Chapter 22

The last thing that pushed Dimitri to go to America! Hold on tight everyone, this is going to be a ride of a chapter with important talks, mystery, fluff, and a surprise. Enjoy!

4 Months Ago: Dimitri's Point of View

I stood on the sidelines of the St. Basil's training gym observing and assisting in the senior novice sparring class. Things with Klara seemed to be left off on a good note with her wishing me the best and said that she wanted to keep in touch. I didn't want my friendship over with her because it did mean something to me, but I knew that it wouldn't be possible at this time. I hated how things ended, but sometimes you just had to embrace the unexpected.

Klara made me realize that it was possible for me to still love someone which happened to be Rose. From the moment that I read that letter she left me, I truly saw how much I meant to her even during the worst period of my life. She loved me, regardless of what happened. Regardless of the fact that we made love and promises to each other that tragically ended in my turn. She truly was remarkable and mature even at such a young age. Yet, I knew that by now she would have moved on from me. What I did to her after I was restored haunted me. The dismissal of seeing her, avoidance after I was released from prison, and the fact that I left her. I thought leaving her would be the best thing for me, but it wasn't. It was a huge mistake.

"Guardian Belikov, there is a visitor for you," boomed Igor from the opposite side of the room. Igor was several years older than me and used to be my older novice mentor when I was first starting to get heavily invested in sparring. He taught me several tips and tricks that I still carried on to this day.

I gave him a curt nod and finished watching the sparring match in front of me. Who would be coming to visit me? Surely it wouldn't be Alberta again, considering she had important matters to attend to in America. Not to mention, I doubt she would leave St. Vlad's under the control of Stan Alto anytime soon.

The underdog novice pinned down the other one, with a smirk spreading across his face. "Got you," He said, with a goofy grin spreading across his face to his friend. "Tell me that I'm weak again."

The two boys reminded me a lot of my years here at St. Basil's. The innocent years where the only thing I had to worry about was beating a friend during a sparring match. I wished that I could go back to that innocent time in my life before it got complicated and I saw so much death and destruction. Yet, I took that time for granted at St. Basil's. I wanted more than anything to be a grown up and get away from all of the rules of the school. Now I wanted more than anything to go back to that point in time.

I gave the two boys a few things to improve on before I left the gym. I wasn't quite sure what to expect when I strolled through the doors to the guardian's lounge, where they held all visitors to guardians. Unexpected visitors, I was never particularly fond of, especially since it usually meant something bad was occurring. Yet, as I made eye contact with my grandmother I knew instantly that she wasn't here to deliver bad news.

"Babushka, what are you doing here?" I exasperated, immediately walking over to her. She stood up and I gave her a long, firm hug. "I will be home in two weekends, surely you didn't go out of your way to see me."

Yeva gave me a toothy grin, before ushering me to sit down. "You are always worth a long trip, especially when it comes to seeing my old school too." She looked around the guardians' lounge, with a happy smile spread across her wrinkled face. "This place hasn't changed since the last time I step foot in this school. Except I see that they finally replaced the decrepit chairs and couches with some nice leather ones. Good touch, I must say."

I let out a small chuckle but still looked at her. It wasn't clear to me why she would make this journey just to see me for a brief period of time. In a couple of hours, I would have to walk the grounds, as well as be stationed in one of the Dhampir dormitories to make sure no funny business was going down.

"You still didn't answer my question," I pointed out.

"I see that you made a choice, Dimka," stated Yeva. "The choice between the person you need and the person you want. Surprised it took you as long as you did to see it, but one cannot predict everything in the future."

Here goes Yeva's mysteriousness that seems to surround her. I always wondered what it was like for Rose when she met her. I'm sure this same mystery surrounded Yeva, which probably drove Rose insane. Rose wasn't one that enjoyed twisty messages and I could only imagine what Yeva told her—if she spoke with Rose at all.

"Did I choose correctly?" I questioned.

Yeva shrugged and wiggled in her seat to get more comfortable. "What do you think?"

