Chapter 11

"Sonya Karp!"

"You know her?" Sydney asked.

"She was my teacher at school, she specialised in spirit like Lissa, but she didn't know what it was and went mad. She turned into a strigoi after she went crazy."

"Sydney nodded. "I know."

My eyes widened further. "She′s not … she's not the one who had an affair with Lissa's dad, is she?" Oh dear God. That would be very awkward. Maybe that was why she took a shining to Liss-

"I don't think so, she was added as a beneficiary a several years after the account was set up, around the time she turned 18. If we assume that the account was created around the time that the baby was born, she would have been too young. She is probably a relative"

Phew!

"So does Sonya have an older sister?"

Sydney shook her head. "No. That'd be an obvious choice, though. She came from a large family on both sides. Many of her aunts and cousins would be the right age."

"We can look them up, right?" I asked.

A thrill of anticipation was running through me. I honestly hadn't expected this much information. True, it was small, but it was something. If Sonya Karp was related to Eric's mistress, that had to be something we could track.

"There's a lot of them." Sydney shrugged. "I mean, yeah, we could. It'd take a long time to find everyone's life history, and even then—especially if this was covered up enough—we'd have a hard time finding out if any of them is the woman we're looking for. Or even if any of them know who she is."

"The one person who knows would be Sonya Karp" Dimitri spoke up

I threw up my hands. "Yeah, but we can't talk to her. She's a lost cause. Mikhail Tanner spent over a year hunting her and couldn't find her. If he can't, then we're not going to be able to."

Dimitri turned away from us and stared out the window. His voice was low and shaky "He didn't have the contacts that I have."

He grew pensive again. I could see turmoil behind his eyes, some inner war. At last, it must have been decided.

"Can I use someones phone?" he asked. Sydney supplied her phone and Dimitri held it like it was agony to touch. He stood up and headed out in the other room. Sydney and I exchanged looks and moved closer to him.

Dimitri placed the phone to his ear as we stood at the doorway.

"Boris?" asked Dimitri, followed by a string of Russian. I stood frozen at the doorway as the realisation came to me. I felt chilled. My pulse raced with fear. That voice … I knew that voice. It was his voice and yet not his voice. It was the voice of my nightmares, a voice of coldness and cruelty.

Dimitri was playing Strigoi.

Well, he was pretty convincing, to the point that it chilled me to the bone. I tried to swallow the panic rising in my throat.

Next to me, Sydney pursed her lips in concentration as she listened to the conversation. She didn't have the same visceral reaction that I did.

"What's he saying?" I whispered. Her frowned deepened, either from the conversation or me distracting her. "He … he sounds like he's talking to someone he hasn't spoken to in a while. Dimitri's accusing this person of slacking off while he's been away."

She fell silent, continuing her own mental translation.

At one point, Dimitri's voice rose in anger, and both Sydney and I flinched. I turned to her questioningly. "He's mad about having his authority questioned. I can't tell, but now … it sounds like the other person's grovelling."

"Dimitri's voice returned to normal levels—though still filled with that terrible menace—and among the flurry of words, I heard "Sonya Karp" and "Montana."

"He's asking—er, telling—this person to locate someone else and see if he can find Sonya. This person …" She paused to listen again.

"This person he's asking about sounds like he knows a lot of people in the area she was last seen in."I knew "people" in this context meant "Strigoi."

Dimitri had a meteoric rise amongst the strigoi population, amassing power and developing contacts and subordinates. The news of his restoration had passed slowly, but he was having to play leapfrog to find sources who might know Sonya's location.

Dimitri grew more sinister and Sydney looked scared now.

"He's telling this guy that if he doesn't get answers by tomorrow night, Dimitri's going to find him and rip him apart and …" Sydney didn't bother finishing. Her eyes were wide. "Use your imagination. It's pretty terrible."

I decided then that I was kind of glad I hadn't heard all of the conversation in English.

When he finished the call, the malice left his face and he became my Dimitri again. his face crumpled in despair and he slumped to the floor. I could see he was trying to master his emotions that had been brought to the surface.

I itched to place a comforting arm around him, but I held back, suspecting he didn't want my touch.

At last, he turned his gaze back to us. He'd regained his control—at least on the outside. "I've sent someone to ask about her," he said wearily. "It might not work out. Strigoi are hardly the type to keep a database. But they do occasionally keep an eye on one another, if only for their own self-preservation. We'll find out soon if there are any hits."

I looked at him directly in the eye "Thank you", I couldn't think what else to say.

He nodded and walked off.

I settled into Lissa's head to catch up with what was happening at court.

Lissa was in the funeral procession with queen Tatiana. She had chosen a cooler fabric and cap sleeves to the disgust of the stylist. She was one of the royal escorts of the queen. Adrian was with his parents, looking a little dishevelled and glassy eyed.

