Protection - d. belikov

Chapter 7

"There has been an attack."

"What? Where?" Kat was shocked by Dimitri's words. They were sat in the library, trying to find more information on their bond. Dimitri had barely uttered a word and despite his stoic stature, seemed nervous. It was clear to Kat that he wanted to tell her something, so she gave him time to tell her on his own.

"St Jude's province. There was a very big Strigoi attack at their academy."

"How big?"
"Big enough that I don't think it was a random attack. It was too well organized."

"What are you saying exactly?"

"I'm saying that I think the Strigoi have evolved. They can work in teams."

"That's bad. Very bad." Kat's leg started bouncing. Her anxiety was high and she could feel herself inching towards a panic attack. Her mind was filled with negative thought. Thoughts about what this revelation could mean for them. She was brought out of her thoughts when Dimitri put his hand on her leg. Her leg stilled and she felt comforted.

"You're safe. I'll never let anything happen to you."

"That's a big promise to make. You're not even my Guardian." Dimitri placed his hand on her cheek. He gave her a kiss. Kat had felt emotions in all of her kisses with Dimitri, but this kiss was different. This kiss felt like hope. She could feel his promise to her.

"I could be," Dimitri said as he pulled away.

"You're Lissa's Guardian."

"We all know that Vasilissa is going to choose Rose as her Guardian when she graduates. When the Benchmarks come around, they can test how they work together. If Rose does well, you can request to have me, as your Guardian."

"Won't people talk?"

"Who cares? You're a princess. You get to have the final say."

"I know that, but people will still gossip." Dimitri took Kat's hand in his own.

"Let them gossip. I want to be your Guardian, Printsessa. If you'll have me."

"Of course, I'll have you." Dimitri pulled her into a hug. He could see that she still had some reserves about the situation, but he would do his best to convince her. He had grown attached to her and he struggled to picture a life without her in it.

"Let's get out of here," Dimitri said as he stood up. He offered her his hand and she took it. She had noticed that he always reached out to her. Their hands would often brush against each other or his hand would find the small of her back. She had really enjoyed it, more than she thought she would.

"Where are we going?"

"I want to show you something." Dimitri led her to his room.

"Dimitri Belikov, taking me to your bedroom. We haven't even gone on our first date yet and I'm not that type of girl," Kat teased. Dimitri paused his action of opening the door. Her words had caught him off guard.

"I wasn't ... I mean ... that's not," Dimitri stuttered.

"I'm only teasing Cowboy," Kat said with a laugh.

"It's not funny," Dimitri mumbled. Kat smiled. She had only made the joke because she had never been in a man's room before. She tried to settle her nerves. She took a chance to look around when Dimitri started searching for whatever it is that he wanted to show her. He had a very plain room. Very functional. Two wardrobes lined one wall and the bed stood opposite. He had a lot of books stacked in piles around the room.

"I didn't know that you liked to read."

"I mostly read autobiographies," Dimitri turned to her. He had a wooden box in his hands. He took her hand and led her toward the bed, where they sat down. He placed the box in her lap. Telling her to open it. She was stunned by what she saw. It was a stunning magnolia pendant. Dimitri had ways of shocking her. She was enthralled by the man. She had told him that magnolias were her favourite flowers on the queen's birthday.