RPOV
The coolness inside the car helps keep the numbness settled on my shoulders. That and how no one speaks. My mother's necklace is enclosed safely in my fist and the metallic feel of it kept me anchored in my stupor. I keep my eyes ahead on the front window as the world beyond it becomes more visible. The forest recedes away to the left as the car glides along a dusty path.
The forest disappears completely and the numbness quivers as if it may slip. I had always known the trees but nothing beyond it. Looking out Dimitri's window the land stretches away and up into rocky slopes.
"Catalina's foothills." Dimitri says quietly.
I can't see where the rocks touch the sky from where I'm sitting. I look ahead again.
"We should be there in twenty, twenty-five minutes. Be prepared to take off." Ben mutters on my other side.
I missed my books. They had always been a link to everything bigger and now I didn't have them to guide me. I had skimmed across words such as 'town' and 'city' and tried to absorb their description but it was hard with no mental image to go with it. They didn't seem like real things, just useless words on a page. I had tried to picture more houses like the Masters and more people walking around but I couldn't give the people purpose, I couldn't hold the image.
It would have been a false image.
The dust path we followed turned to grey with a white line marked in the middle. Buildings popped up, looking nothing like the manor house at all, then they're more all different shapes and sizes. The numbness slipped off me as we drove into the concrete forest. Buildings and different paths were everywhere, leading in every direction and there were some cars following them. How did anyone know where anything was and what everything meant?
There were huge pictures in the windows of men and women. Signs were everywhere with musical symbols and words I couldn't catch because we drove by too fast and another took my attention.
A red light shines from a metal pole and the car slows in front of it. My mouth drops open as a picture demands my attention outside Ben's window. A woman was staring at us from the side of a small shelter. She wore a scarlet smile and not much else, just black panties and a matching bra. I knew what a bra was because my mother had one but hers was grey and the straps withered and frayed. She tied it in a knot at her back, sometimes I had to help.
The car turns away and we leave the woman behind, posing for the rest of the world to see.
Who was she? What did her mother think?
She didn't seem afraid. Her smile reminded me of Spiridons as my masters fought with Mr. Dashkov, confident and somewhat dangerous. A bitter neediness unfurled in my stomach. It shocks me and I try to stamp it out but the woman's smile won't go away. I frown at my lap confused by the sudden surge of emotion.
"Your better taking this left here." Ben says, bringing me out of wondering.
He glances at me but my gaze falls past him. One of the buildings was awake. A room was lit up and past the window, I could see a man taking chairs off a table and turning them right side up. He was all in black but wore a green apron. I look at the blocked green letters above the window and then string them together, a word I don't know.
"Starbucks." Ben supplies, having followed what had my attention.
"Oh, I'd love one." Spiridon says.
I didn't see any stars or bucks. I didn't see anything that could mean the conjoining of the two.
"What is it?"
Hearing my own voice surprises me and from the slight widening of Bens's eyes, I think it surprises him too. I needed more control.
"Coffee." Ben answers as the building slides away from the window.
I turn back to my lap more confused than ever.
"It's just a brand name." Dimitri explains quietly.
I mull that over and let my gaze travel to his knee. "Like how washing powders can be called different things? Ultratide?"
"Exactly."
Right.
Starbucks sounded stupid to me.
I work my lips and then force the words out. "Where are all… the people?" I had nearly said others.
"It's still early. Humans work through the day."
Oh.
Humans. Humans…. Dhampirs were half-human. Dhampirs could be born from a human and Moroi coming together, or a Dhampir coming together with a Moiroi or human. My mother had never said it but I knew my father was Moroi, it was a feeling.
Two Dhampirs couldn't have children… which my mother said made the Guardians noticing me more dangerous. I couldn't have a child if they...hurt me. There wouldn't be consequences.
I shudder.
"Are you cold?"
In surprise I glance up at Dimitri and then turn away, shaking my head.
He always seemed to be watching.
I look out Ben's window. The buildings have disappeared and I could see the day being born instead of just feeling it. The sky in the distance was becoming lighter, a bruised blue and I hope maybe I might see a sunrise.
Ben side-glances me and I'm forced to look down.
The anxiety buzzes over my skin as the minutes' tick by, wanting to look but not being able to bring myself to. I hold my hands tightly in my lap and mentally beg the sun to sleep a little longer.
The car slows to stop and naturally breeze brushes over my face. I don't look up because I'm being good, I'm being obedient and looking for the sun may wake it.
"Have you got a pass to be using this entrance?" A gruff voice asks. A new voice.
Don't look up.
"You don't remember me?" Spiridon replies playfully. There's a crinkling of paper.
"Go on ahead."
The car prowls forward and picks up speed.
There's a monstrous whooshing sound with a cry underneath it and my head snaps up.
A huge metal bird was gliding toward the ground outside Dimitri's window. Underneath its legs didn't look big enough to hold it and it was coming in fast and monstrous. The hand not clutching the necklace clings to the leather beneath me as the spindly legs touch the ground and thing bobs a little but glides along the ground, like a bird landing in a run. The car swerves to the right and the bird rolls away behind a huge metal structure. I'm craning my head around when I see Dimitri's watching me. I snap my head forward. I can't believe I'd forgotten myself again but I itched to look out the side windows, I wanted to see everything. I wanted to see how big that building was. I wanted to see where the metal bird went. I glance sideways and catch a glimpse of one streaked with red and then I look down again.
I pinch my thigh.
I shouldn't look.
Don't draw attention.
But everything else demanded mine.
I rack my brain trying to pull out words and apply them to what I'd just seen. It had the similarity to a car, a machine designed to travel but it flew and not many things man built flew.
Aeroplane: A powered flying vehicle with fixed wings and a weight greater than that of the air it displaces.
The car stops and everyone moves, clicking noises and doors opening. A warm breeze coasts through the car. Ben and Dimitri aren't by my side anymore and Mr Dashkov and Spiridon are standing in front of the car. I scrabble to get out of Dimitri's side when I'm yanked back against the seat. I grab the seat belt but it won't budge under my hands. It's become strict and unyielding.
"Let me get it." Dimitri says, ducking back inside.
Ben's door shuts.
I press against the seat as the car shrinks again. Another click and the belt slides back across my body. Dimitri ducks out and after a moment I follow.
The sky was getting lighter and in the distance, I could see the peeking rays of gold. I stare completely absorbed for a moment before I realise what's waiting for us.
A small black plane is standing proud with its face to the oncoming dawn.