The queen seemed to really want to help Lissa and help her people, she was sad that she didn't have someone to take her under their wing like Tatiana. Most of all, she didn't think that Tatiana deserved a death like that. Lissa was determined to get to the bottom of the cause of murder and help me clear my name. The royal election was going to start tomorrow, she was very apprehensive regarding the plan.

That evening we went skylark for dinner and I had even suggested that we go to the corner bookstore, not for me but I knew that Dimitri would want to go there.

He picked out multiple western books and I found a teen series that looked intriguing about a badass warrior and her older mentor and there were like 6 books in the series. Sydney was absorbed in architecture books and didn't look like she was going to stop any time soon.

Dimitri and I found ourselves in the travel section, we found ourselves in a small corner and Dimitri grabbed a book from the shelf titled 'The 100 best places to travel'. We played a game where we planned a global tour of the imagination by skipping to random pages.

Our trip included the Corn Palace in Sioux Falls South Dakota, Sao Paolo - Brazil, Honolulu Hawaii. The last one was St Petersburg Russia.

We both took pause, I felt a rush of feelings in response: sorrow, nostalgia. Dimitri looked wistful as he stared at the page.

"You could always go home you know" I said as I nudged his shoulder. "Your family would be so happy to see you."

"One day I might, but currently I have an important job to do, my charge is a real handful. She seems to be drawn to trouble." He teased. I looked at the ground and a piece of my hair fell forward. He brushed the hair back behind my ears and then caressed my cheek. I looked up into his deep brown eyes.

"How do you feel since your restoration?" I asked

"I gained a new appreciation for life. It took a while. I'm still not there. We're talking about focusing on the present, not the future—but it's my past that haunts me. Faces. Nightmares. But the farther I get from that world of death, the more I want to embrace life. The smell of these books and the perfume you wear."

I blushed in response and followed up with "How do you feel about your charge?" looking at him from under my lashes.

"Well- "

"I can't believe this place, its amazing!" Sydney gushed. We broke eye contact and quickly got up from our position on the floor.

She then proceeded to explain the different books and how difficult they were to find, effectively killing the moment between us and we left the shop.

Despite all my training fighting strigoi, I was exhausted from all the sight-seeing and travel. Perhaps it was the emotional toll from the phone call, being reminded of Dimitri's Strigoi self, I didn't know.

My phone rang at 11pm, it looked like an international number, usually I would have assumed that it was a scam call, but I recognised the Russian code. I looked around, Dimitri wasn't in the bed but I could hear him in the shower.

"Hello"

"Roza" A familiar voice answered. I bolted upright.

"Yeva? I didn't think you knew how to make an international call… How did you get my number?"

"Not important" She bristled. "I heard the transcript from court, you have rekindled with my grandson."

How did that witch know? She chucked over the phone, like she could hear my thoughts.

"Ummm" I responded with the only thing I could think of "Its complicated, How did you get a transcript?"

She was silent, letting me come to my own conclusion… Zmey. My fist clenched, I was going to have a talk to my father.

"Do the rest of your family know that he is restored?" I asked. It always felt like Yeva was 10 steps ahead of everyone, she didn't even ask whether he had been restored.

"No, i'm waiting for the three of you to come out and visit. They are at church, I pretended to be ill"

"How's Vika" I hated the way that we had parted ways, I wondered if she still hated me.

"She was humbled for a while, but now much better."

"That's good to hear"

I could hear the shower stopping and Dimitri getting out.

"Sounds like I should go, let him get some sleep tonight Roza" She said to me cheekily. I flushed with embarrassment and she hung up.

"Goodbye yeva" I muttered at the phone.

Dimitri walked through the door in a towel and water droplets glistening on his chest. My eyes were drawn to his Abs.

"Did you say something?" He asked, my eyes snapped up to his face and i shook my head. I chose to distract him.

"So, why did you come on this trip? Why not stay at court with Lissa."

"I can't stand feeling like a side-show circus freak at court"

"So you just wanted to get away?" I felt my heart sink a little.

"No, I'm your guardian, I want to protect you. I feel like I have done nothing but cause you pain and damage to your reputation. That and—"

"What?" I studied him, desperately wishing he wasn't so good at keeping emotions off his face. I knew him well; I understood him. But he could still hide things from me.

He sat up, not meeting my eyes. "It doesn't matter."

"It doesn't? What are we comrade? Fake boyfriend and guardian, or a fake boyfriend with benefits." He gave me a small crinkle at the side of his mouth.

"Well…. I'm a man who can't keep away from you, who doesn't deserve you" He replied, looking down at his feet. "You should have someone who is capable of giving you everything."

"You are" I respond

"I don't think I am." I rolled my eyes in response to him. "I'm going to go for a swim."

He left quickly.

One step forward, one step back.

Ok firstly, why would one go swimming if they just had a shower, obviously I pressed too much.

I thought about what he had said to me tonight he 'doesn't deserve me'. That didn't sound like love had faded, that sounded like someone who still hadn't forgiven himself. Didn't he know that once he returned, there was no way I could mix up real Dimitri with Strigoi Dimitri?

