With or Without You

Chapter 15

Dimitri wasn't the only one to notice Rose's sexy attire. Adrian, Grigor, and several of Abe's private Guardians took a good look at Rose's ass when she came downstairs in her almost painted-on pants. If she would not be accompanied by six-foot-seven inches of highly trained muscle, Abe might even have considered ordering her back upstairs to change. However, recognizing Belikov would not be letting Rose out of his sight for even a moment, he begrudgingly said nothing.

"Any thoughts on where you're taking these youngsters?" Abe asked Tasha, in his second dig about her age in less than an hour. He could tell it irritated the Moroi Lady however, she did not rise to the bait. Dressed in skinny jeans and a low-cut top with a leather jacket, her attire was not dissimilar to Rose's. Still compared to the rest of the party, given her age, she looked almost like a chaperone.

"Dimitri? You're more familiar with the city than me. Where would you suggest?" Even with his arm firmly wrapped around Rose's waist, Tasha was still using her most cloying tone when she spoke to the Russian Guardian.

Dimitri shrugged, not even turning to address Tasha directly. "I thought we'd go down to the strip and check things out from there."

It was dark outside, although being December in St. Petersburg, that was a given. Rose and Dimitri had enjoyed the two and a half hours of sunlight that day building their snowman. They had spent the rest of the day indoors while outside it was dark. So very different to their time in Novosibirsk, where the days had been much longer. Involuntarily Rose shivered, blocking from her mind the time she'd spent in Galina's mansion with Dimitri while he was undead.

It wasn't him, she told herself, refusing to remember his cruelties to her.

"Does this look ok?" Lissa asked Rose, noting she was the only woman wearing a dress. Celeste, like Tasha and Rose, had opted for pants.

"Will you be warm enough?" Rose asked, worried about the frigid temperatures and Lissa's short hemline.

"I have a long coat. Do the clubs have cloakrooms?"

"They do," Dimitri confirmed. "And they're heated. Once we're inside, you'll be fine. It's only between the car and the club that you'll need to rug up."

Donning warm coats over their clubwear, one of Abe's Guardians brought a van around, and the group piled in, ready for the brief trip to the St. Petersburg's nightclub district. On the way, Dimitri explained that while the clubbing scene here was lesser than what they'd find in Moscow, the clubs were smaller and more targeted. Live music, jazz, and even American music were options, depending on what the group desired.

"Let's start with an American-style club," Lissa suggested, not wanting to go too far out of her comfort zone first up. "I'd like to go to a more Russian venue later, but can we please start with something more familiar?" What Lissa didn't say was that even an American-style nightclub would be an unfamiliar experience. Given her age, and the fact Court didn't really have nightclubs, any club was going to be novel for her. Yes, she and Christian had been to a few parties at Lehigh, but a nightclub? No. She was nervous but looking forward to it.

"Sounds good to me," Rose said, picking up on Lissa's disquiet through their bond. Now she was no longer wearing the pendant to block Lissa's thoughts, she was finding herself checking in with her sister's thoughts more and more often.

Speaking in Russian to one of Abe's Guardians, Dimitri ascertained a club he'd known from several years ago was still operating and fitted the bill, so he directed the driver to take them there.

"We're having a night out, but remember there is always a risk of Strigoi. Who's carrying?"

The four Guardians Abe had sent with them all answered in the affirmative, confirming that they also would not be drinking. Grigor, Celeste, Eddie, and Rose also declared they were packing silver.