"I think that my choice was right, but I won't do anything about it. I ruined my only chance with the girl that I will always love. I sent her a text months ago and never heard anything back, so I'm hoping that is a sign that she has moved on and is happy," I sighed, trying not to pull too much emotion into this conversation. "I want her to be happy."

Yeva reached over and gave me a slap on the leg, then muttered something rapidly under her breathe. The only thing that I could make out from her jumbled words was that I was stupid for thinking such thoughts. Her eyes narrowed at me when she decided to make eye contact with me again.

"Do you really think that Rose is happy having days in her life without you in it?"

I nodded, which caused a loud laugh to escape from my grandmother.

"They say you get wiser with age, but I don't think that has happened to you," She teased, giving me a more reassuring pat on my knee. "She may have found some sort of fake happiness there, but I'm positive that the desire for you is still there."

"Then what do you want me to do? Leave this new life that I have made for myself here to go back and maybe have a chance to be with her?" I said in disbelief. It was hard to see a logical choice about this entire situation, especially when there were no guarantees that Rose would even talk to me again.

She gave me a look like I was being foolish but quickly started speaking before I could reply. "That is exactly what you should do. This isn't the life that you want, at least not anymore. Take the job offer from Alberta Petrov and go back to America. Your life will change."

There was a twinkle in her eye when she said that last piece of information. I gave her a confused expression, wondering what she meant by my life changing forever.

"How?" My voice trembled in response to her last statement. "If this is to see Rose, then she won't be at St. Vlad's where Alberta offered me the job. She will be at Court with the Princess."

"Are you really going to argue with what I tell you to do? Remember what happened last time you didn't listen," She said, referring to the one time I took what she had to say with a grain of salt. This was during my teenage years when I liked to think that I was better than everyone else in my family.

I didn't reply to her comment but looked away. I knew she would have that look on her face that she was right as always. Some of the characteristics between Rose and Yeva were so similar, it was a bit freaky. I never told Rose that she reminded me of my grandmother, especially since she wouldn't be the type to respond well to being compared to an old lady.

"You need to do this for yourself. Be selfish again, like how you were selfish to leave Rose without giving her a chance."

Of course, Yeva was able to know that piece of information without me telling her. My interactions with Rose post-Strigoi were something that I wasn't keen on elaborating on. Mostly because I knew that the extent of my interactions would result in some "light" punches and slaps from my family, who adored Rose when she visited.

"Are you sure I will get what I am looking for?"

"The future always changes, Dimka, so I can't see what will happen in the end. I can tell you that you will find clarity."

Shortly after this conversation, I went to the head guardian's office and officially resigned from my post. I knew, without a doubt, that my grandmother was right. She wouldn't have made this trip to St. Basil's if she didn't see that going to America would be an opportunity for me to find happiness. I didn't know the end result of traveling back to this point in time, but I knew that I needed to have faith.

"Everything happens for a reason," I muttered, repeating Yeva's departing words to me.

Present Day: Rose's Point of View

Dimitri and I quickly settled back into our normal routine in the hotel. We would wake up, workout, have a huge meal, then plan out where we would hunt for Strigoi. Afterward, I would take a long shower then crawl into bed next to Dimitri. It felt like such a natural routine; it freaked me out that we seemed to reestablish some sense of normalcy.

It was Saturday afternoon and we were taking the day off, mostly to give our bodies a rest. Dimitri was sound asleep in the bed, but I couldn't fall asleep. The weather was supposed to be above freezing today and the sun would be shining in the human day, which made me extremely happy at the thought of the sun hitting my bare skin. Smiling over at Dimitri's peaceful body, I crawled out of bed and threw on a pair of my sheepskin slippers, that Lissa got me for Christmas, as well as my long parka that was enough to cover the majority of my legs.

Slipping out onto the hotel balcony, I let the sunshine hit my pale face. Due to my Turkish ancestry, I could get a nice golden tan quickly in the sun. I often wondered what my appearance would actually look like if I lived a normal human schedule. Would I have that bronzed look? Or would I still be pale because of my mom? Opening up my eyes, I stared down at the busy people rushing off to work and to run errands. They lived such a simple life, at least from my point of view. Yet, didn't it get boring?

