If you haven't read Frost bite, Shadow Kiss, or the other VA novels I wouldn't suggest reading this, will contain spoilers. I have used some of Richelle Mead's own writing but changed/added to. Hers will be in Italic and where it will be normal print is what is my point of view or what I changed. I hope you enjoy, please review.
Love Ever After
Chapter One
Our escape, it came to be nothing but luck. I don't think there would have ever been enough training for a person to go through what we had.
Flashback
I heard them move almost at the same time I saw them step in front of us. It was like a magician conjured Isaiah and Elena out of thin air. Only, I knew there was no magic involved this time. Strigoi just moved that quickly. They must have been in on of the other main floor rooms that we'd assumed were empty—we hadn't wanted to waste extra time looking. I raged at myself internally for not having ccheck out every inch of the whole floor. Somewhere, in the back of my memory, I heard myself taunting my mother in Stan's class: "It seems to me like you guys messed up. Why didn't you scope out the plae and make sure it was clear of strigoi in the first place? Seems like you could have saved yourself a lot of trouble."
Karma's a real bitch.
"Children, children," crooned Isaiah. "This isn't how the game works. You're breaking the rules." A cruel smile played over his lips. He found u amusing, no real threat at all. Honestly? He was right.
"Fast and far, Mason," I said in a low voice, never taking my eyes off the strigoi.
"My, my . . . if looks could kill . . ." Isaiah arched his eyebrows as something occurred to him. "Are you thinking you can take us both on by yourself?" He chuckled. Elena chuckled. I gritted my teeth.
No, I didn't think I could take them both on. In fact, I was pretty sure I was going to die. But I was also pretty sure I could provide one hell of a distraction first.
I lunged toward Isaiah but pulled the gun on Elena. You could get a jump on human guards but—not on strigoi. They saw me coming practically before I even moved. They didn't expect me to have a gun, though. And while Isaiah blocked my attacking body with almost no effort whatsoever, I still managed to get a shot off at Elena before he seized my arms and restrained me. The gun's report rang loud in my ears, and she screamed in pain and surprise. I'd aimed for her stomach but had been jostled into hitting her thigh. Not that it matter. Neither spot would kill her, but the stomach would have hurt a lot more.
Isaiah held my wrists so hard, I thought he'd break the bones. I dropped the gun. It hit the sloor, bounced, and slid towards the door. Elena shrieked in rage and clawed at me. Isaiah told her to control herself and pushed me out of reach. All the while, I flailed as much as possible, not so much to escape as to make a nuisance of myself.
And then: the sweetest of sounds.
The front door opening.
Mason had taken advantage of my distraction. He'd left Eddie with Mia and sprinted around me and the grappling strigoi to open the door. Isaiah had turned with that lightening-fast speed of his—and screamed as sunlight pored over him. But even though he was suffering, his reflexes were still fast. He jerked himself out of the patch of light into the living room, dragging Elena and me with him—her by the arm and me by the neck.
"Get them out!" I yelled.
"Isaiah—" began Elena, breaking out of his grip.
He shoved me to the floor and spun around, staring at his escaping victims. I gasped for breath now that his grip on my throat was gone and peered back at the door through the tangle of my hair. I was just in time to see Mason drag Eddie over the threshold, out into the safety of the light. Mia and Christian were already gone. I nearly wept in relief.
Isaiah turned back on me with all the fury of a storm, his eyes black and terrible as he loomed over me from his great height. His face, which had always een scary, became something almost beyond comprehension. "Monstrous" didn't even begin to cover it.
He jerked me up by my hair. I cried out at the pain, and he brought his head down so that our faces were pressed up to on another's.
"You want a bite, girl?" he demanded. "You want to be a blood whore? Well, we can arrange that. In ever sense of the word. And it ill not be sweet. And it will not be numbing, It will be painful—compulsion works both ways, you know, and I will make sure you believe you are suffering the worst pain of your life. And I wil also make sure your death takes a very, very long time. You will scream. You will cry. You will beg me to end it all and let you die—"
"Isaiah," cried Elena in exasperation. "Just kill her already. If you'd done it sooner like I said, none of this would have happened."
