Chapter 8 - The Baker

Present day - January

Dimitri POV

The air was crisp as I watched the village in the valley below us with binoculars. It was small and quaint, the inhabitants sleeping. Commander Schoenberg had sent us here to investigate a lead. Apparently a baker in the village had spotted guardians in the company of young girls. Spiridon was busy setting up camp as I watched the small village ahead of me. The Christmas lights were lighting up the main parts, showing some evidence of last week's Orthodox Christmas celebrations.

Exactly ten years ago Galina had said the words that made me realize that she had lost something that I valued highly - the sense to do what's right. I had also lost some of my respect for her.

"It's pointless to try, just move on or perish."

Right now a part of me agreed with her though, it seemed pointless to try. We were looking for a needle in a haystack, being sent out to investigate dead-end leads. Neither Spiridon nor I agreed that we should waste resources on this but Art wouldn't budge. The baker was human and I doubted he would know anything of use to us, I wasn't even sure how he knew of the Moroi world. I sighed and turned to Spiridon "Do you want to take the first watch?".

"Nah man, let's just sleep. We won't gain anything by taking turns watching nothing happen."

Reluctantly I agreed. It had been a long drive here and we needed to get closer to the village tomorrow. Since there were no dhampir communities nearby Strigoi shouldn't be an issue either.

Spiridon noticed my hesitance. "Come on, I'll let you be the little spoon tonight" he said with a wink. He turned around and walked towards some bushes muttering something about fertilizing them.

I wanted to groan but Galina taught me better than that. God, he was so annoying. I climbed into the tent he'd set up, making myself as comfortable as I could given that I couldn't stretch out my legs completely in the small space. I kept my stake in my hand just in case as I listened to the night.

I woke up with Spiridon's head resting on my shoulder. I groaned and tried to push him away.

He stirred and said "Don't be like that, nothing wrong with a little Brokeback mountain-action."

"You know, sometimes I think you really do have the hots for me." I answered, sitting up in the tent, stretching my upper body. Sleeping on the firm ground had rendered me stiff. As much as Spiridon annoyed me, I was glad we were paired up for this mission. I knew I could trust him and despite his jokes and snide remarks he could be serious when the situation warranted for it.

"Who wouldn't have the hots for you?" he said, wiggling his eyebrows like a cartoon-villain. Jesus.

"Let's get the coffee started already, I've told you I don't want to deal with your shit before I've had my fix."

After breakfast we went through our plan, the map laid out between us. We had left our SUV a few miles back in order to not attract attention with the Guardian standard vehicle. Our plan was to question the informant to find out more, and this meant we would go to the village first. Instead of our regular Guardian uniforms we wore camping gear, giving us the cover of two back-packers exploring the hiking trails in the area. My hair covered my molnija marks and Spiridon's jacket and scarf would cover his. We would still attract attention as we both were taller and more built than ordinary humans, which is why we decided for now to keep our presence in the village to the minimum.

In silence we packed up all our equipment and started hiking down the valley towards the village in the morning sun. I was thankful for the peace and quiet Spiridon offered, as unusual as it was. We hadn't always been on the best terms. At St Basil's we had our run-ins, but after Galina became my mentor I tried to keep my distance. I knew he resented the fact that I got to train with Galina, and that he pushed himself hard to keep up with me. We had our fair share of fights.

/ "Are you going to run back to your mommy?" Spiridon growled after his fist had connected with my jaw. Stupid mistake.

"What the fuck is your problem?" I asked through gritted teeth, quickly losing my temper.

"You don't even know how lucky you are that you got her as your mentor and you're wasting it."

Now I was seriously pissed. I wasn't wasting my chance. I didn't party anymore, I didn't sneak off to any girl's room anymore. I kept my grades up and I trained harder than anyone. I was biding my fucking time so I could finally graduate. I was doing everything in order to make the next time count. Every night I thought about the child I'd let down, waiting for my chance to redeem myself. It had been years but I still thought about her. I sincerely hoped that babushka was right, that there would be another time and that she was still alive.

