AUTHOR'S NOTE: IT'S BEEN AWHILE SINCE I UPDATED THIS STORY. TRUTH IS, I FINALLY FIGURED OUT HOW IT WILL END. I NEEDED TO REWRITE, RESTRUCTURE, AND EDIT QUITE A BIT. NEXT CHAPTER SHOULD BE UP SOON. AS ALWAYS, HAPPY READING.
PART 11: A PLAN TO GO CRAZY
"Let me get this straight." I voiced with an edge of sardonic disbelief. "You want me to spy for you and the Moroi Council."
The woman on the opposite end of the phone cleared her throat. "'Spying' is such a crude word. We prefer to see this as a method of obtaining necessary evidence. I realize that I am asking a lot of you, Guardian Pearce."
"Did the Guardian Council put you up to this?" I took a breath in, steadying myself. I had a sinking feeling that this particular request to "spy", was an idea that came more from the Guardian Council.
"No." The woman said. "It has recently been revealed to me that you have experience in strategic pursuit of others. You have trained as a Guardian tracker." She dumbed down my area of training.
"Tracking is not the same as spying. I also have expert training in hostage negotiation, but it doesn't mean that I want to insert myself into a dangerous set of circumstances against people with weapons and delusional philosophies."
"Your aunt was a member of Bureau- Ten." Her tone took on a more straightforward sound. "The job is to simply look into behavior patterns and altered principles." It was said to me. "If we are wrong, there is no harm done. But if this suspicion turns out to be correct, and nothing is done about it…"
"People will get hurt." I finished.
The conversation went on like this for a while longer. Ultimately, I only promised to keep an eye out for suspicious behavior. I was not going to be a Guardian spy for either Council. Even sitting back and watching for anything out of the ordinary would be difficult. I was going to need help. I was going to need a lot of help. I sat down in the Monastery courtyard, watching a few tourists walk the grounds. Our group was scheduled to leave in the next few hours, but I needed time to gather my own self and my feelings before things got far more tumultuous. The call I'd just ended was not expected. I was not pleased to receive it. In fact, it made me more nervous than anything else I had experienced on this trip. It complicated so much more.
"Everything alright Bells?" I heard Eddie Castile ask me. He stood a few feet away, still looking like he had seen a ghost the night before. He had. We both had. Neither of us could hide the fact that we had not slept since our fight with Mason.
I pursed my lips to a thin line. "Is anything ever alright when royals get involved in Guardian matters? Can anything ever be alright when they approach you by way of the Guardian Council?"
"What?" Eddie looked as befuddled as I was feeling. He sat down beside me, placing an arm around me for comfort. I wasn't sure if it was meant for his comfort or mine. "What does that mean? What is really going on?"
I didn't want to hide this from Eddie. I couldn't. "I just got a call from Lola Ivashkov." I swore Eddie to secrecy over what I was about to say.
"Ed, I'm going to go crazy."
DIMITRI
VIENNA
I could not put my finger on the puzzle, but something was off. The way he spoke was different. The look in his eyes had changed. I wouldn't, I couldn't say anything to Bellamy or anyone else until I was sure of the problem. But, how could I be sure? And then how would I approach others? Would they think that I was crazy for thinking these things? During my first real talk with Mason since his 'return', I continued to chastise myself for the doubts I was in my head. I had not slept in nearly forty-eight hours, and I was existing solely on adrenaline. I ran my fingers through my hair, pulling out the black band, retying it several times as I argued with myself in silence.
"When are we leaving Vienna? When are you taking me back?" These were two of the first questions that Mason Ashford asked me. His abrupt interest in our return to Court caught me off guard. Normally, I would not give it a second thought, but this feeling was gnawing at me. He had been gone for so long, unable to go home, or be with the people he once knew so well. I thought maybe he would be more concerned about contacting or seeing his family. Those had been some of my first thoughts. After my recovery, resolidifying relationships with my family, my friends, and my colleagues had been my primary concerns. Perhaps Mason just needed time. Still, I could not ignore the obsession he had with being at Court, being inside the walls of our most guarded sanctuary. Was he afraid of something? Someone? I tried desperately to erase the many doubts I had about Mason. What would my doubts and suspicions do to Rose if I told her? I did not hide much from my Roza, but this… She was already conflicted about Mason's reemergence, discovering that all this time he had been Strigoi. She was already dealing with more than enough confusion and conflict. I could not add more to it. Then, there was Bellamy's acrimony for Mason's decisions. She seemed to be having the hardest time with Mason's reappearance into our lives. It was cruel of the Guardian Council to ask her to retrieve the man she thought she had lost years ago.
"Was it hard for you to return to normal hours and tasks?" I heard Mason voice from behind me. He shielded his eyes from the initial brightness of the day. I made room for him to sit.
"It will take you time for you to readjust." I was prepared to answer his statement, to give him any personal advice I could after going through the transformations myself.