Moments later, my thoughts were abruptly interrupted at the sliding glass door opening up. Dimitri stared at me for a while, before a small smile spread across his face. "Why aren't you in bed?"

"I could ask you the same," I said smugly.

Cars were honking down below us, with a few people shouting some colorful language. I let out a laugh at the ridiculous at the situation, suddenly sensing Dimitri's presence next to me. Glancing over at him, I noticed that he was still wearing just a shirt and pajama bottoms and lacked a coat. Of course, this temperature was the equivalent of spring in Baia.

"I miss the sun," I stated, leaning on the balcony rails. "Sometimes I wonder if I will ever have the chance to leave this all behind and live a human life. Then again, I think I would get quite bored living in an office all day."

"You're meant to be much more than an office clerk," said Dimitri, his eyes meeting mine. "You were born to be a guardian."

"I think that comes with being a Dhampir, Comrade," I teased him, leaning over to give him a playful nudge. "I might go and explore the city since sleep doesn't seem to be a priority for my body."

He nodded in return saying that I deserve to be able to explore on my day off. "Anything in particular you want to do?"

"Not a clue. Maybe find some super cliché tourists things to do?"

Dimitri chuckled at me and stared out at the city. "I was thinking that we should go find that house Steele stressed to us. We should observe it in the daytime to get our bearings straight before we do our nightly observation. And seeing that we haven't had any luck with Strigoi in the city, we should check out this other source."

"And when should we be doing this, Comrade?" I asked.

"Now?" He said but quickly cut me off at my protests about how he should sleep. "Rose, we are trained to go days without sleeping. My sleep being cut short by five hours won't do anything."

"Alright, but only if you promise me one thing. Can we get Chinese afterward?" I said, pouting my lip and making puppy dog eyes at him.

"Of course," He said, smiling at me. "And how about I let you drive."

My eyes widened, and I let out a squeal, then shouted something out to the whole city about how he finally accepted that I was mature enough to drive. His face flushed red at my screaming, with him letting out a nervous laugh. Whatever possessed him to do this, I wasn't sure, but I knew I wasn't going to argue with it. Arguing would lead to him not letting me drive and there was no way in hell that I would let that happen.

As soon as I pulled up about a mile away from the house, I could see Dimitri immediately begin to relax. He held up to his word about letting me drive, but he was tense the entire way. His fists were both clenched, and you could see the whites of his knuckles, the entire twenty-minute drive out of the city to this isolated house.

I put the car in park and turned to look at him. "Christ, Dimitri it looks like you could have a stroke," I exclaimed, turning off the car and tossing him the keys. "Did I make one scary move?"

"No," He replied, taking off his seatbelt and opening the car door.

I rolled my eyes, following his lead. "So, anything that you need to tell me? Or do I need to point out that I told you I was right? I am a damn good driver."

"You were a good driver," said Dimitri, just loud enough so I could hear. I could tell that it pained him to admit that, which only caused me to laugh fairly loudly. "You went beyond my expectations."

"Like I always do," I said instinctively with a wink. Curse words flew through my head at my bold flirting towards Dimitri. Part of me hoped that he would be a stupid guy and not realize what I had just said. Quickly clearing my throat, I said, "let's get going."

We continued the walk silently, with both of us taking the opportunity to enjoy the fresh air and sunshine. It was a quiet part of Montana outside of Helena like one would expect. Montana had a subset of cities, then the rest was the typical rural area. Hence, the perfect location for a school of vampires and their guardians in training.

Soon enough a house appeared in the distance, that sported a menacing iron gate in front of it. The house appeared to be one of those cliché southern plantation styles, with huge pillars in front of it. Kind of odd seeing that style house up north in Montana, but I guess the builder had a thing for the south. The property was large and sprawled at least a few acres, with their most likely being a second, more discrete entrance. As we got closer to the house, we crouched down on either end of the gate, peering around the corner.

There were several cars parked outside the house, but we were too far away to get any direct read off the license plate. Although it was quite easy to see that the windows were heavily tinted, perhaps a way to safely transport Strigoi? I glanced over at Dimitri whose expression showed that he seemed to be thinking the same thoughts as me.