"It's a jet." Dimitri supplies.
"I know." I say not taking my eyes away from it. We were getting on it, I knew we were getting on it but how did we get on it, and then how did it get in the air? And where did we go? How far were we going that a car couldn't have taken us?
"You do?"
I tear my eyes away from the plane to Dimitri's curious expression.
What had I said?
Oh.
He raises an eyebrow. I open and shut my mouth.
"I hope you're not afraid of heights." Spiridon calls, grinning. He turns away as a man approaches Ben.
Mr. Dashkov steps over to us and I avert my eyes. "If you are dear we can help you be more comfortable."
I think of the ladders in the library. "I'm not afraid."
"Well, you're braver than I. Let's get on board shall we?"
Ben hands over a set of keys to the man who'd joined them. He says something that makes Ben and Spiridon laugh before they break away and follow Mr. Dashkov to the plane. I watch how different their walks are, how even in a relaxed walk the Guardian's shoulders are set and exuding power compared to Mr. Dashkov who was strolling with complete ease.
A section of the plane swings open, a door, and under it, stairs begin to unfold.
I look up at Dimitri and he looks back at me patiently. I take a deep breath and walk toward it, trying to look more confident than I felt but that falls completely out of my head as soon as I get inside. I expected seats, I mean, that was obvious but I didn't expect couches or a bar. It was all black and grey inside and on either side of where I stood are four seats, two facing two. Ben and Spiridon are facing each other on the left and Mr. Dashkov sits alone on the right. I'm aware of Dimitri behind me waiting, always waiting.
I sit down opposite Mr. Dashkov. If that was the wrong thing to do he doesn't say. Dimitri sits down beside him, leaving the space beside me empty. There is a window between me and Mr. Dashkov and I can see the gold and reds stretching across the sky. My heart begins beating a little faster.
A woman appears from the other end of the plane, the front I remembered, dressed in a long blue skirt and crisp white shirt with a high collar. Her hair was pinned up in a neat blonde bun. She's pretty and from her build I know she's a Dhampir.
I look down.
"We were worried you weren't going to make it." She says in a cheery tone and I sense her pass us.
"Nothing but a minor delay, Rachel." Mr. Dashkov answers.
I hear what I imagine is the door of the plane being locked and suddenly I feel the whole thing begin to move.
"Is there anything I can get you before take-off?" Rachel asks coming back from the rear of the plane.
"No thank you." Mr. Dashkov replies pleasantly.
The orange-gold orb peeks out from the horizon.
"Dimitri?" She asks and I look up. There's something hopeful in her expression.
"No, thank you." He says tonelessly, sparing a nod.
Her smile lessens a bit and then she walks back to the front of the plane.
"Jesus Belikov. Would it kill you to let her down gently?" Spiridon asks looking thoroughly amused.
Dimitri ignored him and Ben chuckles.
I don't understand, not really, I think.
"You could have been a little warmer." Mr. Dashkov says quietly.
"I'd prefer to leave no room to encourage it." Dimitri responds.
Mr. Dashkov turns away from him smiling. He looks out the window and his eyes narrow as a streak of sunlight hits his face. He opens the armrest and flicks a switch and a shutter descends over the glass. I forgot they didn't like sunlight. Stupid thing to forget seeing I was always out in the sun and never spent time around them, until recently.
My heart is a deflating balloon as I catch the last glimpse of the top of the blazing nectarine. I cast my eyes back down to my lap, linking my fingers together.
"Dear, you should lean back in the chair for take-off." Mr. Dashkov says as I feel the plane turn under us.
I change my body to copy his, with my hands clutching each armrest but I don't want to close my eyes like he did. I remember that he's afraid of heights but I wasn't, I wanted to see how high we were going to go, I wanted to see us leave the ground. I wanted to see us flying.
"Seatbelt." Dimitri prompts.
I hadn't noticed they were wearing theirs. Dimitri's eyes flick to my left shoulder and I find the belt nestled between the two seats. I pull it across my chest just like he had in the car and click it into place beside my thigh. This one held against me tightly like the cars had when I was fighting with it. Is that normal? Before I can think about it anymore a weight thrusts against me as the plane makes a huge whooshing sort of noise and shudders beneath us. It reminds me of a car suddenly jumping forward but it doesn't stop, the sensation is drawn out and holding until the weight tilts to be on my shoulders and the weirdest sensation makes my stomach fall out.
I knew we weren't on the ground anymore.
There was pressure inside my head and I imagine us climbing into the sky, past the clouds, on level with the sun, maybe above it?
I half worry the couches are going to tumble or slide toward us but nothing moves.
The room begins to level out so Mr. Dashkov is not tilted toward me in his seat. After a few minutes there's a dinging noise.
I swallow and my ears pop.
Simultaneously the others unclick their belts. Ben gets up first and goes toward the TV.
"Well, I think I deserve a drink." Spiridon announces standing up and stretching. "That okay boss?"
"You don't but it is." Mr. Dashkov responds. "One though."
Spiridon saunters away as Ben lets out a whoop at the TV.
"How much?" Spiridon asks.
"Hundred bucks." Ben grins over his shoulder. "Go Tigers."
"It's like I have three children instead of one." Mr Dashkov says looking up at the ceiling.
Spiridon shakes his head and pops a cap off a green bottle.
"Now, I think it's about we were introduced properly." Mr. Dashkov says, dropping his gaze to me. My stomach clenches. "I am Victor Dashkov, Prince of my Royal line."
He eyes me expectantly and beside him, Dimitri nods in what I assume is encouragement.
"Rose." I say and I feel the ownership of my name slipping away which doesn't make sense.
"It's nice to meet you, Rose. I'm sorry it has been in such terrible circumstances but we work with what we're given. Thank you for cooperating in coming with us."
Why was he thanking me for things I didn't have a choice in? I nod even though I don't know what I'm nodding for.
"Dimitri has probably already explained that it was for your own protection and because of what you witnessed in the woods. Of course, I have Dimitri's account but as my Guardian, his testimony won't carry as much weight as I'd need. Yours on the other hand would, especially under compulsion which you haven't been trained to resist."
I have a vague understanding of what he's talking about.
"This might sound crude dear but I think it's best I don't sugarcoat it. Under my protection you will have to abide by my rules, as to speak, you must do as I say. Ideally, I would enrol you into the Academy near my home but without proper documentation and a form of ID it's not possible. Also, I couldn't be sure you would deal well with mainstreaming into your peer group, as well as other problems like you have had no education or training of a novice and are not familiar with institutionalization."