Mason's head turned swiftly to the side. It was as though he could sense their presence. "They are obviously not together anymore." He indicated towards Bellamy and Christian, walking hand in hand across the Monastery square, both staying in the heavily shaded areas.
The pair were deep enough in their own conversation that they did not notice Mason sitting slightly out of sight. He watched them with a deep interest. My hesitation to answer his inquiry was noticed. Disinclined to start trouble between the three, I was more concerned with his state of mind when it came to Christian specifically. Bellamy and I were not taking much to chance. Mason and Christian would not be left in a room together anytime soon.
"Strigoi want him." Mason was staring directing into the sun now, and it was difficult to tell if he enjoyed the warmth again. The remark made was not something I expected to hear him say.
Strigoi wanting Christian Ozera was nothing new to anyone. But, for Mason to voice the fact now made me more nervous.
"Strigoi will not get to him." I returned flatly. "Christian is protected by me. I am his Guardian. He is also guarded by Bellamy."
"Of course he is."
"Rose also looks out for Christian." I mentioned the other woman who was once such a big part of Mason's life. He changed suddenly.
"Rose." He was contemplative of the new topic. "Where is she? Why didn't she come to Vienna?"
"She is with the Queen. They will return to Court in time."
"She knows…"
"She knows why we came here to Vienna. She knows everything."
PRESENT DAY-COURT
DIMITRI
Rose and I arrived, catching up to Shane Reyes and Eddie Castile at the Guardian Strategy Room. We had all been called in. Yuri was waiting for our arrival outside of the doors. The call had come from him. He had not said what sort of help he needed, but had briefly mentioned that it concerned Bellamy. Christian and Lissa were fine to have a few minutes alone while we dealt with any trouble ahead, so Rose and I felt safe coming to Yuri's aide. Yuri immediately stepped in front of the doors, blocking our entrance. I knew without words that something was wrong. The look the Guardian gave me said as much.
None of us could see inside of the room yet, but I could not ignore the lack of control in Yuri's facial expression. The last time I had seen a man look like this, I was looking into a mirror. I knew this particular brand of anxiety well when Rose was troubled by ghostly apparitions of Mason Ashford.
"Before you all go inside, I need to explain something about Bells."
"What's wrong with her?" Eddie and Rose spoke in unison.
I watched Yuri's shoulders drop, and for a moment I thought he might sink down to the floor.
"The nightmares are back." He informed us. I knew exactly what this meant. "Her nightmares are back. She's been having them for the last week. She asked me not to say anything to you." He looked directly at me. "But,…"
"But they are affecting her." I added.
Bellamy suffering from nightmares would not normally concern either of us, but we were well acquainted with the results her nightmares brought. Bellamy's nightmares were an altogether different sort of trouble.
"The uh," Yuri cleared his throat, keeping a hand on the door," the big ball of weird is working overtime." He referred to the inside joke of Bellamy's brain, her thoughts, and how she sorted it all. "Since you all returned from Vienna, she has quietly been gathering intelligence. She is one-hundred percent convinced that Mason Ashford is up to something more nefarious than he is letting on."
I stepped closer to Yuri, putting my hand to his shoulder until he stepped away from the door. The five of us walked into the room where Bellamy was known to do some of her best work. Every wall was now covered by hanging white boards, and my friend had used nearly every inch of available space. Charts, graphs, theories, and facts all spread out into well-organized categories.
"Bells.' I said her name, looking over everything she wrote and considered, unable to fully understand what sort of mental or emotional break she was possibly experiencing. "Bellamy, what is all of this? What are you working on?"
"Mason." She told me, and I worried more for her. "Something is wrong."
My chest tightened at her words. "With Mason? Bells, he is being guarded at all times. Everything is…"
"Don't say fine." She turned, pointing a marker at me, warning in her tone. "Everything is not fine. And do not try to say that I am looking for trouble where there is none."
"Okay." I kept a surrendering position with her, trying to get a few paces closer. She was writing as she went through much of the information dug out in her conversations with Mason, but as I moved closer, I could see her hands were shaking too. "When was the last time you slept?"
"Yesterday." Her response was sharper than usual. "You think I'm crazy, don't you?" She had turned to face me, looking less distracted for a moment.
In a matter of seconds, I had flashbacks of Rose going through a similar breakdown after Mason died in Seattle. She too thought that she was going crazy. The woman I love had admitted to seeing ghosts, caused by the spirit link between her and Lissa at the time. I wondered about all of that now, and how it was possible for Rose to see his spirit form. Bellamy however was going through something a little different.
"I don't think you are crazy Bellamy." I calmly assured her. I was not about to lose her to the increasing mania and paranoia caused by Mason's reappearance.
"Liar."
"Really, I don't." I kept my voice soft and low. "But I don't understand. Explain some of this to me." I pointed to one of the boards. It held theories and suggestions to several questions upon it.
Bellamy eyed me charily. She then looked to the board and back to me again.