I brought my attention back to the house and even in broad daylight, I could make out a few lights on in the house. I was extremely curious as to what could be possibly occurring, and I wanted to get closer, but I knew that it was too dangerous at this point. We didn't know if there were guardians, humans, or Strigoi in there. That anxious part of me that wanted to dive headfirst into battle quickly subsided, as I drew my attention back to observing the area.

"I'm going to walk the property," I said to Dimitri, just loud enough so he would hear.

He nodded in agreement, allowing me to leave and walk around the outskirts of the property. It was time to see if my thought process was right about there being a second entrance, not necessarily for cars, but an entrance to quickly shuttle people in and out. Apart from the wrought iron gate at the entrance, the rest of the property was surrounded by a large brick wall to make the lot as extremely private as possible. I was mildly amused that there wasn't a huge hedge maze like something that you would see in a book or movie.

The property was even larger than I initially estimated and cut through the forest. I started growing concerned that Dimitri would be worrying about me because the last thing I needed was for him to freak out. Then again, he trusted me enough to walk the property, so I guess he knew that I would be safe. It was broad daylight and I even had a stake, as ridiculous as it sounded.

I was also hoping that if I were to run into a guardian or human that I would act like a dumb teenager who was high and got lost on the outskirts of town. Wasn't quite sure if I would be able to pass as that, and if the person would even recognize me, but it was my quick plan that I came up with. My mind always played all sides of a possible scenario and how I would combat them. I guess that was some guardian trait.

Suddenly, I paused when I saw a change in the texture and overall look of the brick. It didn't have that faded brick look like the rest of the wall. Curiously, I ran my hand over it, puzzled at the difference. This must be some sort of secret passageway out of the property if trouble were to arise. "But is it only one way?" I whispered to myself, looking around to see if there was a way in. It would be perfect if there was this back entrance in that we could use. It would make everything go smoother.

"There is a second entrance, but I think it is only a one-way door," I stated, minutes later when I returned back to Dimitri. He was around the same area as before, but slightly more hidden. If someone wasn't paying close attention, they wouldn't even spot him. "Anything interesting happen here?"

He nodded slowly, making eye contact with me then at the house. I glanced over at the house and saw that there had been a new car addition. "Han's hunch was correct. There is something going on with guardians and humans for sure. Not sure if there are any Strigoi involved, but did you see any wards?"

I thought about it for a second, cursing myself that I didn't play close attention. Sometimes my attention span to trivial details was not the greatest. "There weren't any noticeable wards," I stated, realizing that there weren't any silver stakes in familiar places. If there were wards, then there would be no way a Strigoi could get in. "So, it is likely that there are also Strigoi in there. Did you make out anything about the car returning?"

"There was a female, who seemed to be middle-aged. She was wearing glasses and a hat, so I couldn't get a better identification. She apologized for being late to the meeting but ensured that she had good reason to. Her boss held her up giving her some new information, but no names were exchanged," reported Dimitri. Everything he said felt short and to the point, unlike many stories I ever told. Guess it was a boy thing, as well as those years of guardian duties to train him to get to the point. That was something that I was still working on.

"So, the boss isn't in this house, yet some sort of important meeting is being held? Why would they be attending the meeting without the boss there? Just seems so weird to me," I said, as we started making our way back to the car.

Dimitri shrugged, burying his hands in his duster's pockets. "The boss might want as little communication as possible with the people involved. It is a tactic to hide their true identity."

"Hans Croft?" I asked.

We made eye contact briefly, as we approached the car. Dimitri took out the keys and instinctively walked over to the driver's, but I didn't care. At least I was able to go on this mission and show him my driving skills. He didn't reply to my statement, as we climbed into the car and put on our seatbelts. I didn't get upset about it because I could tell that he was deep in thought.

As we drove down the road there was continued silence, so I had to be the one to break it. There was no way in hell that I would deal with this silence thing again especially since we were getting in a much better place. "I think we need to get a closer look tomorrow night, just see if there are Strigoi involved," I said.

