Chapter 5

Rose blinked up at me, the liveliness returning to her eyes.

‘Are you all right?’ I demanded, searching for any after-effects of what had just occurred to her.

‘I…yeah,’ she began a little shakily, ‘I was…I was with Lissa…’ She put a hand to her forehead, and I remembered the touch of her warm, tan skin. ‘I was in her head.’

Confused, I stared at her disbelievingly. ‘Her…head?’

‘Yeah.’ She glanced around her, probably to check that nobody had witnessed the incident. ‘It’s part of the bond.’ She didn’t elaborate further, and she didn’t need to. Never once had I come across something like this; never had I read about it, and I had read a lot.

Could it be one of the traits of the bond – that a guardian could just slip into the mind of their Moroi and experience the world through their eyes? Perhaps that is what enabled Rose to protect Vasilisa during those two years. If she could enter Vasilisa’s mind, she could easily find out what she was doing, where she was located – if she was in danger. It was a miraculously convenient way of guarding a Moroi. Suddenly, I felt a new wave of respect for Rose. She did really have many, hidden talents.

I recalled the fear and confusion I had fleetingly seen flash across her face, and was suddenly worried that something may have happened to the princess. ‘Is she all right?’

‘Yeah, she’s…’ Rose hesitated, obviously choosing her words carefully. She remained silent for a while, and I waited patiently. ‘She’s not in danger,’ she finally declared, and I relaxed.

‘Can you keep going?’ I gave her a once-over. Physically, she was fine. Mentally? I wasn’t so sure. I regarded her, searching for any signs of instability. I needed her to be clear-headed and focused at practice. I also hoped that she would be willing to talk about anything that bothered her. I was her mentor now, after all – it was my job to help her. Hell, I wanted to help her, regardless whether it was my job or not.

‘Yeah. I’m fine.’ She steeled herself, a determined look replacing her earlier uneasy one. I was glad for the transformation – this was the Rose I knew, the Rose that reflected me, or the me I used to be.

We walked in surprisingly comfortable silence towards the gym, and once inside, Rose darted into the gym’s dressing room without saying a word. I stood, stunned, then shrugged and sauntered over to the set-up area, where I waited while she got ready.

After a few minutes, she emerged wearing the workout clothes I’d left for her earlier. She trudged over to me, and I was disappointed that she looked tired and lazy instead of rigid and ready. She came to a stop a few metres away from me, crossing her arms.

‘Hey, Comrade, maybe you should let me off this time.’

What? Seriously? Unable to withhold it, I laughed out loud at her, truly humoured by her ridiculous attempt to skip class. As if I was ever going to let a student skip my class.

She narrowed her eyes at me, and I couldn’t help but think she looked rather adorable standing there, all grumpy and pouty like the ever-typical teen.

‘Why is that funny?’ she said angrily. Why, she asks.

‘Oh.’ I let my smile drop then, because her lack of dedication troubled me. Had I mistaken the tangible passion in her earlier? ‘You were serious.’

‘Of course I was!’ she exclaimed, her arms dropping, fists balling up at her side. ‘Look, I’ve technically been awake for two days. Why do we have to start this training now? Let me go to bed,’ she whined. ‘It’s just one hour.’

I did not appreciate her whining tone at all. The few times I had dared to whine at my mentors, they had punished me severely. Ten laps, twenty laps, thirty laps. But no, these soft Americans knew nothing about guardian training. Rose, however, was soon going to find out that I was no American guardian, and she was not about to receive any American training.

I crossed my arms and looked down at her, adopting an all-business attitude. ‘How do you feel right now? After the training you’ve done so far?’

‘I hurt like hell,’ she complained. Good.

‘You’ll feel worse tomorrow,’ I stated, glad I managed to keep the smugness out of my voice.

‘So?’ she implored.

‘So, better to jump in now while you still feel…not as bad.’

‘What kind of logic is that?’ she retorted, casting me an is-he-insane look.

I didn’t bother responding, instead turning on my heel to walk into the weight room. I motioned for her to follow me, and I knew she would. This was not going to go as expected. I was annoyed at her, and what was going to be an easy, fighting session was now going to be a brutal weight-training session. Time to teach Hathaway a lesson.

I showed her the weights and reps I wanted her to do, and she nodded along solemnly, finally having decided that complaining and whining was not going to get her anywhere. When she got into action, I saw no reason to hang around. I sauntered over to the corner of the room and sprawled on the floor, reaching for my favourite Western novel – the first one I had read all those years ago when Guardian Avdonin had dumped those books in my arms.

It brought me great joy to read that book. It narrated the only time-period in America that I loved – the time when cowboys reigned and flourished, roaming the streets on their high horses. Back then, everything had been so simple. The world from their eyes had been in black-and-white. Today, nothing was in black-and-white – instead, what existed were endless shades of grey.

