Vampire Academy: Last Sacrifice (Dimitri's POV)

Chapter 16

Well, I thought, after about an hour of trying and failing. What now? I'd tried shouting at her. We'd tried pressing the stake further in. We'd even tried faking killing her. Rose tried to coax it out of her. We'd tried threats of ruining her house, but, of course, she had no connection to it. She didn't care. So we were going to leave her to starve and get weak, hopefully before we did. The questions we threw at her weren't even proper questions. We didn't have a very secure plan. It was just things like: is there another Dragomir? Who is Jane Doe? Where is the last Dragomir? Unfortunately, Sonya had realised that we needed her too much and refused to talk, knowing that she wouldn't be killed. I tried my best to restrain my anger and not just kill her, but we were all getting a bit frustrated. Rose was leaning against a wall and Sonya was watching us menacingly. I held out my stake in a threatening pose but I knew Sonya wasn't going anywhere soon. The eerie silence was suffocating us. I glanced over at Rose and noticed crimson leaking from her forehead. It was obscured by her hair but it actually looked pretty serious.

"What's that on your head, Rose?" I wondered.

"Huh?" She reached up and brushed the hair out of the way. I tried to stop myself from growling at Sonya. How dare she do this to my Roza! She shrugged when her fingers came away covered in blood. "I'm fine." I glanced over at Sydney who still had wide eyes. I doubted being in the same room as a tortured Strigoi was comfortable for her. She needed to be up and doing something.

"Go lay her down and clean it up. Don't let her sleep until we can figure out if it's a concussion."

"No, I can't. I can't leave you alone with her..." Typical Rose, caring about me when she's in danger.

"I'm fine. Rest up so that you can help me later. You're no good to me if you're just going to fall over." Harsh but true. Sydney led her away and I wondered where they would go. What was the house like? Galina's estate had literally been that; an estate. There were bedrooms, bathrooms, everything.

Sonya focused her beady eyes on me, probably analysing my strength to see how easy it would be for her to break free. I held my stake out in a warning position and puffed up my chest. I crossed my arms and didn't take my eyes off her, hardening my jaw and glaring. I could do it all day if she wanted to.

After about fifteen minutes, Sydney came back downstairs.

"How's Rose?" I asked her.

"In Lissa's head. I think it's important. Rose looked really worried," she reported. I clenched my muscles so that I wouldn't run up there to help her. She wasn't in any danger. We were.

"Is it all cleaned up?"

"Yeah, I cleaned it up. Rose wouldn't let me put a plaster on it." I felt my lips twist into a half-smile. Of course she wouldn't. Sydney gave me a puzzled look but I waved my hand at her. She curled up in the corner.

"Why don't you get some sleep?" I murmured.

"I don't really want to sleep here," she mumbled, her eyes flicking towards Sonya. I grumbled. The silence was uncomfortable. Sydney's fear was palpable and Sonya was watching my every movement. I had to be on my guard the whole time, but I couldn't stop my mind from wandering. What was going on back at Court? Had they got any leads yet? I tried to think why anybody would murder Tatiana aside from political reasons. She didn't have a husband or anything, so it couldn't be jealousy over that. Maybe it was jealousy over the throne. People had been suggesting Victor Dashkov, and I wondered if that could possibly be true.

Probably not. He was evil, but definitely not stupid. He wouldn't sneak back into Court after breaking out (or being broken out) of a high-security jail. He was definitely going to stay out of the way, until the came to us. Rose said he was going to be coming with his spirit using brother, which should be interesting. Spirit user compulsion was as strong as that of a Strigoi. Maybe I could incapacitate them both and Rose could grab them and...I sighed. Rose was always part of my plan. How had I been so stupid as to think I could live without her in my life? She's obviously moved on, but maybe she'd forgive me enough to be friends. Surely, after all that talk about forgiving me she'd be willing to do that? But it got me thinking.

It wasn't just my time as a Strigoi she'd have to forgive. I'd made a mess of things afterwards, as well. If I could turn back the hands of time and run into her arms after being restored, I would do it a million times over. But, no, Dimitri can't do love right. I had to tell her that I didn't love her. I had to push the most important person away. Why am I such an idiot?

There was a sharp rapping on the door and I froze. Sonya turned to the door quizzically. I analysed our options. I couldn't leave Sonya alone with Sydney, so I would have to stay. Who could be at the door? It was sunny outside, so no Strigoi. I glanced at Sydney and she got up warily. Edging her way to the door, she pulled it open and hid behind it.

"Hello?" a croaky voice called out. "Oh, look, Robert. There's no one there."

Victor Dashkov.

I saw Sydney flinch as she recognised the person in the doorway.

"Victor?" an anxious voice called. "If there's Strigoi here..."

"No, no, Robert. They'll be here. I doubt Rosemarie and her cradle robber would have left us. She values our information too much." I bit back a growl and they stepped in. Sydney shivered and kept as silent as possible. "Belikov?"

"Yes," I replied stiffly.

"Ah, there you are. See, Robert, they are here." He came into the living room with a big grin on his face and then began to watch the room warily. He scanned every inch of it whilst Robert simply stayed focused on Sonya, eyes bugged out. I saw Sydney slip away upstairs, probably to tell Rose, and I continued to watch. If I stayed with my stake at Sonya's neck, I could reach out and grab the brothers if they tried anything. They obviously came willingly, so they wouldn't want to leave, and if I watched them, I could throw my stake at Sonya whilst grabbing the two of them. That would work, wouldn't it? I sighed again. Where was Rose?