I couldn't see how that was ideal at all. I had no idea what he was talking about. The only word I could grasp was 'academy'.
"So I'm left with the only option which is to keep you close. Dhampir slavery is not something I approve of so understand this dear, you are no longer a slave." He pauses as if that's supposed to sink in but it just brushes over my head. His lips purse before he continues. "But you do not have full freedom yet either which I do believe is best for now. For one you are not familiar with the world and how it works and two, you need protection. You will be staying at my home, you will have your own room and the only option I can think of to benefit us both is that you become my employee. "
He was talking gibberish now.
"An employee to maintain my home doing things such as washing, cleaning, and cooking. Basic chores. Nothing too laborious. In return, I will give you a wage and I will get you a proper means of Identity. This will take some time as I have exhausted all my resources and need to earn favours. By then I will have convinced Lucas and Moira to see reason or at the very least not to harm you. Then you will be free to leave and live how you wish to."
My head was spinning again. His words were like creased sheets I just couldn't iron out.
"I'm sure you have a lot of questions." Mr. Dashkov says gently.
I did I just couldn't get my tongue to spit one out.
"This has to be overwhelming for her." Dimitri interjects and goes on in a tactful voice, "You are talking about a world she hardly knows and becoming a part of it, on her own."
I didn't like people talking about me like I wasn't there but right now I could hardly mind when I couldn't speak.
Freedom was such a colossal word with no face or picture to go with it. My life, or slavery as they'd called it, was my mother. It was familiar with its rules and had been all I'd known. I couldn't see beyond it. It was hard enough taking in I was on an aeroplane that took me higher than trees and probably the clouds.
I take a deep breath.
"Yes, yes, your right. I apologise Rose." Mr. Dashkov says and it goes over my head as well. "I'll go and see about some supper, we can talk more afterward."
He gets up and makes his way over to Rachel and Ben.
"You are allowed to ask questions Rose, no matter what they might be." Dimitri says in a gentle voice.
I thread my fingers tighter together and swallow.
"Where are we going?" I ask quietly.
"Montana."
I knew that State. Well, I knew its name.
"The climate will be very different from what you're used to. Colder."
"Seriously? You're talking about the weather?" A voice drawls and I look up from my lap to see Spiridon leaning against the chair he'd occupied earlier.
"Rose asked where we were going." Dimitri answers and his voice has diluted to plainness. He didn't like him or didn't like something about him I could tell. It made me nervous about the Guardian with the strange blonde hairstyle. I look back down.
"And the first thing you tell her is that it's cold? Well, I suppose that's something that you would find to be a selling point."
Dimitri stares ahead as if bored or pretending the other man doesn't exist. I can't do that, I can't even manage to keep my eyes downcast and keep darting peeks at both of them.
Spiridon sits down in the seat he'd been leaning against. "So we call you Rose?"
"That's what Dimitri said."
I don't know if I'm being brave or stupid but I didn't like the way he was speaking to me. Not when I'd experienced how the other people on this plane spoke to me as if we were close to being on the same level. Spiridon spoke to me like every Guardian ever had. I should probably use it as a reminder, they were far above me.
Spiridon raises an eyebrow. "Dimitri said we call you Rose? Why did he get to name you?"
He was talking to me like I was stupid and the warning I'd been trying to convince myself to abide by evaporates.
"Don't tease her." Dimitri's voice is cool.
Spiridon rolls his eyes. "I'm kidding."
He eyes me as he takes a drink from his bottle. It seems important I hold eye contact.
"Yes, unfortunately, he does that a lot." Mr. Dashkov says returning to his seat. Dimitri sits up straighter so Mr. Dashkov can maneuver his long legs. "Rachel says supper will be ten minutes."
"Good. I'm starving." Spiridon announces and slouches down. Dimitri shoots him a dark look that he doesn't notice.
"Another thing I think is important I tell you." Mr. Dashkov begins seriously, leaning toward me with his hands clasped. "Is that you can, at any time, tell Spiridon to shut up. Even if he isn't speaking."
"Why is everyone a hater?" Spiridon says to the ceiling.
"That sounded scarily like something Natalie would say." Mr. Dashkov frowns.
"Who is someone else you can tell to shut up at any time." Spiridon tells me.
"Natalie is Victor's daughter." Dimitri says quietly and I'm grateful.
"Yes, I should warn you about Natalie. Oh no dear, don't look so alarmed. Natalie is just a little bit of a handful, very enthusiastic, but she has a heart of gold."
"Like a hyper puppy who can talk." Spiridon adds.
"She is currently on vacation with some family friends. She should be back in a day or so. Maybe later on tonight, I keep forgetting what time it is."
"I don't." Spiridon yawns.
I'm sure if it weren't for the stimulant Dimitri gave me that I would be a lot more exhausted than I was feeling. Right now my mind was alert and the only thing wearing on me was the pain in my arm. I hadn't taken the pain killer Dimitri had left on the nightstand. I hope my mother had taken the bottle to hide, that way she had two stashed away. I shy away from thoughts of her as it brews a dark, sickening feeling in my stomach.
Mr. Dashkov sighs. "So much work to do and it's not the right time for any of it."
"It can wait until morning." Dimitri murmurs. "With the exception of the alchemists, did anyone call ahead?"
They both look over at Spiridon.
"No, sorry." He says and looks like he means it. "Moira was raving so much and trying to rouse that Guardian that I forgot."
Dimitri calls over to Ben who shakes his head.
"I'll try the cabin phone." Dimitri says and makes his way past Ben to where Rachel emerges with two trays. She smiles at him as they pass each other. It's impossible to know if he smiled back. I get a little bit uneasy without his presence but as long as I wasn't left alone with Spiridon I would be fine.
"When we land remind me to text Natalie." Mr. Dashkov tells Spiridon and then looks at me. "When she gets home she'll be able to shop for you, get you the essentials before she goes back to school."
I didn't know what the essentials might be and I'm saved from having to ask as Rachel reaches us.
"Carrot and coriander soup with half a chicken and brie sandwich." She says cheerily as Mr. Dashkov presses a button under the shaded window that makes the floor between us rise. I look down at my feet and the part that has come away leaves a rectangular shape behind, a smooth black dip. I think I expected to see the wheels of the plane or the top of a cloud.
