Authors Note: Just a quick note to say thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter...just wow. Thanks for all the feedback hopefully you'll continue to still enjoy the story. Am contemplating moving in sync with the first chapter of Shadow Kiss...thoughts? And as always please excuse bad gramma, spelling mistakes and so forth.
The heavens opened and lady luck shined down on me, well at least that's who I was crediting for the miraculous timing of my classmates invasion. Just as Dimitri had ascended the staircase to the first floor where I was currently in hiding under the window and behind some conveniently placed large cardboard boxes, my classmates had gone for an all out attack by bursting through the front and back entrance. I didn't need to use my super spidey dhamphir senses to know that five guardians, now six with Dimitri making his way back down the staircase, were perfectly prepared for this particular attack, after all everything had been on their terms, the location, the timing etc.
"LOSER" Echoed through the warehouse, vibrating against the steal beams holding the structure together. Wow, we'd been at war for under thirty seconds and already one of the novices was down and out, that must have been a new record.
"LOSER" My teeth automatically ground together, annoyed that my team mates were dropping like flies, if it kept going at this rate we would be back on the minibus bus within the next half an hour. And that was NOT an option.
Stretching out of my crouched position, I peered past the large cardboard box that was keeping me well hidden and quickly scanned the first floor. There were five windows in total, two of which were accessible, the other three not. The only access to the ground floor was down the staircase which Dimitri had come and gone from. Luckily the first floor acted as a balcony, overlooking what I guessed was about a third of the ground floor. My fingers tapped silently against the miniature paintball gun which was holstered in my utility belt. I stared over at the balcony's edge as a mischievous smirk touched my lips; I had found myself in possibly the perfect position: Sniper.
Upon choosing the location, the guardians would have done a thorough sweep of the building, marking down the best entry points just as Meredith and I had done earlier in the Missoula Mall. Upon the completion of this data they would have posted a guardian near to or at the entry point while the others looked on. All six of them were currently engaging in battle on the ground floor and had therefore concluded that the second storey windows were a non threat. Butterflies began to stir in my stomach and the grin widened as I realised that I had not only managed the so called impossible but I had also done it without my cover being compromised. That was definitely a confident booster.
"MISSOULA" Through all of the commotion happening on the ground floor that cry of Missoula swept through it all. A guardian was down and out, I was betting on one of the newbie's as there was no way in hell the captain of the Guards, Alberta or my badass guardian Dimitri were out of the game this early…they were far too skilled. A part of me hoped that Davies hadn't lucked out either because he had an important date to keep with my practical steel capped toe boots, a little payback for his lessons in being tardy. Wait…a guardian was down and out and I was hiding up here, missing all of the action. What the hell was wrong with me?
Standing up quickly my eyes scanned the first floor again just to be on the safe side, if there was anything I had learnt from Dimitri's training sessions it was to be prepared and to be cautious, two notions which were usually way out of my league. I crossed the floor taking great effort to be quiet, a hard task in itself when wearing heels. One step too loudly and it was game over. Sure I was a trained novice with senses that were heightened by Dhamphir roots but the enemy, they were experts in combat, they had years of experience and they could as my dulling bruises would testify to, cause some serious damage.
As I reached the balcony's end, I crouched down face forward, stomach and breasts pressed against the very uncomfortable and dirty hard floor. Shuffling around the cold ground to reach the end of the balcony, I suddenly pictured myself in one of those army related adverts where you see the trainee decked out in camouflage making their way through booby trained mines, under a wire which if touched or crossed meant game over, no happily ever after but more importantly no fighting the bad guys. What a waste.
"LOSER"
"LOSER"
"LOSER"
Peering over the edge, I watched as Eddie, Max and Jackson made their way towards the back of the warehouse, the three of them sporting some red coloured paint on their backs. A fine example of why you needed someone to watch your back…wait, how many was that? How many of us were left?
My attention quickly retreated back to the war zone happening below me. A group of novices were hiding behind one of the standing metal beams, debating their next move while on the other side of the warehouse another group were taking on three guardians in hand to hand combat.
Taking the miniature paintball gun from its holster, I pulled it round and held it in my right hand with my left hand cupping over. A month ago Dimitri had taught me the 'correct' way to hold a gun, apparently my way of holding it one handed while starring down at an opponent barking out a witty one liner was not the correct way. The lesson itself had thrown me completely off balance; he was a big believer on making me wait before being allowed to actually hold anything which could do some internal damage. Case in point; it took three months of training sessions before he even let me look at a silver stake.