Since he had said that his love fades, he had defended me and once his hands were on me, he couldn't keep them off me.

I loved him and I knew he still loved me, even if he didn't think so. Our love making in my room proved that, so I determined that I would just treat him like I used to until he felt like himself again, or was finally ready to open up.

The added benefit of that whole court experience was that I didn't have to hide my feelings. Since the entire moroi society knew we were together I could be as brazen as I wanted.

I threw on the skimpiest bikini I could find and went to the pool.

The sign on the door stated that the Pool was closed from 11pm, perfect… No witnesses

I found Dimitri in the swimming pool, doing laps. I stood directly in line with his swimming path and he stopped once he noticed me. He was wearing tight swim trunks and the water was dripping off his sculpted body.

I dropped my towel, revealing a tiny red bikini.

I dove into the water over him and I pretended to adjust my swimsuit top in the middle of the pool.

He came up to me. "Fancy meeting you here comrade"

I dropped under the water line and came back up with my hair slicked back. He was watching my every move hungrily.

"You better close your mouth, otherwise you might catch flies" I said to him and swam away from him.

He grabbed me and pulled me close to him "Oh Roza." He moved a piece of hair from the side of my face and stroked my cheek.

I wrapped my legs around his waist, and started kissing him. I was thinking of a movie I watched with a particularly steamy seduction scene in a pool, and I knew that I wanted to have sex with Dimitri in the pool

"Take me here comrade" I said as I loosened the string from my top and freed my breasts.

"Roza, this is a hotel pool, anyone could catch us"

"Thats part of the fun." I pulled him into a kiss and he eagerly responded in kind. I ground against his cock and felt it grow in response. I let go of him and I start to slide his swim trunks off his hips.

He pulled on the sides of my bikini bottoms, ripping them off my body. I looked at him and raised my brows, that was hot.

I lined his length into my folds and ground down his length. I had my legs wrapped around his waist. I tried to but the resistance in the pool was different and we just kept floating away and it was hard to get the right friction.

Funnily enough, I thought being in water would provide sufficient lubrication… It did not.

"What about from behind? He asked

"I'll drown comrade"

We tried against the edge of the pool, but the water provided too much resistance and the wall dug into my back. I felt my toes graze while trying to get traction.

After a near drowning incident on my part, we decided to abandon the endeavour.

"This was not what I pictured when I thought of sex in a pool… Bed?" I asked

"Bed" He agreed.

He then pulled me out of the pool, covered me up in the hotel robe and carried me fireman style to the lift. He put me down in the lift when a couple got in with us.

I lay in bed thinking while Dimitri slept, an arm pulling me close to him. I could hear his deep breathing indicating he was asleep.

I realised a couple of things, Firstly my body feels different, like it was changing and my temper and mood has been something else.

And Yeva said 'You three."

Could I be?

No…it's impossible.

No no no.

i'm just being crazy. I mean, it's not like impossible things have happened to me..

Fuuuuck

I crept out of the room, careful not to wake Dimitri and ran into Sydney's room.

"Sydney, can I ask for a favour but no questions asked." I said as I shook her awake.

"No Rose, I am not going to blindly give you a favour, I learnt my lesson with your father. And, I was sleeping, go away."

I ignored that and continued. "Sydney, i'm going to say something, you can respond with a Yes or No on the provision that you don't ask me about it until I use the item that you fetch for me"

"Um ok"

"Can you please go to the store and pick something up for me? I can't go as I will have an entourage"

"What do you need?"

"If you agree, i'm going to write it down on a piece of paper and you will open it when you have left the building"

"You are being ridiculous while simultaneously really starting to scare me"

"I'm scared too. Your life will not be in danger, but I really need you to do this for me." I looked in her eyes, "Please."

Sydney looked at me, probably figuring out already what I wanted, but I didn't want her to scream anything out loud. She slowly nodded and I gave her an envelope that I sealed for her.

Sydney took the envelope. "Do you want anything else?"

"A lot of ice cream and chocolate donuts. Please pay with cash." I handed her a wad of bills to cover the expenses.

She nodded and left.

I stayed curled up on the floor, waiting for her return

Sydney returned with 3 pints of ice-cream, a dozen chocolate donuts and 3 pregnancy tests. "Ok, I got your food and these, What is going on Rose?"

"I've been tired, irritable and achy for days. My body feels different and the only thing that I can think of is impossible. But Dimitri's grandmother said three and she is a crazy witch.. So I guess this is for piece of mind.

I went to Sydney's bathroom and pee'd on the sticks. I could feel through the bond that Lissa was asleep, knowing that she had a big day ahead. I sat there, hugging my knees as I waited for my phone to chime. Sydney slipped into the bathroom and put her hand on my shoulder.

The alarm went off and I looked at the result.

Positive.

AN: Boom!

Let me know if you guessed it or whether this was a surprise. Chapter 12 is looking dull at the moment, so I need time to fix it up.

Reviews/comments are always appreciated.