Janine took a deep breath before taking the book from Abe, she didn't want to touch the book,
FOUR
I COULDN'T BELIEVE IT. JANINE Hathaway. My mother. My insanely famous and stunningly absent mother.
Olena and Yeva shook their head at Janine, they couldn't understand why she did what she did. Their family were their everything, and there was a woman who gave hers just to go and protect some random Moroi.
She was no Arthur Schoenberg, but she did have a pretty stellar reputation in the guardian world.
Dimitri and Ivan nodded,
I hadn't seen her in years because she was always off on some insane mission. And yet...here she was at the Academy right now -right in front of me-and she hadn't even bothered to let me know she was coming.
Janine shook her head, she knew she was not going to enjoy this chapter or the next few chapters. Abe took her one hand and squeezed it reassuringly,
So much for motherly love.
Olena shook her head, she made the decisions that when she met Rose she was going to give the girl all the love she had missed the last few years,
What the hell was she doing here anyway? The answer came quickly. All the Moroi who came to campus would have their guardians in tow. My mother protected a noble from the Szelsky clan, and several members of that family had shown up for the holidays. Of course she'd be here with him. I slid into my chair and felt something inside of me shrivel up.
"This is not going to end well," Alberta shook her head. Everyone could feel the fight that was coming and no-one was looking forward to it.
I knew she had to have seen me come in, but her attention was focused elsewhere. She had on jeans and a beige T-shirt, covered with what had to be the most boring denim jacket I'd ever seen. At only five feet tall, she was dwarfed by the other guardians, but she had a presence and way of standing that made her seem taller. Our instructor, Stan,
"Not good at all," Dimitri said thinking about how Stan and Roza also never got along and that most of their lesions ended in a fight between the two,
introduced the guests and explained that they were going to share real-life experiences with us. He paced the front of the room, bushy eyebrows knitting together as he spoke. "I know this is unusual," he explained. "Visiting guardians usually don't have time to stop by our classes. Our three guests, however, have made time to come talk to you today in light of what's happened recently..." He paused a moment, and no one needed to tell us what he was referring to. The Badica attack. He cleared his throat and tried again.
"Thank goodness none of them said anything," Alberta was glade, she knew how the kids could be and by how book Rose was acting she knew this class was not going to end well,
"In light of what's happened, we thought it might better prepare you to learn from those currently working in the field." The class tensed with excitement. Hearing stories -particularly ones with a lot of blood and action-was a hell of a lot more interesting than analyzing theory from a textbook.
"Teenagers," All the grown-ups in the room said at the same time, not understanding why the kids didn't understand that this was for them to learn not just get some gruesome story,
Apparently some of the other campus guardians thought so too. They often stopped by our classes, but they were present today in a larger-than-usual number. Dimitri stood among them in the back.
"Oh this is really not going to end well," Ivan shook his head. The room grew tenser, Rose, Dimitri and Janine all in one room was not going to end well.
The old guy went first. He launched into his story, and I found myself getting hooked in. It described a time when the youngest son of the family he guarded had wandered off in a public place that Strigoi were lurking in. "The sun was about to set," he told us in a gravelly voice. He swept his hands in a downward motion, apparently to demonstrate how a sunset worked.
"Ah got to love the sarcasm," Ivan shook his head
"There were only two of us, and we had to make a snap decision on how to proceed." I leaned forward, elbows propped up on my desk. Guardians often worked in pairs. One -the near guard-usually stayed close to those being guarded while the other -the far guard-scouted the area. The far guard still usually stayed within eye contact, so I recognized the dilemma here.
"That is good, she is not being lost in the story like everyone ells," Janine said proud,
Thinking about it, I decided that if I were in that situation, I'd have the near guardian take the rest of the family to a secure location while the other guardian searched for the boy.
"Smart," everyone nodded
"We had the family stay inside a restaurant with my partner while I swept the rest of the area," continued the old guardian. He spread his hands out in a sweeping motion, and I felt smug over having made the correct call.
Abe and Dimitri all had small smiled on their faces,
The story ended happily, with a found boy and no Strigoi encounters. The second guy's anecdote talked about how he'd gotten the drop on a Strigoi stalking some Moroi. "I wasn't even technically on duty," he said. He was the really cute one, and a girl sitting near me stared at him with wide, adoring eyes. "I was visiting a friend and the family he guarded. As I was leaving their apartment, I saw a Strigoi lurking in the shadows. He never expected a guardian to be out there. I circled the block, came up behind him, and ..." The man made a staking motion, far more dramatic than the old guy's hand gestures had been.
"Well he is younger," Abe shook his head a small smile on his face, Abe rather enjoyed the dramatics so he was having a blast,
The storyteller even went so far as to mimic twisting the stake into the Strigoi's heart. And then it was my mother's turn. A scowl spread over my face before she even said a word, a scowl that grew worse once she actually launched into the story.
"Oh here it goes," Alberta shook her head, everyone ells took a breath bracing themselves,
I swear, if I didn't believe her incapable of having the imagination for it -and her bland clothing choices proved she really didn't have an imagination -I would have thought she was lying. It was more than a story. It was an epic tale, the kind of thing that gets made into movies and wins Oscars. She talked about how her charge, Lord Szelsky, and his wife had attended a ball put on by another prominent royal family.
"Why did you have to tell that one? You were asking for her to react," Alberta shook her, she didn't understand why Janine was doing what she was going. it was like the redhead was looking for a fight with her daughter.
Several Strigoi had been lying in wait. My mother discovered one, promptly staked it, and then alerted the other guardians present. With their help, she hunted down the other Strigoi lurking around and performed most of the kills herself. "It wasn't easy," she explained. From anyone else that statement would have sounded like bragging.
"Not her," Abe said shaking his head, he was proud of Janine but he wished that she had not tried to antagonize his daughter,
Not her.
Everyone chuckled at that,
There was a briskness to the way she spoke, an efficient way of stating facts that left no room for flourishes. She'd been raised in Glasgow and some of her words still had a Scottish lilt.
