Chapter 17:

After shaking out of Janine’s grasp I managed to make it to the hallway before I was stopped again. Her eyes were full of hope and worry. Lissa came up behind her, followed by Adrian. All of them looking at me in hopes of a plan.

“Rose…she’s in the tunnels.” I said. Rose was in more trouble than ever if she really was in those tunnels. Strigoi were lurking in them, waiting for the sun to go down to snatch their next victim. But if five teenagers wondered down there, unarmed and inexperienced, well, the Strigoi would love that.

Janine’s brow furrowed at that. “You’re sure of this?” Well I wasn’t positive but it was worth a shot. I nodded.  Janine nodded back and picked up her phone. I stopped her before she could make the call. “What?” She sounded irritated and annoyed.

Adrian leaned against the wall staring at both me and Janine while Lissa looked frantically around, wanting to do anything to help. I sighed. “You can’t call the Guardian Council or the Moroi government.”

Janine looked at me in surprise. “Why not.” She looked down at the phone in her hand. Frowning at it before looking back up at me. “They need to know where they are.”

I shook my head. “Even if they did, do you know how long it would take them to reach Rose and the others? We’re faster, and closer.”

Janine raised an eyebrow at that. “What are you suggesting?”

I took in a deep breath. “That we go after her.”

I was surprised that Janine didn’t argue with that. She wanted her daughter safe just as much as I did. And after forty minutes of planning with the guardians from all the schools they finally agreed with it and followed us out. I was about to get in one of the vans when I spotted Lissa following us. Turning away from the others I shook my head at her.

She placed a hand on her hip. A gesture similar to the one Rose used when she was told no. They really weren’t that far apart. “I want to come.” She said in an even voice.

I shook my head again. “It’s too dangerous.”

Lissa rolled her eyes at that. “This is Rose we’re talking about. Everything she does is dangerous.”

Despite my worry for Rose and the teenager’s safety I couldn’t help but smile at that. “Right now Rose needs you safe. Why do you think she left you here?” Lissa considered this. I continued before she could reply. “It would be too dangerous for you to go.”

Lissa looked at me evenly in the eye. “Fine.  Just promise me you’ll keep her safe and save her from whatever trouble she’s in?”

I nodded. It wasn’t hard to keep that promise. Eventually Lissa turned and walked back to the lodge, the snow crunching beneath her feet. The sun shining down on her pale head made her look more of an angel than a vampire.

We decided to take three vans. One to search the town, while the other two searched in and around the tunnels. We all piled in, every seat was taken. Janine sat next to me, as stiff and ready for action as I was. No one talked as we traveled down the road at high speed.

I glanced around the van. Every guardian had on their gear, stakes, guns and dark clothing. Most of them were from St. Vladimir’s, only two had came from a different school. I picked out the best guardians in this van, only because we will be the ones going down in the tunnels filled with Strigoi.

The drive was agonizing. Every minute that went by I couldn’t help but wonder if that was Rose’s last moment. But I knew I couldn’t think that way. Rose was strong, and brave, she will survive.

Eventually we arrived at the mall. The sun was up now, illuminating our chance to sneak in, but providing us the wonderful opportunity of trapping the Strigoi inside the tunnels.

The mall was packed with people. And occasionally we would get stares, and I couldn’t help but think what a sight we must be. A group of thirteen dressed in all black, but we didn’t worry about being seen. Even if there were humans working for Strigoi watching us. We were the ones trying to find the Strigoi anyway.

We had no specific idea on where the tunnels were located. So when one of the guardians pointed out that it was pointless, I nearly lost my self control.

“They’re here.” I nearly growled. “We’re just not looking hard enough.”

Janine tapped me on the shoulder. At first I thought it was to warn me that I was speaking down to another guardian. But she was looking somewhere else. My eyes followed hers to see a janitor closet just on the far end of the mall.

“Did anyone check that out?” Janine asked, taking a step closer in the direction of the closet.

We all shook our heads, and headed towards it. I went first, with Janine bringing up the back of the group. We may look ridiculous to the other shoppers, but this was a strategy we were taught at a young age.

