Temper me in fire

by voldobaby

AU: The world of Moroi and Dhampirs is very different, political turmoil has opened up a vacuum in which illegal and immoral actions can transpire, such as slavery of Dhampirs. Rosemarie Hathaway is born into slavery in Arizona. Her life revolves around tending to her chores and making herself inconspicuous. But that all changes when Mr.Dashkov and his Guardians arrive

9. Chapter 9

RPOV

Dimitri doesn't come back downstairs in the time it takes to wash all the dishes or in the time I dry and put them away. He was either still making his phone call or I had annoyed him so much with my questions he was ignoring Victor's request to show me around the house.

I hope it wasn't the latter.

I wander out of the kitchen and into the living room. With nobody else around I take the time to look at everything in full and notice what I hadn't last night. My hand trails along the back of one of the chocolate leather sofa's as I study the pictures on the wall.

One captured a man and woman standing arm in arm at the top of some steps, white fragments raining down around them. The woman wore a simple yet elegant white dress, fitted expertly to her body and I couldn't help but marvel over the outline of her figure. Her chest was modest but pert. I look closer at the man she was smiling adoringly at and realize it's Victor. He's much younger and looks like the happiest man alive. I couldn't imagine him smiling like that but then again I'd only known him a matter of hours.

The other photographs are in colour. A green-eyed baby stares out at me from a woman's arms, it's the lady from the other photo and that's the last photo she appears in. The others feature Mr. Dashkov and a little dark-haired girl with green eyes the same shade as his. The little girl must be the baby, she must be Natalie.

The rest of the photos show the little girl getting taller and older. Beside a lit-up tree with a huge grin on her face, another in formal clothes that tickle some recognition at the back of my mind and in the last Mr Dashkov appears with her as they sit at a table with four other people, a man and woman who had that air of unity about them, marriage, and a boy and girl. The boy had some resemblance to the man while the girl looked very much like the woman so it was obvious they were their parents. They were all very nice looking but there was something more eye drawing about the girl. Her hair sat in pretty blonde curls over her shoulders and unlike the others, she wasn't looking out of the picture. She was looking at her companions, her expression full of affection.

How nice it must be to have someone care that much about you. They were lucky and she was lucky. These photos were nothing like the cold ones in the Ozera's where the people captured stood stiffly or smiled without it touching their eyes.

My eyes drift to baby Natalie in her mother's arms. There was love in these photos. A sensation pricks my eyes and I turn away from the pictures.

I pad around the rest of the living area admiring the textures and fixtures.

I move over to the glass wall and look out at Mr. Dashkov and his daughter's garden. It was all lit up by fairy lights that are draped between the trees or around their bodies like ivy. Cylinder lights were spiked into the ground between rose bushes and other flowers, illuminating the reds, purples, white, yellow, and blues of all the petals around the garden. It was magical looking and I decided that this much perfection must have a touch of magic. Mr. Dashkov or Natalie had to be an earth user or maybe they both were.

I look up to where the glass reaches the ceiling. How was I going to get up there to clean? I hope they had ladders… or I would have to balance a chair on Dimitri or something.

I giggle to myself and then sigh. I hope he isn't too mad at me, no, irritated. He didn't get mad apparently. Thinking about it I guess it was sorta true because even when he threatened Keith or Mistress Ozera he'd done so in a quiet, controlled voice. He had hardly shown any emotion except maybe concern but it was more…practical concern than emotional. I wonder what it would be like to see Dimitri emotional. That's if he was capable of extreme emotion, emotions seemed a bit useless to someone like Dimitri who had to think and calculate all the time. Had to always be calm and assessing. But Spiridon and Ben joked around…

Why was I thinking like I had known these people for a great length of time? Dimitri could be just as lively as the other two for all I knew and was just tired or didn't find dealing with me particularly amusing. That was believable. Although as I cross the room looking out at the midnight garden I couldn't accept that Dimitri was anything like Spiridon and Ben.

I think Dimitri is a secret.

I turn into the hall that's behind the stairs, feeling at ease wandering around by myself and find three doors. The one closest looked completely normal but the other two had silver keypads beside them and I guess the one on the right led out into the garden. Why was the door to the garden locked like that?

So no one can get in…or get out.

A coldness sinks into my stomach.

I turn and look at the front door across the foyer. I needed a code for it too. I didn't have any need to be outside where I knew it was colder but I didn't like the idea of not being able to get out. I suppose it wasn't that much different than being kept inside the barn… which made me feel worse. At least there were Others in there. At least I had my mother. I push her away and look at the door closest to me on the left, it had no keypad. I reach out for the handle and pull it open.

A washing machine, a dryer, and utensils for cleaning. Well, I guess I'd found my own kind of office. I wonder where in the house Mr. Dashkov's is and when he'd prefer I'd clean it. When he slept probably. I close the door disappointed I hadn't discovered something more interesting.

I could go nosy in the fridge and see if –

I yelp and jump back.

Dimitri was leaning against the bannister watching me.

"How do you do that?" I demand as I mentally tell my heart to calm down.

"Do what?"

"Sneak up like that?"

"Guardian training. I was going to start giving you the tour but it seems you've started it yourself."

I flush and bite down on the instinct to tell him I was bored and he was taking forever.

"I finished the dishes."

"Good."

We stand staring at each other. I had the feeling he was waiting for something and I began to rack my brain for something else I was meant to have done but I come up short.

His face was infuriatingly blank giving nothing away. I should apologise for snooping or not knowing what he expected me to know.

"What?" I blurt out.

Oh god.

He raises an eyebrow. "I'm just waiting for you to ask, instead of having to push you to ask. I think you'll learn quicker that way."

I look down at my, her, socks.

Was he teasing me or did he know the questions bouncing around in my head? If he'd been watching me being nosy then maybe he did. He was intuitive or I was just obvious in my prying. It could be a trick to reprimand me.

I inhale and decide to trust him. "Why are there locks on the doors? I mean more locks. I mean the keypad thing…"

"Extra precaution." He answers without hesitation.

He pushes away from the bannister and walks toward me. He's changed his clothes. Now he wore dark blue jeans, a black t-shirt, and his boots.

"Victor is a bit of a figure right now, trying to push for change. Sometimes people react too strongly to things they don't want to hear or feel threatened by change. So that in turn puts more of a threat on Victor. There are three Guardians here and we have the ward boundaries like every Royal household does but better safe than sorry."

I blink. "You're worried the house will be attacked?"

He looks back at me steadily, unconcerned. "It's been tried before but they didn't get past the wards."

"And if they did." I begin, trying to process the fact that people or monsters could be roaming the perimeter of the wards, whose protection was invisible and made me doubt they worked. "They couldn't just break down the door or break the glass wall?"

A glass wall seemed really stupid now.

"The glass is reinforced so no human or ammunition could break it. Strigoi can't touch it because it has earth forged within it, the element closest to nature and life. Strigoi are the undead. They can't stand it."

"And the doors?"

"Would buy us time." He says walking over to the door on the left and punching in a code quickly. He takes a card from his pocket and swipes it across the top. The keyboard lights up green and he pulls open the heavy door. "To get down here." He cocks his head toward the entrance and I can see the top of a staircase. "First stop on the tour."

He begins to descend and after a moment I follow.

The stairs lead down into a great expanse of space, one I wasn't expecting. There were four more cars down here, all lined up neatly facing a metal shutter and I realize it was the back of what I'd seen yesterday.

Two cars were sleek and flattened out. One is silver and the other black. How could they be safe so low to the ground? I wanted to find out. The other two, navy and red, were caught between the jeep's size and the sleek cars. They looked a lot safer.

"Victors garage. Ben spends a lot of time down here tinkering with the cars or with weapons he's trying to develop." Dimitri says, standing by the sleek black car.

I cast my gaze around. On the other side, I see a workbench layered with tools and metal parts. There's also another computer, its screen wide and thin.

Dimitri's hand is running over the roof of the car delicately as if it were a cat.

"Is that your favourite one?" I ask quietly.

He hums in response and then turns to point toward the workbench. "Over there is a hidden door that leads to what is called a panic room. Its walls are infused with earth too to prevent Strigoi from getting through and it would take a lot for a being with considerably less strength to get in. Even with tools. We can either hide in there until the assailants leave or we can flee. Both situations would require a good number of attackers."

"Why?" I ask turning away from my inspection of the red car. It was cute and it reminded me of a ladybug.

"There might only be three of us but we are very skilled."

I think back to the manor and the Guardians laying in the yard unconscious. No others had come which meant they couldn't and were probably unconscious somewhere else. It had always felt like there were so many Guardians at the Ozera's, always there when you turned around, always watching, always ready to punish.

It seemed impossible that three could have put them all out of action.

