Chapter Two.
By the time Adrian and Sydney left me and Dimitri to our own devices, I could tell he had calmed down considerably. Before he came to America, unless he was at school a lot of his time had been devoted to his family. Besides me, I was pretty sure there was nobody he would protect the way he was always prepared to defend his family. I knew that they had wanted him to come home for years because they missed him dearly, and for a while there was talk of them wanting Dimitri and I to give up being Guardians and just move to Baia to be nearby, but they knew that Dimitri was duty bound and far too noble to be satisfied with a normal life. Eventually they had accepted the fact that we would likely die (again) or be forcibly retired before we gave up being guardians.
"So." I said, breaking the comfortable but no less heavy silence.
"So." He repeated. Unlike before, there was no emotion to his voice. I knew he was wondering if he could have stopped it from happening - if whatever had made Olena sick could have been prevented by us staying in Baia. I had the strongest suspicion it wouldn't have made a difference. It wasn't worth sharing that unless he asked though. I kissed the top of his head and wandered into the kitchen. With all the catching up and the talk of Russia and Olena I realised neither Dimitri or I had eaten a thing, and I had already made plans for the day. Granted, today of all days wasn't the best for getting bad news, but the news could definitely have been worse and there was still plenty of good about the day. Hopefully if anything, it managed to distract Dimitri from being too upset about everything. I wasn't too optimistic though.
I'll admit that I wasn't a world class chef, but my time living with Dimitri's family meant I had picked up a few tricks. "I'm going to rest for a little while." I hadn't heard him coming over all the noise I was making, and he scared me. I swore when I almost dropped a knife on my foot, but managed to catch it in time. I offered him a gentle smile and double checked there was nothing he needed before he went.
"Right." I mumbled to myself, looking around the kitchen counter at all the ingredients I had pulled out. "Time to get my cook on." One of the things I had made sure that I brought home with me when I took Dimitri back to see his family after he had been restored, was the recipe for the black bread he loved so much. The first time I looked over the ingredients I had to make sure Olena didn't accidentally give me her shopping list. She chuckled and said something about the simplicity of the American palette, but I knew she was joking, not insulting me.
Around an hour later the bread was finally in the oven. "Would you take a look at yourself, Rose Hathaway?You're basically a step ford wife now." I never in a million years would have believed somebody if they told me this is how I'd be spending my days - engaged, and cooking for my husband to be. In fact I probably would have laughed so hard that I snorted and called whoever I was saying it a string of words that wouldn't be appropriate in front of civilised people. Step ford or no though, I hadn't exactly embraced the clean as you go philosophy. I braced myself for the sight I knew I was going to be confronted with when I turned around. It didn't disappoint. My one beautiful rustic cottage style kitchen had started to resemble the aftermath of a strigoi battle field. The sight was almost enough to make me want to just throw everything out and request new stuff be delivered from the royal court.
In the time it took the bread to finish cooking, I had managed not only to restore the kitchen to it's former glory, but I had also managed to cook up eggs, tomato and sausages, and brew a strong pot of coffee. I laid out the food on the table and headed to the front door to grab the newspaper my Dhampir senses heard thud against the door. Looking at the clock I realised it was only six am. I didn't know if Dimitri would even be capable of getting out of bed for anything short of an emergency yet. I didn't have to worry about that though. No sooner had I put the newspaper down in front of his chair beside his plate, that he appeared bleary eyed in the doorway.
"Roza." He cooed, crossing the threshold and taking in the sight of all of the food in front of him. "This looks incredible." He kissed me gently, pouring all the thanks in the world into that kiss, and for a brief moment in time I completely forgot what I was meant to be doing.
"Sit." I commanded when the kiss ended and I had regained enough composure to form words. "It's going to get cold." I didn't need to convince him. He sat at the table and straightened out the newspaper while I loaded his plate with a little bit of everything. "Coffee or Juice?" I asked, holding both.
"Coffee. Thank you." There was a softness to his voice that he reserved for when he was feeling exceptionally touched. "This is wonderful Roza." It felt a bit stupid watching him pick up a slice of the bread. Not because I was watching him eat like a total creep or anything. Because I wanted him to like it. I didn't want to ruin a food his mother told me as a child he loved. He bit into it and froze. For a moment, I thought he had heard something I hadn't. Instead, his eyes locked with mine again. "This tastes exactly like my mothers." There was an expression on his face I couldn't completely read. It looked bittersweet and I almost wondered if the bread was a bad idea. "Thank you Roza." the tone in his voice cleared me of any and all concern I had in that respect, and I sat down to join him at the table.
"I'm going out for a little while today." I told him, I had hoped by the look on my face he would understand that to also say "alone." I waited for a response, but he didn't register any protest, so I took it to be his understanding. "Is there anything you need while I'm out?" Dimitri shook his head, barely leaving room to breathe between mouthfuls let alone words. "Love you." He looked at me pointedly, knowing the next thing I would say was likely to be a joke about him not caring enough to say it back since his mouth was too full to say anything at all. He didn't need to though. I knew. I had always known.
