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I shot out of bed, knocking back my attacker whilst doing so, and jumped into a protective stance in front of Adrian's sleeping body. I deduced that the area was strigoi free, there was no telltale nausea, plus it seemed the person who had prodded me was no other than Christian Ozera. I put my hands on my hips and glared at him while he got to his feet, Dimitri was watching us with an amused look on his face, something I hadn't seen in a while and it broke my heart that little bit more. Seeing Dimitri becoming his old self again, and knowing that we could never go back to being the way we were was making this even harder.
'I told him that would happen' his soft voice was quiet, so as not to wake the sleeping Moroi. Not that this whole whispered exchange could have woken Adrian, he slept like the dead.
I turned back to Christian and waved my hand, inviting him to explain. He scowled, most likely embarrassed at being knocked over so easily.
'We need to talk, now.' I nodded and led the way out into the hotel corridor, Dimitri started to say something cautionary before he caught himself, I was capable of protecting Christian and he knew it. Hell, against a strigoi Christian was capable of protecting himself, and the two of us as a team, well, I wouldn't want to run into us in a dark alley. If we ever got out of this god awful situation it'd be open season on strigoi as far as we were concerned.
After a quick check of the area I leaned back against the wall and Christian began. 'Ok, so, who else knows?' He was excited and scared which made his words rush together. 'As far as I know just the two of us.' He nodded and seemed to ponder on that for a while; I began to wonder as well, if there was anyone else we could trust with this. As if reading my mind Christian answered my own question with the name that had just popped into my head. 'We have to tell Lissa. But I don't know who else. I mean, Mia's great, but how well can we trust her? And I know you and Ivashkov are getting pretty serious but can he handle something like this? He gets pretty unstable sometimes.' Once again Christian had taken the words out of my mouth, I liked Mia a lot too but we didn't know her that well, could she be trusted with something this sensitive and possibly world changing? And then there was Adrian, he was loyal and willing but I felt that including him in this information right now could put him in more danger, he was never particularly careful. And would he be able to avoid all the distractions in Vegas? Perhaps, for now, it would be better to keep him in the dark, for his own safety. Lying to him was going to be hard, especially when I was already trying to be on my best behaviour in another area. Once again Christian seemed to pick the thoughts right out of my brain.
'Belikov' he said, and I sighed, yes, Dimitri was an issue here. 'Look Rose, I don't exactly know what's going on here, Lissa won't speak to me about you two but you can't let whatever stuffs going on with him ruin this.' His face was kind, a departure from his usual haughty sneer. I knew he was right, there was nothing I could do about Dimitri, and so much that could be, that needed to be done, elsewhere. I nodded and waited for him to continue, keeping my eyes fixed firmly on the ground. I didn't want him to see the defeat in my eyes. 'Dimitri is going to go where ever Lissa goes from now on. I don't like it, and I know you aren't into this whole hero worship thing either, but he wouldn't ever do anything to hurt her and because of that I think we should tell him. He won't betray us, for her.' I felt the resentment twisting in my stomach as I remembered the adoring look of devotion Dimitri wore around Lissa, and the fact that Lissa didn't seem to care that he was hurting me so deeply he may as well have torn me limb from limb. But Christian was right, Lissa would never forgive anyone for betraying us, and he had helped me break out of jail, something I didn't quite yet understand. He'd also tried to stop the guardians from taking me that day in the cafe; we could trust Dimitri, even if I didn't like the reasons why.
I nodded again and Christian didn't press for an elaboration. He strolled back inside but I waited in the corridor, attempting to subdue the negative feelings that had sprung up before going back to bed. Just as I was about to call it a night, for the second time, Christian walked back into the hallway followed by a dishevelled Lissa and an alert Dimitri. 'Sorry to get you out of bed Liss but there's something Christian and I need to tell you.' I said, my face sympathetic to the fact she could hardly keep her eyes open. 'And Dimitri, you need to hear this too.' Christian added and I scowled before fishing the note out of my pocket. I handed it over to Lissa, her eyes scanned the page, her face, and the bond grew confused then angry. Dimitri was frowning as he read over her shoulder.
'No, this is a fake. Tatiana would have told me if this were real, which it isn't, my father would never do this.' She threw the note back at me and folded her arms protectively. Christian reached out and pulled her against his chest, he was looking over her head at Dimitri whose face was concerned at Lissa's distress. I had to fight down the urge to slap him before I spoke. 'I know this is hard Liss, and perhaps it's a long shot, but after everything that's happened with the council don't you think it's worth a shot?' She peeked out at me and her eyes were growing redder, I felt anger along with grief in the bond and instantly went on high alert. Lissa felt things more deeply than the average person, and I knew how much something like this could derail her emotionally.
'I don't know how exactly this will help prove your innocence Rose' She spoke quietly, regaining some of the composure and poise that made her even more regal. I felt through the bond that she wanted to prove my innocence more than anything and that this note had upset her more than anything. Without another word she swept herself back into the room with Christian following close behind. Through the bond she told me that she didn't want to believe any of this and perhaps she'd be more receptive after sleeping on it. To be honest I had expected more of a reaction, perhaps because she was so tired the full impact hadn't set in. I watched them walk back inside and leant back against the wall I'd occupied before.
Dimitri was looking at me and I turned to face him full on. 'Yes?' I asked sharply. He just carried on looking and I stood up straight 'Is there a fucking problem Comrade?' a part of me was shocked at how disrespectful I sounded, and the fact that I not just shouted but sworn at Dimitri who I was supposed to be keeping calm. His face displayed no emotion but he continued to stare at me. I took a step closer and looked straight into his face, something I hadn't been able to do since my rescue, it hurt too much. 'If you have something to say, say it. If not stop fucking staring at me and leave me alone. I didn't ask you to come here, and in fact I'd prefer it if you'd leave.' My voice was reaching a dangerous volume now and I heard movement inside the room. Christian stood at the doorway now disapproval coloured his features.
'Rose, calm down and go back to bed' he said, his eyes were a lot less gentle than his tone. I ignored him and faced Dimitri with an expectant look on my face. 'I'm here for the Princess' he said simply, his Russian accent curled around the words and I felt whatever control I'd been holding on to slip. 'Of course you are, your saviour, why on earth else would you be here. Well why don't you just fuck off? We don't need you. I don't want you here and I'm sure Lissa will get sick of this whole devotion thing soon enough.' I let out a big breath I didn't even know I'd been holding in, Christian had disappeared back inside but reappeared a moment later with Adrian. 'Rose,' Adrian started to say something but I cut him off 'You know what I wish Dimka?' I said quietly, my face still contorted with irrational rage, 'I wish you'd killed me in Russia, because whatever comes after this life has to be better than what's happening now.' Adrian took a tentative step toward me and placed a small silver ring on my finger before slowly backing away. At first all I could feel was the urge to punch Dimitri coursing through every vein in my body but slowly the feeling lifted, the anger turned to shame and I sunk back into a ball on the ground against the wall. I was shaking and Adrian leant down to me but Dimitri stepped forward at that moment. The two men I loved glared at each other for a few seconds before Dimitri spoke in a voice so cold it reminded me of when he was strigoi 'Give me a minute with her. We'll be in soon.' Adrian stared down at me and I couldn't meet his eyes, my outburst had hurt him too. Finally he turned and walked away muttering under his breath, and then I was left, alone with Dimitri, something I had longed for since his return, but now I was just plain scared.
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