I glanced up just as Rose was finished, and I stood beside her, demonstrating a few cool-down stretches.

The comfortable silence was only broken by her insisting, adamant voice. ‘How’d you end up as Lissa’s guardian?’ Uh-oh, I thought. This was dangerous territory to tread. ‘You weren’t here a few years ago. Were you even trained at this school?’

I didn’t answer right away. I didn’t like sharing information about my past, not that many people asked anyway. It was never wise to share personal information, as my mentors had taught me, but as I looked into Rose’s eyes, I felt I could trust her.

‘No. I attended the one in Siberia.’

‘Whoa. That’s got to be the only place worse than Montana.’ Hah, Siberia is nothing like Montana.

Amused, I puzzled over her comment. She didn’t like Montana. Is that why she and Vasilisa ran away?

‘After I graduated, I was a guardian for a Zeklos lord. He was killed recently.’ I dropped my smile then, anguished by the horrid memory. No, I would not think about that now. ‘They sent me here because they needed extras on campus. When the princess turned up, they assigned me to her, since I’d already be around. Not that it matters until she leaves campus.’

‘Did this lord die on your watch?’ she implored.

‘No,’ I answered quickly. If he had, surely I would not have been able to live with the guilt. ‘He was with his other guardian. I was away.’ I fell silent, remembering that awful day when I had been given the news. The bloody, battered bodies of my Moroi and my guardian partner – my fault. My absence had killed two good people, one of them a royal Moroi. I had vowed that day that I would never again take a day off in my life: no vacations, no nothing. I would never leave Vasilisa’s side.

‘Hey,’ Rose said, her voice soft and laced with – compassion? I stared into her eyes; she seemed genuine. It was a gorgeous look; uncommon, for her, but yet it seemed so natural. ‘Did you help come up with the plan to get us back?’ she suddenly asked, pulling me out of my reverie. ‘Because it was pretty good. Brute force and all that.’ Was she praising me for catching them? She must be trying to make me feel better.

I arched an eyebrow, curious as she revealed this new side of her. ‘You’re complimenting me on that?’ I asked, not hiding my disbelief.

Her eyes flicked to the side. Then she gracefully sank to the floor and into a stretch. ‘Well, it was a hell of a lot better than the last one they tried.’ Suddenly, I was serious again. What was she talking about?

‘Last one?’ What last one?

‘Yeah. In Chicago,’ she said simply, looking at me like I was stupid. ‘With the pack of psi-hounds.’

Was the girl delusional? The school would never send a pack of psi-hounds after a royal Moroi! Christ. ‘This was the first time we found you. In Portland.’ Now I was giving her the are-you-stupid look.

She sat up from her stretches and crossed her legs. With great effort, I avoided glancing down at them. ‘Um, I don’t think I imagined psi-hounds. Who else could have sent them? They only answer to Moroi. Maybe no one told you about it.’

I stared at her. Could she be lying? Had Rose Hathaway really fought off psi-hounds? It seemed impossible. The creatures were lethal and fast; even adult guardians struggled in a fight with them. She couldn’t have done more than manage to hide from them, and anyway, it couldn’t be true. The Academy had never sent psi-hounds. ‘Maybe,’ I said dismissively.

She ignored me after that, continuing with the last of her stretches. I watched her, puzzling over our conversation. So, Rose Hathaway was capable of being nice – who would have thought? I thought of Vasilisa, how she was the perfect counterpart for Rose. Calm, careful and thoughtful, she was the reasonable voice when it came to the two girls. Rose? Well, as wild and reckless as she was, Vasilisa was exactly what she needed. And a guardian like Rose was exactly what Vasilisa needed.

After a few minutes more, Rose was finished, and she stood with a flourish, immediately sagging afterwards as the exercise finally took its toll on her body. She looked distracted; like she couldn’t wait to get out of here. To go to Vasilisa? I was sure that’s what she wanted, but the Headmistress’ orders still stood. Rose was to go back to her dorm room, and that’s where I sent her, shooting her a do-not-stray-from-your-path look. There really was no way of knowing whether she would obey me or not.

Deciding quickly, I followed after her, keeping to the shadows and padding along quietly. No matter how vigilant she was, there was no way she could sense my presence. She was so interesting to watch. Yes, it was evident she was dog-tired, but she still held herself with an aura of self-respect that I severely admired. How could this young dhampir girl be so intriguing? And frustrating, defiant, cocky. She was so many things at once – she over-whelmed me.

