Rumor Has It

Rose,
Meet me at the old watch post at six.
Love,
D.

I scoffed while reading over the note that I woke up to. I was sitting on the porch step and it was a quarter after six.

As far as my knowledge and memory serve, Dimitri was never late.

I was just about to leave when I heard a twig snap. I cautiously stood up.

“It’s just me, Rose.”

I grumbled incoherently, but sat back down, nonetheless. “You’re late,” I muttered.

“I know and I’m sorry,” Dimitri said as he finally emerged from the tress. “Guardian Petrov called a last minute meeting.”

“Really?” Any irritation I felt dissipated. “Any new leads?”

He nodded, sitting down next to me. “As it turns out, Viktoria’s situation with Jesse Zeklos was useful. Attraction aside, she said that she was trying to get a few answers out of him about what he knew about when the wards were breached.”

It was common knowledge that Jesse was in the group by the wards when the Strigoi got onto campus. He just couldn’t bring himself to say anything about it. Or so he said.

“What’d he say?”

“He told her the direction in which the Strigoi had left.”

“That’s it? He didn’t see anything that would have canceled out the magic in the wards?”

He raised an eyebrow. “The only other information he gave was that the students that were gathered by the wards at the time were practicing magic.”

“What about those who were carried off?”

“It’s been days, Rose,” he said, almost wary. “It’s highly unlikely that we’ll be able to find them now. At least alive.”

I sighed and found myself leaning my head on his shoulder. He tensed for a few seconds, but then relaxed and wrapped his arm around my shoulders.

“I don’t understand,” I murmured.

“Understand what?” he asked, using his free hand to hold one of mine.

“How Strigoi got on campus.”

Dimitri grunted. “There’s nothing we can do now.”

I truly hated that there was nothing that could be done. Or that that’s what everyone was saying. Though, it was probably true. It had been days since the wards had been breached. Days since the student population of St. Vladimir’s decreased.

Before I could think to say anything, Dimitri had stood up, making me do so as well, and, instead of ushering me into the cabin like I thought he would, began leading me through the forest.

“Dimitri…”

He, more or less, ignored me. The only sign of acknowledgement of my speaking he had was a very small smile.

I tried to get his attention again. “Dimitri, where are you taking me?”

“Don’t be so impatient. If I tell you, it’ll take away from your early birthday present.”

I stopped walking and gaped at him. “Early birthday present?”

“Yes. An early birthday present.” He chuckled, grabbing my hand and practically dragging me behind him for a few seconds before I was able to control my footsteps.

“Can I have any hints as to what it is?”

“You’ll see in just a few minutes. Surely you can wait that long.”

“And you say you know me?” I snorted with laughter and let go of his hand.

Without any hesitation, he pulled me into a short, awkward embrace, and then tossed me partially over his shoulder. I protested by swinging my arms and legs, but they had little to no effect on him because he just laughed and continued carrying me.

I figured it was a lost cause to fight him after a moment or so. I just relaxed and looked down, smiling. “Y’know, I kind of like the view from here.”

“Rose,” he warned. I think there was a hint of playfulness in his tone.

“Hey, I’m being honest.” My smile grew. “Is it against the rules to tell an instructor he has a nice ass?”

“No more than a student/teacher relationship,” he said as he let me down.

I ignored that and began glancing around. “So, my present?”

Dimitri grinned. “Close your eyes.”

“Wha—”

“Just do as I say, alright?”

I closed my eyes and attempted to stand there patiently. “Okay, so…”

I felt him turn me around, place his hands over my eyes, and guided me somewhere quite a few yards away.

I could hear rushing water nearby. That’s weird.

Dimitri removed his hands from over my eyes and moved them down to either side of my waist. “Open your eyes.”

I did as he said and slowly began to take in my surroundings.

The rushing water I had heard came from what I think was a mini-waterfall and flowing into a pond. Directly in front of us was a blanket laid out with a basket and few candles aflame. To top it off, there weren’t as many trees, thanks to the pond, and there was a clear view of a starry sky.

It was pretty cliché, but I really appreciated that he took the time to set up a picnic. He brushed by me and gracefully sat down on the blanket, patting the spot next to him. I quickly walked over and sat down with a lot less grace than he had.

“How’d you manage to set this up?” I asked, wrapping my arms around him.

He put his arm around my shoulders again, pulling me closer. “I set it up right before I met you at the cabin.”

“What about the meeting?”

“The meeting happened right before I set this up.”

“Hmm…”

Dimitri briefly pressed his lips to my forehead. “So, what do you think?”

I glanced around again while thinking it over. “You never have struck me as the overly romantic type, but I must say that I’m impressed.”

“Just impressed?”

I shrugged, deciding to tease him. “Yeah. I mean, this happens all the time in movies and—” I cut myself off when he audibly sighed. I frowned and felt a tinge of guilt. “Dimitri—”

He chuckled once again. “Relax, Rose.”

I cursed under my breath, but said nothing else.