"A cover is not a book." Her statement was far more confusing. "You don't see it." She stated, but her words were more accusatory than revealing to whatever I was missing. "You don't see how easy it was. I didn't either until I started to think about it. It should've been harder. It should've taken more."
"More?" Eddie Castile carefully came to stand beside me, listening to his friend, equally as uneasy about Bellamy's state of mind. "More of what? What are we missing babe?"
"Vienna." She clarified brusquely, brushing off the sweet name Eddie often used with her. "The fight against Mason should've been harder." Her eyes darted back to the boards as she analyzed much of what she had written down. I was quietly entertained and amazed at her ability to compartmentalize every theory and thought that had come to mind, onto these white boards. She compared theories to her notes on the Vienna mission as we stood, worrying about her.
"He was captured too easily." She sounded so certain of this specific piece of information. "What if he wanted to come back?"
"Sure." Mocking in Shane's voiced caused Bellamy to glare back at her friend as he stood beside Rose.
Her glare quickly turned to a look of sadness. "Think about it. She went on explaining, and starting to make more sense to me. "Strigoi don't feel loneliness or regret. They don't "miss" the people that they leave behind."
"You're right Bellamy." I confirmed, finally able to comprehend more of her thoughts. Having once been Strigoi myself, I could confirm this theory of hers.
"Mason has been gone for a long time now. He has managed to keep to the shadows and avoid our cameras and security this entire time. Why ruin that?" Bellamy was pacing like a wild cat now, trying to come up with logical answers to her questions. "Why come out of hiding now? There has to be a good reason."
"It's coincidence."
"Nothing is coincidence." She mentioned. "Dimitri," She addressed me directly, "when you were Strigoi," she visibly apologized, knowing how difficult the subject remained for me, "what reasons did you have for returning?"
"None." We both were able to answer together. "I only came out of the shadows to hunt. Towards the end, it was just provocation for Rose."
"You were brought back to us only after Rose pulled you out of hiding. But even out of hiding, you were a bitch to take down as Strigoi. You were stronger as Strigoi than you were as Dhampir. That is saying a lot." She was reasoning through the details. "Mason came to us long before we went to Vienna to find him. He wanted to be found there in that city."
Bellamy made another logical point to her thoughts, and about the mission we took to capture Mason in Vienna.
"Nothing really worked until that last night of the mission. We hunted him as a group with no luck, we hunted individually, hoping to coax him back out, but it wasn't until Christian was brought out as bait that Mason seemed pleased to play the game."
"And you don't think that is a coincidence?" Shane continued to question Bellamy.
"Nothing Mason has done or said this entire time has been coincidence." She believed.
I thought back to our time in Vienna, ruminating about things Mason said to me. Perhaps Bellamy was on to something. Then again, perhaps she was jumping to conclusions.
"Assuming you are right," I approached Bellamy's theories, "assuming he wanted to be here at Court for a specific reason," I saw Eddie, Shane, and Rose look at me as though I were starting to lose my mind too, "what is the reason?"
"That is what I am trying to determine."
"You're not buying this, are you?" Shane voiced out loud. "Look Bellamy, I know that you are mad at Mason for leaving, for dying, and for…"
"No." She shut down her Guardian friend "Do not blame this on emotion. Don't tell me that I am doing this because of anger or guilt. Maybe I do feel those things, but that is not what this is about." She walked right up to Shane, determined to make him believe. "You have fought Strigoi in the field before this. We all know how bloody, violent, and brutal those fights are." She went on. "You know that it is harder than it was in Austria. For crying out loud, Mason was harder to spar with as a novice than he was as Strigoi."
Shane acknowledged her point. Bellamy made some strong arguments. Mason did not put up as much of a fight as he should've in Vienna. Why not? Why would he throw a fight like that, especially as a Strigoi?
"He wants something." Bellamy turned away from all of us again. "This would not be the first time that Strigoi might gain outside help to…"
"Bellamy!" Shane shouted angrily at her. "You're being ridiculous. Mason would not help Strigoi." He insisted, but I was leaning more towards Bellamy's thinking now.
"Why not?" She challenged him. "You're looking at me like I'm totally mad."
"I mean, are you? Have you talked to a professional about these delusions?" Shane was visibly upset by what he was hearing. "I'm not going to stay and listen to this." He started to leave until I spoke up.
"I don't want to believe any of this either," I mentioned, falling into one of the chairs at the center table, "but I have had my own suspicions since Vienna.
"Vienna." Bellamy half- questioned. "You didn't say anything? Why wouldn't you say anything?"
"I didn't have proof of anything." I answered her. "My doubts were my own until I could find anything worth bringing up."
Bellamy and I sat quietly talking together, mostly trying to make more sense of the thoughts and doubts in mind. Rose, Yuri, and Eddie all had their own conversations, trying to find ways of disputing our doubts.
"Do you think that the Queen and Councils would let us question Mason once more? Maybe we could find someone, a more neutral Guardian to dig in enough to find out if there is something else he wants here at Court." Bellamy suggested.
