Sorry it has taken me a while to update, I promise that the next chapter will not take as long. Make sure to review.
Characters are owned by Richelle Mead.
"Run" Alec said pushing me forward thrusting the SUV keys into my hands. Lissa grabbed my hand and started to pull me forward. I felt like my legs would not move but when Alec pushed me forward again, I quickly turned to retreat to the SUV. Glancing back I could see over fifteen Strigoi attacking the five guardians as Lissa and I fled.
"Give me the keys" Lissa said as we neared the SUV. I handed them to her without hesitation it would take me to long to get into the car behind a steering wheel. I was breathing heavy the nausea was so strong but I knew I couldn't stop until we were in the SUV.
Lissa hit the button to unlock the doors, flinging the door open I climbed in pulling the door closed behind me when the door stopped along with my heart. I glanced up meeting red blazing eyes. Lissa was screaming in the background when she realized what was happening.
I couldn't see past Dimitri's large figure to see if any of the guardians were coming to help so I did the only thing I could think of. I pulled my hand back and threw it forward. Like the door, the movement stopped before I made contact.
"Roza is that anyway to greet me" Dimitri hissed at me holding my fist in his hand before grabbing my arm dragging me from the car.
"Let go of me" I screamed trying to get him to release the tight grip he had on my arm.
"I was hoping you would come with me without causing a scene, I suppose I was wrong" Dimitri said bringing his hand to my nose and mouth. I remember seeing the frightened look in Lissa's eyes before it all went black.
I woke up cold, hungry, and nauseous. It only took me a second to remember what had happened. I immediately sat up realizing the nausea was not from the baby. The room I was in was dark, but I could see a large stiletto next to the wall.
"What have you done?" I asked my voice raspy. I wondered how long I had been out. I felt the baby move and my hand moved instantly to my protruding stomach. I felt tears spring to my eyes, I barely survived the last time Dimitri took me how was I going to get out of here being eight month pregnant and what would he do to my baby. I couldn't stop the tears that flowed freely out of my eyes.
"I told you I was going to get what was mine" he said moving towards me. I immediately moved my body away from him realizing I was on a tiny bed. I attempted to get up when my leg snagged back with the rope he had tied from my leg to the bed.
"You won't get to far don't worry" he said continuing to walk toward me. When he got to the side of the bed he flipped a lamp on illuminating the room with light.
"My Roza how you have changed" he said moving his hand toward my stomach.
"Don't touch me" I shrieked attempting to ball myself up so he couldn't get to my stomach. I knew he was stronger than me and that no matter what I did he could do whatever to me and I wouldn't have a chance.
"Don't be like that Roza, I have plans for our baby" he said sitting on the edge of the bed touching my back. I knew I should not engage in this conversation, but him talking about Adrian and my baby as his sent an anger through me that I had never felt before.
"This is not now nor will ever be your baby" I hissed sitting up to look at him. The feelings that made me hesitate were no longer there. There was still a great amount of sadness that I felt looking into the face of the man I once loved the man that had taught me so much but those feelings were no longer there. My words registered into his brain and his natural reaction was attack.
He leaped up from his position and was on me before I could prepare myself for the assault. My arms were pinned above my head by one of his hands while his body hovered over mine enough were his weight was not on me but his body was still making contact with mine. His other hand moved to my shirt lifting it.
I cried out. "Dimitri don't hurt the baby please, I will do anything you want. Just don't hurt the baby" I said trying to control myself but the sobs were relentless.
"I will not hurt our baby and you don't really have a choice not to do what I want you to" he said running his hand over my stomach. The baby kicked at his hand and continued to kick wherever his hand roamed. I know it sounds crazy, but it was different when she kicked responding to Adrian this was like she knew there was something definitely wrong with the person that was touching her mother.
"We have a feisty one here Roza. You are just like your mother" he said to my stomach before removing his hand from my body.
"I have missed you" he said bending his face toward mine. I turned my head knowing he was going to attempt to kiss me.
"I will not punish you just yet because of the baby, but the sooner you learn to behave the better it will for the both of us" he said lifting his body off of mine.
