Dimitri lay on his bed and couldn't stop thinking about Victor Dashkov, the lust charm and Natalie turning into Strigoi and Rose almost dying and of course Lissa getting tortured. He rubbed his eyes and got up to wash his face.
He had just wiped his face when there were knocks on his door. He got up and opened it only to see Alberta standing there with a serious expression her face. He was immediately on high alert.
"What's wrong?" he asked
"The queen has summoned a few of us to the palace. She hasn't written anything else except that a plane will be picking us up in another 30 minutes. So pack up." Alberta sighed.
"Of course." Dimitri said. He got to packing as soon as Alberta left.
Everybody who had been called were ready in the open space of the academy. Mason, Rose and Eddie were engaged in a conversation of their own and Rose's eyes would occasionally meet with Dimitri's but otherwise she and the other novices were talking about some school gossip. Alberta and Dimitri stood together, wondering what the queen wanted to talk to them about. Lissa and Christian were together with Christian's hand around Lissa's shoulders.
They all looked up as they heard the sound of the plane engine and a strong wind brushed their faces. A few guardians stepped out and everybody boarded the plane. Mason and Rose sat together and Eddie sat on the next set of seats but right next to them as the three were still engaged in conversations and were all but shouting or laughing their heads off. Dimitri and Alberta sat together while Christian and Lissa sat together in front of Rose and Mason, joining in their conversation.
They all reached the palace an hour later. They were guided by the guardians to the hall where couches had been arranged for everybody. They all sat in their groups and soon they were served some refreshments.
"The queen will be here soon." They were informed by one of the guardians. They all nodded. After half an hour, another boy around 20-22 walked inside.
"Wow, looks like half the party's here." He said as he took a glass of whiskey from the ones serving refreshments.
"And you are?" Rose asked him with raised eyebrows.
"Adrian Ivashkov." He said
"Wow, another Ivashkov." Mason said
"Hey, I'm charming if you don't look at my last name." Adrian said with a shrug and sat on one of the empty couches.
"Ah cousins. How are you?" he asked as he noticed Lissa and Christian. He squinted a little when he looked at Lissa but that vanished soon. Rose tensed slightly.
"He's royal and doesn't look like he's gonna hurt her. Calm down." Mason whispered to her.
"We're good." Lissa said to Adrian
"Good to hear. Want some wine?" he asked
"Not really." Christian said, already not liking Adrian.
"Thanks." Lissa added to make it polite. Adrian chuckled.
"Do you know why we've been called?" Alberta asked Adrian, wanting to change the topic and get answers.
"Not really. Just got told that it was important." He shrugged. "But I do know that there a few more people who have to come here." He said
"I wonder who they are." Dimitri sighed. Almost as if he summoned them, a woman around 5 feet with auburn hair walked in the hall. Rose saw her and immediately clenched her teeth. Mason and Eddie took one look at her and realized who it was.
"Ah, Janine Hathaway." Alberta said with a smile.
"Alberta." Janine nodded. She didn't even look at Rose directly but knew she was there. She went and sat next to Adrian.
"And my life must obviously suck at times." Rose muttered. Mason couldn't help but snicker earning a punch in the shoulder. He groaned.
The door opened again and a man with tanned skin and dark hair and a goatee with gold jewelry around his neck and on his ears walked in. He was wearing all black and looked like a pirate. He looked like he could kill you on spot. Janine's eyes widened as she saw him and he chuckled lightly.
"Who the fuck is this guy?" Mason said. Everybody turned to look at him.
"Um, did I just say that out loud?" he asked
"No shit." Rose said. Abe looked at her and raised an eyebrow.
"Abe Mazur." He said to Mason. There was a light accent to his voice but Rose wasn't able to recognize it.
"Mr. Mazur, it's a surprise to see you here." Dimitri said
"Ah Belikov, could say the same about you." Abe said with a small smile
"You know him?" Rose looked at Dimitri in surprise. "Why am I even surprised that he knows the pirate." She sighed. Dimitri chuckled. "I've seen him at home." He answered
"I'm going to take the pirate thing as a compliment." Abe said with amusement. Rose shrugged.
Queen Tatiana walked in some time later and sat on another couch, specially reserved for her.