"You would have to be stupid to try and break into this house." I finally say.

"Very."

The chill from down here skitters up my back.

"Let's go back upstairs." He says.

I try to get back up the stairs as quickly as I can but my thighs begin to burn with effort and a rubber band tightens around my lungs. When I reach the top I'm doing the best I can not to gasp and drop to my knees and kiss the ground. The door closes behind me and there's a quiet but secure beep.

"Have you had any water this morning?"

Opening my mouth would probably lead to wheezing so I shake my head instead, trying to keep control of deep inhales through my nose. Why was my body acting like this? Lugging sacks from the field to the storage shed never made me like this and they were so heavy.

That's when I felt it, today's breakfast sitting proudly in my stomach. I almost wished it wasn't there.

"I want you to drink as much water as you can. A glass with every meal at least."

I was going to ask why and then thought better of it. I was being given rules and I could follow rules.

I glance across at the keypad guarding the door to the magical garden. He crosses over to it and punches in a sequence I can't see. There's a beep of approval and he pulls the door open a fraction before letting go and turning to me.

"Go on ahead. I'll be out in a minute."

And he walks away, leaving me with an open door to the whole world.

I swallow and reach out for the handle.

Not the world, just the garden. The world isn't my problem yet. I'm not ready for the world.

My lips part as my fingers close around the handle and I drag in the necessary breath I'd been denying myself in front of him.

A light and charming scent sweeps over me as I pull the door open and colour bursts across my eyes.

The glass may have been clear at night when it was not countering the sun but it had somehow dulled the scene behind it. It was like colours had always been dull before and now they were shining in deep purples and bright reds, healthy greens, and pure whites. It made me think of the switch in the room I had slept in last night and how I could make the light blaze if I turned it up. Mr. Dashkov and his daughter had made their garden blaze.

The dampness under my feet made me realize I had wandered out into the middle of the lawn, too captivated by the flowers to be cautious. The sky above me is a deep navy, dotted by white sparks and wispy, barely-there clouds. I couldn't believe it was the same sky I had always been under. Worked under, had been terrified under, met monsters and Dimitri under.

I wasn't afraid now…now I felt still. The stars and the twinkling lights threaded through the bushes and trees add to the magic and my eyes close. I breathe deeply. The light floral scents swirling around me.

When I open them I instinctively glance to my left. My heart, too lulled into calm, only stills briefly as Dimitri stares back at me.

Wordlessly he holds out a bottle of water and I take it.

"Thank you." I murmur.

"You should have put shoes on."

I look down.

"I don't mind."

The moment I say it I realize I shouldn't have. They were the only pair I had and they weren't even mine. And now they were damp and dirty.

"I hate wet socks." He says, snapping me out of my thoughts. I look up at him, surprised he's told me something so trivial but personal, but he's looking around the flower bed. "Do you like it out here?"

I turn away from studying the planes of his profile to a green spiralling plant. "Yes."

"274847."

My face pinches in puzzlement.

"The code for the door. Come out whenever you like. Just put shoes on." He says and takes a step back toward the house.

From this side, the glass wall is a sheet of shiny black.

I follow him back across the lawn and into the house. The door beeps behind me as it closes and gives a sharp click, keeping the world out.

Silently I follow him up the stairs, this time he leads, and his pace is slow, I'm not sure if it's deliberate or not but I'm glad. I take sips from my water bottle still finding the fullness inside me weird.

"These two rooms you know obviously." He says plainly.

He walks down the landing and I follow.

"We call this room the library." Dimitri says, swinging the door open.

If I had expected a huge room with walls lined with books and ladders to navigate it then I would have been very disappointed. But I hadn't expected it because this house is nothing like the one I'd always known. Their library is just a room the size of the one I had slept in, quite big but not monstrously large. Two walls are rowed with books and there are two armchairs in front of the fireplace. The bay window had padded seating like the room I'd slept in. It's cosy and welcoming. Not a place where engaging with information is terrifying and forbidden.

"Feel free to borrow what you like. Take care of what you take."

So many books, help I didn't think I would have again. They didn't equal my mother but they were a comfort that I thought I wouldn't have. The only problem was no one was to know I could read… did he know?

I swallow and stare without seeing into the room. Had I slipped up? He was so observant but perhaps he'd taken it as a given because he was surrounded by people that can read and write…but Dimitri didn't seem like the type to take anything as a given, he was too...clever.

I drag my gaze away from the bookshelf and to his.

He knew.

He turns away to continue the tour and I mentally slap myself, the physical burn of skin vibrates through my memory as if my mother had been there to physically do it. I had to be more careful.

There were no Others to distract or divide attention, there is only me.

"Victor's office." Dimitri says, indicating the door closest. "It has a door that leads out onto the deck as does the hall."

We pass Victor's office and it's clear that the room is not to be entered unless necessary… when was it necessary to clean it though?

Before this can trouble me too much we pass the next flight of stairs and continue down the hallway and the wall to my right changes to glass. The deck Dimitri had mentioned and the balcony I had seen from the driveway yesterday. The deck ran the rest of the hall, as did the glass but in the middle was a door that led out to it. I had an inkling at the back of my mind that the deck meant something to do with wood but there was nothing wooden about the deck. There was a table and some comfortable-looking chairs and getting closer to the glass I could see the night sky spread out above, stars twinkling peacefully.

I suppose Mr. Dashkov went out there to relax or clear his head. It certainly looked like it would work. It would even be lovely in the day but obviously not to him.

"No keypad?"

Dimitri glances at me. "We don't have to worry about anyone falling over, now that Natalie is old enough. Or do I have to rethink the issue?"

"Of course not." I say with more attitude than I should.

The door across the hall opens and Ben steps out. I look from him to Dimitri, to the floor.

"Showing Rose around then?" He says in a bright voice.

Dimitri doesn't speak so I imagine he nods.

"Well my room is pretty tidy but if anything is lying around just throw it wherever so it's not in your way."

It takes me a moment to work out why I would be throwing his possessions anywhere and then I remember the purpose for which I'm here.

"Oh, and the ah, teddy bear isn't a personal touch. Ex-girlfriend…should really throw it away."

"It's only been a few days." Dimitri responds.

"No, I think it's over this time."

"You said that last time."

"This time it's different." Ben says and there's almost a whiny note in his voice.

It was still incredible to me that Guardians had emotions. Ben who seemed very precise and organized sounding vulnerable is...weird.

Too much had been weird in such a short space of time.

"She threw the baby book at me just because I said we shouldn't be bringing kids into the world when we couldn't agree on things."

"That sounds reasonable."

"I know right? I want a few more years before starting a family."

I think they'd forgotten I was there. I still had the ability to remain invisible at least.

"And she doesn't want to wait anymore?"

Ben sighs. "She worried about how much could change in a few years… especially in our line of work."

"That's also reasonable… couldn't you balance both?"

"Not while working here. I'd be in two minds."

Listening to them chatting about children and families made hollowness open up in my stomach. What kind of father would Ben be? Would he be like Master Ozera, cold and polite … I didn't think so.

The happy pictures from downstairs whirl through my mind.

"Anyway." Ben says, his tone snapping back to normal. "Voda called, I'm running out to be an extra escort from the airport. Victor wants you to translate some things for him when you're done showing our new housemate around."

I look up and Ben winks at me. Flustered I look away, it was a friendly wink but it was still something I had no idea what to do with or how to reciprocate.

"I know. I'll be there shortly."

"Good luck with Spiridon's room, Rose. You might find a case file that we've been looking for that he denies ever having. Later, Belikov."

Ben walks away, pausing to stick his head into Mr. Dashkov's office.

"That's Spiridon's room at the end. Beside Ben's bedroom is the house's security room, then a guest restroom. Upstairs are Victor and Natalie's suites. Do you want me to show you up there?"

I nod and he leads me back down the hall to the stairs that will take us up to the last floor of the house. Two doors meet us at the top on either side of the hall and I realize both rooms take up the entire floor.

Mr. Dashkov's room was simple but immaculate. Dark wood, rich purples, and white. He had a desk up here also, laden with a computer and stationery. Bookshelves line the wall behind it and a door I guess was his personal bathroom. Two armchairs sat proudly in front of a grand fireplace. I do a quick once over and avert my gaze to the floor wondering why he didn't work up here instead of in his office.

Natalie's room made me the most uncomfortable but it was by far the most interesting. Nothing was immaculate and stepping into her room made me feel like I was under attack by the girl herself.

Each wall is a different colour, blue, green, lilac, and one with a white background but in the middle, someone had started a mural of orange and gold. A sunrise…how incredible someone could capture it and it was beautiful even though unfinished.

Her bed covers were multi-coloured and little lights were wrapped around her bed frame. Clothes littered her floor and shoes spilt out of the huge closet like we'd caught them in the middle of their escape.

