When I thought about how I'd die, I always pictured that I'd be standing in front of Lissa, that I'd be giving my life in place of hers. I certainly didn't imagine it happening on an unsealed dirt road in Baia, Russia. But here I was – alone and unarmed – so that looked like the way it was going to go.
But no matter how tired I was, I wasn't going to give up without a fight. I mentally ran through my options. Strigoi could be killed by a stake through the heart, decapitation, fire or sunlight. None of them options for me right now. So if I couldn't fight, my only other option was to run. I was about five minutes from the Belikov house, but I couldn't lead a Strigoi there. Yeva was there with Zoya and Paul, and they'd just be killed alongside me.
A better bet would be to sprint back to town, but I was exhausted from the fights, and I knew there was no way I'd be able to outrun a Strigoi in my current state. All that would do is exhaust me further before it caught up with me and I'd have to fight anyway. So it was going to be plan C. Fight here, and hope to God somehow, unarmed, I'd manage to pull off the impossible.
"I should know a lot of things," I murmured, knowing with her keen hearing the Strigoi would be able to hear me.
I peered into the dark, looking at the monster in front of me. Female, and once Moroi, she was young when her aging had stopped. My own age, or perhaps a few years older. There was no way of knowing how long ago she'd been turned, but something about her voice made me think it wasn't too long ago. But maybe it was her appearance making me believe that?
"You're closer to a Dhampir town than your sort tends to get," I said, trying to get a sense of whether she was alone.
"A commune?" she growled in distaste.
She didn't know where she was. That's interesting.
"Something like that," I murmured.
"Well you'll be used to the bite then," she said gleefully, "but I promise you my bite will make everything else pale in comparison."
I didn't acknowledge her words. I didn't have time to let her get to me. My chances were already dismal enough – add anger to them, and it would only be worse for me. I started to circle her, trying to get an idea of whether she could fight. She kept her eyes on me but didn't move toward the trap. It was as though she were studying me every bit as much as I was her.
And then she jumped forward as if to grab me. It was a clumsy move, and I easily evaded her. She tried again, surprised to see me fall into a natural fighting stance – my muscle memory from hours of long practice filling in the gaps left by exhaustion. I batted her away from me, astonished to find that while she certainly had speed and power, she seemed genuinely clueless about fighting or how to approach a Guardian. I started to wonder whether she'd ever fought before.
But then all time for thinking was gone. Experienced, or not, she was still faster and fresher than I, and all this dodging was doing was tiring me further. But what else could I do? I had no weapon with which to attack her, and the roadside was depressingly devoid of swords or charmed silver stakes. And I knew that despite what horror movies would have you believe, it was a lot harder to decapitate someone than they made out. It wasn't physically possible to rip someone's head from their body with hands alone.
I was casting my eyes around the roadside looking for something, anything, I could use to defend myself, but the darkness wasn't helping. Dusk had quickly turned into a dark moonless night, and even the light of the stars was hidden behind clouds. I could barely see five feet away from me, but I knew this road. There was nothing to help me here. So I turned back to the Strigoi, fending her off and waiting for the inevitable.
I was so focused on the fight I didn't see Yeva until she was almost upon us – materializing out of the gloom behind the Strigoi.
"Take this!" she snapped, tossing something through the air toward me. A stake! Somehow she'd known I would need a stake, and had come to bring me one.
The Strigoi spun to face Yeva as I caught the twelve inches of silver; the undead monster had been too busy with me to hear Dimitri's wily old grandmother approach. She sprang forward, grabbing the old woman and wrenching her neck to one side, preparing to drain her.
And I saw red. I'd never had much of a family, but the Belikovs had welcomed me from the day dot as one of their own. Dimitri's crazy old grandmother was mine now, too, and I wasn't going to let some Strigoi take her!
I belted the Strigoi on the side of the head with the heal of the stake before her fangs could pierce Yeva's neck. She dropped the brave old lady like a sack of potatoes, and I heard a sickening crunch before the undead girl turned back to face me.
