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Rose POV
"Hey Mia, can I have a black coffee please?" I ask barely awake. I grab the change out of my pocket and dump it on the counter, a few pennies rolling onto the floor. I bend down to pick them up when I hear a wolfe whistle from behind me. I stand up and pull down my sunglasses to the end of my nose and look to see who the admirer is. Of course, it's Guardian Conner. I smile and give him a wink. He walks over to me and orders a coffee for himself. "What are you doing up this early?" I ask him. He isn't dressed in his uniform, so I'm guessing he's off.
"I'm actually going with you today to guard Lord Ivashkov." he says. He knows my rule about not dressing in uniform when guarding Adrian in public. We need to blend in with everyone else, and the uniforms are a beacon letting Strigoi know Moroi are near.
"What happened to Guardian Smith?" He's Adrian's other sanctioned guardian that usually comes with us on these outings.
"He's scheduled at the back gate and asked if I could help him out. He let me choose which assignment to do, and I couldn't pass up a chance to spend the day with the sexiest guardian around." he says nudging me in the ribs. At least I'll have someone fun around me to keep me from choking Emily to death.
"Here you go Rose. One coffee, black. You guarding Adrian today?" Mia asks while handing me my cup of Joe.
"Yep. Wish me luck." I say lifting my cup up in thanks and turning to get out of Conner's way. He gets his coffee and we walk out and to the car together, sipping as we go. We get there and see that Adrian and Emily, with that damn dog, and her two guardians waiting for us. Her Guardians are Guardain Gruber and Guardian Jenkins. Gruber is a big burley blonde guy and Jenkins is a petite brunette woman with a bob hairdo. Both are dressed in the black and white staunchy uniforms. I stop where I am and stare, mouth open, at them. "What the hell are you wearing? You can't blend in wearing those clothes. Go change into something more appropriate for a mall trip." I myself am dressed in my favorite low cut jeans and a red tank top that stops just above my belly botton. I also have my best ass-kicking boots on. They're great for hiding an extra stake. The fact that Adrian loves this outfit on me had nothing to do with the decision to wear it. Yeah right. Conner is even wearing jeans and a concert tshirt for some band I never heard of.
"I will not be escorted around by guardians in street clothes. They will wear the formal attire that proper guardians wear." Emily spats. It is just too early to deal with this shit. I walk up to her and stand just a couple feet away.
"My job is to protect Lord Ivashkov at all costs. Having your guardians in clothes that scream "Hey Strigoi, royal Moroi over here, come have a snack" makes my job that much harder. The longer we can go without attracting attention, the better. Since I'm Adrian's head guardian, I am in charge, and I say they wear their civilian clothes." I say to her. I look over to her two guardian who are waiting for the final word on what to do and I wave them off. Emily looks appalled that I talked to her that way.
"How dare you talk to me like that, or address him so casually. He is Lord Ivashkov to you." she glares at me. I look over to Adrian, as does she for the final word.
"Emily, Rose is more than my guardian, she's my best friend. She knows when to address me formally and other times I prefer her to use my first name." he says. I look over to her and give her a 'ha ha, I won' smile.
"Well, I hope my guardians know better than to dress like common trash." she says looking over my outfit. My blood starts to boil immediately as my fists clench and I fight the urge to punch her lights out when I feel Conner come up behind me and put both hands on my arm and start rubbing them up and down, calming me. He leans down to whisper in my ear.
"Personally, I think you look hot." I can't help but laugh at that. I can see Adrian eyeing Conner's hands so I step out of his reach. While we wait for the other guardians to return, I need to talk to Adrian.
"Can I speak to you please, Lord Ivashkov." I say his title sarcastically for Emily's benefit as I pull him away to speak privately. When we're out of hearing range, I start. "Umm, I was planning on taking a trip to the mall to get a few things today, but since I'll be on duty, I can't pick them up. I don't want to go back afterwards, so could you by any chance get them for me?" I ask with my puppy dog eyes he can never resist.
"Of course, you know I'd do anything for you. What do you need?" he smiles that smile that melts my core. I pull out a piece of paper from my hip pocket with a list of items I need and hand it to him.
"Not much. It's just some body butter and shampoo and conditioner from Bath and Body Works. Here are the ones I use." I point to the list with the details on it. He looks it over and puts it in his pocket. I dig into my purse and pull out some money to give to him to purchase my items and hand it to him. Adrians sighs and puts the money back in my bag.
"Rose, it's my treat." I start to protest, but he gives me a firm look that tells me I'm not winning this battle, so I put my hands up in surrender and let him offer to pay. He looks over to Emily and then back to me, frowning.
