Hey. Srry this chapter is shorter. Hardly had time to write. Enjoy
The meeting was over standard procedure on what they should do if strigoi ended up sneaking in here and/or breaking the wards around Court. If that were to happen, we were to get them out of Court quickly as possible, that is, if no strigoi were blocking the exits.
The conference room was big, and every seat was taken. Some guardians sat on the floor, while some stood, leaning against the wall or standing straight with their arms crossed over their chest- Scout position, I call it. The table reminded me of the one in the court building, expensive cherry wood table, with a total twenty-six matching chairs; twelve on each side, and one on each end of the oval table.
Just about everyone I knew was there. My mother, the Belikov's (Yeva and Olena were sitting down in one of the fancy cherry wood chairs, at the end of the table), Dimitri and his sisters were standing next to each other by the door. I was standing a few feet away from the end of the table, next to Olena and Yeva. My mother stood beside me, why, I have no idea. Then there were the people who were at my training session, and just as promised, most, if not all, guardians in Court. This is one full house! Even some moroi attended- and by moroi, I mean my father and his guardians. He was sitting in one of the chairs, at the end of the table by an older looking man, much older. He is a Guardian, by his strong built body.
But what really surprised me, was the Tatiana was there as well. She was sitting in the corner of the room, away from everyone else, as if she was trying to stay hidden. She didn't look at me, just kept her eyes on the crowed, but I knew she saw me when I came in.
"The moroi will be frightened, as you all know too well." Said the old man by my father. "Try and comfort them and make them relax on your way out. However, if the exit is in anyway unable to be a safe, or semi safe way to exit, there will be a huge red light on top of the exit wall. If it is safe, there will be a green light."I remembered his name was Gideon. He was the head guardian here in Court. Everyone looked to him for advice and approval. He was the oldest guardian here, in his fifties, with streaks of gray hair. He was also the wisest and skilled- apparently. But I would never doubt that fact. However, I have yet to see him in action, and I would rather it not be taken out on me.
We all nodded, but we needed a backup plan. What if strigoi all ganged up and took over court? We need a backup plan to get ourselves out alive.
"However, if it is not safe to exit, keep your moroi indoors."
"How will we know when the coast is clear?" My mother voiced out.
"The tornado siren will go off." He said.
"I believe there should be another alternative way out, a backup plan." I said, voicing my own opinion.
"Guardian Hathaway," he nodded to me in respect. Before the meeting, I went back to my hotel to shower and changed into my leather outfit; I had a reputation now, and it was time to live up to it. The swords that I always carried are the back of my jacket, and the hilt of the swords shinned with power, telling everyone who I was. "I am open to suggestions, but before you say anything, I assure you, that we will not be having a war like this."
I suppressed a growl. "And why do you think that?" I asked, trying to sound polite. Gideon must be full of himself if he thinks that. Out of all his years in his profession, he should know by now that anything is possible; and I have only been killing strigoi for a total of two years!
"I know it! Strigoi will ever come together. They fight over blood and power, nothing else. Why would they come after us guardians?" Gideon said as if it was a no brainer. I started to think that maybe he was streaking his hair gray just for looks of wisdom.
"Fool!" Someone said, voicing my thoughts for me. I turned to my left and saw it was a guardian from my training session. His name is Delos. He had beach blond, shaggy hair with eyes so hazel, you can call them gold. He was tall, and as old as Dimitri, but not nearly as tall. He wore a tight white shirt, with bright blue jeans.
"Did you not hear the message that Queen Tatiana had said to us the other night?" Delos said, continuing on with anger in his voice. "Strigoi are united under one common goal: kill for blood! It is not just about the moroi for once! This is about us! Our lives are in danger as well, and for once, I want to worry about myself. I vowed to protect moroi lives, but it is not what they are after this time; it's us. We are their targets!"
"Wrong." I said, speaking.
All heads turned to me once again. All the faces that were on me had guardian masks on; unemotional and giving no evidence of what they were thinking. I continued on.
"We, the guardians, are their first task. They want to eliminate us from protecting the moroi. They will always be out for them, but for now, we are on the menu, because they need to get rid of us."