"Ah that's why she had the thing for an accent," Adrian smiled looking at Dimitri who just glared at him,
"There were three others on the premises. At the time, that was considered an unusually large number to be working together. That's not necessarily true now, considering the Badica massacre." A few people flinched at the casual way she spoke about the attack.
"No she's just hiding her emotions," Dimitri and Alberta said at the same time,
Once again, I could see the bodies. "We had to dispatch the remaining Strigoi as quickly and quietly as possible, so as not to alert the others. Now, if you have the element of surprise, the best way to take Strigoi is to come around from behind, break their necks, and then stake them. Breaking their necks won't kill them, of course, but it stuns them and allows you to do the staking before they can make any noise.
Victoria, Eddie and Mason sat forward completely swept up in the story, they were handing on every word Janine was reading,
The most difficult part is actually sneaking up on them, because their hearing is so acute. Since I'm smaller and lighter than most guardians, I can move fairly quietly. So I ended up performing two of the three kills myself." Again, she used that matter-of-fact tone as she described her own stealthy skills. It was annoying, more so than if she'd been openly haughty about how awesome she was.
"So she hates it when you brag and when you state things the way they are. There is just no pleasing this girl." Adrian chuckled shaking his head.
My classmates' faces shone with wonder; they were clearly more interested in the idea of breaking a Strigoi's neck than analyzing my mother's narrative skills. She continued with the story. When she and the other guardians had killed the remaining Strigoi, they'd discovered two Moroi had been taken from the party. Such an act wasn't uncommon for Strigoi. Sometimes they wanted to save Moroi for a later "snack"; sometimes lower-ranking Strigoi were dispatched by more powerful ones to bring back prey.
The room shuttered,
"Well hopefully I'm just reading to much into this but that does sound like foreshadowing for something," Ivan shook his head
"Why she stating a simple fact," Tatiana said looking at him like he was crazy.
"I don't know it just the way she put it makes it sound like for shadowing," Ivan explained not looking at the queen. He was looking at Dimitri, who nodded agreeing with him,
Regardless, two Moroi were gone from the ball, and their guardian had been injured. "Naturally, we couldn't leave those Moroi in Strigoi clutches," she said. "We tracked the Strigoi to their hideout and found several of them living together. I'm sure you can recognize how rare that is." It was. The evil and selfish nature of Strigoi made them turn on each other as easily as they did their victims.
Again everyone shuttered, the things being said in the book didn't sit well with anyone and they didn't want to think about all of the things that were proven wrong or things that they thought were rare wasn't really rare at all,
Organizing for attacks -when they had an immediate and bloody goal in mind-was the best they could do. But living together? No. It was almost impossible to imagine. "We managed to free the two captive Moroi, only to discover that others were being held prisoner," my mother said. "We couldn't send the ones we'd rescued back by themselves, though, so the guardians who were with me escorted them out and left it to me to get the others." Yes, of course, I thought.
"Why do I want to say like mother like daughter?" Victoria asked worried, no-one likes the idea she was giving them. They didn't want to imagine Rose ever doing something like Janine was doing.
"Oh please no," Janine shook her head.
My mother bravely went in alone. Along the way, she got captured but managed to escape and rescue the prisoners. In doing so, she performed what had to be the hat trick of the century, killing Strigoi in all three ways: staking, decapitation, and setting them on fire.
Mason, Eddie and Victoria had stars in their eyes as they looked at Janine
"I had just staked a Strigoi when two more attacked," she explained. "I didn't have time to pull the stake out when the others jumped me. Fortunately, there was an open fireplace nearby, and I pushed one of the Strigoi into it. The last one chased me outside, into an old shed. There was an axe inside and I used that to cut off her head. I then took a can of gasoline and returned to the house. The one I'd thrown into the fireplace hadn't completely burned, but once I doused him in gasoline, he went up pretty quickly."
"Okay I will admit it that was badass," Adrian nodded to Janine who just looked at him with a side-eye before rolling her eyes.
The classroom was in awe as she spoke. Mouths dropped. Eyes bugged. Not a sound could be heard. Glancing around, I felt like time had frozen for everyone -except me. I appeared to be the only one unimpressed by her harrowing tale, and seeing the awe on everyone's faces enraged me.
"Please don't say anything," Alberta and Ivan prayed at the same time.
When she finished, a dozen hands shot up as the class peppered her with questions about her techniques, whether she was scared, etc. After about the tenth question, I couldn't take it anymore. I raised my hand. It took her a while to notice and call on me.
"Oh no here it comes," Alberta shook her head. She rested her head on her hands not really wanting to see what happens next,
She seemed mildly astonished to find me in class. I considered myself lucky that she even recognized me.
Olena glared at Janine while her daughters merely moved closer to her. They didn't want to see their mother try to kill Janine.
"So, Guardian Hathaway," I began. "Why didn't you guys just secure the place?" She frowned. I think she'd gone on her guard the moment she called on me. "What do you mean?" I shrugged and slouched back in my desk, attempting a casual and conversational air. "I don't know. It seems to me like you guys messed up. Why didn't you scope out the place and make sure it was clear of Strigoi in the first place? Seems like you could have saved yourself a lot of trouble." All eyes in the room turned toward me. My mother was momentarily at a loss for words.
The entire room was shocked, they knew Rose was going to have an outburst but they didn't think that she would use logic to do it,
"If we hadn't gone through all that 'trouble,' there'd be seven more Strigoi walking the world, and those other captured Moroi would be dead or turned by now." "Yeah, yeah, I get how you guys saved the day and all that, but I'm going back to the principles here. I mean, this is a theory class, right?" I glanced over at Stan who was regarding me with a very stormy look. He and I had a long and unpleasant history of classroom conflicts, and I suspected we were on the verge of another.
"So she knows it but is she gonna stop. Nope that is not in her nature," Alberta sent a glare at Abe and Janine who just tried to smile at but they failed.
"So I just want to figure out what went wrong in the beginning." I'll say this for her -my mother had a hell of a lot more self-control than I did. Had our roles been reversed, I would have walked over and smacked me by now. Her face stayed perfectly calm, however, and a small tightness in the set of her lips was the only sign that I was pissing her off.