"You must be wondering why you all are here." She said
"No shit." Rose said under her breath but loud enough for Janine and Abe to hear. Janine shook her head in disappointment and Abe in proudness.
"Some books about the future involving you all have been found in our library and we must read them to know more. I believe we should start immediately. You will stay here until they are done and will be provided with all luxuries." She said, not sounding too happy to be here with them and especially not Ibrahim Mazur. She looked at Lissa, Christian and Rose, still not fond of them. She held up the first book.
"Who wants to read first?" Tatiana asked.
"I'll read." Dimitri volunteered. The book was passed to him and he started.
CHAPTER ONE
I FELT HER FEAR BEFORE I heard her screams.
"No, that's not ominous at all." Adrian said
"Shut up." Rose said to him. Adrian raised his palms in a surrender gesture.
"Of course." He said with a wink. Rose rolled her eyes.
Her nightmare pulsed into me…guy rubbing suntan oil on me.
Mason, Eddie and Lissa burst out laughing. Christian chuckled.
"I'm not surprised." He said. Rose shrugged.
"Hey, you can't really blame me. Its thoughts." She said
"Rose is Rose." Eddie said with a grin.
Images - hers, not mine – tumbled…me that this wasn't my dream.
Everybody quickly sobered up. Rose and Lissa grimaced and exchanged glances, knowing what this was about.
I woke up, strands of long…"Andre," she moaned. "Oh God."
Everybody looked at Rose and Lissa except Dimitri and Alberta. Christian held Lissa's hand.
"The accident?" Mason asked quietly. Rose nodded. "Yeah"
I helped her sit up…beds and turned on the lamp.
"You have a bond, don't you?" Abe asked Rose and Lissa
"You figured that out quick." Lissa said in amazement.
"It's not difficult to."
It glowed dimly, but neither…baring my neck
Janine choked on her own saliva. "You did what-" she said in a slightly disgusted manner.
"Something that you wouldn't do even for your best friend. We didn't have feeders." Rose snapped.
"I think its pretty brave." Abe shrugged
"Agreed. Lissa wouldn't be alive without blood." Christian said "I know its hard to find human feeders." He said
Before Janine could say anything else, Dimitri started reading.
I saw her hesitate…a weakness I couldn't shake
"This is why you shouldn't have done it." Janine snorted
"Did I ask? You don't need to tell me what I should have and shouldn't have done." Rose said angrily. Abe frowned, not knowing that Rose and Janine didn't have a good relationship.
Her fangs bit into me…since I'd never done it.
"Nah, the bite isn't better." Adrian said
"Thanks. That helps." Christian snorted. Adrian shrugged.
It was a blanket of pure…It had taken less than a minute.
"Jesus Christ, Rose, you're ballsy." Eddie said in awe.
"I did what I had to. But yes, I am ballsy." Rose said, throwing her hair over her shoulder and grinning. Eddie and Mason laughed.
"Typical Rose." Mason chuckled.
"Obviously, Ashford." Rose smirked. Alberta and Janine just looked at Abe who looked proud.
She pulled back, wiping her…And a man watching me.
"I swear to fucking god, Comrade. You gave me a goddamn heart attack." Rose said to Dimitri.
"Early training helps." Dimitri with a small smirk.
I jerked back in surprise…falling over in the process.
There were a few snickers.
"Happens every day." Adrian nodded sagely
Once they were on…he stared sadly at a calculus book
"Calculus is sad." Eddie said
Lissa regarded me with surprise…Are you sure?"
"If she's detecting something suspicious that may or may not be guardians, its better to get out of there rather than stick around to make sure if she's right or wrong." Abe stated.
"That's true." Lissa admitted.
"They shouldn't have run away anyways." Janine muttered under her breath.
I nodded. I couldn't explain…it was directed at another person.
Abe and Adrian looked at Lissa for different reasons. Adrian looked at Lissa because he had never see anybody else with compulsion as strong as his. Abe on the other hand was curious about Lissa in general.
"That is not allowed!" Tatiana exclaimed
"We had no choice." Rose defended
"You did! You should have gone back to the academy." Tatiana said angrily
That, and I'd been taught my entire life that using it was wrong.
"Because it is." Tatiana muttered. Adrian grimaced. His aunt was so not going to like hearing about his powers.