"You're so fucking arrogant that you don't even appreciate the time she puts in you" he continued. I had a sense he was going to say something else but I had already lost it, my fist pounding him at every opening he gave me. He was talented, I'll give him that. But I was bigger, faster, stronger, and most importantly - more pissed off than he was.

"It's enough! Belikov, get off him now." Galina's voice echoed in the hallway. She came to get me off him and dragged me along towards the running tracks. "You can't let him get to you. You know that whatever he says, his goal is to get a reaction. You can't keep falling for that trap, I've taught you better." /

Galina's choice of punishment was always to make me run which meant that I actually had Spridion to thank for my endurance. Not that I would ever admit that to him. During all those years rivaling at St Basil's, I learned to control myself, Spiridon testing me every chance he got. I suppose I had him to thank for my control too. Because of him I had perfected my guardian mask and did not have issues with my temper anymore. In many ways he helped me get where I am today, as I'm sure he had me to thank as well for pushing himself.

After Galina's reaction when I tried to ask about the taken ones, I never tried to tell anyone about Rose. Not even Ivan, who I spent most of my time with. Ivan and I were close, but I never felt I could trust him with this secret. Honestly, I never felt that I could trust anyone with this. I never told a soul about Rose and what happened, about my failure.

Ivan was kind-hearted, and I'm sure that he would've tried to help. But I was afraid he would start asking questions, taking advantage of his connections with his own kind. The really dangerous kind, as dangerous as they get. Royal Morois.

I did my research, as much as I could do from the library at the Academy. There were no matches for the registration plate of the car with tinted windows. Admittedly there wasn't much to find at all, but enough to connect some of the dots. Although I could never prove it, I felt certain that the taken ones were connected to the Royal Morois. It was the only explanation to how several children could go missing for decades without any remarkable efforts to stop it. It would also explain why those who asked too much would perish. I mean, who else could be that powerful to cover it up?

I didn't think Ivan was evil, on the contrary. But he knew the wrong people and if he went to them asking the wrong questions it would eventually lead back to my family, I was sure of it. So I kept my mouth shut, my eyes and ears open, biding my time.

/ What happened to you, man? It's like you don't want to do anything fun anymore" Ivan said, not for the first time.

I felt a pang of guilt. "I'm sorry, it's just- I have to focus on my training. A lot is weighing on it."

"They come first." he said mockingly, impersonating our headmaster. "That's just bullshit everyone is feeding you and it doesn't mean you can't enjoy yourself. You don't have to waste your entire youth on us, you still have a couple of months until graduation. Live a little, Dimitri."

If he only knew. I wasn't training this hard to protect the Moroi. I knew I'd probably have to take some bullshit-assignment not to ruin my career, not to perish as Galina had said, but this was never about the Morois. I did this for her, I trained hard to make the next time count.

"I heard you broke up with Maria," Ivan continued.

"You can't break up with someone if you aren't in a relationship."

"You know what I mean. Ended it, whatever it was."

I sighed. "Maria and I had an agreement that worked well for over a year. She knew from the start that all I was interested in was a physical relationship. It just felt wrong after I noticed she wanted more." I sighed again. I had really needed the outlet Maria provided, but I couldn't let it go on. It wasn't right to her, I just wanted to treat her right.

"So you officially have no life outside training now? That's it, I'm forcing you to come to this party" he joked, trying to lighten up my mood.

I took the bait, thankful for his effort. "As if you could force me to move in any direction".

"Come on, if we really do come first then you need to go to this party with me."/

I missed him so much. If Spiridon noticed the slight change in my demeanor, he didn't say anything. We were almost at the village now, our Guardian mode snapping into place. Not that it was something you could really turn off.

I ducked my head in the doorway as we entered the bakery. A man stood behind the counter, nervously smiling as he took us in. He was probably intimidated by us, most humans were.

"Go- good morning, how may I help you?" he managed to stutter.

"Good morning, our friend Arthur has not shut up about your pirogs for days. He said you had called him to let him know you had fresh ones." Spiridon said casually.

