She then burst into sobs, muttering incoherently.

I spent the rest of the night comforting her, cooing at her in ways she received from me as warm sleep then rejoined the both of us.

Chapter 3

Until a booming voice shook everything available in the reception of sound waves, the sickening laughter waking the both of us. My eyes took in the room; we were accompanied by Dimtiri, and Christian. The sounds shook, bouncing off of every surface in ways that I never thought possible.

And then the laughter turned to words.

"Oh who do we have here? The Queen I smell? Hmm, a quite tasty scent eh? Shall we all agree?" A Strigoi.

My eyes instantly narrowed, "No." My words filled with disdain "How dare you say anything to the Queen and hold responsible for all of this! I want you to leave now! And never come back, might as well just go and run before I come and kill you!" I hadn't even recognized my own voice; I was so frustrated with the situation.

"My, my. A little tuff one aren't you? ...Rose is it? I would say that I heard a lot about you, but that would be lying. I have watched you do many things.. Many things Rose. You have quite the attitude don't you?" The voice boomed and if possible, became louder.

Lissa began whimpering at that moment, she cared for me just as much as I cared for her. Dimtiri and Christian looked blank, and shivered at the words. I wanted to make this stop, and stop now.

"Listen, I don't know who you think you are.. You can't just strut into Royal Court, and think you own the place. You think your all that? We'll see, after I beat you to a pulp." I snarled.

"You think you can defeat me? Why don't you come and find out?"

Almost instantly, I was up out of my chair almost to the door just before a hand grabbed my arm. "Roza, it's too dangerous. He must be strong, he managed to get past all security of the Royal Court to get onto these grounds. Plus, he managed to make almost everyone disappear. This holds a big disadvantage for us. He doesn't seem like the average Strigoi." Dimtri's voice was soft, and held the slight hint of a rusty russian accent in it.

I turned painfully slow towards him; I looked up at his frame. His sculpted body was comfortly towering over mine, with his shoulder-lengthed brown hair slightly shifted on his shoulders. His brown eyes shone tenderly into my own, searching for any sign of denial. "He isn't going to leave us be. We have to confront him, and fight. There is no other way."

A sigh escaped Dimtiri's mouth, "Fine, but I am going with you."

"As am I," Christian rose from his chair.

Lissa looked terrified, yet she stood up from her bed and draped her arms around Christian. "I will also come." She kept her composure gracefully.

And with that, we left the room.

I hadn't realized how deserted the entire Royal grounds were. The walls were drenched in gloomy grays, and it was almost as if the shadows hidden in fair corners of rooms skulked around us, room by room.

We then found ourselves in the main courtyard as a dark figure stood before us. It was almost as if the Strigoi was painted in tar, with every small movement he made there would be a faint hum of moans. His spiked hair never had shown any sign of a shine in the moonlight.

"Ah." His eyes opened, reveling two black red-ringed eyes. His eyes seemed darker than anywhere else on his body. "There you are."

I growled. "What do you want from us?" My eyes stared at him, and hate filled my words.

The Strigoi chuckled, "Silly Girl." My hold tightened on my stake. "I am only here to kill you."

"Well I guess we're on the same page-"

In a flash I was thrown across the room. The breath was shaken from my lungs as I landed on the ground painfully. Ow, didn't even cover it.

I rolled my eyes, "God, you're annoying!" I internally said to myself.

Suddenly, I started running towards him. The Strigoi was just about to feel my weapon was just about to make contact with his flesh when I felt nothing but the swift motion of the stake.

In another attempt, I tried to kick him in the chest. My foot did nothing but fly through him.

My heart stopped.

I then could suddenly see myself through his eyes. My eyes widen with shock as I then froze. It was like he found a deer in headlights.

A predator and their prey was all that ran through my mind.

Laugher shook through the air once again.