This made me realize something else. I eyed Dimitri. "We're sharing a room?'
Sydney shrugged. "All the better to defend yourselves.'
She left us in that abrupt way of hers, and Dimitri and I glanced at each other briefly before heading into the room. Like the rest of the motel, it wasn't fancy, but it would do. The carpet was worn but intact, and I appreciated the weak attempt at decorating with a very bad painting of some pears. A small window looked sad. There was one bed.
Dimitri locked the bolt and chain on the door and then sat back in the room's lone chair. It was wooden with a straight back, but he seemed to regard it as the most comfortable thing in the world. He still wore that perpetually vigilant look of his, but I could see exhaustion around the edges. This had been a long night for him too.
I sat down on the edge of the bed. "What now?' "Now we wait,' he said.
"For what?'
"For Lissa and the others to clear your name and find out who killed the queen.'
I expected more explanation, but all I got was silence. Disbelief began to build up in me. I'd remained as patient as I could tonight, always assuming Dimitri was leading me toward some mysterious mission to help solve the murder. When he said we were going to wait, surely he didn't mean we were just going to ... well, wait?
"What are we going to do?' I demanded. "How are we going to help them?'
"We told you earlier: You can hardly go looking for clues at Court. You need to stay away. You need to stay safe.'
My jaw dropped as I gestured around the drab room. "What, and this is it? This is where you're stashing me? I thought ... I thought there was something here. Something to help.'
"It is helping,' he said, in that damnably calm way of his. "Sydney and Abe researched this place and decided it was out of the way enough to avoid detection.'
I shot up from the bed. "Okay, comrade. There's one serious problem here with your logic. You guys keep acting like me staying out of the way is helping.'
"Whats a serious problem is us repeating this conversation over and over. The answers to who murdered Tatiana are at Court, and that's where your friends are. They'll figure this out.'
"I didn't just get in a high-speed chase and jump state lines to hole up in some crappy motel! How long are you planning on "staying out of the way' here?'
Dimitri crossed his arms over his chest. "As long as it takes. We have the funds to stay here indefinitely.'
"I probably have enough spare change in my pocket to stay here indefinitely! But it's not happening. I have to do something. I won't just take the easy way out and sit around.'
"Surviving isn't as easy as you think.'
"Oh God,' I groaned. "You've been hanging out with Abe, haven't you? You know, when you were a Strigoi, you told me to stay away from him. Maybe you should take your own advice.'
I regretted the words as soon as they left my lips and saw in his eyes that I'd inflicted serious damage. He might have been acting like the old Dimitri in this escape, but his time as a Strigoi still tormented him.
"I'm sorry,' I said. "I didn't mean--'
"We're done discussing this,' he said harshly. "Lissa says we're staying here, so we're staying here.'
Anger shoved aside my guilt. "Thats why you're doing this? Because Lissa told you to?'
"Of course. I swore I'd serve and help her.'
That was when I snapped. It had been bad enough that when Lissa restored him to a dhampir, Dimitri had thought it was okay to stick around Lissa while spurning me. Despite the fact that I'd been the one who went to Siberia and that I was the one who learned about how Victor's brother Robert knew how to restore Strigoi ... well, apparently those things didn't matter. Only Lissa wielding the stake had seemed to matter, and Dimitri now held her up as some kind of angelic goddess, one he'd made an archaic, knight-like vow to serve.
"Forget it,' I said. "I am not staying here.'
I made it to the door in three steps and managed to undo the chain, but in seconds, Dimitri was out of his chair and had thrown me against the wall. Really, that was pretty slow reaction time. I would have expected him to stop me before I'd taken two steps.
"You are staying here,' he said evenly, hands gripping my wrists. "Whether you like it or not.'
Now, I had a few options. I could stay, of course. I could hang out for days--months, even--in this motel until Lissa cleared my name. That was presuming Lissa could clear my name and that I didn't get food poisoning from the DINER diner. This was the safest option. Also the most boring for me.
Another option was to fight my way through Dimitri. That was neither safe nor easy. It would also be particularly challenging because I'd have to try to fight in such a way that would allow me to escape but wouldn't kill him or cause either of us serious injury.
Or, I could just throw caution away and not hold back. Hell, the guy had battled Strigoi and half the Court's guardians. He could handle me giving everything I had. We'd certainly shared some pretty rough encounters back at St. Vladimir's. Would my best be enough for me to escape? Time to find out.
I kneed him in the stomach, which he clearly hadn't expected. His eyes widened in shock--and a little pain--providing me with an opening to break free of his grip. That opening was only long enough for me to yank out the door's bolt. Before I could reach for the knob, Dimitri had a hold of me again. He gripped me hard and threw me onto the bed stomach first, both pinning me with his weight and preventing my limbs from doing any more surprise kicking. This was always my biggest problem in fights: opponents-- usually men--with more strength and weight. My speed was my greatest asset in those situations, but being held down made dodging and evasion a non-option. Still, every part of me struggled, making it difficult for him to keep me down.