Chapter 3
"Little dhampir" Adrian greeted me.
"I am at your house" I reminded him, "you can wait until I wake up."
"I can" he replied, "but Sydney and Lissa can't. You've been sleeping for quite some time."
"Why didn't they Sydney just come in here and wake me up?"
"She would have but Pavel is sleeping next to you" he replied, "that and I told her how cranky you are if you get woken up."
"Oh" I understood. "Well, let me wake up."
I eased myself off the bed, not waking him. His face seemed disturbed. We didn't sleep at the same time so I had seen this look before. Bad dreams were probably to blame. I went to the closet and took out my black dress for the day. When I was presentable, I went down stairs. Sydney was in the kitchen cooking. Bacon, eggs, pancakes, sausage and waffles were already being set on a plate for me.
"Wow" I said looking at the overflowing plate, "a room and meals."
"Only the best for our guests" Sydney laughed. The phone rang, she rolled her eyes and answered. "Yes. Let her eat breakfast. Thirty minutes. Okay, bye." Sydney placed the phone back on it's holder. "Lissa wants us to go over there."
"You girls have fun" Adrian said slipping out the door.
"Where is he going?" I asked.
"Bachelor stuff" she replied making a plate for herself.
Abe came down the stairs already dressed in his suit and scarf. I made him a plate of egg whites, whole grain toast, and a glass of milk. He frowned when I placed the plate in front of him. "I am on vacation damn it!" he pushed the plate away. "I want some of that bacon and those waffles."
"No way" I barked back, "the doctor said that you have to eat healthier." I slid the plate back to him.
"I don't want that crap" he said again.
I sighed, "fine you can eat all the greasy stuff." He gave me an unsure look and I continued, "then when you have a heart attack and die, I will take over the family business. Of course I don't want to run it alone, so I will sell what I can and collect it all." His face grew red and I was going to push him one step farther, "then Pavel and I will hit Las Vegas. The family will be ruined and everyone will have forgotten you."
"Saçmalık!" he shouted (bullshit). Then he took his plate and ate his breakfast mumbling dirty words in Turkish. He can be such a baby sometimes. When breakfast ended, we took our bags and escorted Abe to my mother who was waiting just down the street. We were civil but obviously not affectionate. I gave them the 'stay-out-of-trouble' look and turned to leave when Abe grabbed my arm. He leaned into my ear and whispered "make time to meet with Guardian Tanner, he has business to discuss with you." I knew there was something else going on with our visit. Abe rarely enjoyed a trip to the states. That must also be why he is in need of another guardian, he is looking to replace me. By the looks of them, they were already in agreement. Sydney and I headed towards Lissa's house.
It was a good fifteen minutes of walking before we reached her house. There were two guardians stationed at the door and another patrolling the small yard. Lissa ran out of the door. "Rose I can't believe that you are here" she said hugging me again. "It's been so long." She led us to a room that had dress garments hanging along the wall. "So Rose, you are the maid of honor. Adrian is the best man." I looked at Sydney who smiled.
"What are the colors?" I asked, then quickly added "please don't say pink."
"No" she sighed, "Christian refused to wear pink. We decided on turquoise instead." She unzipped a garment bag that held the wedding dress.
"It's beautiful" I told her, "you will look perfect."
"Thanks" she said zipping the bag up. "This is your dress" she went to the next bag and unzipped it. A long elegant turquoise dress spilled out onto the floor. It had two straps that separated into ten criss-crossing straps in the back. The dress looked tight, but the right size. "Isn't it gorgeous!"
"Yes it is" I replied. "Thanks Liss." I was going to look sexy at the wedding. We were having a girls-only night. Lissa had everything ready. Unfortunately as the queen she couldn't be seen drinking in the bars or headed to the strip club. Too bad, I had been looking forward to that.
The doorbell rang. Mia and three other moroi girls came in. "Rose this is Adina, Adrian's cousin" she pointed to a moroi with green eyes. "This is Jessica, Mia's cousin" she pointed to the red-headed girl with bright blue eyes, "and this is Nora." The dhampir girl Nora must have just graduated because she looked really young. She had short brown hair and honey brown eyes. She was pretty like most dhampir girls but not as curvy as me.
We ordered pizzas and Lissa brought out the movies. We played some games and talked about our futures. Most of the girls passed out around midnight. I tried but was unable to fall asleep. Instead I took out my exercise clothes and changed.
"Where are you going?" Sydney asked. She was keeping her eye on me.
