Chapter 24:

My heart was pounding against my chest, it felt like I had run the marathon. My left foot was twitching up and down from stress, I could hardly sit still. Dmitry sat next to me with a sobering expression and every few minutes, I felt his hand on my right leg, trying to calm me down. It seemed that I was not the only one that was nervous. I wondered to myself if Dmitry was suddenly regretting his choice of bringing me with? At least Michael's... pack was no longer in danger with me there but did that not mean that Dmitry's was then. It made me ill thinking of somebody being injured because, for some reason, bad people were after me. I started to become sick of the thoughts that Dmitry could be one of them.

"Could we please stop the car?" I urged, my voice diminutive.

"Iov, Ostanovi mashinu (stop the car)," Dmitry ordered the chauffeur. Promptly as possible, I forced the car door open and dived out, I sank to my knees and gagged. I felt my stomach acids rising, burning my throat. Dmitry's door thumped shut and he was next to me in seconds. He captured my hair in his hands and kept it up as I leaned forward on my knees. "You alright?"

"Yes, just a bit of motion sickness."

"Don't lie to me, Hope, I could hear your head's gears spinning in the car. You will be safe here."

"But will you be? Michael and Olive's home was attacked because of me. Surely they will do the same here. Will your people be safe? And you?"

"Hope. It will be alright." I looked him in the eyes, my tears at the edge of my lids, threatening to fall down. Tenderly, he took my chin in his hand and stroked his thumb on my cheek, which let a tear to run down into it.

"Volcov, we need to get going. The Elders are waiting for us." Alek's voice uttered from behind the car. He was leaning on the back of the car, rubbing his jaw. Sensing my eyes on him, he gazed into them with indifference. He sniffed and averted his gaze elsewhere.

"Not now, Aleksandr." Dmitry boomed sharply. Alek surrendered his hands into the air and stood up straight.

"Just saying. Tam na moyey golove. Zlitsya, chto vy ne otvechayete na svoy mobil'nyy telefon." (They're on my head. Angry that you are not answering your cellphone) He whined in Russian and moved back into the car.

"Do you feel better? We still have a long ride ahead, why don't you get some sleep?" he gently spoke to me and assisted me up to my feet.

"Where are we going exactly? We have been driving for five hours already." How far was his home? We landed in some place called Perm, I had no notion where it was, only that it was a city in Russia. When we landed, a black SUV-resembling car stood to wait. It was huge and I could hardly get in that car. It was clearly made for off-road driving.

"We still have to go another four before where there." I walked back to the car with Dmitry hot on my heels. He encircled his hands around my hips and hoisted me up into the car again. Sliding over the seats, he ascended in after me. He made it look so effortlessly with his long legs. Iov started the car, as Dmitry half turned in search of something in the back of the car. Alek was typing away on his phone with a smirk on his face.

"Here." Dmitry placed a pillow on his lap, tapping it lightly; clearly, he wanted me to rest my head on it. For some odd reason, I got chills and complied with his request. Laying down, I gently placed my head on the pillow and looked up to him. His eyes almost had this glow in them, his lips parting as he stroked my hair between his fingers. They ran like silk through them. My eyes felt heavy at that moment, his continues strokes lulling me into sleep. My breaths evened out and my eyes shut, tiredness fighting my brain.

"Chto ty im skazhesh'?" (What are you going to say to them?)

"Nichego."(Nothing) Dmitry spoke darkly which caused Alex to scoff. "Eto ikh problema."(It is their problem) He then growled darkly, his body trembling. I was beginning to dislike Alek, even though I could not understand what they were discussing, it seemed intense and upsetting to Dmitry and I did not like that he was upsetting him. My last thoughts wandered off until tiredness won the battle and I fell asleep.

***

I was shaken awake, my head hitting Dmitry's stomach. We were still in the car, but the road was no longer smooth. We were driving on an older road; the road was surrounded by a canopy of trees, lightly filtered in here and there. It too was bumpy and narrow; the road lines could hardly be seen, probably faded by the rain. Stretching up into my previous sitting position, I noted that Dmitry had draped his suit jacket around me. His rich smell surrounded me, clinging to me like a second skin.

"You alright?" his deep voice lured me back into reality. Nodding my head yes, I looked back out at the woods. "We are almost there, just a few more minutes and you'll see the town.

"Town?"

"Yes, ... it is a small and quaint town, but it does well. We have a big river that runs past us which we use for trading. It is the bloodline of the town."

"What do you trade?"

"We trade with many things; stock, wood and most important gems. There is a big mine near here."

"What do you mine?"

"Moonstones, similar to the one you are wearing. They are very valuable in the human economy and mystics." As he finished his sentence, one of my eyes caught a glimpse of civilization. It astonished me that a town could exist in the middle of nowhere and flourish like that one. We were driving into the town on the main road, old yet neat buildings where cluttered along the road. Small businesses, jewelry stores, and even common shops where located in the buildings. People were buzzing around in the town, going on with their daily lives. They all seemed so normal, children clung to their mothers' arms as they shopped, old ladies greeting each other and discussing their grandchildren. It was so civilized except for the horse wagons. It seemed that people there only drove on bicycles or wooden carriages, very eco-friendly.

"The town is very eco-friendly?"

"Yes, we try to be at best. Most of our electricity is powered by the hydro powerpoint in the mountain to your left and the mines are caves in the mountains too. We are very proud of our little community here and try our best to a minimum our carbon footprint."

"That is amazing."

As we passed by some stopped and looked our way, whispering to each other with smiles on their faces. At the end of the town, a large brick bridge stood. It was beautifully plastered and painted white, silver railings were bent into magnificent artworks. It stretched over an icy dark river into more woods on a hill. Looking up the hill, I lost my breath. I big ancient castle peaked out from the treetops. It was terrifyingly big.

"You live in a..." I was not able to finish my sentence but knew Dmitry understood.

"Yes, welcome to Lupiad Castle." We drove up the hill on a well-kept dirt road, the road was very strange. It had big sharp turns the whole time. The nearer we got to the castle the fewer trees I started to see. A big brick wall came up from Dmitry's side and I knew we were there. An ancient boulder wall seemed to surround the palace, a gate was opened and proud guards saluted at the entrance. We then drove on a paved road that was surrounded by beds of red flowers. There was a stable where some people were tending to horses and around the corner large paving with a fountain in the middle, behind the grand fountain, my new home. A big medieval castle.

It almost e-shaped, a chapel looking place to the right and a what seemed to be living space to the left. In the middle were, Iov, stopped was a grand big staircase that led up to the entrance of the castle. A big oak door, almost two stories high with engravings on them, stood proud. Four guards were stationed next to it with sharp-looking weapons.

Dmitry touched my thigh in reassurance. Slowly I climbed out after Dmitry, he stretched out his hand to me, his body blocking my view of the stairs and front entrance. He took a deep breath and lowered his head to mine, our fronts touching softly against one another, his eyes closed. What seemed to be a romantic jester, but quite frankly I knew different. This was the last moment of peace between us. He held me like what felt for the last time, his body seemed to hum goodbyes. His then closed eyes staggered open, those haunting colors penetrating into mine. At that moment I knew the dangerous look in his eyes.

I simply walked into the wolf's den. 

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