Dimitri's POV
It seemed to have taken us hours to get the apartment looking somewhat like it had before my anger had taken over, and all that was left was a few shards of glass and ceramic on the floor and holes in the wall left behind from my punches.
It hadn't taken nearly as long as it would have had Christian and Vasilisa not insisted on helping me, despite my persistence that they didn't need to. I destroyed the apartment and it was my responsibility to clear it up. Nevertheless, I was thankful for their help and their presence.
As we cleaned, silence hung in the air. Tension lingering around us like a heavy fog. Each of us had been holding a heavy weight on our shoulders in Rose's absence and it was evident when we were together that she was constantly on our minds.
Across the room, a sudden succession of loud rings from Vasilisa's phone cut the silence and she nearly jumped out of her skin. She set down the dustpan and brush she was holding and reached into her pocket to fish out the offending object. I watched from the corner of my eye as I continued to pick up the pieces of shattered ceramic by the counter, and I noticed her frown slightly at the screen.
"Hello? Who's calling?"
It had clearly been an unknown number, and I heard both Christian and I sigh in frustration that she had answered. We had both expressed our concern at her doing that, and so had Rose no doubt – especially now that she was Queen. Anybody could be on the other end of the line, compromising her security.
"Rose?!"
My head snapped up at the mention of Roza and I instantly dropped the shattered shards to the floor once more, forgetting the initial task at hand.
"Oh my god, Rose! Can you hear me?"
Within seconds I was across the room and snatching Vasilisa's phone out of her hand at the opportunity to communicate with Rose. My heart pounded against my chest and my face held a look of deep concern and shock – a look mirrored by Christian and Vasilisa as they moved to stand in front of me.
"Roza?! Roza, I'm here," I exclaimed frantically, hoping to hear her voice in response. "Rose?"
"Please, Lissa, answer me," I heard her cry, with a heart-breaking sob following soon after, and I realised that she couldn't hear me.
"ебать," I cussed under my breath.
"What's happening? What's going on?" Vasilisa questioned, clutching tightly at Christian's arm.
"I don't think she can hear us," I informed her.
"You know that doesn't work, right?" Another voice rang through the phone, followed by a loud crash as Rose obviously dropped the phone in fright. "What do you think you're doing in here, Rose?"
My body tensed as I heard the new voice and sensing my new felt concern, Vasilisa and Christian shared worried looks.
"Get Abe here, now. Nathan's with her," I commanded, and Christian and Vasilisa immediately set to work. Christian pulled his own phone from his jacket and the pair turned away to contact Abe, leaving me to listen to the exchange happening on the other end of the phone.
"Turn around," I heard Nathan command. "Turn around, now."
There was a brief pause as Rose, I guessed, turned around to face him.
"I asked you a question, Rose. What do you think you're doing in here?"
I held my breath as I listened intently to their muffled conversation. I felt a surge of pride as I listened to my Roza's voice. Even faced with danger right in front of her she managed to appear calm and collected, hiding the terror I knew she was feeling deep down.
"You were trying to escape," Nathan stated. "Unfortunately for you, the phone doesn't work."
No, it did work! I could hear everything happening.
"You said. I kind of figured that out when, you know, no one actually answered me."
We did Roza, we answered!
"I'm getting pretty tired of your persistence to defy me, Rose. I'm beginning to wonder whether you're worth all this effort."
"Abe's on his way," Christian informed me as he and Vasilisa turned back towards me, drawing my attention from the phone. I nodded my understanding before focusing once more on Rose.
"So kill me," she stated. "End it."
Oh Roza, you're playing with fire.
"Tempting." There was a pause. "But I couldn't do that. I love you too much."
A growl escaped my lips at the same time I heard Rose's laughter through the phone.
"Love? You don't love me. You don't know what love is," She argued. "Maybe you love the power you hold over me or the pain and terror you cause, but you don't love me."
The sound of a harsh slap echoed through the phone, followed by a quiet whimper, and I knew that Nathan had struck out at her. Another growl found its way out of my throat and my free hand clenched in anger.
"How dare you question my love for you," I heard him snarl. "I. Love. You."
