A few hours we arrived at the Royal Court. Dimitri and I got off together holding hands. It was a little strange showing our relationship in public. I had gotten use to keeping it private. As soon as we stepped foot off the plane we were in Guardian mode. Eddie and I went behind Lissa and Dimitri went behind Christian. The same guard that had let me pass by when I went to see Mia greeted us. Guardian Jameson. The Guardians were wearing their uniforms. Black pants, white shirt, and a black blazer.
They led us to the residential rooms. Lissa and I were sharing a room, as were the boys. Ibrahim and Adrian were staying somewhere else. Probably with the queen. They left us as soon as we got to our rooms.
The rooms were bigger than a suite. Two bedrooms, two baths, kitchen, living room, and dining room. It was huge! They already had furniture, food, and supplies there for us. The closets were heavenly. Walk in ones. Lissa and I had a field day. We no longer had to worry about where we would fit out shoes.
"It's like a mansion!" I said.
"I know! Isn't it just gorgeous? I could get use to this."
"Oh, yah!"
Later, we went to visit the boys. They had a room across from ours. They were sitting in front of the flat screen in the living room. Dimitri was in his room organizing his things. The others had just thrown their stuff in the middle of their bedroom floors.
"Hey, lazy asses? Ever heard of cleaning up after yourselves?"
"We'll get to it later, miss priss," said Christian.
Lissa went to sit beside him on the couch. I went into Dimitri's room. He was just putting a shirt on a hanger. I shut the door behind me.
"Hey," I said lovingly, wrapping my arms around his neck and giving him a kiss. He kissed me back. We pulled apart out of breath.
"Hello," he said with smile. "What would you say to a walk later. We can have Eddie keep tabs on Lissa and Christian for a bit. It won't be long. Thirty minutes tops. I just need to talk to you for a bit. What do you say?"
"I think that sounds wonderful. Let me go clean up and tell Liss and we can go." I pecked his lips and walked out.
"Hey. Dimitri and I are going to go on a walk for about half an hour. Can you handle Christian and Lissa for a bit. We won't be long."
"Sure," said Eddie. "When 'you guys going out?
"Well, I'm gonna go shower and then we're going to go."
"'Kay."
"Hey, slutty alcoholic?" I locked my jaw. Lissa slapped the back of Christian's head. "Try not to come back totally wasted, okay?" He snickered.
I slammed the door behind me. The shower was very relaxing after being on a plane all day. When I got out I had just enough time to put on some make up. I didn't normally get to do that. I wore one of my sweaters that Lissa bought for me when we went dress shopping in Missoula. I kept my hair down. Shower included, it took about thirty minutes to get ready. I went and knocked on the door. Dimitri opened it. He gave me a smile and we walked out.
"So, what do you want to talk about." I was worried. What if he told me that he didn't want to be with me?
He stopped right in front of me. He lightly rested his hands on my shoulders. "I have a question to ask you and I want you to take me seriously and consider this. He reached into his back pocket and brought out a black velvet box. He let go of my shoulders to take my hand. He got down on one knee and opened the box to reveal a ring. "Rosemarie Elizabeth Hathaway… I love you with all of my heart and soul. I would do anything to save you and keep you happy. When I'm with you I feel whole. When you're away I feel empty inside. Like a part of me is missing. And it's my heart. I have given it to you, Rose. When you were in that coma it made me realize that we should be enjoying all the time we can together. So many things have tried to keep us apart but we keep coming right on back to loving each other. I would like to take your hand in marriage so we can enjoy our lives together. Will you marry me, Rose?"
"Yes." It ended up coming out as a whisper. I was filled with so much emotion. "I will marry, Dimitri. And you have my heart as well. I love you more than life. I would be willing to give up so much to be with you."
He slid the ring on my finger before standing up too kiss me with so much love that it made my chest squeeze. "Thank you," he whispered against my lips. He kissed away the joyful tears that had fallen down my face. "Come on, let's head back. Let's go tell them the good news."
He wrapped his arm around my waist as we walked. I had my head resting on his chest. We were a little ways from the rooms when the three musketeers showed up. There was something wrong.
"Strigoi attacked the barrier!" they said simultaneously.
"What!" I exclaimed. I was already in the mode to protect Lissa and Christian. "What? How?" Dimitri and Eddie were in position, too. We were paying well attention to our surroundings as we moved.
"They have humans who went and staked multiple spots on the barrier," said Eddie. "Strigoi are flooding into the place." Just as he said that I spotted two Strigoi. They were headed directly in our direction.
"Protect them," I shouted to Eddie.
I threw myself at the first Strigoi. I already had my stake ready for the kill. The Strigoi wasn't a newly turned one. If I had to guess I would pin him as about seventy. I drove the stake toward his heart but missed. He was faster. He grabbed my arm and pulled it behind my back. Pulling as far back as he could. The Strigoi was so concentrated on me that he didn't see Eddie stake him.
More Strigoi were coming. We had to get Lissa and Christian out of there. Some Guardians were coming from the opposite direction to assist us. Two went to help Dimitri protect Lissa and Christian and two came to help Eddie and me. There were about twenty-five Strigoi attacking us.
I was able to stake five Strigoi without difficulty before I met a real challenge. This one was bent on getting to Chris and Liss. I was so not going to allow that to happen. This Strigoi was at least twice the age of the first one I fought. He was able to get in a few good swipes to my neck and chest but I barely felt it. I was too high on adrenalin.
I was able to stake him before I got another strong headache, but as soon as it came it left. I felt weightless all of a sudden. Another Strigoi came my way. Her smile looked triumphant. Idiot. She don't know who she's messing with. I took my stake and shoved it in her heart. Her eyes widened with surprise as she fell to the ground. I felt a Strigoi behind me. I turned around and what I saw was unbelievable. Christian, Dimitri and Lissa were staring at me and my unmoving body on the ground. No, not me. The stake in my hand. What the fuck?! I looked down at myself and what I saw was even more shocking. I looked exactly like the souls that I saw the last time I had a black out, except I had a stake in my hand.