Enraged that her meal was interrupted she roared and lunged, recognizing the glint of the stake too late. Her own inattention caused her downfall, the stake sliding between her ribs and through the muscles and tendons protecting her heart. Her momentum halted by her demise, her face was inches from mine as the light faded from her eyes. For just a moment she smiled at me – peace and thanks in her gaze - and then she was gone, and I pushed her backward, the stake sliding out of her body even more effortlessly than it had gone in.
"Yeva?! Are you alright?" I asked urgently, seeing Dimitri's grandmother sprawled artlessly on the dirt behind the Strigoi's lifeless body.
"I told you to call me Babushka," she growled, trying to conceal her pain beneath her usual prickly demeanor.
I crouched beside her after checking my stomach to be sure there was no other Strigoi nearby.
"Ok. Babushka. I need you to tell me where and how badly you're injured."
"I'm fine," she lied. "Although my ankle is a little sore."
My eyes dropped to her feet, and I swallowed a particularly colorful word. I'd suffered a broken ankle myself, and I knew how it felt. And there was no doubt one of Yeva's ankles was broken. I looked at her, sympathy in my eyes. I was going to have to straighten the bones, so the blood supply was not impeded. And it was going to hurt like hell.
"I was a Guardian myself once," she said, referring to the promise mark and molnija she bore on her neck – proud reminders of her own sacrifice and contribution to protecting the Moroi race.
"You're a good girl, Rose. This will probably hurt you more than it does me," she continued, pointing to her ankle. She knew what I had to do, and she was telling me she was ready for it. I nodded, slipping her shoe from her foot before it swelled so much I'd be unable to get it off.
"On the count of three," I said, counting her in but pulling and straightening the foot at two. And other than a small moan, the old bird made no noise. I would have been screaming, but she internalized it all.
"That's as good as I can do until we get you to a hospital," I said apologetically. "Where's the closest house?
"Everyone else is out between here and home. I had to leave Zoya with Paul, so we need to get back," she said sounding a little worried.
I nodded. There was no way she was going to be able to walk, so I tried to scoop her up into my arms.
"I'm too heavy. Let me lean on you instead. But call Dimitri. There is no point walking when we can drive."
I hadn't even thought about calling for help. But after his performance at the gym, there was no way I was calling Dimitri! So I rummaged in my bag, finding my phone and dialing the only other person I knew would help me, no questions asked.
"Rose?" Abe answered on the second ring. "Where are you? Everyone's looking for you!"
"I had a bit of a run in with a Strigoi. I'm on the dirt road near the lake on the way to the Belikov house," I said wearily. "Dimitri's grandmother is here, and she's injured. Can you come and get us?"
I could hear Abe barking orders in Turkish before he came back on the line, assuring me he'd be there as quickly as possible. Muttering my thanks, I rang off, tucking Yeva's stake into the waistband of my pants. I put my arms around her waist, taking as much of her weight as I could as I shuffled to the edge of the road. It would be just my luck to survive a Strigoi attack only to be killed by the rescue car when it arrived!
It felt like hours, but it was only minutes later when Abe's familiar van appeared, lights on high beam. I waved in exhaustion, the engine's deceleration telling me they'd spotted us. The van pulled up, and Dimitri sprung from the rear, Abe, and Pavel directly behind him.
"Roza!" he said in a panicked voice. "What the hell happened?"
I was too angry even to reply, but I was spared the necessity by his furious grandmother. Reaching out to him, she allowed him to lift her up before she deftly swiped the back of his head.
"You messed up, that's what happened!" she growled. "First you upset her, and then you let her wander the streets at night without a weapon. She could have been killed!"
Dimitri was muttering what I presumed were apologies in Russian to his grandmother while carrying her to the van. Abe came over to me and pulled me into an embrace.
"Don't scare me like that!" he growled, tightening his arms around me. We stood in each other's arms for a moment before he helped me to the van. Dimitri was in the back with his grandmother settling her onto one of the bench seats.
