Chapter 37 - A friend or a fiend

Present day - March

Rose POV

A warm, dry hand grazed my forehead and my eyes fluttered open. Dimitri was hovering over me, a hint of concern in his eyes. I blinked a couple of times and focused more on Dimitri, realizing that it wasn't concern that I saw. He seemed almost afraid.

"Dimitri?" I mumbled groggily, and he withdrew his hand. I sat up and leaned against the pillows and the headboard and looked around confused.

"You fell asleep during the movie, I didn't want to wake you but it's been several hours now. How are you feeling?"

I nodded, more to myself. The last thing I remembered before falling asleep was Dimitri's scent and warmth wrapped around me like a comforting blanket. It was crazy to think that I had felt safe enough to relax and even fall asleep with him so close to me, lounging on my bed with me.

"Are you tired? Warm? Does anything hurt?" he asked me urgently, not giving me time to answer before a new question. I shook my head. "You're not sick again, are you?" he then asked warily.

"No, I feel fine, I was just tired. I'm sorry I fell asleep."

"You're absolutely sure the sickness isn't back? If it is back it's okay, you can tell me. I just need to take precautions."

"Is that why you are afraid? Because you don't want to hurt me?"

He didn't answer me, instead studying me for a long moment. I tried to hold his gaze, but the analyzing weight of it became too much and I focused on my fingers instead. For some reason I felt guilty for making him worry so much about my sickness.

"I'm not sick, I promise."

He nodded once and walked over to the kitchenette, returning with a bottle of water. He handed me it and I drank a small sip. I was about to set the bottle down but he gave me a look that meant business, so I took another big sip.

"What time is it?" I asked and got up. It felt like I had slept for so long that I had a hard time remembering what century it was.

"Almost six, are you hungry?"

I shook my head and excused myself to the bathroom, splashing cold water on my face. When I got back out Dimitri was prepping food. I walked over to him and tried to take over the task but he refused, giving me again a look that I didn't dare argue against. It was almost funny how he managed to silence me with one stern look. I sat down on one of the chairs and ran my finger over the surface of the table while he worked.

"I know you said you weren't hungry, but it would make me feel better if you would eat some," he said and placed down two bowls of soup. "Before you fret about cooking for you, I only warmed up canned soup."

"Like that first morning in the cabin, after you had saved me?"

He hummed in response and focused on his food. We ate in silence but it wasn't long until my stomach started straining. I really wasn't hungry, feeling the effects of a long nap. I pushed the bowl away from me and leaned back, noticing he had finished his.

"Are you finished?"

I nodded and thanked him for the food. "Do you mind if I finish this then?" he asked, and I pushed my bowl towards him. He reached for it and placed it in front of him, finally looking up. He gave me an apologetic look. "Always had a hard time throwing away food," he murmured and shrugged his shoulders. I didn't know what to say so I just looked at him, the question probably clear on my face. "Growing up we didn't have much, and I suppose it left its mark."

A vague memory flickered in my mind, an old woman holding a basket full of mushrooms. "Is that why you were out in the forest all those years ago?"

His lips tugged up into half a smile and nodded. "Hard to wrap my head around it all. When Babushka dragged me outside to gather mushrooms I would've never guessed how much it changed my life. If I had gotten my way I would've stayed in my room and would've never found you."

"How come you kept searching for me?"

"I've asked myself that several times. There was just something about you, I've never felt such a protective urge towards anyone outside my family." He seemed deep in his thoughts as he took a few more spoonfuls of his soup. "As the years passed I was starting to lose hope, thinking you were dead. But by that point I had already made up my mind, if I couldn't find you perhaps I could find others and work on putting an end to this all. The Division helped with my restlessness. In the end nothing could've prepared me for actually finding you."

"Yesterday you said that I was more than you had imagined. What did you mean with that?" I asked and felt myself blush.

His eyes flicked to my cheeks and I saw a twitch in the corner of his mouth, as if he was fighting a smile.

"I obviously knew that you weren't going to be that same little girl that I had found in the woods, but I never really had a face until I had you pinned down to the ground. You were so terrified, but instead of giving into that fear you fought for yourself. I think I was expecting someone timid and forged into submission, but instead I found you. Someone strong, someone who refused to be broken easily."

"The guardians-"

"I know you think of them as guardians," he interrupted. "They were perpetrators, not guardians. Guardians are there to protect and value others, not break them down."