"She's doing this on purpose," Janine shook her head, she knew her daughter was mad at her but she didn't know that her feelings would be so strong that she would take her on in front of the entire class,
"It's not that simple," she replied. "The venue had an extremely complex layout. We went through it initially and found nothing. It's believed the Strigoi came in after the festivities had started -or that there might have been passages and hidden rooms we hadn't been aware of." The class ooh'ed and ahh'ed over the idea of hidden passages, but I wasn't impressed.
"Or you're being childish," Janine glared at the book in her hand, Abe just squeezed her hand he was holding while Olena just glared at the woman,
"So what you're saying is that you guys either failed to detect them during your first sweep, or they broke through the 'security' you set up during the party. Seems like someone messed up either way." The tightness in her lips increased, and her voice grew frosty. "We did the best we could with an unusual situation. I can see how someone at your level might not be able to grasp the intricacies of what I'm describing, but once you've actually learned enough to go beyond theory, you'll see how different it is when you're actually out there and lives are in your hands."
"Janine," Abe glared at Janine who just glared at the book,
"No doubt," I agreed. "Who am I to question your methods? I mean, whatever gets you the molnija marks, right?"
"I like her even more now," Olena glared at Janine who just looked pissed,
"Mama. What Roza did was wrong. Janine is a guardian and she has field experience, while Roza is still a student," Dimitri defended Janine. He didn't want to but he knew it was the right thing to do. Olena looked at Dimitri for a few seconds before returning her glare at Janine.
"Miss Hathaway." Stan's deep voice rumbled through the room. "Please take your things and go wait outside for the remainder of class." I stared at him in bewilderment. "Are you serious? Since when is there anything wrong with asking questions?" "Your attitude is what's wrong." He pointed at the door. "Go." A silence heavier and deeper than when my mother had told her story descended over everyone.
"Well he didn't certainly didn't help the situation," Alberta shook her head, she was going to have a serious conversation with him when these books are done,
I did my best not to cower under the stares of guardians and novices alike. This wasn't the first time I'd been kicked out of Stan's class. It wasn't even the first time I'd been kicked out of Stan's class while Dimitri was watching. Slinging my backpack over my shoulder, I crossed the short distance to the door -a distance that felt like miles-and refused to make eye contact with my mother as I passed.
"Let's just hope that you will leave her alone now," Alberta said looking at Janine,
"Knowing myself probably not," Janine shook her head. She and Rose were too similar in that sense, they both let their tempers control their actions,
About five minutes before the class let out, she slipped out of the room and walked over to where I sat in the hallway. Looking down on me, she put her hands on her hips in that annoying way that made her seem taller than she was. It wasn't fair that someone over half a foot shorter than me could make me feel so small.
"Sadly that is something only mothers can do," Sonja smiled at her mother shaking her head, Olena just smiled at her daughter,
"Well. I see your manners haven't improved over the years." I stood up and felt a glare snap into place. "Nice to see you too. I'm surprised you even recognized me. In fact, I didn't even think you remembered me, seeing as how you never bothered to let me know you were on campus."
Janine looked down at the books sadly,
She shifted her hands from her hips and crossed her arms across her chest, becoming -if possible-even more impassive. "I couldn't neglect my duty to come coddle you."
"That is your job as her mother, but no, you went and choose some Moroi over your own daughter. And now you're shocked that she is mad at you, the nerve," Olena all but growled at Janine before crossing her arms over her chest. Abe looked between the two women and he didn't know what to say, he understood both sides and he agreed with Olena but he still loved Janine and he trusted her to make the right choice for their daughter,
"Coddle?" I asked. This woman had never coddled me in her life. I couldn't believe she even knew the word. "I wouldn't expect you to understand. From what I hear, you don't really know what 'duty' is." "I know exactly what it is," I retorted. My voice was intentionally haughty. "Better than most people." Her eyes widened in a sort of mock surprise. I used that sarcastic look on a lot of people and didn't appreciate having it directed toward me. "Oh really? Where were you for the last two years?" "Where were you for the last five?" I demanded.
"oh burn," Christian chuckled. Janine simply glared at him freezing him in his seat.
"Would you have known I was gone if someone hadn't told you?" "Don't turn this back on me. I was away because I had to be. You were away so you could go shopping and stay up late."
"Janine," Abe glared at him
"I didn't know," Janine said not looking at him,
My hurt and embarrassment morphed into pure fury. Apparently, I was never going to live down the consequences of running away with Lissa. "You have no idea why I left," I said, my voice's volume rising. "And you have no right to make assumptions about my life when you don't know anything about it."
"Well she isn't wrong," Abe said agreeing with the book,
"I've read reports about what happened.
"Seriously, you just read the report and now you think you understand and know anything," Olena shook her head not believing the entire thing,
You had reason for concern, but you acted incorrectly." Her words were formal and crisp. She could have been teaching one of my classes. "You should have gone to others for help." "There was no one I could go to -not when I didn't have hard proof. Besides, we've been learning that we're supposed to think independently." "Yes," she replied. "Emphasis on learning. Something you missed out on for two years. You're hardly in a position to lecture me about guardian protocol."
"Oh you two are like little children," Alberta shook her head at Janine,
I wound up in arguments all the time; something in my nature made that inevitable. So I was used to defending myself and having insults slammed at me. I had a tough skin. But somehow, around her -in the brief times I had been around her-I always felt like I was three years old.
Janine looked down ashamed; she wished she could talk better to Rose. Make her understand why she did everything she did,
Her attitude humiliated me, and touching on my missed training- already a prickly subject-only made me feel worse. I crossed my arms in a fair imitation of her own stance and managed a smug look. "Yeah? Well, that's not what my teachers think. Even after missing all that time, I've still caught up with everyone else in my class." She didn't answer right away.
"Please don't say what I think you're gonna say," Alberta pleased looking at Janine, who didn't answer. Eddie, Mason and Victoria just continued looking between all the adults in the room not knowing who side to pick. Ivan was just glaring at Janine, he was not liking how Janine was treating Rose.
Finally, in a flat voice, she said, "If you hadn't left, you would have surpassed them."
