I was unsure why Abe told us to meet him here, at a diner along the coast in a sleepy town, but I wasn't about to say no. I was still on edge about everything that happened with the package Galina sent, and as much as I believed Dimitri's words, I still felt... insecure.
I sipped my coffee and smiled to myself as Dimitri let Briar play with his fingers, pulling one up to his mouth and sucking on it. She was starting to teeth more and always wanted a finger in her mouth.
"I thought Abe would be here by now," I mused, drumming my fingers on the table.
"It's not Abe who is meeting with you," another voice said and I looked up, finding Croft standing beside our table. I nodded and offered the seat beside me. He sat down and smiled at Briar before turning his attention to us.
"I apologize for not being truthful to you, but we needed you to be unaware of our meeting," Croft explained. Our waitress stopped by our table to take our orders. Croft ordered a coffee and the first thing off the menu while I ordered egg benedict. Dimitri picked the hungry man's breakfast and a second plate so we could feed bits to Briar.
"What is this meeting for?" Dimitri asked, pulling Briar out of the highchair when she started to fuss. I set my coffee down and took her, letting her lay against my chest. She was cranky this morning.
"You've been rediscovered," Croft stated, "And while we initially thought being out of the eyes of society, it would keep you safe. But now it seems that having back behind the walls of Court would be beneficial for your safety. At least at Court, we can monitor who is coming in and out, and we already know who inside Court is a part of this."
"And how are we going to come back from the dead?" I asked, "We went through so much trouble to hide and now we're supposed to just come back. What about our house or our jobs?"
"We had a contingency plan just in case this happened," Croft said and I shook my head.
"Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful for everything you've done for us, but I'm really starting to feel like a pawn in a game. I've been hunted, and received taunting letters, when are we going to be allowed to feel safe?"
Dimitri reached across the table and rubbed his hand over my arm.
"Roza," he said quietly but Croft nodded.
"I know that this has been stressful, Rose. But we will get to the bottom of this. Not just for you, but for everyone involved," he said, "And I think it would do your mother more good for you to be alive again."
My brows furrowed. "Why do you say that?"
"She took herself off field duty," he said plainly and I looked at Dimitri with a quiet sigh.
"It was that bad?" I whispered, "She took herself off duty."
Croft nodded and looked down when Briar played with the buttons on his jacket, smiling at her and letting her play with his jacket.
"She did. She said that she didn't feel like she was the best Guardian for her charge anymore. I think she wanted to stay close to Court to stay close to the Princess and see your father more."
I frowned and kissed the top of Briar's head. "This is messed up."
Our waitress set our food down on the table, but I didn't think I was going to be able to stomach it. But I tried either way, the three of us lapsing into silence as we ate. Dimitri and I both offered Briar food from our plates, but she seemed more interested in Croft's waffles, which he happily shared a quarter of.
"I never knew you had a soft spot for kids, Croft," I chirped.
"I have a kid," he said and Dimitri and I both looked at him.
"You do!?"
"Yes, she's studying at St. Basil's right now. She's a freshman, but I don't think she wants to become a Guardian," he explained.
"Does that bother you?" I asked after a moment's hesitation.
"No. I've seen how women have been treated, and my daughter has a great interest in nursing. If she wanted to go into the medical field, I wouldn't have any issues with it as long as it made her happy," he explained, cutting up a piece of banana on his plate before gesturing to it.
I nodded and he set the pieces of banana on Briar's plate and moved on to his bacon.
"I don't children should follow in their parent's footsteps just because that's what is expected of us," he said and I raised my brows at him.
"That's a bold statement coming from you, Head Guardian," Dimitri pointed out.
Again Croft shrugged. "I'm not stupid. I know that we are constantly taken advantage of. And I'm working very hard to change that, but I'm not going to force a lifestyle on anyone that doesn't want it. I'd resign before I did that."
I wasn't sure if I was impressed or simply shocked. Hearing something like that come out of Croft's mouth was surprising. He was supposed to be the one to help promote Guardian numbers increase, but on the inside, he was still one of us.
"I think I have an all-new level of respect for you," I said as I took a bite of my food.
"Thank you," he said with a smirk.