The strongest and fastest one of the group went first when there was only one entrance. This was incase a Strigoi jumped at us right when we opened the door. The one who was the next in line for strongest and fastest went last, and since Janine appeared to be the weakest one of the group I put her last. The Strigoi could be easily fooled by her height and small size.

When I opened the door I braced myself for anything to pop out. Instead I was faced with a set of stairs going down. My heart skipped a beat. The tunnels.

Rose I’m coming.

The stairs were dirty and smelled pretty nasty as we made our way down, Janine shut the door, closing off whatever light we had. But our enhanced eye sight allowed us to see well in the dark.

We reached the bottom. It wasn’t so much a tunnel as a narrow corridor, lined in grime-caked cement. Ugly fluorescent lights were embedded sporadically along the walls. The passage went off to our left and right boxes of ordinary cleaning and electrical supplies sat around.

I glanced around, putting myself between the guardians and the empty space before us. We waited for the longest time. It was strange. There was nothing, no sign of Strigoi anywhere.

Taking this as a good sign we walked down to the right and found more of the same. We passed some black writing on one of the walls. I stopped and looked at it, It was a list of letters.

D

B

C

O

T

D

V

L

D

Z

S

I

Some had lines and x marks next to them, but for the most part the message was incoherent. Janine noticed my scrutiny.

“What is it?”

I shook my head. “I don’t know. Some sort of list…” a list of Moroi Royals…

My heart beat faster. B for Badica, Z for Zeklos, I for Ivashkov…

“Janine…” I whispered. True fear in my voice. “This is a list of---“

I was cut off by a scream that shrieked and pierced my ears. And in the next moment a Strigoi lunged forward. She was old, I could tell by the look in her eyes. The other guardians prepared for battle but I was faster and stronger.

I pulled out my stake just as she landed on me. Knocking the wind out of me as we both landed on the ground. My back up against the cold stone with her snarling on top of me. Her red ringed eyes staring down at me full of hunger and lust.

I pushed her off with as much force as I could, the other guardians circling around to cut her off from running away. She looked around snarling and snapping at all of us. But she posed me as the bigger threat. So when she lunged for me Janine was there, between both of us. Shoving her stake between the Strigoi’s ribs. Causing a blood curtailing scream to echo on the walls, before falling limp into silence.

Janine remained there, staring at the girl. Before pulling her stake out of it’s chest and walked back over to me. “Let’s go.” She panted.

I wanted to stay, but knew it was no use; we had searched the tunnels for more Strigoi. Only we found none. It seemed the Strigoi Janine killed was the only one present. We left the tunnels shortly after, I had never felt so defeated in my life. Rose wasn’t there, but it also meant that she was still alive somewhere. And maybe somewhere safer than here.

We called the other guardians from the vans and reported what happened. We agreed to drive around town, hoping we could find something that would drive us to Rose and the others. A short time after calling the guardian’s from van one, my walkie-talkie broke out in the silent van.

Janine and I jumped. I put the receiver up to my mouth. “What was that?”

I could barely hear him when he said: “we found Mia.”

My heart raced as we traveled down the road at insanely high speeds. The guardians gave us directions. And by the time we got there we were in a suburb, filled with quiet and peaceful homes. Across the street we spotted the black van that belonged to the guardians. They were parked in front of a white home with blue shutters.

Before the car could even pull into a stop Janine and I jumped out, running fast towards the house. Rose. I’m coming.

The door was open letting in the sunlight. I could hear the other guardians following suit. Although I had one goal and one goal only. Find Rose.

The home was a wreak, the fish tank had blown to pieces with glass shards scattered all over the ground. Two Strigoi laid decapitated. But they were the least of my worries right now. I needed to find her.

I didn’t have to look far. The other guardians crowded in around a screaming and thrashing Rose. She was huddled against Mason, and from the way he was laying I knew he was dead. A sword was clutched in her hand as she tried to fend us off.

I looked into her eyes then, willing for her to recognize me. She looked scared, hurt, and revengeful. Her eyes focused on mine but looking right through me. She didn’t recognize any of us. She only saw us as threats, threats to Mason.

