Primal Desires

Chapter 16

Dimitri's POV

"This isn't fair! She's my best friend. I'm going to say something to him - I'll make him agree to search for Rose," Vasilisa whined from the sofa in mine and Rose's apartment. "I'm the Queen, he has to listen to me, surely?"

"Ultimately, Hans has the final say in regard to Guardian matters," Abe informed her through gritted teeth as he paced around the living room. "What he says goes, and he doesn't think it's worth the risk. To risk more lives for one person, right Dimitri? That's what he said?"

From where I sat opposite Vasilisa, my body tense and mind deep in thought, I barely registered my name being mentioned. My head swirled with thoughts of Rose, the attack and Nathan – a number of profanities in both English and Russian caught up in the mix also.

"Son?"

"Dimitri?"

"Hey!" Christian yelled, breaking me out of my trance.

My head snapped up instantly at the sound of my charge shouting – Guardian reflexes.

"Sorry," I uttered with a small cough, "Excuse me, what were you saying?"

Abe looked at me with a mixture of sympathy and a look of worry that matched my own. "Croft. Hans. He said he didn't want to risk looking for Rose, right?"

"Oh. Yes," I confirmed with discontent clear in my voice. "He justified it by saying that we lost too many tonight already. He thinks we'll lose more if we go back and search for her and it's not worth it, even if she is the Queen's Guardian."

My thoughts flitted back to the very heated conversation I had with Croft and the rest of the team after I discovered Rose was missing from the caves. I'm surprised any of us made it through the conversation without throwing a punch, considering how frantic I had been. I barely remembered the journey back to Court as I was shouting and bargaining with them the whole time, for once not caring about my 'Guardian mask'. I couldn't believe they wouldn't search for her. She couldn't have gone far – she had to be near there somewhere.

And it was Rose.

Rose.

We had to look for her.

"I just don't understand why it was Rose that was taken," Lissa muttered, leaning closer into Christian's side, not bothering to control the tears spilling over her eyes.

"Rose is more than capable of defending herself, she wouldn't have allowed herself to be overpowered," Christian replied.

Soon enough, I drifted back out of the conversation, my mind barely registering what was being said once more.

"Well I'm going to speak to someone, they'll have to do what I say when I remind them just what I am capable of."

"Mr. Mazur, that's not going to help anything."

"Has anyone spoken to Guardian Hathaway yet? Does she know?"

"Shit, not yet. I'll have to phone her."

"Is there any way I can overrule Guardian Croft's decision?"

"Why would they have only taken Rose?"

"How could they have taken her without anyone seeing them escape?"

"Do you think – Do you think they...?"

"No, Liss, don't think about that."

I needed to do something. Anything. My Roza was missing, and I knew exactly who had taken her, even if I didn't know where she was. I dreaded to think how frightened she must be feeling, or what she was going through right now.