean I did have the rest of the night off.

"Great night actually, you would be jealous," I returned to him.

Steele rolled his eyes, then briskly shut the file when the clock chimed eight.

"I'm sure both of you are curious or maybe even angry why I called you to this meeting, but I can assure you it is for good reason," He started, attempting to sit up even straighter in his seat. "As you know, there has been increased Strigoi activity in the past few months that target Royal Moroi and their guardians. After the recent Strigoi attack outside of the gate at St. Vlad's, we can no longer ignore this rising problem. We decided to employ a mission in an attempt to subdue any further attacks on our people."

Before I could let him continue, I spoke up. "Well, why am I here? I have responsibilities protecting Lissa, who Queen Tatiana is training to become a more prominent figure here at Court."

I glanced over at Dimitri, who wasn't indicating how he was feeling about this meeting so far. I wished I was capable of hiding my emotions as easily as him.

"You are here under the Queen's request for you two to put an end to these attacks. We have determined Strigoi packs in a few areas across the United States, mostly near Court and the Academy," stated Steele.

"Why can't the Queen request other people? She picks an insubordinate guardian and a restored former Strigoi?" I said, in disbelief. "I'm staying with Lissa."

"Do you want to lose your job completely, Miss Hathaway?" Steele stated.

"Rose," muttered Dimitri. "Don't do anything stupid." His tone made him sound like he was my mentor again.

"No, sir," I said. "But you chose us? Aren't there some other power duos out in the guardian world?"

"Guardian Petrov says he was your mentor at St. Vlad's and you work well together. To hunt Strigoi we need a good team and you are our best option."

Well, he was right. Out of the other mentor and novice pairs at St. Vlad's, Dimitri and I always stood out the most. We knew each other so well during battle and had that instilled trust at one point. But how much did I trust him now?

Steele continued on about how Dimitri and I are the most capable of guardians and some of the top-ranked, even though we are young. I was still taken aback by this entire situation, especially since Tatiana wanted me and Dimitri go.

"Also, I think after last night you wouldn't mind spending any time together," commented Steele.

I could feel my face growing red with embarrassment and I lowered my head. Of fucking course, Steele had to see that one moment of weakness on my part. If only Steele knew the entire past with me and Dimitri.

Steele continued, with a smug expression on his face. I knew he would use it against me. "I can assure you Lissa will be perfectly safe at Court with plenty of guardians watching after her. Both of you should see this as an honor to serve our community."

I noticed that Dimitri hadn't said anything, but was politely nodding the entire conversation. His face was still expressionless and it was as if he was taking the information well.

There was a moment of silence amongst the three of us, with the clock ticking in the background. Steele looked at us intently, before grabbing both files and handing them to each of us. I took mine wordlessly, hoping that there was at least some good intel.

"Do you have any further questions?" asked Steele.

"When do we leave?" Dimitri said, finally speaking this entire meeting.

"January 2nd. You will both leave the Academy, since you may have clothes or items you didn't bring to Court. The mission should only be a few months long, then you will be back to your normal positions."

Dimitri nodded, thanking Steele. How was he always able to be so polite? That was a skill that was still in development for me, that would probably never be fully developed.

Steele soon dismissed us and I stood up processing this information. Could they mission be connected to Hans Croft? That case was still unresolved and it also appeared to be another planned attack—at least to me. "Is this connected to Hans Croft?" I said, turning around to make eye contact with Steele.

Dimitri also turned around to stare at Steele, as well. Steele's face paled at my question and he quickly broke eye contact with me. Clutching his hands together I could see the whites of his knuckles, as he violently shook his head. "Hans Croft is might as well dead and will not be discussed."

"Can I see the file then?" I asked.

"There is no file," Steele said, with anger rising in his voice. "If I recall you have a shift that you need to attend to and Guardian Belikov would probably like some more rest."

Grumbling, I swiftly turned around on my heel and walked out of the office, making sure to slam the door shut. I wished I fought back with Guardian Steele, but I knew it would be best to keep my mouth shut. I needed to collect my thoughts and find a way to get the file.

Dimitri walked next to me in silence, giving me the occasional glance. After we stepped outside and felt the cold breeze, rippling down my spine, I broke the silence. "Steele was lying," I stated. "There is a file, I know there is."

"I know he is, Rose," Dimitri replied. "But there is nothing we can do. If it was an important part of this mission, we would have seen his file."

Sighing, I calmed down my anger. I knew he was right.

We started walking towards the guardian quarters, with me knowing I needed to put myself more together and see if Adrian was out of my room. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Dimitri studying me, with the same curious expression as the night before.

"I think we need to talk about what happened," whispered Dimitri.

"I think we don't," I returned to him. "It was a mistake and I just want to move past it."

I dug my hands deep into my pockets, wondering how much information I was going to tell Lissa about last night. As soon as that kiss happened I wanted to run to her, but I knew I couldn't crash her special night. Shit, I also needed to tell her I was leaving her for a few months. My stomach churned at the thought of it, knowing that she would be upset. She just got engaged and was excited to plan a wedding, with running ideas by me. What if I didn't make it back alive?

"Did you feel anything?" Dimitri asked me, once we passed by a few guardians. He wasn't dropping the conversation about the kiss, of course. The one thing about him that changed since he was restored was that he dwelled on the past a little too much.

I looked at him, wondering what answer he expected out of me. "No, I didn't," I lied, still remembering the pull I had towards him last night . . . the warmth of his lips. "Did you?"

"No."