Rachel sets the trays down in front of me and Mr. Dashkov on the makeshift table. Spiridon looks longingly at the steaming bowls and it's the first time I've ever that I'd taken precedence over a Guardian, over anyone bar my mother. It baffles me a little so I'm left staring anxiously at the tray waiting for someone to take it from me.
"Lovely." Mr. Dashkov murmurs. "Thank you, Rachel."
"What dessert did you get?" Spiridon asks eagerly, craning his neck.
"Milk and white chocolate cheesecake." Mr. Dashkov reads aloud and I glance at the triangular piece on my tray, covered in plastic packaging.
Dimitri slides back into the seat beside Mr. Dashkov and I hope he'll tell me what to do.
"Couldn't get a signal." He says as Mr. Dashkov takes a spoonful. The smell was all around me and I wished the floor had opened up below and that way I could have jumped out.
Rachel comes back with two more trays. Setting one down for Dimitri and the other in front of Spiridon who'd erected his own table. Dimitri thanks her and Spiridon immediately bites off half his sandwich.
"They may not even be awake yet. Wait until we land." Mr. Dashkov says and Dimitri nods, picking up his spoon.
"Are you not hungry Rose?" I force myself to look up at Mr. Dashkov's worried expression. "Would you like something else?"
I shake my head.
Dimitri's gaze adds to the weight of his charge.
"Eat in your own time then." Mr. Dashkov says gently.
It was all for me. More than I'd eat in a day and it was all for me. My throat becomes very tight. My mom would have nothing until morning and even then it would be next to nothing.
"Wash goin on?" Spiridon asks around his food.
"Nothing at all." Mr. Dashkov replies. "Has Hans emailed yet?"
Dimitri takes out his phone as a rush of cheering sounds from the TV. Ben throws his fist into the air. I pick up my spoon whilst no one notices.
"It's done." Dimitri says.
"Any trouble?"
"None that he mentions."
"I can't imagine Moira has calmed down."
"Maybe she passed out?" Spiridon suggests.
I cautiously take half a spoonful of the thick, orange soup and put it into my mouth. Flavour blossoms over my tongue in a wave of carrot and spice. The hint of herbs and salt are perfectly balanced.
I'm back in Mary's kitchen and I am very small as my mother blends ingredients together, letting me taste different things when I was good and quiet.
"I don't understand how they consider fighting alongside their Guardians degrading but not the possibility of being awakened." Dimitri's voice brings me back to the present.
"It's about power." Mr. Dashkov replies and takes up his sandwich. "They've probably been fed propaganda too and isolating themselves out there in the desert doesn't help keep them grounded. Having Lucas at Court will show him sense, I'm sure of it."
"I hope they aren't too hard on Tasha." Dimitri says and emotion almost comes into his face.
"She'll be able to handle it. It's Christian I worry for."
The soup was a pocket of warmth in my stomach like I'd eaten sunshine. It would have been blissful if the warmth didn't mirror the one in my arm, making it harder to ignore.
"They wouldn't harm him." Spiridon responds. He tears off the plastic cover of his dessert. "He's their little prince."
"It's what they think is best for him which is what concerns me." Mr. Dashkov says.
I tear off a piece of my sandwich; the melted cheese oozes out around the white chicken breast. I dip it into the soup and pop it into my mouth. It was incredible but my eyes dart to the dessert slice. I didn't want to fill up on bread.
"I spoke with Christian. He's going to leave and stay with Tasha until school starts." Dimitri voices calmly.
"You think they'll let him?" Spiridon asks, wiping crumbs from his shirt front. He'd devoured his cake slice in three bites.
"I think they'll be so busy adjusting that he'll be able to get away fine. I told him to ask a new Guardian to drive him to the airport. I think he'll be leaving tomorrow."
"I'll ask after him when I speak to Natasha later." Mr. Dashkov says and then sighs. He sets down his spoon. "I am utterly shattered."
"We have an hour or so left. You could go lie down." Dimitri replies and reaches out for his sandwich. It's then I remember the gash he'd made in his palm but his outstretched hand is perfectly fine. The other is beneath the table. I think back to when he answered the phone and it had been with the hand he's using now, he was hiding the other, like I was hiding mine with my mother's necklace.
"I might take a nap." Spiridon says, resting his head back and shutting his eyes.
"Everybody finished?" Rachel asks, appearing by Dimitri's head.
She lifts Spiridon's tray and Mr. Dashkov's. I panic she'll take mine but she leaves it and Dimitri's alone. He asks for some coffee and she smiles brightly.
"Thank you, Rachel." Mr. Dashkov says. "I think I will go and lie down. Excuse me."
Dimitri stands to let him by and he disappears in the direction we'd come on board.
"There are two cabin beds in the back." Dimitri explains.
He was always ready to answer the questions poised in my head. I tear off another piece of my sandwich and try to not think about how I feel about that, him always watching.
Rachel comes back with his coffee and asks him if he needs anything else. The way she was looking at him was strange, almost admiring and eager. I uncurl my fist and trace the tracks left by the gold chain. Back at the house, I'd known how important it was to please but this situation wasn't stressful or it didn't seem to be. Maybe it was for her, maybe it was because I was on the other side of the table this time. However the look on her face made this seem unlikely, she was happy about waiting on us or rather Dimitri. In comparison, he looked relaxed and oblivious to her efforts.
What was it he'd said earlier about not encouraging her? Encouraging what?
The woman in her black underwear burns bright in my mind.
"Rose?" I jerk up, startled at hearing my name. Dimitri is looking at me. "Do you want anything else? Coffee? water?"
Rachel is still smiling but the smile doesn't reflect in her eyes as she watches me. I think she's annoyed.
I shake my head.
"If you wanted something would you tell me?" Dimitri asks when she's left.
I think if it were any of the others had asked me this it would have felt like a confrontation but Dimitri exuded a calm curiosity. I was beginning to think this may just be his manor and if more Strigoi burst from the other end of the plane I doubted his expression would change. The day I saw him worried would probably be a very bad day.
I nibble on my bread and make myself look at him. "No."
"You are allowed to want things now." He says, his eyes holding mine.
"I know I'm allowed to want things. Everybody wants things. Wanting is just... a bit pointless." I'm surprised by how much I've said and my cheeks heat.
He studies me for a moment and I note again the rich colour of his eyes. "You might not tell me when you want things but you have to tell me when you need them. Okay?"
I squish the bread into a small ball between my fingertips. "What do you mean?"
