Dimitri's POV
My frustration with the Guardian Council was greater than it had ever been before. I'd thought with Janine Hathaway at the head, things would change, but it seemed I had been sorely mistaken. A quick memo had been sent my way about a new hire joining the school guard tonight with no further information given. I knew the likelihood of it being a recent graduate from another school was immensely high, which meant I would have to take time out of my already far too busy schedule to show them around. I was frantically trying to reorganise said schedule when I heard a knock at the door. It must've been them, but it was still a good half hour until nightfall, and I was almost done with my current task. I didn't answer or ask them to come in.
Nevertheless, the door opened without my permission. That could have been a clue, but how could I have possibly expected the person who had just entered my office? I made one final change to my schedule before looking up. I was going to scold them for not waiting for a response, but the words caught in my throat. I could feel the air being knocked out of my lungs at the sight of her. No. No, it couldn't be. I was overworked, and she was nothing more than a figment of my imagination. She had to be.
"Roza?"
The word slipped past my lips unbidden, and I could see her expression soften. Only for a moment, but that moment was enough to make my heart skip several beats.
Then there was confusion, followed by irritation. "Where's Alberta?"
Certainly not the reaction I was hoping for after years of separation. When I'd pictured our reunion, I'd imagined her running into my arms. Tears and kisses. Hell, even a smile would have been enough! But not… this. This utter lack of a reaction. Then again, Rose had aged. She was no longer the young nineteen-year-old she'd been when I had last seen her. She had grown and matured, and it occurred to me that I had absolutely no clue just what she had been doing these past eight and a half years. I schooled my face into that stoic guardian mask I had perfected long ago before I spoke again. "Guardian Petrov is no longer in charge of the school's guardians."
It stung that that revelation caused more of a reaction in her than the sight of me had, but I tried not to let it show. There was worry on her face now. "Is she…?"
"No," I answered. She didn't have to finish the question for me to know what she was asking. We both knew Alberta was not likely to leave this academy as long as she was alive, and it had not been an easy decision for her to give up her position. To my knowledge, the Guardian Council had been trying to get her to step down for several years, but it had not been until my request to be transferred to the academy that she had finally agreed. I hadn't wanted this position, but Janine had made it abundantly clear that this was the only condition under which I would be allowed to come here. Alberta, to my surprise, had welcomed the decision. "She teaches theory classes now."
That appeared to calm Rose. "Oh. Good. That's good."
A moment of awkward silence followed. It was the first time since she'd entered my office that I had a chance to contemplate what she was doing here. She must have been the new hire, that much was clear, but why would she have come here? Had she been reassigned as punishment for her long absence from Court? From what I'd heard, her mission had been sanctioned by the Council, but no one had known exactly what she had been doing, and I'd heard that doubts about the necessity of said mission had started to take hold among the guardians. Perhaps…
No. Suddenly, something clicked. The strange Moroi woman. The way she'd walked, the tension radiating off of her… the Spirit charm. "It was you, wasn't it?" I asked, unable to stop myself. "You're the one who brought Sunshine Porter here."
As soon as I'd mentioned the name, the shutters came down. There was no way she would tell me anything, and I doubted I could get it out of her. "I have no idea what you're talking about."
How could she possibly believe that I couldn't read her like an open book? This was Rose, after all. Older, and perhaps wiser, and certainly no longer my Roza, but she was still Rose. She knew something. "Who is she?"
Panic. That was what I could see in her expression now. Pure, unadulterated panic. I racked my brain for what could have possibly caused it. Then I froze. The eyes. The jade-green eyes. I'd assumed Dashkov, but what if that wasn't the case? What if… no. It couldn't be. But the ages would line up. Not perfectly, I'd been told that Sunshine was seven years old, but if there was one thing I knew, then it was that Rose wasn't above lying. Especially not when it was in order to keep Vasilisa and those she loved safe.
"No. It can't be," I whispered.
In an instant, Rose had crossed the distance between the door and the desk. She put her hands down on it and leaned in close. She was terrifying, her voice no more than a hiss. "Nobody can know. Nobody, you understand?"
Of course I did! How could she believe I would do anything at all to endanger Vasilisa? I'd left my entire life behind for her. I'd left Roza for her! "I do."
She scanned me for any hint of deception and seemingly found none. Then, she took a few steps back. "Good. Then it's my turn to interrogate you." I knew what she was going to ask before she even posed the question. "Where's Christian?"
"I'm not at liberty to discuss Lord Dragomir's whereabouts," I said as professionally as I could. Perhaps some distance would help the situation. Predictably enough, it did not.
Rose narrowed her eyes at me. "Yeah, you've figured out my secret, so I'm thinking the deal about hiding him from me's off."
I knew my face betrayed nothing, and though Rose had the same uncanny ability to read me as I had for her, she wouldn't find anything. With my secret, there were no obvious clues like a child with the eyes of a Dragomir. "I'm sorry, but I disagree."
"Well, I'm not leaving until you tell me where he is," she said, settling herself in the chair on the other side of my desk. "I've got time."
An exasperated sigh nearly escaped me before I realised that, no, that wasn't the truth. She didn't have time. Not much, anyway. Nightfall was almost upon us, and she would have to follow my orders. I had no desire to relive our early days at the academy whatsoever, but if she was going to be unreasonable, I didn't have another choice. "I don't believe that would go over all too well with the Guardian Council."
"What?"
I gave her a sardonic smile. "You are here as a new addition to the school guard, are you not?"
The daggers she shot at me with her eyes felt far too familiar.
"You are free to sit here as long as you want, but I won't be telling you anything," I continued. "Of course, you'd also earn yourself a disciplinary write-up on your first day."
She'd jumped up and rounded the desk faster than I could react. She was right in front of me again, her face close enough so I could feel her breath on my skin. When she spoke, she did so in a low voice that resembled a growl more than anything else. "If I find out that anything happened to Christian on your watch, I will end you."
"I know," I breathed. I knew that very well. Despite the fact that Christian had never been her charge in the real world, she was fiercely protective over him. I wanted to be angry with her for believing I would ever let anything happen to my charge, but after the events of the past few months, I couldn't fault her. Not that she knew about any of that. "I can't tell you more than this: he's alive and well. Is that enough?"
It was the truth. He was alive. The last part? Not so much right now, but he would be. I could only hope that Rose wouldn't find him before that.
She eyed me suspiciously, but apparently decided that I was trustworthy enough to take me at my word. For a few more seconds, she lingered, but eventually took a step back again. "Yes, that's enough. For now."
