The warm Portland evening surrounded me as I headed back to my apartment with Lissa. I felt kinda weak. I hadn't fed in a couple days. Lissa sensed that as we entered the front door.

"Don't try to deny it. We're doing a feed." She shook her hair out of the way, exposing her neck. I leaned forward and bit into her throat. She cried out in pain for half a second before the endorphins from my saliva kicked in, causing a rush of euphoria.

I peeked out the window and saw a tall figure standing in the creeping shadows. I immediately pulled away from Lissa.

"What?" she asked, slightly dizzy.

"Guardian." Her dopey face vanished, seriousness taking over.

"Let's go." She said. She wobbled slightly as she stood up. I took the car keys from her and we bolted out the front door.

We made it halfway to our car before we were surrounded. Lissa immediately stood in front of me defensively. The tall man from the shadows looked at me. I unconsciously took a step forward and my foot slipped on the wet concrete. I was coming down at a bed angle and it would hurt. Except the man caught my arm and pulled me up. I felt a strange tingling run up my arm and down my spine. My heart fluttered as he pulled me to him.

"Lissa." He said, a hint of a Russian accent lacing the word. "Enough. Princess," he regarded me. "My name is Dimitri Belikov. I've come to bring you back to St. Vladimir's"


The plane ride back to St. V's only took a couple hours. Guardian Belikov sat next to me the whole ride. Every once and a while, our hands touched, and each time, the same feeling ran through me. He kept it silent except to ask if I needed anything.

When we touched down on the school's private runway, I felt so tired I could barely stand.

"Princess, are you ok?" Guardian Belikov asked.

"Tired. " I yawned.

"I can carry you if you'd like." He told me. I nodded and he picked me up.

"Thank you." I said. A minute later, I was out.


The next "morning," (St. V's ran on a nocturnal schedule) we were led into Headmistress Kirova's office.

Kirova was in her mid-40s with brown hair falling to her shoulder. She was just an inch shorter than me.

"Miss Hathaway, what made you think Princess Dragomir from the safety of the academy?" she asked Lissa.

"I was protecting her." Lissa snapped. "When you," she pointed at the guardians and Kirova, "couldn't!"

"And such attitude?" Kirova's voice rose. "Why should I not send you to live in a Dhampir commune?"

"Oh with the blood whores? How nice!" Lissa crossed her arms over her chest, and sat back. Blood whores were the sleaziest of Dhampirs. They let Moroi men drink their blood during sex.

"They have a bond." Guardian Belikov chimed in.

"Impossible." Kirova started. "That hasn't happened in centuries."

"I've watched them. They move in sync."

It was true, we were bound. Lissa could hear, see, and feel what I heard, saw, and felt, but not the other way around. I felt nothing from her.

"Plus, Miss Hathaway has talent, I can sense it."

"Fine. I'll make her a deal. Miss Hathaway, you will have extra training sessions with one of our new guardians, but any other time, you will be in your room."

Lissa. I thought. Be careful.

"Fine. Deal." She said.

"Princess Dragomir, Guardian Belikov is now your sanctioned guardian. He'll be following you around until further notice."

I looked up at Guardian Belikov and felt a hint of a smile playing on my lips.

I couldn't wait.