Her hair was a wild mess. As well as her clothes. And as I got closer I could see burns on her wrists. Christian. He must have used magic to free them.

Janine and I as well as a couple of guardians approached her. She leapt up, true fear in her eyes. Lifting the sword and holding it protectively over Mason’s body. “Stay back.” She warned. “Stay away from him.”

We kept coming.

“Stay back!” She yelled. Janine and the other guardians stopped. Expect for me.

“Rose,” I said softly. “Drop the sword.”

Her hands shook as she swallowed hard. “Get away from us.”

“Rose.”

Hesitantly, she came to, her eyes focusing on me, realization flashed in her eyes. For a moment I thought I’d lost her. Lost what was sane of her anyway. My heart fluttered as I started deeply into her eyes that were now scared and relieved.

“It’s okay. Everything’s going to be okay. You can let go of the sword.”

Her hands shook even harder as she fought to hold on to the hilt. “I can’t. I can’t leave him alone. I have to protect him.”

“You have.” I said sympathetically.

The sword fell out of her hands, landing with a loud clatter on the wooden floor. She followed it, collapsing on all fours.

My arms wrapped around her as I helped her up. This simple gesture of affection to the others would look like I was comforting my student. Which I was. But not in the way they thought of. I tugged her toward the door, but she refused to move just yet. I knew I needed to get her out of here. Away from all this death.

Her hands clutched my shirt, crumpling the fabric. Still keeping one arm around her, I smoothed her hair back away from her face. She was still so scared and hurt. It broke my heart. She leaned her head against me, and I continued stroking her hair, murmuring that I loved her and would never let that happen again, and how much I worried and cared for her. But all in Russian of course.

Guardians were spreading throughout the house, examining it inch by inch. A couple of them approached  us and knelt by the bodies Rose refused to look at.

“She did that? Both of them?” One of the guardians exclaimed.

Another picked up the sword that Rose had dropped. “That sword hasn’t been sharpened in years!”

A funny sound caught in her throat, something between a choke and a cry. I squeezed her shoulder comfortingly.

“Get her out of here, Belikov.” Janine said from behind us. I didn’t look at her, but I knew she was right. Rose had seen enough.

This time she went. I guided her out of the house holding onto her as she managed each step. She moved like a robot, doing everything the guardians told her. Not saying a word.

We eventually ended up on one of the Academy’s jets. Engines roared around us as the plane lifted off. I sat next to Rose thinking of how much this was going to change her life. And I silently cursed myself for letting her out of my sight, and for telling her about Spokane. If I hadn’t none of this would have happened. Mason wouldn’t have died and Rose wouldn’t have been scared for the rest of her life.

Mia tapped me on the shoulder then. I murmured to Rose that I would be right back and left her alone in her seat. Mia nodded to me, thanking me for getting up and leaving. She held a blanket in her hand. And when I took a seat in the back I could see her draping it over Rose.

They talked for a few minutes, then as if on cue Mia got up and grabbed Janine. Janine got up and walked over to where Rose was sitting. She barely got any words out before Rose started sobbing. Janine pulled her daughter to her chest, something so affectionate I didn’t even know Janine was capable of doing it.

The weather warmed up on the day of Rose’s molnija ceremony. In fact, it was so warm that a lot of the snow on campus began melting, running down the sides of the Academy’s stone buildings in slim, silvery streams. Winter was far from being over, so I knew everything would just freeze up again in a few days. For now, though, it felt as though the entire world was weeping.

I had learned that Rose and the other’s were barely hurt. Eddie had a lot of blood loss from the Strigoi. But we were positive that aside from the girl in the tunnels. The two Strigoi she beheaded were the only ones involved.

Rose’s burns were from Christian freeing her. Although I got most of the information out of the other three, since Rose refused to talk to anyone.

I canceled our trainings, although I knew telling Rose wasn’t necessary. She knew that it was the right thing to do.