He takes a sip of his coffee. "I suppose it will take some time to get used to. You're not just going to get the bare minimum anymore. You were given even less than that. There's a lot you're entitled to as a human being and by Dhampir blood. You're allowed to want things now, to ask for them… that doesn't mean you'll get them. But if you want a bottle of water or need another pain killer, things like that, you can always ask. You can ask me anything."
"I can ask you anything?" I repeat staring at the bread ball.
He hesitates for a moment as if assessing the implications of what he'd stated. "Yes."
My heart beats faster as my tongue spasms in my mouth, conflicted in trying to shape words. I let out a quiet cough and test him. "Can I try your coffee?"
I don't look up from the table as my cheeks flame hotter. He slides the thick cup across the surface. I'd never had coffee, only smelled it. I reach out and take it, the papers warm and sturdy. By sheer will I make myself take a drink, trying not to crumble under the weight of his gaze.
A bitter taste fills my mouth and I swallow quickly just to get rid of it. My nose wrinkles and I slide the cup back toward him quickly.
"Some people prefer it with milk and sugar."
My face is still contorted in distaste as I look up at him. His lips are pursed together and there's something behind his level gaze.
"I don't want that." I say thickly. I scoop up some cold soup and eat it just to get rid of the taste.
"How's your arm?"
"Okay."
My fingers inch toward the cake slice. He hasn't eaten his either. He hasn't eaten much of anything.
"How's your hand?" I dare to return and my voice comes out barely above a whisper.
I knew he'd explain like he had been explaining things all day without having to be asked directly. The 'blood promise' he'd made with my mother had been in the back of my mind for several reasons. It might explain why she'd told me not to trust him but then trusted him with an oath that he'd made in blood. To protect me…did he really mean it or was slicing his hand open a mundane occurrence. He'd kept the promises he'd made so far…
But I'd only known him a couple of hours and I'd known Guardians my entire life. He didn't feel like a guardian though. Spiridon did and to an extent so did Ben but I hadn't really spent enough time around him. I think I made him nervous...
I've slid the cake slice a fraction toward me when he answers.
"Fine. I've had worse injuries from a Strigoi."
I'm about to question what an earth he's talking about when his expression silences me. His eyes are trained intensely on mine and I knew well enough it meant to be quiet. It also meant I was pinned under his gaze which made it a little harder to breathe.
"What? The Strigoi landed a blow on you?" Spiridon asks, suddenly coming to life. I flinch back in my seat. He casts me a fleeting glance but his attention is on Dimitri, who takes an undisturbed sip of his disgusting drink.
Spiridon leans across the aisle grinning. "Seriously? Let me see."
Dimitri holds up the hand that has been under the table, looking nonchalantly ahead.
Spiridon raises an eyebrow. "That's a pretty clean cut."
"It had the use of a knife."
"Strigoi are bringing knives to the fight now?" Spiridon says and something is lurking under his smirk, a glint in his eye that's calculating.
The way he was looking at Dimitri, a challenge, made me want to speak up.
But that voice was back, telling me not to.
Eddie.
Dimitri turns his head a fraction and returns the other Guardians' stare. "No, it belonged to Rose. She stabbed it."
Spiridon's eyes flick to me in surprise and he leans back slightly. "She stabbed it?"
I don't know why but his tone was insulting.
"Who stabbed who?" Ben asks, coming to stand between both men's seats.
"Belikov says she stabbed the Strigoi back at the Ozera's and then it sliced his hand open with her knife."
Ben's eyebrows shoot up and he gives me a look paralleling Spiridon's.
"Why did you have a knife?" Ben asks.
I'm pressed up against my seat, bother hands clinging to it under me. My mother's necklace is pressed into my palm. Dimitri isn't giving me any helpful looks or ones of warnings so I make my dry mouth verbalize the truth.
"My mother gave it to me."
"Birthday present was it?" Spiridon says. This time the insult is clear and if I had any doubts about it then the glower Dimitri gives his colleague would confirm it. Even Ben stops staring at me to look uncomfortably down at the blonde.
"I've never had a birthday present." My voice comes out cold despite the hot rush in my ears.
Spiridon's smirk deepens and Ben speaks, his voice treading carefully among the tension.
"Why did you have it?"
My mind spins trying to think of a lie.
"Rose was injured by Moira the day before last. Her mother gave her means so it never happened again." Dimitri answers.
"Ha, could you imagine if she had? I wonder what kind of chaos we would have walked into." Spiridon muses.
"I just can't believe you stabbed a Strigoi, I mean you've had no training whatsoever and even then it's still... difficult." Ben says and there's marvel in his voice. The disbelief from him isn't insulting at all, it sounds like I've impressed him, and before my mind can make me doubt that - Ben smiles at me. It's warm and kind, and completely confusing.
"It must have been young." Spiridon reasons with a shrug, pulling my attention away from Ben. He turns his wicked gaze back on Dimitri. "I can't believe it made a God bleed."
"I never knew you admired me quite so much." Dimitri says jadedly. "How foolish."
Spiridon rolls his eyes and Bens' lips tug upward. He notices my expression and nods toward Dimitri. "That's a nickname the kids gave him at the Academy where we trained. Only Galina could knock him on his ass and keep him there."
Dimitri's lips twitch a little and he looks up to exchange a look with Ben. He recalls something about 'Galina' too quiet for me to hear, some life seeping into his stoic face. His dark hair falls forward and I find myself looking at how the sharp planes of his cheekbone and the strong curve of his jaw, under that the tan column of his neck.
I catch Spiridon staring at me in the middle of my inspection and quickly look down. I wish again that the plane's floor gave way to the clouds but for different reasons, ones I wasn't quite sure I understood.
"Too bad she's not around anymore. Being knocked on his ass humbles a man." Spiridon says, in a voice devoid of anything.
Ben pauses in whatever he's saying and casts Spiridon an annoyed look. Dimitri's face closes over and I find myself irritated by Spiridons bitterness even though I didn't understand it fully.
"You'd think you'd be more modest then." Ben says lightly, trying to ease the tension that was pressing up against us all.
Guardians… Guardians were volatile. Their temperament had to be handled. This is what I knew of them and this is what I feared. Spiridon needed to be handled right and I could see that the other men knew that. But what happened if they all turned on each other, without anybody to bear all that anger on… what if they turned it on me.
"Don't worry too much about me." Dimitri says plainly. "I was knocked 'on my ass', as you put it, last night."
"The Strigoi knocked you down?" Spiridon asks, looking eager. I squirm in my seat. Dimitri was the one who'd barrelled into the Strigoi last night, sending them rolling, but it was all instigated by him and the fight had been short.