Pictures are tacked to her blue wall, a mess of groups and individual shots of young people. One girl appeared continuously. Natalie. I couldn't help but think her green eyes were permanently excited.

I bravely cross this girl's room that is brimming with so much personal information and pieces of her life, drawn to the photos although I should know better than to be nosy. My eyes roam over the photographs that were almost on top of each other, peeking into Natalie's vibrant life. I pause on the photo of Natalie's arm draped around another girl with bright gold curls. Natalie's smile is so huge it's almost funny but her friend was smiling in a quiet way. Not shy exactly but more… reserved. She was in other photos too I saw now, with other people, some boys. I notice that mostly the same people reoccur in every photo and that one boy is always touching Natalie in some way. Her hand, her waist, shoulder, or smiling at her.

My favourite is one that must have been taken without her or her friends knowing. Natalie and the blonde girl along with others are all laughing, turned away from the shot and looking at a boy with red hair who is making a stupid face and holding a banana to his ear like a telephone.

"Natalie is very popular." Dimitri says quietly.

"She's in the photographs downstairs." I point to the pretty girl with gold hair.

He steps up beside me, his eyes finding the girl in question.

"Vasilisa Dragomir. Her father and Victor are very good friends, almost family if not already." His finger hovers over a picture. "That is her brother Andre."

How did you become a family without sharing blood?

I turn away from the photos. Other pieces of Natalie's life were prizes on her walls but I didn't understand them. A silk item with "Homecoming Queen" written on it and bigger pictures like the ones I had seen on buildings as we'd driven to the plane.

I wanted to know what it all meant but it was overwhelming and I felt angry in this room. Like I'm being teased by things I'll never have or never know and never understand.

"I wish I could say Natalie's room would be the messiest to deal with but I have a feeling Spiridon's will be the worst."

I turn to him and find he's moved back to the doorway. He didn't like being in here either I thought but why?

"What about your room?" I ask, making my way over. I didn't want to be in here anymore either.

We step out into the hall and he closes Natalie's door.

"You don't have to worry about my room." He says, turning away and starting down the stairs.

I follow close behind.

"No, you don't seem like a messy person." I murmur.

He turns so suddenly I almost fall back on the steps in surprise.

His dark eyes are sharp in his blank face. "My meaning was you don't have to trouble yourself with my bedroom."

He may as well have shouted at me. I swallow and nod. He starts back down the stairs and after a moment I follow, my heart beating harder in my chest. It reminded me that I'd been stupid enough again to think I had found some steady ground only for it to turn rocky beneath me.

Why didn't he want me in his room? I knew better than to ask…but I hated the thought that he was trying to baby me. To spare me from doing a chore as if he was doing me a favour like he had done this morning with breakfast. I'd glanced a little bit of his room then…

When I reach the landing Dimitri is already standing at Mr. Dashkov's office door, talking too low for me to hear. I was still reeling from his abrupt order and I shouldn't be. I should expect abruptness and to be snapped at. I shouldn't feel this…upset about it.

I need to stop relaxing around him.

I shuffle down the hall intending to go back to the room until further instruction. Or I could take a closer look at the cleaning products and I start with the kitchen and-

"Rose." I twitch and glance up at Dimitri.

Past him, Mr Dashkov sits behind a large mahogany desk.

Mr Dashkov smiles. "Rose dear, please come here a moment."

I watch my feet cross over the cream carpet to the dark wood of his office. The warm masculine smell that I know is Dimitri presses against me as I pass over the threshold but disappears as the door closes.

He'd left.

My bones lock up.

"Why don't you sit down dear?"

It's not a question.

I gingerly sit down in the seat facing him, sinking into the soft cushion. There's a soft ticking noise punctuating the room.

"You don't have to be afraid. No one's going to harm you here." He says gently. "I know that might be hard for you to believe now but you have my word. Myself and the boys, I probably shouldn't call them that…but we are nothing like the Ozera's or their employees. Not many are in our world which is a terrible misfortune you have suffered. I hope you grow comfortable here and if anything makes you uncomfortable I want you to tell me, Rose."

My name acts as leverage to lift my gaze and meet his. The green eyes I'd been looking at in Natalie's photos are looking at me now with sincerity.

"Promise me, that if something is ever wrong you will tell me or one of the boys, no matter how trivial."

"I promise."

Mr Dashkov's shoulders relax as if an issue had been weighing on him and now was resolved. He lowers his hands to the desk and claps them. "Thank you. So, did you sleep well?"

I nod and realize how lacking it is but I can't bring myself to say thank you.

"I'm glad you like your new room. Don't be afraid to style it to your tastes. I know green isn't a very exciting colour so when Natalie's back she can help you choose some new paint. She's very interested in that sort of thing. Did Dimitri show you her room? It looks like a rainbow and a department store exploded in there."

He chuckles softly and my bones begin to relax. His dark hair had a nice shine to it but there was darkness under his eyes that contrasted with the pallor of his skin. It hadn't been that pale yesterday.

"What is your favourite colour?" He asks smiling.

Weight presses down on my chest. I'm allowed to do this now, allowed to speak, to think, be honest.

"Purple. Maybe red." I answer quietly.

"Very strong colours." He remarks. "Passionate and regal, how interesting. I'm sure Natalie and you can brainstorm some ideas."

"I like green. In the room… I like it." My cheeks are heating up.

He cocks his head to the side. "You don't want to change it? Don't worry about offending me."

I lick my dry lips. "It reminds me of outside. I like it."

"Oh." He says simply and I knot my hands together in my lap.

"Did you notice the private garden at breakfast? It's not very big, not like…what you are accustomed to but you can have access to it. Absolutely."

I remain quiet as he tells me the code, thinking it wrong to tell him that Dimitri had already given me this privilege as it might not have been his to give.

"Thank you." I murmur. "I did notice it earlier. It's beautiful."

Mr Dashkov's smiles had been polite but the one he gives me now in response softens his face.

"Thank you. It is my and Natalie's project. Something we started some years ago."

His eyes see something that isn't here but then he blinks back into the present, his smile disappearing.

He coughs gently. "That is the only code I can tell you for now I'm afraid. Having seen the whole house do you think you will be able to handle tending to it?"

I nod, glad he's turned to a subject with familiar ground.

"I don't expect everything to be pristine every day, just neat. As for meals I have to say having breakfast to look forward to would be excellent, as would dinner. Anything else we can fend for ourselves. Oh but I do like my coffee fix… would you mind? If Dimitri shows you how to make it?"

"Not at all, Sir."

I'm so relieved by having tasks set that I don't immediately recognise how his shoulders have tensed.

"Rose." He says quietly. "You can call me Victor."

Dimitri had told me to call him that too but it didn't seem right. I didn't have the right to his name. He was Moroi, my superior.

"Really Dear, I'd prefer it. 'Sir' being used inside my home gives me some anxiety. A home is where we can relax. Please, call me Victor."

My tongue is lead so I nod.

His lips quirk up.

"If you call me 'Sir' I will in return call you 'Miss'"

My face spasms.

"See? Sounds completely ridiculous doesn't it?"

There's a light tap on the door and my shoulders twitch.

"Come in." Mr. Dash – Victor, calls. He leans back in his chair, his face politely composed.

Dimitri enters carrying a steaming mug.

"Thank you, Dimitri. White, three sugars, and a little bit of cream." Victor says, casting me an amused glance. I mentally note the description.

"Ben says Voda has gone straight to the school and after is going back to the hotel. He'll check in with us tomorrow." Dimitri reports.

Victor nods around his mug.

"Okay, good. Did Spiridon call Alice?"

"Yes, she'll be here at one."

"Seems a bit late for her." Victor frowns.

"She's on overtime."

"Ah."

"Ben said you wanted me to translate some scripts?"

"Yes, yes." Victor says putting down his mug. "I was just finishing up with Rose."

Dimitri looks at me for the first time since coming in and I look away.

There was a large frame behind Victor's chair that held multiple small portraits with loopy writing underneath them. Names I realized. With a jolt, I think I decode 'Dashkov' and following a thread that connects to another name I see 'Dragomir'.

"Just a few other little things." Victor says, drawing my attention. "If there are any essentials you require in the time being let us know. Uh, clothes and toiletries and such."

That word again, 'essentials'. I had no idea what they meant by it. Clothes… well I had borrowed clothes. I didn't need anything else. As for toiletries, there was soap in the bathroom I had used this morning, what else could I need? I glance at Dimitri for some hint or indication but he's reading through some papers.

I shake my head.

Mr Dashkov looks relieved. "We'll let Natalie sort that out then when she returns home, which should be the day after next. But if you do think of anything don't be afraid to ask. One last thing then…" Mr Dashkov's voice drops down at the end and Dimitri's gaze slides away from the page to my face.

