A.N: Hey guys!!

When I saw the number of reviews I had for the prologue I decided to post this one earlier than I intended.

I wanted to take a second to thank all the readers who offer to beta the story for me. I expect to receive one or two offer (at best) and I received at least 20 so thank you so SO much!

I wanted to thank Jessica (Jasper'sprincess213) who is now the beta for this story. Thank you so much for your help. You are so good at that, it's impressive!!.

Well I really hope you'll like this chapter and don't forget to review as I absolutely love reading you.

Take care

Steffy =D

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, I just wish I did.

Chapter 1:

3 Weeks later:

I was sitting across from Adrian, on our way to Romania; my last possible lead to finding Victor. Adrian was peacefully asleep, and looking at him made me feel better; instead of like a failure. I took this trip for two reasons and both were unsuccessful so far; I hadn't managed to find Victor or get Dimitri out of my head.

It has been six weeks since he left me and it hurt today just as much as the day he left. I could even say that it hurt more somehow. I thought he would at least try to contact me; just to let me know he was doing okay, that he was thinking about me… ANYTHING really. But no, he was even deader to me now than he was before when he was Strigoi. If it weren't for Viktoria's phone call thanking me for her brother, who had just arrived, I wouldn't even know that he was still alive.

"How is it going?" Pavel whispered from his seat beside me.

I looked at him startled. I shrugged, turning my gaze back to Adrian. "What do you think?" I asked rhetorically.

"Want to talk about it?"

I gave him a humorless laugh. "We're friends now?" I hissed. "I think you made your opinion pretty clear a couple of weeks ago."

That's when he told me that he preferred our relationship didn't take too friendly a turn, as being only professional would make us more efficient. Since that day I stopped trying to be his friend and remained only pleasantly professional.

"I-" he sighed as Adrian shifted in his seat.

"Rose?" he mumbled in a sleepy voice.

"Right here," I smiled looking at him. I was so happy he joined me in my stupid quest; even if I wouldn't admit it out loud.

Adrian looked from Pavel to me thoughtfully for a couple of seconds. "The idea of you watching me sleep is hot," he said pointing at me. "But you…" he grimaced pointing at Pavel, "are borderline creepy."

I laughed as Pavel rolled his eyes.

"How long did I sleep?" he asked me

"We'll be landing in about two hours," I said reaching forward to fold his collar.

"Don't forget what you promised," he said as a warning, but his tone was light and teasing.

"Promise? What Promise?" asked Pavel suspiciously and slightly annoyed.

"Well you know that our pilot is from Romania right?"

He nodded curtly.

"Adrian thought that it would be good for all of us to take a little break from the hunt. And," I smiled at Adrian. "I think he's right; a little break wouldn't hurt."

"How long…? I mean what would be the length of that 'vacation'?" he asked warily.

"Pretty short," I shrugged dismissively.

"I made Rose promise me two full days of extreme procrastination," Adrian said lightly. "And you'll have to agree that we all need that break. The trip has only been filled with frustration so far, and I really think our pilot could use a couple of days at home."

"It could be good, I agree." Pavel finally conceded with his usual professional voice that never allowed us to see his feelings. He was one of the most frustrating man ever!

"We're going to have fun trust me," Adrian said with a wink.

I chuckled as Pavel snorted. It was true that with Adrian we never really knew what to expect.

We talked about anything and everything for the remainder of the trip. Well, it was mostly Adrian and I talking as Pavel remained his usual, brooding self; hiding behind his dark sunglasses.

We checked in at a four star hotel as Adrian still had his high living standards. I had a room that had a communicating door with his because I was the 'Strigoi Detector'. If the nausea hit me I would have time to give a call to Pavel and rush into Adrian's room to protect him. Pavel was resting in the room across from Adrian's.

