A Warehouse on the East Coast | Still Later Sunday
His Strigoi minions were getting antsy, demanding Dimitri post them outside to await the guardians they didn't believe were going to show for a little girl and her boyfriend.
"They're coming," Dimitri assured them, his voice low and thoughtful. "I know they are."
"We're not here to babysit the helpless Moroi. Come on, we want to do something useful!"
"You have no idea what you're talking about," Dimitri informed them, glancing between the three other Strigoi in the room to Lissa and Christian, bound tightly to chairs. "They're dangerous. This may not be enough protection."
"That's ridiculous!" Before the foolish Strigoi could finish scoffing, Dimitri backhanded her across the face, sending her sprawling a few feet away.
He continued pacing, not caring about anything more than these fools following his commands to the letter. "You will stay here, and you will guard them as long as I tell you to, do you understand?" She glared back and gingerly touched her face but said nothing. Dimitri glanced at the others, daring them to try and move against him. "And you'll stay too. If the guardians actually make it this far inside, you'll be needed for more than just guard duty."
"How do you know?" demanded a recently-turned human. Dimitri couldn't help thinking that had been a mistake, but good help was hard to find. "How do you know they'll come?"
"How indeed." Dimitri was instantly in front of Lissa, kneeling down and peering into those Dragomir eyes. She tried to look away, but his hand gripped her neck tightly, forcing her head back and her eyes wide. "I know the guardians will come because Rose is watching," he said quietly, knowing it was true. Dimitri could imagine Rose off with a group of guardians who busily planned their rescue, Rose's dark eyes getting that far-away look that signaled she wasn't in her own head. "Aren't you, Rose?" Dimitri relaxed his hand to run his fingertips over the skin of Lissa's throat, as gentle as a lover, but never would anyone question that it was by his own choice that Dimitri didn't snap her neck at that moment.
"You're in there, Rose." Dimitri smiled, letting Rose see those dangerous and giving fangs of his. "And you won't abandon either of them. Before you might have come alone, but I know you're not that foolish now. Come find me. I'm getting hungry."
[NFB, Warning for kidnapping, violence, character return, and rampant abuse of Spirit Bound.]
"They're coming," Dimitri assured them, his voice low and thoughtful. "I know they are."
"We're not here to babysit the helpless Moroi. Come on, we want to do something useful!"
"You have no idea what you're talking about," Dimitri informed them, glancing between the three other Strigoi in the room to Lissa and Christian, bound tightly to chairs. "They're dangerous. This may not be enough protection."
"That's ridiculous!" Before the foolish Strigoi could finish scoffing, Dimitri backhanded her across the face, sending her sprawling a few feet away.
He continued pacing, not caring about anything more than these fools following his commands to the letter. "You will stay here, and you will guard them as long as I tell you to, do you understand?" She glared back and gingerly touched her face but said nothing. Dimitri glanced at the others, daring them to try and move against him. "And you'll stay too. If the guardians actually make it this far inside, you'll be needed for more than just guard duty."
"How do you know?" demanded a recently-turned human. Dimitri couldn't help thinking that had been a mistake, but good help was hard to find. "How do you know they'll come?"
"How indeed." Dimitri was instantly in front of Lissa, kneeling down and peering into those Dragomir eyes. She tried to look away, but his hand gripped her neck tightly, forcing her head back and her eyes wide. "I know the guardians will come because Rose is watching," he said quietly, knowing it was true. Dimitri could imagine Rose off with a group of guardians who busily planned their rescue, Rose's dark eyes getting that far-away look that signaled she wasn't in her own head. "Aren't you, Rose?" Dimitri relaxed his hand to run his fingertips over the skin of Lissa's throat, as gentle as a lover, but never would anyone question that it was by his own choice that Dimitri didn't snap her neck at that moment.
"You're in there, Rose." Dimitri smiled, letting Rose see those dangerous and giving fangs of his. "And you won't abandon either of them. Before you might have come alone, but I know you're not that foolish now. Come find me. I'm getting hungry."
[NFB, Warning for kidnapping, violence, character return, and rampant abuse of Spirit Bound.]