"She's watching us, otherwise I'd try to steal a kiss." he says staring off into the distance. I smile to myself at his admission.
"That probably wouldn't be a very good idea anyway. I need to stay focused on the task at hand, keeping you alive. If you were to kiss me, I'd be thinking about that all afternoon instead looking out for danger." I say playfully, but still seriously at the same time.
"Well, if you didn't want me to kiss you, you shouldn't have worn that outfit you know I love on you." he smirks. I roll my eyes and grab his elbow to take him back to the car.
"Behave yourself." I tell him before we get back to her. Her guardians finally make it back looking much better and I go over the rules. "Alright, we'll be near and far guards. Guardian Gruber and I will be near and you two will be far. I'm sure Lady Conta wants us to be inconspicuous, so we'll keep a safe distance to give them some privacy. Keep your radios on at all times. Let's go. Conner I'll let you drive since you know where we're going." We all start to get in when Emily hands Spartacus over to Gruber to take on a last minute walk. This is going to be a miserable day. Finally, we get in the car and start driving to the mall. I sit in the back with Jenkins and have to watch Emily flirt with Adrian the whole drive over. She keeps playfully bumping his shoulder and touching him whenever she can. I so want to wrap my hands around her throat and squeeze.
We get to the mall, and I get out first to make sure there are no Strigoi about. I know that odds are low since it's still light out, but you can never be too sure. Adrian helps Emily out of the car like the gentleman he is and she takes his hand as we walk to the enterance. I glare at their hands as Guardian Gruber and I follow them in. The first store they stop at is a designer bag store. Gruber and I follow them in, looking over the store for any danger while Conner and Jenkins stay on watch outside. I hear a loud squeel and I turn to find out where the hell it came from, only to see Emily jumping up and down in front of a large dog carrier bag. The salesman gets a bag from the back and rings her up at the counter while I stroll over to the display to see what the big deal is about. It doesn't look all that impressive to me, especially for the two thousand dollar price tag on it. Can't she find something better to do with her money?
As we're leaving the store, I see Emily start to come over to us to give Gruber her bag, but Adrian takes it and carries it after he sees the look I shoot her. As they get to Bath and Body Works, Adrian pulls Emily inside to get the items I requested. He grabs a hand basket and pulls out the list and starts shopping. I stand by the enterance, watching him with amusement. He grabs the body butter I have on the list and Emily looks at him with confusion.
"You use this?" she asks as she holds up a tub of the butter. Adrian shakes his head and lightly laughs.
"No, Rose asked me to get her a few items since she's on duty when this was supposed to be her day off. I'm helping her out." he tells her. She looks over to me and glares.
"You run errands for your guardian?" she asks appalled. "I think you have it backwards, Adrian." I look over to Guardian Gruber and he just shrugs at me. I think Lady Conta is way overdue for an attitude adjustment.
"I told you before, Emily, Rose is my best friend. I love helping her out when I can, especially when you consider that she'll give her life to save mine, and nearly did a couple times. The least I can do is get her some shampoo." Adrian tells her, getting a little pissed with her. Then , instead of just getting the couple items on my list, he starts throwing all sorts of stuff in the basket. I want to go over and tell him to stop, but the look on Emily's face was too funny. So I just stand back and enjoy the show. Even Gruber cracks a smile at her annoyed expression. He pays for the items and walks out, giving me a wink as he passes.
As we follow the Moroi around from store to store, I try to get to know Guardian Gruber better by asking him questions.
"So Grube, how long have you been guarding Spartacus and the bitch that carries him around?" He seems stunned by my bluntness and overall disregard for his charge, but answers anyway.
"Three years." he says stiffly, eyes continually moving watching our surroundings.
"I don't know how you do it. I think I'd be in jail for kicking her ass the first day I was assigned to her." I look him over and see him stiffen at my inspection. "I bet you have an outlet for all your frustration, though. Hmm, let me guess. Do you have a voodoo doll that looks just like her that you stick pins in and torture wishing it were her?" I ask hoping it's something cool like that. I see the corner of his mouth pull up a bit.
"Actually, I go to the batting cages not far from their estate and imagine each ball is her head." he whispers, probably afraid that she'll hear him. I laugh imagining him hitting little Emily heads for home runs. Conner and Jenkins must have heard our conversation through the earpieces because I hear them chuckling through mine.
"Conner, you better be paying attention to more than just my ass back there." I tease. He doesn't respond right away, but I can imagine him blushing.