I nodded, but knew that it would take a long time to accept that. "The perpetrators, they made sure I followed their orders. Doesn't that make me weak then?"

"Just because you adapted in order to survive doesn't mean you're weak. There's nothing wrong with trying to make the best out of the situation. What I'm trying to say is that despite being exposed to abuse for so many years you still managed to hold onto a little piece of yourself, the same spark I had witnessed ten years ago. In an impossible situation you managed not to lose yourself, and that's really something." He frowned slightly, as if he was trying to find the right words. "Even if you had lost your spark, it would've been understandable with what you had to go through. You just took me by surprise, that's all. In a good way."

That made me smile and warm all over my body, but I didn't say anything.

He finished eating and I immediately got up to clear the dishes. He snatched up the bowls and kept them away from me, shaking his head.

"You do know that was kind of like my job at the Institution?"

"It's not your job with us, especially not with me."

I frowned and tried to get the bowls but he kept them away from me and gently pushed me back, a hint of a smile tugging on his lips. "One benefit of having long arms," he teased before he turned to the sink and started washing the dishes.

I gave up and flopped down on the bed. Once Dimitri was finished he checked the windows and the door before he sat down on his bed.

"When is Spiridon coming back?"

"Tomorrow morning before we check out. Miss him already?"

"It does get a bit quiet without him," I admitted. I had somehow become used to having him around and found some comfort in his presence. I reached over to the bedside table and grabbed the lip balm, absentmindedly applying it on my lips. Dimitri's gaze flicked briefly down to my lips before he looked away. "What do you usually do to pass time?"

He thought about my question for a moment before he replied. "That is something we are used to as guardians. A lot of our job involves waiting around, so I suppose I don't really feel the effects of it the same as you. Did you have a lot of free time?"

"No, I was too much of a troublemaker so I wasn't ever responsible for the younger kids like Meredith was. I mostly cleaned and cooked while she handled the younger students, then of course the Headmistress and teachers were in charge. Not to mention all the guardians." I cleared my throat and regretted going there. "But yeah, because of that I was usually the last one in the kitchen or the first one to wake up to get started with breakfast, with very limited freetime. It's not like I did everything alone, we had a dhampir lady who was responsible for it all but I helped her out and whenever she was away I would cover for her. Moore said it was so that I wouldn't have the time to get in trouble, not that it helped."

"What would the guardians do to you? If you got in trouble?"

I looked up and locked eyes with Dimitri, contemplating whether or not I should answer that. I shook my head slightly and asked the first question that popped into my head. Mentioning Moore had reminded me of one of the things he said right before he tried to rape me. "Have you ever heard of Zmey?"

"Where did you hear that name?" he demanded without giving me an answer. I shrugged my shoulders and toyed with the blanket, drawing myself in. "Rose, it's very important that you tell me where you heard that name."

I looked up and noticed him leaning towards me, his eyes trained on me. He was again in guardian mode, and I was reminded that I did have a duty towards other taken ones.

"In the basement Moore said something about that. He said I should count myself lucky that they hadn't sold me to the Zmey yet. So it's a person, then?"

"Were there other times they implied you or the other children were being sold?"

I shook my head, starting to get upset with him not answering my questions and demanding answers from me. This felt like him and Spiridon two weeks ago, and I thought we were past that already. "No, other than that Moore said that nobody had placed a bid on me in December."

"December was when you visited the market and went into the bakery. Did you see any Moroi in the village? Anything out of the ordinary?"

I just shook my head. Meredith and I had been hovering in the corner of the market, almost like the last time I visited, but I didn't think it was relevant.

"You said that the older girls graduated from the Institution?"

"That's what we were told, yes."

"And what did you think happened to them?"

I shrugged my shoulders, not having a good answer to that. It had always felt weird but it was too terrifying to face so I never really thought about it a lot. "I don't know, they really wouldn't tell us anything."

"But what's the feeling you got?"

"Feeling?" I asked, perplexed.

"Gut feeling or a hunch, you know, what did your instincts tell you?"

"That it wasn't anything good. That we were right to be afraid of graduating."

He nodded slightly to himself. "What feeling did you get from Vasilisa Dragomir?" he asked. I mulled over it for a while, thinking about the princess. She had looked scared and worried, but it felt as if she was scared for me rather than herself. I had never really relied on this hunch, but something in me told me she was good.