"Bloody hell Janine. Can't you just not be such an bitch?" Alberta asked looking at her friend.
"Sorry no," Janine shook her head, she felt ashamed at how she had acted in the book but she believed that she was doing the right thing. Abe was just looking down at their joined hands and sighed.
Turning military-style, she walked off down the hall. A minute later, the bell rang, and the rest of Stan's class spilled into the hall. Even Mason couldn't cheer me up after that. I spent the rest of the day angry and annoyed, sure that everyone was whispering about my mother and me.
"Knowing the school they most certainly were," Eddie said shaking his head.
I skipped lunch and went to the library to read a book about physiology and anatomy. When it was time for my after-school training with Dimitri, I practically ran up to the practice dummy. With a curled fist, I slapped its chest, very slightly to the left but mostly in the center. "There," I told him. "The heart is there, and the sternum and ribs are in the way. Can I have the stake now?"
Everyone laughed at that while shaking their heads,
Crossing my arms, I glanced up at him triumphantly, waiting for him to shower me with praise for my new cunning.
"Not gonna happen," Ivan chuckled shaking his head,
Instead, he simply nodded in acknowledgment, like I should already have known that. And yeah, I should have. "And how do you get through the sternum and the ribs?" he asked. I sighed. I'd figured out the answer to one question, only to be given another. Typical. We spent a large part of the practice going over that, and he demonstrated several techniques that would yield the quickest kill. Every movement he made was both graceful and deadly. He made it look effortless, but I knew better.
"Well at least she is admitting it and understanding the concept," Alberta said looking at Eddie and Mason who just smiled sheepishly at her,
When he suddenly extended his hand and offered the stake to me, I didn't understand at first. "You're giving it to me?" His eyes sparkled. "I can't believe you're holding back. I figured you'd have taken it and run by now."
"Agreed," Ivan said feeling proud of Rose for showing some restraint,
"Aren't you always teaching me to hold back?" I asked. "Not on everything."
"Did you really just say that?" Ivan asked shocked at his best friend who looked equally shocked
"But on some things." I heard the double meaning in my voice and wondered where it had come from. I'd accepted a while ago that there were too many reasons for me to even think about him romantically anymore. Every once in a while, I slipped a little and kind of wished he would too.
"Knowing him he does. He just can hide it better," Ivan shook his head at Dimitri.
It'd have been nice to know that he still wanted me, that I still drove him crazy. Studying him now, I realized he might not ever slip because I didn't drive him crazy anymore. It was a depressing thought. "Of course," he said, showing no indication we'd discussed anything other than class matters. "It's like everything else. Balance. Know which things to run forward with -and know which to leave alone." He placed a heavy emphasis on that last statement.
"Ass," Ivan and Victoria said at the same time
Our eyes met briefly, and I felt electricity race through me. He did know what I was talking about. And like always, he was ignoring it and being my teacher -which is exactly what he should have been doing. With a sigh, I pushed my feelings for him out of my head and tried to remember that I was about to touch the weapon I'd been longing for since childhood. The memory of the Badica house came back to me yet again. The Strigoi were out there. I needed to focus.
Abe and Janine smiled proud of their daughter but even more proud of the idea that she can put the thought of Dimitri out of her head so easily.
Hesitantly, almost reverentially, I reached out and curled my fingers around the hilt. The metal was cool and tingled against my skin. It was etched along the hilt for better grip, but in trailing my fingers over the rest of it, I found the surface to be as smooth as glass. I lifted it from his hand and brought it to me, taking a long time to study it and get used to its weight. An anxious part of me wanted to turn around and impale all of the dummies, but instead I looked up at Dimitri and asked, "What should I do first?"
Dimitri and Alberta smiled at that, happy that Rose respected him so much. By now they all knew that Rose treated everyone how she did based on the amount of respect she had for them. It made Olena sad that Rose had almost no respect for her mother even when she clearly still held a lot of love for the mean redhead.
In his typical way, he covered basics first, honing the way I held and moved with the stake. Later on, he finally let me attack one of the dummies, at which point I did indeed discover it was not effortless. Evolution had done a smart thing in protecting the heart with the sternum and ribs.
"Well that is what evolution was meant for," Adrian smiled
Yet through it all, Dimitri never faltered in diligence and patience, guiding me through every step and correcting the finest details. "Slide up through the ribs," he explained, watching me try to fit the stake's point through a gap in the bones. "It'll be easier since you're shorter than most of your attackers. Plus, you can slide along the lower rib's edge." When practice ended, he took the stake back and nodded his approval. "Good. Very good." I glanced at him in surprise. He didn't usually hand out a lot of praise. "Really?"
"Aww, I can just imagine the face she is making. She defiantly would have puppy eyes at that moment," Ivan chuckled.
"Ivan, stop it," Dimitri said shaking his head.
"You do it like you've been doing it for years." I felt a delighted grin creep over my face as we started leaving the practice room. When we neared the door, I noticed a dummy with curly red hair. Suddenly, all the events from Stan's class came tumbling back into my head. I scowled. "Can I stake that one next time?"
Janine's mouth fell open in shock while the Belikov girls and Ivan burst out in laughter. Dimitri hid his laughter with a couth and Abe was crying from his laughter.
"This is your fault," Janine glared at Abe
"Oh no sweetheart that is all your genes," Abe defended himself still laughing
He picked up his coat and put it on. It was long and brown, made of distressed leather. It looked very much like a cowboy duster, though he'd never admit to it.
"And he never will because he's too stubborn," Karolina smiled fondly at her bother,
He had a secret fascination with the Old West. I didn't really understand it, but then, I didn't get his weird musical preferences either. "I don't think that'd be healthy," he said. "It'd be better than me actually doing it to her,"
"Again I agree with my daughter," Abe smiled as Janine glared at him
I grumbled, slinging my backpack over one shoulder. We headed out to the gym. "Violence isn't the answer to your problems," he said sagely. "She's the one with the problem. And I thought the whole point of my education was that violence is the answer." "Only to those who bring it to you first. Your mother isn't assaulting you. You two are just too much alike, that's all."