Mr Dashkov says my name and when I look back at him I feel like a magnet being drawn toward another. I can't look away from the jade green and the room around us blurs. I should be afraid but I'm not. I am utterly calm, boneless, and weightless. Nothing else exists but him.

"Are you relaxed Rose?"

"I'm relaxed." I murmur lazily.

Mr Dashkov smiles but it doesn't reach his eyes which are utterly trained on mine.

"Good…now listen closely. While you are staying here you're going to overhear a lot of things that could be valuable in the wrong people's hands. People that wish to undermine me and what I'm working toward. Dimitri tells me you're intuitive Rose, so here's what I want you to do for me. If ever you are approached and asked about my business in a way you think is suspicious I want you to report it to me. In the same instance, I want you to respond to those who inquire that you do not know what they are talking about or cannot help them. You change the subject and then when you are free of their presence you come to me. Do you understand?"

"I understand."

"Secondly, unless you are discussing the subject with myself, Ben, Spiridon, or Dimitri you will forget the name Zmey. You will forget discussions about 'The Circle' and about leads, contacts, or information you have overheard concerning the former. You will forget."

Of course, I would forget. The instructions were sinking into my mind like a stone in water.

"Do you understand Rose?"

"Yes."

"Okay then. Now - "

"Victor." A blurred voice interrupts.

Mr Dashkov doesn't look away from me, his gaze keeping me anchored, but he cocks his head to the left as he listens to the stranger's voice.

"She needs to be comfortable in taking things from the kitchen. I can't watch her all the time. She needs to follow Keith's plan. And drink water regularly."

Mr Dashkov nods and I almost nod too.

"Rose, whenever you're hungry or think you can manage to eat a little more then do just that. Do not hesitate to take whatever you want. And drink water throughout the day. Okay?"

"Okay."

"Good." Mr Dashkov smiles. "Now, forget we have had this conversation"

I shut my eyes and the sensation you get when waking comes over me. How you're utterly boneless until you realize you're waking up and become aware of the weight of your body.

I open my eyes and blink.

Mr Dashkov is smiling at me. Dimitri is reading the papers in his hands.

"I'm sorry." I say, trying to pull back the last thing we'd spoken about. Calling him by his name?

"I was just saying what lovely hair you have." Mr Dashkov says. "I haven't seen a Dhampir, or young lady for that matter, with such long hair in a long time."

I look down at the dark locks draped over my shoulders and reaching my thighs.

"Thank you." I murmur.

Looking back up I see Dimitri's gaze has slid over in my direction again, studying my hair. He looks back to his papers.

"That's everything Rose. If you could prepare something for around three that would be wonderful and if you have any questions you know where to find me."

I hesitate for a moment before letting the dismissal push me out of the chair. Mr Dashkov was turning on his computer and Dimitri was already talking to him about the papers he was holding. I slip out of the room and into the hall. The house was quiet except for the muffled noise from below that after a moment I recognise as staged noise, the TV.

Ben is away so that meant Spiridon was downstairs. I decide to go back to the room I'd stayed in last night. Maybe later I could muster up the courage to go down but right now I couldn't face Spiridon alone. When I reach the room I glance over at Dimitri's door before pushing the other open.

I shut the door behind me and I lean against it, admiring my surroundings and letting myself relax. It wasn't the garden but it was just as good.

Today had been okay. I was surviving and I was learning how to handle the people here.

The only thing I was expected to do today is prepare dinner and that had to be some time away. I'm not very good with time. It had been harder for my mother to teach it to me. It isn't like we could hide a clock. Thankfully I'm okay with egg timers and minutes, basics like that I could use in the kitchen but reading time and telling it as in marking the point of the day was…tricky.

I push away from the door deciding to practice on the small clock that was on the bedside table. I'm halfway across the room when I see what has been keeping it company. I sit down on the bed slowly and reach out for it. It's small and sturdy in my hands. The plastic creases under my prying fingers and then comes off. The smell of chocolate tickles my nose and a smile tugs at my lips as I cradle the dessert in my lap.

---

Eight turns to nine on the clock, the largest digit. It read 01:29 and I was nearly positive that it was an hour and thirty minutes until three O'clock. Half of three was 1.5 so two made three right? I bite my lip as the nine turns to zero. Well, I could always go and prepare what I needed to make or find out preferences.

I roll off the bed which I decide is going to be my new friend. I mean if I was being allowed to sleep in here every night then we would be spending a lot of time together. It's going to see me at my most vulnerable and comfort me and know what dreams tugged at my hair. I think it's only fair that I respect and appreciate it.

I tie my hair up into a soft knot and step out into the hall. I listen for voices or noises from below but I can't hear anything distinguishable. Earlier there had been low voices passing my room but I had been in the bathroom considering my reflection and hadn't paid attention…I probably should have.

A voice that sounded terribly like my mothers begins scolding me and I wince.

The door down the hall opens and I jump.

Spiridon comes out of Mr Dashkov's office with a woman tucked under his arm. I press back against my door and blindly search for the handle.

He spots me and my hand stops in its search. He looks away uninterested and I take a deep breath. He murmurs something to the woman who he seems to be trying to lead. The woman is older than me but younger than Mr Dashkov and by the blissed-out look on her face, it became apparent that Spiridon was the only thing keeping her upright.

A wire coil around my chest unwinds and the echo of an urge to go to her and help disappears. She didn't need the kind of help I'd risk pushing a Guardian into a wall for. The realization that I'd thought about attacking him is like a slap. I snap out of it as they pass me.

The woman grins dopily at me.

"Such a pretty girl." She drawls out.

"Yes, she is." Spiridon says dismissively. "Let's get you home Alice. The cat will be missing you."

"Oooooh, Tiger! I love my little Tiger."

Spiridon sighs and the arm around her waist tightens as he takes them down the first step. It takes them a long time to reach the bottom. I stay where I am, listening to the woman's strange babbling and Spiridon's docile replies.

"You!" The woman exclaims from below and I creep closer to the mouth of the stairs. "You are so tall. Like a tree. I could climb you like Tiger climbs a tree."

There's a noise like someone blowing air through tight lips followed by a laugh.

"Goodnight Alice." Dimitri says.

"C'mon, you're in no condition to climb anything. No matter how badly that tree needs it." Spiridon says, his voice holding back more laughter.

I come down a few steps and see Dimitri closing the front door. He looks up at me and nods before walking into the kitchen.

I come down the rest of the stairs and follow.

He's pouring coffee into two mugs. I wrap my arms around myself.

"Who was that woman?"

"Alice."

He adds milk and sugar to one mug, leaving the other black.

"Victor's feeder." He adds and tilts his head toward me. I get the feeling he's waiting for me to grasp something.

My lips part. "Oh."

I no longer see Dimitri or the kitchen. I see puncture marks on my mother's neck. The vacancy in her eyes and her shaking hands hours later. I see a body pressing another to the ground, a mouth locked onto a neck.

"Rose?"

I blink and Dimitri is what I see.

I look down at the hand resting lightly on my shoulder. It lifts so only the calloused fingertips are touching me.

"Are you okay?"

I step away from him, my hands curling into fists.

"What did he do to her?" My voice is barely a whisper because of fear but it sounds cold.

Dimitri's eyebrows knit closer together. "He fed on her."

His dark eyes drop from my face to my hands.

"Alice has been Victors' feeder for many years. He pays fairly for her services, once every week. It is consensual and either can end the arrangement at any time."

He must have some idea of what I'm thinking and that frightens me even more.

"She…she was human."

"Yes."

I can't look at him anymore. Not when his face is coaxing me to understand something I can't, something that's making my stomach churn and my head feel light.

"Rose, it's mutual. I promise."

A hot buzz rockets up my spine and onto my tongue.

"You haven't explained your other promise."

There was a light bandage around his hand now and as I glare at it his fingers curl inward. He takes a deep breath.

"Sit at the bar. I'll get you some juice."

I didn't want juice. I wanted to run out of the room.

His boots move away and I'm glaring at the kitchen tiles instead. I hear him open the fridge as my cheeks portray my embarrassment and I do as he asks and go to a bar stool. I slide up onto it and he sets the orange carton down on the counter.

"Moroi need blood to sustain them. Means of doing that can be more…civil than others." He says flatly and I hear another cupboard open.

I put together what Dimitri called 'civil' and contrasted it to what I had seen growing up. And though I knew in my bones what I had seen was wrong who was to say that it wasn't by their means 'civil'.

The Moroi come first.

He sets a glass down in front of me and his lingering presence makes me look up. His expression had opened somehow, it was less guarded and I could read it in his eyes that he was willing to be honest with me but how honest and for how long wasn't clear.