"I can't sleep" I replied, "I need to go for a run and hit the gym." She looked at me with sympathy. Why? I reached in my bag for my dagger and yatagan strapping them into place. "I will be back in an hour or two." I headed out the door. I alerted the guardians as to my plans and inquired as to where I might find Guardian Tanner. I was in luck, he usually hit the gym between midnight and two. Apparently he had the unfortunate early bird shift. I ran two miles before I headed to the gym.
There were several guardians in the gym, all of them looked up when I walked through the door. I recognized Eddie and one from the night before.
"Rose!" Eddie greeted me, "did you come for more sparing?"
"No" I replied meeting Mikhail's gaze, "I am here on business." The faces around me turned to shock and all of them were intimidated. "Guardian Tanner" I nodded at Mikhail, "may I speak with you privately." He nodded and we walked out. Like schoolboys the guardians teased him with an 'ooh' in unison as he followed me out of the gym. "Do you know a safe place to talk?"
"My room" he said. I let him lead me through the hallway.
"Rose" I froze midstep, only twenty feet from Mikhail's door. After five years, he still made my heart skip a beat. I released a breath I didn't know I was holding. "Rose, can I talk to you?"
"Please accept my apologies Guardian Belikov" he cringed when I addressed him by his proper title, "but I am currently busy. If you wish to discuss business, you may set an appointment with my father." His face showed pain and humiliation for only a second before his guardian mask was back in place.
"I want to talk to you" he insisted, "on personal matters."
I maintained my guardian mask, something that took me the first year of working with my father to master. Then as cautiously as possible I replied, "I have no personal business with anyone here at court outside of my family and friends." Before he could say another word I stepped into Mikhail's room and shut the door. Then I went to the bathroom to silently cry my eyes out. Yes it took me a long time to stop balling over Dimitri Belikov. He was still and always would be the love of my life. Unfortunately he didn't love me. Those four hurtful words still echoed through my mind; love fades, mine has. After a good five minutes I washed my face and went back to the room. Mikhail was waiting on a sofa.
"Does it still hurt?" he asked. I nodded but gave myself an extra moment to compose my thoughts before speaking.
"Did you ever stop loving her?" I asked. We both knew the answer. No one understood lost love like we did. Both of us had lost the ones we loved.
"Never" he replied looking down. "I am guessing my message made it to you" I nodded in agreement and he continued, "I want your help in locating Sonya Karp." I knew this was coming, "I informed Abe as to our discussion back when I allowed you to take those prison files."
"I am ready to assist you in any way possible," I smiled. I think I needed a fun vacation of hunting strigoi.
"I don't have much money" he continued, "I can only pay…"
"No money" I interrupted, "I promised you as a friend and I plan to stick to my promise." I took a piece of paper and pen off the desk. "I need to know her date of birth, place of birth, most fond place, and the place she was last sighted."
"She was born on May 20, 1957" so she was a cougar. Mikhail was only thirty five or fourty. "She was born in Romania" typical, "she mostly enjoyed the time she spent at the academy in England. I last saw her here at court, before the change. I heard that she was out in California, I searched there for a year and turned up with nothing."
"Okay" I said reviewing the information. "I will ask some sources for England, Romania, and the west coast here. I can't promise that we will find her" I said placing my hand on his, "but I will help you for as long as I can." I folded the paper and placed it in my pocket. "I need to discuss this with my father."
"He already knows" he reminded me. "As long as you agree, he gave me his permission to work with you. He has plans to replace you with another guardian for as long as needed."
"My mother" I realized. Two seconds too late and a dime short I realized that Abe had known for quite some time. "How long ago did you contact Abe?"
"The last time you were here at court" he replied sadly. "He refused then, but I have called every month to request your help. Finally he agreed last month under one condition." I glared at him.
"Abe's conditions can be quite harsh" I said leaning forward. "What did he want?"
"My service until a certain event took place" I eyed him.
"What event?" I asked firmly. I was suspicious of Abe lately, he was up to something in Turkey. Always on the phone with private conversations.
"The day you marry"
Slap to the face. "Are you crazy!" I yelled, "I will never get married. Mikhail you should not have taken that offer. Why?"
"Without my Sonya" he replied, "life isn't that important. If I do get her back, I don't mind to sacrifice my own life."
"I can't believe you did that" I said standing, "for your sake I hope we are able to rescue her." I left the room and headed back to Lissa's. Someone called my name from a window, but I ignored it. My head was swarming with Mikhail's sacrifice. I understood why he did it, but I felt bad. Poor Mikhail!