"See even he sees it," Abe pointed at Dimitri
"That's because his book version doesn't know you're her dad. So shush," Janine hit Abe with the book
I stopped walking. "I'm not anything like her! I mean...we kind of have the same eyes. But I'm a lot taller. And my hair's completely different." I pointed to my pony tail, just in case he wasn't aware that my thick brown-black hair didn't look like my mother's auburn curls. He still had kind of an amused expression, but there was something hard in his eyes too. "I'm not talking about your appearances, and you know it." I looked away from that knowing gaze. My attraction to Dimitri had started almost as soon as we'd met -and it wasn't just because he was so hot, either. I felt like he understood part of me that I didn't understand myself, and sometimes I was pretty sure I understood parts of him that he didn't understand either.
Janine, Abe and Adrian just glared at him, while Mason shook his head he didn't want to think that Dimitri who had only known Rose for such a short time would understand her better than he, her childhood friend, did.
The only problem was that he had the annoying tendency to point out things about myself I didn't want to understand. "You think I'm jealous?" "Are you?" he asked. I hated it when he answered my questions with questions. "If so, what are you jealous of exactly?" I glanced back at Dimitri. "I don't know. Maybe I'm jealous of her reputation. Maybe I'm jealous because she's put more time into her reputation than into me.
That sentence broke Abe, Janine's and Olena's heart
I don't know." "You don't think what she did was great?" "Yes. No. I don't know. It just sounded like such a ... I don't know...like she was bragging. Like she did it for the glory." I grimaced. "For the marks." Molnija marks were tattoos awarded to guardians when they killed Strigoi. Each one looked like a tiny x made of lightning bolts. They went on the backs of our necks and showed how experienced a guardian was. "You think facing down Strigoi is worth a few marks? I thought you'd learned something from the Badica house." I felt stupid.
"So Rose really can't think straight when it came to her mother as well," Christian shook his head wondering what made Dimitri and Janine so special that it seemed to mess with the way Rose thought most of the time.
"Well besides Lissa they would be the most important people in her life. The only difference is Lissa is a fixed point while Guardian Hathaway and cradle robber aren't" Adrian explained looking bored. Christian looked at him shocked,
"What the hell, since when can you read minds?" Christian demanded
"Your face is just easy to read," Adrian smiled, while in truth Adrian was reading Christian's aurora and Adrian knew that Christian and Rose were alike so it was easy to guess what the boy was thinking,
"That's not what I -" "Come on." I stopped walking. "What?" We'd been heading toward my dorm, but now he nodded his head toward the opposite side of campus. "I want to show you something." "What is it?" "That not all marks are badges of honor."
"Please don't let it be Tasha," Ivan begged, looking at Dimitri. Dimitri just looked confused at him
"She's our friends, why are you acting like that?" Dimitri questioned.
"Let's wait and see," Ivan said
Janine closed the book and held it up.
"who's next?" she asked looking around
~~~~
I'll read next" Christian smiled at Janine. The book was passed down to him.
"I wonder what is going to happen in this chapter," Adrian smiled looking at Christian
Five
I HAD NO IDEA WHAT Dimitri was talking about, but I followed along obediently.
To my surprise, he led me out of the boundaries of the campus and into the surrounding woods. The Academy owned a lot of land, not all of which was actively used for educational purposes. We were in a remote part of Montana, and at times, it seemed as though the school was just barely holding back the wilderness.
Everyone nodded thinking about who secluded the school was,
We walked quietly for a while, our feet crunching through thick, unbroken snow. A few birds flitted by, singing their greetings to the rising sun, but mostly all I saw were scraggly, snow-heavy evergreen trees. I had to work to keep up with Dimitri's longer stride, particularly since the snow slowed me down a little.
"Why are you in such a hurry?" Ivan asked looking at Dimitri who just shrugged.
"Please don't let it be Tasha," Ivan prayed quietly, he was not in the mood to deal with all her flirting.
Soon, I discerned a large, dark shape ahead. Some kind of building.
"Why are you taking her to the cabins?" Janine asked looking at him suspiciously,
"Their school has cabins?" Adrian asked like that was the best thing in the world
"And why do you care?" Ivan asked looking at Adrian with a raised eyebrow.
"For me to know and you to dot, dot, dot," Adrian smirked at Ivan
"What is that?" I asked. Before he could answer, I realized it was a small cabin, made out of logs and everything. Closer examination showed that the logs looked worn and rotten in some places. The roof sagged a little.
"We really shook into fixing them up a bit," Alberta made a small note. She knew that hardly anyone ever used them but things might change,
"Old watch-post," he said. "Guardians used to live on the edge of campus and keep watch for Strigoi." "Why don't they anymore?" "We don't have enough guardians to staff it. Besides, Moroi have warded campus with enough protective magic that most don't think it's necessary to have actual people on guard."
"That is sad," Mason and Eddie said at the same time
Provided no humans staked the wards, I thought.
"We need to get those cabins fixed up just in case they choose attack the school," Alberta said looking at Tatiana,
"Do you truly believe that they would try to attack the school?" Tatiana asked not believing that school would ever be a target.
"At this point anything is possible and the extra security would keep Vasilis save," Alberta smiled at Tatiana who looked like she was considering it.
For a few brief moments, I entertained the hope that Dimitri was leading me off to some romantic getaway.
Abe and Janine glared at him
Then I heard voices on the opposite side of the building. A familiar hum of feeling coursed into my mind. Lissa was there. Dimitri and I rounded the corner of the building, coming up on a surprising scene. A small frozen pond lay there, and Christian and Lissa were ice skating on it.
Christian smiled at that, he could easily imagine Lissa being clumsy and needing his help to skate,
A woman I didn't know was with them, but her back was to me. All I could see was a wave of jet-black hair that arced around her when she skated to a graceful stop.
"Aunty Tasha," Christian smiled, happy his aunt was finally there. Dimitri smiled, eager to see his reunion with his other longtime friend, while Ivan just huffed and rolled his eyes before sitting back in his seat sulking. He was not a fan of Tasha and he had a feeling she was just going to make trouble for Dimitri and Rose
Lissa grinned when she saw me. "Rose!" Christian glanced over at me as she spoke, and I got the distinct impression he felt I was intruding on their romantic moment.
