Sooooorry I haven't update in a while. I have like a million sac's to do! It's killing me. For those of you who don't know, a sac is just a practise exam, but still pretty intense with all the study and it has left me with like, no time to write.
Enough with the excuses, read and enjoy :)
Disclaimer: the usual, I don't own anything except plot. Characters and all creative rights go to Richelle Mead.
Chapter 17.
Rose's POV.
It was the day off operation "Rescue Christian". Standing outside the Academy on an unseasonably cold morning for this time of year was not the way I – Rose Hathaway – preferred to start my days. But there I was, standing between Lissa and a guardian whose name I didn't know, freezing my ass off. I wrapped my arms around my quivering body in an attempt to slow the shudders that came with each gust of icy wind. This was done to no avail. I grimaced.
I jumped suddenly when I felt something being draped over my shoulders. I whipped around and found myself face to face with Lord Adrian Ivashkov himself. I glanced briefly at my shoulders. Adrian had wrapped his no doubt designer jacket around me. I made to remove it immediately.
"Thanks, but I don't need it," I told him as another gale force wind circled around the quad, making me shiver once again, blowing my bluff. Dammit.
Adrian smirked devilishly and fixed me with an amused look. He apprised my body. I felt like I was being studied under a microscope. Adrian always looked at me with appreciation and never tried to hide the fact that he wanted to get me in bed.
"Yeah, cause you look toasty warm already," he said, sarcasm drenching his words. That irritatingly handsome smirk never faltered. I tried not to say anything immature to him, but I couldn't resist one last quip in his direction. "Jackass," I murmured so low that only Adrian would have heard. He didn't take any offence to my cuss. He simply continued doing what Adrian Ivashkov does best and that's grinning loftily like a Cheshire cat who just caught a particularly good canary. I just shrugged and turned away from him, reluctantly pulling his jacket tighter around me. I didn't like to seem weak, but really, I was freezing. I glanced around and realised that Dimitri was watching us from the front of the crowd of guardians and fire using Moroi. His face was slightly contorted. Yeah, he had seen Adrian's gesture. I tuned out Dimitri's slightly hurt, slightly jealous expression and focused on my mother, Janine Hathaway, the original badass guardian.
Janine was addressing the group at large. "Everyone knows the drill, in and out as fast as we can. We know they will probably have lines of Strigoi stationed around the place in question. There will also be guards inside the room where Mr. Ozera and Mr. Zeklos are being held. I was informed recently this morning by Adrian Ivashkov that the two captives are in separate rooms," a murmur ran through the mass of guardians. People were turning around to find Adrian. He shrank back, not liking the attention. Obviously everyone was wondering how on earth Adrian knew this information. Janine cleared her throat, once again capturing the attention of the momentarily distracted crowd. "Once we land in Russia, Vasilisa Dragomir will then tell us where to go from there." No one questioned this. Everyone knew that the Strigoi had been in contact with the Dragomir Princess.
I was a little worried about how all this was going to go down. Obviously we would lose numbers, but I could only hope that it would be worth it. Usually, when a Moroi is taken by Strigoi, they are considered dead or awakened, but with the information that we had, knowing they were after Lissa and knowing that Jesse and Christian were alive, well, they decided that we would launch a rescue party.
"Come on little dhampir, time to get going," Adrian said quietly, nudging me in the direction of one of the SUVs. I only realised then that everyone had dispersed and were getting into the cars. Lissa grabbed my hand and we made our way to the front. I stopped in front of Dimitri.
"Where to Comrade?" I asked. Dimitri didn't answer at first. He was looking just behind me at something intently. I frowned then remembered that Adrian's hand was still on the small of my back. I took a step forward, just out of his reach. Dimitri's expression calmed. "You two," – he pointed to Lissa and me - "Are coming with me in that car at the back. And you, Mr. Ivashkov are in that one being driven by Guardian Petrov." Dimitri said bluntly to Adrian. I shot him a warning glare that said be nice! He just grimaced. I knew Adrian wasn't fazed by Dimitri's hostility toward him. Nothing much fazed Adrian. Adrian saluted Dimitri, hugged me, lightly punched Lissa on the arm, then departed with a cheerful; "Cya on the plane!"