"Paul and Zoya are at the house alone. Take us home, and I'll call Oksana," Yeva instructed imperiously, giving Dimitri her best stink-eye.
"Yes Babushka," a chastened Dimitri acknowledged, daring a quick look at me before climbing into the driver's seat and gunning the engine to life. In less than a minute we were home, Dimitri wordlessly passing me his keys before helping his grandmother from the car. I went ahead of them, opening the front door and calling out to Paul that we were back.
Bringing a footstool over to Yeva's favorite armchair, Dimitri had only just settled her when a panicked Olena, Sonya, Karolina, Meredith, Eddie, and Viktoria arrived. Olena burst into the living room, firing questions at Dimitri, Abe, and Yeva in rapid Russian.
I felt drained, so used the confusion to slip away, going upstairs to the bathroom and locking myself inside. Slowly peeling off my fetid workout gear, I rested the stake on the bathroom counter, looking at it for the first time. It looked and felt old. While it was smooth and tarnish free, the silver was dull and the patina on the surface hinted at a long history. If I had to hazard a guess, this was one of the two stakes Yeva would have been given at her graduation.
Touched she'd trusted me to use one of her stakes, and freaked out there'd been the need, I turned on the taps, stepping into the warm shower and letting the warm water wash the sweat and stress from my tired muscles. More than anything I wanted to climb into a fresh pair of pajamas and go to sleep.
When I stepped out of the stall, the house was quiet. I could hear the murmur of voices downstairs, but the top floor was blissfully silent. I scooped my workout gear and Yeva's stake up in one arm, awkwardly holding my towel about me with another. I quickly padded into Dimitri's room, only to find the man himself sitting silently on the side of our bed waiting for me.
"Roza…" he moaned, looking at me tenderly. "What happened? Why did you leave?!"
I was angry, and if anything now I was home and safe I was even more furious.
"I didn't want to stand around being ignored watching you flirt with Guardian Asimov," I replied.
"Flirting?" Dimitri asked incredulously. "I wasn't flirting!"
"I wouldn't know! After you blanked me while she was throwing herself at you, I left," I snapped, lifting my chin and refusing to look at him. "Is she coming here tonight? Did you need me to pack up my stuff and move downstairs to room with Meredith? I mean – it would be awkward trying to get it on with your ex with me here, and I'm not in the mood for a threesome!"
"Rose? Roza! I didn't flirt with Raisa, and I don't think she was flirting with me!"
"She told Meredith and I she was going to spar with you. That she wouldn't mind being pinned beneath you again!"
Dimitri's eyebrows drew together in what appeared to be genuine confusion.
"Do you go around pinning women as foreplay? Is that your pickup technique?" I shouted, my voice trembling a little. "I mean it worked on me, and I guess I was stupid to think I was the first you'd tried it on! You know what? I don't think I even want to stay here. Is Abe still downstairs? I think I might go stay with him for a week or two," I growled, tossing my hair defiantly.
"Rose!" Dimitri gasped in surprise and exasperation, his voice raised to match my own. "Nothing is going on with Raisa and me! She's a friend's little sister. She was in my house at St. Basil's, so I fought her a couple of times over the years, but there was never anything between us! I was asking her about her brother!"
Dimitri's assertions had the ring of truth. But he'd still ignored me, and I was still hurt.
"You didn't introduce me. You didn't even look at me. I'm not some plaything you can pick up or put down when you feel like it," I growled, my eyes bright with anger. "I'm a grown woman, and I won't put up with being ignored."
"I'm sorry," Dimitri said apologetically. "I didn't mean to ignore or disrespect you. It was thoughtless of me, and I won't let you feel unimportant again."
I raised my eyebrows at him dubiously.
"You're everything to me, ангел. Will you give me the chance to make it up to you? Please, Roza? I want you to know and feel that you're my number one all the time. I failed at that today, and I'm sorry."