"I think she was genuine in her concern."

Again he just nodded before he turned away and scratched his stubble.

"Please tell me who Zmey is," I pleaded. "I can't go back to you not telling me anything."

"There's not much to say, but I can tell you what I know. I've only seen him once. After I had gotten my mark and spent some years in the field I got some time off to go back home. Babushka and I were doing the last bit of shopping for the holidays, I remember us trying to find a present for mama. That's when I spotted him."

Dimitri's voice grew slightly colder, as if he snapped out of the memory of him visiting his family.

"I only saw him from afar, he was accompanied by his guardians, but truth to be told he didn't look like he needed them. Even looking at the man, it was clear that he's dangerous. Especially since his near guard was a petite red haired dhampir, and between the two of them I almost mistook her for his mark and not the other way around. Zmey is a mobster with a reputation of being ruthless, he's Moroi but has a lot of business with humans in addition to the Moroi world. There's a lot of rumors going on, and I don't know exactly where the truth ends. I thought that he ventured mostly in arms trading, but now I have reason to believe he's involved in trafficking as well. Honestly, from what I've heard it would fit his profile."

"Trafficking?" I asked.

Dimitri froze a second before answering. "Trafficking describes the act of trading a person to exploit him or her. Not sure if trading is really the best word to describe it, and there are different purposes. Unfortunately, with the nature of your sickness and what we know so far, I get the feeling that you and other taken ones were trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation." I felt his eyes on me, taking in every single movement. "If not sexual exploitation then at least involuntary servitude, which is what I believe you have been exposed to already. That is why I never, ever want you to think you have any kind of duty towards me, you and I are on the same level and you do not serve me."

I tried to wrap my head around everything, but it felt safer to push it away and fall into blissful ignorance instead of accepting his words.

"I don't want to push you, and I might not even be the right person to talk to about this. You don't have to answer me, Rose. Did anything similar to what Moore tried to do to you happen at the Institution? Did someone hurt you that way?"

"I wasn't raped, I already told you," I said defensively.

"Sexual abuse comes in different forms. Did anyone touch you without your permission? Or make you do anything you didn't want?"

My cheeks heated and I wanted the ground to swallow me. I shook my head and for some reason had to suppress the thought of Igor and how he almost seemed to invade my personal space. But he had never touched me like that. He was too personal but somehow hadn't managed to cross that line, nor had the other guardians apart from Moore's attempt. But all the unclean looks, beatings and punishments were bad enough to bring a sheen of sweat to my forehead.

"I don't want to talk about this," I said through gritted teeth.

"Do you remember seeing any Morois at the Institution?"

Again the slick, oily sensation manifested at the front of my mind, making it difficult to grasp what I had been asked. I shook my head trying not to dwell on what that sensation meant.

I looked up only to see Dimitri's gaze focused on my neck. It looked like he was trying to find something, and I self-consciously touched my skin where he was looking. I knew I must've looked scared and uncomfortable as I was clutching my throat, and he backed off and apologized for pressing me. I wanted to talk about something else, anything else, so I asked him what he thought about the princess.

"I'm not sure. A part of me wants to believe she has good intentions, but I'm still afraid she could put you at risk. We'll see what intel Spiridon has gathered tomorrow." He got up and headed towards the bathroom before stopping at the door. "I should probably warn you. When Spiridon hears that you fell asleep during Die Hard he isn't going to let it slide."

Before I could ask what he meant with that he closed the door behind him.

Dimitri was still sleeping when I woke up. I stayed completely still and tried not to wake him up. It had been hard to fall asleep because of my long nap so I knew that Dimitri had stayed up most of the night. He was luckily covered with his blanket so I couldn't see any accidental erection sightings this morning. I still felt bad for imposing on his privacy like that.

I just laid there under the blanket and let my thoughts run freely. I kept thinking about how safe I had felt when we watched that movie. It had felt so good to feel the side of his body pressed against me, and realizing that I actually cherished his touch was unnerving. Before, I had never liked being touched and wasn't really used to it. It had taken so little from Dimitri to make me comfortable with his presence.

I wasn't sure how much time passed thinking about things, mostly the man in the bed next to me, but after a while I heard the faintest sound from the door to our room. I got up quietly and took a few steps closer to the door when I heard the sound again. This time it was followed by someone knocking twice.