"You wouldn't want to question him again yourself?" I was curious as to why she might have another Guardian brought in to speak with Mason.
"No." She replied. "It would have to be someone else questioning him. He won't speak to me about anything at this point." She explained, letting me in on the tension between the pair. "I am the enemy in his eyes. I'm out to see that nothing is easy in his mind."
"He won't speak to anyone that he doesn't trust to stay quiet." I also pointed out to Bellamy. "Let me see what I can do." I offered to try to speak with the Queen while Bellamy took on the Councils. Before approaching the Queen, I would first need to convince Rose that there was in fact more to the picture than we were initially seeing. Proving the points would not be easy. Mason was once her friend, one of her confidants, He was also once in love with her, or so he claimed.
I left Bellamy to continue contemplating her theories, left her to the criticizing voices of Eddie and Shane, and unfortunately left Yuri to continue worrying about his wife.
BELLAMY
He didn't like doing it very often, but Dimitri had used every bit of influence he had with Lissa, Rose, and Christian to get a meeting with the Queen. She agreed to hear our concerns. So, while he met with the Queen, I set my mind to approaching the Councils. The Moroi Council was split on any decision about Mason, and with the trial coming up in another day, I was not expecting much. Ultimately, they were so evenly split and arguing that the decision was left to the Queen. The Guardian Council on the other hand was willing to let their Guardians do their job. After all, if we were wrong there would be no harm done.
I had my answer from the Councils, and now found myself waiting on Dimitri. I was back to the Strategy room, going through all of the info I had from speaking to Mason. Additionally, I went through detailed transcripts of Mason's conversations with others, both Guardians and Moroi.
"You and Dimitri have one hour. Lissa will give you one chance to question Mason before his trial." Rose stood in the doorway of the room, her arms crossed, but willing to talk about the sensitive topic.
"Dimitri convinced her?"
Rose shrugged her shoulders. "For what it's worth, I don't think you are crazy. Not entirely."
"Pretty sure a lot of others will disagree with you."
"Can I ask you something?" She wanted to know.
"Anything." It was my longstanding opinion that Rose Hathaway had earned the right to ask me many questions, about many things after all of these years. She had not asked any until now.
"I want to know about you and Mason." She paused. "About Vienna." Vienna was still a bit of a touchy subject with many of us at Court, myself and Rose included.
I sat down, preparing to have a conversation about the place she really didn't want to hear about, and the place that I really did not want to talk about.
"What was it like for you?" She asked without the need to elaborate. As the words fell from her mouth, I knew precisely what she wanted to know. "When you had to face Mason like that, was it hard?"
"Was it hard for you to face Dimitri?" I turned the question back around to her. After all, Rose and I were mostly in the same boat when it came to this subject matter. The only difference between us, Rose was in love with Dimitri when she went after him.
"It was one of the worst moments of my life since becoming a Guardian." I told her. "It was one of the most heartbreaking moments, and also one of the most terrifying."
"Why?"
"Because, when I saw him standing in front of me, after thinking that he was dead, I didn't know how to… I was no longer sure about…" I heard myself hesitating, frustrated by any answer I might give her.
"You had the option to kill him." Rose factually and pointedly stated. "Why didn't you?"
This question was even worse than the last. How does one respond to something like that with any sort of grace or composure?
I had to be totally upfront with Rose. She deserved nothing less than the truth. "I wrestled with the option of death or life, whether to kill him or bring him back alive until the moment I drove that stake through him. I didn't know if I would kill him or not. I didn't know if I wanted to kill him or not."
"Do you regret your decisions?"
Was she interrogating me? I leaned back into the chair that I occupied, careful not to give too much away at once. "I regret some of my decisions, but if you are asking if I regret letting him live, that is a very complicated answer. If I say yes, I'm a bit of a monster because I am saying that I could've killed Mason, or that I wish I had. If I say no, I am still a monster because that is essentially saying that I am able to cope with his presence, and the idea that he easily lied to me, to us. The answer is I don't know." I had gone from comfortably leaning back in the chair, to a painful hunched position.
"There was a time that I thought I was losing my mind. I kept seeing Mason's ghost at St. Vladimir's, although now I'm starting to think I was imagining things."
"I rested my chin to my knuckles, listening to her, recalling the time at the Academy when Dimitri, Rose, Christian, and others returned from their short trip to the Moroi Court to testify against Victor Dashkov.
"Dimitri and I had a conversation about some of that back at the Academy." I confessed to my soon to be half-sister-in-law. "And recently, I have been giving it more thought."
"What about it?" Rose was curious to hear my opinions, crazy or not.
"I've been comparing what happened then, and what is happening now." I was starting to put more pieces together over the last several days, hours, weeks. "What you experienced during that time was not entirely impossible." I piqued her curiosity even more. "Strigoi lose their soul when turned, so Mason's soul could've easily stayed in spirit form. It sounds crazy. Insane. To think that the Mason we knew could be so willing to turn into the one thing that we despise most in this world, to think that he might be capable of worse things to come, makes me sound crazy. I hear it too. I know how mad I sound, Rose."
