Only Him

Chapter 22

*Dimitri*

"This is almost identical to the time we saved Lissa and Christian," Mikhail said. The 'from you' was tactfully avoided but Dimitri understood it no less. As soon as Sydney had confirmed the location of Rose's prison the guardians had been in motion, loading into a fleet of black sedans alongside the chosen magic users and heading towards Queen City. Now, as the fleet pulled off to the side of a service road about a mile from the target location to make last minute plans, Mikhail decided to draw the comparison.

"Marlen spent a lot of time in Galina's compound," Dimitri said in a clipped voice. "We strategized. He must have learned a thing or two from me."

"Which means we're walking into an extremely dangerous situation," Janine put in. Dimitri didn't know whether to take that as a backhanded complement of his skills or not. Probably not. Janine Hathaway was sparse in her complements and abundant in her pragmatism. More likely she was just stating a fact. Regardless, she was right.

"Janine's right," he echoed. He pulled out a copy of the building schematics that Sydney had printed for him. Studying them as he had the entire drive he addressed the gathered guardians. "Expect a loose perimeter around the building exterior and another ring on the main floor. The room Rose is in is down in the basement. There will probably be heavy guard on the door to the stairs and more outside of the room. Marlen has learned not to underestimate Rose." Dimitri remembered the brief moments after he'd woken up with a chair leg in his chest in Siberia. He'd immediately understood Rose's plans and had been highly impressed—and enraged—at her cunning. He'd torn open the door to the room only to discover Marlen trapped in the hallway instead of Rose. His anger at the other Strigoi's failure had been immense as he'd thrown the man aside and ripped the second door from the wall. Marlen's own anger had been boiling as well. He hadn't expected a young girl could get the jump on him without her dhampir backup, let alone one he saw as a drugged up blood whore. Dimitri felt a bitter smile creep over his lips. "He'll have a constant guard on her."

Plans were reviewed for a final time and then they were off, heading towards the old REO motors assembly plant. It was nearing sunrise and in the predawn gray the guardians saw no need for headlights. Though the Strigoi would have nowhere to run they didn't want to alert them any earlier then necessary. The exterior parameter he was anticipating would be seeking shelter any minute. They could wait it out and attack with one less ring of security but that would just pack more bodies into tighter quarters. They were better off utilizing the extra space and the sun once it did come up.

Dimitri felt the emotions running high within him. The desire to attack the enemy and take them out was strong, an internal battle he always fought. Rose had easily picked up on that part of him early on in their relationship. It was one of the first—of many—time's she'd been able to read him so completely. But as his SUV came to a halt outside the old brick building and the enemy came into sight he felt the cool, calculated mindset of battle wash over him. Letting his emotions rule him would only result in mistakes. It had been a hard lesson for both him and Rose.

Just as Dimitri had anticipated, there was a ring of Strigoi around the building. The guardians had split into three attacking groups, coming at the building from three different directions in order to breech the major entrances. Dimitri's group was attacking the main entrance and was comprised of Janine, Hans, Eddie, Mikhail, Stella, Alistair, Christian and a group of Court guardians that brought their numbers up to seventeen. He could hear over his earpiece the moment the other groups came into contact with the enemy but he didn't let it distract him as he fell onto his first target.

There were seven Strigoi at this section of the grounds and they reacted immediately to the threat, hoping that brute force and ferocity would compensate for numbers. They hadn't, however, expected a fire user.