FROSTBITE -- CHAPTER 8
I kept practicing, and I opted out of the skiing with Lissa, Christian, and Mason, telling him he should invite Meredith; I needed to train. Mason frowned, but I was not going to play with his feelings. It was the day Rose and co actually reached the ski Lodge, and so many things have happened to us now. I was done with my homework, and while Lissa and the rest went for the skiing, I decided to go for a run. It was dark, but the path was well-lit, and I would not have any accidents. I knew I was boring Rose, but I just did not feel like playing when lives were at stake.
Yeah, I know I was boring as hell. I ran the trail 5 times before deciding to go in. I did see Lissa and Christian walking back and they were laughing at something. She was still safe and happy, and they seemed to be going back to the room to ... I pulled out of her head. Then took another round, spotting Mason and Meredith still skiing. Mason got hurt, and I knew it would be just a sprain. I was already called boring Rose I was not going to reprimand him for being stupid. After Mason and Meredith were safely back at the lodge and I was done with my cool down stretches, I walked back to the lodge on my own. But I went through a different doorway than them to avoid Mason completely. He wasn't getting the message. He kept trying to flirt with me, and hang out with me. I wouldn't mind it if he wanted to do that as friends, but his thoughts were too loud not to ignore it.
I was not interested in a relationship at all. What I had with Dimitri was complicated enough. The entrance I used was set behind a huge, open porch with an ornate wooden railing. The porch was built into the side of the mountain and had a breathtaking view of the other peaks and valleys around us- if you felt like standing around long enough in freezing temperatures to admire it. The other reason I took this way was that, according to the book, I was going to meet Adrian Ivashkov today. I was curious how he looked since there wasn't a movie out for Frostbite or the rest of the VA series. I memorized all of Rose’s lines, too; this was going to be epic.
I walked up the steps to the porch, stomping the snow off my trainers. A thick scent of both spicy and sweet hung in the air. Something about it felt familiar, but before I could identify it, a voice suddenly spoke to me out of the shadows. "Hey, little Dhampir." Startled out of my thoughts, I was glad that I had picked the right entrance because Adrian was there. He was leaning against the wall not far from the door. He brought a cigarette up to his mouth, took a long drag, and then dropped it to the floor. He stamped the butt out and smiled at me. That was the scent, I realized, of clove cigarettes. Warily, I stopped and crossed my arms as I took him in. He was a little shorter than Dimitri but not as lanky as some other Moroi ended up looking. A long charcoal coat- probably made out of some insanely expensive cashmere-wool blend fit his body exceptionally well, and the leather dress shoes he wore indicated more money still. He had brown hair that looked like it had been purposely styled to appear unkept, and his eyes were either blue or green. He was cute and really gorgeous, not at all what I had pictured.
"Do I know you?" I asked before I could stop my mouth. This was not what I was supposed to say. His eyes swept over my body. I was used to the attention by now but most of them wasn't so obvious. I was wearing my black running pants, trainers, and a form-fitted thermal shirt, my hair was in a ponytail, and I was sweaty and gross. I should have thought this through. "Just saying hi, that's all." he shrugged. I waited for more, but when he stuffed his hands in his pockets, I decided to go. I took only a couple of steps before he talked again. "You smell good, you know," he suddenly said. I looked at him, astonished. "You must be joking, I am sweaty and gross." I wanted to walk away now, a little creeped out. It was cute with Rose when I read it, but now, not so much. "Sweat isn't a bad thing," he said, leaning his head against the wall and looking upward thoughtfully. "Some of the best things in life happen while sweating. Yeah, if you get too much of it, and it gets old and stale, it turns pretty gross. But on a beautiful woman? Intoxicating. If you could smell things like a vampire does, you'd know what I'm talking about. Most people mess it all up and drown themselves in perfume. Perfume can be good . . . especially if you get the one that goes with your chemistry. But you only need a hint. Mix about 20 percent of that with 80 percent of your own perspiration . . . mmm." He tilted his head to the side and looked at me. "Dead sexy." Yeah, super creepy. But really hot.
"Well, thanks for the hygiene lesson," I said. "But I don't own any perfume, and I'm going to go shower all this hot sweaty action off me. Sorry." He pulled out a pack of cigarettes and offered it to me. He moved only a step closer, but it was enough for me to smell something else on him. Alcohol. I shook my head at the cigarettes, and he tapped one out for himself. "Bad habit," I said, watching him light it. "One of many," he replied. He inhaled deeply. "You here with the St. Vlads?" "Yes." "So you're going to be a guardian when you grow up." "Yes." He exhaled smoke, and I watched it drift away into the night. Heightened vampire senses or not, it was a wonder he could smell anything around those cloves. "How long until you grow up? He asked. "I might need a guardian."
