I woke up freezing cold, and drenched in sweat. For a minute, I was disoriented and wasn't sure what was going on. I only knew that I felt an urgency I couldn't explain. That's when I realized they weren't my feelings - LISSA! Without even so much as a second thought, I jumped from my bed and ran for her rooms. It never occurred to me that she might just be having a nightmare. Through the bond, I could feel her running through a whole range of emotions. Fear, surprise, despair, then rage. When I reached her room, I didn't bother to knock - I just slung the door open and turned on the lights.

I found Lissa standing at the window, staring out over the snow-covered courtyard that her room overlooked. "Christian's in trouble, Rose." she said quietly without even looking up. I walked over and put my hand on her thin shoulder reassuringly. "What happened, Lissa?" I asked, noting the tears that slid silently down her face. "I- I had another dream, Rose. It was so real. I know it's one of those." Lissa said, still staring out of the window. "Ok, tell me what you saw, Lissa." I said, standing beside her at the window. "We have-had, a date planned for tomorrow night in the chapel attic. Now I don't think it's a good idea." Lissa explained. I could feel her slowly calming down and we talked, but I needed to know exactly what she'd seen in her dream so I could protect her from it.

We went over and sat on the sofa in the living room of her suite so we could chat comfortably. Lissa sat back against the overstuffed cushions and sighed. "In my dream, I'm just watching things happen. Like I'm there, but nobody can see me. Christian is up in the attic, lighting candles, laying out the blankets and so forth. He looks so happy, Rose. He was humming a song I think, and wearing a blue shirt. There's a noise, and he looks up smiling, thinking it's me but it isn't. About a dozen or so people crowd into the room, most of them Strigoi. They surround him, and he manages to set a couple of them on fire before they tranquilize him. Before he goes down, he kills three, but a couple of the people aren't Strigoi - they're guardians and Dhampirs. He falls onto our blankets, and they take him away Rose! One them says that he'll make a tasty meal, and another one says that he's not food, he's leverage. Then I woke up." Lissa was shaking now, and I could see the tears welling up in her eyes. "Would you like for me to go get Christian for you? I can totally make that happen." I offered, just wanting her to feel better. Lissa nodded and curled up in a little ball. "Ok. I'll do it. Pulling out my cell phone, I got up and walked over to the window, dialing Christian's cell phone number. He sounded sleepy when he answered, but not unpleasant. "Rose? What's up? It's like two o'clock. Is Lissa ok?" he asked. So I explained to him the best I could what was going on. "So you need to come here and let her know that you're ok. Maybe stay with her tonight. She's not handling this very well." I replied, knowing that now that we aren't students anymore, it doesn't matter who sleeps where. Christian agreed to get dressed and come right up, so I told Lissa and decided to go to Dimitri with the information.

I was nearly halfway to Dimitri's suite before I realized that I was still in my pajamas. Granted, it was pajama pants and a skimpy tank top, but it was sleep attire nonetheless. Oh well, he'd seen me naked a couple of times, and this was an emergency, so I decided not to waste time getting dressed. Breathless from running the whole way, I knocked on his door. He must have been asleep because it took a minute for him to open the door. When he did, it was a sight. He stood there, his hair pulled back in a low ponytail in nothing but a pair of dark green sleep pants. "Roza. Is everything alright?" he asked, looking confused. "Yes, no, I don't know." I said, suddenly feeling very distracted by his bare chest. "Come in. We can talk in here." Dimitri said, stepping aside to let me into his room. He led me over to the sofa and sat me down. "Would you like anything to drink?" he asked. I shook my head, and he sat beside me. "There is going to be a Strigoi attack." I said bluntly, watching Dimitri's dark, sexy eyes for a reaction. "How do you know this Rose?" he asked, carefully measuring his voice. "Lissa has...dreams that, happen Dimitri. I can't explain it, but it's true." I said, feeling stupid even as I said it. He nodded "Those are called prophetic dreams, Rose. They aren't uncommon amongst the Moroi. What did she see?" Dimitri laid his huge, warm hand on my shoulder and I calmed instantly, except for the massive amounts of naughty energy that was jumping from my skin to his. "There will be a group of 12 people, at least 9 of them are Strigoi. They're going to kidnap Christian Ozera. They want to use him as bait. For what, I have no idea." I said, feeling better now that I wasn't holding that information in anymore. "We have to protect them both, Dimitri. If anything happens to Christian, I don't know what Lissa will do."

Dimitri spoke in that way he has that makes me feel safe "We will do whatever is necessary to make sure he isn't harmed in any way. As for the Princess, well, she is a given." That being said, he pulled me gently into his arms and held me against his chest, smoothing my hair and kissing the top of my head. "I have missed you, Roza." he whispered against my hair. "I've missed you to Dimitri." I replied, snuggling into his arms even closer. He'd been back for about 4 months, and we'd barely seen each other. Lissa had been moved into the palace after the queen's murder, and Dimitri and I, being her guardians, went with her. Christian was here strictly because of Lissa. Moments like these were precious because they were so few and far between. This was the first time we'd been alone like this since he'd been back and I was enjoying every second of it.

