It was an incredibly stupid move on my part, a stupid move which had me sticking out like a sore thumb against my classmates. They were all dressed warmly in hooded sweatshirts and jeans and here I was freezing my ass of in a black tank top and skinny jeans that were designed to show off the curves I had inherited from my mother. Even sitting next to the air vent oozing out warm air, I was still covered head to toe with goosebumps. Guardian Davies had given me the option just before we left the academy to run back to my room to get a jacket but I had insisted that I would be fine, an insistence I was now paying for.
"For you first assignment," Alberta stood, crouched down slightly to address us, "you and a partner will be given a location to asses. During your assessment you will be required to take note of easy points of entry, any obstacles that obstruct entry and exits points, how many exit points there are, where they lead, which would be the best for an exit strategy and so forth. During your assessment you will also need to know how many inhabitants are in your location and if any of them are suspect, if they are make note of why they are. All of this information is required for a detailed report you will submit to Guardian Davies, Guardian Belikov or myself by the end of tomorrow." She paused and looked Deacon Lane knowingly, "And keep in mind that we already have detailed reports from these locations, so if you feel like winging it I high suggest you don't." Alberta allowed herself a small grin before continuing. "For your second assignment you will be putting your observational skills to good use by doing a thorough sweep of the premises where hostiles," She used her hands to motion towards the guardians sitting behind her "will be waiting, armed and dangerous." Alberta leaned across and picked up a small paint ball gun. "All guardians will have one as will you. If you are shot with one of these you must remove yourself from the location and return to the minibus." She turned back and tossed the miniature paint ball gun back onto her seat. "And here are your words of wisdom." Instead of continuing she turned on her bended knees and made her way back to her seat.
"Communication is key," Dimitri moved around in the minibus and unlike Alberta kneeled in front of us which was probably wise considering he had a good foot on Alberta's height. "It is vital for you all to stay in contact with one another, without doing so you'll be going in blind." Dimitri's dark eyes turned and met mine. "Think of this as practice for future assignments as a Guardian." Which wasn't me, no my future was already set. I was going to be Lissa's guardian, not a freewheeler. There were a select few guardians who travelled the world seeking out Strigoi and facing them head on. Essentially they were giving up everything. At least by being a hands on guardian you were able to make a connection with someone, your life still resembled a life.
"And don't forget" Guardian Davies chimed in from the drivers seat, while Dimitri's dark gaze never left mine. "Know your opponents; know their strengths, their weaknesses. Use it against them to gain the upper hand, because we will be using your faults against you." Davies, the spokesman for candidacy, making you feel nervous
Dimitri took in a slight deep frustrated sigh, one that only I noticed because of my devote obsession with him. 'Know their weaknesses.' Well I already knew one of Dimitri's – me.
"And what exactly are your weaknesses?" I asked, directing my question at Davies who had apparently organised this little field trip. "I mean I think it's only fair that we know some things about all of you considering you all know what grade we're fighting at and what manoeuvres we're likely to use…you know considering you taught us them."
In the rear view mirror I watched as Davies smiled openly, "Hathaway I've already been at your mercy once this week," He lifted one of his hands from the steering wheel and pointed at the light purple eye he was sporting. "Apparently your left hook is my weakness."
Openly smiling and bantering with me, if only my encounters with Dimitri could be like this. "Funny as I recall you didn't like a heel to your quadriceps either," And that day during our sparing session I had been barefoot, I could only imagine the pain my three inch heels would do to his thigh this time around. And besides its not like the guy didn't deserve it, he had given me some serious black and blue marks.
"Looks like Hathaway's our girl," Max shouted from the back row of the minibus. Before Dimitri I would have been sitting at the back with the so called cool kids, causing trouble and having a laugh but now things were different, I was different. Okay so maybe I still had a tendency to cause a little trouble but now it was more involuntary than voluntary.
"Right," I scoffed turning in my seat to get a better look at the back of the bus. Max was resting his chin on the chair in front, watching me. "Like I would seriously lead you losers into the wolf's den, you'd use me as a human sacrifice just to gain some ground."
"No way," Max shook his head and grinned over at me. His blue eyes sparkling, wanting to play. "It's all for one and one for all, baby." He finished his quote by winking at me.
Max had in recent months crept up the popularity ranks because of his sudden growth spurt. He was no longer a gangly teenage boy with ears too big but now a lean, well muscled novice in training. And his ears, well they were cute in a Will Smith kind of way. His new found body and good looks could have in the past made him a viable contender for a little Hathaway one on one time. "Don't call me baby…" I leaned further up on my chair pressed my body into the chair behind me. "You haven't got what it takes to play that game with me," I winked back at him, a little of my old self coming out to play.
"Aw come on, Rose…where's the love?"