"I graduate in the spring. But I'm already spoken for. Sorry." Surprise flickered in his eyes. "Yeah? Who is he?" "She's Vasilisa Dragomir." "Ah." His face split into a huge grin. "I knew you were trouble as soon as I saw you. You're Janine Hathaway's daughter." He said. That annoyed me. "Rose Hathaway, yes." He extended a gloved hand to me that I hesitantly took. "Adrian Ivashkov." "And you think I'm trouble," I muttered.
He laughed; I had to admit he had a nice laugh. It made me think of warm caramel dripping from a spoon. "Handy, huh? Each of our reputations precedes us." I shook my head. "You don't know anything about me. And I know only about your family. Nothing about you." "Want to?" he asked tauntingly. "No, thank you." The sound of footsteps behind me made me turn. Mia came around the path and walked up the steps. When she saw us, she stopped suddenly. "Hey, Mia." She glanced between the two of us, and I wondered if she had heard about the rescue of her mother. "Another guy?" she asked. Probably not yet. From her tone, you would have thought I had my own harem of men. Adrian gave me a questioning, amused look. I gritted my teeth and decided that I was done for the night. "Mia, this is Adrian Ivashkov. Adrian turned on the same charm he'd used on me. He shook her hand. Always a pleasure to meet a friend of Rose's, especially a pretty one." He spoke like he and I had known each other since childhood. "We aren't friends," I said pissed off at her. "Rose only hangs out with guys and psychopaths," Mia said. Her voice carried the usual scorn she harbored for me, but there was a look on her face that showed that Adrian had clearly caught her interest. "Well," he said cheerfully, "since I'm both a psychopath and a guy, that would explain why we're such good friends." "You and I aren't friends either," I told him,
He laughed. "Always playing hard to get, huh?" "She's not that hard to get," Mia said. "Just ask half the guys at our school." Mia sniped and that pissed me off as well. I mean, seriously, I'll never live Rose's reputation down. "Yeah, and you can ask the other half about Mia. If you can do a favor for her, she'll do lots of favors for you." Payback bitch, ok that was kind of petty. A flicker of embarrassment passed over her face. "At least I don't do them for free." Adrian made some cat noises, and I felt like punching him and Mia. "Are you done? It's past your bedtime, and the grown-ups would like to talk now." Mia's youthful looks were still a very sore point for her. "Sure, I have better things to do anyway." She left in a huff. Adrian and I stood there in silence. He took out the cigarettes again and lit another. "You and Vasilisa are probably like sisters, huh?" He asked and I narrowed my eyes at him. " Yes."
"How is she?" He asked again, and then I remembered that he had heard about her power. "What do you mean?" He shrugged, and he was kind of overdoing the casualness. "I don't know, I mean you guys ran away . . . and there was that stuff with her family and Victor Dashkov …" I looked at him puzzled for a moment trying to see something, Rose didn't have the patience to see. "Lissa is fine, but I sense that is not why you want to know. What is this about?" He shrugged. "I've got to go." Since he wasn't going to tell me, I might as well leave. I had a feeling that he would be visiting my dreams soon.
"Are you sure?" He sounded mildly disappointed. Mostly he just seemed as cocky and amused as before. Something about him intrigued me, and he was way hotter than I had imagined. That might be a little difficult for me to ignore; if he turned on the charm, I might not be able to resist. He had an accent too, and that seemed to be my undoing. "I thought it was time for the grownups to talk. Lots of grown-up things I'd like to talk about." "It's late, I'm tired and in need of a shower, and your smoke is giving me a headache," I told him tiredly. "I suppose that's fair." He drew in on the cigarette and let out the smoke. "Some women think they make me look sexy." "I think you smoke them so you have something to do while thinking up your next witty line." He choked on the smoke caught between inhaling and laughing. "Rose Hathaway, I can't wait to see you again. If you're this charming while tired and annoyed and this gorgeous while sweaty and in workout clothes, you must be devastating at your peak." I smirked at him, channeling Klaus. "If by devastating you mean you should fear for your life, then yes, you might be right. But I do clean up nicely when the occasion calls for it. Good night, Adrian." I opened the door and walked through it. Before I said something else, word vomit will be my undoing one of these days. I did not want to give any guy the idea that they had a chance. It was not me. "I'll see you soon." I shut my mouth and walked away before saying something else.
This was bad, Mason was easy; I did not see him in that way; he was more like a brother. Christian was really hot and had he turned on the charm towards me, I would not have hesitated. Dimitri made me feel alive and he was really gorgeous and had an accent. But Adrian was not supposed to be this gorgeous; how would I fight it if he actually made an effort to charm me? Would I want to stop him? Could I?"