"What guardian Hathaway is saying," said Delos, "is that we need to worry more about ourselves than the moroi at this point in time. I am all for keeping the moroi safe, but we need to worry about ourselves if we are to continue guarding the moroi."
He was right, but it seemed so selfish of us. "He is right." I said, and my voice sounded a little bit defeated. "We have to worry about ourselves first if we are to continue to protect the moroi. If we don't worry about ourselves, then both races will be extinct, along with humans."
"What are you suggesting Ms. Hathaway?" Seriously! The moment he said that, all respect for him went out the window. What is it with people dropping titles so easily, that us dhampire's work our ass off our whole lives to earn? It should be hard to drop out title like that!
"First of all, it is Guardian Hathaway. Second of all I am not saying that we should stop guarding the moroi. We need to. It's not like we are the best thing on the menu, but we are their first priority. What I am saying is that we need to take more precautions."
"And how should we take more precautions? Guardians take as many precautions as necessary for the moroi."
"And we need to apply that to ourselves as well! We are so concerned about protecting them, that we don't protect ourselves half the time. We need advanced weapons!"
"Like what?" Gideon snorted. "Your swords?"
"Gideon." Tatiana said disapprovingly, with a warning to her tone. He acted as he didn't even hear her.
I gave him my most famous death glare, and to my surprise (which I didn't give him the pleasure to see that he surprised me), he glared back. "No." I growled. "That is my weapon of choice!"
I reached to my waist, where my gun holder was, and undid the clip that held the gun in placed and grabbed my gun and held it up for everyone to see. I held it up with one hand, my fingers curreld around the barrel, so no one would feel threatened. I then opened the chamber where the bullets were and showed them the bullets that are the same silver color as the gun and swords. I didn't hand the bullets around for them all to see like it was 'show and tell'.
"I had these bullets specially made. They are the same silver metal as our stakes. One blow to the heart would do the job the first time around. Personally, I do two, just in case. In this profession, I try and limit the amount of mistakes I can make."
"What kind of gun is that, Rose?" Dimitri asked. He came up behind me as I started arguing with Gideon. He probably wanted to hold me down if I started to lung at him. He took the gun from me.
"Boberg XR-9 pistol; it hold seven rounds." I didn't need to tell him that it was a powerful gun and that it would get the job done the first time around…not that any other gun would too, but this gun had some serious power behind it for it just being a pistol.
"It has your trademark on it." Dimitri exclaimed, not looking shock, more as proving a point to himself.
I nodded. "It better; it's my gun!"
That got me a couple chuckles from everyone in the room.
"She has a trademark?" My mother said, coming up beside me and looking at it. Once she was done looking at it, I put it back into my holder.
I ignored her and looked back at Gideon. "We need another way out in case the strigoi have us surrounded and at their mercy. I will not put my family in danger because of these monsters."
He nodded, for once agreeing with me. "You have any ideas?"
I smiled. "Just so happens I do, but I'm warning you, you are so not going to like it."
He looked at me, expectantly. It was like he was saying "try me."
Alright buddy, but couldn't say I didn't warn you. I looked him dead straight in the eyes. "Get C4 in here and blow a couple hole through our walls." We needed more than just one hole, because of how big Court was. "They won't suspect a thing until there is a blast. This way, you will kill any strigoi near the walls and any that are climbing it." The Court walls were made of smooth stone that was at least twenty feet high. The strigoi would need latter to climb the wall.
"However," I said, quickly analyzing another problem. Once the bomb goes off, it would attract their attention, letting them know that there is an easier way to get in through climbing a dumb twenty foot wall of hard stone. "You need to put a second ward down, this time inside the Court's walls. Load every guardian up with bombshells, so that they can throw them at the strigoi, making them nothing but piles of flesh."
He shook his head, either in disgust or amazement, I wasn't so sure. "What is it with this era and blowing things up!"
I looked around, and saw a couple people nodding, taking what I said into consideration.
"Guardian Hathaway doesn't just plan, she plots!" Delos said in a very approving tone that made me smile at him. He smiled back.
