DPOV
I knew deep in my stomach that something was wrong when I came home. Whether it was my own paranoia, or maybe Rose's anxiousness but something was off.
I had gotten a part-time job at the bookstore in town two months after we moved here. It wasn't much, but it was something to keep my mind busy. Rose mocked me for it the first day, but she soon became a regular in the bookstore, curled up in the corner with Briar in the stroller and a book. Or reading to Briar, making all the voices and facial expressions that Briar wouldn't understand.
I was in awe of her. She had grown into such an amazing woman and an impeccable mother. Watching her face light up, even if she was exhausted, every time she held Briar made my heart swell. I loved both of them with everything in me.
Rose and I had joked a few times about making things official with a real marriage, but it wasn't so much of a joke to me. I had a ring picked out with money from the elaborate savings account from Abe. I intended of repaying the money back, but I was just waiting for the right time.
"Roza?"
I asked as I hung up my duster. I walked into the living room and Rose was sitting on the couch, quickly wiping her face. It didn't matter if she did, the base of her throat was blotchy and her eyes were red. She had been crying.
"Roza? What's wrong?" I asked urgently, kneeling in front of her, "Is Briar okay?"
"She's fine. She's napping," Rose croaked and licked her lips. "Adrian sent us the stuff because it doesn't look like we'll be going home anytime soon."
I frowned and rubbed my hands over her thighs. "What do you mean?"
"Tasha has made it almost impossible for her to be pinned. She's made herself desirable to the other Royals, especially the ones on the council. She has the Ozera Prince in her back pocket," Rose explained with a shake of her head, "There is almost no proof to prove Tasha is involved."
I sighed quietly and kissed her forehead. "We knew that this was a possibility, that it would take time."
Rose's trembled and her eyes watered, looking up at me. "Lissa's engaged. Our family is missing Briar's life," she whimpered, "What if they never put this to rest? What if we have to live a lie for the rest of our lives? To know that we will never be able to go to our families' funerals, or weddings, or see their children?"
I knew where Rose's fear came from because I felt them too. I worried about the same fears she voiced and I couldn't say anything to comfort her because there wasn't anything anyone could say to comfort me.
"We'll find a way," I whispered, but we both knew they were just sweet words. Rose looked at me tiredly and leaned forward, resting her cheek on my shoulder with a heavy sigh. I kissed her head and rested my cheek against her hair.
There was a thud upstairs and Rose chuckled.
"Briar has decided she has a throwing arm today," Rose said as she started to stand up but I smiled at her.
"I got her. I missed out this morning," I said as I got up, moving up the stairs towards Briar's room. I pushed the door open and found the now empty sippy cup on the floor next to the dresser and a smiling girl in her crib.
"Did you throw this?" I asked her, raising a brow at her. She gave me a gummy smile and reached her arms up for me.
"Mamamama" she babbled as I lifted her up and snarled playfully, pressing kisses on her jaw and cheek, making her shriek in laughter. She loved it when we did that, and if I gently rubbed my cheek against hers at the end of the day, the stubble would tickle.
"I'm a little offended that you haven't said 'Dada' yet," I said playfully, kissing her hair. All I got was a gummy smile. I shook my head and bent down to pick up the sippy cup. Briar grabbed at my nose as I walked downstairs, kissing her hand each time she moved her hand close enough to my mouth.
When I came back into the living room Rose seemed to be more composed, but I could still see the pain in her eyes. We would find a way to fix this, I just hoped it wouldn't take too long to do it.
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I knew that Rose was trying to keep a brave face, but with each phone call that came, the harder it was for her to hide her sadness.
I had hoped that the summer barbeque would have helped give Rose a distraction, but it wasn't much help either. Nancy seemed to notice Rose's change in mood, but I explained that she was just missing her family. Nancy hadn't pried in the past about our abrupt move here, but I think she was starting to figure out that there was more to it than what we said.
"How much should we give Brendan?" Rose asked as she sat back in her chair, her feet soaking in the little kiddie pool. There was enough water for Briar to splash, but not a lot.
"Oh, five bucks," Nancy said as she sipped her drink.
Rose snorted. "That's it? He mowed the front and the back lawn," she said and Nancy shrugged.