The ceremony took place in the guardians’ building, in a large room we used for meetings and banquets. It wsa nothing at all like the great dining room at the resort. It was efficient and practical, like  the guardians were. The carpet was a bluish gray shade, low and tightly woven. The bare white walls held framed black-and-white photos of St Vladimir’s though the years. There were no other decorations or fanfare, yet the solemnity and power of the moment were palpable. All the guardians on campus---but no novices---attended. They milled around in the building’s main meeting room, hanging out in clusters but not talking. When the ceremony started, we fell into orderly ranks without being told and watched Rose.

She sat on a stool in the corner of the room, leaning forward with her hair hanging over the front of her face. Behind her a guardian named Lionel held a tattooist’s needle to the back of her neck. He did all the tattoo’s at the school.

Before he started, he had a conversation with Janine and Alberta.

After a few minutes he started doing her tattoo. Rose bit her lip, refusing to show how much pain the tattoo caused her. I smiled at that, she was one of the bravest and strongest novice I had ever met.

After it was done he allowed her to see it before bandaging it up. After that all the gathered guardians came up to her one by one. They each gave Rose some sort of sign of affection.

Alberta pulled Rose into a tight embrace saying something to her that I couldn’t make out.

I was next in line. Although I didn’t say anything when my turn came. But as always her eyes understood everything mine were saying. I was proud of her for pulling through and keeping the other three safe, even Mason who was dead, she had refused to leave his side. I was also hurt that she had to experience all this at a young age. She swallowed back tears as I rested one hand on her cheek, nodded, and walked away.

A couple of days later I was reading a Western novel in the gym. I hadn’t seen Tasha at all, and assumed she was off moping somewhere at my decline to be her guardian. She had asked again right after Rose’s ceremony. Although I had told her no once more. After seeing Rose’s face in that house when we found her. I knew I couldn’t leave her. She had so much to learn.

I wasn’t surprised to hear the gym door open and see Rose standing there. “I thought you might come by.”

“It’s time for practice.”

I shook my head. “No. No practice today. You still need to recover.”

“I’ve got a clean bill of health I’m good to go.” She said trying to sound like her old self.

I gestured to the chair beside me, “sit down, Rose.”

She hesitated before complying. I moved my own chair close to hers so that we sat directly across from each other. My heart fluttered as I looked into those dark eyes.

I had done a lot of thinking over the past few days and wanted her to know a few things.

“No one gets over their first kill…kills…easily. Even with Strigoi…well, it’s still technically taking a life. That’s hard to come to terms with. And after everything else you went through…” I sighed and reached out and caught her hand in mine. “When I saw your face…when we found you in that house…you can’t imagine how I felt.”

She swallowed. “How…how did you feel?”

“Devastated…grief-stricken. You were alive, but the way you looked…I didn’t think you’d ever recover. And it tore me apart to think of that happening to you so young.” I squeezed her hand. “You will recover---I know that now, and I’m glad. But you aren’t there. Not yet. Losing someone you care about is never easy.”

Her eyes dropped at that. “It’s my fault.” She said in a small voice.

“Hmm?”

“Mason. Getting killed.”

I felt a pain of compassion at the sound of her putting herself down. “Oh, Roza. No. You made some bad decisions…you should have told others when you knew he was gone…but you can’t blame yourself. You didn’t kill him.”

Tears brimmed in her eyes as she looked back up at me. “I might as well have. The whole reason he went there---it was my fault. We had a fight…and I told him about the Spokane thing, even though you asked me not to…”

One tear leaked out of the corner of her eye. My heart squeezed at seeing that as I delicately wiped the tear of her cheek. “You can’t blame yourself for that. You can regret your decisions and wish you’d one things differently, but in the end, Mason made his decisions too. That was what he chose to do. It was his decision in the end, no matter your original role.”

I had realized this after taking some thought into it. Mason had loved Rose, as much as I loved her. And seeing that happen. Was the exact reason why I couldn’t love her, not when we were both going to be Lissa’s guardians.

“I just wish I’d been able to…I don’t know, do anything…”

She pulled her hand from mine and stood up. “I should go. Let me know when you want to start practicing again. And thanks for…talking.”

I could tell by the hint in her voice something else was bothering her. Something about me and Tasha.

She started to turn; but I caught her off