Dimitri was awake and alert in a matter of seconds, taking a few long strides towards the door. He gave me a look that meant hide so I hurried into the bathroom and locked the door behind me.

I heard the door opening and then Spiridon's voice as he greeted Dimitri. He then started laughing and I heard Dimitri curse in Russian. I took it as my que to get back out there, and when I opened the door Dimitri's back was facing me and Spiridon was wiggling his eyebrows with a huge grin. He noticed me and swept me up in a bear hug.

"Miss me, Rose?" he said when he placed me back on the ground. I nodded shyly, still a bit shaken from his gesture. From the corner of my eye I saw Dimitri slip into the bathroom.

"You have drool on your face. It's not the best look on you, did I really wake you guys up?"

My hand swept my chin repeatedly before I realized he was teasing me. I scowled but that only made his grin wider. I noticed he was carrying a brown bag with something that smelled really good and we made our way to the little dining table.

"Spiridon?" I whispered.

"Rose?" he whispered back, clearly amused.

"Is everything alright between the two of you?" I bit my lower lip between my teeth and kept my gaze down as I waited anxiously for the reply.

"He made a mistake."

"But I think that he thinks the mistake was too big, that it might not be okay. He's been acting weird, and he's sad. Or I don't know if he's sad, I think he is."

"It's actually Yeva who taught me that one shouldn't beat on someone already on the ground. It's obvious that he knows what he did was wrong, and I know him well enough to know that he's not the type to make the same mistake twice. He will learn and adjust." Spiridon grabbed the brown bag and handed me some food. "Speaking of the devil, you might as well come out. I know you are eavesdropping, you little shit."

I heard Dimitri come out of the bathroom and he joined us, leaning against the counter since there were only two chairs by the small table. "I wasn't eavesdropping. And if anything, I'm a big shit."

"Can't argue with that. Here," Spiridon answered. When the food was passed between them, they shared a long look which ended in a slight nod. I had started to get used to the way they would communicate with only looks and slight shifts in their expressions. After that we all ate in silence, too hungry to bother with small talk.

"Probably best to just go through everything," Spiridon finally said once he had finished his breakfast. I was still eating mine and Dimitri was sipping on his coffee, having moved to sit down on the end of the bed. "Remember those incompetent baboons that were guarding the princess?" I didn't know what he was talking about but it was clear that Dimitri knew exactly what he was referring to. "The two guardians that accompanied the princess on the private jet, those who didn't notice anything weird going on despite us two being out in the open smuggling you in a suitcase," he explained to me. "Well, anywho, after the last raid the Division pretty much dispersed. Most of the members were assigned new marks, and guess who got Vasilisa Dragomir since those knuckleheads weren't competent enough?"

"I'm not in the mood for guessing games so just spill it," Dimitri said quietly.

"There are so few female guardians that they actually assigned her Celeste of all dhampirs. Yuri is also close by since he got transferred to St. Vlad's. Imagine the possibilities this change can bring us."

Dimitri scratched his chin again, as he seemed to do when he was thinking hard. "We still don't know who the leak was. What if it was either of them?"

"I've thought about that. I don't think so since neither of them would have known all the locations of the taken ones, but we can't naturally be hundred percent sure. But having former members of the Division as Vasilisa's guardians is good news, it makes our situation a lot better."

"I suppose we could play Vasilisa against Celeste and Yuri," Dimitri said quietly, still deep in his thoughts. I remained silent, just taking in all the information I could. "On the plane she used compulsion on me, and it was something I had never experienced before. She was strong, a lot stronger than anyone I have encountered before. If we play it right we could maybe get her to use compulsion on Celeste and Yuri to make sure that they are not part of the leak."

"Sneaky sneaky, didn't think you'd be so devious Dimitri," Spiridon said with a grin, and it was clear that he was pleased. "That's actually a good idea. I didn't hear anything at Court that would indicate that Vasilisa had said anything about Rose. I think it's worth the risk, I believe in the princess. She can help, and we really, really need the help."

"What do you think, Rose?"

I looked up at Dimitri and was startled that he had asked me for my opinion. "Uh, I don't think it should matter," I said shakily.