"The same place it always is when it comes to you, Max…in whichever hand you like to play with." If my comment earlier hadn't gotten the other students in hysterics, that one did the trick. The guardians did the same as they always did when it came to listening to the chatter of teenage novices, tuning out. Maybe Dimitri considered engaging in such mindless banter as childish but it was fun and most importantly it killed some time on an otherwise long and boring journey.
Upon leaving the bus we were instructed to pair up and collect the envelopes containing our location and our meet point for the second task. If this little outing had taken place two or three months ago, my partner in crime would have been Mason. He would have loved today, not only being able to get out of the confinements of the academy but also to go one on one with guardians. Mason used to love AGCT classes which were based on hand to hand combat. As it was, I was waiting to see had picked the short straw.
"Here." Dimitri stepped away from the minibus holding a brown envelope in one hand and his black hooded sweatshirt draped over his arm. He handed me the brown envelope followed by his black hooded sweatshirt.
"Okay, I get the envelope but what's with your hoodie?"
"You'll need it," He looked up at the lightening sky and then back at me. "It's gonna be cold today."
"You wont need it?" I asked handing him back the envelope so that I could put the hooded top on. As the top went over my head I took a long deep breath, inhaling his intoxicating aftershave. Damn, I swear it was like an aphrodisiac.
"I'll be setting up the second task." He spoke no more of the subject, obviously trying to keep the second task a secret. Like I cared…well I did.
"You know," I said changing the subject, "You shouldn't have given me your top, what will the others think?" I asked playfully, hoping to get one of my usual half smiles from him. It didn't work.
"A top is just a top," He informed me, pretending that his giving me his hooded sweatshirt was the norm in a guardian-novice relationship.
"Yeah well to them it may just be a top but to me it symbolises a step forward in our relationship." A grin played at my lips as my eyes stared intently into his. "Who knows what the next step could entail," I joked before taking the brown envelope from his hands and turning in my steel capped toe boots to find out who would be my partner for the exercise.
--
It only seemed natural to pair the only two girls in the class together. Meredith and I were given the task of scoping out the Missoula's city center mall, which I imagined was the hardest task offered given the amount of entry and exit points there were. The majority of shops in the mall had their own fire escape which counted as one entry/exit point. That had been the easy part, the hard part; finding out if anything was obstructing these exit points and determining whether any of these exits would be instrumental in a situation. Sure fire safety rules indicated that all fire exits were to be kept cleared but who could trust busy employees during rush hour to keep up with the mandatory regulations.
"Hi, I'm Rose." I entered American Apparel and immediately approached the nearest male sales person, knowing that I would more than likely keep his attention longer than a female sale assistant. "I was just wondering if you could help me," Behind my back I motioned with my index finger for Meredith to go and take note of the exit. This little routine of ours was a well oiled machine, each of us taking in turns to distract the employees of the store while we did a little reconnaissance. "I'm looking for a brand new outfit that will make my ex see red and I figured who best to help me than a gorgeous red blooded American man like yourself," Unearthing the man eater smile I had once been known for and he was hooked, lined and sunk.
After being ogled for nine minutes, Meredith remerged from the fire escape with her notepad in her hand, nodding at me that we were done here. "Well thank you…" I glanced down at the name badge he wore on his chest. "Charlie, you've been most helpful." Unlike Lissa I had no powers of compulsion but my flirting was a prowess on its own.
"Tell me that's everything," I sighed frustrated after our three hour and twenty five minute sweep of the Missoula mall. In our three hour sweep we had scoped out the easy entry points, the best exit points and profiled selected individuals and made notes in our note books about; their appearance, why the seemed suspect and any other information that would be considered integral to a report.
"That's everything." Meredith wasn't the typical A-girl guardian; she was taller and leaner than most, more than likely inheriting something from her father's Moroi side. Her auburn coloured hair was cut short like a pixie; she was possibly preparing herself for future Molnija marks. "You wanna grab a bite to eat and do a little shopping? I mean why waste the opportunity, right?"
"Right," I looked around and figured that I could do with a new lip balm among other things. It was a good thing that I had stuffed my left boot with some cash, just in case. It had been a while since I had been on a shopping expedition. The last time I had hit a mall was as a practice run, guarding Lissa. "What should we hit first?"
During our little shopping trip I had bought myself a coconut flavoured lip balm, hoping that the next time my lips met Dimitri's they would be coated in this fruity balm. I had also bought myself a book to read on the journey home and some new Benefit makeup. Meredith had taken it a step further and bought herself practically a new wardrobe with three new tops, jeans and some new lingerie. She informed me that she too hadn't been shopping in over a year, so she was more than entitled to treat herself to a little something.
