Chapter 1

"I will always love you." I said, looking up into the face if the only man to have touched my heart so deeply. Thinking of how much I loved him made what I set out to do two months ago, nearly impossible.

I had to kill him.

I had a handle on my stake and was prepared to plunge it into his chest when his grip tightened on me in a way that made me feel warm all over, it was like we were back in the old days, before everything went so wrong.

In that same instant of hesitation he pulled me over the railing of the bridge and fell backwards while still gripping me I ended up lying on top of him.

"That's what you have been waiting for me to say?" he asked with so many emotions in his voice I couldn't decipher them all.

I nodded in awe at the emotions in his voice.

"Silly, silly Roza" Dimitri said with humour lacing his normally cold tone. "No matter what has become of me that is the one thing you should never question." He said while reaching up for some stray hair and pushing it back behind my ears.

He still loves me! Though I was aware that Strigoi were incapable of feeling love, I couldn't question the absoluteness of his tone and the seriousness of his face.

Without thinking I leaned down and kissed him and he kissed me back. It was filled with love, worry, passion and desire. Everything we were holding back from when I was his 'prisoner' of sorts was there in that kiss.

He pulled back slightly, breathing hard. And in a voice that I knew didn't belong to him he said. "Rose it's time to wake up."

I opened my eyes and instead of seeing Dimitri's deep brown ones with the red ring around them that I was beginning to know too well, I was looking into the deep emerald green eyes of Adrian Ivashkov and only one thought was in my head. What the hell was he doing in my room?!

As if reading my mind—or maybe it was clear on my face—he simply said; "Lissa asked me to wake you, she was going to come herself but got called into a meeting with the headmistress." He smiled down at me.

"Shit!" I exclaimed and remembering I had somewhere to be I hastily jumped out of bed grabbed some workout clothes and changed into them—away from Adrian's perving eye's—I then quickly went to my little desk with its mirror to tie my hair up into a ponytail.

"Calm down my little Dhampir." Adrian said, coming to stand beside me as I examined myself in the mirror.

"Adrian, I have no time for you so called 'charm' right now." I said to him as I looked around my room for shoes.

I stood up straight after tying up my sneakers and flinched when I felt Adrian's lips brush the side of my neck.

"You know, I have finished my assignment. Would you like to read it?" He asked with hope in his voice.

I stepped away from him so I could look at him. "No" I said and when I saw his face crumple with pain and disappointment I added "Later." This made his smile turn hopeful again.

I walked out of my room shortly after he left to meet Christian in the library before we headed to the elementary gym as it was never used on Saturdays.

It had been two weeks since I returned to the academy and not much had changed.

After that messy business with Avery Miss Kirova resumed her post as head mistress of St. Vladimir's.

Lissa and Christian were nowhere near resolving their problems, he refused to sit with us if she was around, I felt sorry for him and though I would never admit this out loud I did love him like he was my own brother.

We had our own little group that nobody understood; Lissa, Eddie, Adrian, Christian and me. Mia was also a part of this 'family' as we like to call it but as she lived at the Royal Court now we hardly ever got to see her.

My mother remained at the school, claiming that they needed extra guardians and that her charge let her change from being his guardian to being a guardian at the academy. Though I knew she was here to keep an eye on me.

And then there was Dimitri. I hadn't heard from him since receiving his note and the stake I thought I had killed him with, and as far as anyone besides Lissa and I were concerned I had succeeded in killing him, though I knew I would tell them eventually.

Whoever says that life is easy deserves a punch in the face, courtesy of moi.