A short while later I had changed into white sundress with the faintest yellow lines swirling all over it, a light denim cropped jacket, and a pair of brown gladiator sandals. I contemplated briefly, also putting a sun hat on, but I was having a good hair day and I really didn't want to screw that up. "I'll be back." I called, not sure where in the house Dimitri was but knowing he could hear me anyway. "Before dinner." I added, knowing he would probably follow me out of the house to find out. I didn't want company today.
I walked the main strip of town admiring the people as they came and went. A group of excited teenagers were lined up waiting for the shuttle bus that would take them to the waterpark a couple of miles away and every so often they erupted with a loud burst of laughter or a shout. I couldn't help myself as a small wistful grin crossed my face.
Stepping into the second hand book shop, musty smell of candles, dust, and old books hit me like a train. Humans could smell it, but for a Dhampir it was almost an assault on our senses. "I'm Rose Belikov. I spoke to someone here about having a package delivered?" The man nodded his understanding and handed over a small package.
"Strange request to be honest. It doesn't seem like your type of thing." He said, marking off that I'd picked up the parcel in the thick ledger in front of him. I tried to ignore his statement. Snap judgments may have been my forte, but it didn't mean I was by any means a fan of them. I waved my thanks and crammed it down the bottom of my bag.
My feet were hurting by the time I was done doing the last bit of running around that I had to, so I decided to stop in at a small cafe by the bridge I'd be crossing shortly to get back home. I ordered myself a milkshake and a blueberry muffin and took a seat outside. Pulling my phone out of my bag I knew what I had to do next.
"I'm sleeping. Could it wait?" Adrian Ivashkov asked, not even bothering to hide the irritation in his voice.
"You wake Declan up and I'm going to be royally pissed." I heard Sydney caution behind him. I could barely hear her voice, but it still made me smile a little.
"No, you need to tell me whatever it is you're not telling me." I demanded, mentally scolding myself for sounding so completely insane.
"Okay, I'll let her know." I could tell he was covering his tracks, "could you hang on a moment, Rose. I have to use the bathroom." I screwed my nose up at his words, but I knew it was probably the first excuse to leave the room he could come up with.
"Gross." I mumbled when I heard his bedroom door close over the line.
"I can't tell you Rose. You know I can't. If we could say anything we would have by now. You should know that."
"No. No Adrian. I know you know something. You would have just mailed us the letter if you didn't. It's serious, and I need to know how serious. You can't just send us into a situation blind."
He sighed and I knew I had him. "Fine. We think it's a trap." I could hear the resignation and the frustration mixing in his voice. He knew I was right, but he didn't want to risk getting anybody in trouble. "We're sending you guys because you know them. You know the people around. You'll be able to let it keep going and figure out if we're right." It was honestly something I expected my mother to come up with. It bore the trademark of Janine Hathaway strikingly, but I suspected she may not have had anything to do with this one as much as she served as the inspiration.
"Brilliant." I sighed. Still not sure I was getting the full story. A trap for who? for example. But I knew there was no force on earth strong enough to pry that response even out of Adrian.
I didn't even bother reacting to it. I was in public and I didn't want to draw attention to myself. The waitress bought out my milkshake and my muffin, but I realised I didn't feel like them anymore.
"Anything else?" He asked, returning to his over tired frustrated tone.
"Yeah." I snapped. "Flush the toilet before you go to bed." I disconnected the call and dropped my phone back in my bag.
I sat at the table staring at the canal for a while, thinking about all the possible consequences of telling Dimitri the truth about the mission. I wondered if he'd be more or less worried, or if it would change his mind about going at all. My biggest concern was that he'd see this as the Guardians taking advantage of his family to figure out who was attacking Dhampir, and turn into a force of nature. Even I couldn't stop him or calm him down then. I hated hiding things from him or lying to him though. Eventually I looked at my watch and sighed. If I wanted to make dinner I'd have to head back. I swore to myself remembering I had to backtrack and grab a bottle of wine for dinner.
By the time I was walking through the front gate making dinner was the last thing in the world I wanted to do, but I had resolved to make today special and that's exactly what I was going to do. It was getting dark though, the day was almost over. I had definitely been out a lot longer than I wanted to, and I hadn't slept in almost forty hours.
"Honey, I'm home!" I called stepping through the front door and slipping off my sandals. "Dimitri?"
"Back here" He called from the kitchen. I hadn't realised before but there were no lights on in the house and the hallway was lined with dozens of candles, and there were rose petals scattered straight down the centre of the hall. Butterflies went crazy in my stomach as I walked up the length of the hall and stepped into the kitchen. "Out here" he called. I could barely make out his shadow through the glass French doors that lead out to the patio. I put my bags down beside the counter, pulling the small package I picked up from the book store earlier that day out of the bottom of my purse. I'd almost walked away before I decided to bring the bottle of wine and a couple of glasses outside with me as well.