"If your Aunt is there how could it be a romantic moment unless you're into some really strange things?" Adrian smiled at Christian who just glared at him while Mason and Eddie chuckled,
Lissa moved in awkward strides to the pond's edge. She wasn't so adept at skating.
Christian smiled at that. Oh, he was going to have so much fun,
I could only stare in bewilderment -and jealousy. "Thanks for inviting me to the party." "I figured you were busy," she said. "And this is secret anyway. We aren't supposed to be here."
"Oh I promise you Rose knows that," Mason laughed shaking his head
I could have told them that. Christian skated up beside her, and the strange woman soon followed. "You bringing party crashers, Dimka?" she asked. I wondered who she was talking to,
"It's not that strange of a nickname," Victoria giggled
"For us it is normal, but they are American so it would be seen as strange," Ivan shook his head
until I heard Dimitri laugh. He didn't do it that often, and my surprise increased. "It's impossible to keep Rose away from places she shouldn't be. She always finds them eventually." The woman grinned and turned around, flipping her long hair over one shoulder, so that I suddenly saw her face full-on.
"Ah here it comes," Christian shook his head, he hated it when her scars were mentioned,
It took every ounce of my already dubiously held self-control not to react. Her heart-shaped face had large eyes exactly the same shade as Christian's, a pale wintry blue. The lips that smiled at me were delicate and lovely, glossed in a shade of pink that set off the rest of her features. But across her left cheek, marring what would have otherwise been smooth, white skin were raised, purplish scars. Their shape and formation looked very much like someone had bitten into and torn out part of her cheek.
Christian and Dimitri shook their heads, Christian hated the memories that came from thinking about what his parents had done to his aunt. Dimitri just hoped Rose would understand why he brought her to see Tasha
Which, I realized, was exactly what had happened. I swallowed. I suddenly knew who this was. It was Christian's aunt. When his parents had turned Strigoi, they'd come back for him, hoping to hide him away and turn him Strigoi when he was older. I didn't know all the details, but I knew his aunt had fended them off. As I'd observed before, though, Strigoi were deadly. She'd provided enough of a distraction until the guardians showed up, but she hadn't walked away without damage.
Everyone, even Ivan felt bad for Tasha. Sure he was no fan of her but that didn't mean he wanted anything bad to happen to her.
She extended her gloved hand to me. "Tasha Ozera," she said. "I've heard a lot about you, Rose." I gave Christian a dangerous look, and Tasha laughed. "Don't worry," she said. "It was all good."
"No, it wasn't," Christian shook his, he knew that he would have told his aunt everything and everyone knew that he and Rose were not fond of each other,
"No, it wasn't," he countered. She shook her head in exasperation. "Honestly, I don't know where he got such horrible social skills. He didn't learn them from me." That was obvious, I thought.
"Thank god for that," Ivan shuttered to think of the idea of Christian being like his aunt,
"What are you guys doing out here?" I asked. "I wanted to spend some time with these two." A small frown wrinkled her forehead. "But I don't really like hanging around the school itself. They aren't always hospitable..." I didn't get that at first. School officials usually fell all over themselves when royals came to visit.
"Yeah but she is an Ozera and my aunt," Christian shook his head when Mason and Eddie looked confused at him,
Then I figured it out. "Because ... because of what happened ..." Considering the way everyone treated Christian because of his parents, I shouldn't have been surprised to find his aunt facing the same discrimination. Tasha shrugged. "That's the way it is."
"That doesn't make it right," Alberta and Christian said at the same time,
She rubbed her hands together and exhaled, her breath making a frosty cloud in the air. "But let's not stand out here, not when we can build a fire inside." I gave a last, wistful glance at the frozen pond and then followed the others inside.
"I wonder how good she is," Adrian said looking at Mason and Eddie
"Pretty good," They both smiled at the same time. Abe and Dimitri just glared at him,
The cabin was pretty bare, covered in layers of dust and dirt. It consisted of only one room. There was a narrow bed with no covers in the corner and a few shelves where food had probably once been stored. There was a fireplace, however, and we soon had a blaze going that warmed the small area. The five of us sat down, huddling around its heat, and Tasha produced a bag of marshmallows that we cooked over the flames.
"That is sweet of her," Janine smiled, everyone but Yeva and Ivan nodded. Yeva and Ivan just rolled their eyes,
As we feasted on that gooey goodness, Lissa and Christian talked to each other in that easy, comfortable way they always had. To my surprise, Tasha and Dimitri also talked in a familiar and light way. They obviously knew each other from way back when. I'd actually never seen him so animated before.
"Oh is Rosie getting jealousy?" Christian asked shaking his head. This was going to be interesting, as many of the kids had ever seen Rose get jealous over anyone or anything not to do with Lissa,
Even when affectionate with me, there'd always been a serious air about him. With Tasha, he bantered and laughed. The more I listened to her, the more I liked her.
Ivan glared at the book he didn't want Rose liking Tasha. Dimitri was happy that Rose seemed to like Tasha.
Finally, unable to stay out of the conversation, I asked, "So are you coming on the ski trip?" She nodded.
Ivan pouted and tried to sink further into the seat,
"What's up with you?" Dimitri asked looking at his best friend worriedly
"Like you don't know," Ivan snapped at him. Dimitri seeing that Ivan was annoyed to choose to leave him alone.
"Sorry for asking," Dimitri said back
Stifling a yawn, she stretched herself out like a cat. "I haven't been skiing in ages. No time. Been saving all my vacation for this."
"Does she have a normal job?" Adrian asked confused.
"Yes she does," Christian said proud of his aunt,
"Vacation?" I gave her a curious look. "Do you have...a job?" "Sadly, yes," Tasha said, though she didn't actually sound very sad about it. "I teach martial arts classes." I stared in astonishment. I couldn't have been more surprised if she'd said she was an astronaut or a telephone psychic. A lot of royals just didn't work at all, and if they did, it was usually in some sort of investment or other moneymaking business that furthered their family fortunes. And those who did work certainly didn't do a lot of martial arts or physically demanding jobs.