I looked at him warily, tossing my hair again. I turned away from him, dropping the towel and ignoring him as I quickly changed into pajamas. I climbed into bed, still not looking at him, lying as close to the edge on my side as I could. I'd had no intention of rooming with Meredith or going to stay at Abe's, but Dimitri needed to know he wasn't fully forgiven, yet!
"Is Babushka ok?" I asked in a tense voice.
"Yeah. Oksana is here and going to heal her."
"The spirit user? I want to meet her!"
"She wants to meet you, too. She's just back from a fortnight visiting her sister, but she's asked us to dinner at her place on Monday."
I nodded. If she were anything like Lissa, she'd be tired after a healing – but I was excited at the prospect of meeting her and her husband. They'd be the first shadow-kissed pair I'd met.
"I was so scared when Abe said you'd faced a Strigoi," Dimitri whispered, climbing into bed beside me. "I knew you were alone and unarmed."
"Alone until Babushka came with a stake. She risked her life. Lucky she was paying attention to me," I snapped, reaching up and turning off my bedside lamp, signaling an end to our conversation.
I was deeply asleep the next morning when there was a knock at our bedroom door. Dimitri was curled possessively around me, and uncharacteristically he didn't stir. I tried to extricate myself from his determined grasp, but as I attempted to slip from his arms, they tightened around me. The knock was repeated.
Checking we were at least decent, I called out "Come in."
The door opened, and Olena's face peered around the door.
"Sorry – I tried to get up, but he won't let me!" I explained as the woman who was basically my mother in law took in my disheveled state and her son's arms wrapped firmly around me.
"Have you two made up?" she asked, cutting straight to the chase.
I looked at her questioningly.
"The whole house heard you shouting last night," she explained apologetically.
"Not really. He completely ignored me - and ask Meredith, that woman was flirting with him," I grumbled.
Olena eyed the two of us indulgently, particularly the way Dimitri refused to let go of me, even in his sleep.
"You scared him yesterday. When he couldn't find you at the gym, he was worried - and I've never seen anyone move so fast as when you called Abe. It doesn't matter what anyone else says or does, don't ever doubt he loves you and only you, Rose."
I looked at Olena sheepishly. With the benefit of hindsight, I recognized perhaps I'd overreacted a little to the Raisa situation.
"She's right," Dimitri said, tightening his arms around me and opening a bleary eye to regard his Mama.
"You're awake!" Olena said giving her only son a smile.
"I am," he confirmed, unashamedly nuzzling my hair as we lay in bed talking with his Mama. I gave his side a small caress, returning his affection and silently letting him know I had started to forgive him.
"Babushka doesn't feel up for Church today, and Zoya is asleep. I thought you'd both be tired – are you ok staying behind and listening out for them while we attend the service?"
"That's fine, Mama. Thank you for understanding. Yesterday was a big day."
Olena nodded and blessed the two of us with a motherly smile.
"Is Abe coming over for lunch?" I checked. I hadn't thanked him for coming to get Yeva and me so quickly last night, and I wanted him to know how much I appreciated it.
"Yes. He and Pavel will be here at one as usual."
"Thank you," I murmured, giving Olena a grateful smile. She'd bent over backward to welcome me into the family, and it had worked. For the first timeever, I felt like I had a home. Baia, Russia felt like home – and Dimitri's kin felt like mine too.
Olena returned my smile before backing out of the room, closing the door softly behind her. I spun in Dimitri's arms, lying on my side to face him.
"You hurt my feelings, you know," I admitted.
"I know," he said apologetically, remorse all over his face. "I wish I knew how to make it up to you."
"Hmm…" I pondered, looking at him reflectively. "Well – another of those nice long massages like the other day would be a good start…" I suggested, proffering the proverbial olive branch.
"I can do that," he agreed eagerly.
"And maybe some kisses. It's been too many hours since you kissed me," I grumbled, even as he was bringing his lips to mine tenderly.