He speaks softly. "From your reaction, I'm going to venture that your experience or knowledge of this isn't a pleasant one but I swear the handling of the situation is as fair as can be."

He opens the carton and I realize he's set out two glasses. He pours them and without thinking I give into an urge to reach out and take a glass. I stare down at it cupped in my hands surprised like I wasn't sure how it had gotten there. Before I can think too much about it I lift it to my lips. The sweetness clears my head.

"Does it hurt her?" I mumble.

The shame of the disrespect I'd shown him settles on my shoulders but the need to know, to understand more, was stronger than the voice in my head telling me to shut up.

He pauses and I look up.

His dark eyes are watching me intently and I get the feeling he's relieved. "No, it certainly doesn't hurt her but it can harm her."

My stomach drops. "How?"

He leans down to balance his elbows on the surface of the counter, putting us on the same level.

"A Moroi's bite doesn't hurt because of how the venom within the fangs reacts to blood. Instead of pain, the recipient of the bite feels pleasure, a high unlike any other. It's euphoric." Dimitri looks ahead as if seeing something that isn't in the room with us. "That kind of euphoria can easily become addictive. The recipient could abuse their body's own need for blood in exchange for the high. They can then die from blood loss or organ failure as their bodies are denied the nutrients it needs. And the worst part is they won't even realize they're dying because the venom's made them feel so good."

He takes a drink and I watch the muscles move in his throat, trying to block out my mother's shaking hands.

"That's why Alice only comes once a week. She has enough time between sessions to not become seriously addicted."

"But she is addicted." I deduce.

He glances at me and lowers the glass. "You are bright. Yes, she is but that addiction built over many years, and for a better word, it's stable."

I try to remember if Master Ozera allowed my mother one week. I couldn't make myself believe he did.

"As for this." He says quietly, toying with the tie of his bandage. "You know what I promised. You heard me."

I had heard him but there was more and there were whys. I lick my lips about to ask when he straightens up and moves away.

"I'm taking this up." He says, grabbing one of the steaming mugs.

I sip my juice trying to wrap my mind around how some of the things I'd had nightmares about had happened here and that they could be called 'civil'. I play with my mother's chain around my throat, the pendant tapping between my fingers.

I finish my juice deciding that I wasn't going to try and understand it and I was only going to ask Dimitri one more thing.

I hop off the stool and wander over to the fridge, stamping on the panic inside. I pour myself another glass of juice and put the carton back. I'm about to shut the door when I spot yogurt on the second shelf. I bite my lip before picking one up. Lemon. I pick up a few others before deciding on caramel. I'd never had caramel.

I'm looking for a spoon when the front door swings open.

I jump and lose my grip on the carton. My fingers fumble hopelessly with it before it hits the floor. It's like common sense clicks in my head and I stare down at the pot horrified by what I've done.

"Shit. Sorry Rose, didn't mean to scare you." Ben says, closing the door behind him.

"I – I." What the hell had I done? Just taken it without asking, without thinking.

Ben walks over and scoops up the pot and turns it over in his hands. My own begin to shake.

"Didn't burst." He says and holds it out to me smiling.

"I'm sorry. I didn't, I don't know why I did that. I'm sorry."

The grin slips off his mouth and his eyebrows furrow. He's realized what I'd done, how I've become so greedy after only being here a day.

"Hey, it's okay." His hand moves out and I stumble back into the sink. "Rose it's okay!"

"What's going on?" Dimitri's voice lashes out, cutting through the turbulence in my head.

"I don't know. She just started freaking out." Ben says, sounding flustered.

"Rose." He kneels beside me and I flinch. "Rose, calm down."

Ben says something and his boots retreat from the kitchen.

"Look at me." His voice is gentle but the order underlines it. I make my eyes find his. "Talk me through this."

I open my mouth but words can't find an opening through the gasps. His bandaged hand takes my numb fingers and lifts them to his chest. The steady rhythm of his heartbeat presses against my palm and sinks into my blood. The steadiness reaches my chest and quietens my frantic heart as it had in the woods.

My breathing calms.

"Sorry." I whisper.

"It's okay. You're okay." He says.

He lets go of my hand and takes my shoulders, lifting me to my feet.

"Now, talk me through this. What happened?"

I spy the yogurt on the counter where Ben must have put it. Dimitri follows my gaze.

"I took it." I whisper. "I don't know why but I did and Ben came in and I dropped it."

He exhales. "I told you you're allowed to take what you want from in here."

"But I didn't even think about it or ask anyone."

"You don't have to ask."

I didn't feel as frightened anymore but I did feel very stupid. I rub my head and take a deep breath.

"I just… I just..."

"It will take time." He says quietly and I look up at him. If I didn't know better and judging by the last ten minutes I didn't, I would say there was a touch of sadness in his eyes. "To get used to how things are now."

"Dimitri." I whisper. "Will Alice be the only…feeder?"

It takes a moment but understanding dawns in his eyes. The hands-on my shoulders tighten. "Yes."

The weight in my chest evaporates and I let out the breath I'd been holding in.

He lets go of my shoulders and steps away. He picks up the yogurt and holds it out to me. I look from it to him.

"If you want something, you take it."

I take it.

---

Tasting caramel was like seeing Victors' garden or sleeping in the bed. It was incredible and I had to keep fighting the urge to get another. It was an urge that was easier to fight with the distraction of the TV. I'm sitting at one end of the sofa and Ben is sprawled on the other. He'd brushed off my apology after I'd worked up the courage to leave the kitchen and insisted I sit down and become a 'vegetable' with him.

I didn't know what he meant but I'm enjoying it.

We were watching F.R.I.E.N.D.S and even though I didn't understand parts that made Ben laugh, I liked it.

"Ah, the old ones are the best ones." Ben tells me, slouching down lower.

I get up to go check on the bolognese I'd left on a low heat and to start the pasta. I wasn't sure how much I should use but decide that having more would be better than having less. Once that's cooking I start grating cheese.

"It smells so damn good down here!" Spiridon yells and I hear him on the stairs.

In a matter of seconds, he appears in the doorway. "How long Master chef?"

I take a breath. "About ten minutes."

It would be ready at exactly three O'clock.

"Awesome! Is there garlic bread?"

"Yes."

"SWEET!"

"Do you need help with anything?" Dimitri asks, striding past Spiridon to the sink where he dumps two mugs.

"No, I'm managing. Thank you."

"Need the table set?" He asks, turning on the faucet.

"On it!" Spiridon says. "Hey Ben, how about getting off your ass and doing something useful?"

I protest but it falls short as Spiridon gathers cutlery and Ben sorts out drinks.

"Wanna beer?" Ben asks Dimitri.

"Yes." He responds lifting down plates.

I start spooning out the pasta.

"Something smells delicious." I hear Mr. Dashkov say from the hall and pride swells in my chest.

Dimitri lifts the two plates I've just spooned Bolognese on to and it seems we're carrying on our routine from this morning. I know better than to fight him on this so I bite my tongue and lift out the bread from the oven. Everything does smell good. Dimitri comes back and takes another two plates wordlessly. I separate the garlic bread up into a dish and carry it and my plate into the dining room, trying not to think about the excess pasta let in the pot.

I'd made far too damn much.

I approach the table and see the last space set is next to Dimitri again. That made me grateful and anxious at the same.

I'd barely placed the bread dish in the middle when Spiridon snatches the biggest piece.

"This is so good, Rose." Ben says.

I try not to grin and just nod, picking up my fork.

"It really is." Dimitri adds quietly and takes a drink from his bottle.

The grin wins the fight but I hide it behind my glass of water.

"One problem though." Spiridon says, one cheek bulging out the side of his face.

The grin disappears and the others pause, even Mr. Dashkov's glass stills in the air.

Spiridon looks around. "We're all gonna stink of garlic."

"Well, it will keep the vampires away." Mr. Dashkov replies.

They all laugh. Dimitri shakes his head but he's smiling. Mr. Dashkov shoots me a grin and then he and Ben start discussing someone called Voda who would be here tomorrow. I take a bite of my food and resist the urge to moan.

Maybe I could manage it, survival but if I couldn't I was going to enjoy the food in the meantime.

After dinner, Ben stays behind in the kitchen to show me how to use the dishwasher.

"And you put the tablet in here. Simple."

I bite the inside of my cheek.

"What?"

"It just seems…lazy." I say quietly.

"You just made dinner for five you can afford to be lazy." He says grinning. "What are we going to do with all that pasta though."

I glance nervously at the bowl in question.

"I could make a pasta salad?"

"Eh, whatever you want."

I lift the bowl and put it in the fridge, trying to breathe around my filled stomach. I was relieved I didn't have to do anything if I was honest. Any sudden movement and I might burst open.

