CHAPTER 9

AN: There is one thing I would like to make clearer. Dimitri has MUCH more respect for Adrian than he shows. He just refuses to admit it to himself, so it doesn't show. It will soon, though. After a few more adventures and fights. And Viktoria… Please enjoy.

CHAPTER 9: Viktoria POV

"Brother?" I asked, excited.

"Viktoria! How have you been? Why are you here? How is our family? Are they here, too?" He bombarded me with questions.

I laughed. "It's good to see you again, Dimka. I have been doing good. I am a guardian now, so I got assigned to Court. Our family is doing well, and yes, they are here too." I said, trying to answer all his questions. I also noticed a pretty hot guy standing next to him. "Who's this?"

"Lor-" Dimitri started.

"Adrian. Adrian Ivashkov." The man interrupted.

"Lord?" I inquired.

"Yes. I am Lord Ivashkov's guardian." My brother said, glaring at his charge.

My eyebrows rose in surprise. "Since when?"

"This morning." They both grumbled.

I chuckled. "Well you seem to get along wonderfully." I stated.

Adrian snorted and my brother rolled his eyes.

"And you are?" Adrian asked.

"Viktoria Belikov," I said.

"My sister." Dimka growled.

Adrian raised his eyebrows at him. He took my hand and kissed it. "Pleased to make your acquaintance, Viktoria Belikov-Dimitri's-sister" He said with a straight face.

I tried to keep from laughing. "Likewise, Lord Ivashkov."

"Please, call me Adrian." He said, grinning.

Dimitri was sending death glares at Adrian at this point. He grit his teeth. "Adrian. I believe you were heading somewhere?" He said furiously.

"Chill out, Guardian Belikov. I was just chatting. And it's no hurry." Adrian replied smoothly.

"With my sister." Dimitri grumbled.

"How'd you get on my brother's bad side?" I asked, curious.

"Uh, probably something about the way I chose to dull spirit's side effects and I used to date his girlfriend. Other than that, I have no idea, considering I saved his life…"

"WHAT?" I all but screamed. Girlfriend was probably Rose, but saved his life? "I thought Princess Vasilisa turned him back?"

"She did. This was afterwards, when he killed himself."

"WHAT?" I turned on my brother, who was glaring at Adrian.

"That was not necessary information." He said to Adrian.

"Oh! I think it was very necessary. What would be MORE necessary is explaining why in the hell you would try to kill yourself?" I screamed at him.

"Rose wouldn't take him back, so he staked himself in the heart. We got there to late to heal him, so I brought him back with spirit because Rose still loved him, even if she was being stubborn and wouldn't admit it. It worked, as you can see, so now we are bonded and he is my guardian, which we are equally pleased about. Oh, but he and Rose did get back together, after a few threats…" Adrian explained.

"Thank you for saving my idiot brother." I told him.

"Of course."

I turned to Dimitri. "Now, I have a few questions. Why the fuck did you do that? How the hell would that help ANYTHING? And why are you acting like such an ASS to the guy who SAVED YOUR FREAKING LIFE?" I demanded.

"Because I love her. She said she didn't love me. Do you know what that feels like?" He started. I didn't, and he had a point; it would suck, but still… " And because he gets drunk and has no respect for ANYONE."

"He apparently does, or we would be BURRYING YOU RIGHT NOW!" I yelled.

"I know I owe him my life, and probably my love, but-"

"But what, Dimitri? What the hell else is there? Your family? You wouldn't have us because you would be DEAD! So what?" I demanded.

"He still loves Rose." He murmured.

"And what would the problem be with that if you were dead?" I asked quietly.

"If I may speak, I still love her, but I am no longer IN love with her. She loves you. She always has. There would be no point of me being in love with her, so I'm not. I still care for her, but I'm not in love with her." Adrian spoke.

Dimitri looked shocked.

"There." I said. "Now stop acting like an ass." I said, walking away.

AN: Hope you liked it. I love Viktoria. Not sure if this is how she would act (she actually sounds a lot like Rose…) but I wanted her to knock some sense into Dimitri. Let me know what you think! I'll try to update soon!

-Haru