A Guardian's Promise

Chapter 14 - The Australian Rescue Team

(Dimitri's POV)

"I know you are going, but you are the only person who is definitely going. I, on the other hand, might not be allowed to leave." This is exactly what I was afraid of before I was going to tell her. Hans may not want me to go to rescue Lissa, because I might need to stay and guard Christian here at court. Now that Vasilisa was targeted, Christian may also be at risk, and no one would want him to be under the care of slack substitute guardians, just like the mistake that was made with Lissa. We now knew she wasn't taken by strigoi, so there was no reason her guardians could have made such a big mistake. It was baffling, and even if I had to stay at court, I am determined to find out why and how the guardians didn't protect our Queen.

I am pretty apt at reading Rose's expressions, and I could tell she was going to have none of this. She will flip any second now, it was just a very Rose Hathaway thing to d—

"What!" Rose says, jumping out of her chair, proving my predictions. "What do you mean might not be allowed to go?"

I sigh. "I mean exactly that." I touch her arm gently. "Can we discuss this later please?"

Rose shakes her head but acquiesced on the sitting down part. "I want to know why you can't go and save Lissa. You have saved plenty of people and know what you are doing. I mean, if they would send one of us, it should be you over me!" She hisses.

"I think I should go," Nikolai says. "I will be somewhere in this vicinity if you need me." He then gets up and gets the hell out of here. There was no point arguing with Rose. She knew me too well and knew how to get to me. I also really don't want it all to blow up in my face. Rose could pretty much have any guy she wanted with how she looked, and I am really lucky she chose me, especially after what I had done to her in the past.

"Rose I'm going to give you some time to think over this," I say, standing up and brushing a hand over her shoulders before I walk out. Just like that. I don't turn around and look back, I just go.

I had no idea where I was headed, but my subconscious must. I found myself at the gym. There was no one at the gym at this hour, besides Nikolai. I didn't want his questions, so instead I do some punches and kicks with a boxing bag as my target. I work up from the easy stuff to more intense things, things that could kill a human or moroi on impact. Strigoi, not really, but it sure will distract them. I often got questions if I still had some strigoi speed and strength since I was more powerful since I had been turned, but the truth was, I was working really hard. Now that I had seen what those monsters could do, I wanted to be the most prepared than any guardian could be. I wanted to have the upper hand, and even more than that, I didn't want anyone to experience what I did. If that meant I would kill every single strigoi out there, so be it.

The door to the gym opens but lost in my own thoughts and skills, I promptly ignore it. Distractions. The difference between getting distracted and ignoring anything but the opponent was life or death. Let your focus slip, even for less than a second, you could be dead.

A strong pair of hands grab my shoulders and the attacker uses their leg to flip me over, moving in to pin me onto the ground with the accuracy only associated with a guardian. They then jab a practice stake into my chest.

"You're dead Comrade." A familiar voice laughs. I try to flip around but my wrists were held down by a strong force that I could only pick was trained by myself. My attacker leans forward, and I get a closer look at the most beautiful woman in my life. Tan skin, light brown eyes, and gorgeous long silky brown hair bound up into a loose bun. She hadn't even broken into a sweat pinning me down, but she has had plenty of practice at pinning me down.

I take in her smile for a second before she pins me down again. Not with her hand this time—no—with her lips. She didn't need to use any force or strength to hold me down. I would've happily stayed there all day.