The way that it should have been

Chapter 12

"Can you tell how close that the strigoi are to us right now?"

"Within twenty miles."

I nodded because I didn't really know what else to say about that. Knowing that she can feel when strigoi are near, just reinforced my knowledge that she is without a doubt the most remarkable woman that I have ever even been blessed enough to meet or know. And it lessened, very minutely, the worry that a strigoi could, and might possibly would, be able to sneak up on her one day.

Or at least they would try to sneak up on her. But with her being able to sense them up to twenty miles away, there is just no way possible for them to sneak up on her. Unless one used others as a distraction and snuck up on her that way. Which I hoped and prayed never happened.

"How many strigoi have you killed Roza?"

There was a very lengthy pause between my question and her answer, which started to concern me greatly.

"Seven, in the United States." I barely heard her eventually whisper.

'Damn, she's killed just as many as I have. And she hasn't even graduated from the yeblya academy yet.' I thought to myself. (fucking)

'Wait!! She just said, 'seven in the United States'. So does that mean that she's killed outside of the United States?!' I asked myself.

Taking a deep breath, I tried to speak as calmly as I possibly could. I knew how difficult it is for guardians to talk about their kills. And she IS a guardian regardless of her graduation status. So trying my best not to cause her anymore pain, than was absolutely necessary, by discussing her kills. I did not want to cause harm to lyubov' moya by the way that I worded my question. (my love)

"Roza, you said that you have killed 'seven in the United States.' So does that mean that you have killed outside of the United States?"

"Yes." She once again whispered eventually.

"How..."

I swallowed because already knowing that she has made seven kills. I was more than a little afraid to hear the answer to the question that I was about to ask.

"... how many kills have you made outside of the United States Roza?"

She was so quiet and for so long that I was cringing in fear and trepidation on the inside.

"Fifteen." She whispered even quieter this time.

'My God, she is seven-yeblya-teen years old, and she has already killed twenty-two yeblya strigoi!!!! She has killed five more strigoi than she even has years on the planet!!' I thought to myself in silent anguish. I didn't know what to say or how to react, so I reached out and squeezed her hand in loving reassurance and stayed quiet for a while. After all, that just isn't exactly something that you congratulate someone on. It is more something that you grieve with them on. (fucking, fucking)

Moving my hand from her hand to her knee I eventually asked her. "Does Alberta know about all of this?"

"No, no one at the academy knows about any of what happened while we were away except for Lissa of course. When baba brought us to Turkey, he pretty much adopted Lissa, and she loves him to death. She has actually called him baba a few times because she heard me call him that so much, but she tries to remember to call him uncle." She laughed lightly with that revelation. (daddy, daddy)

"She actually had a lot of fun watching the two of us trying to talk circles around each other and out logic each other. Of course, it was quite fun play arguing with someone who thinks the same way that I do and just as quickly." Now she was smiling happily, most likely at the fact that she and her father, whoever he is, are so much alike.