"Rose, could you pass me the milk." Dimitri says, coming into the room and flicking the coffee machine on.

They drink so much of that stuff.

"Want one?" Dimitri asks Ben, taking the milk from me.

"Nah." Ben says and hops up onto the counter. "Do you like coffee, Rose?"

I begin to shake my head but stop. "I don't know."

Ben's face suddenly splits into a grin that makes me nervous. "I know what you'd like. Dude, do we have hot chocolate?"

Dimitri scans the cupboard. "No. I'll write it on the list."

"Damn. I would have liked to have seen your face." Ben says. "Oh and get whipped cream."

"Obviously." Dimitri replies.

He leans against the counter and pulls his hair back, snapping a hair tie around it. I'd never seen a man have a ponytail before, never thought about it but looking at Dimitri made me think more men should wear it that way. Then again I doubted it would look right on everybody. Maybe it only looked right on him.

He reaches for two clean mugs and my gaze drops to the markings on the back of his neck. I'd seen them before on other Guardians but only quick peeks. They look like the letter 'x' only each line wasn't the straight slant that I'd been taught.

"Do you know what they are?" Ben asks, noticing my stare. I drop my eyes as Dimitri turns, and shake my head in answer. A voice that sounds like my mother begins scolding me in a whisper but Ben silences it. "Molnija marks. They count for every Strigoi a Guardian's killed."

I force my gaze back up to Dimitri. He's already looking at me and something in my gut flutters.

"So you've... killed eight?"

"That I know of."

The answer doesn't fill the space the question occupied in my head but instead makes it bigger. It's like getting the taste of something and believing it will satisfy but instead, you realize how hungry you are for more. I bite the inside of my cheek, what I do when that feeling comes on too fast and quick to push back down. Usually, I'm left tasting blood.

I start as Dimitri leans forward, pulling the collar of his shirt down further to show another marking below the base of his neck. It doesn't look like a letter at all.

"Show off." Ben mutters but there's a smile on his lips.

Dimitri ignores him. "This is a Zvezda mark. A Guardian receives it when they have been in battle."

"And lost count." Ben adds as Dimitri straightens and I rock back from being on the balls of my feet.

"Lost count?" I repeat, putting the pieces together. "Of...how many Strigoi you've killed?"

"Yes." Dimitri answers like it's nothing. "But eight kills are definite."

"No." Ben frowns and we both look at him. "Nine. We haven't inked you for the Ozera's."

"We can do it after I've taken this upstairs." Dimitri replies, pouring out the coffee.

"How are you going to do it?" I ask Ben after he leaves, aware of how many questions are pouring out.

But Ben grins, not irritated or angry. "You'll see. Go wait for us in the living room."

I wipe down the counters and then go perch on one of the chairs. I lift the black remote that controls the TV but I'm not sure which buttons to press so I put it back down.

Ben comes back first carrying something shaped like a gun but the fixtures are different. He also has a packet of wipes and thin purple gloves.

Dimitri returns downstairs and sits down on the sofa. His ponytail had been tied up higher leaving his neck exposed. Ben takes out one of the wipes and rubs it over Dimitri's neck. I shift to the edge of my seat for a better look. Ben lifts the gun and I jump as it suddenly comes to life with a loud buzzing noise.

"You good man?" Ben says.

Dimitri nods.

Ben moves the end of the gun that's tapered to a thin needle toward Dimitri's neck.

"Does it hurt?" I ask, more fascinated than anything.

"Nah." Ben says as the needle makes contact with Dimitri's tan skin. I tense but Dimitri doesn't react at all.

The needle stains the skin black and slowly Ben begins forming the shape of the other marks.

"What's that one?" I ask, pointing to the mark in the centre. It was like a stretched-out 'S'

Dimitri answers, face downturned. "A promise mark. It means I've completed my training."

"A promise to what?"

"To do our duty." Ben replies.

I watch the needle staining his skin, making what happened that night in the woods a physical memory that would always be branded on his skin. The skin around the mark has gone pink and although Ben said it didn't hurt it had to be somewhat uncomfortable.

I think about the word 'battle', how it is so much bigger and terrifying than the 'fight' in the woods that I witnessed. How it meant so many there were too many of those things to count. And he'd killed them all.

I think of how it would have been so easy to kill me. How that wasn't a fight at all, that he must have...tolerated my efforts.

I think how that was a choice. To be patient and not use force to make me obey when he so easily could. Physically.

I think as the buzzing of the gun continues.

"Done." Ben announces and slaps Dimitri's shoulder. "Want anything else why I'm here? A butterfly maybe? Rachael's name?"

I feel rather than see Dimitri roll his eyes. Ben grins and rips off some gauze he's also brought. He tapes it onto Dimitri's neck.

"You'll be right as rain in twenty minutes."

Dimitri only nods.

"What does a butterfly mark mean?" I ask and they both turn to me.

There's a pause and then Ben smiles.

"Oh, it means virgin."

I blink.

Ben bursts out laughing and Dimitri shakes his head. It clicks he's messing with me and my cheeks flame.

"Sorry." Ben says looking anything but.

I mutter something that should have told them I was going to bed but even to my ears it was ridiculous. I would guess they figured it out when I half run toward the stairs.

---

The next morning I don't knock on Dimitri's door. I get dressed in her clothes and check the time, it was an hour earlier than yesterday but they had slept late then. I go down to the kitchen and after deliberating I decide on eggs again but this time fried with sausages, toast, and tomatoes.

I flick on the coffee machine and hear a faint noise from upstairs, like a door opening. Seconds later Dimitri walks into the kitchen.

"You didn't wake me."

"Was I meant to?"

"No, I suppose not."

I sip my water and check the sausages under the grill.

"Did you sleep in those clothes?" he asks and I look down at myself.

I swallow. "No."

"We need to get you more things. I'm sure it would be okay for you to go through Natalie's closet, pyjamas' at least."

I was not going to take from someone I hadn't even met.

I crack eggs into the pan and Dimitri takes out plates. He goes to wake the others and I try to prepare Mr. Dashkov's coffee with the instructions he'd given me yesterday. I'm not sure how much milk to put in so I try to go by colour and then add sugar and cream.

The house begins to wake with Spiridon shouting about the greatness of breakfast and Ben telling him to shut up as they come into the kitchen. They nod at me and Ben starts to take out cutlery and Spiridon gets the juice. He comes over to the counter where I am and I tense up. He pats my shoulder roughly and takes Mr. Dashkov's coffee into the dining room. I listen for a few seconds anticipating someone calling me to take it back and do it right but no one does.

My shoulders relax.

Dimitri comes back in and wordlessly we finish preparing plates. He makes me that brown goop and throughout the meal, I feel him watching me, urging me to keep eating it. I add more sugar than yesterday, trying not to care what he'd think of that.

They talk more about what they need to do and discuss people and something called the 'circle'. Only when they say 'Voda' will be visiting do I start to pay attention. Mr. Dashkov was going to have guests which meant I had to have this place spotless.

I'm turning over ideas on how to clean the glass wall when they all simultaneously move indicating breakfast is over. Ben disappears into the hall and I guess he's going down to the garage. Spiridon leaves with his phone glued to his ear and Mr. Dashkov follows after thanking me.

Dimitri helps me clear the table again.

We work in silence, mostly because I'm biting on my tongue so I don't tell him I can do it myself. I doubted he'd listen anyway and the thought irritated me.

I'm drying the oven tray when I decide to break the silence with a coffee offering but when I turn around he's already gone. For some reason, even though I'd spent the last fifteen minutes wishing he'd leave, I feel the damp stain of disappointment in my chest.

I slam the tray down onto the rack and go to inspect Mr. Dashkov's supply of window cleaner.

---

Thankfully there were some step ladders in the supply room that I hadn't noticed before. They'd been concealed behind the door when I'd first come in which meant I didn't have to ask Dimitri could I stand on his shoulders. I could only imagine how he'd react to that or rather, how he wouldn't react at all.

Did he ever laugh?

Spiridon laughed a lot. Mostly at others though.

I puff out a huge breath as I reach the top floor dragging the vacuum cleaner up behind me. I lean against the wall and take a moment. Her sweater is sticking to my back and the nape of my neck is damp. I use the cuff of her sleeve to dab it and blow out another breath.

So far I'd cleaned the glass wall and the floors, polished, dusted, and braved Ben and Spiridon's room with their permission.

Ben's room was clean enough, his laundry set aside in a basket for me and it didn't need much attention bar a going over with the vacuum. I polished the two pictures at his desk, one of a pretty young woman and himself, the one I guessed he was arguing with and the other was of an an older couple, the man resembled Ben which suggested it were his parents. I didn't look at that photo for too long. I straightened out his bedding and after much thought, I picked the fluffy, white teddy bear off the shelf and nestled him between Ben's pillows. He looked more comfortable there…and it made me giggle.