We opted to eat lunch in the food court, Meredith chowed down on a Pepperoni pizza while I filled my stomach with a little chicken chow mien, which sure beat the food they were serving back at the academy. For the better part of the morning we had been engaging in mindless chit chat, but she suddenly upped her game and was moving forward with the three pointers.
"So why have you dropped off the radar? I mean before you left school with Lissa, you were like …" She paused trying to find her words, "I don't…the queen bee?" Wrong, Lissa had been the Queen Bee; I had been one of her ladies in waiting. "I mean you used to be all about the party, everyone knew if you wanted to have a good time you'd bring Rose to the party but now when there's a dorm party you're nowhere to be found."
"Lissa and I, well after everything that happened I guess we just decided to stay under the radar."
"Right," Meredith scoffed, "Well you're not doing a very good job." Meredith leaned across the table and quietened her voice, as though someone was listening in on our conversation. "Lissa's dating Christian Ozera and the totally gorgeous Adrian Ivashkov is drooling over you."
I benched a shudder at the thought of Adrian and I. Sometimes I entertained the idea of what it would be like if I wasn't completely and insanely head over heels in love with my mentor, but Adrian was a poor substitute for Dimitri. Anyone would have been. "Yeah well Adrian can keep on drooling cause that's never gonna happen."
"Ugh," She threw herself back in her chair, "Do you know what I would give to be in your shoes? This is our time for reckless fun because in less than six months its goodbye life and hello lifetime of servitude."
"I guess." Meredith was right. Not about the lifetime of servitude because I didn't look at being Lissa's guardian like that, but about saying goodbye to reckless fun. I wasn't going to have the opportunity to have any Dimitri/Rose fun after graduation because he would turn all stoic, profession guardian on me.
"Slacking on the job?" Max's velvet voice sailed through the buzzing food court to where Meredith and I were sat. Turning my head, I glanced over my shoulder and watched as he and three others approached our tables. "I can think of other, more productive ways to kill some time if you're interested, Rose?" He sat down opposite Meredith and again winked at me.
"Where did all of this cockiness come from?" I asked curiously, he had never been so forward with me or anyone before. If anything he had been a little shy in the past, but then again he hadn't looked like that in the past.
"Just taking note of what captures your attention," He turned and glanced around the food court "though apparently you've captured every male with a heartbeat's attention."
It was true; Meredith and I had equally turned a couple of heads when we had made our entrance into the food court. We were more like humans than Moroi where and yet we still stood out among them. "Some of us just have natural charm…" Sitting further back in my chair, I crossed my arms over my chest.
"Or charms," His attention seemed to fixate over my chest.
"You know that's the best way to lose an eye," Max's eyes rose to meet mine, "That's better."
"See you gotta play nice in order for me to share my Intel." Max sat further back in his chair, resting his hands on the back of his head acting like the King of the hill.
Meredith elbowed him in the gut as I stamped on his foot under the table causing him to swear out loud and to gather a few more looks from civilians.
"Think of that as us playing nice."
"Okay…jeez," Max rubbed his abdomen as he leaned closer to the table, his little followers leaning in closer to. "So we finished up early and unlike you chicks decided to do a little snooping of our own. Our second task is taking place in an abandoned warehouse about twenty blocks away, it's in the rundown area of the city so no one will hear you scream."
Meredith rolled her eyes and pushed on her chair, scraping the legs against the floor. "It's hardly brain surgery to figure out they'd use an abandoned warehouse. What you should have done was to use your peeping tom instincts to look through the windows." Standing up from her chair, she looked down at me. "Come on Rose, we don't wanna be late to show them how it's done."
I was liking Meredith more and more. Standing up from my chair, I followed her out of the food court only too aware that Max was watching my ass.
--
We made our way back to the minibus as per instructed and dropped off our belongings. The rest of the class were already waiting with their fighting mitts on and their miniature paint ball guns tucked in a duty belt. I opted to take Dimitri's hooded sweatshirt off and brace the cold weather, it was far too big and would constrict access to the belt. "Okay so do we know?" I turned and faced the rest of the class while wrapping the duty belt around my waist and fastening it together.
"They are lying in wait in an abandoned warehouse on fifth street." Meredith piped in the knowledge Max had given us.
"The warehouse isn't surrounded, the windows are at the top of the building so unless they've left the lights on for us which is doubtful, the amount of light inside of the warehouse is going to be lacking." Another novice had apparently scoped out the warehouse.
"Good," Picking up my paintball gun I slipped it into the belt. "How many of them are there?" I asked while putting on my fingerless fighting mitts.
"Alberta, Davies, Belikov, Matthews, Morgan and crap, what's the other newbie's name?"
