Truth to be told, I was exhausted. After extensive research with Sonya for the whole day- not to mention problems with Angeline, I was ready to call it a day. It was so frustrating how we could never find the solution to our Strigoi Vaccine. We would spend hours and hours on research, and we would seem SO close to the answer, when it would slip away again. It was harder than trying to catch a Strigoi. I sipped my coffee hoping the caffeine would give me more energy. My phone rang and I sighed. I hoped it wasn't another problem I had to deal with.

"Dimitri?"

Rose.

Just hearing her voice cheered me up. All my problemsseemed to fly away as I heard her voice. I found myself breaking into a huge smile.

"You busy?"

"No. No. It's always a good time for you to call, Roza." Rose. Roza. How I loved those names coming from my lips.

She laughed, "I'm sure you would say that even if there was a band of Strigoi taking you down Comrade."

I laughed. This was what was so amazing about her. Her cynical and sarcastic attitude always cheered me up. Well- almost always. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Sonya and Sydney leaving, with Sonya giving me a quick wink before leaving.

"How's everything at court Roza?" I asked, "Are you back on duty?" Ever since being shot a couple months ago, the guardians had arranged to give her some rest.

She growled, "No. Those imbeciles won't let me guard. Pulease! It's not like I died or anything…Ok I kind of almost died, but I'm ok. It's so boring now. I swear, Guardian Alan is doing this on purpose."

I chuckled. Of course, Rose hated to sit around idly. She hated to do nothing. I'm surprised she hasn't cracked yet.

"But, we're still having trouble passing the law. And things at court are getting kind of…intense."After Vasilissa had been voted queen and Jill had been found, things had gotten intense. So intense that Jill had been killed. Adrian had healed Jill and created a spirit bond between them, much as there used to be a bond between Lissa and Rose. After the "attempt at Jill's life," Jill had been hiding in California while Lissa and the rest of the Court tried to change the quorum.

"That's why I have to be back on duty. I can't sit around while everyone's life is in danger. There have been 2 attacks at court already. They're even worse at fighting then the Keepers, and we took them down in minutes. Luckily, no guardians got injured or anything. But still. I have to be back in duty. I have to protect the queen."

I smiled to myself. Rose's determination was amazing, it was why I had fallen in love with her in the first place.

"So, how about you Comrade? How are you doing?" she asked me.

I sighed, "We just can't seem to find the solution. Sonya thinks that maybe we should use Alchemist's blood for research, but Sydney refuses to help." We had found out that Strigoi hated alchemist blood.

I could hear her smile through the phone, "Sydney. Speaking of Sydney, how is she? Is she ok living with vampires?"

When I first met Sydney, she was the most uptight person I've ever met, "I think she's adjusting. Either that, or she's a whole lot better at hiding her feelings." I reply chuckling. I knew she was adjusting. She could talk to Jill and the other vampires without flinching, and I often saw her joking around and hanging around with the vampires and dhamphirs.

"That's nice." Rose mused. A commotion from the background came from her end. "That's Liss! Apparently, I can't be on duty but I have to go to court meetings…Bye Dimitri!"

I chuckled, "Have fun Rose. Don't lose your temper." Rose was known for losing her tempers during court meetings. The most famous one was where she called Queen Tatiana a bitch. "Love you." How I loved saying those words.

"Love you to Dimitri."

And she hung up. I smiled to myself like an idiot while replaying her voice in my head. I missed her voice already.

Suddenly, a scream broke my contemplation. "Help! Somebody help!" Sydney. I swore and sprinted off in the direction where her voice came from.