Alberta'sPOV
Rose came rushing into the dhampir dorms and up to me. She was rushing out something about Strigoi on campus and Belikov being at the edge of the wards, fighting them off.
I couldn't help but notice it had been a good hour, closer to two, since I'd last seen either of them. I also took in that her appearance; her hair was a mess, and her lips were swollen... and that there was a glowing air about her despite her distress.
Then she uttered the one word which meant she was telling the truth. No student would have known the lockdown code without a teacher telling them in the midst of battle. And only Belikov would have trusted Rose to remember and tell. Buria, was all she needed to say and I was in action. She then begged to fight. I knew she was more than good enough, but her being an underage Academy ward meant I couldn't. I was also aware Belikov would chew me out for risking her life, because he would have handed her his spare stake and let her fight after warning us. I also knew, she, like her mother, could be a leader when needed. So, I handed her a stake and gave her a post. She reluctantly accepted it.
VA_VA_VA_VA_VA_VA_VA_VA_VA
After battling it out, I called a debriefing. Belikov persuaded me to let Rose come along... more like, he persuaded me to let her stay, because he'd already brought her in. Apparently she'd found her way into the midst of battle in the elementary dorms. So, he felt she needed to hear the details and see the process, since she'd find her way in anyway.
While reporting to me, his voice and face radiated a range of emotions. The sorts of emotions only Rose could bring out. He seemed to be relieved that she'd survived, distressed over her putting herself in harms way, and admiring of the way she'd fought and the measures she'd taken (bringing Christian Ozera into battle).
It was in noticing that admiring look and tone that I realised he had a glowing air around him, despite the grim events. I'd seen that glow elsewhere tonight. As I looked around the room, I found another person glowing. It was the person I'd seen it around earlier tonight. The person with mussed up hair and swollen lips. The person Belikov rushed to their side and tentatively and cautiously interacted with, though their mouths hardly moved and they were standing even closer together than they ever had before. That caused the glow around them to radiate even brighter.
How I was the only one who figured out Rose and Dimitri had clearly had sex and were love-birding right now was beyond me. Especially since they walked out the door moments later with tiny (nearly undetectable) yet bright smiles on their faces.