He kept his grip on me but flicked his eyes towards her.. "Do not interrupt me."
"You're being melodramatic," she continued. Yeah, she really was whiny. I never would hve thought a strigoi coud do that. It was almost comical. "and wasteful."
"Do not talk back to me, either." He said.
"I'm hungry. I'm just saying you should—"
"Let her go, or I'll kill you."
We all turned to a new voice, a voice dark and angry.
Mason stood in the doorway, framed in light, holding my dropped gun. Isaiah studied him for a few moments.
"Sure," Isaiah finally said. He sounded bored. "Try it."
I noticed behind Mason stood Mia. She had a glint to her eyes and was surveying the room and I looked at the direction she was looking in. Above the first place sat two swords.
I look back as Mason began to fire, I ran across the room by passing Elena trying to grab me. I got the sword and pulled it out holding it towards Elena's throat. She was no in front of me and the tip was almost touching her. I snuck a glance to Mason as I heard a click, he was out off bullets. But he was still in the sunlight with Mia behind him.
I looked back at Elena and saw the fury in her face. "Try me," was all she said before lunging. The sword was heavy and dull but I still managed. I swung it out towards her hitting her in the knee. Catching her by surprise because he had expected me to go for her head and she went knees down to the ground.
She quickly recovered as Isaiah came up putting his hand on the sword. "Now, kids should be playing with such dangerous toys." He said with a smile on his face.
Suddenly, I heard an explosion. The aquarium burst apart as water shot out of it, shattering the glass. Pieces of it flew towards us, but I barley noticed. The water coalesced in the air, forming a lopsided sphere. It began to float. Toward us. I felt my jaw drop as I stared at it.
They watched it too, more puzzled than scared. At last until it wrapped around Isaiah's face and started suffocating him.
Much like the bullets, suffocation wouldn't hill him. But it could cause him a hell of a lot discomfort.
Hands flew to his face, desperately trying to "pry" the water away. It was no use. His fingers simply slipped through.
Elena forgot about me and ran to him.
"What is it?" She shrieked. She shook him in an equally useless effort to free him. "What's happening?"
Elena had her back to me and didn't give me any attention. Without thinking or feeling, I acted in the way I knew would effect best. I ran and slammed the end of the sword down on the back of Elena's neck.
She screamed out in pain as the action took her to her knees. With out hesitation I swung again, and again. Not stopping, not until her head was taken from her shoulders. It took a good few hits but it works.
I look at Isaiah and I see Mason standing in front of him. Blood dripping from his hands in a heavy flow, he has a huge shard of glass from the aquarium in a tight grip. The water effects were wearing off slowly; I look to the door and see Mia being held up by Christian.
I heard a loud scream and saw Mason has plunged the shared into Isaiah's chest, right where his heart should be. The scream had come from Mason as his hand had been cut wider.
Isaiah emitted a strangled scream through the water and collapsed to the floor. His eyes rolled back in his head as he blacked out from the pain.
He wasn't dead, of course, but he was temporarily down for the count.
I ran to Mason and pushed him away raising my sword "Go, I told you, do not come back without a heard of guardians. Forget me and get them out that was your job."
I swung the sword doing the same thing to Isaiah that I had done to Elena. But he was old and powerful. On my second swing he grabbed my ankle and brought his mouth to it.
At the sudden bite, I scream in pain and drop my sword. Mason was almost to the door until he turned around and saw me. He stood frozen for a minute.
I let out another scream and could hear people yelling my name as he bites into me again and harder. Mason ran, picked up the sword and hit his neck again. Giving me the small of a second I needed to pull away.
He must have taken a lot or just really hurt me because I tried to stand up and end up falling I had to drag myself way. I watched as I saw Mason swing. He was swinging with a force stronger than mine and faster but not by much. I looked down at Isaiah and noticed his head no longer attached, but Mason continued to swing.