"Roza..." he whispered. I looked up into those smoldering eyes and was met with a very sweet kiss. It wasn't the kind of kiss that sparks a make out session, it was the kind that wraps itself around your heart and makes you feel how much the person kissing you really loves you. He held my face between his hands, and when he broke the kiss, he looked into my eyes and said "I really do love you." I smiled brilliantly at him and replied "I really do love you too." with a giggle. "You know we have to let the other guardians know about the Strigoi, Roza." he said in that tone that was all business. I nodded in agreement "Can't it wait just a little longer?" I asked, really not wanting the moment to end. It had been way too long since he had held me this way, and I didn't want to have to go back to the real world, where even holding hands was frowned upon. He smiled-a real smile and brushed a stray lock of hair out of my eyes "Unfortunately, they need to know now so we can start making plans to protect the boy." he said. I really had no choice but to agree, so I reluctantly stepped out of his warm, comfortable embrace. He went into his bathroom and was out in what seemed like just seconds, completely dressed. Dimitri tossed me a St. Vlad's sweatshirt to put over my tank top and we were on our way to the security office.

We sat and talked with the head of palace security, a rather small Guardian who looked a whole lot like a weasel to me. The whole time I was telling him what I knew and how I knew it, he looked nervous, like he wanted to hide under the table. I don't know why people get nervous around me...I really don't. Anyway, after I finished my story, he just looked at me and asked "So you expect me to put the entire castle on alert indefinitely just because the Princess had a bad dream about her boyfriend? Surely you can't be serious, Guardian Hathaway?" Now I was about to lose my temper. I could feel Dimitri's hand on my back, and see the warning in his eyes "Don't do anything rash, Rose" it said, so I relaxed, and explained "The princess, from time to time, has prophetic dreams. It's not an uncommon thing in Moroi who specialize in Spirit. She knows the difference between regular dreams and the ones that will come true. Even if you don't believe me, Christian is a royal, and Lissa is soon to become Queen, so you have to take it at face value, my friend." There, I was nice. Dimitri's hand relaxed, and so did his face.

Nearly an hour later, every guardian in the castle, and their Morois were gathered in the main ballroom for a meeting regarding this new threat. The Security Coordinator stood on a podium at the front of the room and addressed the crowd. "Guardians, we have received a warning that Strigoi are planning to come into our palace and abduct one of our Royals. That being said, we are going to have to step up security quite a bit. EVERYONE must work together to keep our people safe. The mark this time is Christian Ozera. I don't care what you think of the boy or his family, but he is Moroi and a Royal, so he must be protected at all costs. He is also the Dragomir Princess's betrothed, so we must take even more care that he is safe. To drop the ball on this means not only risking the Ozera boy's life, but also that of the princess. Am I clear on this?" he asked. Looking around the room, I saw everyone nodding except for Christian and Lissa. They felt as though they were strong enough in their magic that they could protect themselves. I could feel the first twinges of frustration seeping in through the bond, and I knew that Lissa was about to get angry.

I put a gentle hand on Lissa's shoulder and whispered "They just want to keep you safe, Lissa. Let them do their jobs." I felt the anger begin to subside, and she visibly relaxed into the crook of Christian's arm.

After the Guardian schedule had been made, and maps gone over and all the technical stuff was finished, it was decided that Christian should stay in Lissa's rooms until the threat of his abduction was over. Lissa was overjoyed. I was not. It wasn't that I didn't like Christian, or that I didn't want them to BE together, I just found it harder to keep my mental eye on her when they were, well, together. The meeting finally ended, and Dimitri and I walked Christian and Lissa to their room. We all hugged and said goodnight at the door, then headed back towards my room. Dimitri and I were happy to find that we had the day off (or night, such as it is), so we decided to go back to my room so I could get dressed, then maybe go catch a movie.

I invited him in, swearing to behave. He laughed. "Roza, I do not think you know HOW to behave." He was right. I don't. The second the door shut I shoved him against it and stood on my tiptoes for a kiss. THIS was one of those kisses that incites a mad make-out session. His hands were everywhere, my hands were everywhere. Clothes were removed, and it was getting really steamy when his cell phone rang. "Damn!" he swore, looking at the caller ID. It was Guardian Lemke, one of the higher ups in the security office. "Belikov." Dimitri said when he flipped open his phone. "Yes sir. I was about to step out for the evening." I could see the wheels turning in his head as he listened to the caller talk. I wondered what was going on, but I was quiet. Finally, Dimitri said "Yes sir. Six a.m. I will let her know. Thank you." and he closed the phone.

"What was that all about?" I asked, sitting on the edge of my bed. "Our shift starts at six. We are on night duty." Dimitri replied. "But for now, we are on our own time." He sat beside me on the bed and draped one of his long arms around my shoulders. I looked up at him and asked "Well, now what?" He didn't answer, but before I knew it, he had lowered his lips to mine and we were kissing again. God, I wanted him so badly that it hurt, but I knew that we would not be making love anytime soon. At least not until we knew that Lissa and Christian were safe. Then, it was on. I broke the kiss and said "Give me ten minutes to get dressed and we can catch the seven o'clock movie. He just grinned. When I tried to stand up, my legs felt like jelly, but somehow I made it to my bathroom. I brushed my hair, dabbed on some lip gloss (Dimitri's favorite) and threw on a super tight pair of black jeans, a pretty maroon satin blouse, and a pair of black heels. In less than ten minutes, I stepped out of the bathroom ready to go. I could feel Dimitri's eyes sliding over my body, and see the hungry look in his sexy dark eyes. He wanted me too, and I probably shouldn't have teased him, but I loved the way he looked at me. "Ready to go, Comrade?" I asked, standing near the door. "Give me a moment." he said, and I knew that it would have been uncomfortable for him to stand up at that moment, so I waited.