"I agree, as for Hans Croft I think it is still too early to jump to conclusions. Although, I can't help but speculate like you. It is something we need to think about," replied Dimitri.

I nodded, then reached over to blast some of my music. "Now how about that Chinese?"

Can I ask you something?" I said as we sat at the little table in our room eating Chinese takeout. We had been idly chatting about the mission and our continued hunt for Hans Croft. I finished chewing my huge bite of lo mein noodles, before continuing. "It's about New Year's."

He gave me an inquisitive expression, before placing his empty carton down on the table. "What about it?"

"You somehow knew about the disaster that happened shortly after with Adrian. How? You were on patrol and I highly doubt anyone told you about that." I finished off my Chinese carton, placing it down on the table, continuing to stare at him. This question had been in the back of mind for quite some time since that disastrous evening had happened.

Dimitri looked at me for quite some time, with some sort of internal conflict. The look in his eyes showed that he wanted to hold back something, with that same barrier going up. "I saw you and Adrian kiss when I was looked in at the New Year's celebration. It was so forced, and I could tell that you didn't want it, so I was coming in to make sure you were okay. When I was about to enter, I heard it all. Adrian never deserved your time, Rose."

"I know," I softly said. "Why do you think that I ended it all that night? Having you back in my life made me realize that what I had with him would never be close to the love me and you had once upon a time ago."

"Good," returned Dimitri. "Now can I ask you a question?"

I nodded, tucking my legs up on the chair.

"Why did you even go to that party? Your happiness looked so forced."

I stared at him, before quickly gathering up the empty Chinese cartons. "I felt obligated to go and celebrate with Lissa before we left on the mission."

"Even though you were miserable?" He said, raising one of his eyebrows.

"Don't worry about it, I have my reasons. You don't need to know everything about me, Comrade," I quickly said. Immediately standing up from the chair, I started gathering up the empty cartons and putting it in the small trash can, which was already overflowing with food. This hotel was definitely not equipped to handle guardian appetites. "I'm going to take out this food, I'll be right back."

"I got your letter," He said suddenly, causing me to stop dead in my tracks.

I turned around to give him a confused look, but it suddenly dawned on me. The letter that I left on his dresser in Russia, after my emotions had been so built up. The despair, but slight hope, that I would have him back in my life. That everything could return to how it was and the amount that I loved him. I always wondered if he would ever find that letter when he returned back home to Baia.

"Oh," I said, slightly embarrassed that I didn't have a better way to reply. "I completely forgot about that letter I wrote." That was a white lie, but I didn't want to act like it was some major deal that he found it.

"Life wasn't the same without you in it, Rose. It took me awhile to completely see it, but that letter made me realize how significant you were in my life even though you weren't in it for long. Those months I knew you changed me in so many ways. I meant every word what I said in that text message."

I couldn't respond to that, as I was fighting off a battle of emotions. Instead of replying to him, I broke eye contact with him and immediately left the room. There was heartbreak behind his eyes, considering that he was opening up even more and I had just left. I didn't know what to do and saw this opportunity as a way to collect my thoughts.

Quickly throwing the trash down the garbage shoot in the hallway, I leaned up against the wall taking a few deep breaths. I wanted him, my body still craved him. The nights he spent next to me in a shared bed kept pouring into me. We hadn't cuddled since that one night, not even touched at all, but the presence of him next to me was so intoxicating. There were several times that I woke up in the night and craved the presence of my body pressed up against his and to feel the warmth of his touch. I was falling for him again and this time I was falling harder than the first time. But could we go back to what we were?

Taking out my phone, I quickly dialed Lissa's number. I knew that I wasn't supposed to contact her frequently, but that thought didn't matter. It didn't even matter to me that she could be in the middle of doing something. Yet, she picked up on the second ring.

"Rose? Are you okay?" exclaimed Lissa.

"I don't know," I said, but quickly felt her tense through the bond. "I'm physically okay, but not sure emotionally." I wanted to open up to her about what was going on about Dimitri, but I was scared to. I hadn't told her about the kiss at Christmas, the personalized stake he got me, or the fact that we had been sharing a bed for a month. There was so much I wanted to tell her, but I knew I didn't have the time to.

