After our passion on Wednesday night, it was an effort getting out of bed on Thursday. I stayed put for as long as I could, but eventually, Dimitri stripped the quilt off me, demanding I get up and ready myself for training. I did as he bid, with numerous mutinous comments, but made my way downstairs and gulped down a coffee while I scarfed my breakfast. While he pretended not to feel it, I knew my Russian God was also tired when he suggested a jog to the gym that morning rather than the usual run or sprint.
Something about Eddie's smirk when he asked why we were jogging not running made me suspect he might have realized Dimitri and I had our own marathon last night. But if that was the case he was wise enough not to voice it – the only indication being the turn of his lip and a glimmer of amusement in his eyes.
"I'm going to focus on theory today," Dimitri said, his voice sounding weary.
I think we were all a little relieved. It had been a long few days and exercising the mind instead of the body was appealing. By the time Abe and Pavel appeared at 10.30 am with some cookies and coffee, we were perhaps regretting this decision. That the coffees were in ceramic mugs from the café five doors up, and we were expected to return the cups later, was an illustration of how Baia was yet to grasp the concept of a takeaway café culture!
"Not working out today?" Abe asked, handing us each a steaming hot mug from the tray that he'd also borrowed.
"Theory this morning," I said with a smile in an attempt to be loyal to my Russian God. After all – I was the reason he was tired!
"I'm taking them through incapacitation techniques," Dimitri explained. While Strigoi healing was phenomenal, some injuries took longer to heal than others. It had been handy to discover tendons and ligaments were a particular weakness and a strike that damaged one of those might give us a chance to get away. Dimitri had spent the morning running us through ways to sever an Achilles tendon, and how to kick a knee in such a way to injure an anterior cruciate ligament.
Pavel commented enthusiastically on Dimitri's instructions.
"It's not in the curriculum, but they need to know it," he remarked.
"You're teaching them things outside the curriculum?" Abe asked Dimitri a little perplexed.
"Abe, they're training to be Guardians. I'm teaching them anything and everything I can think of to help them stay alive," he replied soberly.
Pavel nodded, passing Dimitri a cup of coffee and after a couple of questions took over the theory lesson, starting with an explanation of the best ways to decapitate Strigoi.
Understandably, after Spokane, I was particularly affected by this. While Eddie had also been at Spokane, he was outside and still pretty out of it when I had decapitated the ancient Isaiah and his minion Elena.
Reading my body language like an open book, Dimitri sat behind me, resting a long leg on either side of me and giving me the solid presence and comfort of his body as I leaned back against his chest and sipped my coffee. His muscled chest, strong heartbeat, and steady breathing helped to keep me calm, but despite being pressed up against my man, and knowing I was safe, Pavel's graphic descriptions were starting to make me feel nauseous. It was a time in my life I'd do anything to forget, and Pavel's descriptions were just too lurid and as I knew, far too accurate.
"I'll return the mugs," I volunteered weakly. Any excuse to get out of there for a few minutes.
"I'll help," Abe added, detecting my distress. Together we collected the empty mugs from the others, walking out of the gym and into the sweet open air. A relief after the slightly fetid, stale air of the gym, I took in several cleansing breaths. It was late morning, and the sun was rising, so Abe walked in silence in the shade of the buildings beside me.
"You don't like decapitation?" he asked.
"It's not that. Eddie and I lost our friend Mason to Strigoi at New Years. I decapitated the Strigoi responsible, but it was too late for Mase."
"I'm sorry," he muttered. I'd told him about Spokane previously, but not the specifics. I shuddered again.
"Thanks. So am I," I mumbled, not sure of what else to say.
We walked into the café, returning the cups and tray and giving our thanks. Morning tea and coffee had become just one more way Abe was spreading his largesse around the town. Seeing I still wasn't right, instead of returning to the gym, Abe suggested we stop for a moment. He pointed to a chocolate doughnut in the display cabinet and the coffee machine and held up his finger to indicate one, and steered me over to a quiet table in the window.
"Have you spoken to Dimitri about after graduation yet?" he asked.
"No," I admitted. "I will soon. It's just with eleven people living in the house it's hard to get a moment alone."
It was an excuse. I'd been putting it off.
"It won't get any easier if you delay," Abe commented sagely, pointing to me when the waitress appeared with the doughnut. He waited for his coffee to arrive before he continued.
"You can tell him tonight over dinner if you're worried."
I shook my head.
"Thanks anyway, but I'll do it when we're alone."
"Whatever you think is best."
We sat in silence. Although we were meant to be getting to know each other, this was pretty much the first time we'd been alone since I'd been here. And while I loved spending time with Dimitri and his family, I was also conscious I was here to get to know my father.
"This is nice. Just you and me," I said tentatively.
"It is," he replied contentedly. And while there was silence between us, it was a happy silence. He drank his coffee, and I scoffed my doughnut.
"Come on. They've probably finished decapitation and are on to crucifixion by now."
