Rose's Point of View
Once Frankie was safely away, I could finally start focusing on an escape plan.
I had zero intentions of being the impregnated Strigoi bride of Victor Dashkov, today or any other day of my life! But with my powers on mute I was going to have to find another way out of this mess.
Much to my dismay, we didn't stay at the house in Spokane.
I know…who thought I'd ever be saying those words out loud!
But the truth was, if we had stayed there, at least Dimitri would have had some idea of where to look for me.
I tried not to panic when we left that awful estate, but when we reached an airstrip I knew things didn't look good.
"Where the hell are you taking me?" I asked, jerking my arm out of Victors reach.
He chuckled at my exuberance.
"Such an impatient one aren't we…" he smirked, leading me reluctantly onto the plane.
I never really imagined he'd be dumb enough to tell me where we were going, but I should have known that he'd have plenty of contingency plans in place. One of his Strigoi minions pushed me roughly into one of the seats before shoving a needle carelessly into my neck.
It took a few seconds for the contents to kick in but the last thing I heard before sleep took me was the pilot.
"We're all set Prince Dashkov; we should be arriving back in Pittsburgh by dinner."
Dimitri's Point of View
I never thought I'd be thanking the day Adrian Ivashkov was born.
We were just about to leave Abe's suite when he came rushing in the door, filling in the missing pieces of all my unanswered questions.
Turns out this had been Queen Tatianna's plan all along, only Rose wasn't the real target, we were.
Rose was just the bait.
I had to stifle every urge I had not rip that woman's head from her neck, but as Adrian had reminded me, we had more important things to worry about.
First of all we needed to let Tatianna think things were going according to plan.
We would leave court on a plane as scheduled, but instead of heading to Spokane, we were looking for an unknown destination. I knew from what little Adrian had told us that even the Queen didn't know Rose's true whereabouts, but with Adrian's help we could find out.
The idea of him dream walking with her didn't exactly thrill me. Something about the whole exchange just sounded too intimate. But right now was hardly the time to dwell on that, so I pushed my other reservations aside.
Once we were in the air on one of Abe Mazur's private jets, it was time to get to work. Rose had been missing for nearly a day and we didn't have another second to waste.
"Okay Ivashkov, let's see how good you really are." I told him.
He smiled that confident smug smile I hated so much and chuckled.
"Prepare to be amazed Belikov…"
Adrian's Point of View
There's nothing like a plane full of people staring at you to put the edge on.
"Seriously you guys, can you stop staring at me like that, it isn't going to help me find her any faster." I told them with my eyes still closed, trying to ignore the stares.
I'd been trying to connect with Rose for over an hour but nothing was happening.
I knew that in all likelihood she probably wasn't sleeping, but a small voice in the back of my head kept imaging the worst case scenario.
My over active imagination was about to get the better of me when I felt it, that small familiar tug of a spirit dream forming.
Bingo!
I tried to focus on the feeling as it intensified, trying not to shift the setting.
Normally I would find somewhere romantic for this to take place, taking any opportunity to woe her. But right now we were on a rescue mission, and I needed to be able to focus on her true surroundings.
When Rose's blurry form finally materialized before me, I nearly died of relief to see was completely unharmed. Aside from a few tatters in her aquamarine formal wear, she didn't have a hair out of place. No cuts, no bruises, nothing to alarm me of the worst.
"Adrian?" She asked, her eyes squinting to get a better look.
"Little Fireball!" I cried, wrapping her in a warm embrace. It felt unbelievably good to hold her in my arms, even if this was only an alternate reality.
I pulled back to get a better look at her and I could tell she was still pretty disorientated. She may not have been harmed physically but they had definitely given her something.
"Are you okay Little Fireball? Do you know where you are?"
She was still looking at me funny, but then her expression suddenly shifted.
"This is a spirit dream isn't it? We're dream walking?" she asked.
Smart girl, now she was finally getting it.