"Sorry Hathaway, but maybe you shouldn't wear something so distracting." I gave my butt a little extra shake after that and everyone laughed. I doubt that Gruber and Jenkins have ever laughed while on duty. I'm such a bad influence.
Finally, Emily decides she's hungry and needs to eat. I was hungry an hour ago, but what I want doesn't matter. Adrian and Emily sit together at one table while we guardians sit at another, not too far away. This way, we can each watch the entire area together and eat at the same time. The guys go and get food for us ladies while we guard Emily and the mut. Conner ordered me a burger and some tator tots. I pick up a tot and look over to Gruber and mouth the word 'Emily' and chomp on it and start chewing vigorously, causing our table to erupt in laughter. I see Emily throw a disapproving look our way, so we settle down as much as possible. But each time a throw a tot in my mouth, giggles would start. Adrian looks over to me with a confused look on his face and I give him my best innocent look and shrug my shoulders. He smiles at me and shakes his head knowing I'm up to something.
I look over to their table during lunch to see Emily flirting again and feeding Adrian french fries and wiping his mouth with a napkin. I hate the fact that she's touching him like that and there's nothing I can do about it. I just chomp on my tator tots even harder to relieve some of the stress watching them is causing me.
Lunch is over, so we go along again, going from store to store. This time Conner is with me and he has his arm around my waist. I hope he isn't getting too attached to me and taking the fun flirting too seriously like Mason. I'll have to talk to him about it later. Emily drags Adrian into a jewelry store and starts looking around. She sees something she likes and shows Adrian. Conner and I look around too, pretending to be a couple. We look at the engagement rings which aren't too far from where Adrian is with Emily. My eye stops at this gorgeous emerald ring with two diamonds on either side of it. The emerald is the same shade of green as Adrian's eyes. It's so beautiful I can't stop staring.
"You like that one?" Conner asks me. I look up to him and nod my head. I ask the salesperson who has been hovering over us since we walked in, how much it was. The fifteen thousand dollar price was too rich for my blood. Oh well. I look over and see Adrian paying for something. Great. He already bought her jewelry. She looks so happy jumping up and down next to him. She leans in and gives him a kiss on the cheek as they walk out. My hands close into tight fists and I have to remember to do my deep breathing exercises to relax. I remind myself that Adrian is doing all this for me, so I calm down.
Finally, Emily is tired and wants to leave. Of course, it's now dark outside and the risk of running into Strigoi is dangerously high considering our past experiences. We get to the doors that lead outside and I look over to see Emily handing Guardian Gruber a bunch of bags to carry. I close my eyes and pinch the bridge of my nose and remind myself not to kill her. I walk over to Gruber and snatch the bags from him and shove them at Emily. "He is your guardian, not a porter. He can't fight Strigoi and hold these for you. You wanted to buy this stuff, you carry it or hire someone for that specific purpose." I tell her getting angrier at her shocked expression. "I need him to be alert and ready to fight." I have them all position themselves around the two Moroi with me in front and Conner next to Adrian. As we start walking to the car, I feel the nausea kick in. "Shit!"
I look around and see five Strigoi walking toward us from my left. "There are five on the left. Let's pick up the pace." We all start walking faster toward the car and I can hear Emily start to panick. Just what I need. As the pack of Strigoi get closer, I know we need to face them head on if we have any chance of getting out of here alive. I turn and stop right in front of what appears to be the leader. In the back of my mind I wonder if they work for Stephan and if he's close by. I pull my stake out of my holster and get ready to fight.
"Well, well, well. If it isn't the legandary Rose Hathaway. The tales of your beauty don't due you justice." the lead guy says in what sounds like an Italian accent. If it wasn't for the red ringed eyes and the fact he wants to kill me, I would be flattered by his compliment and charm. "I can't wait to see if the rest of the story about you is true."
"If you're referring to how lethal I am, then yes, it's true. Too bad you'll be dead right after you see it first hand." I tell him as I keep my eyes on his, his smile getting even bigger.
"You have spunk, my pretty Dhampir. I'm going to have fun with you." he says as he snaps his fingers and the other Strigoi come at us. I run up to one and begin fighting. He's strong and gets a good punch to my ribs, causing me to stumble, but I recover quickly and continue. He makes a mistake and leaves an opening where I quickly take advantage and plunge my stake into his heart. I look over and see the others fighting, so I run to Adrian and Emily to make sure they're alright. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Guardian Jenkins having some trouble, so I join her and take down the Stigoi in seconds.