Reaching into his pocket…came in handy right now.
"Compulsion is scary." Eddie shuddered.
"It's kind of like just melting the dude's brain." Mason said thoughtfully
"I think you discovered a new method of torture, Mase." Rose said, trying to lighten the mood.
"Huh." Mason said with a grin "Damn." He said
"Why do your brains go directly to torture?" Dimitri shook his head
"Might come in handy someday, Comrade." Rose grinned
"I don't even want to know."
"To be honest, the idea's good but its you'd have to set the person's head on fire." Abe said as he thought about it. Janine's mouth dropped open.
"I could help." Christian said with one of the slyest grins ever.
"Then it'd work on Strigoi, all right." Rose grinned "Told you it'd come handy, Comrade." Rose said to Dimitri with an accomplished grin.
"No point of arguing is there?" Dimitri asked with a raised eyebrow. Lissa shook her head.
"We have to keep Rose, Abe and Christian away from each other." Alberta sighed.
"Won't work. Don't even try." Mason told her.
"Come on," I told her…We were so close to freedom.
"You make it sound like the academy kept you in some dungeon." Alberta shook her head.
She said nothing more…sometimes recklessly so.
"Always recklessly so." Lissa said fondly.
"Fair." Rose shrugged.
She was the more reasonable one…I'd - responded appropriately
Mason, Eddie and Christian laughed as they remembered this. Lissa just shook her head fondly.
"This was good." Mason snickered.
The others who didn't know what happened sat up straight, eager or scared to know what happened.
I'd chucked my book…how to hit a moving target.
The kids, Adrian and Abe roared with laughter. Alberta was trying to hide a smile but wasn't being to successful at it. The same thing with Dimitri. Tatiana and Janine looked as if they'd been struck by lightning. Their mouths hung wide open.
Lissa and I had been inseparable…feet pounded against the concrete.
"You shouldn't really be overworking your body but I suppose you don't have a choice." Mason sighed.
Normally I could have outrun…a man stepped directly into our path.
"What the actual fuck." Eddie said, open mouthed as he looked at Dimitri.
"How'd you get there so fast?" Adrian said
"Practice but they weren't that fast at that point of time." Dimitri explained
We came to a screeching halt…probably six-six or six-seven.
"On point. Impressive." Alberta said approvingly to Rose.
And under different circumstances…I thought it was called.
Mason and Adrian's eyes snapped to Dimitri to see what Rose thought was hot. Dimitri kept his face blank and continued reading.
But his hotness was irrelevant now.
"Wow, you really want to get away, don't you?" Eddie teased. Rose punched him in the arm. Eddie rubbed his arm and pouted at Rose.
He was only an obstacle keeping Lissa…herself didn't travel with that many.
Tatiana scowled at the comparison.
"Well technically, Lissa was with you." Christian pointed out
"Yeah, being the only one in her bloodline makes her special." Eddie agreed.
Panicked and not entirely in control…animal he was planning to sedate.
"That's gonna piss her off." Mason chuckled in satisfaction.
"I'm not going to –…and strike like cobras.
The guardians in the room smirked.
He knocked me off as though…or, more precisely, at my neck.
"Sorry about that." Dimitri said to Rose.
Still disoriented, I didn't get…I'd grown it out for precisely this reason.
"Damn." Adrian said
The guy's dark eyes lingered…I sagged in defeat.
"I wonder how that'd be with Rose with proper training and completely conscious." Christian said out loud.
"Well I'd be able to run." Rose said with the sarcastic touch but the seriousness too.
"Funny." Dimitri said dryly.
"I meant with more training." Christian clarified.
"Then Lissa and Rose would still not be found by the academy." Dimitri answered simply. Rose looked surprised at the praise but took it nonetheless. Tatiana scowled.
Sensing my resignation…St. Vladimir's Academy, Princess."
"Gee, we didn't know." Adrian drawled. Dimitri shook his head.
"Who wants to read next?" he asked
"I'll read." Abe said. Just as he opened the book, a few more people arrived, more specifically it was Olena, Karolina, Viktoria and Yeva. Sonja and Paul had stayed back.
Dimitri got up and hugged the four of them and Abe gave nods of acknowledgement which were returned. Once they settled down, he started reading.