With effort and help from the couch I got up. I looked at the door and saw Mia wanted to come in but I shook my head to stop her, stopping her dead in her tracks.
I walk closer to mason. "Mase" I say in my best calming, sweet, whisper of a voice. "Mason"
He finely stopped. He turned around and dropped the sword. I saw tears falling down his face. I swayed a little on my feet. I was going to fall or probably pass out. My vision blurred.
And just as I was about to fall Mason caught me and we both fell, him to his knees, and me to my side. He held me tight to his chest and I held his back. In that moment I didn't care that we we're drenched in blood, that my ankle was bleeding heavily, or that I was about to pass out. All I cared about was him. He laid his head on mine and cried kissing my forehead.
He needed me and I needed him in that moment. I laid in his arms and became oblivious to everything: to the world around me, to time itself. Seconds could have assed. Hours could have passed. I didn't know. I didn't know anything except that I couldn't leave Mason. I existed in an altered stat, a state that just barely kept the terror and grief at bay. I couldn't believe I'd just summoned death.
Footsteps and voices eventually sounded, and I lifted my head. Mason rubbed my hair as people poured in through the door, lots of them. I couldn't really make out any of them. I didn't need to.
My vision blurred again and the last thing I heard before passing out was that sweet Russian accent.
When I woke up I was laying in a dimmed room in a bed that wasn't mine. I sat up all too fast and fell back down. I closed my eyes to stop the dizziness.
"Rose" I knew that voice anywhere.
I opened my eyes to see Lissa. But she wasn't alone, in the small space stood Dimitri, Alberta, Adrian, and my mother. I blinked again as I remembered what happened.
"Rose, how do you feel?" Alberta asked.
I went to speak but my throat hurt. I put a hand to my throat and Lissa handed me a bottle of water. I took a sip then answered her.
"A little dizzy" I said. I finely got a real good look around and noticed I was in a hospital room or something and then I looked at my arm and saw the worst thing possible. I had a think IV in my arm and running through it was a red liquid.
I didn't give anyone a chance to say anything else. I screamed and jumped back trying to rip it out of my arm. Two hands held my shoulders and laid me back and one other grabbed my hand and pinned it down.
I was sobbing and had tears pouring down my face. "What happened? Where are the others?"
Lissa took a seat on the bed next to me and wrapped her arms around me but it was my mom who answered.
"Eddie is in the room next door. Mason is in class along with Christian and Mia at school." My sobs slowed to sniffles.
"How is Eddie?" He had to be worse than me from the abuse he took.
"He's fine just has an IV and recovering; you will both make a full recovery." The doctor said walking in.
I just nod to him. "I'm going to need a few of you to leave, one or two can stay. He said making his way to a beeping machine and pressing a button to stop it. He took my vitals and jotted down something on a clip board. "Well Miss Hathaway you will make a full recovery and you will be able to tomorrow morning." He smiled at me.
"Thank doc" I said. He left the room as Mason came in. Lissa and my mom both got up to leave.
Mason wrapped me in a hug so tight before they even left the room. "I'm so glad you're okay." He said kissing the top of my head.
He pulled up a chair next to the bed and sat holding my hand. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm okay" I said studying him. He had a sad glint to his eyes. "What's wrong?" I asked.
He cleared his throat. "I just, I'm sorry I didn't get there in time to stop him. I—"
I cut him off. "Mason, don't worry about it, I knew what I was getting into before I told you to get them out. To be honest I wasn't sure I would get out alive." I couldn't believe I just said that. His eyes watered and he had me in another death grip of a hug.
"Don't ever think like that, you did an amazing job." I hugged him back.
"I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking when I told you that." He sat down taking my hand again.
"Rose, I have to tell you something." He didn't give me the chance to ask what. "I am leaving for a while, my mom wants me to come home for a few months and finish school there. I don't want to go but she wants me home to spend time with me. This whole thing has freaked her out."