"Adrian! I'm on a plane right now…"
I could tell as much since we were currently standing on one.
Initially I thought I had accidently imagined my own surroundings, but then I got a good look at the seats and the set up and I realized we were on a different private plane.
"Where's the plane going Rose, do you know?"
I needed her to give me an answer quickly, with dream walking you never really knew how long you would have.
"Pittsburgh! Adrian he's taking me back to Pittsburgh!" She cried.
I could see the evident fear in her eyes and I pulled her towards me for another hug. Her tears were flowing freely now and I wished more than anything I could do something to comfort her. I knew it wasn't my arms she was craving around her and in that moment, I had an idea.
"Hold that thought Fireball…" I told her, focusing all my thoughts on my arch nemesis sitting nearby.
I could feel the effects the spirit was having on me as my own body began to feel weak under all of the pressure, but with a little effort, I saw that it was working. A few seconds later Dimitri materialized beside me.
"Adrian…what the hell…" he started, but quickly shut up when he saw Rose.
"Roza!" he whispered, almost like he was afraid he was seeing things.
Dimitri might not have believed what was happening but Rose did. She didn't waste a second throwing herself into his arms.
I stood uncomfortably off to the side, feeling completely out of place watching their reunion.
I wanted to hate the guy for stealing the woman I loved, but one look at the comfort he brought her and I couldn't.
I couldn't begrudge Rose anything that made her this happy.
"I hate to break up the reunion…" I told them, "But we don't have a lot of time. Dimitri, Rose said they are on a plane back to Pittsburgh. In any of your research on Victor did you come across any properties he had in the area?"
If we could get the upper hand on this one, we'd be a lot better off. We were closer to court than they were and if we could beat them to the estate we could set up an ambush.
"I'm not sure…" he admitted, furrowing her eyebrows in thought. "I brought the files with me, they're in my bag.
"Dimitri…he told me his plans haven't changed." Rose whispered, her small fists clenched tightly around his neck.
I knew enough about Victors previous plans to understand the low growl that emitted from Dimitri's chest. The crazy bastard wanted to impregnate his fiancé…I'd be pretty pissed too.
"Don't worry Milaya…that won't happen I promise." He told her, brushing a piece of stray hair out of her beautiful face. Her worried expression softened under his touch and I had to swallow down my own jealously at the reaction.
It wasn't really a promise he could make, but I admired the guy for thinking he could do so.
"I love you." She whispered, brushing her lips softly against his lips. "Please be careful."
He was just about to say something when Rose suddenly disappeared.
"Where did she go?" He shouted, looking around panicked.
Poor guy.
"We were dream walking dude…it means she woke up."
I watched his face fall for a second longer before I decided it was time to pull us back to the present as well.
We knew where Rose was headed; now we just needed to figure out a plan.
The minute we were back in the present, Dimitri started scouring through his carryon bag like a crazy person. Within seconds he had every file he had on Victor scattered about across his lap.
"What's going on?" Abe barked.
He had been sitting near the front of the plane with Ivan and Sophia, but Dimitri's frantic efforts were now attracting everyone's attention.
"Rose is headed back to Pittsburgh." I told them, when Dimitri seemed to engrossed in his mission to answer.
"So what's D doing?" Ivan asked, eyeing his frantic friend warily. I think he was wondering if the stress of losing Rose had finally caused him to snap.
I doubt anyone would blame him if it had…
"Got it!" Belikov shouted, standing up with a triumphant smile. He shoved the folder into Abe's hands before making his way towards to cockpit to alert the captain.
"What's it say?" Ivan asked, peering over Abe's shoulder at the file.
I didn't miss the look that crossed Abe's face while he read it. It was the look of someone that had seen a ghost.
"What is Clarence Manor?" Sophia asked, who was now peeing over to read the file as well.
"It's our old family house." Abe sighed heavily. "And the place where Janine was initially taken…"
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