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Packing up our house and leaving was harder than I expected. I was going to miss our neighbours, I was going to miss this house, I was going to miss being so close to the water.
The Ozera's asked us not to disclose what we knew about them but encouraged us to visit again. I promised that I would give them updates about Christian when I could, and I would send photos and pictures from their wedding.
My goodbye to Nancy was sappier than either of us thought it would be. We both tried to act like we could tough it out, but we both shed some tears as we hugged goodbye. Another person we promised to come and visit.
The drive back to Court was long and I spent a lot of time learning to drive on the backroads. I never had much incentive to learn, but now that we were heading back, it seemed like it was time. It wasn't too bad, and it gave Dimitri a bit of a break too.
I thought that getting back into Court would be difficult, but Croft had sent us to an entrance that was a key code and not a guard. Once we pulled through the gates, I felt something settle over my mind. The warding at the house in Maine must have been just enough to deter, nowhere near as strong as it was here.
The near-constant headache all but disappeared.
There was a back entrance to one of the meeting buildings and we parked behind it, got out and headed toward the door. I punched the code in there too and slipped inside, sighing quietly to myself as we walked toward the meeting room near the corner of the building.
I knew we had reached the right room when I spotted Croft standing outside of it, looking at his phone but looked up when he heard us approach. He nodded at me and then knocked on the door, wishing us both luck as he departed.
I breathed a slow breath through my nose and sighed, closing my eyes as anticipation became almost too much.
"Are you ready for this?" Dimitri whispered.
I shook my head. "Not one bit. I missed everyone, but I feel like death was easier than coming back," I whispered, "Look at what we put our family through."
Dimitri nodded and leaned down, brushing his lips against mine, his hand resting against my hip gently. I sighed and leaned into him, resting my head against his chest and peaked at Briar before closing my eyes.
The door opened and my eyes snapped to Abe's, his showing encouragement while I knew mine showed uncertainty. I pulled back but took Dimitri's hand, squeezing his fingers tighter than I normally would. I needed to feel grounded and even but doing this, it was enough to make me feel like I wasn't going to fall off the side of the world.
I followed Dimitri into the room and waited with bated breath as I cleared the door. Lissa's mind lit up like a firework, almost too much for me to tolerate as she stood up. Her eyes moved rapidly between us while my mother just shook her head.
"Mom?" I asked quietly, letting go of Dimitri's hand and stepping closer. Janine shook her head again but walked towards me, her face and eyes turning red as she reached for me. I let her crush me against her, shifting Briar so she wasn't stuck between us.
"You're here?"
"I'm here. I'm so sorry," I whispered and rested my head against hers. She pulled back and shook her head before looking at Abe.
"You knew?" she demanded.
"I told you when Rose was born that I wouldn't let any harm come to her. I wasn't going to let that promise go so easily," Abe said gently and Janine nodded, pulling back into her arms again. I let her and basked in her arms, breathing in the subtle smell of vanilla and sandalwood from her body wash.
After a moment I pulled away and whispered to Briar, getting her to look at Janine.
"Hey, that's Nana," I whispered softly pointing at Janine. Briar seemed to shy away for a moment before Janine smiled at her, holding her arms out encouragingly. Briar hesitated before leaning towards Janine, letting her pull her from my arms. Janine smiled and sighed quietly, saying something I didn't quite understand as she kissed Briar's head.
I turned and faced Lissa, smiling at her as I met her in a bone-crushing hug.
"I'm so mad at you," Lissa mumbled through her tears. I nodded and squeezed her tightly.
"I know. That's okay," I chuckled, making her laugh as well. Lissa held onto me for a few minutes before going to Janine to coo at Briar. I looked at Dimitri and smiled tiredly.
"What's the official story?" I asked Abe.
"Faking your deaths was required for undercover work," Abe said plainly, "It's common, but most people don't end up making it back. In this case, you did."
I nodded and sat down on the plush couch, crossing my legs and resting my head on my hand. I was utterly exhausted from travelling and I wanted nothing more than to soak in the tub and have an early night. We also needed to switch back to a nocturnal schedule, and that was going to be a trial all on its own.
