"... she won't wake up for another hour, we should call a medic."
"Or take her to the Court so Lissa and Sonia can see her."
"They won't see anything more than me. I'm telling you, everything is fine with her aura…"
"Rose, can you hear me?"
The voices of my friends came to me muffled, as if I was under the surface of the water, very far away from them. Only Dimitri's voice could be heard most clearly as if he was closest to me. I tried to blink and wake up, but I still felt very poorly attached to my body.
I heard a sigh of relief and the pressure of a warm hand on my fingers. Familiar fingers moved gently like silk on my cheeks, trying to rouse me from the sleep that was weighing on my eyelids.
"Can you open your eyes, Roza?" The affectionate nickname made a warm, pleasant shiver run along my spine. It seemed to me, however, that I sensed a tension and fear in Dimitri's voice that I rarely heard. I needed to comfort him somehow, to show him that he had nothing to worry about so, using all my strength, I began to slowly open my eyes, wincing at the light blinding me instantly.
My hands and feet were tingling, as if I had only recently regained feeling in them. My whole body felt heavy, and with great effort I raised my hand to my forehead, pressing on the point that hurt me. When I opened my eyes, I met Dimitri's worried gaze.
"Hey," I whispered, and had to cough. My voice was off as if I had screamed a lot. Recalling what had happened was difficult for me, and the facts slowly came back to me. Jill, the search, the ghosts... "Oh fuck."
"That's also a way you can put it," I heard Adrian's voice as I sat up on the bed with Dimitri's help. I was in the bedroom with my friends: Eddie, Adrian, and Sydney. I didn't see Angela anywhere. "I was a little more creative, after repeating it for one hundred times since you started this brilliant plan."
I glared at him, but couldn't hold back a small smile. Dimitri's hand gently drew circles on my back in a comforting gesture. Eddie and Sydney looked as if they were also relieved. Adrian was leaning against the wall, and although he was smiling with an effort, I could see that his skin was as pale as a wall.
"How long was I unconscious?" I asked in a rough voice. Dimitri met my gaze. The fading panic continued to shine brightly in his eyes.
"Slightly over two hours," he answered in a strained voice. Although it wasn't very long, I knew from his expression what he didn't want to say in front of the others. Two hours that he spent not knowing what was happening to me. He didn't know what could happen to me and didn't know how he could help me. Two hours during which he desperately prayed for me to open my eyes again, hoping the spirit world would not consume me. Hoping I would return to him.
I felt terrible that I had added to his stress. He was already worried about Jill. I touched his fingers, and he answered me with a firm grasp.
"Eddie, can you take care of coordinating guardians for a while?" Dimitri asked him, looking over his shoulder. Eddie nodded and left, followed by Adrian who sent me a sad, tense smile. I must have given him a good scare.
Sydney approached me and Dimitri.
"If everything is okay, can I take the car and go?"
Dimitri furrowed his eyebrows.
"In a sec I'll see what guard is free to take you…"
"I don't need a guard."
"I insist, Sydney." Dimitri looked at her with all the power he had. It was not a polite inquiry. It was an order that could not be refused. I could see that Sydney didn't like the situation, but she let it go by rolling her eyes and leaving the room.
As soon as the door closed behind her, I reached out to Dimitri and snuggled into his arms. He opened them encouragingly. He pulled me to him, desperately holding me close as if he didn't want to let me go even for a second. I needed his warmth, stability, and security. My mental barrier stood strong as steel, but I still felt shaken by this contact with the world of the dead. My skin itched unpleasantly, and every movement required more strength as if my limbs weighed extra pounds.
"I'm sorry," I whispered into his neck. I felt his lips brush against my hair.
"Don't apologize. I'm just glad you're okay" The hug around my body tightened, and I gave in to it with pleasure. We sat like that for a while, when he spoke again. "Why did you take such a risk, Rose?"
"I thought I had the ghosts under control, I really did. I wouldn't have done it if I didn't think I could easily drive them away from me. But when I saw…"
Dimitri kissed my temple as I trembled in his arms. He leaned back to look at me. Worry shone from his eyes as he looked at me closely.
"What did you see?" he asked softly. I hesitated before telling him. He had the search for Jill on his mind, coordinating all the guardians, and on top of that he had to worry about his crazy girlfriend. He saw my hesitation and raised my hand to his lips. He placed a gentle kiss on my knuckles. "Please."
He bought me with that. I told him about the crowd of ghosts that flooded me, about how cold and scary the souls circling me seemed. About how they took away my senses and how I didn't know where I was. And when I told him about the blackness they wanted to drag me into, he strengthened his grip on my shoulders, as if reassuring himself that I was still with him. I finished by describing the way I separated the angry souls from myself, and he kissed my forehead.
