Sorry for the late update, the week got away from me.

I'm glad you liked the last chapter :D

I dodged back, barely avoiding the hand that swiped at my chest, fingertips snagging on my shirt but unable to grip. I fell back, using the momentum to roll away, landing in a crouched position as I eyed my opponent. My palm felt sweaty around the practice stake in my hand, clenching my fingers as I adjusted my grip.

Alberta's eyes narrowed, studying me as she waited for me to make my move. She was analysing everything I did, seeming to know what I was planning. So I did something unexpected.

I threw myself at her, an obnoxious battle cry coming from my mouth; a dubious expression on her face as she paused in confusion. We tumbled to the ground, me landing on top with my stake hovering over her heart; the tip blunted to not hurt.

Alberta groaned from her spot on the mat as she gave me an unimpressed look, "Really, Rose?"

I climbed off her, dusting my hands with a triumphant smirk, "You said to take you down, and I did."

"The battle cry was a nice touch," a deep accented voice commented behind me. I spun on my heel to find Dimitri staring at me with a guarded expression. My stomach fluttered thinking of the last time I saw him.

After having sex a second time, I rudely kicked him out of my apartment and went out of my way to avoid him these last two days. Alberta gave me a day to rest and then started testing my skills to see where I was at. Tonight was my first time going out with the other guardians—training on the job.

I rolled my eyes, turned my back on him and stalked across the room to grab my towel from the chair against the wall. Anger still burned through me at the sight of him; at the same time, butterflies swirled in my stomach. Memories of his touch and the feeling of him above me were a curse because of how much I enjoyed it. How much I wanted it again.

It wasn't butterflies in my stomach—they were bats.

"Good, you're here," Alberta greeted as she gathered her things. I cocked my head at her.

"Why is he here?" My disdain was obvious. It was bratty and immature, but that was what he already thought of me, so I might as well live up to it.

Alberta eyed me, emotions flicking across her eyes but didn't give away what she was thinking. "Dimitri is here to explain what you need to know for tonight. I want you to keep training with him during the day, and then we will work together when patrolling." I made a noise of irritation in the back of my throat, earning raised eyebrows from her. "Is there a problem with that?"

Her tone reminded me of when I was twelve and would talk back to her. I crossed my arms with a huff, "No."

Amusement danced in her eyes, "Good."

They spoke some more while I went through my stretches so I wouldn't be stiff from working out. I tried not to pay attention, but I kept hearing the deep rumble of Dimitri's voice and shivering at the memory of what he whispered in my ear during sex.

My stupid body wanted more, and I was struggling to maintain a strong will. What happened between us shouldn't—couldn't—happen again.

"Rose?"

My head snapped up, surprised to find Dimitri towering over me with his arms crossed. I wondered if he was irritated that he had to continue working with me. His expression when I told him to get out was far from impressed. What we said when arguing told me just how low of an opinion he had of me.

Squashing the bats in my stomach, I school my features to appear bored, standing and rolling my shoulders. "Let's get this over with," I replied, looking anywhere except for his eyes. Those deep brown eyes that were still filled with a passion that I couldn't say no to.

Dimitri explained more about how guardians patrolled, working in groups of five and staying in contact with other groups through radio. We had an assigned area and would scour it for four hours before moving to a second location, where we repeated the process. Our group would have two experienced guardians and three novices; I knew Alberta and Dimitri were the experienced ones but had no idea who the two novices would be.

He handed me one of the radios and explained how to use it and the different callouts. It felt very military—good little soldier—I guess I wasn't too far off when I called him that.

"Do you have any questions?" he asked. I had expected him to be more standoffish, at least curt with his words, yet he was patient and thorough, making sure I had all the information I needed.

I shook my head, fingering the radio still in my hand. "Seems straightforward enough," I commented.

"If you have questions in the field, don't hesitate to ask. We have to work as a team out there."

My eyes met his, swallowing at the intensity in them. "Okay," I dipped my head, stepping back after realising how close we were standing. "So, do I get a weapon, or should I keep hairspray close by again?"

A look passed his eyes, lips twitching, "As creative as that was, this time you will have a weapon to fight with." He took the radio from me and returned it to the case of others. Nodding his head towards the storage room, I trailed after him into the cramped room.

I hadn't been in here yet; someone else would retrieve the equipment when I worked out. It would be a spacious room if it weren't for the many shelves stacked high with equipment. All sorts of gear filled the shelves, organised in their own place with labels for added measure. The only light in the room provided barely enough light to see everything, my eyes slowly adjusting.

Dimitri stepped further into the room, heading towards the far wall, and stopped before a large wooden case that didn't seem to belong with everything else there. Pulling out a set of keys, Dimitri unlocked the case and retrieved something before closing and locking it.