"I must go and feed, but I can not wait for the day when I can suck on that beautiful neck of yours again" he said running his fingers down my face to my neck. "You smell great by the way" he said climbing to his feet.
I chose silence, I did not want to anger him further to let him know that he would never test my blood again but I didn't want to give him a challenge.
"There is food in the fridge you should be able to reach it with your restraints and don't try to escape if you thought the last time was hard then you will realize that this time it will be impossible" he said walking out of the door after punching in a few numbers on the keypad to unlock the door.
As soon as the door was shut I let the sobs overtake me. I prayed that Lissa and Eddy were safe, Alec was strong he would be ok, but Eric didn't look to good before I passed out. I said a silent prayer for them all.
My thoughts turned to Adrian, I couldn't imagine what he is going through right now, the thought of him brought another round of sobs. Then I realized I could talk to him. Closing my eyes I let the dreams take me away it started off dark and I feared that he would be a wreck and not allow himself to sleep or relax enough to sense me. I wasn't sure if it would work because I had no clue how far I was from him but I called out to him. I must of said his name over twenty times aloud and in my head before the dream started to change.
I was standing by the lake where we had our first dinner together, the night I told him I loved him and we made love.
"Adrian" I called out trying to keep myself from crying. I wanted to be strong for myself but more importantly for him.
"Rose" he said running to me enclosing my body into his arms. "Oh my gosh are you alright? Where are you?" he said pushing his face into my neck while one hand rested on my stomach protectively.
"Adrian we are ok for now, I have no clue where we are" I sobbed into his chest. If my decisions cost him this baby and/or myself I would ever be able to forgive myself.
"Shh Little Dhampir we will figure this out I promise and you know I never break my promises" he said pulling my body from his to look at me. "I need you to protect yourself and the baby. Don't try and fight him because you will just anger him and you will never be able to beat him in your condition. Rose we will find you. Your dad has already called in every favor he can to get help and your mom is calling every academy to see if they can spare guardians to join. I spoke with my aunt she has agreed to give us as many guardians as she can" he said willing me to believe they would find me.
"Your aunt? Somehow I don't believe that" I said cupping his face. I needed to memorize this face to keep me going until I could see it again.
"Well I didn't say she did it knowingly, Lissa and I may have helped her a little bit" he said giving me a soft smile.
"Lissa is ok?" I asked feeling like there was one less thing I had to worry about.
"She is fine, she is just upset. As we all are" he said lowering his mouth to mine. I pulled his face to mine to close the rest of the distance. It was slow and passionate. This was no time to rush anything, we needed to feel each other to have contact both trying to reassure the other that this would end well.
When the kissing came to a stop Adrian pulled me to the recliner that sat in our living room. It was a little amusing to see a recliner next to a lake, but seeing it brought me comfort. Although I had not been a huge fan of the recliners that took up space in our living room and bedroom I soon fell in love with them and Adrian was right the further along I got it became easier to sleep in them sometimes.
"Sit with me" Adrian said sitting down on the chair.
"I am heavy" I warned him but he just smiled and pulled me onto his lap.
"How is she doing?" he said laying his hand on my ever expanding belly.
"Good, she has been kicking" I said.
"I think she knows something is wrong with Dimitri. He touched my stomach earlier and she went crazy, not like when she is excited when you or I touch her and talk to her. It was like she was trying to kick his hand away" I said turning to face him. His face was a mix of emotions and I realized what I had just said.
"He didn't hurt me" I said trying to readjust my body so I could face him completely.
"He is touching you, he is putting his murderous hands on you. I should go so I can figure out what is going on to find you. Some of the guardians and I are going to do a search of an area that Strigoi have seen spotted" he said shifting his body to wrap his arms around me. "I love you, please keep yourself safe until we can find you" he said pulling me closer kissing my lips.
"Adrian he will kill you if he sees you, he doesn't only want me he wants this baby and if he thinks it will be easier to get with you dead he will not hesitate to kill you. I am promising to keep this baby and myself safe but if you are not there to come home to then what do we have left" I said tears pooling in my eyes praying he would understand I could not survive without him.
