Saturday morning we made it to San Francisco, we packed everything into a our suitcases. Just like we were told we left the RV in the airport parking lot. I have no idea how Dimitri got our stakes through security but he did. We bored the plane right before it was about to take off.

My father was nice enough to get us first class tickets. I don't think I could have survived 22 hours in the other seats. I sat next to the window and Dimitri sat in the aisle seat. Me and Dimitri talked about a lot of random things for the first hour of the flight before I already wanted to sleep. I pulled up the arm rest and leaned on Dimitri's shoulder, he ran his fingers through my hair and traced circles on my bump until I fell asleep. About half way through the flight I woke up feeling nauseous and light headed.

I kept trying to blink away the headache but black shapes kept fluttering into view. "Fuck!" Dimitri looked at me warily. "Nothing, nothing, just a headache." He didn't look convinced so I smiled at him.

Silently I told the ghosts to go away, they were almost all gone, until Tasha appeared in front of me. All my control was gone, the ghosts exploded all around me. I felt them pulling me into darkness. I screamed at them to try and make them go away. I felt myself being drowned in something I couldn't see. Then I felt something grab me. I looked around frantically, but all I seem were faces.

Somewhere in the chaos in front of me I heard someone calling my name. "Roza, Roza, Roza, what's wrong, Roza, stop!" I mustered all the strength I could to focus on that voice. The ghosts went away. The last to leave was an angry Tasha Ozera.

I blinked several times to see a horrified Dimitri, a concerned flight attendants, and a mix of scared and annoyed passengers. I couldn't say anything. Dimitri held my chin and rubbed my cheek with his thumb. He turned to the flight attended and lied perfectly. "She has flashbacks in her sleep sometimes from her time in the army, I'm sorry. I'll try to keep her awake for the rest of the flight. Could you please bring her a drink and pain killer?" Both women nodded at the same time and hurried off. Dimitri turned to everyone else and apologize with a similar line.

He looked at me straight in the eye and begged for me to say what was wrong. I couldn't form words. Tasha was dead, what she did was horrible, but she might have gotten out of prison on day, been happy on her own. But now she was dead, and I knew I was to blame for some reason. I felt numb. A flight attendant came back and I robotically swallowed the pill and drank the water she gave me.

Dimitri kept comforting me while quietly begging me to talk to him. For the remaining 13 hours in the flight I remained in a catatonic state, my biggest attempts in communication being pointing an nodding half heartedly. Dimitri kept talking mostly in Russian and with little protest from the flight attendants, I sat in his lap feeling hollow.

When we landed Dimitri held my hand and half dragged me threw the airport. Once we picked up our luggage, we got into a cab. Apparently we where 2 hours away from Dimitri's home, since I was too scared to sleep again I looked out the window, watching the sun begin to set on the snowy landscape.

Dimitri was silent for most of the trip. He handed the driver a piece of paper and said something in Russian. "Roza, I'm going to take you to a a hotel tonight. I don't want to meet my family when your like this. Please let me help you, please just tell me what happened." I still couldn't speak all the things I refused myself the time to think about.

Half an hour later, we pulled into the front of a huge hotel, where a bell hop took all our things and brought them to the front desk on a cart. Dimitri spoke to the man behind the counter in more Russian and a while later we had a room key.

Once again Dimitri took my hand and pulled me into the elevator. He wrapped his arms around me whispering in Russian into my ear. I felt cold but sweaty all at the same time. I felt numbed by the overload of emotions. I wasn't sure if I was going to explode or dissolve. We went into our room and I stood at the door looking around while Dimitri just put walked around.

A bed, a dresser, a little couch, a bathroom, and a small kitchenette. It was warm and inviting, yet I felt out of place. There was knock at the door behind me that made me jump. Dimitri gently pulled me away and opened the door, the bell hop unloaded our stuff from the cart. He left after a brief exchange with Dimitri, five dollars richer. I slowly followed Dimitri and sat on the end of the bed. He kissed me on the forehead, before walking into the bathroom.

I felt tears begin to roll down my cheek but I didn't make a sound. I let myself begin to remember and think about the plane ride, and slowly and the all at once I began crying. When Dimitri came out of the bathroom, I was hysterical mess, Dimitri quickly sat next to me and pulled me to him. Since I hadn't opened my mouth all day the first sounds that I made sounded strangled. I cleared my throught and blurted out, "She's dead!" before completely loosing it again. Dimitri looked even more worried. His voice was frantic.

"Roza, who died? Lissa?" I shook my head before he could even finish saying her name. "Roza, please tell me who." I quieted myself a little before attempting to speak again.