I looked in his blue eyes, they looked sad. So I plastered a small smile on my face hoping to cheer him up. "You know maybe it would be good to spend more time with your mom, plus I'll see you again after we graduate it's only five-six months away."
He gave me a small smile. "That feels like a life time away right now."
"When do you leave?" I asked.
He looked down. "I leave this afternoon." You have got to be kidding me, he can't leave not his soon. I just woke up.
Understanding my thoughts he planted a kiss on my cheek. "It's just a few months. Plus I'll wait on you." Oh god. I didn't even think of that yet.
"Will you keep in touch with me?" I asked.
He nods his head to me. "I will call you everyday." Just then the door opened up and Dimitri walked in. Mason saw this and became a little annoyed.
He kissed my forehead once more. "I will see you again before I leave."
"Okay" I whispered. He left the room shutting the door behind him. Dimitri didn't sit down; he just stood at the end of my bed with a guardian mask on his face. I could see the anger in his eyes.
"Well comrade what can I do for you?" I asked.
"Listen for once." Whoa, he really was pissed. I swallowed a sip of water and looked away from him, the wall suddenly becoming interesting.
"Roza," He began, which really pissed me off. How can he use my Russian name and still have the nerve to be mad at me. "This whole thing, it could have been avoided."
I snapped my head around to look at him. "What?" seriously did he just say that.
Ignoring me he continued. "This is your fault. If you hadn't of told Mason in the first place because you we're mad at me, none of this would have happened. Eddie wouldn't be in here and neither would you. Moroi lives wouldn't have been put in danger and neither would yours."
He said it as two meaning behind that but I ignored it. He wasn't going to be given the satisfaction of being an ass and use my feelings for him at the same time.
"Seriously your pinning this on me?" I wanted to yell but figured not such a good idea in a hospital.
"Well if you can think of anything else better, please enlighten me." He said back in his thick accent.
I huffed at that. "Why don't you try looking in the mirror? You're supposed to be a guardian, why tell a novice guardian business?" Low I know, but half true.
"I realize my mistake in this, I shouldn't have trusted you and I wont make the same mistake twice. For get about what happened on the ruff top. I was right before you are childish, this only proves it more." With that he left the room. I rolled on my side and cried myself to sleep.
I knew he was right, it was my fault. I told Mason and if I hadn't they wouldn't have left and we wouldn't have been taken. Lives would have never been put on the line.
End Flashback
It has now been two week since that god offal day. Mason stuck to his word and calls everyday. We aren't dating any more, kind of hard to being so far apart. He also calls Eddie too.
Dimitri and I took up our practice three times a day now, and half of those Tasha decided to grace her presence with. It was annoying, she did nothing but watch us, well Dimitri anyways. When I ran they talked. Dimitri never talked to me unless it was about what we would do today and if he was correcting me. He would get frustrated and so would I, making the situation worse.
Mia went off to court to stay with her dad. He was a complete mess when he got to the lodge from what Lissa and Adrian say. He had dropped planning his wife funeral to come there when his daughter was taken. He should have been grieving the loss of his wife, instead he was worried he would lose his daughter too.
In the end when we came back he made her go off to court with him where he worked. She was to finish school there, we haven't heard from her since and I kind of miss her. I never got to tell her thank you and that I was sorry, apparently water was a good element to have
Slowly we all got back into our regular routine of our lives. Lissa and Adrian would practice spirit with Christian, Eddie, and I hanging around. Lissa and I would hang out unless she wanted to be alone with Christian. When she was I would spend my time practicing with Dimitri or with Adrian and Eddie.
Adrian was still up to his usual sending me flowers and gifts. I gave up on sending them back and just accepted them and surely enough he stopped sending them so much.
My mom came back to school with me for a few days and then went back to her charge. We actually spent time a lot of time together why she was here and had some heart to hearts. She told me about my dad when I asked about him.
Apparently they had kept in touch and she had decided for me when I was young it would be a good idea to not have him in my life until I was older, that changed after the attack. I had talked to him through email and on the phone a few time but I hadn't met him yet. I wasn't mad at her for it after she explained why she had decided to have it that way.