I tried to enter Lissa's head to see how things were back at Court, but it was the middle of the day there which meant that she was still asleep. I sighed looking out the window. The sun was still out so I decided to have a good look at the perimeter to try to find the best exits, the easiest escape routes, if needed. I doubted we would ever need them as we hadn't even crossed paths with a single Strigoi so far, but better to be safe than sorry.

"Better be safe than sorry. Always be prepared," I muttered to myself as I checked the back stairwell. I sounded so much like Dimitri.

When I opened the door back to our floor I jumped with surprise as Pavel was standing in front of the door.

"Why do you keep doing that?" I hissed angrily.

"Doing what?"

"Trying to scare me," I snapped.

"You seem really tense Rose, and that's… that's not like you." he said calmly as we started to walk back to our rooms.

"What are you doing? Acting like you've known me forever?" I hated the fact that he was right, and that it was so obvious.

He took his glasses off and placed his hand on my shoulder, stopping me. "Rose…" he started with a wary sigh. "We're a team in this… please?" he said and it actually shocked me to hear him ask that way.

I sighed looking around. "It's just…" I chewed on my bottom lip and gestured him to follow me into my room. I locked the door connecting my room to Adrian's to be sure Adrian wouldn't hear about my concern.

I gestured Pavel to the table at the other side of my room.

"My problem is Victor," I murmured, and it was partially true.

"Victor?" he whispered back clearly not expecting that to be my problem.

"You didn't see what he's capable of," I said almost shuddering at the memory. "He made his own daughter turn Strigoi you know," I whispered with urgency.

"I know…" he said with defeat in his voice.

"I saw him torture Lissa, make her suffer without even blinking. The... the man is insane and I know that he'll be able to use anything to get what he wants. I'm scared he'll finally find a way to get his Strigoi army and attack the Court to get on the throne, and," I sighed running my hand through my hair, "it will be entirely my fault."

"You are not the one who let him slip away Rose. I've been-"

I shook my head frenetically. "But I'm the one who wanted him out in the first place. I… I could have just kept to the plan. The same plan; except kill Dimitri instead of trying to save him. I would have kept my promise too by doing that."

"Do you regret it?"

"Saving his soul?"

Pavel nodded.

"No, of course not!" I said almost offended. Maybe I was selfish. I wanted him beside me, but even as he left me I never regretted the sacrifice I made; the hard choices. "I could never regret giving Dimitri back to the world."

Pavel looked at me silently, almost thoughtfully, like he was trying to figure out what I was all about.

"He did what he had to do, you know?" I said as I rested my hands flat on the table. "I promised him that I would save his soul, one way or another. I did," I shrugged. "He doesn't owe me anything," I couldn't even believe how detached and calm I sounded. I should have totally gotten an Oscar for that performance.

Pavel nodded as he stood up. "Don't you worry too much about Dashkov, Rose. Even if we don't find him, the secret services are…" he smiled a bit, "as much as I hate to admit it out loud, pretty good. And if he really raises a Strigoi army well… We can have some inside info with Belikov."

Here it went, the stabbing pain deep in my chest, yet again. "Yeah, true we could contact him." 'Good luck with finding him first,' I added to myself. Plus I really didn't want him to have to revisit his memories as a Strigoi more than he probably did already everyday.

"You'll phone me when Ivashkov is ready to move?" Pavel asked from where he stood by the door. His voice didn't sound questioning. It was an order hidden as a question, but it didn't bother me, it was Pavel.

"Yep, we're a team, remember?" I said trying to cheer up the mood a little bit. Well it was more for my benefit than his really. I was always scared that one memory, one word, would make my walls fall down; and that I would end up exposing the real extent of my pain, hurt and feelings of loss to the world.

"I'm sorry you had to figure it out so young Rose," he added. His hand was on the door handle; his eyes were full of an ancient sadness I didn't understand, but I wanted to.

I gave him a confused look. I had learned way too many things recently; things I'd rather never have figured out.

He gave me a tired smile. "The problem with happiness is that it always fades too fast."

He left the room without another word, leaving me standing up half frozen in the middle of my room all alone.