"Ten then?" Nancy laughed, "He's fifteen. It doesn't need to be a lot."
Rose shook her hand and I smirked at her. I leaned back against the brink wall and smiled at Briar, her hat starting to fall into her face. Rose leaned over and readjusted her hat, but it just slipped back down over her curls.
The older Briar got, the more I saw our family in her. She had Rose's nose, but Mama's ears. I saw Janine in her smile but I also saw Abe when she was frustrated. I could see the little pieces of us that made her and I made me long for my family.
There were so many times were I almost stopped at a payphone, just to call and hear Mama's voice before hanging up, but it was fair to myself to do that. It was cruel and masochistic.
"Little Miss is going to be a year old soon," Nancy smiled, "Any birthday party ideas?"
Rose's features fell for a fraction of a second before she smiled. "I think we might do a jungle theme. You know the 'wild one' idea," Rose explained.
Nancy grinned and winked at Rose. "I can get behind that idea," she said as a car driving by caught her attention, a smile growing on her face.
"I forgot what day it was," Nancy said and stood up, calling to her son Brendan to put the mower back in the garage. I raised my brows at her in question.
"Come with me, there are some people I'd like you to meet," she said. Rose shrugged and plucked Briar out of the pool and dried her off before slipping her flip-flops on.
"The Thompsons just returned from their year abroad," Nancy said leading us toward the house a few doors down. Rose skipped with Briar, making her laugh and smile, while I trailed behind them, making faces at Briar from over Rose's shoulder.
When we came to a stop a man walked out of the house, sleeves rolled up to his elbows as he reached into the car to get more luggage.
"Lyle, meet the youngest of the neighbourhood," Nancy said cheerfully. Lyle turned around and my blood ran cold in my veins. The feeling reminded me of the time I had an IV bag inserted into my arm and it wasn't quite at room temperature yet, the icy feeling spreading through me.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Rosheen and this is my husband Dimitri, and our daughter, Briar," Rose said as she introduced herself, shaking his hand.
"Lovely to meet you," he said as he shook her hand as his eyes moved to me. I wasn't sure what showed on my face, but I saw it in his eyes. He knew that I knew.
"It's nice to see you again, Dimitri," he said, extending his hand to me. I took his hand briskly and shook it, all while my other hand reached for Rose and pulled her discreetly closer to me.
Nancy talked between us for a few more minutes before leaving when her eldest son called for her. Once Nancy was a few feet away, the man spoke.
"I think this discussion should happen inside," he said but I stepped closer to Rose, putting myself between them.
"I don't think so," I said, almost as a hiss, "Last I heard, you were dead!"
"Dimitri," Rose whispered but I shook my head.
"His name isn't Lyle. It's Lucas," I said, "And your friend has spent the majority of his life thinking his parents turned themselves Strigoi."
Lucas tilted his head to the side and gave me a pleading look, but Rose touched my arm.
"Lucas Ozera?" she whispered, looking up at him.
Lucas looked at me pleadingly again. "Please. Let's discuss this inside," he whispered. Rose stepped forward and nodded, giving me a look that said she wanted to hear him out. Lucas led us up the front path and into the house, calling out for his wife.
Moira had come out and bristled slightly, recognizing me as quickly as I recognized Lucas.
"I didn't expect to have guests so soon," she said weakly when Lucas raised a hand.
"Dimitri recognized me," he said quietly. Moira's eyes widened with slight fear and then looked at Rose. Rose shook her head and looked between us all.
"I don't understand what's happening," she said.
Lucas sighed quietly and gestured for us to go into their living room. I followed Rose, sticking close to her and Briar. Rose sat down and set Briar on the floor, handing her a toy that had been stuck in her pocket. Lucas and Moira sat down on the couch opposite us and looked anxious.
"You faked your deaths?" Rose asked quietly.
"We got mixed up with the wrong people," Moira said quietly, "We didn't know what was happening until it was too late. We were coerced into it."
"Who?" I asked, a sinking feeling in my stomach.
"My sister," Lucas said, "But if you're here, you aren't part of the society."
"We're here because she's involved with people who are trying to kill me. We did the same as you," Rose said without missing a beat, my brows raising as I turned to look at her. The fact that she said it so easily was boggling, and I was stunned that she said it.