"But he isn't." I barely heard the words escape her. She was almost silent, her eyes full of the same despair I felt. "He isn't the same Mason we knew. What I don't understand is how he got his soul back after so much time." She had questions of her own. This was clearly something Rose had been grappling with, unable to bring it up to others who might not understand. "At St. Vladimir's, I was told that a soul taken as violently as Mason's, has a limited amount of time on this plane. When Dimitri came back to us, I saw his eyes. He was the same. He was my Dimitri."
"Dimitri and Mason are two different stories. They're two different sort of men. Dimitri was an experienced Guardian, and an adult when he was turned. Mason was a young kid, an arrogant novice who changed willingly because he did not want to face his problems.
"All of that sounds accurate enough. It makes sense, but we are missing something more." Rose glanced around at my white boards, more information added.
"Yes, but what? I don't see what it is."
Both Rose and I jumped up as the door swung back open.
"I do." Dimitri moved swiftly into the room. "I know what you are missing. It hit me when Yuri said that you are having nightmares again."
"Yuri told you?" I swallowed hard, fear bubbling in my stomach as my half-brother nodded. "He shouldn't have done that."
"Right. He should not have told me. You should've." Dimitri stopped beside me, placing a hand to my shoulder.
Quickly the two of us shared a brief moment of honesty, moving past the issue temporarily. We had bigger troubles.
"One of your theories," Dimitri waved a hand at the board behind him, "reminded me of when I was Strigoi."
I know how much you love being reminded of that time." I snarkily replied. Rose coughed, masking a small laugh.
Dimitri made a face at the two of us. "When I was Strigoi, I always carried a list. It was a list of names. Three or four royals I planned on killing."
"You never told me that." Rose was somewhat shocked by the admission. After all this time there were still things that Dimitri hid about his time as Strigoi. "How does a list help us?" But, as I searched the list of theories I had written down, I caught the significance.
"Oh." I breathed. "You also think that he might have intentionally come back. Do you think he's here to hurt specific royals? If he is going to target specific Moroi, how do we find out who he might go after?"
"We ask him." Rose confirmed. "Lissa gave you an hour."
"In the meantime," the three of us stood in the only one-hundred percent secure room at Court. There were no cameras or microphones in the strategy room, for good reason, "if Mason does have a list, history says that Christian is on it. I don't want him out of your sight until we figure out what is going on."
"Agreed." Both Dimitri and Rose stated.
EDDIE
What was I thinking? What was I about to do? Had I really been convinced to sit down and talk to Mason again? Was I really and truly about to walk into Bellamy's favorite Court coffee shop, sit down, and have a civil conversation with Mason? Yes. I rounded the final corner to see him already sitting inside, Guardians to each side of the table. I took a deep breath before entering, waving off the Guardians who stayed only a few more feet back.
"What are you doing here?" Mason questioned my arrival as soon as I started towards him. "What do you want?" It was entertaining to see that the man was still afraid of Bellamy in some way. He had good reason to fear her.
"Bellamy isn't coming." I informed the man, sitting across from him. He looked nervous. "She is stuck talking to Dimitri. He says that she is obsessed with finding you guilty of something. She is manic and overwhelmed by the thought that you are up to something." I had two cups of coffee brought over to the table.
"What is small, blonde, and crazy accusing me of this time?"
I was trying to keep my temper in check, just as I'd been instructed to do. The idea that he could now see Bellamy as an enemy was baffling. "Between you and me, she thinks that she made a mistake in going to Vienna. She has been talking to Guardian Belikov these last two days, questioning him about being Strigoi."
Mason hummed in a disrespectful manner, and I was not sure where his contempt stemmed from. Had he fought with Dimitri? Had one of them shared a negative or unfriendly opinion? It didn't sound like something Dimitri would do, but Mason…that was possible. I went on with the outline I was instructed to stick to, keeping to the script. I would get answers soon enough.
"Dimitri told her that when he was Strigoi, he carried a small list with him."
He looked nervous again, and I saw him shift uncomfortably.
"Do all Strigoi have a list that they go by? Did you have one?"
"I did." Mason admitted to me, his eyes growing wide with suspicion and alarm. "What is going on? Why did I just tell you that?" True, it was not something he would admit freely, even under the best of circumstances. Strigoi secrets were never just handed over to Guardians, so we had other ways of obtaining our information.
"Who was on your list?" I continued.
"A few Moroi."
That was too vague. I needed more information. "Royals? Was Christian on your list?"
"Christian Ozera is on every list. Strigoi want him turned." He stood, growing angrier now. "What the hell?!"
"Truth serum." I kept cool, staying seated. "Sit down." I ordered, watching the Guardians in charge of Mason all attempt to move. Mason sat, looking at his cup of coffee. I smirked.