"Don't ever do it again, please," he whispered into my hair. I sighed theatrically.
"I was looking forward to repeating this… After all, I had no way to look at those enraged spirits well when they were flying around me like that, you know, trying to tear me apart. But since you asked so nicely…"
Dimitri leaned back and looked at me with a feigned angry stare. However, the relief evident in his features could not fool me.
"But you know I only tried because…" I started explaining myself, but Dimitri gently cut me off.
"I know. Desperate times call for desperate measures," he said these words with resignation, but without judgment. The bitterness in his voice had me guessing that they had not made any progress.
"We still have no trace of Jill, do we?"
"None," he clenched his teeth angrily, "But I found something else. Something that could lead us to the kidnappers, but I also don't want to send it to headquarters, since our communications are tapped."
"What's that?"
"Come, I'll show you in the living room," he gave me a hand and helped me stand up. He held me down for a second as we both checked to make sure I wouldn't lose my balance. However, when I felt stable we went to the living room, holding hands.
Eddie and Sydney were sitting at the table, looking at their computers. Angela was sitting on the couch, much paler and more tired than the last time I saw her. I greeted her and asked how she was feeling, but she was too concerned about Jill's absence to focus on such a trifle as her health.
Dimitri showed me the documentation he had in mind. He dug diligently through Jill's entire history, including interviews and guardian reports. Reading everything carefully, he saw a small error in the chronology described by one of the guardians. When I also put everything together in my head, I understood what he meant. There was no question of a slip of the tongue or a mistake. The guard's testimony had a completely different cascade of reactions that did not agree with what had happened.
"Nice catch, comrade," I muttered, checking the information about that guardian that Dimitri had planted in front of me. The guardian who was on duty on the day of the robbery. Whose testimony did not match.
"We'll have to deal with him, but I don't know how to pass this on to the Court so that he won't get information ahead," Dimitri remarked, gathering the documents together. He looked at his watch, "I'm going now to meet with Abe's man. I hope he will have something for us. And that through him it may be possible to organize communication with the Court."
"I'm going with you," I declared at once. If there was a chance of getting new information or pursuing the investigation forward I needed to be there. I heard Sydney's stifled shout.
"What about me? I need to get to a place with better internet!" she approached us with a laptop in her hand, pointing angrily at the table. "Eddie is waiting here for some team, you are leaving and no other guardian is willing to take me to the coffee shop I need. I want to go alone."
"Sydney…" Dimitri started arguing, but I interrupted him.
"I can go with you," I cut it short. Dimitri and I looked at each other and conveyed everything to each other in our usual way. I really wanted to go with him and potentially get new information. But I was even more anxious to take care of Sydney in the city where they managed to swipe Princess Dragomir from under our noses. And I knew that Sydney could defy Dimitri's order if she was determined enough, which she seemed to be.
Dimitri hesitated for a second, trying to assess whether I was in good enough shape. However, he trusted my assessment and nodded in agreement. He also preferred not to send Sydney alone, and neither of us trusted Angela enough.
We had packed into the car, which Sydney insisted on driving, when Adrian approached us, asking if he could come with us. He got into the car, bringing with him the stench of a cigarette.
"You scared Dimitri pretty bad today," Sydney commented as we started driving. "You scared all of us really, but him especially."
"The cradle robber? Really?" exclaimed Adrian in indignation. "You scared the fuck out of me! He had already arrived when you were unconscious and quiet. And I had the dubious honor of seeing you scream in terror in convulsions as blood began to pour from your eyes and nose."
I winced. But before I had time to respond, Sydney continued.
"Maybe so, but I was with him when you called us. The expression on his face... I don't think I've ever seen him so terrified. "
Well, Sydney didn't see him when I bled in his arms after being shot in the heart.
"That was one mistake! I know I fucked up, but Jesus. Let it go!"
"Fucked up is a pretty good term," Adrian mumbled, trying to say something to relieve the tension.
"I'm very sorry to have frightened you. I'll admit I could have restrained myself a bit from screaming and fainting while I was fighting for my life with ghosts."
The corner of Sydney's mouth trembled as if in a shy smile, but Adrian sent me a look that said he wasn't impressed. I rolled my eyes.
"It was just like on the plane when we came back from the Court last year, remember?"
"Yes, but now it was worse."
I sighed. "Yeah, a bit. Since I came back to life the second time, it got worse. Now they want to suck my life out of me with redoubled force."
A heavy silence fell, which was broken by Sydney. "Fortunately, you're alright. Now back to the search for Jill. I'll see what the alchemists came up with after cooperating with the human police.