Tatiana shook her head, she most defiantly didn't approve of how Tasha handled herself and she had a feeling that Tasha had passed on her rebellious attitude to Christian as well,
Moroi had a lot of great attributes: exceptional senses -smell, sight, and hearing-and the power to work magic. But physically, they were tall and slender, often small-boned. They also got weak from being in sunlight. Now, those things weren't enough to prevent someone from becoming a fighter, but they did make it more challenging. An idea had built up among the Moroi over time that their best offense was a good defense, and most shied away from the thought of physical conflict.
"And that needs to change," Abe and Christian said at the same time.
"Don't start with that shit again" Tatiana shook her head at Abe who just smiled at her sweetly,
They hid in well-protected places like the Academy, always relying on stronger, hardier dhampirs to guard them. "What do you think, Rose?" Christian seemed highly amused by my surprise. "Think you could take her?" "Hard to say," I said.
"Aww she is modest," Dimitri and Ivan said at the same time.
"Why do you wish to inflict pain on your own family?" Adrian shook his at Christian
"Ha, ha very funny," Christian shook his head.
Tasha crooked me a grin. "You're being modest. I've seen what you guys can do. This is just a hobby I picked up." Dimitri chuckled. "Now you're being modest. You could teach half the classes around here."
"She's getting good," Dimitri and Christian said, proud of Tasha. Abe and Janine nodded impressed with Tasha as well,
"Not likely," she said. "It'd be pretty embarrassing to be beaten up by a bunch of teenagers." "I don't think that'd happen," he said. "I seem to remember you doing some damage to Neil Szelsky." Tasha rolled her eyes. "Throwing my drink in his face wasn't actually damage -unless you consider the damage it did to his suit. And we all know how he is about his clothes." They both laughed at some private joke the rest of us weren't in on, but I was only half-listening. I was still intrigued about her role with the Strigoi. The self-control I'd tried to maintain finally slipped.
"Well it took her long enough," Christian shook her head, hell everyone understood how hard it was to not comment on the scars they just hoped that Tasha didn't take the questions the wrong way.
"Did you start learning to fight before or after that happened to your face?" "Rose!" hissed Lissa. But Tasha didn't seem upset. Neither did Christian, and he usually grew uncomfortable when the attack with his parents was brought up. She regarded me with a level, thoughtful look.
"Well, that is rather mature of you two." Abe nodded impressed with Tasha and Christian,
It reminded me of the one I sometimes got from Dimitri if I did something surprising that he approved of. "After," she said. She didn't lower her gaze or look embarrassed, though I sensed sadness in her. "How much do you know?" I glanced at Christian. "The basics." She nodded.
"That is why you took Rose to see her?" Janine asked shocked that Dimitri thought of that
"Yes," Dimitri nodded happy that Janine had seen what he planned,
"I knew ... I knew what Lucas and Moira had become, but that still didn't prepare me. Mentally, physically, or emotionally. I think if I had to live through it again, I still wouldn't be ready. But after that night, I looked at myself - figuratively-and realized how defenseless I was. I'd spent my whole life expecting guardians to protect me and take care of me.
The moroi's in the room moved uncomfortable in their seats, this was something they all have been taught as children and the guardian were taught to protect them,
"And that's not to say the guardians aren't capable. Like I said, you could probably take me in a fight. But they -Lucas and Moira-cut down our two guardians before we realized what had happened. I stalled them from taking Christian- but just barely. If the others hadn't shown up, I'd be dead, and he'd-"
"Never going to happen," Christian shook his head, he would never let anything like that happen to him or Lissa,
She stopped, frowned, and kept going. "I decided that I didn't want to die that way, not without putting up a real fight and doing everything I could to protect myself and those I love. So I learned all sorts of self-defense.
Christian nodded agreeing with her. He couldn't wait to ask her to start training him,
And after a while, I didn't really, uh, fit in so well with high society around here. So I moved to Minneapolis and made a living from teaching others." I didn't doubt there were other Moroi living in Minneapolis -though God only knew why-but I could read between the lines. She'd moved there and integrated herself with humans, keeping away from other vampires like Lissa and I had for two years. I started to wonder also if there might have been something else there between the lines. She'd said she'd learned "all sorts of self-defense"-apparently, more than just martial arts.
"Smart," Dimitri and Ivan nodded impressed, happy that she was able to understand the reference to Tasha learning to use her powers for offence, not just defence, Tatiana just glared at the book. She hated every mention of their magic being used for attacking strigoi's
Going along with their offense-defense beliefs, the Moroi didn't think magic should be used as a weapon. Long ago, it had been used that way, and some Moroi still secretly did today. Christian, I knew, was one of them.
"And where do you think I learned it from?" Christian smiled
I suddenly had a good idea of where he might have picked up that kind of thing. Silence fell. It was hard to follow up a sad story like that. But Tasha, I realized, was one of those people who could always lighten a mood.
"That she can," Dimitri smiled, happy that the two girls were getting along. Christian smiled agreeing with the book, he really wanted to visit his aunt now.
"Of course they are going to get along," Ivan shook his head bitter at the idea that Rose seemed to like Tasha.
It made me like her even more, and she spent the rest of the time telling us funny stories. She didn't put on airs like a lot of royals did, so she had lots of dirt on everyone. Dimitri knew a lot of the people she spoke of - honestly, how did someone so antisocial seem to know everyone in Moroi and guardian society?
"Well know you're enemy," Christian and Mason smiled at the same time,
-and would occasionally add some small detail. They had us in hysterics until Tasha finally looked at her watch. "Where's the best place a girl can go shopping around here?" she asked. Lissa and I exchanged looks. "Missoula," we said in unison.
Everyone chuckled at the same time,
Tasha sighed. "That's a couple hours away, but if I leave soon, I can probably still get in some time before the stores close. I'm hopelessly behind in Christmas shopping." I groaned. "I'd kill to go shopping." "Me too," said Lissa. "Maybe we could sneak along..." I gave Dimitri a hopeful look. "No," he said immediately.