"Why are you doing this?"
"Bellamy might be right, and on the off chance that she is, I am keeping Moroi safe." I was keeping Jill safe. Another coup at Court was not something I wanted. I was not going to see her put in danger like that again.
Mason slowly sat down, given no choice. "This is taken by force. It is not admissible in Court."
"I don't need it in Court."
"I don't want to say anything more." He was prepared to leave.
I stopped his guards, keeping them in place for as long as possible. "You don't really have much of a choice in the matter."
I went on questioning my former friend, appalled and discernibly shaken by what was said next. Alarm bells were ringing in my head. Bellamy was not going to like hearing what I had to tell her. The moment I was out of the coffee shop, I caught my breath, afraid I might pass out. I didn't want to believe that Bellamy might be so accurate about her assessment of Mason over the last month or so. I listened to him say the other names on his list, and who had given him the list, doing everything within my willpower not to reach across the small table, and choke the new life from him.
"No." Bellamy refused to believe me when I relayed the information I had recovered for her and Dimitri.
"It makes sense Bells." I returned. "The only person Mason Ashford despises more than Chris, is Jesse.' Informing my friend that her ex, who not so long ago had been Strigoi, had Jesse Zeklos on a short kill list, did not sit well.
"You need to get Jesse away from Court." Rose advised, and I was on her side. "Get him and Sophie on a plane back to the UK." She suggested, but Bellamy was smart too. She knew Mason well enough to see that if Jesse were in danger, sending him away publicly would bring more complications.
"If I put Jesse on a plane, and he leaves without me or Yuri, Mason will get suspicious. He will pull back." She was studying and planning. "I want to know if he still intends to hurt Jesse or Christian."
"There is one more thing babe." I had to tell her the worst of what I heard. "There was one more person on the short list Mason carried, possibly still carries."
"A third royal?" She was already so rigid with hostility and protectiveness. I feared what revealing this might do to her.
"The third is not a royal." I said. "It's not a Moroi at all. It's a…a Guardian."
"Who?"
Now it was not only Bellamy who sat riddled with complex emotions. I desperately wanted to fall to the floor in a ball, and disappear. How could this be our reality? How was it possible that we were having this discussion?
"You." I breathed out lightly. "You are on that list."
I gained appropriate reactions from both Rose and Dimitri, but Bellamy showed little emotion this time when faced by the idea that her name was on a Strigoi kill list.
"Are we surprised?" She questioned, but clearly Dimitri and Rose were surprised, and outraged. "He blames me. I fell in love with Christian. Strigoi embrace their grudges. I left the Academy early and became a Guardian after running away with Chris. In Mason's eyes, I have been the biggest enemy since St. Vladimir's."
"He has gathered information about you most of all since his return." I pointed out the conversations many of us have had with Mason, but I suspected it was not new information to Bellamy. "But, I'm not convinced that this is all about you, Jesse, and Christian."
"It's more." Dimitri confirmed as well. He too studied Bellamy's thought boards, focusing on one in particular. It held the names of people here at Court that Mason blamed for his trouble, the names that he used as catalysts for his decision. "You think Mason blames me." Dimitri stared at his name on that list.
"You don't think that he blames you?" Bellamy countered. I prepared to watch and listen to Dimitri Belikov attempt to argue anything at all with Bellamy Tverskaya. This could be amusing.
"He has been respectful and accepting of my help."
Bellamy shook her head. "No." She refuted. "He has been quiet and relatively passive and patient, biding his time. There is a difference. Have you not noticed the look in his eyes, or seen the adjustments in his body language when you are with him?"
None of us had noticed the changes in demeanor at the time, but upon reflection, could see that Mason held some resentment or animosity towards the Guardian who had only been trying to help him. All of this however was only bringing up more questions in need of answering.
The door opened again, and all four of us tensed until Shane walked inside of the secure space. Bellamy turned away, unwilling to go on fighting with our friend.
"I asked Shane to come back." Dimitri confessed that he was to blame for rows that might reignite. "He should hear what we now know for sure."
"Why am I here again?" Shane was prepared to exit the room upon seeing Bellamy's reaction.
"Because Mason is lying to us!" I found myself shouting, arguing Bellamy's position this turn around. "He is lying about why he is here; why he wanted to return."
"Not this again." Shane spun on his heels. "Our friend does not have ulterior motives for coming back to us." He did not willing to continue listening to the accusations lobbied against Mason, but the door remained blocked now.
"I wouldn't want to believe it either, except that I have been doing my homework since Vienna." Bellamy had to speak. She sounded both unyielding and beseeching, begging our friend to hear her out. "I was asked to look for any behavior shown by Mason that is out of the ordinary." Bellamy said, piquing even my interest. "I have seen and heard more than you all want to know. Mason being back is not just weird. It's multiverse weird. Stuff like this does not just happen out of the blue, years later."