"It's important to choose your target wisely but be absolutely perfect with the aim." His little speech that day was currently on playback in my ears, as I imagined him standing next to me, telling me what to do. "Aim for the kneecaps, thighs or any part of the leg to slow them down." Guardians usually went for the diplomatic route, it was easier to get Strigoi to talk if they were still breathing…or whatever it was that they did. "Aim for the heart to keep them down."
I aligned my aim so that it would be dead center for the heart, ready to pierce through layers of skin, blood and through bone to reach the most vital organ in the body…that was if my gun had been sporting silver etched bullets instead of blue pallets of paint. My eyes marked off the three targets, the shots fired would have to be completely accurate in order to miss my team mates but also they would have to follow in quick succession in order to be effective.
"LOSER, LOSER, LOSER, LOSER" Quickly ricocheted through the warehouse and that was my cue. As the novices who had been taken out made their way towards the back of the warehouse, I pulled down on the trigger and fired the first pallet which successfully hit one of the newbie's in the upper back, mostly dead center but slightly to the left. Score!
I moved the gun and marked off the next target, pressing the trigger a little too quickly causing the aim to adjust, the blue pallet of paint hit Alberta in the middle of her back. She turned and immediately looked up in my direction, meeting my eyes before Meredith took advantage of her distraction and hit her with a double shot to the chest. She was out of the game, not that it mattered to me. My cover was blown and I was about to be busted.
--
Cue on Charlie's Angel roll to the side and I had a jump start on our game of cat and mouse. Crouching behind the same box which had hidden me before, I closed my eyes and allowed myself to be completely open to my surroundings which unfortunately due to my blood bond with Lissa meant a part of me was with her. Even though we were over three hours apart in distance, it amazed me that she was still there lingering in my mind. The bond was weaker than usual, understandable considering the distance but it was still there. The state of the bond could also have been due to her emotions; they were completely at ease, a perfect calm. She was tucked in bed back at the academy catching up on her beauty sleep – something I was thankful for. If she had been going one on one for some x-rated fun with her repulsive boyfriend it would have been next to impossible for me to leave her mind.
Today her mind was a comfort, a safe zone something it had never been before. I was reluctant to leave that peaceful place but I needed to concentrate on the here and now. My eye opened as hurried footsteps climbed the staircase but unlike last time, my senses weren't drowned out with perfect aftershave, they were ready and alert.
My diligence was apparently going to be rewarded this afternoon.
He had been heading my way when I stepped out from behind the boxes, he pulled up as the sight of my gun landed between his eyes. "Don't…" I warned him as he reached for his holster. It seemed careless to me that he didn't have his gun on the ready upon reaching the first floor, but then again maybe he hadn't been planning on using it. I knew he preferred hand to hand combat. "Drop it to the floor," My command rang through loud and clear as fighting continued below us, with shouts of LOSER becoming more frequent.
He did as instructed and dropped the miniature paintball fun to the floor. "Now kick it to the side," I nodded my head towards the balcony keeping my hands firmly on my own gun which was still aimed between his eyes. He kicked out his right foot and kicked the gun, sending it flying towards and over the balcony.
"Now what?" He asked, a playful tone sounding in his voice. "You've caught me red handed, the smart thing to do would be to shoot and have one less enemy on ground."
The smart, thing I pondered. "Well, I'm more of a rule breaker." Holstering my weapon back into the holster, I looked up as my opponent allowed a grin to spread across his face, a grin of victory. Presumptuous bastard!
"I've been waiting all week for this."
"For what?" His grin faltered and a confused expression crossed his face.
"Payback." Following my quick response was an even quicker lunge forward, aiming an already curled left fist at his face. Playing with guns had been a nice change but this right here; no fancy weapons, no magic, just pure brutality with hand to hand combat is what I had been born to do.
One thing about being a novice meant that I was quick. One thing about years of experience as a guardian meant that he was quicker.
Davies caught my fist with his two hands and spun me around as though I weighed nothing and began to chokehold me with my own arm. "This right here is your downfall, Hathaway. You don't stop and think you just react." Great, he was giving me a life lesson while he tightened his grip on my arm and pulled harder, causing my breathing to become shallow from the lack of oxygen.
My eyelids were steadily getting too heavy to keep open and my brain was readying itself for naptime. "No…" I told myself, my voice sounding like an eighty year old chain smoker. I was fighting what was apparently a losing battle with myself, I was stronger than this, stronger than a one sided fight. I could give as good as I got. Looking down at the floor my eyes fixated on my black boots – there was a reason I had worn this beauties instead of the usual white sneakers. My left arm thrusted back into his ribcage – twice- each time harder than the one before which caused him to loosen his grip on my arm. Pulling myself out of his embrace I tiptoed in my boots and smacked my head back, head butting him in the face, a move which would have never worked on six foot seven Dimitri Belikov.