I transitioned into the role of their guardian. As we entered I started treating Sydney and Adrian as my charges. My focus shifted to assessing the environment around us and ensuring our safety. Choosing a seat at a table, I positioned myself to observe the surroundings thoroughly. I remained vigilant, tracking the ebb and flow of people entering and leaving. Sydney engrossed in her laptop, furiously tapped away, while Adrian sipped his coffee and occasionally cast a curious glance over her shoulder
We didn't bother her. After a few exchanged sentences she hissed at us to shut up, so we didn't dare break her out of her concentration. My last hopes were that she might get some information, any clue as to where Jill might be. Adrian didn't last this silence long, communicating to us that he was going to go smoke around the cafe window. Me and Sydney grimaced at this.
"Did you find anything?" I asked her.
"Give me ten minutes, okay?" Her exasperated voice made me feel better, and I refocused on the cafe's customers. They weren't much different from people in Pennsylvania except that their clothes hinted that they might have been enjoying much better weather than we were. Since it was the middle of the day many people entered the café. Some promptly approached the counter, while others scanned for an empty seat before placing their orders
As an exercise in concentration, I observed everyone entering, paying attention to each person crossing the café's threshold. My goal was to assess for what purpose the person came. Normally, I should pay attention to how potentially dangerous they were, but I didn't even want to fool myself into thinking that someone could come here for us.
That's why when a woman dressed in a business suit entered the café and looked for someone with her eyes, she immediately met my gaze. She cast a glance at Sydney and there was a flash in her eyes as if she had found the people she was looking for. I assessed her more closely and at that moment I saw that she was a dhampir. Humans couldn't distinguish between our races, but we were equipped by evolution with a mechanism to recognize each other, so I was sure we both knew we were dhampirs. I noticed the bulge under her jacket, which undoubtedly concealed a gun.
She started walking toward us, and I realized that meeting an unknown dhampir here could only mean two things. Possibility one - the most likely - she was another guardian sent by Hans, who came looking for us. But, I knew almost all of the guardians who were sent to us. And above all, I knew all the women. There were not many of them, and I paid attention to each of them. I knew that this was not a guardian sent by the Court.
Possibility two - this woman was linked to other Moroi activity in Palm Springs. And we knew there wasn't one within miles. Except, of course, for those who had to kidnap Jill.
Every step she took toward us felt like an eternity. I could see that I was being assessed by her in the same way. I smiled slightly at her to give the impression that I was waiting for her and knew what I was doing. If she's on our side it won't hurt. If she was connected to Jill's kidnappers and knew who I was, it wouldn't help us anyway.
Deep inside me, I just intuitively felt that she was not our ally. And it seemed to me that she didn't know who we were.
"Good morning," she greeted, approaching our table and glancing fleetingly at Sydney, but looking at me as she faced. It was lucky because Sydney looked at her with a very confused expression.
"Hello," I replied, raising my eyebrows and encouraging her to speak. She grunted and I only noticed how tense she was. She could have been stressed for a thousand different reasons, but I couldn't shake the feeling that it had to do with Jill.
"I think I'm the one you're waiting for, ladies. I'm sorry, I thought I'd be here before you," she said in a forcefully casual tone while implying that I should know what she was talking about. A smile played on my lips when I felt adrenaline raging in my vessels. At the same time, I sent a look at Sydney, whose face betrayed exactly how little we knew.
"I think so, too" I chuckled in a slightly bossy tone. If she was on our side she would think I was just a stuck-up royal guard.
"Come on, I will take you to the place where you will examine the princess," whispered the guard, and thank God she looked around the cafe to see if anyone was eavesdropping on us, otherwise she would have seen a completely shocked Sydney.
Seeing her expression, I reminded myself to maintain a stone-cold facade. My adrenaline-enriched brain was forming plans at lightning speed and now recognized two options. Either I would abduct this woman and get the information out of her, or I would follow her and try to find out as much as I could while she still hadn't realized her mistake. The latter option carried the risk of a trap. But kidnapping this woman and extracting information from her carried the risk of alerting the others and losing the one chance we had to get to Jill. We hadn't been this close to her since she was kidnapped, and we couldn't lose that.
I sent Sydney the quickest warning glance and smiled even wider, standing up to divert the woman's attention from the alchemist.
"Great," I shook her hand, and she shook mine in relief. While Sydney was packing up her laptop, my brain was analyzing the current situation like crazy. It seemed too simple, like a trap, which was not improbable again. My fears roared extremely vividly in my head as the woman led us to the black Subaru. However, I couldn't back out. I had to risk this crazy chance I had to find Jill. This morning Dimitri himself noted that desperate times call for desperate measures. He wouldn't believe it.
Taking the passenger seat, I smiled sympathetically. Sydney settled in the back. All my muscles were tight as strings. The guardian, however, was as nervous as I was.
