Turning Tables

Chapter 15

Rose

I closed the laptop and was silent. Any residual sexual tention was gone. Now we're just two statues sitting on the bed.

"We can't take Mikhail and Mia." Dimitri said.

I nodded. I knew that. "They won't leave us."

"Then lie." was his response.

"Being the leader sucks." He chuckled, but there was very little humor in it. The council had ordered us to take down that hide-out. Alone. There were no reinforcements coming. Not completing this mission was deserting and we would never be able to go back to guard Lissa. Maybe they would accept us in an Academy or something, where we would rot away.

Besides, they needed to be taken down. Even if it killed us. Even if we take down half, that is still six Strigoi that won't be hurting anyone ever again. It would still be six Strigoi that won't be able to guard that money or count it. Even if we didn't take down all of them, it would still destabilize them.

We had to go.

But Dimitri and I both knew the chances of getting out alive were slim.

"We will get rid of Sonya, Mikhail and Mia. Then we will talk strategy." He turned to me and his eyes were ablaze again. "I just got back, I am not letting my life go this easily. I am not letting you go that easily either."

I cursed my stubbornness right now. We could be having this conversation naked and sweaty, but it won't happen now. The knowledge of our impending doom was hanging over us too much. I wanted to believe Dimitri. I wanted to put my faith in him as I always had. I had believed him a God. Before Mason, before Dimitri, I might have thought we were invincible. Dimitri was the best out there, and I was the best because he had trained me. But I knew how quickly things turned sour. One move of the neck and Mason was gone. One stumble, one moment of not paying attention and Dimitri had died. It didn't matter how good you were, you can't see everything and Strigoi were just too damn fast to stop. Once they had you, you were already gone.

"Let's get our stories straight first and put our game faces on."

He nodded and followed my lead. I slapped myself on the cheeks a few times, hoping to return some color to them.

We walked into the living room, Mia was obviously disappointed. We weren't gone long, and although it had been enough time for a quickie, the look on our faces and the lack of backwards clothing, tousled hair and flushed cheeks certainly gave away our lack of amorous activity.

"What happened?" Mia asked.

"Hans called." She threw her hands up in the air. Almost more frustrated than we were. Sonya smiled a little but hid most of it behind her hand. Mikhail was leaning forward eager to hear what Hans had said.

"We will be meeting up with a team of Guardians from the area to take down the building. But you guys can't be here."

Mia obviously wasn't happy about that. Her frown made her look much older. "Why?"

I sat down on the bed, trying to suppress the shiver as I took in Dimitri's scent. "Because these Guardians are sent by the Council. They don't know you are helping us. And Hans doesn't even know that Sonya is back. So I need you guys to stay safe and get to Lissa's sibling. She passed the final test and so did two others."

"Ariana Szelsky?" Mikhail asked, but I just shook my head. When I checked in with Lissa earlier that day she had been rather devastated to learn Ariana didn't make it. She was debating actually running for Queen. The alternatives were rather poor. But she would still need her quorum. The vote would be in a couple of days. We needed to hurry.