Chapter 52: That's Not How You Make Bread
Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy or its characters or plotline.
Your response to my last chapter was awesome so I am making this chapter extra long for you.
Okay so we learn who Adrian called a meeting with and a little bit more about the whole Strigoi plan and the Queen, we also have a short lemon from our happy couple. Yay!
DPOV
I was just finishing up the lunch dishes with Roza when my cell phone vibrated.
"Belikov." I answered dutifully.
"Don't say anything. It's Adrian and I need to see you right away . Don't tell anyone and I mean anyone who you are meeting. I have information about a possible attack on the Princess. Come alone." He said and the line went dead.
"Who was on the phone?" asked Rose curiously glancing at me from where she was sitting on the couch painting her fingernails a very odd shade of orange. I found her odd quirks to be very endearing.
I had to think fast. I couldn't tell her who it was and I couldn't say it was someone she would possibly run into so I thought on my feet after all that is what I was trained to do.
"It was Guardian Koulter a friend of mine who is stationed here at Court. He found out I was here and wanted to meet up to spar like we used to." I lied. I hated lying to her, but I needed to know what information Ivashkov had and he'd said not to tell anyone and I knew he specifically meant Rose.
She looked at me funny and for a minute I thought she had caught me in my lie.
"That's nice. I'm glad you have a friend here. Are you going now?" she asked turning back and focusing her attention on her nails.
"Yes, I am going now if that's okay with you." I added for good measure. Man she really had my balls in her pocket.
"Sure, I haven't spent much time with Lissa lately and it would be nice to have a girly afternoon. You'll be back for dinner?" she questioned.
"Of course if I wasn't you'd starve." I chuckled walking over to where she was sitting so I could kiss her goodbye.
"I love you Comrade." She said kissing me softy on the cheek. I held her close for a minute breathing in the fresh scent of her hair.
"I love you too Roza."
I went all the way around the outside of the house and used the side entrance to Ivashkov's. On the way I noticed that I wasn't alone. Abe was cutting across the lawn. He was alone. His Guardians were nowhere to be found. I don't think I'd ever seen him without his Guardians. This must be quite serious for him to come alone.
"Belikov." He greeted me.
"Mr. Mazur." I nodded respectfully.
"He said to meet in the upstairs apartment." Abe said gruffly. Things between us were tense as usual. I followed him up the stairs.
When we arrived Ivashkov looked completely sober. It was odd because I could have sworn he was drunk off his ass two hours ago.
"What information do you have?" Abe asked getting straight to the point.
He began to explain how he'd suspected something was off with the Queen, how he'd faked being drunk to get a read on her Aura and what happened after. He showed us everything he dug up. I had to hand it to him he was very perceptive. He was turning out to be a valued asset to the group after all.
I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair which was getting long. I was in need of a good haircut.
"So you think her ultimate plan is to what?" I asked. I had theories of my own, but I wanted to hear theirs first.
"I'm not sure. I mean obviously she's arranged for Victor Dashkov to escape from prison. He has to be about dead by now though. Lissa healed him, but it wasn't permanent. He would have begun to show signs of illness some time ago. " Ivashkov mused.
"So you think he is working with Strigoi to capture the Princess again to heal him and the Queen as well?" I asked. "Does Lissa even have enough power to do two massive healings?" I asked rhetorically.
"It's a possibility. One of my main concerns is why she moved my neighbors out and has pretty much arranged for us to live in paradise, but why? She's not exactly known for her sweet grandmotherly like demeanor."
Abe was standing over the table scrutinizing the paperwork Ivashkov had pulled together and a map of the Royal Court. He'd remained silent throughout the entire explanation and discussion which worried me somewhat.
"She is planning something much larger. She has basically isolated Princess Dragomir, Lord Ozera and my daughter from everyone else here at Court by placing them back here. There is a private entrance. It makes for a very pleasant and secluded place to live, but also an easy target for an attack. There are miles of empty space between us and the rest of the Court. If someone were to work with humans and take out the wards in the back there the first place to be hit would be the Chanticlear Lake Townhouses and no one would even notice not for at least an hour or so. That leaves time for Strigoi to do some major damage and allows the element of surprise for the rest of the Court."
My heart began to race at the accusations he'd just made. It made so much sense. I cannot believe I didn't see it before. Well there were certain details I'd been missing such as Victor's escape and Tatiana's illness, but still. It was far too easy that I was able to set up our housing and live with Rose. The Queen hated Rose and would have put up a fit at having her treated like royalty which we practically were for the time being. How could I have been so dense? I basically set it up so Rose and the Princess were in the worst possible danger.
"Do you think that Tatiana had anything to do with Rose being taken?" I asked.
"It's a good possibility. She could have tried to change Rose so that she would get to Lissa and force a healing." Said Abe.
"Yes, but the healing would not be permanent she has to know that from Victor's case. And how does the Spirit user who invaded Rose's dreams fit in?" asked Ivashkov.
"There are a lot of things to consider and many possibilities of what could happen. We know the time frame, but not the exact plan. We need to move quickly. I will use my network to find out if anyone has heard anything, but we have to keep this relatively quiet. If she gets an inkling that we are on to her she may attack sooner or change her plans altogether." Abe explained.
"So we think her targets are Rose and the Princess?"
"I think that would be a likely guess and since she planned on me being gone I can probably count myself off the list."
"From what I gather those are the two she wants. I am sure she wants Rose dead by now and the Princess alive. You and Ozera are just fodder. They'll kill you if you get in their way or to prevent witnesses. I don't think they are counting on us figuring out their plan." Said Abe. He looked entirely flustered.