'Happiness always fades too fast,' I replayed his words in my head over and over again. It seemed so simple but also so true… so painfully true. It should teach me to enjoy what I have while I have it.

At that instant a knock on the door brought me back to reality. It took me a second to realize that it was coming from the door connecting Adrian's room to my own.

As soon as I opened the door I pulled Adrian into a bear hug.

"Thank you," I whispered, my face buried in his neck.

He hugging me back silently until I released him.

"Not that I don't love being welcomed like that," he said trying to sound teasing, but I could see the depth of his feelings in his eyes. "But what are you thanking me for?" he asked, taking my hand and intertwining our fingers.

I shrugged dismissively. "For being there for me. For always standing by me whether I'm right or wrong. Thank you for…" I chewed on my bottom lip. I knew perfectly well that what I was about to add was a big mistake.

"For…?" he encouraged.

"For loving me. For making me as happy as I could be under these circumstances."

Adrian flashed me his million dollar smile like I just gave him the most beautiful compliment ever. He brought our intertwined hands up and brushed my cheek with the back of his hand. "You don't need to thank me for that my little dhampir, I'm happy that you let me be there for you."

We stood there, staring in each other's eyes a bit longer than friends should ever be allowed to.

I shook my head to break the contact. I knew he wasn't trying to compel me but looking into his eyes always mesmerized me; now even more than usual.

"So? What are your plans for tonight?" I blurted out trying to break the intimacy of the moment. I just wasn't sure that I was ready to move on, not yet anyway. Even though I knew that if I ever fell in love and found happiness again it would be with the green eyed Moroi standing before me.

"That, my friend, is a surprise," he said with an overplayed evil laugh. "You'll find out soon enough."

I chuckled. "Okay Evil Master Mind, let me just jump in the shower quick and I'll meet you in your room in about twenty minutes. Deal?"

"Well okay since it would probably be stepping out of line to ask you if you need someone to scrub your back…" he trailed off.

"Stepping out of line to ask that? Not really." I stuck my tongue out. "However I'm pretty sure the answer would not satisfy your 'Little Adrian'," I said pointing to his pants.

He laughed his loud throaty laugh that I loved so much. "Who told you it was little?"

I couldn't help the light blush that crept on my cheeks. Usually joking about sex didn't make me uncomfortable whatsoever. I used to joke with my fellow novices all the time, but here it was different. There was a real sexual attraction between us and it wasn't all joking, it could happen… It was far too real and it was enough to make me uncomfortable; as if on a deeper level I was cheating on Dimitri. 'Idiot!' I thought angrily. 'He told you to move on!' Except that whatever might have been said I was not ready to move on; I still loved Dimitri way too much for that.

"Okay Mr. Pervy McPerverson, time to go now," I said pointing to the open door between our rooms. "I'll see you in a bit." I added as he walked through the door.

I closed the door but didn't bother locking it. I knew he would know that as he wouldn't hear the lock, but it didn't matter. I knew he wouldn't bother me or try anything. He loved me too much to do anything that could hurt me; or at least I hoped so.

I had already made that mistake once with Dimitri. I always thought that he wouldn't hurt me willingly, but he did as he walked out of the doors of the Academy, leaving me behind. He hurt me more than his Strigoi self ever could.

As soon as I stepped out of the shower I phoned Pavel and went to collect Adrian.

We followed Adrian's lead in the buzzing streets of an early summer evening, as the sun was starting to set in the horizon.

"We're here!" Adrian said cheerily pointing at the blue neon sign in front of us.

Pavel snorted, and even though I couldn't see his eyes behind his dark sunglasses I bet they were rolling into the back of his head.

"You've got to be kidding me!" I exclaimed, looking at the flashing neon sign stating, 'Karaoke bar'.

"It'll be fun! Come on!" Adrian grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the bar.

'Let the evening of hell begin,' I thought stepping in the noisy bar.