Rumor Has It

I was sitting in some little café with Mia and Eddie while Adrian, Christian, and Lissa were at dinner with the queen. Dimitri, being Lissa’s sanctioned guardian, had to be at the dinner as well. Eddie and I would have gone there as part of the field experience, but Alberta decided that she’d give us the night off or something like that. I didn’t have a problem with Mia or Eddie, but, really, I needed to talk to Lissa and see if she had an opinion on my relationship yet. Her opinion was the only one that mattered—other than Dimitri’s, obviously.

“…wouldn’t have ever seen this happening in a million years,” Mia babbled. My worrying was cancelling her out, for the most part. “Can you believe that just two months ago, we were at each other’s throats?”

Her simple statement made me think back to the Badica house. Every guardian and Moroi’s throats literally ripped out. I shuddered.

“Rose?” Eddie placed a firm hand on my shoulder. “Are you all right?”

I blinked and nodded. “Yeah, I was just thinking about—” I exhaled. “About what I saw in Billings.”

“Oh.” He dropped his hand and suddenly found the mosaic table top interesting.

I never talked about what I saw when I was supposed to have my Qualifier and how everything took the turn for the absolute worse. It seemed that I brought that up less than the Spokane incident. I heard my breath hitch at the thought.

“So, how are things at St. Vladimir’s?” Mia asked, doing her best to change the subject.

“Hell,” I muttered without much though.

“Why’s that?”

Shit. I didn’t want anyone else to know the troubles I was with, but I nearly let them slip. After a moment, I shrugged. “The typical school drama. Rumors, romance, field experience.”

“Romance?” Eddie chuckled. “You have hardly dated since returning to the Academy in the fall.”

“Well, I may not have the greatest love life, but I do have one. Unlike a certain someone.”

His cheeks turned a light pink. “I’ve been too busy to have love life.”

“I’ve been busy too, but I still have one.”

“With who then?”

I didn’t think about that. I could lie… Yeah, lying sounds good. “Well, no one in particular. I actually have been considering Adrian lately…”

Okay, it wasn’t a complete lie.

“Ivashkov?” Mia squeaked. “I thought that—”

“I knew you finally decided to be his friend, but not…that.” Eddie quickly took a sip from his coffee.

I took that as my cue to explain—actually bullshit my way out this one. “Well, yeah. I mean, we’re friends and all. But I said considering, not that I’ll pursue. There’s a difference. Stop assuming.”

Mia smiled peacefully. “I think you and Adrian would make a cute couple.”

“Cute? Me and Adrian?” I snorted.

“What?” She frowned. “It’s obvious that he’s into you. Why not give him a chance?”

“Uh…” Damn her. “I have to think about it.”

“Why?”

I scowled. I’d forgotten that she had been so annoying. Instead of answering, I stood up from my chair and stormed off.

I slowed my pace down when I saw the building where my room was. I had realized that I’d been slipping into childish tantrums a lot lately. Or at least be tempted to.

And then the scent of cloves struck me. I nearly groaned. It figured that the source of my frustration would show up. Instead of ignoring him, I just came to a halt.

“Little dhampir?” Adrian’s voice rang. He stepped out from the shadows of guest housing, puffing a small cloud of smoke. “What’s wrong?”

I grunted and hugged myself to keep warm. “I’m just irritated.” I felt my eyes narrow. “Why aren’t you at dinner?”

“You’re not the only one that grows tired of her,” he said. “Your boyfriend left somewhere in between the second and third courses. I think Lissa relieved him of his duty for the evening or something.”

“Wha—” I grinned. “Do you know which way he went?”

Adrian just shook his head though. “I don’t pay much attention to cradle robbers.”

“I thought you paid loads of attention to yourself.”

He stared at me for a moment before he put on his usual lazy smile. “Touché.”

A comfortable silence fell between us.

At least until I began rocking back on forth on the heels of my feet. I bit my lip. Mia’s suggestion was nagging at me. I couldn’t help but feel irritated, yet curious.

“Yes? Something you’d like to ask me?” Adrian asked, amused.

“How did you—?”

“Your aura.”

“Oh, right.” I bit my lip again. I wasn’t sure if I should talk to him about what I’d been feeling lately. It was odd, but not unwelcomed.

“Or I could be misreading your aura, which is a first, but—”

“No, you’re not misreading it.” I sighed. “I just don’t know if I want to talk about it at the moment. You know?”

“Does this have to do with Belikov?”

I gaped at him. “Do you honestly think that I only think about him?”

“Not the only thing, but the majority.”

That was at least true, but there was no way I was going to give Adrian the satisfaction of calling me out on my stupid hormonal induced thought process. I scoffed. “Actually, this has to do with you, but I believe that I’ll just head up to bed. Your cigarettes are giving me a head, as usual, and I don’t think you’re even near being sober. So, if you’ll excuse me…”

I about made it through the door, but he grabbed me by my upper arm. I turned my head just to see him throw his cigarette to the ground and stomp it out. I frowned at his littering.

“Adrian, what’s this—?”

“I thought we called a truce.”

“A truce?” I looked up into his eyes and I realized that they were an enchanting green. I smiled. “Oh, that truce.”