"We will be fine, we have plenty of guardians to keep us safe. But I need to go, I need to be doing something to bring you home. I love you and will see you soon" he said kissing me again quickly before letting the dream fade back to black.
I woke from the dream my heart racing and tears rolling down my check. This was the only time I wished that Dimitri was back because if he was here that meant he wouldn't be out there while Adrian was searching for me.
"I sat up leaning my back against the small headboard placing a hand on my stomach. The baby kicked instantly leaving her foot protruding out. "I am so sorry monkey" I said my body shuddering as I started to cry again. How could I have been so stupid to think that he had given up. I hadn't seen him in three months and I let myself think that my life was normal and he wasn't coming back. I reached over turning the light off letting the room fall into darkness. Scooting my body down I laid on my side letting my eyes close realizing there was nothing I could do right now and my body was screaming for sleep even though I had just woken up.
I knew Lissa was in my dream before I saw her, she always made the dreams a lot more colorful where as Adrian generally took me somewhere that meant something. Lissa would settle on a park that we had never been to. I heard her before I saw her, the soft sobs that came behind me pulled my attention away from the high clouds that floated gently in the sky while the sun shined brightly.
"Lissa" I said rushing to her side wrapping my arms around her as she sobbed into my shoulder.
"I am so sorry this is my fault. If I didn't suggest the mall you would be home safe and sound" she cried even harder.
"Lissa look at me" I said pulling her body from mine so she was forced to look at me. "None of this is your fault, he would have come sooner or later this was bound to happen and I will not let you blame yourself for something that I agreed on" I said hoping that she understood and didn't blame herself the last thing I needed was her dark depressed thoughts coming through the bond.
"Lissa I need you to be strong for me and the baby" I said hoping she understood what I was saying. The look on her face told me that she did.
"Has he hurt you?" she asked scanning her eyes over my body for injury.
"No, he has a crazy idea that he the baby and I are going to be a family so right now I think the best thing for me to do is play along. If he thinks that I am agreeing he will not harm me and the baby has another month before she comes. I will be home by then" I said praying to God I spoke the truth.
"Do you think that anything would work on him like in the dreams?" she asked a look of hope on her face.
"I am not sure but even if they did, I am not a spirit user so compulsion is out and I don't have the ring you gave me because my fingers have been so swollen I had to take it off" I said watching the look of hope fade from her face quickly. My fingers have been so swollen that my engagement ring was now hanging from a necklace tucked under my shirt. I was attempting to keep it hiding because I knew Dimitri would not be to fond of my new jewelry and I would not have him take it.
"Lissa I need you to do me a favor" I said waiting until I knew I had her attention. "I need you to make sure Adrian takes care of himself and doesn't do anything reckless trying to save us" I said and waited until she nodded her head before I continued. "Spirit is going to become to much for him if he doesn't take care of himself, he is going to be to stressed out to do the exercises that he does to keep spirit from taking over. I need you to make sure he does them and do them with him because the better you have spirit under control the better it will be for the both of us" I said trying not to think about what spirit was probably already doing to him.
"You always worry about us when we should be the ones worrying about you" Lissa said pulling me toward a park bench.
"I love you guys, you all are my life" I simply stated sitting next to her. "Where are we?" I asked looking around the park trying to figure out if I had ever been here.
"It's a park I found at Court, I come here when I need to get away and think" she said looking around the deserted park.
"It is nice" I said thinking it would be a nice place to bring the baby, it had a certain calmness to it that caused you to relax.
"You are starting to wake up" Lissa said her face looked terrified.
"It is ok Lissa, make sure you member what I said" I called out before the dream faded out completely. The nausea hit me as I woke up, my eyes flew open scanning the room to make sure it was Dimitri that had entered and not another Strogoi. It was crazy but I felt like I had some protection from Dimitri, he was adamant about this being our child he wouldn't do anything to jeopardize his child's life. I told myself it over and over again before I spoke.
"You will have to untie me eventually, being unable to move around and reach the bathroom is not realistic when I am eight months pregnant" I said reaching over to turn the lamp on.