I snorted, and my eyes met his with amusement. It was the sort of completely irreverent thing I'd say!
"Roza? Your phone is ringing!" Dimitri called out from our room. I cursed and wrapped a towel around me, slipping out into the corridor from the bathroom and down to our room.
"Hello?" I said, answering the call meanwhile dropping the towel and flopping naked onto our bed. I pretended not to, but I noticed Dimitri's lustful eyes raking up and down my form as I lay there.
"Rose!" Lissa squealed. "You haven't called! How are you going!"
I mentally cursed. Other than a perfunctory call to let her know we'd arrived, I hadn't spoken to Lissa since we'd been here. Sometimes I forgot she couldn't check in via the bond the way I did. While I kept a regular eye on her, she needed a phone to find out how I was going.
"Hey, Liss!" I said, injecting a bit more enthusiasm into my voice than I necessary felt. "Good. Just training like crazy! We're up for breakfast at six, run to the gym and then train from seven. We come back for lunch at midday and do chores. We're back at the gym from three 'til sunset and then it's home, dinner and bed."
"That sounds brutal," Lissa laughed.
"Yeah. It is, but it's what we have to do." I sounded narkier than I probably meant to.
"Yes. I'm sure you do," Lissa said, suitably chastised and I briefly felt guilt through the bond.
I mentally sighed.
"It's ok," I said, trying to sound upbeat. "It's just a lot."
"So are you home now? It's what… six there?"
"Yeah. I just had a shower, and I'm going over to Abe's for dinner tonight."
"How's that going?" she asked curiously.
"Good. Early days, but we're getting to know each other. He comes every day to watch us train. It must be pretty boring, but he sits there with his laptop and watches and talks to us during our breaks. And he comes to the Belikov's every Sunday for lunch."
"He's running on daylight hours?" Lissa remarked in surprise.
"Well, yeah. It's a human and Dhampir town…"
"Yes. It's just such an adjustment!"
Yes, it was. Although no one seemed to think it was such a big deal when Dhampir lived a nocturnal schedule to suit Moroi, I thought morosely.
"Abe kind of just fits in like that," I said, not trusting myself to say any more.
The conversation continued, Lissa enquiring about the house, Dimitri's family, Eddie, Meredith and finally my Russian God himself.
"He's good. He really loves being home. He spends most of the time we're not training with his family."
It was the truth. We all did. Most nights we were too worn out to do much else, and the social opportunities in Baia were decidedly limited.
"How's Christian?" I asked, doing my utmost to keep recrimination from my voice.
"He's great! We've been picking out our college subjects. It's so exciting!"
I semi tuned out, only half listening to Lissa as she rambled about the two minors she was considering.
"… what do you think?" she asked, interrupting me as I enjoyed watching Dimitri dress for our dinner with my father. I had no idea what she'd been talking about.
"I think you have a good point," I replied, hopeful it would cover the situation.
"I knew you'd agree. And I know you won't mind doing politics," she continued. "It's really very interesting, once you get into it."
I was confused for a moment until I remembered that when I was Lissa's Guardian, I'd be expected to attend classes with her. Oh God, I hoped I could get away with sitting there and pretending to study. There was no way I could pay sufficient attention to actually pass a university class on politics!
"Hey, it's almost time for me to go to Abe's" I interrupted. "I've got to go get ready - sorry!"
"That's ok. It's just nice to hear your voice! I miss you!"
"I miss you too!" I replied, grateful for an excuse to get off the phone. "I'll call soon, I promise!"
"You didn't sound very happy on the phone to Lissa," Dimitri commented as we walked hand in hand to Abe's place. He'd moved out of the hotel, and was now installed with his Guardians in a large terraced house near the center of town – a twenty-minute walk from the Belikov's.
I sighed.
"She and Christian have been picking their subjects for college. Lissa wants to do a minor in politics."
"And?" he probed.
"It's like it doesn't matter what I think or what I might want. She'll choose what she wants, and I'll go along with it."
"That's what guarding is, Roza. They come first, and our job is to support whatever they want to do."
"It didn't use to be like that. Lissa and I used to decide things together. She cared how I felt and how things affected me."
Dimitri smiled sadly.
"It can be hard when your charge is also a friend."
"Was it like that with you and Ivan?" I asked tentatively. Ivan was always a sensitive topic with my Russian God, but he didn't seem unhappy to talk about it.
"Yes and no. We became friends later than you and Lissa, so we always understood how it would be. Also, Ivan floated around after St. Basil's. He didn't exactly make life plans that would impact heavily on me."
I sighed. We were still a good fifteen-minute walk from Abe's place.
"Christian doesn't want to be your charge," I blurted out deciding I couldn't put it off any longer.
"Out of loyalty to Tasha," Dimitri supplied, with a resigned look on his face. "I figured as much."
"You knew?!" I gasped. All this time I'd be stressing about how to talk to him about it, and he already knew?