I knew Rose was a handful and she could rub people the wrong way at times, but to want her dead that badly was beyond my comprehension. She'd done nothing personal to the Queen although she had been accused of having relations with Ivashkov at one point . That still wasn't enough to want someone dead though.
"Here's a good question. Who do we tell about this new development?" Asked Ivashkov.
"Well I believe that I will clue in my Guardians and Janine." Replied Abe.
"I won't keep this from Rose. It's her life on the line and she needs to be prepared." I said honestly. I wouldn't think of keeping this from her. She needs to be able to protect herself and the Princess.
"I agree Rose should know." Adrian said with a heavy sigh.
"I suppose you are right. I'd like to shelter her from this, but truth is she's a warrior and an adult and I will have to get used to it." Griped Abe regretfully. I am not ashamed to have a Dhampir daughter. I am proud of the strong independent woman she has become, but it would be so much easier if she were safe from all of this instead of the one in charge of it." He sighed.
"I know how you feel." I sympathized.
"What about Ozera, the Princess, her other Guardian and the Belikovs?"
"I think we should clue them all in. We're going to need Castile and Ozera to fight maybe Tasha too. Are there any other people we trust to help us and not leak information to the Queen?"
"Hmm I'd be very hardpressed to tell anyone here at Court anything. There are spies everywhere." Said Abe.
"Okay then let's agree to keep it between us."
We agreed to call a meeting later that evening in Ivashkov's upper apartment. I of course was going to clue Roza in first and Abe would inform Janine.
"Roza are you home?" I called out as I entered our house. God how I loved to say our house. I didn't get an answer right away. It was nearly dinner time and I could smell something coming from the kitchen. It was not a good something. It was something burnt. As I drew closer there was black smoke billowing out of the room.
"Roza?" I called out again as I choked on the smoke.
I rushed quickly into the kitchen anticipating it to be on fire. Instead and much to my relief I found Rose sitting at the breakfast nook on a stool. She had on an apron and oven mitts. She sat with her elbows on the bar and she was scowling at a blackened loaf of bread on the table in front of her. At least I thought it was bread because it was charred beyond being edible.
She looked up at me.
"I can't do anything right." She whined huffing.
I had to laugh she was so cute sitting there in her little apron and mits all hot and bothered with her arms crossed and a pout on her face.
"Oh Roza! You do many things well. Cooking is unfortunately not one of them." I told her as I pulled up a stool next to her.
She continued to pout as she poked a knife at the hard lump in the pan in front of her.
"It was supposed to be a surprise for you. Your mom gave me a recipe for black bread. She says it's your favorite. Probably not anymore." She said looking down at the counter in front of her.
"I can teach you how to make it if you want." I told her. "It's quite difficult especially if you haven't made it before." I explained. "Not everyone gets it right the first time. I burned many loaves before I got the hang of it." I tried reassuring her.
Her mood picked up a little. "Really?" she asked.
"Of course. Now let's throw that away and start over." We still had a few hours before our meeting would take place. I picked up the lump of charred bread and tossed it into the waste basket. It landed with a really loud thud. I couldn't help but let out a small laugh. Rose just glared at me with a look that said you're lucky I didn't make you eat it and boy was I ever lucky. If she'd asked me to try it I would have had to choke it down. I grimaced at the thought.
I showed her how to measure ingredients and knead the dough. I told her that she had to be precise in her measurements and wait the appropriate amount of time for the bread to rise. I then showed her the bread machine that was packed away in my things. I'd brought it from home when I left Russia. My mother insisted I take it with me so I could always make my bread and think of home. I was glad I had brought it.
"This should make it a lot easier using the machine." I told her. "Se there is a built in timer so it knows when to stop even if you're not around."
"That would be helpful." She said with a slight laugh. I looked at her all covered in flour and her hair all mussed with a slight sheen of sweat on her beautifully tanned skin and a strong wave desire swept over me.
"Roza I whispered softly, grabbing her and pushing her roughly against the refrigerator before assaulting her with open mouthed kisses all over her face, lips, neck and bare shoulders. My hands roamed over her curvacious hips.
"You are so sexy in that little apron I need to have you right now." I told her as I pulled her up onto the counter and began to remove her clothes.
"Oh Comrade." She moaned as I caressed her now bare breasts drawing circles over her taught nipples. She moved to take off the oven mitts, but I stopped her.
"Leave them." I told her.
"Well aren't you kinky." She giggled as I removed her cotton shorts and slid down the zipper on my pants. Once our clothing was gone I took her forcefully right there on the kitchen counter.
Thirty minutes later we lay in a tangled heap of arms and legs in the middle of the kitchen floor. We were both buck naked, sweaty and panting.
"Well you sure showed me how to make bread." She giggled moving to rest her head on her elbow so she was looking right at me.
"Hmm that isn't how my mother makes it." I joked.
"Eew Dimitri! That's gross. Please do not bring up your mother after we've just had dirty sex all over the kitchen." She exclaimed with disgust.
I laughed. I would never tire of being with her.
It was getting late though and I needed to tell her about the meeting.
"As much as I would love to lie here naked all night with you we've more pressing issues to attend to." I told her reaching for my pants that had landed somewhat close to where we were now lying.
So who wants some Russian Black Bread from Dimka and Roza's kitchen? I know I'd like to have Dimitri in an apron and nothing else running around my kitchen=) Review if you agree with me or Review because this was an awesome chapter.
You knew he was going to call Abe..He's like the Turkish Mafia=)