I watched with undisguised interest, certain that no one was around to see me. Her long hair, pulled back in a ponytail, bounced at her back as she walked. Her arms swung casually by her side. I remembered the feel of her bicep through her shirt, and my mind conjured the image of her at practice, wearing her workout clothes. I’d brought her workout sweatpants that had hung loosely off her wide hips, and a loose-fitted tank-top that had revealed her muscular arms and shoulders. She really did have an excellent body. I felt a pang of pity at the thought of what the hard training would do to her tan skin, but it was necessary.

I stalked her until I saw her enter the girls’ dorm room. My eyes lingered on her retreating figure, but then I managed to turn my head away, heading towards my own room, which was located in the staff department of the school.

Closing the door to my room, I shrugged off my dust coat and hung it up, straightening it a little, wanting it to look prim at all times. I undressed, the workout clothes dropping to the floor in a big pile. I threw the clothes into the washing basket and glided into the bathroom and straight into the shower. Turning the water on scalding hot, I just stood for a while, letting the steam rise and the heat soothe the ever-present ache in my muscles. I placed my hands against the glass wall of the shower, letting my head droop down.

Rose Hathaway.

It felt like the name was forever imprinted in my mind. It was a perplexing name. Her surname was common, tying her to her Scottish mother, but her first name? Rosemarie. I was sure that Rose would not like to be referred to by her first name, so I discarded it.

Rose. It was a beautiful name really, but it did not roll of my tongue as naturally as Roza did. I remembered calling her that earlier today. What had I been thinking! What if she had heard? I mustn’t do that again. Her name was Rose. Like the flower. But she was not delicate and elegant like the petals of the rose. No, she was…bold, like the crimson of a rose. Beautiful no doubt, but simply describing Rose as beautiful was not enough. She was more; so much more. Fragrant. Captivating. Outstanding. She bloomed, full of life and vigour. Sharp and dangerous as a thorn…

Yes, she was definitely a rose.

But roses were best left untouched, I scolded myself. I picked up the shampoo bottle and washed my shoulder-length hair, proceeding to wash my body as well. Grabbing a towel, I quickly dried myself, pulled on my pyjamas, and collapsed into bed.

That night I dreamt of Rose and roses. Rose among roses. Rose standing in a field of roses, her chocolate brown eyes boring into mine. I tried to approach her, but every time I came near, she’d dart away, thorns growing out of her skin, distorting her otherworldly appearance.

Roses were best left untouched.

Dreams could be so strange…

The next morning I woke up feeling refreshed and ready to take on the day – which was more than I could say for Rose. She trudged into the gym – surprisingly, on time – and disappeared into the dressing rooms without so much as a “good morning”.

When she emerged, she limped over to where I was standing, crossing her arms expectantly. I raised an eyebrow at her. This was new. She was behaving so differently from yesterday – no whining, no excuses, no complaints – that I found myself studying her in over-exaggerated detail to make sure it really was her.

‘Wish I could do that,’ she muttered, glaring at the spot just above my eyes, presumably at my raised eyebrow.

‘Do what?’ I asked, puzzled.

‘Do the fabulous eyebrow thing, obviously.’

I chuckled as Rose attempted – and failed – to raise one eyebrow, both shooting up instead.

‘So, how are you feeling this morning?’ I didn’t really need to ask.

‘Like hell blew over,’ she murmured.

I gave her an involuntary smile. ‘Good.’

She smiled back at me, but that was all the fun I could allow us. She looked about ready to collapse, but she made it through the exercises I had her do without fainting. I had to give her some credit. In two days, she’d exercised more than she probably had for two years.

When time was up, she bent down to grab her bag, turning and leaving the gym without saying a word. I stared after her. She wasn’t much for formalities, it seemed.

I spent the rest of the day supervising classes. This was the part of my job that I liked the least. Yes, it was crucial that guardians were stationed in every classroom, but it meant standing immobile for a long time, staring straight ahead. Not to mention we had to bear witness to all the mindless banter going on between the students. If there was anyone who needed to know the latest gossip at a high school, he or she should just seek out a guardian. We heard it all, knew it all.

During a Moroi class, I found myself tuning into the conversation of two royal Moroi students. One of them was a Zeklos. Many a time had I heard giggling girls as they discussed his so-called “hotness”.  Admittedly, the only reason they’d caught my attention was because they had mentioned Rose Hathaway.

‘So, what are you going to do about Hathaway?’ one Moroi boy, presumably a friend, asked Zeklos.

Zeklos shrugged. ‘We’ve got a class together later. I’ll ask her whether she wants to meet up tonight. Let’s see if Hathaway is as hot as she was last time I got the clothes off her.’

The boy beside him snickered; an annoying sound that beat at my temples.

Annoyed was not the only thing I felt. The idea that this pompous royal had seen Rose naked was infuriating. Royal Moroi loved to take advantage of dhampir girls, persuading them to do one thing or another. I regarded Zeklos coolly, biting back a very fitting Russian curse word.