She came to a halt suddenly and sighed. “I’m tired,”

I stopped too and helped her sit down. The grass was dry and tickly against my skin. She lay back against it, and a moment later, I joined her. I had an eerie moment of déjà vu, recalling the afternoon we’d made snow angels. That was fun, laying on the cold ice with the sun smiling down on us. I miss the sun, I miss the day. I had become a creature of the night now. Daylight would fry me alive.

“This is amazing,”  she broke my reverie. She was staring up at the sky. It was clear, no clouds in sight. “What’s it like for you?”

“Hmm?”

“There’s enough light that I can see pretty clearly, but it’s still dim compared to day. Your eyes are better than mine. What do you see?”
She was wanting to know about Strigoi life. Was I making progress then?

“For me, it’s as bright as day.” I beamed. My vision as a Strigoi was super clear and I could see every little detail. Every tiny leaf in the hedge or an insect in the thicket. The sights and sounds were overwhelming when I first turned but I had learnt to tune out the unimportant noises and focus on the ones I needed most, mostly sounds of danger.

When she didn’t respond, he added, “It could be like that for you, too.”

Play your cards Dimka!

“I don’t know. I kind of like the darkness.”
I resisted the urge to tear a few of my hairs.

“Only because you don’t know any better.”

She sighed. “So you keep telling me.”

I m turned toward her and pushed the hair away from her face. “Rose, this is driving me crazy. I’m tired of this waiting. I want us to be together. Don’t you like this? What we have? It could be even better.” my tone was hardly romantic. I was desperate by now. She doesn't know all that which is at stake. She was still living in blissful ignorance. The longer she's a dhampir around here, the more at risk she is.

“Why?” she asked.

“Why what?” I was puzzled.

“Why do you want me?”

“Why wouldn’t I want you?” was that even a question? Why would she think that I didn't want her?

But she looked like she had somehow been expecting another answer.

I would've told more but the rustling of grass alerted me to someone approaching. It was a far off sound, just the quietness of it seemed threatening in itself.

A dark shape loomed over us, blotting out the stars. I shot up! Galina!

She was strikingly beautiful, in a hard and terrible way. I never ceased to be amazed by my instructor.

"Chto ty zdes' delayesh (what are you doing here)?" she asked.

"YA progulivalsya s Rozoy. (I was strolling with Roza.)" I answered back. I assumed my politest tone. With Rose at stake I couldn't just annoy her, not yet, until all my plans fall into place.

She continued shooting questions in Russian which I was sure Rose couldn't make head or tail of.

I reached down and helped her up, all the while explaining to Galina of why I had to take on Nathan and how he had attacked me. She seemed satisfied, not too bothered.

“Rose,” I said, “this is Galina. She’s the one who has been kind enough to let you stay.”

I could see unmasked fear in her eyes.
“Spasibo,” she said, swallowing down her emotions.

Galina’s expression—or lack thereof—didn't change with her thanks, and she turned her attention back to me.

Again she asked the same old thing. Again I politely explained to her of how Rose was a strong ally should we be able to turn her. She didn't seem convinced and let me know in the same tone 5hat I couldn't keep the 'whore' anymore. I had to do something, quick. My blood boiled at the thought of her calling Roza a 'whore'. It was with great difficulty that I managed to subdue my emotions.

Now now Dimitri. Bid out your time!

Neither she nor I moved until I was sure she had left.

“Come on,” I said. “We should get back.”

We walked back through the maze, though

“What did she say?” Rose asked.

“She doesn’t like that you’re still here. She wants me to awaken you or kill you.”

“Oh. Um, what are you going to do?”

I stayed silent for a few seconds. What could I do? Nothing currently. “I’ll wait a little longer and then . . ." it hurt me to say the words out loud. I didn't want it to come to that. " I will make the choice for you.”

I didn’t specify which choice I'd be making,

“How long?”

“Not long, Roza. You need to choose. And make the right choice.”

“Which is?”

I held up my hands. “All of this. A life together.” Was she as dumb as she pretended to be? How could she not see all the prospects we had before us?

We’d emerged from the maze. I stared at the house—which was crazy enormous when viewed from the outside—and at the beautiful gardens around us. It was like something from a dream. Beyond that, endless countryside rolled away, eventually becoming lost in the darkness and blending into the black sky—except for one tiny part that had a soft purple glow on the horizon. She frowned, studying it, then turned her attention back to me.

“And what then? Then I work for Galina too?”

“For a while.” I wasn't going to divulge my plans yet, not even to her. When I arrived here I didn't think big. Bit now, my hunger for power is almost as insatiable as my hunger for love.

“How long is a while?”

We came to a stop outside the house. I looked down into her eyes, making sure she understands every single word I spoke then. A lot was depending on it.

“Until we kill her, Rose. Until we kill her and take all of this for ourselves.”