He turned back to me. "This," he stated, holding his hand out to me, "is your weapon."

My eyes widened at the silver stake he held, the metal shining even in the dim light. When I reached for it, he pulled it out of reach.

"When we are out there, we are tasked with helping those that can't defend themselves. It's our job to defend them from the monsters they don't know about that hide in the shadows. They come first." His words held a weight that settled on my shoulders—an expectation. "Do you understand, Rose?"

I lifted my chin, looking him squarely in the eye. I understood the weight of what I was doing, my own expectation I was carrying to keep Riley safe. I nodded, holding my hand out, "They come first."

His eyes lit up, approval shining in them, as he finally placed the stake in my hand. I was momentarily surprised by the weight of it, the smooth solid metal warming against my palm. There was a hum I felt against my skin, the power from the four elements that it had been charmed with.

I could feel his eyes on me, my body heating under them. "Is that everything? Or are you going to lecture me about which end to stab with?" I jibed, trying to defuse the tension building between us.

All approval left his eyes, leaving exasperation. He scoffed, shaking his head, "Of course, I couldn't expect you to take this seriously."

His words stung, so I retorted, "And I expected you to not be an asshole. Guess we are both disappointed." His jaw clenched but remained silent. I took that as my cue to leave.

As I turned, his hand caught my bicep, "Rose, we have to talk about what happened."

I was dreading this conversation, hoping to continue putting it off. I still had no answer for what happened—for why it happened. All I knew was it felt amazing, and I craved more.

"I already told you. It was a mistake."

He huffed in irritation, "And what about the second time?"

I couldn't bring myself to look him in the eye, focusing on his jaw instead, "Relapse?"

"That's it?"

I shrugged. "What do you want me to say? That it was an eye-opening event? Your dick has magical powers that made me fall for you?" I had to cut this off here and now, continuing, "I had an itch, and you scratched it. That's all it was."

I felt his hand twitch around my arm, his voice dropping an octave. "I was just someone to roll around in the sheets with?"

"Was it any different for you?" I replied.

His tongue darted out to wet his lips, my eyes drawn to it. "I–"

"Trust me, Dimitri, I could have gone for anyone—you just happened to be there." I knew I was being cruel, my heart clenching as the words left my mouth. "It was nothing."

There was a change in the air between us; a spark lit as he stepped closer, "I don't think you would have settled for anyone, Roza." My mouth went dry as my name rolled off his tongue. "You can deny it as much as you want, but I know you felt something too."

I wasn't expecting Dimitri to be so set on making me admit to it; I expected him to want to forget it and move on. His hand moved from my arm to my chin, curling a finger under it and tilting my head up so I had to look him in the eye.

"You felt it too," he claimed, voice softer than before. It was like liquid honey, flooding my body with warmth. His head lowered closer to mine, his breath fanning my skin. I wanted to close the gap between us and reclaim his lips, knowing how good they felt pressed against mine.

I needed to break it before I gave in.

"You were just a means to an end."

Something broke in his expression, his guard dropping to show something raw and passionate that made my stomach do flips. I steeled myself, dropping my eyes and stepping out of reach; without looking back, I walked away from him and out of the room.

I shrugged on my jacket, adjusting the collar to cover my neck. My hair was pulled up and fastened into a bun; I didn't want to give any Strigoi leverage to drag me around. Alberta told me to dress casual to not draw unwanted attention when out. I settled on a pair of black jeans and a dark blue shirt, topping it off with my leather jacket and Doc Martens. As the time grew closer my nerves were skyrocketing; changing outfits at least three times before settling on what I started with.

I smoothed the front of my shirt, staring at myself in the bathroom mirror. My appearance didn't matter, yet I was fretting over it like I was going on a date and not hunting down evil vampires.

Two weeks ago, I was working two jobs, living blissfully unaware of creatures in the night—not risking my life to fight against them with a metal stake to stab into their hearts.

How had this become my life?

With one last look, I turned from my reflection and strolled into my kitchen, my stake sitting on the counter. I could feel the buzz of the magic infused into it, and the hairs on the back of my neck stood up.

Tonight I was committing to this life—the life of a guardian—in a mysterious world that I still didn't know everything about.

They come first. Dimitri's words drifted in my mind; the responsibility attached to those words was heavy. I could defend those I cared about, do something to actually help; to protect them.

My hand wrapped around the cool metal, holding it in front of me. I was going to give it my all.

Squaring my shoulders, I tucked the stake into the holster Alberta gave me, hidden by my jacket, and walked out of my apartment to meet the others for my first night of patrolling.

It was strange being cramped in a car with four other guardians as we drove to the area we were assigned to patrol. Some eighties song was playing on the radio, Dimitri tapping his thumbs against the steering wheel to the beat like it was just a normal drive. Alberta was in the passenger seat, scrolling through a map on the screen of her phone. The only ones that spoke were Eddie and Mason, the two other novices grouped with us.

