Chapter 7
A good three days past before we were ready to go hunting for strigoi. Mikhail and I had to make another food run during the day. Two adult dhampirs ate a lot of food. Mikhail handled the talking as he was more fluent in Russian than I was.
"Rose?" someone walked up to me. He was a few years younger than me, well built and quite handsome. It took me a good thirty seconds to put a name to his matured face.
"Hey Denis!" we hugged.
"When did you come back to town?"
"Three days ago" I said looking over to Mikhail who now had all of our bags. "I just came to do some hunting."
"Lev and Art will be happy to see you again."
"How would you guys like to go hunting with my friend and I?" I knew the answer. The boys loved hunting strigoi.
"When and where?" he asked.
"Nine o'clock tonight at the club" I said. They would know which one. The strigoi frequented a certain club that had alley access on two sides, I think the name was Schuka.
I had forgotten how much I enjoyed the fist pumping techno music that the club was famous for. Mikhail stood by the bar watching for strigoi. The rest of us hit the dance floor. After two hours I began to get thirsty.
"You don't have to take a guardian position" I told Mikhail, "remember what we talked about. We need to blend in before we start hunting. If she is in the area we don't want her to go running off."
He nodded. I bought another drink and we hit the dance floor. Some very beautiful dhampir women joined in our group. I noticed their necks right away, blood whores. Then a tall dark Russian man approached and we danced the night away. Every night was pretty much the same for the first two weeks. We staked one or two strigoi a night, but hadn't gotten any information about Sonya Karp. Adrian visited me once. I'm not sure what the purpose of his visit was. He gave some information from Sydney and some information and attempted to discuss Dimitri. I had to explain several times that I know Dimitri doesn't want to love me so why bother making a fuss? I was over that crap. I would always love Dimitri, Always.
On the seventeenth day of our stay in Novosibirsk I got a lead. The local alchemist, Nora, had a reported sighting of a strigoi matching our description. The person in question had been spotted near a club on the south side of town. I packed handcuffs, rope, and an extra stake in my backpack. If we did run into Miss Karp, I would need a way to restrain her until we could make the change.
The club wasn't as busy as Schuka but it was still packed with happy horny people. A lone strigoi stood in an alley. I persude him. The guys held him down while I interrogated, our usual routine. He knew Sonya but wouldn't tell me where he was. "Tell her that Rosemarie Hathaway is looking for her."
"Mikhail Tanner is also searching for her" he added. We released the strigoi who had already healed halfway. "Now what?"
"We wait" I replied. "Let's give it a few days to let the message sink in. Then we will come back and continue the search." I could see the doubt in his eyes, but Mikhail was going to listen to me.
"Why don't we go home for a few days?" Lev suggested.
"Yeah your family misses you Rose" Denis added. "Viktoria has probably told them that you are back. They will be upset if you don't visit."
"Great idea" I smiled. "I haven't seen them in over six months."
"What family do you have in Russia?" Mikhail asked sarcastically.
"The Belikovs" I replied shortly. "Dimitri's family lives in Baia, I visit them during my vacations." Mikhail rolled his eyes. "Just because Dimitri doesn't want to be with me doesn't mean that I have to give up his family." In the end we stuck to my plan. Art drove, he had recently acquired a car, and I slept.
I was in a dim lit room. It took me a few seconds to realize that I was in Adrian's living room. I turned to see him sitting in his favorite arm chair. Instead of sitting I stood behind the sofa facing him and leaned my elbows into the soft back cushions.
"Hey" I greeted him with a smile. "Why so gloom?"
"You've been drinking again" he sighed.
"Damn, and I was trying so hard to hide it" I laughed.
"Why are you drinking so much?" he eyed me. "You don't drink this much when you're home in Turkey." I opened my mouth to ask but he answered "Abe told me that you hardly ever drink. You come to court and now you're a drunk."
"I'm not a drunk" I replied, "I prefer the term toxic happiness."
"Whatever" his arms were folded across his chest. "How could you do that to Belikov? The man was obviously in love with you and you ran away without saying a word."
"I left him a note" I said easing back off the cushions. "I didn't want him to suffer anymore over having to tell me that he doesn't love me. I know he does, but he doesn't want to admit it."
"He admitted it to me" Adrian replied. "I told him to wait there while I went to talk to you. The man was a mess. He heard that you were going to leave court. He wanted to talk to you."
"I don't think I can handle it" I replied honestly. "My heart broke to pieces when he told me that his love faded. Every time I see him, my heart aches. I want him to hold me, kiss me, and tell me that he loves me. Unfortunately he doesn't want to. I understand that now Adrian. When I left court five years ago, I didn't understand how he couldn't love me. I spent six months staking every strigoi I could find. Ask Sydney how many I've killed."