Turning in my three inch heels, my hand reached out; palm flat facing forward and threw an upper cut at his face. "So you've read my file…" My hand met his face causing him to be knocked back a couple of steps. "But that's not who I am…" I had changed since leaving the academy, a change for the better at least that was the general consensus. "And FYI…" I waited until he stood up straight and found my eyes, "Sometimes I react…" I kicked out with my steel toe capped boots striking his thigh. "And sometimes I plan ahead." And he went down. Maybe I was being too brutal but I was tired of everyone underestimating me, tired to the point of being severely pissed off. It was no wonder I was having weekly sessions with the school's quack, a teenage hormonal girl was one thing, a teenage hormonal girl with the ability to cause serious physical damage hyped up on bad karma from her best friend…was something completely different.
I didn't hesitate in pulling the paintball gun out from the holster, aiming at his chest I shot three times which at such a close range probably stung a little. "You know I'd probably like you if you weren't such a Grade A asshole."
He looked at me with a face that could only be described as infuriated beyond belief. I walked over and bent down beside him, whispering into his ear. "Game over." The sudden appearance of those pesky black clouds which prompted the antisocial Rose Hathaway was undoubtedly fuelling this current black rage. "MISSOULA!" I shouted from the top of my lungs and watched as Davies stood and wobbled across the first floor heading towards the staircase without even having the good graces to give me a quick sarcastic one liner. As he disappeared down the staircase a smile touched my lips and I reholstered my gun.
"You should have saved one of those for me."
Opps.
The smile dropped as a muzzle settled around me, the fight from downstairs vanished from my senses, the only thing that existed right now was him and me. I shifted slightly, even though I had been bested the novice inside of me wondered how much distance I could put between me and pellet of paint.
"Where did you even come from?" Aside from being a kickass guardian, I questioned whether he had trained as a ninja, they always seemed to appear out of thin air.
He turned me into him and back me against the wall so that my back was pressed against the cool concrete and my front was guarded by the warmth of his lean, well muscled body.
"You let your guard down during your one on one with Davies," Dimitri reached down and took the paintball gun from my holster and threw it across the floor out of reach. His hand trailed down my side and rested on my hip. His shoulder length dark hair was pulled back behind him into a pony tail, his mesmerizing deep brown eyes looking down into the pits of my soul.
I swallowed hard. This kind of contact wasn't usually something he allowed, in fact he had never allowed it. I had always been the one to initiate things except that one time when we were under a spell – he had been the one to take charge then. We had had the occasional quick, sneaky kiss but that was behind closed doors and not in the middle or what was now nearing the end of a training exercise, I couldn't remember how many of my team mates had been taken out.
"Is this a part of the training exercise?" I asked feigning innocence as my body pressed deeper into his. My teeth bit down on my bottom lip as my heart beat quickened.
His body felt hard and perfect against mine, his breath coming hot and quick against my neck as he leaned in and planted a soft kiss just below my earlobe. If I had been Strigoi that soft, sensual kiss could have upkicked a non beating heart. Apparently watching me get the high ground on Davies was Dimitri's kind of foreplay which was funny…because apparently it was mine too.
He drew me into him and wrapped his arms around me, so that my face was pressed against his chest. I could hear his heart beating in his chest as loudly as I could hear my own which at this moment in time felt like it was bouncing up and down and trying to break free from its bone encased cage.
"Does this mean that you've decided to ditch those incredibly high morals and get down and dirty with a seventeen year old novice?" I regretted the words as they were out in the open, I was supposed to be sweet talking him into giving in not reminding him of why he should stay away from me for the next month. Bloody brilliant, Rose.
I felt his lips hover at my ear "I'm sorry, Roza…" He whispered as a pellet hit me in the stomach. Dimitri pulled back and looked down at me regretfully and then turned to look over at the staircase. Matthews reached the top of the staircase just as Dimitri stepped back from me.
I looked from Matthews back to Dimitri, crap. "LOSER!" My voice echoed through a silent warehouse.
Matthews bellowed with laughter, "Oh Hathaway…" He walked across the floor and stood next to Dimitri, who towered over him…then again who didn't he tower over? "You're not a loser…in fact, I guess you could say you're a winner."
I didn't get it.