“Yes, that truce.” His smile wasn’t as relaxed as usual, but it wasn’t forced. At all. He pulled me closer. “Now, what’s on your mind?”

“Well…” Really, how was I going to tell him? I inwardly groaned. “Eddie and Mia. I was just with that in this little café. They were trying to convince me to give you a chance rather than rejecting you constantly.”

“Did you tell them that you haven’t realized your love for me? That you love your mentor?” He was amused by this? What?

“How can you take this so lightly?”

“You wouldn’t have even thought to tell me if you hadn’t had some feelings toward me.” That stupid smile.

“What do you—?”

His lips crashing onto mine drowned out any complaints I had. It definitely wasn’t the short kiss we shared a few weeks before, but it was obviously not the same as the kisses Dimitri and I shared. And yet, I couldn’t pull away. I melted into his frame when he pulled me even closer.

“What’s going on here?”

I froze. My favorite aftershave taunted me then.

Adrian released me and took a step back. “Exactly what it looked like, Guardian Belikov.”

I suddenly found the grass blades rather interesting and canceled out any arguing between Adrian and Dimitri. They were both in their twenties and were acting like children. Yeah, normally, I’d be happy about two great looking guys arguing over me, but it was beginning to be really annoying.

Dimitri randomly grabbed me by my upper arm and directed me into guest housing, ignoring Adrian’s protests.

I did my best to slide my arm out of his grasp. I groaned in frustration when I realized it was a failed attempt. “Uh, ow.”

“Oh, sorry.” His hand fell back to his side.

I looked up at him to see anger and embarrassment in his features. Upset, I reached over and grabbed his hand. “Are you okay?”

“I don’t really approve of Ivashkov.”

“Well, that’s pretty obvious.”

He sighed. “Could you please be a little more careful?”

“I am being carefully. What you saw was one inno—a small, meaningless kiss. Nothing for you to become jealous over.”

“I’m not—”

“Please,” I said with an eye roll, “I know you better than that. You always stay calm, even in the most stress-inducing situations. All of that disappears whenever Adrian’s around. Seriously, there is no competition.”

We stopped in front a door then and he dug in his pocket for, I guess, a key. “If I tell you that I was a little jealous, would you not hang it over my head?”

“Yeah, I guess,” I shrugged. Damn. I released his hand. “I’d best get going then. I’ll—”

“No.” He opened the door. “I’d like to speak to you in private, if you don’t mind.”

I felt my cheeks heat up. “What happened to—?”

“Come on.” He pushed me into the room and shut the door behind him. “Go on and take a seat. I’ll be there in a minute. I obliged and walked over to the chairs by the window, carefully avoiding the bed.

I was beyond confused. Nothing ever went right when I ever had privacy with Dimitri. Well, it went right for a while and then some stupid interruptions happen. Yes, he confessed that he loved me recently and I told him that I returned his feelings. It was true. I was in love with Guardian Dimitri Belikov. And yet, it was such a complicated relationship…if that’s what you could call it.

I flashed him my best smile as he dragged the other chair across from me and sat down with that impossible grace for someone of his stature. “What’d you like to talk about, Captain Fuchsia?”

His eyes slightly narrowed at his childhood nickname. “Various things, but I’d like to mainly focus on your field experience marks right now.”

I scowled. “If this has to do with what St—Guardian Alto marked, sorry. I was having an extremely off day and—”

Dimitri dismissed my rambling with a wave of his hand. “That’s not what I want to discuss. Everyone makes mistakes. You need to stop stressing over it.” He caught my hands in his. “I’d prefer to discuss how you’re dealing with guarding Christian.”

“Well...” I focused on the slightly worn leather of his duster. “It’s not awful, but I don’t really understand why I couldn’t be guarding Lissa for this too when we all know I’ll be her guardian when we graduate.”

“One day you may not be though. You could be guarding someone else.”

I glared at him. “I wouldn’t let anything happen to her.”

“I know that.” His gently squeezed my hands. “It’s better to be safe than sorry. The bond is a handicap for the both of you, so it’s just as much a test for her as it is for you.”

“But—”

“Rose, we’re doing you both a favor. Please realize that.”

I frowned. “It’s like they think I’ll make a mistake and something bad will happen.”

Until I felt his forehead against mine, I didn’t realize that we were leaning toward each other. “They don’t think that. They actually think you’ll be one of the best guardians out there. And, if it makes you feel any better, Rose, I’ll be by your side the whole time.”

That calmed me down. I had a comment to that, but I just couldn’t bring myself to say it. I stared into the deep depths of his eyes and heard my breath hitch. Whatever the case, the glint in his eyes was alluring.

He smiled. “Yes?”

“Uh…” I glanced at his lips next, wanting nothing more than to just kiss him like my life depended on it. “I’m…not sure…”

He then sat back, letting my hands go and his fall onto his lap. The smile he wore was almost…smug.

I glanced at him slapped his knee. “Dimitri Belikov, you ass!”

He chuckled. “What?”

“You’re—”

One of his eyebrows slowly rose mockingly. “What?”

“You’re, well, a tease.” I couldn’t help but glare at him. “It’s either that or you’re bipolar.”

Dimitri let out a whole-hearted chuckle. “I assure you that I’m neither, Roza.”

I grinned. “I’d really love for you to prove me wrong.”