"I will not untie you until you have proven that I can trust you will not attempt to escape" he said sitting down on the couch that was in the same room.
"You have already told me that I would not be able to escape anyways so what I the point of this" I said lifting my leg that was tied to the bed. Attempting to look anywhere but his eyes I took another look around the room actually taking it in this time. It was nothing compared to the last place he had keep me, this was more like a hotel the small bed was in the center of the room a small television sat on the dresser, a couch was pushed against the wall and there was a small fridge sitting next to the bed. There were two door other than the entrance I was assuming one was the bathroom and the other a closet.
"Comrade I am eight months pregnant, I can not fight you nor can I out run you. What do you really think I am going to do if you untie me" I said using his old nickname hoping it would cause him to recall the times we had spent together at the academy. It seemed to work slightly, his eyes seemed to soften so I pushed further.
"Actually this place in not suitable to raise a child either. You do not expect me to raise our child in this dingy room do you?" I said feeling sick to my stomach referring to Adrian and my child as Dimitri's.
"Roza I would not put anything past you especially an escape plan at eight months. And we will not be staying here long. When our home is ready we will leave at once" he said his voice still as hard as ever but his eyes seemed to continue to fade.
"Where is here? And where are we going?" I asked hoping he would give me some small detail that may assist me in telling Adrian or Lissa where I was. The softness that had filled his eyes disappeared.
"Do you think that I am a fool Roza" he yelled moving quickly to tower over me. The red in his eyes seemed to be on fire. It killed me to do it but I would do anything to calm him down to keep this baby and myself protected. I reached up grabbing his hand pulling it to my stomach.
"I ask because flying is not safe for your child and I would be to uncomfortable to travel far in my condition" I said smiling at him when the baby responded to his hand on my stomach kicking rather hard. It is to keep us alive until Adrian can figure out where we were I repeated in my head keeping my hand from trembling from his cold touch on my body.
"No flying will take place and your comfort will be taken care of. Is it a girl or boy?" he asked stepping back to see the baby's foot causing a tiny bump in my skin.
"I don't know, we decided to wait until the baby was born to find out" I said placing my hand on my stomach to calm the baby.
"That does not seem logical, I will not know what to buy the baby if I do not know the gender" he said with a pondering look on his face. The more we talked about the baby the more delusional he became. What did he think was going to happen we were going to live like one big happy family. Would he attempt to change me once the baby was born and more importantly would he try and change the baby.
"I am hungry do you have any pizza?" I asked trying to change the subject, I couldn't bare to talk about decorating a baby room for Adrian and my baby with Dimitri.
"No, you can eat a sandwich. Once we get to the new house I will make sure to stock up on pizza until the baby comes" he said moving toward the refrigerator to pull the contents out to make a turkey and cheese sandwich. I didn't bother moving, but sat on the bed watching him pull out mayo, cheese, shredded turkey and lettuce to put on the sandwich. It reminded me of the old Dimitri, the one that was my mentor, my friend, and the first guy I fell in love with.
"I will make sure there is more nutritious food once we get to the house but this will have to do for now" he said handing me the sandwich. Taking a seat on the end of the bed he watched me eat. If I was not pregnant I would have gone without but I wasn't sure how long I had been passed out and the last time I had eaten. Examining the food I took a bite and then another within a few minutes the sandwich was gone and I was still hungry.
"Do you have anything else to eat" I said placing the plate on the bed next to me.
"You really are eating for two aren't you?" he said getting up from the bed grabbing a bag of chips handing them to me.
"Thanks" I said ripping the bag open and finishing half the bag.
"When will we be leaving?" I asked hoping we would stay long enough for Adrian to find me.
"We will stay here tonight and leave once the sun sets tomorrow. The sun is rising and we should rest before the trip" he said standing to remove his shirt and pants. The site that once would have excited me now terrified me of what he was going to do. I stood immediately from the bed to separate us.