“If we weren’t at the academy, I’d be doing something completely different. But, as you know—”

“We can’t take the risk of everyone finding out. Not to mention, there are limited things here for dates.”

“Well, yes,” he said as he tightened his grip on my shoulder.

I sighed. “I wish it didn’t have to be this way. You have no idea how much I crave for everyone to know, not just Lissa, Adrian, and your family.”

“Actually, Rose, someone else knows.”

I pulled away so that I could get a better look at him. “Who? Please tell me that it’s not my mother.”

He shook his head. “No, your mother doesn’t know. Well, she doesn’t as far as I know.” He took a deep breath. “Guardian Petrov knows.”

I felt my eyes widen. “What? How?”

Dimitri took my hands in his. “She guessed. She approached me the other day and asked. I couldn’t lie to her.”

“Oh hell!” I groaned. “I’m expelled aren’t I? Or worse, you’re fired!”

He just laughed. “Definitely not. She seemed exceptionally calm about it. Though, she does want us to keep everything under wraps until trials.”

I gaped at him. “She doesn’t care?”

“Not from what I can tell.”

Enthusiastically, I slid my hands out of his and managed to tackle him. We just lay there for a matter of minutes in silence. It was comfortable.

Dimitri brushed some hair out of my face. “What am I going to do with you, Roza?”

“I have a few things in mind.” Amusement flashed in his eyes, but he shook his head. My smile faded. “You’re saying ‘no’.”

“I’m not saying ‘no’. I’m saying ‘not right now.’ I think it’d be better if we wait.”

Always a gentleman.

“All right, but I will hold you to that.” I then glanced over to the basket. “So, what’s in the basket?”

He turned his head to look at it. “Dinner. If you’d get up, we can eat.”

I grumbled, but rolled off him. He sat up and reached over to grab the basket.

“It’s nothing special, but I figured you wouldn’t mind,” he said as pulled out some plates, pizza, and brownies. My favorites.

I laughed. “I definitely don’t mind.”

We ate in silence, but, as usual, nothing had to be said between us.

Dinner under the stars on academy grounds wasn’t my ideal birthday present, not even my ideal date. But I certainly enjoy the alone time with Dimitri. Away from everyone else. Not facing the gossip temporarily.

Some time later, I sighed in contentment as I lay next to him, looking up at the sky. Our fingers were intertwined. And I was pretty sure the candles were close to dying out. I didn’t care though. The moment was perfect and needed to last for eternity.

He must have noticed the candles, though, because he lifted his free arm up to check his watch. “We’ve been out here for two hours.”

“So?” I turned my head to face him. “I’m perfectly fine out here.”

“As am I, but someone would come looking for us soon, if we stay.” Damn. He was right and there was no point in arguing.

After cleaning up, we began walking back through the forest, hand in hand.

“Thank you,” I said randomly.

He squeezed my hand and leaned down to kiss the top of my head. “It was my pleasure.”

I started to swing our hands back and forth. “So, is that all I get for my birthday? Or do you have something else for me?”

“As I’ve said: Be patient. You can wait two more days.”

“I take that you do have something else.” I smirked.

“Yes, I do. Subject closed.”

“So unfair,” I muttered.

Dimitri then pulled me even closer and pressed his lips to mine. I quickly responded by wrapping my arms around his neck. There was a small thud and I assumed he had tossed the basket aside when he slid his arms around my waist.

This kiss was one of the rare, lustful ones. One that made my legs weak. One that made me expect an earthquake at any second.

There was a groan somewhere nearby. Reluctantly, I broke the kiss and surveyed the area. “Did you hear something?”

“Yeah,” he said, eyebrows furrowing. “Stay here. I’ll be right back.” He cautiously began walking around the surrounding area. There was another groan and at unimaginable speed, he had his stake at the ready.

Ever impatient, I did my best to follow the direction of the noise.

Truth be told, I was just fed up with the interruptions. How difficult was it for Dimitri and me to not be interrupted just once? That’s all I ask. Really.

There was another groan and rustling of leaves. I looked around some more and, eventually, found the source.

“Dimitri,” I called.

“Rose?” He sounded further away than I thought he was, but his voice grew louder the more he spoke. “I thought I told you to stay where you were. Where are you?”

“Over here…” I took another few steps forward and couldn’t stifle a gasp.

“Why can’t you ever listen? I told you to stay put for your safety, not—” He stopped chastising me as he stepped next to me. He quickly put up his stake and took out his phone. He began reporting the scene.

I went to take another step forward, but Dimitri grabbed my hand and held me back. I looked back at him, only to see that he was shaking his head.

“Alberta wants us to stay here until she and a few other guardians arrive. And, as awful as it may seem, we can’t disturb him until we’re sure he doesn’t have a concussion or anything along those lines.”

I scoffed. Of course we couldn’t do anything. We never could. I then looked back down at who we were referring to.

Aaron. Lissa’s ex-boyfriend.