I hoped he wouldn't mind.

Spiridon's room was chaos. Not like Natalie's chaos which was clean and bright. Spiridon had a collection of plates and glasses, all piled upon each other looking ready to topple. Carrying them downstairs required two trips, one in which I passed the room's owner who grinned at me in a way that made me want to throw the sour-smelling bowls at him. His dirty clothes were everywhere, lurking under the bed or spread around the floor. The air was a mixture of stale sweat and the ghost of cologne. I threw open his window and sprayed half a bottle of air freshener wondering how the hell he survived in there. The smell was like inhaling rot that could slowly kill you from the inside.

I gave up trying to figure out what was clean and what wasn't and took everything down to be washed, including his sheets.

Breakfast was no longer a heavy feeling in my stomach but had burned away as I'd made my way through the house.

With one last huff, I step into Natalie's room. I fold her clothes or hang them back up in her closet. I arrange her shoes neatly on the rack in her closet and spend ten minutes looking for a rogue one that had hidden under her bed. I find earrings littered around her floor and return them to her jewellery box which was brimming with sparkly treasure. I straighten out her bedsheets and crack open her window. Giving the room one last sweep I decide it's safe to bring the vacuum cleaner in as it doesn't look like it will be in danger of choking on anything.

Mr Dashkov's room takes about a quarter of the time to clean. I wipe down his leather chair and polish his picture frames, happy photos of his family. It would probably have taken less time if I hadn't paused over his photos for so long but I couldn't help but wonder what had happened to his wife and if he was ever as happy now as he looked in those photographs.

I run the vacuum around the room and then step out, leaving the happy memories alone once more.

I'm grateful the vacuum has wheels so I don't have to drag it behind me when I reach the next floor. I pause outside Mr. Dashkov's office as I had on the way up. I hold my fist up and after a moment I knock.

"Come in."

Mr Dashkov's sitting behind his desk, and so is Dimitri. They have papers fanned out in front of them and Dimitri's hands are poised on a laptop. He glances at me but then goes back to typing.

Mr Dashkov answers the question I'd opened my mouth to ask.

"Not right now, Rose. A time when we're not working, thank you."

I stand dumbly for a moment before my wits catch up to me. I nod and close the door.

I almost trip over the vacuum when I see Spiridon watching me from where he leans against the door to my room.

I collect myself and pick up the fallen vacuum and without being able to do much else I walk toward him.

"How's it going, Cinderella?"

I look up confused and wish I hadn't. He snorts at my expression.

"Excuse me." I pull the vacuum to the top of the stairs. He leans against the bannister.

"You know this guy coming to see Victor is a big deal. You should probably bake something, like cookies. Have tea and coffee set up, it would be very welcoming."

The heat that had rushed to my face in my discomfort now drained. "When are they coming?"

"Around an hour or so. Think you can manage it?"

I nod rigidly as ingredients and timings run through my head.

"Good. Or Victor would be really disappointed. That would suck considering all he's done for you."

Icy slush churns in my stomach and I swallow.

He grins. "See you later, Cinders. Chocolate chip by the way…"

He pushes off the banister and walks down the hall.

I blink and then lift the vacuum, carrying it down the stairs as quickly as possible without falling and breaking my legs. I put the vacuum back in the supply room and rush to the kitchen.

I go through all the cupboards, pulling out ingredients in relief when I come across them.

There are no chocolate chips.

I clutch my head, my heartbeat getting louder in my ears.

"You okay?"

I whirl around.

Ben closes the fridge, a can of soda in one hand and the other raised toward me. A calming gesture.

I take two deep breaths and let my hands drop to my neck.

"I need chocolate chips."

Ben considers this. "Okay…I'll run out to the store. Anything else?"

I shake my head, pressing my lips together so I don't beg him to hurry.

"Alright, back soon."

He walks out and punches the code into the door.

I turn on the oven to preheat and start putting the other ingredients together.

My stomach gurgles.

I drop the measurement of brown sugar into the mixing bowl with the melted butter and then go to the fridge. I take out a bottle of water and an apricot yoghurt. I eat my yoghurt in between beating both the ingredients together. I crack in an egg and add vanilla extract, the smell sending me back to the night in the Ozera's dining room. I whisk the ingredients harder.

I'm sieving the flour and salt together when Ben comes back.

"Thank you." I murmur, prying at the saturated edge.

"What are friends for?"

I pause in pouring the chips into the mix but when I look up he's already walking out, whistling merrily.

I pour in the cocoa powder I found lurking behind the coffee and by the time I'm done whisking that together my arms ache. I panic when I can't find the grease paper for the tray but then realize I'm holding it. I roll out 12 cookies between two trays and pop them into the oven.

I fall back against the counter and unscrew the water bottle.

The cookies would just bake but they wouldn't be as cooled as I'd like in the time left.

I tap the counter as I watch the timer move achingly slow. I'm so tense that when it hits 0 and rings I jump and bang my hip on the counter.

I pull the tray out and leave the cookies to stand, the smell of chocolate flooding the kitchen. I flip on the coffee machine.

Voices carry down the stairs and following them are their owners. Dimitri and Mr. Dashkov come into view as they step off the bottom step. Dimitri looks toward me and Mr. Dashkov's speech trails off as his head lifts and he turns toward the kitchen.

I look away.

"It smells delicious in here. What are you baking, Rose?"

"My dear, you're spoiling us."

"Voda's here!" Spiridon shouts, thumping down the stairs.

"Ah, good…better put those cookies away for now Rose, and open a window. Alexander's diabetic and I think it would be cruel to tease him." Mr. Dashkov smiles kindly, not realizing or not caring how confused I am.

He turns back to Dimitri and murmurs something to him. Dimitri nods and turns away, walking toward the front door Spiridon has opened. He passes out the door and Spiridon looks over at me and grins.

A little stunned I open the kitchen window.

I turn back to see a man in a dark suit being greeted by Mr. Dashkov. Three male Guardians dressed in black stand behind him, expressionless. They nod at Spiridon who stands just behind Mr. Dashkov.

"Good to see you, Alexander. Coffee?"

"Only if it's the proper stuff. The academy could only rustle up instant, horrible." The other man says and grimaces.

Mr. Dashkov smiles and claps his shoulder.

"Make yourself at home." He gestures for the other man to go into the living room and turns toward me. "Rose, two coffees, please. One black without any sugar I believe and you know how I take mine."

I nod but he's already turned away and Ben steps off the stairs, shadowing him.

I move the cookies over to the open window and pour out the coffee.

I wipe at the cuff of her sweater where flour clings to it. It just gets worse and I take a deep breath so the anxiety doesn't rocket out of me.

Willing my hands not to shake I pick up the two mugs and bring them to the living room, feeling like I wasn't completely in control of my legs.

Mr Dashkov's friend, Alexander Voda, is reclining on the sofa with his host beside him. They were both chatting companionable, a connection between them that made me curious and envious.

I blush when he thanks me as I'm putting the mugs down on the coasters.

"It hardly seems fair making me coffee without the delicious treats I can smell." Voda says, leaning forward to take his drink.

"We didn't mean to tease Alex." Mr Dashkov grins. "Rose just likes to spoil us."

I had turned to leave the room as they'd talked and the mention of name keys me up tighter.

"Rose, is it?"

The man's voice brings me up short and I take a deep breath before turning. His smile reminded me of Spiridon's.

"Yes."

His eyes search my face.

"A lot of weight in a name. I can see you live up to yours…do you like your new home?"

My heart constricts.

Mr Dashkov's smile loses its warmth as he watches his friend.

"Yes, sir."

"Sir is it?" He says, looking like I'd said something very amusing. "Victor's very lucky to have someone like you to look after him."

"Yes, I am." Mr Dashkov declares, sitting forward. His voice had an underlining hardness to it. "Thank you, Rose."

It was a dismissal I'd never been gladder to have.

"I can't have any treats but surely some could be spared to my boys here? They deserve something sweet."

"The cookies are cooling in the kitchen. Xander and Alec, feel free to help yourselves." Mr. Dashkov says.

"Don't help yourselves too much." Spiridon says and their laughter follows me back to the kitchen.

I just had to load the dishwasher and then I'd go collect the laundry from the dryer.

As I'm loading it wish dishes the Guardians come into the kitchen and begin taking cookies. They ignore me and I do the same back. Except for Ben who takes one bite and makes an over-exaggerated moaning noise.

"Rose, if you want to bake every day that is fine by me."

"She'll have you rolling around this house." One of Voda's Guardians replies. "But damn they are good. I hope I get a wife that cooks."

