He was drowning. In icy, frigid water.
Gasping for breath, he opened his eyes, shocked to find his head submerged. Jerking upright, he spun around, staring into a pair of concerned brown eyes. Belikov. Alberta was right—he was trying to kill him. A panicked male voice drew his attention away from the Russian.
"Thank God! I thought you were dying Ivashkov!"
He leaned back, wondering who had witnessed the attempted manslaughter, hoping that they'd be willing to testify about what had happened.
Augustine Voda was leaning against the wall, looking frazzled. "I knocked for like ten minutes! The door was unlocked, so I came in. You were passed out man—there was blood and glass everywhere! I tried to wake you up but you just kept saying 'Belikov". So I called down to the Guardian Center and had him paged. What the fuck, man?"
Belikov stood up, handing him a towel. "What happened, Lord Ivashkov?"
"Besides you trying to drown me?" Adrian snapped, grabbing the towel and glaring up at him.
The tall man's lips twitched. "Don't be ridiculous. If I were going to kill you, there are much easier ways to do it."
"Did you just make a joke?"
"No." The lips stopped twitching, his face a bland mask, giving away nothing.
Augustine brushed past Belikov, looking at Adrian's neck. "Dude, you cut yourself up pretty bad."
Adrian stood, using the rim of the half full bathtub for leverage. "I can't believe you dunked me. Don't they teach you how to revive someone in guardian training?"
Belikov shrugged. "Dousing a drunk in water is generally the easiest way to wake them. Why bother trying anything else?"
"I wasn't drunk! I—" He broke off as he caught a look at his neck in the mirror. Jesus. He'd have to ask Lissa to heal him. "What time is it? Is Lissa still awake?"
"The Princess is probably getting ready for the trial. Would you like me to get her?"
Adrian nodded. After Belikov left, he turned to Augustine. "Thanks man."
"Not the first time you've blacked out, bro. I wouldn't have called for Belikov, but the way you were acting… it kinda freaked me out."
"Yeah, well I owe you a bottle." He steered his guest towards the door, wanting to be alone. "I'll come find you later."
"Sure thing." Voda paused at the door. "Hey, what's going on with you and the dhampire chick? Everyone's talking about it."
"Later. We'll discuss it over drinks."
He fought not to slam the door behind the other man, slumping against it as he surveyed the room. Glass was everywhere. It looked like he hit the bar on his way to the floor, and took half its contents with him. He walked across the room, throwing open the windows to clear the air. It smelled like a distillery, and if the smell bothered him, it would make Lissa sick.
Unbuttoning his shirt, he returned to the bathroom to further assess the damage. God, he looked like he'd been mauled. His upper torso was covered in cuts, a few with tiny pieces of glass embedded in them. Wincing, he began to remove the shards, biting down on his lip, trying to ignore the pain. No one would believe he hadn't been drunk. Well—Lissa might, once he told her he'd pulled on too much spirit. He just hoped she wouldn't ask what he'd been using it for—especially not with Belikov in the room. A soft knocking alerted him of their arrival.
"It's open!"
He stuck his head around the door frame, smirking when he saw Lissa's nose wrinkle up in disgust at the smell. "It's not what you think, cousin. I wasn't on a bender. Hell, I only had one drink last night."
Belikov snorted as he entered the suite, shutting the door behind him.
Lissa stared at him, worry evident on her lovely face. "Oh Adrian—what did you do to yourself?" She crossed the room, laying her hands on two of the many wounds. He felt the soothing heat, and sighed.
"I pulled on too much spirit and blacked out." His eyes flicked over her head, locking with Dimitri's brown ones. "Like when we were at the lodge."
Understanding flashed across the other man's face, showing he remembered the way Adrian had collapsed after overexerting his elemental power when they'd been trying to locate Rose. He nodded, turning to survey the messy room.
"I'll be right back."
Lissa looked over her shoulder, calling out to him as he reached the door. "Take your time, I'm going to be awhile." Her eyes returned to Adrian. "I'm sorry for assuming the worst."
"No worries, cousin. Everyone assumes the worst about me. I'm used to it. It's part of being Adrian Ivashkov, the colossal fuck up."
"Don't say that." Lissa frowned. "Don't even think it. There's a lot more to you than people realize. I just wish…" She trailed off, sighing. "I just wish you didn't encourage the stories. It would make things easier on you."
"When did you get so wise, Lissa?" He joked, trying to lighten her somber mood. She ignored him, focusing on the task at hand.
Lissa was almost done by the time Belikov returned, carrying a broom, dustpan and a large black bag.
Adrian stared at him, confused. "What the—"
"If you have housekeeping clean this up, it will only create more gossip." With that, he began to clean up the glass while Adrian stared at him, shocked.
"Shut your mouth or you'll catch flies." Lissa whispered, smiling.
"Belikov, you don't have to do that."
Dimitri glanced over at him, arching an eyebrow. "I know I don't. I choose to."
Still not understanding why anyone would voluntarily clean up someone else's mess, he shut up. Closing his eyes, he concentrated on the sensation of the healing; trying to commit it to memory so he could attempt it in the future.
Ten minutes later, the radiating warmth stopped. "All done. You're good as new."
"Thanks. Look, could you not say anything about this to Rose? She already thinks I'm—"
"Don't worry, Adrian. We won't say a word. Will we, Guardian Belikov?" Lissa smiled at the other man, waiting for his agreement.
Belikov stood up, carefully tying off the bag full of glass. "No. We won't, Princess."
"I need to get back before Rose realizes I'm gone." Lissa gave him a hug, and let herself out of the room.
Belikov started to follow after her, then paused, turning to face Adrian. Dropping his head slightly so their eyes were level, he stared for a moment before speaking. His voice was quiet, sounding almost worried. "I won't tell Rose what happened here if you don't tell her what you witnessed last night."
He felt his eyes widen. "I'm not sure what you mean, Belikov."
"Don't. Don't lie to me. You were there—in the dream. It was one of your…" he faltered, unable to find the right word. "I didn't realize it until you… changed the dream. Whatever you did to restructure it, it alerted me to your presence."
"Would it help if I apologized?" Adrian asked.
Belikov chuckled. "Apologized for what? Turning a nightmare into something… else?"
Relief washed over him. The other man didn't realize he'd had the nightmare because of Adrian's meddling. Belikov just thought he'd been… snooping. "You're absolutely right. I won't say a word."
Dimitri nodded, heading for the door. Once he reached the hallway, he looked back over his shoulder, scowling slightly. "One more thing. Stay the hell out of my dreams. For that matter, keep out of Rose's as well." With that, he closed the door before Adrian could think of a witty reply.
He ran his hands through his wet hair, laughing as he headed for the shower. What a way to start the fucking day.