Elemental Wanderer

Compromise

A/N -- This chapter isn't quite as long as the previous one, but it's still more than 1,200 words without this A/N :)

ENJOY! :)
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Rose's POV

Previously: With those words, the dream faded and I woke up. As I did, I realized that Lissa hadn't woken me up. I woke up because I was nauseous. That meant one thing: strigoi were nearby.

I quickly grabbed Lissa's attention and informed her of our situation via our bond. She put Dimitri's watch down, and she quietly woke up Dimitri. She made sure to keep him under the compulsion that kept him from turning on us, but she told him about the strigoi nearby. We were all being as quiet as possible, as not to alert the strigoi that we knew they were close.

I made Lissa hide in the bathroom since there were no entrances to it other than the door from the hotel room. I grabbed my stake, and positioned myself in front of that door; Dimitri slowly walked over to the door that lead to the outside, stake in hand. Before he got there, the nausea in my stomach got immensely worse and three strigoi busted into the room.

Immediately two of them jumped towards Dimitri, and he began fighting them. The third attacked me. She was strong, but inexperienced, therefore I was able to use my speed and agility to stake her. I pulled my stake from her chest, and noticed that Dimitri was struggling with the two strigoi that had attacked him. They were obviously older, stronger, and more experienced than the strigoi that had attacked me, but it was obvious that the only reason that they were still standing was because it was an unfair fight; two against one.

Since both strigoi were focused on their fight with Dimitri, neither one noticed me coming up behind them to join the fight. With speed and strength that I didn't even know that I had, I staked the older male strigoi from behind. As soon as I did that, Dimitri matched my motion, and shoved his stake deep into the other male strigoi's chest, effectively killing him and eliminating the nausea in my stomach.

"There are no more. We're safe for now." I said, breaking the silence. I knew Lissa heard me, because she came running out of the bathroom, and engulfed me in a hug. I heard Dimitri softly chuckling at my expense. I glared at him, and he shut up. Good guardian, I mentally complimented him.

"I'm fine, Liss. She barely touched me." I said, trying to get Lissa to let me go. When she refused, I added, "but if you don't loosen your grip, you might just crack one of my ribs. Seriously, I never knew you had such a strong grip." She finally let me go. Dimitri's voice broke the silence that had once again come over the three of us.

"How did you know that there was strigoi?" He asked, while staring at me like I was a science project.

"I'm just awesome like that, Comrade." I replied. There was no way that I was going to tell him about my shadow kissed abilities. At least, not yet. I met his gaze, and there was a whisper running through the back of my mind; almost like my bond with Lissa, but this was different.

The whispers said: I wish that she would trust me. I meant what I said; I won't turn them in or take them back to the academy. I-

As soon as I broke eye contact, the whispering stopped. I glanced over at Lissa, and it was evident that she was oblivious to the whispers in my head. It was strange, because usually she could hear my thoughts, just like I could hear hers. I checked the bond, and confirmed that she was indeed oblivious to the whispers in my head.

I silently wondered what the hell was happening. Could my shadow kissed abilities be changing? Could I somehow read another person's thoughts if I met their gaze? Maybe I imagined it. That seemed like the most plausible answer, so I stuck with it, and forgot about the whispers as I turned my attention back to Dimitri and Lissa.

"We need to move. I'd rather not run into any more strigoi, and if they knew that we were here, then more will probably show up. Looks like you are going to be stuck with us for a while, Comrade." I turned to Lissa. "Did you finish the watch?"

She nodded, but before she could speak, Dimitri spoke.

"You don't have to continue to compel me, Princess. I will stay with you, and not turn you in without it. If you don't believe me, use your compulsion to make me tell the truth. I just have a few conditions."

I don't know whether I was more stunned at the honesty that I felt behind his words, or the fact that he thought he could demand conditions. Before I had a chance to object, Lissa started using her compulsion.

"Dimitri, I am going to ask you several questions. You will be completely honest with me." Lissa stated, locking eye contact with him.

"I will be completely honest." Dimitri repeated.

"If I agree to release you from my compulsion, what are your plans with Rose and I?" Lissa asked, compulsion still strong.

"I want to help you hide, and figure out why you ran from the academy. I want to train Rose, because although she has great strength and speed, she is lacking in skills that will allow her to take down a strigoi more effectively. I want to protect you both."

I was genuinely touched by his admission, but I was also kind of pissed. He insulted my skills. Lissa popped out another question before I had the chance to interrupt.

"What are your conditions?"

"I want to be told the truth, about everything, including your reason for leaving the academy. I want you to stop using compulsion on me. Lastly, I want to train Rose."

"Why are you so eager to stay with us and train Rose?" Lissa fired at him.

"For one, Princess, you are my charge. I was assigned to lead the mission to find you and bring you back to the academy because I was assigned as your full time guardian until Rose graduated. Then it was set so that Rose and I would have been guarding partners for you." He paused momentarily, and suddenly, he looked...shy? "For two, I have an attraction to Rose. I don't quite understand it, but I feel a...pull towards her. Almost like if I got too far away, it would hurt one, if not both of us."

Lissa and I both stared at him with wide eyes. Neither one of us knew how to reply. The longer I stared at him, the more I understood what he meant by that pull. I have been feeling it too, but I've been refusing to acknowledge it. The next words out of my mouth stunned all three of us.

"Turn off the compulsion, Liss. I trust him." Lissa did as I asked, even in her stunned state, but Dimitri's voice was what broke the stunned silence.

"Thank you." He only relaxed for a moment before speaking again. "We should move before we are found again. I assume that you girls have a new location in mind?"

"Yes, we do actually." Lissa said, looking at me with a smile.

"Where would that be, if you don't mind me asking?" Dimitri politely asked.

"We're going to Russia." I replied with a smirk.