"This decision will affect you, of course your opinion matters," he said and I saw Spiridon nodding from the corner of my eye. I felt my eyes moisten by the way they were treating me like an equal, but if Dimitri noticed he didn't give away anything. He kept his warm brown eyes locked with mine until I felt the urge to look away.

"Like I said yesterday, the feeling I got was that she was genuinely concerned about me and wanted to help."

"Then it's settled. You make the call, you spoke more to her on the plane," Spiridon said and handed Dimitri the phone.

"Let's at least wait a couple of hours before we make any big decisions," Dimitri answered and pocketed the phone. "Spiridon, can I have a word with you?"

I knew that they needed to talk it out so I decided it would be a good time to shower.

"You fell asleep during Die Hard," Spiridon roared and the whole car swerved a bit. It woke Dimitri up which earned Spiridon a slap in the head.

"No, no, no, that can't be right. You fell asleep during one of the greatest action movies of all time? My god, what is wrong with you?" he continued. I shrugged my shoulders, not really understanding why it mattered to him.

"God, woman," he muttered, followed by a string of Russian I was fairly sure I didn't want to know the meaning of. Dimitri reached from the back seat and clapped my shoulder slightly, making me realize how much I had tensed up. I released a shaky breath and glanced at Dimitri who gave me a reassuring smile.

We drove in silence for a while before stopping at a deserted parking lot. Dimitri straightened himself and I heard him dial the numbers. He put the call on speakerphone and it rang for a while before we all heard the automated voice telling us that we reached her voicemail again. This was the second time we tried to call the princess but she wasn't answering. Dimitri said she would probably be sleeping but we decided that we would keep trying. He immediately tried to call her again and I half expected her not to answer when we heard her tired groan.

"Princess Vasilisa?" Dimitri asked. We could hear her clear her throat and shuffle around for a bit before she answered. "Yes, who is this?" Vasilisa asked.

"Are you alone?" Dimitri questioned, and I was starting to get really familiar with his way of asking a question instead of answering one.

"Yes, I'm alone. It's the middle of the night," she muttered. I looked out the window and it felt like a weird thing to say considering that we were in the same country, but then I realized she was on a nocturnal schedule like most Moroi were.

"My name is Dimitri Belikov, we met recently."

"I remember. I'm surprised you called." It sounded like she gulped, maybe taking a sip of water.

"I apologize for the inconvenience, princess, and I hope you can spare a moment," Dimitri said formally. "We have thought about your offer to help and I would like to inquire if that offer still stands?"

"Yes, of course it does. Whatever you need. I swear I haven't said anything about seeing Rose, not even to Christian," she said urgently.

"Let me just get straight to the point and I do hope you can forgive me for being forthcoming," Dimitri trailed off.

"You need money."

"That is one option, yes, but you mentioned that you had a place for us to stay hidden at."

"Oh yeah, my mom's house. That would be perfect for you, it's even warded regularly."

Dimitri didn't seem to be that convinced. "With all due respect princess, we can't really stay at a Dragomir property, it's too risky for us to stay somewhere that is listed in the Dragomir estate. If anyone notices that it's not empty it's going to raise too many questions."

"I understand guardian Belikov, but it's actually not part of the Dragomir estate. It was solely under my mother's name, it's really a long story but she had a place that almost nobody knew about. I inherited it after the car accident but I never included it in the official records. It's still listed under Daniels and I don't think many would even realize to look there. Of course someone could find out that the house belongs to me, but they would have to dig deep."

"Where is this property?" Dimitri asked, clearly not sure about all of this.

"A couple of hours from school, maybe a bit more since there's usually a bit of traffic."

"Montana, then?"

"Yes, that's right, north of the Academy. But it's very hidden, deep in an area where humans only have summer houses, if any houses at all. That's actually what it was in the beginning before my mother expanded it."

"We need to think this over. I'll be in touch."

"Sure, uh, is she okay then?"

"She's fine," Dimitri replied curtly before hanging up.

"Don't you think it was a bit rude hanging up like that," Spiridon said and rolled his eyes.

It was quiet for a bit, the only sound coming from Spiridon thrumming with his fingers impatiently.

"So, Montana, then?" Dimitri asked, and I saw Spiridon typing in an address into the gps. They both glanced at the little screen and Spiridon huffed slightly before he turned it towards me. My gaze dropped to the gps and I was shocked.

"Almost thirty hours of driving?!"