"Three hundred and sixty five" he mumbled.
"That was before I left court" I said pacing around. "In a week or two, I will be adding more to that count. As of right now, I have more strigoi kills than any one guardian or dhampir in the world. The world Adrian." I took a breath. "They recognize me by name and are out to get me. Anyone would be impressed with those numbers. The only one I want to make proud is my mentor. I want Dimitri to tell me he loves me and tell me that he's proud of my skills. Yet he doesn't. Why? He doesn't care."
"That's not true" Adrian was up and in my face. "I don't know how long I can hold two people, but Dimitri is asleep in the house. I am going to try to bring him here."
"What?" I panicked, "No Adrian." Too late. The dream flickered and Dimitri was standing across the room. He advanced towards me and I moved towards the sofa, putting it between us.
"Roza" his word stopped me cold in my tracks. Adrian sat down, his face cringed with concentration. "Please talk to me Roza."
"I tried to talk to you comerade" I replied, "five years ago I told you how I felt and well you know how that went."
His face twitched in pain, "I know Roza. I wasn't myself for that first year after the change. Queen Vasilissa could only heal me slowly. My aura was full of darkness. It took her a year of draining it slowly before I began to return to my former self." He took a step towards me, "after that first year I still wasn't feeling right. I felt empty and angry with myself. I asked Vasilissa to check again and search for the darkness. She found nothing but a hole in my heart. She tried to mend it, but she couldn't. I had a piece of my heart ripped out, you. You are my heart Roza. I need you, I want you, I love you." A tear slid down my cheek. I had imagined us having conversations like this, but never did I ever think that we would have it. "Roza I love you."
"I love you Dimitri" we advanced towards each other.
"I quit my job as a guardian" he said taking hold of my hands. That electric current surged between us.
"I can't hold you both much longer" Adrian squeaked.
"Roza tell me where you are" Dimitri whispered, "I want to be with you, no matter where you are. I want to be by your side. Even if I have to work for Queen Vasilissa could only heal me slowly. My aura was full of darkness. It took her a year of draining it slowly before I began to return to my former self." He took a step towards me, "after that first year I still wasn't feeling right. I felt empty and angry with myself. I asked Vasilissa to check again and search for the darkness. She found nothing but a hole in my heart. She tried to mend it, but she couldn't. I had a piece of my heart ripped out, you. You are my heart Roza. I need you, I want you, I love you." A tear slid down my cheek. I had imagined us having conversations like this, but never did I ever think that we would have it. "Roza I love you."
"I love you Dimitri" we advanced towards each other.
"I quit my job as a guardian" he said taking hold of my hands. That electric current surged between us.
"I can't hold you both much longer" Adrian squeaked.
"Roza tell me where you are" Dimitri whispered, "I want to be with you, no matter where you are. I want to be by your side. Even if I have to work for Ibriham Mazur."Queen Vasilissa could only heal me slowly. My aura was full of darkness. It took her a year of draining it slowly before I began to return to my former self." He took a step towards me, "after that first year I still wasn't feeling right. I felt empty and angry with myself. I asked Vasilissa to check again and search for the darkness. She found nothing but a hole in my heart. She tried to mend it, but she couldn't. I had a piece of my heart ripped out, you. You are my heart Roza. I need you, I want you, I love you." A tear slid down my cheek. I had imagined us having conversations like this, but never did I ever think that we would have it. "Roza I love you."
"I love you Dimitri" we advanced towards each other.
"I quit my job as a guardian" he said taking hold of my hands. That electric current surged between us.
"I can't hold you both much longer" Adrian squeaked.
"Roza tell me where you are" Dimitri whispered, "I want to be with you, no matter where you are. I want to be by your side. Even if I have to work for Ibrahim Mazur." Our lips met with passion and the dream flickered wildly.
"Come home then Dimitri" I said stepping back. "I am on my way home to Baia."
His face beamed with joy, "my family" he whispered the words. "You're going to visit my family."
"Olena said I would always be her daughter" I replied, "didn't they tell you that I visit them twice a year."
Embarrassment flashed across his face briefly before his smile returned. "I am coming home Roza, to you and the rest of my family."
"I can't…" Adrian said as the dream faded and I awoke in the car.
"Rose are you okay?" Mikhail asked seriously. "You were moaning and making some interesting noises."
"Was it a sex dream?" Lev asked.
"Was it about me?" Denis wiggled his eyebrows.
"No, it was Adrian" they sighed in disappointment and turned back to the road. "He brought Dimitri with him. He loves me." I was talking to Mikhail but all eyes were on me now. "He is going to come to Baia."