Lucas shook his head. "Sânge," Lucas said.
"What?"
"It's the name of the group we were involved with by mistake. We had no idea what it was until it was too late. A network of Strigoi, Moroi, and Dhampirs trying to overthrow the system. There were a handful of powerful people working against them, but not enough."
"Abe Mazur was one of them, wasn't he?" Rose asked.
Moira's head snapped up and looked at her. "How did you know that?"
Rose sighed and I rested my hand on her knee. "That's why she targeted me. It was two birds one stone."
"You don't know that," I said but she gave me a dry look.
"Look at the facts! She had found out that Abe was my father and leaked it to the Sânge. She figured out that you were hesitant about the Guardian gig because of me. She hated that you turned her down as her Guardian because of me!"
"Abe Mazur is your father?" Lucas asked.
Rose nodded. "I didn't know until recently," she said quietly.
Lucas looked forlorn and angry. "I didn't think my sister could ruin so many lives."
Moira frowned at her husband before looking at me with a sad expression. "My son?"
"He's getting married to Princess Vasilisa Dragomir next year," Rose supplied, running her fingers through Briar's hair.
Moira nodded, latching onto the information. "He is? And he's okay?"
"He's a snarky bastard, but he's a good guy. He was really excited to be an Uncle, well, for the whole week we were there," Rose said, trailing off quietly. I squeezed Rose's knee and leaned into her, kissing her forehead.
"What do you mean?"
"We had to do the same that you did. According to everyone we love and know, we died in a car accident a week after Briar was born. Because of Tasha," I explained and Lucas shook his head with a sigh.
"Did you ever have proof that Tasha was involved with the Sânge?"
Lucas nodded. "We had a little bit of proof, but it was a different time then. We may have been highly valued, but, Tasha was pretty prominent at that time too. She had a lot of support from the Sânge."
"What kind of proof?" Rose asked, leaning forward on her elbows.
"Bank account stuff, pictures. But from what I've heard, she's managed to get the council on her side."
"She has. Everyone is blind to her, aside from the Queen."
"The Queen?" Moira asked.
"Her Majesty is my aunt, unofficially. Because of the threat to Rose, and by extension me, it put the Crown in danger. Therefore, she helped us fake our deaths. She knows that Tasha was the cause of our issues, we couldn't prove it at the time."
Lucas excused himself for a moment and went to the stairs, climbing them quickly. Moira got up with a quiet murmur of getting coffee. I looked at Rose and she gave me a tight lipped smile, reaching for my hand.
"I feel horrible for them, for Christian," Rose whispered. I nodded and looked at Lucas as he walked back into the room, setting a file folder on the table.
"This is what little proof we have," he said with a small shrug of his shoulders.
"Anything is better than nothing," I said as Moira came back in, setting a tray with cups and coffee on the coffee table.
Rose watched Moira as she drank her coffee, but there was something about her expression that I couldn't quite put my finger on. I could see the gears turning in her head, but I couldn't figure out what it was she was thinking so hard about.
"What exactly was it that happened? Why did you end up faking your deaths? There must have been more to it for you to leave your kid. Because I know what it feels like to love a child, to be the mother of a child. I feel so full all the time. So for me to leave my daughter, there must have been something about her to make me leave," Rose said as she stood up, looming over Moira and putting her coffee on the tables.
"It's not that simple," Moira said, almost shying under Rose's gaze.
"Bullshit! What did Tasha do?!" Rose shouted startling Briar with her raised voice.
"They threatened Christian. They said that if we tried to back out, they would hurt Christian. Not even give him 'eternal life' but kill him, and Tasha was going to help them do it," Moira snapped, her voice breaking as she shed tears.
Rose nodded and sat back down, rubbing the top of Briar's head while she went back to the keys on the floor.
"And Tasha still had him."
Lucas sat up straight. "No. My uncle was his Guardian."
"Tasha had custody of Christian from the moment you died. She fought for custody, claiming the Ozera Prince was too old," I said and Moira's face paled, almost ashen looking.
Lucas cleared his throat and put his coffee down too. "You seem to have better connections than we do. Use this," he said pointing to the folder.
"Oh, I intend to," I said taking a long drink of my coffee, already putting other things together.
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Super rough edit but more is to come!