"Why would I feel anything when I know that we no longer love each other?" I said lightly, with a wimpy laugh. We immediately stopped and stared at each other, with his eyes silently agreeing with mine. "You think we will survive this?"

Dimitri stared at me, with mixed emotions across his face. There was a mixture of hope combined with fear. "I would like to think we could because I don't think they would waste two perfectly capable, young guardians. Although, Steele was right about one thing."

"What was it?"

"That we make a great team."

I gave him a smile and we walked in silence the rest of the way to the guardian rooms.

As we approached my room, we stopped and stood right outside of my door. It was hard to believe that we only had a few days left at Court before we would be swept away and forced to spend time together. A few years ago I would have dreamed for this to happen to me and Dimitri, but now not so much. Maybe at the end of this mission, we would actually become friends.

Even though I didn't want to be near him, I still felt drawn to him. We were about to leave on a mission that we might never return from. Lissa wouldn't understand how it felt, neither would Christian or Adrian.

"Did you have a good rest of your night guarding at the dance?" I asked, remembering what Eddie said. I figured that was the most casual way to bring it up.

"It was fine. Anything exciting you did after the dance?"

"I drank," I stated.

He gave me a disapproving look in return. That same look I had grown so accustomed to during my training sessions.

"Okay, it was valid. I honestly wanted to distance myself from the bond. Didn't want to be pulled in for anything too intimate with Christian and Lissa. Bad enough I witnessed the entire proposal through Lissa's eyes and it was almost as if Christian was proposing to me. Almost as if that'll be the only proposal I'll ever get." I held up my hands in defense.

Dimitri looked at me with amusement in his eyes. "There is someone out there for you, Rose. Why are you doubting fate?"

"Fate and I aren't exactly getting along right now," I said. "Besides, I'm not looking to be with anyone. I am focused on my duty protecting Lissa, which is now on temporary hold. Still, no men for me." I didn't even want to mention Adrian to him. I mean it wasn't any of his business about who I hook up with.

Sadly I was completely right about one thing: fate hated me. Adrian swung open my door shirtless, giving me a warm smile. "Little Dhampir, I thought I heard your voice. I was getting lonely without you here," He flirted. Although his smile quickly faded, when he saw Dimitri standing close to me.

Adrian looked at Dimitri, with his eyes turning into slits. "And you, you fucking asshole. What are you doing talking to Rose?" He stepped out of the room and startled Dimitri by jabbing him in the chest.

"Adrian, shut up!" I shouted at him.

He blatantly ignored me, his eyes fixed on Dimitri. "You think I'm a wimp, don't you? I'll show you that a Moroi can fight and beat up a Russian God."

"Don't be a fucking idiot," I said, immediately standing in between the two. "If I wanted Dimitri to beat up, I would have by now. You seem to forget that I'm capable of defending myself."

Adrian started relaxing, then took a few steps back. "I still hate you, Belikov. Don't you ever forget that."

Dimitri glared at Adrian in return. "You think that the only thing I do is hurt her? What I did was best for her!" Dimitri said calmly, but I could sense the anger.

"Dimitri, it's not worth it. I'm fine, really. I'll see you later, okay?" I grabbed Dimitri's hand, giving it a squeeze to reassure him. "I think we all need a bit more rest from the ball last night." Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Adrian's face relax and stare curiously at us.

Dimitri nodded and said goodbye to me, not even acknowledging Adrian's presence. As he was out of sight, I yanked Adrian into the room wordlessly. As soon as my door shut, the words came flying out of my mouth. I was pissed about Adrian knowingly opening up the door, then ridiculously threatening Dimitri, and furthermore embarrassing me.

"I'm fucking over my past with Dimitri. So why the hell are you bringing it up?" I yelled.

"Then why are you lying," said Adrian nonchalantly.

I stared at him in disbelief, before walking away from him to the other side of the room. Trying to let out my anger in other ways, I started sorting out the mixture of laundry and clean clothes from the ground.

Throwing a heap of clothing into my laundry basket, I turned towards Adrian and put my hands on my hips. "I don't know what you're talking about," I said through my teeth.

"You still have feelings for him. Don't even bother lying, Little Dhampir."

"What are you? A mind reader?"

"No, but I can see your aura. It is brighter when you are around him."

I threw my hands out in disbelief. "You're making up things. Maybe you still have too much alcohol running through your system."

He shook his head, walking towards me. I continued sorting through my clothes between clean and dirty, ignoring him. Adrian approached me and gently grabbed my arm, spinning me around. Glaring up at him, he released his hand and pushed a few strands of hairs behind my ears.

"I could be, but it looked like your auras were meant to be together. I think he still loves you, Rose."

Author's Note: I dwelled over the situation for days if I wanted them to kiss or not. When I posted Chapter 10 I still didn't know what I wanted to happen. I had two different start points for chapter 11 and I kept flipping back and forth. So honestly, the end of chapter 10 was an unintentional major cliffhanger because I couldn't make my mind up. Lol. Here's to hoping I made the right decision and you guys are happy-ish. :o

Anyways, as always please drop a review and follow. You guys are so supportive and it makes me so happy that my little idea is making people excited and eager to read more. :)

Also, it is currently 2:30 am where I am when I'm posting this. I'm total a night or morning writer. For whatever reason, I cannot write during the day. So I usually am up during strange hours, especially since I'm on break. My boyfriend seriously thinks I'm crazy for doing this. OH and I finally filled out my profile page in case you are interested to learn a tad bit more about me. ;)

Happy Friday and happy weekend!