Ben didn't look too believing either.
Dimitri's eyes lift from his coffee cup to mine. "No. Rose did."
Now they were all looking at me.
Spiridon guffaws. "Yeah, right."
Ben even laughs awkwardly, casting me a sympathetic glance.
After a moment in which Dimitri takes another drink and Spiridon's sniggers have died off, Ben asks. "Are you being serious?"
"Yes." Dimitri answers simply.
Spiridon and Ben look at each other, then at me. Spiridon opens his mouth, shuts it, and then takes a deep breath and jabs a finger across the aisle at Dimitri. "Did you knock him on his ass?"
I look between them all before nodding.
"Seriously?" Ben asks, leaning down to my level as if he'll see a hint of a lie on my face.
"Yes." I try to make my voice as strong as possible. As soon as they believe it the sooner they'll leave me alone.
Although… a small part of me was enjoying this. The rapt look on their faces as they tried to believe I'd done something they wouldn't think was possible. That through listening to their conversation it was obvious that Dimitri was not someone easily defeated in combat. Even though all I did was thrash around a bit and I was certain that the roots and terrain took most of the credit for sending us both to the ground… but the undergrowth could hardly speak up and take the glory. The ground was very far away. It would never know.
Spiridon holds up his hands. "You expect me to believe that she stabbed a Strigoi, who then wielded a blade against you and then she knocked you over? That little thing right there, who couldn't be more than 5ft 7 and weigh more than 80 pounds? Her?"
"My name is Rose." I snap angrily before Dimitri can speak, gaining more astonished expressions. "And yes I did. I punched him in the face."
Ben cracks first and laughingly says, "Oh my god."
"I don't believe it." Spiridon says wrinkling his nose.
Dimitri sweeps the hair that had fallen into his face back and turns his face to the other men. Between his temple and his cheekbone is a slightly discoloured patch of skin, a red mark where my knuckles had caught him. My lips part and I take a shallow breath.
I had done that… maybe I couldn't take credit for knocking him over but I could certainly take it for that. I had marked a Guardian.
Ben's grin gets bigger and Spiridon squints at the small piece of evidence.
"Jesus you are really off your game." The blonde says.
"Rose is tougher than she looks." Dimitri responds, letting his hair fall forward. He looks at me then the way he had when I'd asked about his hair in the Master's room like he was suppressing a smile.
Why would he be pleased that I'd hit him though? I could be pleased about it and I was more than relieved there'd been no following punishment or at least there hadn't been yet. Maybe that's why he remained so calm because he was assured he'd have payback later.
Coldness pools in my stomach and I clutch my mother's necklace, the pendant digging into my palm. She warned me not to trust him, it's the last advice she'd given me, the last bit of guidance I had.
"I guess she'd have to be." Ben says smiling and he throws himself into the seat opposite Spiridon.
"She'd have to be a secret Hulk. I still don't believe it." Spiridon mutters.
"You just don't want to believe Rose achieved what you never could." Ben replies smugly, earning a glare from the blonde.
"What has Rose achieved?" Mr. Dashkov asks, emerging from the back. His grey suit and royal blue shirt looked as immaculate as he'd been standing the whole time.
"The impossible it seems." Spiridon says folding his arms.
Mr. Dashkov sits down beside me and I shift as far over as possible as Dimitri recalls last night in the woods. Everything was true apart from the bit where the Strigoi took the knife out of its side and used it against Dimitri when he attacked. Mr. Dashkov didn't seem to find the strigoi taking the knife odd as Spiridon had, instead he like Ben was surprised that I'd attacked the pale monster.
"That took a tremendous amount of courage. Impressive." Mr. Dashkov says and I shrug at my knees. The pressure was back, the pressure to do or say what they wanted. I didn't know how to. "No dear, you should know most Guardians' first experience in the field makes them freeze in fear, costing them their lives. You should be proud of yourself."
"It was probably an advantage to her though, not knowing what it was and what it was capable of." Spiridon guesses and I wondered why this was irritating him so much. I guessed it was because he seemed to like being the centre of attention.
"Perhaps." Mr. Dashkov allows. "What a lovely chain."
I'd been mindlessly toying with my mother's gold necklace and it had been soothing me some.
"Where did you get it?" he asks.
I hesitate before answering. I didn't want him to think I had stolen it. "My mother."
"May I?"
His hand extends across the space between us. I unwind the chain from my fingers and reluctantly drop it into his palm. I clasp my hands together in my lap.
"The Turkish eye." He murmurs and I glance over to the golden oval pinched between his thumb and index finger. I hadn't had the opportunity to examine it yet but now I could see in the gold casing there was a background of blue to the black pupil.
"Turkish?" Ben repeats.
"Yes, it's said to keep away bad spirits and evil." Mr. Dashkov explains and then holds the necklace back out to me. "It must bring your mother some comfort to have it with you."
"Why would a slave have something like that?" Spiridon asks and cocks his head.
My blood begins to warm in my veins. "She's always had it."
"Did Lucas give it to her?"
Everything in me goes utterly still. Dimitri sets his cup down with a thud and his jaw tightens as he glares over at the other man.
"Spiridon." Mr Dashkov hisses.
"What?" He replies looking affronted. "You heard what Moira said and if she is his bastard then you have more leverage than you thought."
"You just don't know when to shut up." Ben snaps.
"What?" Spiridon exclaims holding up his hands again.
"My mother had it before she was brought to that place." I say between my teeth. I couldn't let them think it was something from him, that she kept and prized a treasure from someone…who did what he did to her.
And that she would give to me as a sentimental gesture.
Spiridon looks intrigued. "Did she? Where did she come from?"
My mouth hangs open my tongue trying to roll out words that aren't there. I knew she was born and brought up in Scotland but I got the sense she didn't stay there. She'd never talked about them before, she never talked about herself at all.
Spiridon's face relaxes into an arrogant smile and I want nothing more than to lunge over the table and beat it off.
"I think you should keep your speculations to yourself." Dimitri says coldly.
Spiridon rolls his eyes and then looks pointedly at Mr. Dashkov. "Don't tell me you haven't thought about it. If she's the child of Lucas's Blood Whore then-"
My knee bangs loudly and painfully with the table but I don't care - I don't even know how I ended up on top of it - all I know is that my blood is burning like the desert sun and that I was going to make him shut up. I was going to wipe that stupid smirk off his face. All my intentions were made impossible because in the same instant other hands were reaching for me and there was yelling.