Shane turned back to face Bellamy, appearing more calm but still curious and skeptical. "You were asked to do this?" His question was the same as mine, and it was time for Bellamy to come clean.
"I was contacted by Alicia Jordan and Lola Ivashkov while we were on mission in Vienna."
"Lola Ivashkov is one of the many at Court who are against Mason being brought back here." Shane was more aware of the difficulties between Moroi families these days, than he let on. He sat down with Bellamy as she too continued to divulge what information she had.
"Alicia has been reviewing surveillance of Mason for the last six weeks. She was not initially suspicious. There was nothing atypical about any of it until Mason's lack of appearances was called to her attention. He is not spotted in any surveillance except the footage we have from Dublin and now from Vienna. Mason has 'survived' this long in the shadows without ever being pinged by our security."
Now she was finally being heard, and pointing out the best bits of what she knew. Guardian security was some of the best in the world, and I knew this because I had helped develop pieces of it. We did not miss much, and not picking up someone like Mason was far more than unusual. It was impossible.
"Why? Why would he not want to be seen for so long?"
"I'm guessing he did not want any of us to know what he had done." Shane still had an explanation, defending the man we once knew. "Strigoi hide."
"Strigoi hide." Dimitri agreed with our friend. "But not like Mason did."
I could see Bellamy wanting to believe that he was also in agreement with her hypotheses, but I also knew that she knew better. She'd made some accurate fact based points, knowing the difference between Strigoi lore from Strigoi fact, but she was not yet close enough to convincing everyone.
BELLAMY
I was going in circles with Shane. He had returned to hear the information gathered by Eddie, but the discussion was not going well at all. He was listening, but not hearing. Shane refuted any facts that we posed, continuing to protect Mason at all cost.
"You cannot haul him in and rake him over the coals simply because you are suspicious." He returned.
"We have probable cause." Rose informed, keeping her position at the door.
"Eddie met with Mason earlier." I went on to say. "Mason verified that there are three people he was instructed to kill. Christian, Jesse, and me."
Shane's eyes widened for a brief few seconds. He searched for more in my eyes, he looked to Dimitri with sympathy, and then back to me.
"You? Why would he want to kill you?"
"I'm a threat. But, that is not what matters. If he still intends on harming Moroi, Chris and Jesse are in danger. This Court is in danger. It is our responsibility to ensure the safety of everyone here at Court." Shane and I were close to fighting again, neither of us willing to back down yet.
Eddie was the bravest, willing to step in between us, forcing us to our separate corners.
"Lissa and the Councils have given Bellamy and Dimitri an hour to question Mason."
"You can't interrogate him over suspicious behavior." Shane repeated. "Mason is no longer a threat to anyone."
"If you think so," I wanted to step closer to Shane, held back by Eddie again, "you can join the Guardians who question Mason."
"Are we not going to interrogate him?" Dimitri was confused by my statement.
"No." I needed to explain my feelings on the matter. "Mason does not trust either of us. He absolutely won't talk to me, and I doubt he will be truthful with you either."
"That is why you should go in to see him Bellamy." Rose countered my argument. "You get under his skin. You can push him without saying much at all. I think he will talk to you. He won't want to, but you can unintentionally push him to answer your questions."
"Rose is right." Shane submitted. "He may not trust you, but Mason won't lie to you if pressed hard enough. You and I should interrogate him."
So, it would be me and Shane stepping into the interrogation room with Mason. After some arguments from me, a comment or two from Dimitri, it was settled. When I said Mason would not trust me enough to talk, I was not over-exaggerating. So, if I wanted him to say anything, I was going to need a new method of approach with him.
SHANE
"Eddie tells me you think I'm up to no good."
I thought that she might go for his throat as soon as we walked into the spall and sparse interrogation room. Then again, I should've known better. I should've known Bellamy better. She was calm and pensive in a way that made her twenty times more lethal to anyone she viewed as an enemy. Mason was poking the wrong bear. I often admired her natural ability to appear collected, even as she stared into the face of danger. She had learned to fake patience in a way I never could. Bellamy refused to show anything but patience as she took the available chair across the small table from Mason. She was perfectly silent, never offering up her thoughts, her misguided suspicions, or otherwise. She studied our friend the same way that she studied any other prisoner of the Courts.
Mason clearly did not like being put under such a sharper microscope by Bellamy. As soon as she sat down, I watched him start to fidget and shift, as much as allowed. It was no secret that Bellamy had always made Mason Ashford nervous. Now however, he had reason to be nervous. According to his own admission, he posed a possible threat to her Moroi and others within the Court. Bellamy did not take the safety of Jesse Zeklos lightly. She and Jesse had developed an especially close friendship over the years, so pinging Bellamy's radar or threatening Jesse in any way was never the smartest way to get their attention.
"Are these handcuffs really necessary?" Mason squirmed and pulled. He'd been cuffed to the table by order of the Court Guardians.