His name is Abe Mazur and he is a well protect, rich non-royal moroi. She didn't tell me his exact job and neither did he because it wasn't "wise". I didn't question that, knowing there much be a good reason. He lives in Turkey but he travels all the time. He was busy working until March when he was going to get a break and he planned to visit me then.
I didn't tell anyone about him except Lissa, because I told her everything. Well except about Dimitri and I and I still regret that. I wanted to tell her but still wasn't sure. I hated seeing Tasha with him so much.
I would never admit my feelings though, I have come to terms with ignoring them. He hurt me when he said what he did at the hospital and I wasn't ready for forgive him just yet.
I was finishing with my morning run and on my way back to the gym where Dimitri and Tasha were. I opened the door and walked in, only now no one was here, weird.
I sat down on the matt and decided to stretch some more. Dimitri came back a few minutes later. "Where's your girlfriend?" I asked.
He had his guardian mask up as normal. "Not here." Well that was obvious.
"Tell me something I don't know." I said sarcastically.
"I told her she couldn't come to practice any more." I stood up.
"Why the hell did you say that?" Not that I cared but I was curious.
"Language Rose" He barked. "And because I didn't want her here during our time." I studied him for a minute but waved it away. I didn't know what to think of that but I wasn't going to get my hopes up anymore.
"Well, are we going to spar or not?" I said.
"Yeah" He said and he came to the mats in his fighting stance.
"Roza, I want to apologize." Oh, two weeks later and you can find your heart again. I thought sarcastically.
"For what"
"For what I said to you at the hospital, I—"
I cut him off. "Look Dimitri let's just forget, plus I'd hate for you to make the same mistake twice." Venom dripping from the words that just rolled off my tongue.
"Roza—"I cut him off again. "Let's just spar." I said and he had his mask back up again.
Not being the first to lung this time, He went and I side stepped him. Kicking him in the back of the knee and watching as it bent but before he could go down he caught himself and he turned to face me. This time I lunged and expecting me to hit, I changed my move at last minute and kicked out at his knee again, this time the front and then punched, catching him completely by surprise. He went to punch back but I blocked it and hit him again.
I was so pissed that he thought after what he said to me that I would forgive him after weeks and that it would be okay after spending so much time with Tasha that I would want our relationship to return to the way it was. No I'm childish and I wanted to show him just how childish I could be.
I lashed out to kick but he quickly caught my leg and spun me around and I landed on my side. I scrambled to get up but was caught with him on top of me. I struggled to move and wiggle my way out from under him I was almost out when he put his hand to my body.
"Dead" He whispered out of breath. I fell flat to the matt giving up for a minute to catch my breath.
He didn't move his hand off of me. Instead he slid them down to both sides of my hips. I looked up at him and noticed he was breathing hard to and his mask was completely down. He had a look of pure adoration in his eyes.
"Roza, I'm sorry" I could say anything. He moved on hand to move a piece of hair out of my face and the next thing he did shock me more. He kissed me, in the middle of the gym where anyone could walk in at any minute.
His kiss was soft and sweet and lingered on my lips for a small second and just as he was about to pull away I kissed him back and soon increased, becoming something heady and deep. When he pulled away, was to kiss my forehead. He left his lips there for several seconds as his arm held me close.
I wished the kiss could have gone on forever. Breaking the embrace, he ran a few fingers through my hair and down my cheek.
He stood up and helped me up to my feet. Holding my hand and kissing me on last time. He stepped back toward the door.
"I'll see you later, Roza."
"At our next practice?" I asked.
"Yes, I'll see you after lunch and then before dinner." He smiled at me and left.
I grabbed my crop top I had set on chair and put it back over my tank top and walked to my door. What the hell had just happened back there? I guess I really could forgive him so easily, maybe my feelings weren't hidden like I thought they we're.
Please review! I'm sorry if this is kind of boring but I have to kick it off some how, the next few chapters I hope to have up fast and things will get crazy soon enough! I hope I don't disappoint.