I shook my head with a smile at that compliment and then went back to business. "We need full force in case things get really bad and ugly. I will take no chances with my family. Their lives are on the line. I am not fooling around this time." I said with full determination. And if I was brutally honest, it was a very scary, very dangerous tone that came out of my mouth.
"You are suggesting military force, Guardian Hathaway!" Gideon yelled.
I looked straight into Gideon's eyes, then into all the guardians, including my mother's and the Belikov's. "Will you take that chance?" And in that one question, held many more questions in between, saying 'do you want to take that chance and die?' 'Do you want to unleash bloodshed on our own kind when we can prevent it?'
Everyone took what I said into consideration, even Gideon. Though, I suspected that he had a hard time agreeing to this. But nevertheless, he was a guardian, and he had to put his own feelings aside and listen to what others had in mind so the moroi had proper protection.
And I could tell that what I had planned out was a very, very good idea. If not, a genius idea.
He slowly nodded at me, but turned back to the others. "Any more ideas? Guardian Hathaway has said what she had in mind. Anything else?"
It was quiet for a moment, until someone unsuspecting voiced an idea.
"If it gets as bad as what Rose says it might, how about we put up wards around a couple areas a little ways away from Court, just in case someone needs a quick refuge." Victoria said. It was fabulous idea. But where would we put them?
"And how many are you suggesting, my Lady?" What are we in, the seventh century?
She had on that same guardian mask that Dimitri wears; unemotional, yet determined. "I have not been in Court that long, so I cannot give an estimation," for fear she would suggest too little an amount.
Gideon nodded. "I will talk to Queen Tatiana about this later." He said, still not acknowledging her presents. What an ass! I looked at Tatiana and saw that one of her eyebrow was lifted up and she was looking at him. The look she was giving him was saying 'excuse me! You did not just say that.'
"How about you talk to her now, she is right over there!" Yeva said and waved her hand over to the corner. The tone of her voice was annoyed and dangerous. "Guardian Hathaway doesn't want to risk anyone's life, and neither do you, so why delay? Make the plans now and save some time. Strigoi know how long these things take, you are giving them the upper hand."
The more she spoke, the more I loved her!
Gideon looked at Yeva and I swore I saw fear in his eyes. Ha-ha bitch; afraid of an old woman! Well, I guess I would too if Yeva gave me a death glare like that. Yeva is not the sort of woman you play games with when it is dealing with life or death. And in her view point, he was playing games. Go Yeva!
Gideon turned to the Queen. "Your majesty." He said and bowed before her.
Tatiana nodded, but gave him scornful glare for lack of good manners.
"What this young lady," Gideon waved his hand over to Viktoria, "had suggested is a safe tactic to insure the moroi society."
She waved her hand off. "It is, and I agree to what she says. You have my approval on that. I don't care how many wards you want to put up, just make sure you have them up soon. What I am anxious to get to, is what Guardian Hathaway had mentioned. It is brilliant, but it is dangerous." She looked at me. "Rose, are you sure you know what we are up against?"
I shook my head. "No, we could be up against thousands or hundreds, but we are going to be under attack. As I said before, these are not just random kills." I am starting to hate repeating myself. "I won't say it again: we need to be ready for the attack with force. I want to make sure these son-of-a-bitches won't be messing with us again. I want them scared of us! I want them crawling in a hole in search of a safe refuge for them. I will not have my family out in the night, scared half to death over strigoi!" I yelled. Why can't they see that we are wasting time arguing?
She nodded. "Calm down, Rose. We will be ready." She turned to Gideon. "I expect you to analyze what Guardian Hathaway had suggested. Take what she had suggested into consideration-"
"She's a-"Gideon went to interrupt her, but Tatiana's voice just got louder, to where it shut him up.
"She is well known for her tactics and hunting strigoi. She knows what she is doing! DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?" Her voice was booming off the walls, causing him to flinch. The corners of my lips twitched into a half smile. I like her now.
I could tell he grinded his teeth together. "Yes your majesty." He said between his clenched teeth.