"I have to go to the bathroom" I said pulling as much rope as I could to reach the bathroom. Once I was inside I slide the rope under the door so I could close it. Sitting down on the toilet I relived myself. After I washed my hands I put the toilet seat down and sat down. I was not ready to go back out into that room.
Slipping into Lissa's head I was shocked to see what was going on. There were over fifty guardians in the large gym at Court. Amongst the Guardians Adrian stood speaking to my father, my mother was having a conversation with Stan and Alberta.
"Lissa maybe you should go back to the room and get some rest" Christian said touching my shoulder.
"I can't, not until I know that she is safe and on her way home. This is my fault, how could I be so stupid" I said the tears falling from my eyes. How could I be so selfish the first time Rose mentions wanting to go out all I could think about was trying on wedding dresses. I was the one that suggested going to the mall and now Rose was with Dimitri. If we didn't save her I would never be able to forgive myself and Adrian would hate me for the rest of my life as I would hate myself.
"Lissa, you even said Rose does not blame you. You need to stop blaming yourself it does not help the situation" Christian said pulling my hand into his. I smiled at him happy that he could always bring me comfort. Pulling him behind me I walked toward Adrian to see what was going on.
"Any news?" I asked hoping they had found something when they had went out. Adrian looked away from Abe meeting my eyes. I knew he didn't want to blame me but I could tell that part of him did. I was suppose to make sure Rose was safe while he was gone and I failed him.
"Nothing that tells us where he may have taken her. We were able to eliminate the airports and train stations. He would not have taken her any other way beside a car and we would not be able to track that. Since the sun is coming up wherever they are they will be staying for the next ten hours until the sun sets" Adrian said his face in anguish with the lack of progress they had made.
"Where you able to get any information from the license plate number Lissa gave you?" Alec asked standing up. He had a minor cut to his face all his other injuries I was able to heal. Eric was already dead before I could attempt to save him.
"I gave the information to a guy I know that owes me a favor, the car was stolen two nights ago and they have not been able to locate it. The have an APB out for it and will contact me if anyone sees it" Abe said. I never spent much time with Rose's dad but he was a scary man when he wanted to be, but I could tell how much he loved her.
"The guardians and I will continue the search while the sun is up, you guys can stay here and work out where you think he may have taken her since the sun will be such a discomfort for you. You may also want to rest it has been a long twenty-four hours" Alec said before calling forward the guardians so he could tell they where they would be searching.
"The only discomfort that I have is knowing that my fiancé and my child are with a killer right now. I will rest when she is at home safe and away from danger. We got a report that Strigoi have been sited outside of the city, send men out there do not kill them we need them to tell us where Dimitri has taken Rose" Adrian told Alec. I have never seen him so serious and determined. I knew that he loved Rose but I never noticed how much until now.
"We will get her back" I said feeling the need to comfort him.
"I know" he responded before walking away.
I pulled out of Lissa's head tears rolling down my face he seemed so broken. He always told me he would be lost if anything happened to me or this baby and now I was seeing it first hand and the only thing I wanted to do was wrap my arms around him and tell him it would be ok.
"Roza" Dimitri said knocking on the door. "I believe any need you may have should be well meet by now. It is time to come out" he said his voice was quiet but I could hear his irritation.
"I will be right out" I said standing from the toilet and walking to the sink splashing cold water on my face to trying to get some of the puffiness out. Once I felt like he would not be able to tell that I had been crying I walked out and over to the bed. Dimitri was standing next to the wall facing away from me murmuring something on a cell phone.
I climbed into the bed quickly trying to get comfortable, which was difficult because of the small size. Closing my eyes I tried to will myself to sleep hoping Adrian would be waiting for me, maybe he would send Lissa if he could not be there. I felt the bed shift as more weight was added to it. My body tensed as I felt Dimitri's hot breath on my neck. I keep my eyes closed hoping he would think I was asleep.
His hand grazed down my arm stopping at my hand then back up my arm. He had done this the first time we had been together, it once excited me and made me happy I was really with him now I just wanted his hands off of me.
"I am sorry I didn't say it on the bridge but I love you Roza. I have never stopped no matter how evil you think I am" he whispered.
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