"Shit!" Ben exclaims.
"Rose." Mr. Dashkov yells in shock more than anger.
I have the satisfaction of seeing Spiridon's smirk disappear and that's about it. I know it was the last thing he'd expected and not because he saw me as a threat but in that split second, I enjoyed it all the same. Until Dimitri plucked me off the table. He'd darted out of his seat and into the aisle to block my path, and pushed me back down into my seat, sliding in the one beside me to barricade me in.
"Calm down." He instructs fiercely, one arm firmly around my waist holding me in place. My feet, in the mistress's too big shoes, were awkwardly on the table. Across from us, Mr. Dashkov's face is livid and it brings me back to myself. But he wasn't looking at me.
He jabs a finger across the aisle. "For once can you keep your mouth shut. You insensitive, tactless idiot."
My chest is rising and falling rapidly, the edges of my bindings nipping at my ribs. I pull my feet from the table the reality of what had just happened sets in. How stupid was I? Realizing what I'm doing Dimitri removes his arm and I adjust myself into the seat, turning my body toward the plane's wall.
"I just said what we were all thinking." Spiridon says and there's a note of puzzlement under the defensive tone.
Dimitri responds with something too low for me to hear but there's tenseness in the air that tells me enough.
"My apologies, Rose." Mr. Dashkov says in a low voice. I peek up and see he's leaning across the table with his expression mirroring his words. I drop my eyes to my curled fists in my lap trying to calm this erratic feeling coursing through me.
It ebbs away slowly leaving unstableness behind.
I would not cry.
Instead, I focus on the pain throbbing in my arm. It had flared up and was no longer something I could cope easily with. I must have banged it against Dimitri when he pulled me across the table to prevent me from trying to attack Spiridon.
Was I trying to get myself killed?
"I'm sorry." It comes out on a small, shaky breath.
"Nobody blames you." Dimitri says quietly.
His hands are also clenched on the table and I lift my eyes high enough to see the tension in his jaw. The strain around his lips. I drop my gaze.
The plane bounces beneath us and I flinch, reaching for my right arm with my left hand.
"Did you take the painkillers I left you?"
My heart sinks at the strain in his voice and I shy back against the seat at his sidelong glare. Maybe it was just his accent and the lowness of his voice that made it sound harsher, disappointed. I swallow and shake my head. Dimitri closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. He exhales and turns away to face Mr. Dashkov.
"When we land I'll take Rose to see Darnell. You three should go ahead to the house."
Mr. Dashkov regards him across the table. "Whatever you think is best."
"Almost time to land." Rachel's voice calls out from behind us. "Please fasten your seatbelts and pass me any excess rubbish. Oh, what happened here?"
I realize then the mess I'd created on the table. My over-turned bowl and even worse, my smashed cake slice looking grotesque inside the crumpled plastic. My heart sinks even further. My hand twitches forward and back again because I should clean it up but Rachael is already there and Dimitri is clearing up the scattered remains of our sandwiches and dropping them into her trash bag. He lifts his dessert off the table and puts it safely in his lap as Rachael leaves with the trash and returns with a wet cloth, refusing to let Dimitri clean it up. She casts him long glances from under her lashes as she wipes the table and there was something suggestive about the way she held her body.
Uncomfortably I look back down at my lap, curling my mother's necklace around my fingers. I undo the fastening and bring it up around my neck and after a few tricky moments - that are made harder by the shaking of my hands - I finally hook the ends together.
"It looks charming." Mr. Dashkov compliments.
I try to smile, half to show appreciation and half in apology for the stunt I'd just pulled.
My mother would be so disappointed, that's if hadn't passed out from shock. I touch the pendant at the hollow of my throat promising to do better. I'd had to rebuke myself so much in the last couple of hours. I could blame it on fatigue or leaving or being shaken but I had to get myself under control if I was going to survive all of this.
Rachael giggles, breaking me out of my thoughts. I was pretty sure the entire time she was making a show of cleaning the table she had been the only one speaking so I don't know why she was laughing. I couldn't see Dimitri's expression and if I lean forward I would risk seeing Spiridon.
My control wasn't strong enough for that.
"Well, I better get back before we descend." She purrs before standing up straight. She touches Dimitri's shoulder as she passes and behind her I see Ben shaking his head, a small smile touching his lips.
"Seatbelt." Dimitri says from the corner of his mouth.
"I already have."
He looks over now, his gaze dropping to the belt over my hips.
"Good." He says and rests his head back against the chair.
The landing was different from taking off. It was worse because the windows remained closed as time had plunged us deeper into the day which made the sun too uncomfortable or Mr. Dashkov to bear. Looking at him I could the dark circles under his eyes and I estimated that with traveling they must have been awake for maybe just under a full day, maybe over. The Guardians didn't look just as tired but I could see in the set of Ben's shoulders that weariness was wearing on him. I could feel the edges of tiredness creeping up on me, the barrier the stimulant was holding up against it was coming down and I knew it wouldn't be long before my body crashed.
The thought terrified me.
I couldn't pass out unaware. Nobody to protect me, with men I didn't know surrounding me… when I didn't know what they were doing.
These thoughts were pushed out of my mind as the plane tilted slightly back and my heart tried to climb up my throat, beating in frantic pulses. The plane suddenly jerks underneath us and I gasp. I know that the wheels had touched down and I swallow against the panic I had felt hours earlier when I watched the bigger plane land when I'd worried the legs would snap beneath it. The whooshing fills my ears and I shut my eyes, concentrating on the feel of the plane rolling against the ground as a car would, and finally, it comes to a stop.
"I'll collect our belongings and thank the pilot." Spiridon announces and I make sure to look away as he stands up.
Ben already has an earpiece on and is talking quietly. Dimitri and Mr. Dashkov unbuckle themselves, I do the same.
"Here." Dimitri says under his breath and passes the cake slice from his lap to mine.
I stare down at it completely stunned when sense returns to me. I turn to him about to thank him but he's already standing, a towering man above. Mr. Dashkov heaves himself out of his seat too.
"The cars are parking up." Ben says, getting to his feet and stretching.
"Does someone have my umbrella?" Mr. Dashkov asks, his voice low and heavy.
"Right here." Spiridon says and passes it over.
Ben disappears into the back and a moment later fresh, cool air blows in around us and causes the hairs on my arms to stand up.
"Thank you, Rachel. Until next time, take care." Mr. Dashkov calls and with a small wave he follows after Ben, Spiridon after him.