"I want you to call a meeting with the Guardian board members and tell them that they have my approval on both suggestions. I liked the idea of force being taken."
"What about the bombshells? That is expensive? One alone is a hundred dollars."
"We have money, Mr. Kingston. And if the Guardians need more money for that, I will give a generous donation to help both moroi and dhampires. Rose is right, we need to take force and not take any chances. This is a test we must past if we wish to survive."
With that said, she stood up with a very annoyed expression on her face. I had a feeling she wanted to backhand Gideon. I sure did.
She walked out of the conference room, slamming the door behind her. Her guardians were all outside waiting for her. Her dress dragged from behind her, like water sticking to its watering hole.
I looked around and decided that was all I wanted to hear. I wasn't going to give Gideon time to bitch me out for thinking of a genius plan in seconds. He should be down by my feet, worshiping me. I turned around and walked to the door.
"A word alone, Hathaway." Gideon growled. I felt all eyes on me when he said my last name.
I didn't turn to face him and I didn't stop, just kept walking to the door. "Until you address me with my proper title, I will decline your request of a conversation." I reached the door in record time and walked through it. Someone walked out right behind me, but I already knew who it was.
"Rose." Dimitri said, in an almost timid tone. He wanted to talk about what happened in the gym. I know it.
I stopped dead in my tracks and turned around. "Not here. Let's go somewhere private."
He nodded and walked in front of me, taking me somewhere. We walked out of the building and down the street. At first, I thought we were going back to his apartment, but we ended up going to the park. I mean, the park. The park where I caught Adrian kissing Sydney.
I could feel myself tense up. This wasn't a good place to come for a problem that you wanted to make up for. I didn't want to be here. Anywhere but here.
"Why did you pick this place?" I asked. My throat became tight. We came up to brown bench. We didn't look at each other, just took in our vicinity. There were several big trees, both tall and fat. They looked like oak trees. There was a playground in the far distance, about a football field away. The stars were shining brightly, as if telling me to have hope that everything will be okay.
"I'm sorry." I said wholeheartedly. I turned to look at him, and he seemed surprised. "I didn't mean to sound insensitive." I looked him dead straight in the eyes. "Believe me when I say that I want to stay. I want to more than anything, but things are getting worse out there, Dimitri. People are dying and no one is doing anything to stop the killings. We are the only ones doing the hunting to stop them. It is nowhere near enough, but enough to cause damage or have them wary of us."
He slid closer to me and wrapped an arm around my waist. "I'm not sorry."
I gave him a shaky laugh. I hate love sometimes.
"I just want to be with you."
"And I want to be with you too, but with everything being so bad…"
"I know." He said, sighing in defeat. He hates it just as much as I do. This life style really sucks. No social life and no time for a family or have a family.
I swallowed hard, knowing he might get mad at me for suggesting this. "I know you vowed eternal servitude to Lissa." Was it me, or did my tone sounded depressed? I mean, I know Lissa did the staking, but I did everything else. She said that I did a lot, but I did all of it, well- with the exception of staking him. I was starting to realize that I was resenting Lissa for this. For not telling him what really went on. I wanted to ask him if Lissa said anything of what I did, but not now.
"What is it?" He asked anxiously with a little bit of hope in his tone.
I looked down, away from his anxious gaze. "You could come with us, but you would have to leave Lissa too. No moroi will come with us. It will get us all killed if we try and protect them."
I didn't look at him, but I could feel that he was pulling away from me mentally. Shutting down.
"I can't do that."
I stood up, breaking the contact between us, then turned to face him, and I was upset. He seemed seemed surprised that I turned around upset, but controlled it and had on a calm expression.
"How much do you know of what Lissa did?" I demanded. I knew he was staying because he thought he owed Lissa his loyalty. No. Even though it sounds selfish, he owes me it. Not because I saved him, but because he loves me, and I love him in return.
He raised his eyebrows. "What does it matter?"
What does it matter? "Answer the question."
He leaned back into the bench and crossed his arms over his chest. "She said that she staked me and had to use a lot of spirit to help you get what you needed. I could tell that it drained her, just from her voice."