"Roza" He smiled as I crossed the threshold into the back yard. My breath caught in my throat. Dimitri stood there wearing a dark blue button down shirt with black slacks, a tie, and his hair was tied neatly at the base of his neck. Almost as breathtaking as him was the backyard itself, he had pushed the lounge chairs together and locked them into place to make more of a bed, and there were even more candles. Over towards the small fountain was a speaker playing soft jazz music, and there were flowers everywhere. I felt like a Princess at that moment.
"Oh Dimitri." I sighed, tears almost springing to my eyes "I thought that -"
"You thought that I forgot. Or that I would be too distracted." He finished for me and the tears that threatened my eyes before sprang free. "Oh Roza, I could never forget. Happy anniversary."
"Happy anniversary." I pressed my face into his chest for a moment before stepping back. "This is for you. It's not much. But I remember you saying that it was one of your favourites because it didn't try to be anything else, and it was simply about good versus evil." I handed him the package and tentatively watched him open it.
"It's perfect." He beamed. He held the copy of Buffalo Wagons to his chest like it held all the secrets of the universe. "You must have spent forever tracking this down. I love it." He regarded me for a moment with that combination of pride and disbelief I didn't get to see that often anymore. I didn't realise how much I had missed being able to surprise him. "I love you."
"I love you too. You know I do." I sighed as he pulled me into another hug and gestured for me to sit down. "Let's just order dinner tonight. I really don't feel like cooking." I mumbled apologetically. I couldn't help but feel like I had let him down a little bit by not cooking for him on our anniversary.
"It's already done. I ordered from that Italian place." He said, shooting me a knowing glance and gently stroking my cheek. "This is for you." He handed me a small box with a ribbon tied around it. I really hadn't expected anything in return. I had him, what else in the world could I possibly want? When I opened the box, I saw the antique bracelet I had been eyeing off in the Royal Court before we'd been sent here. It was this gorgeous silver bracelet that ducked and weaved through itself so intricately, with lines etched into it complimenting it's pattern. Set in the middle was a row of three diamonds. Simple, but elegant. I'd groaned about how I couldn't have nice things like that because I'd probably just get it stuck on a Strigoi and die since it was the only thing I'd be doing since formal parties were few and far between for me as anything but a guardian and Dimitri dismissed me, saying I had always deserved only the best. Once upon a time, Dimitri giving me jewellery would have frozen me to the core and bought up a time in our lives I could stand, but this was perfect. I felt myself impossibly fall deeper in love with him.
By the time dinner arrived we were a little distracted on the lounge chairs, so Dimitri sent me to go and get the order. When I got back to the patio Dimitri had taken off his shirt and all of a sudden it wasn't the food I was hungry for. I sat back down beside him and slid my jacket off my shoulders, leaning in to kiss him. His hands moved to my hips while mine moved across his torso and our kiss deepened. He was tugging my dress up over my hips and I was undoing his belt with an alarming speed. Both of us desperate to be as close as we possibly could. He slid my dress up and over my shoulders, taking my tight dhampir body in closely. I had the faintest trace of abs going for me, and the upper body strength made my boobs entirely gravity defying. He was always in awe of me, the way he looked at me was like nothing in the world could possibly be as beautiful. Before I knew it he had pulled me onto his lap and I was moaning his name.
Sleep came easily to us after we'd managed to tear ourselves away from each other. I woke up the next morning to the sound of him showering and I easily slipped in behind him. "Good morning." He smiled, playfully running his hand over my body. I stood on my toes and kissed him deeply in response. Eventually we managed to drag ourselves out of the shower and into the lounge to figure out our next moves. Adrian had spoken to Dimitri the day before to let him know he'd be coming over around lunch time to tell us what the hell was going on. It occurred to me that they would probably be sticking around in town with a guardian or two of their own (and I don't doubt a nanny) until our replacements arrived. Sure enough there was a knock on the door at twelve sharp. He didn't bother waiting for anyone to answer. He didn't seem a lot like himself in that moment and I imagined it probably had a lot to do with the fact that he knew Dimitri's temper almost as well as I did, and he had probably had the same thoughts about his reaction as I had.
"Bait?" He repeated a short while later. There was no emotion in his voice or in his face and to be honest that was terrifying. Adrian and I nodded solemnly. I was afraid that he was going to shoot the messenger or go ballistic in general. I wouldn't have blamed him. Instead, an almost unhinged grin spread across his face and he chuckled. "Alright, well I guess we're going fishing." I didn't even know how to process his reaction. It was so calm. He almost seemed amused by the situation, and I had to wonder if this may have been some kind of technique he'd seen before. At least I hoped it was, because the alternative was that he had completely lost his mind… And I really didn't like that idea.
NOTE:
Let me know how you found my story, and let me know what you think so far. The next couple of chapters are where things start to pick up. It's about to get interesting.