The realization of who we were dawned on his face. He had made the connection based on the agreed code words, but was still suspicious. Spiridon continued in his matter-of-fact voice "Arthur practically sent us here, commanded us to find out more about the pirogs." Smooth, Spiridon, smooth.

"Alright, alright. I understand. Let me just get my daughter to cover for me, we can talk more in my office."

"It's a beautiful day, we really want to enjoy the pirogs outside. Take a walk with us, won't you?" Spiridon asked, although it was clear it wasn't really a question. I had remained silent, observing the man.

The man disappeared for a while and returned with a young woman, presumably his daughter. I groaned inwardly as Spiridon flashed a charming smile to her, eyeing her appreciatively. I quickly stepped outside, the others following me.

We casually strolled towards a small park that we had spotted on our way to the bakery. I remained on my feet, towering over the man as he sat on the bench. He flinched when Spiridon sat down next to him.

"Start from the beginning," I commanded, wanting to get this over with.

"Look, I know it's weird that I know about this stuff. My sister has a husband who is different. I mean, I know what he is. I know what you are."

"How is her husband different?" I asked, not wanting to reveal anything to the man, but we needed the confirmation. Looking at Spiridon we both agreed that it was weird that his sister was married to one of us.

"Well you know…" his voice became barely a whisper as he continued "...Moroi". We both hid our surprise well. Clearly we both had thought that he had meant a dhampir. Our silence made him more nervous and he rambled on "I know what guardians are. They always follow my brother-in-law on his visits. I know their relationship is taboo but they love each other."

"Did your brother-in-law tell you about the darker details of our society then?" Spiridon inquired.

"No, a couple of years ago I overheard his guardians talk about it one night when they thought we all were asleep. I snuck out for a cigar, you know my wife hates when I smoke but I couldn't help-"

"Keep it to the point, please" I said with my monotone voice. I really didn't feel like wasting more time on a human wanting some excitement in his boring life.

"Look, I know it's mostly a hunch. I see them every now and then. The girls. I just know something is off. They are nothing like the local teenagers. They are so shy and timid, you should see them! They always walk in the shadow of guardians and never seem to look up from the ground."

I had to admit to myself that I was interested now. "How do you know they are guardians?", pushing down memories of that night that involuntarily popped up in my head. Focus.

The man laughed nervously. "For starters, they are like you. You know, there's something military about them." he glanced between the two of us. "It's their whole demeanor. They radiate power and danger. They always watch the girls, following them intently, guarding them. I mean, I wasn't sure they were guardians until recently."

"What happened recently?" I asked, glancing at Spiridon. He was definitely as interested as I was.

"You see, I've had the bakery for five years now. I've seen these girls in the village throughout the years, always different ones. Always in the company of these men. It always felt like something was wrong but I couldn't put my finger on it. It was the start of the Christmas markets in December when one of the girls entered my bakery. That was the first time I got a good look at one of them. She was young, younger than my daughter, and she kept staring at the ground. She just seemed so nervous around me. I offered her a vatrushka on the house and when she finally looked up from the ground her smile lit up the whole room," the man said, lost in his thoughts. I cleared my throat, hoping the man would focus. It helped and he continued "I had just handed over it to her when one of the men, the guardians, entered the bakery. He grabbed her arm and it looked like it hurt her. As he dragged her out I saw his neck with the same marks as I'm sure you have too."

That was groundbreaking information. I asked the question without thinking "Did she have brown hair and brown eyes?". I felt Spiridon's gaze on me but I kept my eyes on the human.

"Yes, as a matter of fact she did. Do you know who it is?"

I ignored his question. "Did she tell you her name?" I had to know if it was Rose.

"No, the asshole came into the bakery almost immediately. We didn't have the time to talk."

It was Spiridon's turn as he asked "Why didn't you report this sooner if you thought the girl was in danger?"

"I did! I immediately contacted my brother-in-law. It was only after almost a month that I got in contact with Mr. Schoenberg. Arthur I mean."

Fucking Morois again. That bastard had probably waited to report it to someone, an unknown dhampir girl hardly a priority to him. We had lost valuable time, the trail already cold from the delay.