Until you had been in the field for a year, they still considered you a novice; once that year is up, then you had your own novices to train. I really hoped I wasn't stuck with Dimitri every night for a whole year.

"Are you excited?" Mason whispered, an eager smile on his face. It seemed there wasn't a time that he wasn't excited, shooting me looks that I'm sure would have other girls falling head over heels. The look in his eyes was nothing compared to Dimitri's; the intensity when he looked at me made my heart stop and start racing at the same time.

I shrugged, not sure what I was feeling. None of my experiences with Strigoi had been good; the one kill I had under my belt was pure luck. As much as I hated to admit it, knowing that Dimitri did have my back made me feel better.

I faced away from the others and watched the scenery pass as I took deep breaths to calm myself. I needed to be focused.

As we pulled into a car park, my breath caught, recognising where we were. Not far from the diner or my apartment, Riley's apartment was a ten-minute walk away, as was the transition house I lived in.

"Why are we here?" I asked, trying to keep my shock from my voice. I wasn't aware how much they knew of where I lived when I was on my own and didn't want to go into it if they didn't.

Alberta climbed out, holding my door open for me. "Strigoi tend to hunt in these areas because people here don't have a lot of connections. Homeless, addicts, and drunks are all easy targets. Someone screams for help here, and no one comes running."

I dropped my eyes, wrapping my arms around myself despite the warmth in the air. "I thought they just went after Moroi?"

"They prefer Moroi blood but they will kill anyone to feed."

I wondered just how many times I came close to being killed on these streets; there were times I could remember my instincts telling me to walk the other way or to get far away from a stranger standing in an alley. Were they Strigoi all those times?

"Remember to have your radio on. Rose, I want you to stay with Belkiov first, and then join me at the front. Keep your eyes open." Alberta distributed the radios to us and the earpieces to wear.

I fumbled with mine, trying to clip it onto the collar of my shirt. Calloused fingers took the clip from me, quickly attaching it and smoothing out the collar of my jacket.

"Are you okay?" Dimitri whispered, still standing close to me, so the others didn't hear. I rolled my shoulders, feigning a look of irritation, ignoring the shivers his touch brought.

"I'm fine."

Once we were ready, Alberta led the group; she distanced herself from Mason and Eddie. Both of them had pulled on their guardian masks; though they pretended to be deep in conversation, I could see the tension in their bodies. Dimitri and I moved in the same direction but on the opposite side of the street. We were still in the eyesight of the others yet spaced out enough that we didn't stick out as a group.

We walked in silence for a few minutes before Dimitri spoke, "It's okay to be nervous."

"I'm not," I spat. I didn't want to give away that I was watching my surroundings, but each sound made me jump; obviously, Dimitri noticed. He hummed, not believing me.

"Just relax and listen to your instincts," he instructed, "Soon, you'll be able to tell if there is something to be concerned about."

My lips twitched, a smart-ass remark on the tip of my tongue; instead, I took his advice and took a deep breath. "My last two experiences with Strigoi didn't go well," I admitted, glancing at him out of the corner of my eyes, "I'm a little on edge."

"That's why we work in a group, have each other's back. You aren't alone out here, Rose."

His words gave me comfort, for once, feeling like it had when we used to talk at the diner. Just his presence was enough to make me feel safe, knowing he wouldn't let anything happen to me, even with how things were between us.

I nodded, giving him a small smile, "Thanks, comrade."

Most of the night passed by uneventfully, moving to our second location without running into any Strigoi. Alberta assured me that this was common; some nights were just quiet. We were in our last hour of patrolling, doing one last lap before returning back to the old school. I was exhausted and looking forward to sleep.

We had rearranged our group again, Alberta and Dimitri trailing behind us while I walked with the boys. We kept our eyes peeled while discussing our favourite films.

Mason shook his head, arm thrown over my shoulders, "See, you're lucky you're cute because your tastes in films are terrible."

I pushed him off, grumbling, "My film choices are f–" I halted.

My stomach churned; it was the same feeling as last time.

My eyes darted around the shadows of the building, looking for what was causing it. The guys noticed my change in demeanour, eyes shifting to find what set me off. There was nothing obvious, and the longer I searched, the more I second-guessed myself.

Maybe it was nothing.

Maybe I was just imagining it.

"Rose?" I heard Dimitri's caution-laced voice come through my earpiece. "What is it?"

Just as I was about to respond—say it was nothing—a low growl came from the shadows, followed by a pair of red eyes glowing in the darkness, two more appearing behind it.

Fuck.

Oh boy... here come some Strigoi.

Also, it's fine writing Rose being the one denying things instead of Dimitri haha

Hope you enjoyed the chapter :D