"Now can you tell us further details of the operation?" I tried to make my voice sound as coy as I could. She smiled at me almost apologetically.
"I'm sorry, I don't know. I was just supposed to pick you up. This is my first day on the job at Prince Drozdov. You were supposed to go with someone else, but now there is a race against time to cover all traces from the guardians and they need everyone.
She started typing the address into the GPS. I nodded, feeling my mind rumble. With no time to process Prince Drozdov's connection to Jill's kidnapping, I shifted into military thinking mode.
Once we get there, someone will probably figure out who I am. Going there with Sydney would be foolish and dangerous and would not help us in any way. I now had to secure the address, hand it over to the guardians, and make an attack on this hideout. Urgency coursed through me; my hands trembled with the need to act as I realized one more thing.
If I could blend in, I would have a better chance of getting Jill out in a safe, non-weaponized way. The moment she finished typing the address, the location on the map, I struck. A powerful blow to her face sent her reeling
Her head spun and bounced off the door frame. Somewhere in the distance, I registered Sydney's startled scream, but I was already taking the guard's head in both hands. Her eyes were gone, but I could feel a pulse - that was the result I wanted. Sydney was frozen in surprise but shook herself off when I handed her the keys to our car.
"Go get our car and park here as soon as possible. Find Adrian."
She automatically followed my command. I figured she was either in shock and didn't see the point in discussing it with me, or she recognized my command because she sensed it was a crazy mission and I was an expert in these. Either was good for me.
The door closed behind Sydney and, in the meantime, I began to undress the unconscious guard. I secured her gun and removed her jacket and shirt, then undressed myself and put on her clothes. I hung her name badge around my neck.
I didn't want to leave her almost naked, my feminist spirit had spoken, so I pulled my red T-shirt over her head and tried to put my jeans on her. It sounds simple, but dressing an inert body is not the easiest of tasks. As our car pulled up, I hurriedly finished dressing, fumbling with my pants."
"Adrian's familiar voice exclaimed, 'Holy fuck, Rose.' I shushed him immediately.
"Keep it down, Adrian," I hissed, looking around to see if anyone had heard. My eyes scanned the entire parking lot around us.
Sydney opened our car's passenger door, while I, along with Adrian, maneuvered the unconscious guardian out of the Subaru from the driver's side. Sydney appeared to be coming out of shock.
Looking at the motionless body, she asked, "What do we do, Rose?"
"We have to hurry," I said, watching a couple of women enter the cafe. I was almost certain that one of them was a dhampir, so it was these women that the guardian was waiting for. "I will take these "researchers" to the place where they are holding Jill. While I'm there I'll find her and get her out safely."
"Wait, Dimitri and the rest…"
"We don't have time, Sydney," I grabbed her shoulders and looked her in the eyes so she would know I wasn't joking, "If these women sense that something is wrong they won't get in the car with me. Or worse, they will alert them that something is not right. I will go with them and then I can get Jill out from inside. If we go there with a whole army of guardians there is no telling how many enemies we will have to deal with, or what they will do to Jill then."
"Rose, that sounds a thousand times worse than your 'wonderful' plan this morning," Adrian remarked, concern evident in his gaze.
"Adrian, I need a disguise using spirit powers. Make me look like her," I said, gesturing to the unconscious guardian.
"Please, Rose…"
"This is our best chance to save Jill!" I couldn't help raising my voice. Adrenaline made my muscles tremble and blood rushed through my veins. My whole body screamed with readiness for action.
Adrian seemed torn, but at the mention of Jill's name, he cursed, took off his silver pendant from his neck, and looked thoughtfully at the woman. After a moment, he handed back the pendant, which I hastily put around my neck. He nodded, satisfied with the outcome.
Hesitation filled Sydney's eyes. She didn't want to leave me alone, but she also wanted to take the chance we had. It seemed to me that she wanted a little more time to think about the situation, but in this profession, you had to forget about that. She seemed, so counting on her quick thinking I gave her orders.
"Memorize the address carefully," I instructed firmly. "Drive away from here so as not to arouse the suspicions of these women. Call Dimitri and tell him exactly what happened. Do not let him drive with the guardians in my direction. I will figure out how many guards are there and what the area is like. I will call as soon as I can. If I don't call, then make him stay away and wait for a signal from me. GO!
Sydney tensed up, hesitated for a moment, then nodded before closing the door behind her. She drove off together with Adrian, and I took a deep breath and got out of the car. I headed to the cafe and with my eyes began to look for the two women. One dhampir and one human. They looked at me carefully and watched me closely as I approached. Facing them, I extended my hand and smiled as warmly as I could.
"I think I'm the one you're waiting for, ladies."