There was a pause and I strained to hear what was happening on the other end of the phone. "No," Rose said, "you don't," and I heard a swift movement as Nathan cried out painfully.
"What's happening?" Christian asked as I took in a sharp intake of breath.
"I think she attacked him," I said through gritted teeth. Vasilisa gasped in fear and clutched Christian's arm tighter.
I listened intently to the cries, shouts and grunts down the phone as the love of my life fought for her own, willed her to use all her strength to defend herself. She was the greatest warrior I knew, and I had all my belief in her that she could defeat him. She had to.
"Come on, Roza." I whispered.
I could hear her fighting valiantly, and I imagined her giving it everything she had. But even through the phone I could hear her growing weary – her grunts and growls as she attacked quickly became more and more cries of pain and my heart grew heavy in my chest as I knew she couldn't take much more.
I heard one final blow and Rose cried out before Nathan spoke again. "You still haven't learned. Each time you defy me I need to show you who you belong to. And you. Belong. To me."
I heard Rose whimper through the phone and I knew I couldn't listen any longer. I let out a low, angry growl and bile formed in my throat as I began feeling physically sick. With a shaky hand I removed the phone from my ear and moved towards the counter, carefully placing the phone down in the centre, careful not to hang up the call.
I clutched the edge of the countertop in an effort to control my rage until my knuckles turned white. I was sure that I didn't need to explain what had happened to Christian and Vasilisa, my anger telling them all they needed to know.
***
A few moments later, my head snapped up as the door to the apartment swung open violently and Rose's father burst through the door.
"What's wrong? What's happened?" He questioned, moving into the centre of the room and eyeing the three of us worriedly.
"It's Rose," Vasilisa informed him, and pointed towards the phone resting on the counter.
Abe's eyes lit up and he rushed to pick it up, eager to speak with his only child.
"Wait –"
"Kizim?" He questioned as he held the phone to his ear. When he heard Rose on the other end, he visibly paled and his eyes grew dark with rage, before he returned the phone to the countertop. He took a calming breath and briefly closed his eyes to regain composure.
"How long ago did she call?" He asked.
"Maybe five or so minutes?" Vasilisa answered. "I don't think she could hear us."
"I think she was trying to escape and she found a way of contacting us, but she must have dropped the phone when Nathan found her," I suggested. "They don't know we're still on the line – Nathan told her it didn't work."
"Perfect," Abe said, and I furrowed my brow in confusion. "We should be able to trace the call."
Of course! I felt like such an idiot for not realising that sooner.
"There's equipment for that over at the Guardian headquarters. If we can convince Croft to let us, we should be able to find where she is," I informed them, hoping that Croft or Steele wouldn't stand in our way – they had both expressed their concern regarding searching for Rose.
***
Picking the phone up from the counter, ensuring not to end the call, we wasted no time in rushing over to the headquarters in search of Guardian Croft.
"Guardian Croft, Sir," I greeted politely as we entered the office.
He looked up from the desk and stood up quickly when he noticed Vasilisa, bowing in her presence. "Your Majesty," he welcomed, "to what do I owe the pleasure?"
"Guardian Croft, it's Rose," she stated.
If I hadn't have anticipated it, I might have missed the subtle roll of his eyes at the realisation of why we were here again.
"Your Majesty, I'm sorry but I thought we established this before, it's just too great of a risk to look for her."
Abe stepped forward and offered a handshake, which Croft took politely. "Nice to meet you again, Guardian Croft – Abe Mazur, Rose's father."
"Yes, I remember. I'm sorry Mr Mazur, but there's nothing we can do. Staging a search for your daughter would cost us far too many lives, and that's even if we did know where she was taken."
"Ah, of course, however we have heard from Rose not too long ago. She managed to call us," Abe informed him, before explaining what had happened back at the apartment.
Hans looked troubled, as if tormented by an internal debate as to what he should do. "I'm sorry Mr Mazur, I really am – Rose is a valuable asset to the team and is respected highly by practically everyone here, if the risk wasn't so great we would do all we could to find her but, a rescue for just one person... I'm sorry, there's nothing I can do."