"The night before we left you were fine before you spoke with Christian, then you came out looking like you were going to cry. You were ok with Lissa when you said goodbye, but wouldn't even look at Christian. You were so happy to be coming to Russia the only thing I could think of was you'd spoken to him about our hopes for after graduation."
"He raised it with me. He told me that he knew about us. He asked how we were planning to manage things and I said we hoped to guard different people and get similar shifts. I didn't say him, but he worked it out."
Dimitri nodded, looking less upset than I thought he might.
"He said he's ok with us being together, and he's not going to turn us in, but he knows how Tasha feels about you, so he won't have you as his Guardian as he's worried it will upset her."
"She is his aunt," he justified. "She's done a lot for him."
"And we're both people with hearts, too," I snapped. "When does what we want become a consideration, Dimitri?"
He looked troubled but didn't have any answers for me. Instead, he stopped and pulled me into an embrace.
"We have the here and now. We'll figure out the rest when the time comes," he promised, rubbing the tops of my arms soothingly.
I nodded and accepted his words, but inside I was wondering how we'd manage not to be separated. Maybe Dimitri had been right all those months ago when he said we had no future together?
"Come on," he said. "Your father is expecting us."
We walked the rest of the way in silence, turning up on Abe's doorstep right on time.
"Something smells good," I said, my mood improving as Pavel showed us inside.
"After two days of us Guardians cooking, your father found a lady in the village who was willing to come in and cook and clean for us," he confided with a chuckle. "Guardians we are, chefs we are not!"
We followed him through to a dining room where Abe was sitting in front of a roaring fire. It wasn't really cold outside, but it was cool enough the fire was welcome.
"Rose! Dimitri! So pleased you could make it!"
We both smiled at Abe, sitting in the seats he indicated, each accepting a glass of wine.
"To family," he said proposing a toast.
Our glasses had barely clinked together when an older Dhampir woman appeared with loaded plates of food for Dimitri and me, a small portion for my Moroi father.
Dimitri greeted her politely, speaking with her at length in Russian before introducing me in English. With a final nod, she wished us a good evening and scuttled off presumably to the kitchen.
"Her sons were both Guardians," Dimitri explained once she had left the room. "I knew them growing up."
"Were?" I asked, seizing on what seemed to be the most pertinent word.
Dimitri frowned, and I made no further inquiries about the brothers.
"So how's work going, Abe?" I asked in a misguided attempt to change the subject.
Abe was caught off guard. I don't think he was used to being asked about business.
"Erm, good. It's been a particularly profitable couple of days," he said with a devilish grin. He looked very pleased with himself, but I thought it probably wasn't wise to probe, so instead, we talked more about our pasts. I filled in a lot of the blanks about when Lissa and I were on the run. I'd never told Dimitri much about the time Lissa and I spent away from the Academy, so he was every bit as interested in my stories as Abe.
In turn, Abe described growing up in Turkey in more detail. He spoke about his early childhood, and then later his early twenties, but skipped the entire time in between. It didn't appear to be an oversight, so I didn't pry.
The rest of dinner went smoothly, the food was delicious and the wine plentiful. It was tempting to linger over our after dinner drinks, but I knew I'd pay for it in the morning if we did; we still had to train.
"Thanks, Abe," I said giving him a long hug before Dimitri and I set out to walk home. Abe had offered to have Pavel drive us, but I was hopeful for a bit more alone time with Dimitri. Even though we could be openly affectionate in front of Eddie, Meredith, and Dimitri's family, nothing beat one-on-one time alone together.
"So what are we going to do?" I asked, referencing our previous discussion. He knew me so well he knew I'd still be worrying about our allocations after graduation.
"If you want to guard Lissa then maybe there's another Moroi at Lehigh I can guard? It's worth at least checking? Another idea is you could guard Christian? He doesn't have a primary Guardian yet, and he'll need one. You've had practice with him for the field-experience, so you know what you'd be in for."
I was about to make an ugly retort when Dimitri stopped and looked into my eyes.
"Just consider it, Roza. I've turned this over every way in my mind, and it's the best solution I can come up with. We could work the same shifts and they'll be living together, so we could too. I know all your life you've dreamed of guarding Lissa – but maybe this way you can be more her friend, and leave being her Guardian to me? You'd still be there, helping keep her safe? In time, we could maybe switch over?"
We were quiet the rest of the walk as I thought about it. While I had been inclined to dismiss the idea straight off, Dimitri was right. The idea had merit and it might solve more than one problem.
"I'm not sure I could trust her to anyone but you," I murmured when we were most of the way home. It was a sign of our faith in each other. It wasn't an agreement, but the more I thought about it, the more I could see the idea working. It was at least worth thinking about.
He chuckled.
"I know ангел. And you know, politics is an interest of mine. I'd probably enjoy those lectures!"
I smiled up at him, slipping my arms around his neck.
"I love you," I murmured. He was everything to me, and I didn't tell him nearly enough.
"I love you too, Roza," he said, rubbing his nose against mine in an Eskimo kiss before joining his lips with mine.