"You'll be lucky to get a wife at all." Spiridon answers.

I close up the dishwasher and turn it on.

I look and find the Guardian who'd made the wife comment watching me. He bites into his cookie and the look he's giving me makes me feel unclean.

I start to cross the room when Ben calls me to a halt.

"Here." He says, taking a small plate from the draining board. He scoops four cookies onto it and holds it out to me. "The chef needs to sample the goods too. You could save one for Belikov because I doubt there will be any more survivors down here."

I take it and nod.

As I'm rounding the corner I hear one of the new Guardians say. "I bet there are other reasons Ozera was pissed you picked that one up."

I retreat into the supply room and close the door. Leaning back against it I allow myself to drag in calming breaths. I shrug off anxiety on my shoulders, rolling them until they're no longer stiff. I shake my hands out and bury the way that Guardian was looking at me.

It wasn't the same here. It wasn't the Ozera's where Guardians could just…do anything. It wasn't. I had to hold on to how Mr. Dashkov's expression had darkened when Voda had spoken to me. I had to believe it was for me…but my mind reels away from that idea.

I was nothing.

Mr. Dashkov's friends could speak to me whichever way they wanted. It meant nothing. He was most likely annoyed by my attire and imposing on their meeting for longer than necessary.

I push it all down.

I take the laundry out of the dryer and then put the next load in. I put the plate of cookies on top of the freshly folded clothes and the smell of fresh cotton and chocolate wraps around me. I'd let myself have one when I'd put everything away and Dimitri could have the rest.

I lift the basket and inhale the clean, sweet scent before opening the door.

Upstairs I leave the cookies in my room. I felt a little odd about it, putting treats in my room, but I didn't know what else to do with them.

I stop at Ben's room first as his things are all folded on top. There wasn't much that marked the difference between Ben and Spiridon's clothes as they were all the same colour scheme. Black, except for a few items. The only indicator is the size, Spiridon is taller and Ben is broader.

Walking into Spiridon's room is a completely different experience from earlier. It's like walking into a cool, clean meadow. How it hadn't been harbouring rats before I don't know, it smelt worse than the barn and we had our fair share of rodents.

I leave the room feeling much lighter and begin to hum.

Even Spiridon's trick on me with the cookies couldn't make me feel bad, now I knew to expect it. I was proud of what I'd accomplished today, cleaning a house by myself, having a meal ready and I was already planning out dinner. Yeah, I had some help from Dimitri so I didn't completely deserve all the credit but soon I would. Soon I wouldn't need help.

My steps are lighter as I fetch the next load from the supply room and only when I'm folding the clothes do I realize I'm smiling to myself.

It's nice.

Walking back up the stairs I glance at the living room to see if Dimitri had come back.

He hasn't.

Ben, Spiridon, and one of Voda's Guardians are watching TV. Their Moroi are sitting at the dining table, completely absorbed in conversation and paperwork.

I climb the stairs and even the ache in my legs didn't bother me because I know cookies are waiting at the end. I put away the rest of Ben and Spiridon's things, wondering if Dimitri did his own washing. Well, he would have to I suppose…unless he had someone else to do it for him.

But his mother was in Russia.

Weren't they?

Maybe there would be something about Russia in the library.

I start scrubbing at my cuff again. The flour had gone crusty and seeped deeper into the material. I was going to have to clean it somehow. I could try back in my room and if that didn't work I would have to get more creative. Like sneaking some washing powder up. I couldn't wash my clothes because I had nothing else to wear and washing them during the day could wake everyone else up.

I close the bedroom door, pulling my arm inside her sweater to take it off, still lost in thought as I turn -

I freeze.

Seconds claw by in the silence, where my breathing gets heavier and slowly I drop the arm that had been almost out of the sweater.

"These are really good, darlin." The Guardian finally says, taking another bite of a cookie.

He's sitting on the bed, watching me as he had before and the room is shrinking.

I look back at the door.

"I wouldn't." He warns, getting to his feet and the room is almost too tight as he takes up so much space.

I should reach back for the handle. I should scream. I should step back.

But I can't do anything of these things because I'm sinking.

He's tall. Not as tall as Dimitri. He has thick arms and a thick body and he probably weighed as much as the small car in the garage. I snap out of these thoughts when I realize his chest is in front of my nose. His fingers take hold of my chin and force it up.

"Look at me with those big eyes." He whispers and then bites down on his lip. "We're going to have a lot of fun."

There's pressure rushing to my head and somewhere inside of me is a place begging me to retreat and shut down. But I can't. I can't do anything.

He lets go and steps back, looking me up and down... like he can see through my clothes. The bandages nip at my ribs, reassuring me, frightening me.

"You're like a little doll."

He reaches up and tugs at the hair tie. My shoulders start to shake as my hair falls around me.

He takes a lock between his fingers and runs them down past my cheek, and my neck, stopping where it ends at my chest.

"A lot of fun." He murmurs, twirling my hair around his fingers.

He yanks hard, pulling me down and I'm no longer dazed when my knees hit the ground. A small noise slips past my teeth as he forces my head back.

"Keep your eyes on me."

He reaches for his belt.

Images are flying through my head. My mother and the Master, my mother waking me one morning with bandages, my mother telling me to no longer call her Janine, Stan grinning down at me, Stan telling Guardian Grant 'that's enough'...

Then stabbing the Strigoi, Stan lying unconscious, Dimitri standing in front of me in a hostile room, Dimitri and Janine's hands clasped together.

My promise to survive.

The sound of his fly being unzipped brings the room into focus.

I suddenly feel calm as he reaches inside his trousers. His other hand is still in my hair but the fire in my stomach is waking up.

His loose waistband holds a stake.

My hand darts out and tears it free. He stumbles, not expecting the assault and in his clutch, my head is yanked to the side as he cusses.

But everything is silent in my head as I drive the stake down into his foot until it hits resistance

He cries out, a brief growl out of anger more than pain and I pull free of his grasp.

I scramble for the door, first on my hands and knees but I manage to get to my feet and press my palms to the wood. For a split second, I feel a sweet sigh of relief whisper through my entire being. But then a hand fastens into the back of the Mistress's sweater and I'm hauled off of my feet and I'm flung backwards. I hit the side of the bed with so much force it's like it shoves me back so I'm thrown to the floor.

My lungs won't accept air, I'm gasping like plastic is stretched over my mouth.

"Stupid little bitch." I hear him spit.

The space under the bed is closed, small, and safe. My fingers begin to pull me that way until I'm flipped onto my back. His knees are on either side of my hips, pinning them and fear explodes from the pit of my stomach, unable to be contained this time and I scream, desperately trying to push him away.

A blow to my face has me looking blearily back under the bed and a rough hand pulls at her waistband.

There's another explosion, this time outside of myself, and then the physical weight pressing down disappears.

Gone.

Numbly I lift my head, my cheek stinging fiercely, and try to distinguish through blurry eyes.

Dimitri has the Guardian pinned by his throat to the wall.

The Guardians' face is bloody, scarlet streaming from his nose and mouth, staining his teeth. His hand grips Dimitri's wrist trying to pry it off as the other gropes the wall at his back looking for purchase.

Dimitri's face is a furious landscape. Sharp angles and piercing eyes. He's terrifying, much more so than he had been in the woods. Lethal energy exudes from every taught plane and muscle... but I'm not afraid of him. I want to know what he's saying because he is saying something, lips pulled back over his teeth, shaping virulent words I can't hear because my head is filled with buzzing.

He pulls the Guardian forward only to slam him back into the wall. The Guardian swings at Dimitri, fist connecting with the side of his face but it glances off, not enough power behind it but it's still unnerving that Dimitri doesn't react in the slightest. No wince or acknowledgement of the blow. Instead, he retaliates by driving his fist into the Guardian's stomach and then brings his knee up when he doubles over.

Somewhere in all this sound comes rushing back and it's deafening.

I finally crawl under the bed as grunts and heavy thuds pulse around me, the floor vibrating with it and new voices start yelling.

"Dimitri! DIMITRI YOU'RE GOING TO KILL HIM!"

Ben.

"What the hell happened? BELIKOV LET GO."

Spiridon.

I watch all the black boots scuffle around the floor, one bearing a darker stain and an indentation on the vamp.

My stinging cheek is starting to blossom bruises and I clamp my shaking hands over my ears, wanting it to stop.

Wanting it all to just stop.

---

Bullshit update time is bullshit right?

Sorry guys, I moved house and started back at Uni so things have been crazy. Hoped you enjoyed this chapter it was worth the wait. It wasn't supposed to end here but this chapter went on a lot longer than planned.

Hell hath no fury like a 6'7 Russian from a family of women.

Updated: 13/04/2022