"Okay, are we going soon?" Lissa asked nervously. She had been a jumble of nerves ever since she came to wake me up this morning. A lot was riding on what happened today and she was understandably freaking out. I could feel her agitation seeping through the bond. I draped my arm around her and hugged her small frame. "It's going to be okay," I murmured in her ear as we followed Dimitri to the black SUV along with four other guardians from the royal court. Lissa just nodded in response.
Once settled in the car beside Lissa and just behind Dimitri who was driving, I allowed myself to relax a little. The airport was a little over two hours away and I decided that getting some sleep would be an okay idea.
I was jolted awake when the car stopped at the air port. I sat up and found my neck had a painful crick in it. I groaned and rubbed the back of my neck. I unbuckled my seat belt and grabbed my bag before getting out of the car. We were one of the last to arrive, I realised.
We made our way to the private plane terminal. The perk of taking a private plane is that it means no customs check for me! On our way we passed a McDonalds and my stomach growled. Dimitri looked at me, amused then slipped away and came back with a double cheese burger, two large fries and a large coke. Ahh, how well he knows me. I grinned. "Thanks Comrade. Chip?" I offered him one of my fries. He chuckled and shook his head causing a strand of his shoulder length hair to come lose and fall into his eyes. Dimitri brushed it back.
"No thank you, Roza." I shrugged. More for me then.
We made our way out onto the tarmac and then up the stair and onto the smallish plane. There was nothing to do now but wait out the long flight to Moscow.
About three hours into the flight, Lissa's phone started to tone. She froze before reaching into her bag to retrieve it. She looked frightened as she glanced that the number. 'Private' flashed across it. "It's them," she whispered. I felt her fear escalate. She composed her face, and slid the bar across to answer her iPhone. "Hello?" she spoke calmly into the phone. Although she appeared content on the outside, on this inside was a completely different story. I could almost hear her heartbeat thumping audibly in her chest. I could only hear one end of the conversation, but it was enough.
"I- no, of course not. No one else is coming with me. I wouldn't risk anyone else's lives." She said indignantly. If I didn't know better, I would think she was actually telling the truth, she was that convincing when she said that she was alone. "About another ten hours," she said. I assumed they had asked her how long until her flight landed.
Dimitri, who was sitting across from us, was watching Lissa intently. Them? He mouthed. I nodded by way of an answer. His body was rigid and ready for attack.
Lissa finished up her conversation and hung up. She let out a huge sigh, closing her eyes and pinching the bridge of her nose like she had a headache. "Are you alright?" I asked concern obvious in my voice.
"Mmmm, just..." she trailed off.
"Just...?" I prompted.
Lissa slowly opened her eyes, showing her brilliant green eyes. "Scared, frustrated, annoyed, tired," she rattled off, slumping back in her seat. "And, I feel helpless."
"Lissa, what we're doing is helping," I said fiercely. She just frowned, but stayed quiet. I left her and got up to sit next to Dimitri. Many of the guardians were asleep, resting up before the fight was to happen.
I growled in frustration as I sat down. "What's wrong Rose?" Dimitri asked softly.
"Lissa. She doesn't realise how much she is helping with this."
"Relaz, Roza. Try and sleep. I'll wake you an hour before we land." Dimitri pulled me against him and hugged me tightly, my back pressed against his hard chest. His hands rested on my torso, fingers interlocked. "Sleep Roza," he murmured and I suddenly found myself ridiculously tired. I fell into a deep slumber wrapped in my Russian badass lover's arms.
I was going to put the actual fight in this chapter, but I wanted to update and if I had continued, I probably wouldn't have an update for you for another week or so. Sorry, if you were looking forward to it. But, it will definitely be the next chapter.