"But there is!" I shouted. "We have a lead now. We can trace the call!" I could feel myself getting worked up, a repeat of the day Roza was taken, but a stern look from the corner of Abe's eye told me to calm down.
Hans sighed in frustration. "Belikov, we –"
"Guardian Croft." Vasilisa interrupted, pushing her way in front of Abe and I, standing fiercely before Guardian Croft. "I'm sorry to say this but you either help us find Rose or so help me God I will do it myself and you can sure as hell kiss your job goodbye!"
The five of us stood there in a stunned silence, shocked at her unexpected ultimatum. In my periphery I could see Christian smirking slightly with pride at his girlfriend's take charge attitude. Hans, however, looked slightly frightened, concerned for the outlook of his job.
"I uh – your Majesty, uh," he stuttered. "I'll see what I can do. Please, follow me."
I sighed in relief, giving Vasilisa a thankful look before we followed Guardian Croft out of the offices and to another floor of the building. Tension engulfed us as we walked in silence and soon we were entering another room, filled with computers and electrical equipment.
***
It took Hans a mere minute to triangulate the location of Rose's phone call, finding it to be a large woodland area near Rockville, Pennsylvania – just a fifteen minute drive from Harrisburg. I couldn't help but think my nightmare from last night had been some sort of sign.
"That's only three hours away!" Vasilisa exclaimed. "We have to reach her as soon as possible! Can you leave tonight?"
"Unfortunately that won't be possible – we'll need to gather a team together and inform them of the situation before setting up a plan of action," Hans stated. "It's likely to be a day or so before we can leave, at least."
I could feel the frustration rising, but I knew there was no point in arguing – Hans was right.
"I presume you'll be the first to volunteer, Belikov?" He asked.
"Yes. There's no question about it," I agreed fiercely. "I need to help find her."
He nodded his understanding before informing us that he'd be in touch as soon as possible, leaving the four of us to exit the building, each feeling slightly more positive than we had when we entered.
"I can't believe we heard from Rose," Vasilisa uttered. "I can't believe we're actually getting somewhere with this." Christian put his arm around Lissa lovingly and gave her a reassuring squeeze. She leant into his embrace, seeking comfort in his arms.
"I think we're going to go home and process what has happened," Christian informed us.
I nodded in understanding. "Would you like me to walk you there?" I asked.
"No, no. Don't worry, we'll be fine. Let us know when you hear anything, though," he said before turning away, leading Vasilisa by the waist in the direction of their home, leaving Abe and I standing with one another awkwardly.
I shuffled from foot to foot as a heavy silence surrounded us. Abe had barely spoken to me since Rose went missing, choosing to ignore me the majority of the time, unless it was to make snide remarks at my expense. I knew that he blamed me entirely for the situation, and he clearly held a great amount of resentment towards me.
"Let's have a chat, Dimitri," He said before turning and walking away, leaving me no option but to follow him. We walked in silence, not saying a word to one another the entire journey back to the apartment.
I was the first to break the tension as soon as we sat awkwardly side by side on the sofa. "Abe, I –"
"No, I'll talk first," Abe interjected. "I want to apologise."
I had to fight to keep my jaw from dropping open in shock – Zmey rarely apologised, if ever.
"I want to apologise for the way I've treated you over the last few weeks. I took my anger out on you, placing the blame on your actions and ignoring the real culprit. I can see just how much Rose's disappearance has affected you – you love her, I can see that," he said, and I detected a real sense of sincerity in his voice. He really did feel bad for his actions. "And I understand that you thought you were protecting her, keeping Nathan's threats from her. That wasn't the right choice, I hope you realise that, but I know you did it to try and keep her safe, and I respect that. My daughter's safety means everything to me and I know you were looking out for her."
"Wow, uh, thank you, Abe," I returned. "That means a lot. I'm sorry too, for what it's worth. You don't understand the guilt I feel at not being able to keep her safe. The despair I feel each time I think about what she's going through, or each time Ivashkov comes with more news. It kills me."
"Me too, Son. Me too," he said quietly. "But we're one step closer. We'll get her back – we'll find her."
"We'll find her," I agreed.