FROSTBITE -- CHAPTER 10
My mother followed close behind me, and we surveyed the scene. We lost a few Guardians, and I saw 5 Strigoi surrounding Arthur and Dimitri. The rest were all dead, and the humans were lying to the side. I ran towards Art and Dimitri before my mother could stop me.
I staked the nearest one in the back and got knocked away hitting the window with force and falling on the ground outside. That hurt like a bitch but now my mother and Arthur and Dimitri were only fighting 4. I pulled up my aching body, feeling some of the glass in my back. Other guardians were joining the fighting trio, and since they were dealing with the Strigoi now, I could relax a bit more. I was really tired, I thought closing my eyes would be wonderful now.
But a scream alerted me of something wrong. I jumped up and used magic to shove the furniture away from the door, 2 Strigoi managed to get through the cellar window and were advancing on the Drosdovs. I summoned the sword of Gryffindor from my locket before entering the room fully and wasted no time beheading the nearest one. The other one was a bit more difficult, I stabbed him in the back to get him away from the Moroi he just bit and I was thrown quite roughly against the wall, hitting my head against the wall and making me cry out in pain as some of the glass in my back pushed in further.
The Strigoi turned me around and bit into my neck. Bastard. I started to feel a bit weak, but I summoned the sword and stabbed him through my stomach, pulled the sword out of my own stomach, and as it turned out his crotch and spun around to behead him in one fell swoop. I fell down on my knees and then crawled to the woman who was bitten. With a shock I saw her look like Mia. I touched her neck to feel her pulse and was startled when she opened her eyes. Then I just lay down next to her and closed my eyes. This was ridiculous, really ridiculous. I must have fallen asleep because I had a dream, but the dream I had was strange.
I was standing on the porch where I met Adrian, only it was summer. The air was balmy and warm, and the sun hung bright in the sky, coating everything in a golden light. I haven't been in this much sun since my last life. All around, the mountains and valleys, everything was green and alive. Birds sang everywhere. Adrian was there leaning against the porch's railing, looking sexy as hell. He did a double take when he saw me. "Oh. Didn't expect to see you here." He smiled. "I was right. You are devastating when you're cleaned up. I looked down, I was surprised by my outfit; it was familiar to me. The leather pants and white crop top I was so fond of, with black heels and my leather jacket, were on the chair near Adrian.
But what was strange was I wore Lissa's chotki and my mom's eye pendant around my wrist. He had deep emerald green eyes, my eyes making him more gorgeous in the full daylight. His eyes did that slow torturous look trailing over my every curve, making me feel a little hot and maybe a little turned on. "You left me with a lot of questions, little Dhampir," Adrian said in a quiet voice. "After you touched me last night, your Aura went black; it was dark before, but not like that. I didn't want to let go, darling, and that scares me. You don't know how bad it scares me. Because I have never felt that free in my entire life. It was better than any drug or drink. It was like having a monumental weight lifted from my shoulders."
"Why did you let go then?" Adrian was silent for a moment, and I was glad because it gave me an opportunity to think. Could I trust him? I think so, based on what I read about him. "Because I saw what it was doing to you." He finally said, and I looked at him. "How bad did it look?" "The light was leaving you, you collapsed, and all I could see was the rage and grief pulling you under." "I am shadow kissed --" "What's that mean?" "I died once, and then I came back." Wonder lit his face. "Ah, interesting . . . and when you touched me?" "When you use your powers, it leaves darkness, that rage and bad feelings, the depression. I take it from Lissa, and I took it from you." He looked at me, astonished. He was examining me. "You took it from me several hours ago. Your aura was pitch black, but now it's yellow like sunshine. Where-" I awoke with a start in Dimitri's arms. He was carrying me to the plane. I managed to miss the drive and whatever happened after the battle. Dimitri had a couple of injuries, but the fact that he could carry me meant that he was still fine. I just snuggled back into his arms and closed my eyes I was tired and comfortable, and any excuse to be in his arms right now was fine by me. Even if he goes back to avoiding me after this.
The entire trip back to the lodge I was snuggled in Dimitri's duster strapped up in a chair on the jet. I knew I had a concussion, and I blacked out.
Death met me in my dreamscape. I was glad about that. I really needed to talk to him. The ghost’s presence was getting to be too much, and I was getting injured too often. Death removed my mother's memories of me using the fire, and also the evidence of the burnt Strigoi. It was not safe for this to be known, not even by my mother or Dimitri, at least not now. Especially if he was going to turn and tell all his buddies about me and Lissa. I agreed, and I was grateful for his help. He told me that I was injured quite badly, and I was bleeding a lot when they found me. I was bandaged up for now, and everyone was really worried about me bleeding out. Lissa will heal me as soon as she sees me, though. I had a cracked rib, and by stabbing myself straight through, I did damage some of my internal organs, and my injuries and the fact that the Strigoi took more than enough blood from me made me feel weak and sluggish. "What happened after the battle?" "The Guardians managed to kill all 30 Strigoi. You took out 10, and they lost 4 Guardians. Dimitri and your mother are fine a bit injured, but they will survive. You managed to save Mia's mom, which will change her opinion and attitude toward you. One of the humans got away and managed to warn Isiah, he is the one in charge at Spokane. That has to happen for the events to unfold there. You will be able to save Mason, but you need to be there.” I was glad about that, he did not need to die. It wasn't fair. Death told me it was time to go, and I felt myself waking up. Lissa was sitting next to me, worry clear in her eyes. She looked really weak and they helped her off the bed and to one of the feeders to get her strength back. This was hard on her. My mother and Dimitri were also there. "Rosemarie, what did I tell you about these situations you keep getting into?" I laughed weakly.
"We made it, and you were ready to give up," I told her, grinning. I was still a little shaky, but I felt better. My mother smiled at me, "I am proud of you." "Thank you, Mom." She hugged me tightly and told Dimitri that she would meet him in the war room so they could give their accounts of what happened. He nodded and waited for my mother. "Rose, you cannot take risks with your life like that. What about Lissa?" He reprimanded. "I'm not that easy to kill, Comrade," I told him, smirking. He was fighting for control again. His hands are clenched next to his body. "I am just glad you are safe." He turned around and left the room. I heaved a sigh. Irritated and tired of being in bed. As soon as he left, I went to the bathroom to take a shower and get into my pajamas before snuggling into the bed. I was tired, and my sleep schedule was messed up completely again.
When I woke again, I was confused. It was dark outside, and I had no idea what day it was, but I was starving. I got dressed and fixed my face and hair before going out of the room. When I opened the door, Mia was standing there looking awkward, her hand poised to knock. "Mia!" I said, surprised; she was the last person I would have expected to see here. "Hey, uh, I wanted to thank you for saving my mom." Her eyes were a little red rimmed and it seemed as if she had a rough night. "Is your mom ok? I passed out before I could make sure. . ." I trailed off awkwardly. "Yes, she was weak from blood loss, but she managed to pull through. My dad is here too." "I am glad. Listen, Mia, I am really sorry about what I said about your parents. I was angry, and it was just uh- word vomit, I guess. It was wrong of me to say and I did not mean it." "I am sorry for all the things I have done too, I deserved it, I guess. Do you think we can maybe start over? Be friends?" I smiled at her.
"I would like that." I surprised her by hugging her. "Tell your mom that I am glad she is ok." She nodded gratefully and then left. This day just got really weird I walked towards the dining room and was surprised to see a lot of people congregated in one of the huge banquet halls.