I felt conflicted. On one hand, he was dhampir again, and brought back to us by the grace of the saints. On the other hand, I had to admit that Bellamy and Eddie had exposed some very damning points against Mason.
"You're under suspicion until after your trial." I answered. Mason eyed me as though I were now betraying him in some way. Was I with him or against him? I didn't know.
"Cuffed or not," Bellamy finally spoke, "I'm not concerned about you threatening me." She was still unyielding. "You couldn't hurt me back at St. Vladimir's, and you can't now."
"Well," We both watched Mason lean forward, confident in his own victory, "you're half right."
I saw Bellamy shift subtly. She took in a shaky breath. My friend was strong, but whatever she saw in Mason as he returned fire, made her react.
"Jess." She spoke his name, and in the strange silence of Mason's confirmation, neither of us could deny that there was more to his motives than initially seen or heard. I soon saw what Bellamy saw. I saw it in his eyes. Everything that he had been concealing became visible to me.
"She's right." I heard myself say out loud. Bellamy had been right about him. "This was your plan." I put the pieces together. "You preyed on our weakness. You need to be here. Why?" I really thought that I would go for his throat myself, if not for the restraint of my friend. Bellamy put a hand to my arm, stopping any attack.
"What do you have against Dimitri Belikov? Why do you hate him?"
Mason tried to disguise the blow Bellamy threw at him, but his control was nowhere near what hers was. I could see him secretly trying to unravel how or when she had noticed him showing any animosity towards Guardian Belikov.
"Wh…What are you talking about? I don't…"
"Is it because he married Rose?"
I saw him twitch. Bellamy was purposely agitating him. I recalled Rose mentioning that Bellamy held the unintentional ability to push Mason into talking, even if he didn't want to. And he was barely holding it together.
"Maybe it's because she chose to be with him long before you ever gathered the minute amount of courage to…"
Bellamy stopped abruptly while Mason turned red with anger. "I apologize." She knew what she was doing. "This conversation is not about you and Rose. It's not even about you and me this time."
"It's not?" Mason was doubtful of her statements.
"This is about you." Bellamy was beginning to sound equally as provoking as Mason. "I want to talk about you and Jesse."
"Your Moroi?"
"Let's you and I clear one thing up right now." Her tone turned serious. "No one gets to Jesse without going through me first. It has never turned out well for those who have tried."
I turned away from Mason, needing a break. He was not the same man I had grown up with at the Academy. He was not the same joking fun-loving person we all knew back then. Being Strigoi had changed him in unexpected ways. Bellamy continued to to dare him to come after her Moroi in any way. She dared him to even breathe near her most protected asset, and so did I for that matter. I turned back, paying more attention to Bellamy than Mason now.
I saw it briefly, and I wondered if I was just looking for trouble. I wondered if Bellamy too caught the fleeting look in Mason's eyes. It scared me, and it made me angry. By the end of our hour with Mason, I had come to the worst conclusions, and realized some of my worst fears. I'd seen and heard the most vile sides of a man who was one the most docile and trusted of us all. The door opened as soon as Bellamy motioned for Guardians to enter the room. She looked exhausted and sad. I knew the place inside where all of that sadness stemmed from.
"We should go." I offered my hand to her as she stood. She took it only as Mason and his guards moved by us, exiting the room. "He has a plan Bells. It's not good. I saw it in his eyes."
Bellamy stayed silent again, contemplating. I assumed that she was reviewing everything she too had just learned. Her head shook back and forth as she made sense of it all.
"Eddie and Chris have both claimed to spot my tell. It's my eyes. I don't hide my emotions well." It was true. Bellamy wore many of her emotions on her sleeve, and her face. "Mason's tell is that he has no poker face. Never has."
"I'm sorry I didn't believe you Bells." I apologized to my friend for my own behavior. "I'm sorry I didn't see it sooner. I…"
"You wanted to see him for who he was." She squeezed my hand gently. "You wanted to believe in the past. So did I." She twisted around, and I put my arms around her. She buried her face into me as I embraced her, holding her tight as others entered the small room, joining into the details of Mason's interrogation.
"He won't hurt you Bellamy." I assured her. She backed away, smiling. "What will you do now?"
"About what?"
"About Jesse. Christian." I mentioned. "Are they safe here at Court?"
"They are safe here.' Dimitri Belikov came to stand beside Bellamy as well, reassuring her. "The Councils have agreed to postpone Mason's trial date."
He informed us, explaining the latest in Guardian news.
Bellamy looked enraged. "Postponed? How long?"
"They did not give an exact amount of time." Dimitri then whispered something more in Bellamy's ear, causing her to pull him off to the side, arguing with him as Eddie and Rose joined me, both helping me to cope with everything we all just listened to Mason say.
After coming to terms with whatever we might or might not be up against, I returned home to Aaron's private apartments. The lights were on, which meant that he was awake, preparing for the night. But before anything else, Aaron and I needed to talk, Guardian to Moroi.