There was a slight pause on the other end, but after a few seconds passed she sighed. "This is about Dimitri isn't it?"

"Yes," I said, not able to tell her that I was starting to fall for him all over again. Although, Lissa knew me well enough that I'm sure she figured out what I was struggling to tell her.

"Then do what you need to do in order to be happy," stated Lissa. She immediately knew I wasn't going to say more about the situation. "I'm tired of seeing you unhappy and don't say that you are happy without him involved in your life. I may not be able to listen to your thoughts, but I do know you."

I sighed, she was right. I hated her for being right sometimes. Lissa was always my voice of reason, especially since she was the more reserved one. She was one to analyze the situation, while I was one to dive headfirst.

"Listen, I have to go and meet with Queen Tatiana soon. Whatever you are feeling, I know that you will trust your heart and instinct. You are fearless, Rose, and I know that you will do what is right in the end for your own happiness."

I nodded, even though I knew she wasn't physically there to see it. "I love you, Liss. Hopefully, I will be done with this mission and I can see you soon. I'm actually missing the obsession about the wedding."

She laughed. "Love you too. Stay safe, Rose, and don't be afraid to take a leap of faith."

Moments later I was still pacing back and forth in the hallway, feeling ridiculous that I was so unsure what to do about this Dimitri situation. Yet, as time passed it suddenly dawned on me what I needed to do.

Walking back to the room with purpose, I opened up the door to see Dimitri on his actual bed already immersed in a Western book. One of the many unique characteristics about Dimitri, but something that I always found so damn attractive.

Upon my entrance, we made eye contact briefly. I sensed the tension between us, but I knew I couldn't suppress my attraction, my want, my need. He was the first to break eye contact with me and return to reading his book. I knew that he was upset at me. Heck, I was even upset with myself.

I was always told that I was fearless, with Lissa even reaffirming that personality trait. Taking a deep breath, I walked over to him and I stared at him. He was so perfect to me, so handsome. I leaned down just enough to be at the same level as him, staring at him so intently. To some people, this may come across as creepy, but I wasn't even thinking about that.

"Rose—" He started not even bothering to look up from his book

I cut him off quickly. "I never got that text message until the day we left for the mission."

He immediately looked up from his Western to stare at me. "How?"

"It is one of those cliché stories, that I'm sure possesses similarities as one of your damn Westerns," I said, with a nervous laugh.

He didn't respond in time before I took the risk. Pushing away any thoughts of regret, I pressed my lips against his. The warm tingly sensation I always had with him was there, with more passion than what I had experienced before. Our lips met perfectly, and it felt like we were the only two people in the world. This was that missing piece in my life that I had lost ever since he left Court to go back home to Russia.

I thought he would resist, I thought he would push back, but he didn't. He threw his book aside and pulled me even more towards him. Soon enough I was straddling his lap, with my legs wrapped closely around him. His hands were immersed in my hair and I could tell he had no intention of letting me go.

We briefly pulled apart from each other, with us intensely staring at each other. Sure, there were plenty of things that we needed to sort out. I still didn't know the reason he accepted his job offer back at St. Vlad's nor did I know how he truly felt about me. Yet, he was too hard to resist any longer. We would sort out our problems later, for now, it was time to live in the moment.

"Roza, why?" Dimitri murmured, his lips close to mine.

"Clarity," I told him, pulling him back in a kiss deeper than before.

Author's Note:

Remember when I told you guys that exciting chapters are coming once we hit the 20's? Well, there you go. I wanted the build up for this true kiss (I hardly count the Christmas scene as a real kiss) to be something that made sense at the time. I know that they still have things to sort through and reveal about what happened over the past year, but it felt right at this time. I hope you guys understand why I pushed it so long (but didn't drag it out the entire story haha).

Thank you for all of the continued support and the generous reviews this past chapter. I'm finally in a better place to continue on with this story. I hope you are continuing to love reading this journey, as much as I love writing it.

18 more chapters to go!

Review if you choose. :)

Have a lovely week!