"Did she tell you anything of what I did?" I asked, putting my hands on my hips.
He stood up now and he seemed to be upset as well, because his lips were in a tight line. "Listen, I know you did a little bit as well, but Lissa did most of it."
My heart just got stomped on. "If you think so little of me, then I guess you shouldn't be talking to me. Yes, you should stay. I was wrong to offer. Go back to that goddess of yours." I turned and started walking away. I could not just believe what he just said. He practically insulted me!
Me! Do a small part to get him back! You have got to be kidding me. Lissa didn't even care about him, just had a deep respect for him. Suddenly, he thinks she cares? His head must be sticking farther up his ass than I realized.
I wanted to punch someone so hard that their head would fall off. I tried to take calming breaths, but that technique didn't work this time, so I decided to walk to Lissa's house. Well, run to Lissa's house's.
I pounded my fist so hard on her door it was a wonder it didn't get knocked in. Christian opened it.
"Can I help you Shadow Knight…actually you are more of an intimidator of the Hulk."
Anger boiled inside me. A red rage was on the near horizon with me. He better not be messing with me today, otherwise he will never want to be by me again. "Is Lissa home?" I asked, I was trying very, very hard not to knock him against the wall. My sounded dangerous and not to be messed with.
Christian's posture became stiff. "No."
That was it for self control. I walked in, pushing him away from me. I pushed him so hard that I knocked against the wall hard with a thug. He slid down to his ass, dazed as I walked by. "Sorry Chris."
I went up stairs, feeling the bond pull me there. I knocked on her door more gently than I did on her front door. The door opened up.
"Rose?" She asked looking at me. I pushed passed her, inviting myself in.
"Tell me the truth. Did you take all the glory for saving Dimitri?"
"I. Sorry, what?" She was startled with me going straight to the point.
"You just stood there and watch my relationship with Dimitri go down the goddamn drain Lissa!"
"What are you going on about? I told Dimitri I did the final piece."
"You didn't tell him what I did is the problem! You had him wrapped around your pretty little princess fingers, and you liked it- the power you had over him. Did you ever put my feelings into consideration? Did my pain mean anything to you, or did you secretly enjoy it? You knew that I could have helped him if he knew everything that I did to get him back, but no."
She took several steps back from me. Her eyes were filling up with tears. Through the bond, she was shocked and hurt at my outburst. That struck my heart, but not enough. I wanted to her to know exactly how I felt about what she did. She needs to know she hurt me, and it was all her fault.
"Damn it Lissa," my hands balled into tight fists at my side. I didn't make a move towards her, but I knew damn well that I was extremely intimidating with my black outfit on. "He was all I had! And you took him away from me! He was the only person besides you, I let in my heart! And you took that away from me. I wanted to help him so bad, but you never gave me the chance, because you used all the guilt he was feeling against me. You didn't want us to be happy. And now that he vowed eternal servitude to you, he thinks you did everything! Everything! I did all of it! You only made a couple charms and staked him! The planning, the sacrificing…none of that ever crossed your mind to tell him?"
"Rose, I did tell him that all I did was stake him." Lissa explained in a desperate tone. Her right hand was over her heart, a new body language for her to show pain or prevent it.
"Apparently you didn't clarify what I did Lissa! You knew damn well that things for him would have been better if he knew exactly what I did, that he could have forgiven himself a little bit more."
I looked at her up and down, but when I reached her face I glared at her for the first time in my life. "Why are you so selfish? The one thing that mattered most to me and you took it away." I protected her from everything bad in this world, I would literally give up my life for her, and she took the one thing that I loved more than anything.
"Get out!" A very angry voice commanded. I was sure it was for me. I turned towards the door and saw Christian there. His face was paler than I would have imagined. I gave him the cruelest glare that I could conjure up. He took several steps back.
I walked forward to him, his back against the door and his eyes never left mine. I came up to him, and turned my head to him, but not my body. His expression changed to being hard, but he didn't glare at me.
"Don't worry, I'm going. And I won't be back."I walked out of the house, with a piece of my heart torn. I won't lie, this time I caused it, but she had it coming.
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