Just as we are about to go help the guys, I see three more coming up behind Adrian and Emily. I run over and and start fighting all three at once. Now I'm very thankful for all the extra training I've been doing. I manage to get one staked, but the other two are still attacking. Suddenly, I hear barking getting closer and Spartacus come running up to me. I try to ignore him and focus on the Strigoi, but then Emily screams and runs in my direction to get the dog. Strigoi number three took the opportunity and grabbed Emily when she got too close. Stupid girl. I reached down into my boot and took out the silver dagger I had hidden. I cut the one I'm fighting in the leg, which causes him to scream bloody murder. I then stand up and punch him in the face, making him stumble, and then stake his heart. I turn just in time to see the Strigoi bite down on Emily's neck. I run over to him and he throws her down to the ground, still alive. I start fighting this one, but he's more skilled than the others. He was definitely a guardian before he was turned.
"You're not bad guardian, but I'm better." he says.
"Apparently not if you lost at least one fight, considering you were turned and all." I taunt him. That seems to have just angered him. He hits me hard with a backhand that sends me flying on my back. I lie there still, waiting for him to come over and finish the job. As soon as I feel he's right on top of me, I sit up and jam my stake into his chest, hitting his heart. His body falls on top of me, and I use what energy I have left to push him off. I reach my hand back and feel blood in my hair and black spots start flashing in my eyes. I look around and see Adrian alive and running towards me. The nausea is gone so I know it's safe.
"Rose, are you okay? Can you get up?" he fusses over me. He helps me stand up, but I'm dizzy so he helps me walk to the car. Guardian Gruber picks up Emily while Jenkins grabs Spartacus and runs to the car. Conner calls the alchemist and we take off back to Court. Adrian wants to heal me, but I stop him.
"You need to heal Emily. It'll look suspicious if you heal me instead of her, since you're supposed to be dating and all. I'll be fine. Tough guardian, remember." I force a laugh, hoping he believes me. He doesn't, but does as I wish anyways. Adrian trades places with Guardian Gruber who lets me rest my head on his shoulder. Adrian heals Emily and she immediately grabs the dog and starts crying about how he was almost killed. I'm sitting behind her bleeding with most likely a couple broken ribs, not to mention the fact I just saved her miserable life and she cares more about the dumb dog. I can see Adrian get pissed and about to explode, when I shake my head to stop him.
Just as I am about to say something to her, Guardian Gruber speaks up. "Lady Conta, Guardian Hathaway was almost killed saving your life. I think you could at least show her some gratitude." he says calmly, though I can hear irritation in his voice.
"Gratitude? All you people have been telling me is that your job is to keep us safe from Strigoi. Well, since I was almost killed by one, I don't think I have anything to be thanking her for." she yells. I sit up in my seat, madder than hell and pull my arm back, ready to strike, when Gruber wraps his arms around me, pinning my arms to my sides, effectively restraining me.
"She's not worth it." he whispers in my ear. That's the second time I've been told this fact. If she keeps it up, it will be worth any punishment I recieve to beat the crap out of her. We get back to Court and her guardians walk her and her bags to her apartment. She wants Adrian to walk with her but he's so pissed right now, he declines.
"Sorry Emily, but I need to make sure Rose is alright. I'll see you tomorrow at work." he says abruptly. He picks me up and walks me into the infirmary, yelling for a doctor to help me. He lays me down on the bed they assign to me and holds my hand. Guardian Conner is standing at the foot of the bed, watching us.
"I'm going to go report the attack. Did either of you see where the leader went? I don't remember seeing anyone kill him." Conner asks. I was little preoccupied to notice and Adrian was too busy watching me. Conner walks out the door, leaving Adrian and I alone.
"Are you going to be okay, Rose? I hate seeing you like this." I see the pain and guilt he feels in his eyes. He looks so tired and drained from healing that ungrateful bitch. Now I wish I let him heal me instead of her. She could use a little pain.
"I've been through worse and survived. This is nothing." I say with a smile trying to make him feel better. He manages to give me a weak smile and holds my hand tighter. "Why don't you go to the feeders and then get some rest." I suggest. "You can heal me tomorrow if that will make you feel better."
"I'm not leaving your side until they release you." I start to tell him not to bother, but he interupts. "Don't fight it Little Dhampir." he says with a smile. "You aren't getting rid of me that easily." I smile back, grateful that he's so stubborn.
I hope you liked that chapter. I bet Rose is wishing she let the Strigoi finish Emily off before staking him. Anyway, thanks for reading and please review to let me know how I'm doing.