"Tasha, I-I seen her ghost. She's dead." Dimitri's looked so sad, he sat holding me for a while. The sun was completely down when he picked me up. We went to the bathroom and he put me down. He turned off the bath water, it was full and I could see the steam rising from the water. He pulled his shirt off. Then he began helping me take of my clothes, I didn't put up a fight. When I was finally undressed he walked me over to the tub and help me lower myself into the water.

The smell of lavender helped me center myself and relax. I looked up from the foamy water to see Dimitri completely naked as well and I was surprised, not because of him, but because I didn't react to him. He slid into the tub behind me and pulled me toward him. I felt like all of my thoughts were about to explode out of me. I felt myself falling asleep, I decided to try and talk. "Tasha died in prison, and it's my fault." Dimitri wrapped me in his arms and took my hands. "I don't know how, or who ki..." I could finish my thought because a horrible idea popped into my head. "Victor" My voice cracked and I felt myself begin shake uncontrollably.

Dimitri pulled me closer and rubbed my arm and played with my fingers. Once I started to fall asleep again I was more relaxed. Dimitri got out of the tub and wrapped a towel around his waist. He opened the drain and helped me out, wrapping me into a towel and holding me close to his chest. Rather than pulling me along he just picked me up and sat on the bed. I weakly pulled away from him, so he just lay me on the bed. He dug through our bags and after he quickly threw on some boxers, he helped me get dressed in some pajamas.

For a while I sat leaning against Dimitri, but I got an idea. Curiosity was burning inside of me. Slowly I stood up and look ahead. I let down my walls and black shapes began appearing in my vision. "Natasha Ozera." My head hurt and I felt Dimitri grab my wrist but I shook him away. "Tasha I need to speak with you."

"Rose, stop that isn't a good idea." I shushed him and turned around again.

"Tasha please." Right when I was about to give up and rebuild my walls, I seen her appear. She no longer looked angry but I couldn't read he expression either. I noticed the faint red staining the side of her stomach. I looked at her directly in the eyes. "Do you know who killed you?" At first she didn't do anything, but she slowly nodded. Then she point at me. "I didn't do it." She's shook her head. I stood puzzled by what she was trying to tell me. "Did they kill you in prison?" She nodded I seen her trying to talk.

When trying to read her lips I almost fell backwards when I understood what she was trying to say. In a barely audible whisper, I asked my one word question. "Dashkov?" She nodded. I composed myself and forced the other ghosts approaching to leave. "Then why do you think it was me. I knew she had no way of answering. I thought about it for moment. "Because I'm the one who put you in Jail?" She nodded but I didn't allow myself to get angry over that. "I'm sorry" she nodded one more time before vanishing.

Another idea popped into my head. Once again I center myself. "Tatiana Ivashkov, I need to speak with you." The late queen materialized almost instantly. She looked at me with distaste. "Do you know who killed you?" She nodded. I seen the bloody hole in the middle of her chest. "Did they use my stake?" Once again she nodded. "We're they working alone?" She shook her head. Just like Tasha, the queen tried to speak. I didn't need to guess this time, but just for confirmation I asked. "Did he work for Victor Dashkov." Her face showed her debating something. She bit her lip and nodded slowly. "Wait, does Victor Dashkov work for the same person, as the one who killed you?" Once again the queen looked puzzled. She shook her head, but then nodded.

I was seriously confused, but I got an idea. I searched the room for a book of some sort, and I grabbed the hotel pen and paper sitting on the desk. "Point at a letter and I'll write what you spell. She pointed to some letters and first word she spelled was 'brother' I arched an eyebrow but she nodded. The next word she spelled was 'magic'. She pointed to four letters to spell out 'same'. The last word she spelled wasn't a word, it was a name.

'Adrian'

"Victor has a brother?" Tatiana nodded. I put together the rest of the words. "The brother uses the same magic as Adrian?" She nodded. I gasped. "He's a spirit user?" The queen nodded right before vanishing. "Well it was nice to see you too." I said dryly to no one.

PLEASE After summoning my barrier I sat down. Dimitri still didn't ask me questions, he just took my hand and pulled me into bed with him. I started drawing shapes on my stomach. "What kind of world am I bring you into." I thought Dimitri was already sleeping so jumped a little when he held me tighter.

"A world where I'll love you both very much." For first time all day I smiled, and I rolled over to face him.

"Don't leave me, please." He kissed me and I kissed back. I looked at him in the dark, his eyes sparkled, and he was smiling too. I kissed him and this time I didn't push him away, I wasn't sure what made me open up so suddenly, but I whispered. "I need you. You can't leave me."

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