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DPOV
It had been a long day. An emotional, long day. I knew that Janine would be emotional to see Rose, but I didn't expect the same treatment from her. But it was heartwarming to feel her bone-tight embrace. I would kill to hug my mother, but hugging my hopefully-soon-to-be-mother-in-law was enough.
Lissa was more composed than I thought she would be, but I knew she was trying to keep herself cool for Rose's sake.
I enjoyed seeing Briar in the nursery we had decorated for her, sleeping soundly in the blue room that I worked so hard on. Even though I didn't get to watch her grow in this room, this was enough. So was watching Rose sleep in our bed. While the house in Rockwell was our house, this was our home.
I was expecting to hear from Croft, but when there was a heavy knock on the door I was puzzled. I set my beer on the table near the door and looked through the peephole, rolling my eyes to myself. I sighed and unlocked the door and opened it enough to be seen.
"Hello," I said.
Tasha looked at me with a slight shake of her head. "You really faked your death?"
"It wasn't up to me," I said plainly and Tasha shifted on her feet, crossing her arms over her chest.
"I really thought that you were dead," she said quietly and I nodded.
"So did my family," I pointed out.
Tasha nodded and looked expectantly at me, waiting for me to open the door further, but I didn't.
"What do you need, Tasha?"
"I wanted to see you."
"I don't want to see you," I returned and her face constricted.
"Why?"
"You know why," I hissed at her, "You are part of the reason!"
Tasha bit her lip and nodded. "I know. I'm sorry."
I scoffed. "No, you aren't. You put Rose in danger, you put my daughter in danger! You put me in danger!"
"I didn't want to!" Tasha snapped, "Do you have any idea of what I've had to do? You aren't the only people I've hurt!"
"You mean like your brother?"
Tasha tensed up at my words, something flashing through her eyes.
"How do you know about that?"
"I have my ways," I said and Tasha ran her hand through her hair, licking her bottom lip.
"There is one thing you can do to make up for all things you've done," I said but Tasha shook her head.
"They'd arrest me, or worse," she said but I shrugged at her.
"That's your call. But either you tell them and gain some kind of leniency, or you get exposed. I have enough to do that," I said before shutting the door in her face. I locked the door and sighed quietly, heading back up the stairs, beer in my hand.
I turned into our bedroom and found Rose sitting up in bed, her arms wrapped around her knees. She looked tired but gave me a tight smile.
"How did that go?"
"About as good as anyone would expect," I said dryly and set my beer on the nightstand. Rose nodded and reached for me. I kneeled on the bed and took her hand, letting her pull me down with her.
"I'm sorry," she said quietly.
"For what?"
"I still feel like I've caused you more problems than not," she said. I turned my head and kissed her neck.
"You're worth all of them either way, Roza."
Rose snorted and shuffled so she was laying next to me.
"You know what?"
"What's that?" I asked.
"We never broke in this bed," she said with a wag of her brows and a smirk. I raised my brow at her and smirked, raising up on my arms, and leaning over her.
"That is very true," I said leaning down and kissing her neck again, smirking at her quiet giggles. Rose kicked her legs free of the blankets and wrapped them around my hips, pulling me down on top of her. I rested my weight against her, running a hand over her thigh before cupping her neck.
Rose tipped her head to catch my mouth, moaning quietly as she rocked her hips against mine. I let my tongue run along the seam of her lips before she parted them. Rose pulled her head back with a moaned sigh and bit her lips as I moved back to her neck, nipping at her collarbone.
"Once upon a time I joked that this was how I was going to end up pregnant again," Rose giggled and my lips stilled on her neck. I pulled back and braced myself over her with a raised brow. Was she trying to be subtle?
"Another one?"
"Not right now!" Rose said with a laugh, "Maybe in two years or so."
I let out a small breath of relief. "Don't get me wrong, Roza. I'd love another one, but I was worried for a second."
Rose smirked. "Hey, I loved every minute of being pregnant, but our lives are so messed up right now and I want to enjoy more time with Briar before we add another kid into the mix," she said as she ran her fingers down my neck, "But that doesn't mean I don't like the practice."
I smirked at her and leaned back down, catching her lip between my teeth with a slight tug. I would never say no to practice.
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Early update cause I passed my Law Clerk exam and I'm happy about it!
Let me know what you think!