"You're the last novice standing…" He said clearing things up.
My eyes turned back and found Dimitri's, maybe I had won…in more ways than one.
--
On the drive back from Missoula I had once again found myself being the center of attention but at least this time it was for the right reasons. The other novices were either complaining that I had had an unfair advantage having been the only one to enter the warehouse through the first storey window or they were applauding me for acting as a sniper and saving some of them from a quicker 'death.'
"If I had been in your place, I would have probably been the last one standing too." Max frowned over at me trying to rub off some blue coloured paint from the side of his face. Someone was a sore loser.
"I wouldn't be so sure," Meredith scoffed and threw him a dirty glare. "You couldn't even hold your own against Davies and Rose took him on in hand to hand!" The more time I spent with Meredith the more I liked her.
"Besides you wouldn't have been able to shimmy up the drainpipe…" Eddie chimed in, "Rose here has had years of experience going in and out of windows." He turned and winked at me knowingly. It was true, the better part of sophomore year at the academy was spent sneaking out of windows to attend secret parties and then sneaking back in.
"Well maybe one night she could sneak through mine." Max perked up at the thought of a little dawn rendezvous.
That certainly earned a hard laugh from me. And from Meredith.
"Rumour is," Eddie spoke when the bus quietened down from the laughter, "they're gonna give us our assignments for the trails when we get back to the academy."
"Rumour?" I asked, turning my head I glanced over to Dimitri and decided that it would be the perfect opportunity to sit in the empty seat beside him. I could ask him about the so called rumour…not that was the only reason I wanted to sit beside him. Standing up from my seat, Davies who was driving peered back in the rear view mirror and barked at me.
"Hathaway sit down!" His tone was harsh and if looks could kill, well then I would be six feet under.
"Keep your panties on," God I was pushing my luck, if any of the other novices spoke that way to the guardians they would have been disciplined. Maybe if I got pulled over on my attitude I could claim it was the blood bond acting as some sort of turrets or something. Making my way down the aisle of the bus, I threw myself down in the seat beside Dimitri.
"You really shouldn't antagonise him." Dimitri turned and raised his eyebrow in my direction.
"There are a lot of things I shouldn't do…but I do them none the less." A mischievous grin played at my lips as I worked hard at keeping my hands to myself.
He shook his head and rolled his eyes at me, deciding to ignore our moment earlier.
"So word on the minibus is that when we get back to the academy we're getting our assignments for trials" It was neutral ground, he couldn't not talk to me – it was shop talk.
"There will be a special assembly once we get back to the academy. The novices will be notified of who their charges will be for the trails."
"Well should I just skip out and hit the sack, I mean I already know Lissa is going to be my charge."
"The assembly is mandatory." He was still being professional – there was no hint of any emotion lurking behind his tone.
"Whatever comrade…like I told Davies, I'm not one for sticking to the rules." He was beginning to irritate me with his teacher Zen crap answers. Maybe this wasn't the right time to talk about what had happened earlier but he could have at least indicated that a talk about that was on the cards. But oh no, he had to stay in mentor role until our few and far between alone time. Well if I was gonna have to wait for that conversation I couldn't think of a better place to wait than right here. Instead of moving back to sit next to Meredith, I leaned against Dimitri's shoulder and closed my eyes.
--
Upon arriving back at the academy we were directed to the main conference hall which had been decked out with rows of chairs. The Moroi students were already sat in the hall waiting for us to arrive. My eyes scanned the hall and found Lissa sitting at the front with her leeching boyfriend sat on her right and Mia sat on her left. Well that was just wonderful…
"Novices would you take your seats quickly and quietly please." Jeez, Kirova uttering the P word? The world was officially spinning off of its axis and travelling into the unknown. I followed Meredith and sat three rows behind Lissa as Kirova started. "I can appreciate that you're tired, it's been a long day for you" She was speaking to those of us who had just been out on the field assignment "…but this assembly wont take too long. As you know trials begin in two weeks and unlike previous years, we've decided that it would be best if you had the chance to bond with your charges and therefore make the experience more real for you all."
I scoffed in my chair. Right, I could just picture my mother bonding with Lord Szelsky.
Sitting further back in my chair I tuned out the majority of speech about responsibility and so forth, I had become a pro over the years at tuning out of her lectures, God knows I had heard more than enough of them. I watched mindlessly as each novice made their way up to the front of the hall to be given their charges.
"Rose Hathaway …" I stood up and made my way to the front of the hall. "And…" Kirova looked down at the sheet of paper. "Christian Ozera."
What the f---