"As long as you don't go with her," Ivan glared at Dimitri who just looked at him like he was crazy,
I gave a sigh of my own. Tasha yawned again. "I'll have to grab some coffee, so I don't sleep on the drive in." "Can't one of your guardians drive for you?"
"She doesn't have any," Christian shook his,
She shook her head. "I don't have any." "Don't have any ..." I frowned, parsing her words. "You don't have any guardians?" "Nope." I shot up. "But that's not possible! You're royal. You should have at least one. Two, really." Guardians were distributed among Moroi in a cryptic, micromanaged way by the Guardian Council.
"I agree with my daughter. Why doesn't one of the royals have their required guardians?" Abe asked looking at Tatiana who just glared back at him
"You know very well why," was all she said
It was kind of an unfair system, considering the ratio of guardians to Moroi. Non-royals tended to get them by a lottery system. Royals always got them. High-ranking royals often got more than one, but even the lowest-ranking member of royalty wouldn't have been without one. "The Ozeras aren't exactly first in line when guardians get assigned," said Christian bitterly. "Ever since...my parents died...there's kind of been a shortage."
"That is not right," Victoria shook her head.
"Life is not fair," Tatiana shook her head. Christian and Dimitri just glared at Tatiana,
My anger flared up. "But that's not fair. They can't punish you for what your parents did." "It's not punishment, Rose." Tasha didn't seem nearly as enraged as she should have been, in my opinion. "It's just...a rearranging of priorities." "They're leaving you defenseless. You can't go out there by yourself!"
"She is not defensive," Christian pointed out
"But she still should have guardians all of the Ozera's should," Dimitri shook his head,
"I'm not defenseless, Rose. I've told you that. And if I really wanted a guardian, I could make a nuisance of myself, but it's a lot of hassle. I'm fine for now." Dimitri glanced over at her. "You want me to go with you?"
"No," Ivan shook his head.
"And keep you up all night?" Tasha shook her head. "I wouldn't do that to you, Dimka." "He doesn't mind," I said quickly, excited about this solution. Dimitri seemed amused by me speaking for him, but he didn't contradict me.
"Rose stop it," Ivan glared at the book, he didn't want her to help Tasha get Dimitri alone, who knew what she would put into his head,
"I really don't." She hesitated. "All right. But we should probably go soon." Our illicit party dispersed. The Moroi went one direction; Dimitri and I went another. He and Tasha made plans to meet up in a half hour. "So what do you think of her?" he asked when we were alone. "I like her. She's cool."
"She is cool," Victoria, Mason and Eddie nodded,
"No she is not," Ivan glared at the book, everyone looked at him questioningly they didn't understand why he didn't like Tasha. Well everyone but Yeva who was enjoying herself.
I thought about her for a moment. "And I get what you mean about the marks." "Oh?" I nodded, watching my footing as we walked along the paths. Even when salted and shoveled, they could still collect hidden patches of ice. "She didn't do what she did for glory. She did it because she had to. Just like...just like my mom did."
That stunned everyone, they didn't think Rose would say that,
I hated to admit it, but it was true. Janine Hathaway might be the worst mother ever, but she was a great guardian.
Olena and Alberta nodded at that
"The marks don't matter. Molnijas or scars." "You're a fast learner," he said with approval. I swelled under his praise. "Why does she call you Dimka?"
"Well that took her long enough," Sonja laughed shaking her head.
"Finally we can get an explanation as well," Mason smiled happily,
He laughed softly. I'd heard a lot of his laughter tonight and decided I'd like to hear more of it. "It's a nickname for Dimitri."
"No shit Sherlock," Mason said looking at Dimitri like he was an idiot, Dimitri just looked at him coldly.
"That doesn't make any sense. It doesn't sound anything like Dimitri. You should be called, I don't know, Dimi or something."
Everyone laughed at that, even Ivan was smiling at that,
"That's not how it works in Russian," he said. "Russian's weird,"
"Agreed," Mason and Eddie said at the same time,
In Russian, the nickname for Vasilisa was Vasya, which made no sense to me. "So is English." I gave him a sly look. "If you'd teach me to swear in Russian, I might have a new appreciation for it."
"That is not going to work," Ivan smiled shaking his head
"You swear too much already." "I just want to express myself." "Oh, Roza..." He sighed, and I felt a thrill tickle me. "Roza" was my name in Russian. He rarely used it.
Ivan had a small smile, he just hoped that Tasha doesn't do anything to hurt whatever is between Dimitri and Rose. And if she did he was not sure what he would do, to either Tasha or Dimitri,
"You express yourself more than anyone else I know." I smiled and walked on a bit without saying anything else. My heart skipped a beat, I was so happy to be around him. There was something warm and right about us being together. Even as I floated along, my mind churned over something else that I'd been thinking about. "You know, there's something funny about Tasha's scars." "What's that?" he asked. "The scars...they mess up her face," I began slowly.
Christian glared down at the book. Everyone sat forward eager to see what Rose would say,
I was having trouble putting my thoughts into words. "I mean, it's obvious she used to be really pretty. But even with the scars now ... I don't know. She's pretty in a different way. It's like...like they're part of her. They complete her."
Christian and Dimitri had proud smiled on their faces, Ivan just rolled his eyes but he too couldn't help but be proud of Rose
It sounded silly, but it was true. Dimitri didn't say anything, but he gave me a sidelong glance. I returned it, and as our eyes met, I saw the briefest glimpse of the old attraction.
Ivan smiled at that happy that all was still well. Yeva just smiled at him before looking to Janine then Abe the Alberta.
"Oh how the coming events are going to be fun," Yeva said shaking her head.
"What do you mean mamma," Olena asked worriedly looking at her mother who was smiling like the cat who got the canary. The old woman gave no answer.
It was fleeting and gone too soon, but I'd seen it. Pride and approval replaced it, and they were almost as good. When he spoke, it was to echo his earlier thoughts. "You're a fast learner, Roza."
"okay done who is next?" Christian asked looking around, he rather enjoyed this chapter.