"Your coat, Dimitri." Rachael says coming to stand beside him in the aisle, preventing me from getting up.
"Thank you."
He takes the large leather bundle folded over her arms and shakes it out. It was a very long coat and he slips his arms through it. It looked a little strange but it suited him.
"I slipped my number into the pocket." She says in a low voice that I supposed was meant to be…compelling? I had an idea of what was happening, a sort of backward version of what I'd been warned about my whole life. I felt like I was witnessing something I shouldn't be and I wished she'd pull him away to do whatever it is she was doing but at the same time I was intrigued and couldn't look away.
Dimitri pauses and then looks at her with a steady, serious gaze. His voice is gentle but there's a firmness to it. "Rachel, I'm flattered but I am not looking to date right now."
"Neither am I." She replies unabashedly. She turns away from him smiling, her gaze skimming over me, before walking away to the other end of the plane. There was a way in her stride that accentuated her hips and backside.
My mother would slap me if I did that.
I catch Dimitri's eye and look away. Rachael said she'd left him something in his pocket but she'd also left awkwardness in her wake.
"Come on." Dimitri says and it sounds so normal that it eases me slightly.
I shimmy out of my seat and follow him, watching his heels kick out beneath the end of his coat. When his boots take a step down on the metal stairs light hits my face and I look up. The first thing I notice is green, so much green. Trees were standing tall and rich with jade leaves then beyond them mountains brushing against a crisp blue sky.
It was hard to imagine, to believe, that we had been up there.
The sun was not a blazing dominant orb in the sky but had tempered to become softer, a cooler version of the one I'd always known. The warmth gently touched my face but despite this, I couldn't help but be cold. Somehow I felt as if I was seeing for the first time too. Maybe it was because my gaze was bowed down by the heat or blazing light or maybe it was because I was allowed to see and absorb my surroundings without fear of someone noticing me.
I take a deep breath.
"Rose?" Dimitri calls.
I drop my gaze lower to my immediate surroundings. Dimitri is waiting at the bottom of the steps and behind him are two cars. One prowls forward and then drives away. I glimpse Mr. Dashkov in the passenger seat and Ben in the one behind him. Spiridon must be driving.
"Unless you want to be standing there when the jet takes off again I suggest you hurry."
I take the steps down - on the third, I'm the same height as him – until I reach the tarmac, the ground of my new world.
I follow his boots to the car. He opens the door for me like Ben had but this time to the front seat. This car was just as high as the other and I'm too aware of him as I heave myself up. I didn't want to struggle, it would be embarrassing. I remember how Rachael had walked with her sway and I wonder how she would have gotten into the car and if Dimitri would have noticed.
Stricken, I shake my head. What did that matter?
Dimitri climbs into the driver's seat effortlessly. Yeah, sure it was easy with legs as long as his.
I toy with the pendant at my throat.
"I've told you before." He says quietly over the gentle purr of the car coming to life.
"I know. Seatbelt."
Hastily I pull it around me and click it into place.
"No not that but it's good you're learning." He says as the car rolls away from the plane. "I meant, if you have a question then ask me."
I hesitate for a moment, clutching my pendant and then I decide to risk it. "Even if it makes you mad?"
"I don't very often get mad." He replies in his calm voice. I realize then that is his natural tone, calmness.
"Spiridon makes you mad." My heart trips over itself. I must be affected by this day because the filter between thinking and speaking had shorted out like a fuse. Then again maybe it was just out of practice. I needed more discipline.
"I don't like when people intimate those more vulnerable than them."
"I'm not vulnerable." I blurt out.
He doesn't hesitate. "Yes, you are."
Has he forgotten that I'd tried to throw myself across the table to strangle Spiridon?
Shame flares up in my body in remembrance. That's probably what he meant, if I had reached the blonde Guardian what the hell could I have achieved? He would simply swat me away like a fly. My cheeks flood with heat and anger curls in my stomach. I didn't want to be vulnerable though…that was more embarrassing than the whole incident where I'd behaved like a child throwing a tantrum. But these were stupid and empty wants too, I couldn't be any more than what I was and what I was was nothing or at the very least I was useful to Mr. Dashkov's plans for a burrowed time.
Then what after? What use did I have then?
Free to leave and do what you wish to…
"Were you really going to try and hit Spiridon?" Dimitri asks, somehow picking up on the thread of my thoughts. He didn't sound like he was mocking me, only curious.
"Try." I murmur, wrapping my arms around myself. "Sorry."
"Don't be sorry. He would have deserved it."
I turn to him surprised. He glances at me out the side of his eye but keeps his attention on the road.
"If he'd spoken about my mother that way I would have done the same thing."
"I doubt anyone would have been able to hold you back." Or put you into a seat like you were a child.
"No they wouldn't but that wouldn't necessarily be a good thing."
"Why not?"
"Victor is fond of Spiridon. It would annoy him if I put him out of commission."
I look out at the passing forest. I liked that it was cooler here although there were goosebumps on my skin as my body hadn't adjusted yet.
"I don't like him."
"You'll learn to handle him or living with him will be difficult."
I was going to be living with Guardians, in a house…
"Is that where we're going? To Mr. Dashkov's?"
"You can call him Victor and no. I know you must be tired but you need medical attention."
"A doctor?" I ask, recalling my mother's question in the master's bedroom. It seemed so long ago.
"No. We're going to see an Alchemist."
I look down at the dessert cradled in my lap, his one.
I was not stupid. I knew what my mother said and I knew there was so much truth in her warnings. Running my fingertips over the plastic cover over the dessert a part of me wanted to rebel against her and everything I knew, to believe that maybe all Guardians weren't the same. But I couldn't disrespect Eddie like that. Instead, I could let them believe I trusted them. I glance over at Dimitri…no I couldn't trust anyone.
I had to survive.
Hey guys! I am so sorry this one took so long but I've been working more than usual to cover someone. I aim to have one up at least every week.
I just want to note that I do find it difficult sometimes to voice Rose as someone so unfamiliar with mundane things and even though she is a vulnerable character I am trying to show that she has fire in her. So if you have any advice or feedback on that please feel free to comment (feel free to comment in general :D ) . I keep trying to remind myself to keep pace with the story and suppress all this witty remarks that Rose would throw out there. She needs to grow as a person and I hope your all patient with me as a writer, I am no Richelle Mead!
I have never been to Tuscon so the description is very vague...
*Updated 10/04/2022