"Daniels," I added. "The ones we're gonna have to look out for are Alberta, Davies, and Belikov. They've been training us longer than the others, so they'll know how we operate, what our weaknesses our and what are strengths are. The others will have read our profiles so they'll know the basics." I paused recalling my encounter with Davies had how he kept trying to deflect any blows away from his right leg. "Davies weakness his his right leg, so if you get into a one on one don't hesitate to take it out and then shoot. Remember we're here to win, so don't hesitate but don't stupid with your shots. Make them count." I was sounding more and more like Dimitri with every word, his influence over my behaviour was evident.
"See, Rose I told you, you'd be our girl." Max commented.
Maybe I was taking charge but I wanted to win more than anything, I wanted to show them all that we were capable to taking care of ourselves and more importantly I wanted to show Dimitri that I wasn't the same feeble girl he had to save four months ago from a former classmate who had gone all Strigoi on us.
"There's eighteen of us so we'll split into groups of six, each group will have an objective and two guardians each to take down." Meredith inputted, moving so that she was stood next to me. It was funny considering that the two taking charge where the only two girls in the class, maybe we were the superior sex.
The class automatically split down into three groups, Meredith and I were in one. "Dimitri said the main thing was to communicate with each other," I had seen personally what had happened during a real communication breakdown, wards had gotten broken, guardians had been killed and innocent Moroi had been slaughtered. "So we're gonna have safe words. If you take an opponent down, if an opponent takes you down we're gonna need to know how many people are still left in the game. So if you take a guardian down call out Missoula, if you see them take down a novice call out…Loser." A rueful grin played at my lips.
"One group will go in the back way and one in the front." Meredith continued, "We," She said referring to our group. "Will find another way in, it'll catch them by surprise if we're not all together."
"Is everyone armed?" I glanced around the class quickly, each of them tapped at their weapons. "If you take down an opponent what do you say?"
"MISSOULA!"
"And if you see someone get taken out, what do you say?"
"LOSER!"
Maybe this was only a practice run preparing us for future events, maybe we were still only novices but we were a unit. And we were ready.
--
The other two groups made their way to the front and the back of the warehouse, preparing themselves for entry into hostile grounds. We had set our watches in tune with one another so that we entered the warehouse at the same time, it was like being a part of a black ops team. My group and I rounded the side of the warehouse, trying to find this other so called way in. Sure it had been a good plan right up until the point where we had to find this apparently invisible way into the warehouse.
"Okay so maybe my plan was flawed," Meredith sighed in defeat.
"Or not." If there was one thing I had perfected during my years of adolescence it was sneaking in and out of two storey windows. I pointed to the drainpipe that led all the way up to the roof of the warehouse, bypassing one of the windows which luckily just happened to be slightly ajar. It was also a lucky thing the building was made brick, they wouldn't hear my steal capped boots climbing up the wall.
Being the leader meant that I had to the be the first one to test out our possible entrance. My hands gripped the drain pipe as I lifted myself up off the floor so that my boots knocked against the red coloured brick wall. Slowly I climbed the wall, shimming my hands up the drain pipe with each step. One thing was certain; it was a hell of a lot easier sliding down one of these things.
After successfully climbing up the two storey drain pipe I reached over and pulled on the window, opening it further hopefully allowing for a stealthy entrance. "Here goes nothing." Reaching over I gripped the opened window and let myself hang midair, the only thing stopping me from meeting a painful two storey drop; my dhamphir strength and a very, very reliable window. Pulling myself up, I peered inside of the darkened warehouse. The first floor was stacked with boxes hopefully implied that the guardians were lying in wait on the ground floor.
Climbing through the window proved to be a harder task than the drain pipe. I was now on the verge of entering the building with the prospect of being confronted by guardians. "Come on, Rose" I muttered silently to myself. I had never been caught during the process of actually sneaking in and out of mine or others rooms back at the academy, this was exactly the same, I told myself trying to boost my failing courage.
From the corner of my eye I saw a small movement in the shadows to my left.
Fuck.
Dropping through the window hurriedly I managed not to make a sound, but instead risk having the rest of my group caught along with me, I lifted my hand to the window and signalled for them not to follow. Quickly ducking behind a stack of boxes, I looked down at my watch. Another minute and the others would infiltrate the warehouse. That was all the time I needed not to be discovered.
Meredith's words suddenly rang in my ears, 'This is our time of recklessness.' The others weren't yet inside but I could still make the human sacrifice and distract the other guardians.
Crouching down I touched my miniature paintball gun and peered around the boxes. Who was up here with me? Matthews, Morgan and Daniels I could probably take by surprise. Alberta and Davies were another story, there was a reason he was a renowned badass guardian and she the captain of the Guardian Squad back at St Vladimir's.
And then it hit me.
That perfect aftershave