There was a smile. It was precisely the kind of smile that looked like it was just bursting at the seams from holding back too much joy, that was flirty and nice and quite pretty, and made you want to give the bearer a kingdomful of stars.

But what was really charming was the girl. My girl. The one with the smile.

You could see it in the picture, lurking below the surface, like the school photographer had caught her just before she gave in to the laughter that invariably followed.

Galina wanted us to do everything possible to find Rose, even if it meant handing out flyers like she was some kind of lost puppy. The task of finding a photograph had obviously fallen to me, since I was the one who "knew her best." If Lucia knew how well we'd gotten to know each other, she probably wouldn't be so excited about our coming addition. Still, I hadn't been able to find anything except for an old yearbook photo. Curse Rose and her unexplainable hate for an updated Facebook.

I looked at the picture in my hands, I looked at a fifteen-year-old Rose. The one before the accident. Before the madness. Before the pain. I looked at her, and I could tell she was innocent, and rather too naïve and trusting, though she would've died before she let her bad girl façade drop. It was a Rose that hadn't known pain, or betrayal.

A Rose that had not killed and been killed.

I looked at that picture, quite seriously, and thought that no one would recognize her now.

0O0

She was moving around. We got a new call every week, each from a different city – Alatyr, Kyakhta, Yuzha, basically every place she could possibly think of. And every single time I almost grew wings and flew there, like the lovesick idiot I once was. But she was always gone.

I was a fucking Strigoi and she still found ways to avoid me.

Originally, the whole point of coming to Russia had been to stay the Hell away from my the one weakness in my armor, but that was clearly going to be harder than I'd counted on – especially since certain parts of my anatomy seemed to have a need to be closer to her than was advisable.

Besides, I wasn't going to let anyone kill her, much less rape her. Turning her Strigoi was apparently the only way to stop that from happening.

Yes. I was going to enjoy seeing her again, infuriating bitch that she was.

Galina had such an uncontainable thirst for power, she would have agreed to anything that made her stronger – which was why she certainly didn't mind sending all her henchmen out to scour through Russian alleys for a girl.

The girl with the talent that could change the world.

0O0

I was in Reutov, trying to wait out the sun in one of a thousand luxurious hotel rooms, when Marlen appeared.

Out of all the people I had expected to come, Galina's man-whore was the least likely one.

"Going out in daylight? How very brave of you, Marlen." I said dryly, stepping aside to allow him in. "You must have something important to tell me."

He nodded frantically. "I saw her."

My back stiffened. I kept my face blank. "And who would this mysterious 'her' be, precisely?"

"The girl. From the picture." Marlen explained, like he thought I set up WANTED posters for thousands of women every day. "The one with the dark hair."

"I know who you mean." I snapped. "How did this happen?"

I had to ask. Because, handsome or not, Marlen really wasn't a very capable man.

"She was with others. Three men and a woman. I tried to bring her back, but they were too many."

Oh, the wonder that is incompetence.

"Five dhampirs were too many for you, Marlen?" He flinched. "Unsurprising, to be honest. What I'd like to know is how you got out of there alive. This woman isn't known for her mercy towards our kind."

"She put a stake to my neck." He rubbed the offended area pensively. I thought that a stake was going to e the least of his problems if he didn't hurry. "She said her name was Rose Hathaway. She said to tell you that Rose Hathaway was looking for you."

I fought against the sudden impulse to dig my fingers into his arm. "And then?"

"She let me go." Marlen pushed hair out of his eyes. "I tried to capture her again, but, damn. She's good."

"You have no idea." I muttered.

So Rose was looking for me. Not such a shocker, really. After all, she had promised to kill me if this ever happened – and, like the stubborn donkey she was, nothing was going to stop her.

Well, nothing except me, that is.

But Marlen had a point. She was good. She'd always been. Good enough to defeat me once, as I'd told Galina. If anyone could kill me, it was her.

Then again, I did have inhuman strength and speed, now. And I was stronger than I had been two weeks ago – the benefit of nearly incessant sadistic hunting.

I regarded Marlen carefully. "Where did his happen?"

"Novosibirsk."

"Ah. Surprisingly close to home." I smiled.

"I was hunting. I didn't recognize the girl, at first. Not until she spoke to me." Marlen admitted.

By that point, I couldn't have cared less about the details. "Do you know where she is staying?"

He wrote down an address. "I followed her here. That is all I know."

Soon after that, he was gone, and I was left staring at the piece of yellow paper that would end Rose's life.

0O0

A short plane ride later, my feet touched Novosibirsk once more. The city was an important one, and, like all big cities, it was confusing, crowded, and reminiscent of New York.

I was too anxious to care.

Rose was apparently staying in a gray apartment building – not particularly nice, but not on the horrible side of town, either. As I'd arrived relatively near dawn, I had to kill the couple living on the floor below her and make camp there.

The hours dragged by amidst bad TV and pacing, but night eventually arrived, stopping the torture. I still had to wait, tough – which I did sitting in the alley at the building's right.

I saw her barely five minutes after I'd come out. She, a man, and a woman were heading for the building, and they would pass right in front of me. Counting on the shadows to make me unrecognizable, I leaned towards the street.

Sure enough, Rose walked past me without a glance. It took everything in me not to reach out.

Somehow, I'd forgotten how beautiful she was. Her hair was longer, brushing the middle of her back. The skin was a creamy flawless, and her eyes stood out sharply against it, almost invisible beneath thick lashes.

How she didn't sense my hungry stare is remains beyond me.

Soon, her back was turned to me. I emerged from my hiding place reluctantly. The street was deserted except for the ancient, insane woman that had been prowling the pavement all day long.

And Rose… Rose stopped to talk to her.

The calm that settled over me was otherworldly. This was it. This was the moment I'd been longing for. Slowly, careful not to make noise, I walked over until I was standing behind her.

The old woman gasped.

Rose turned.

She smelled of her usual perfume, only this time, it was tinged with adrenaline. I licked my fangs. Her hair whipped around with the force of her movement, splayed across the air. Her stake was out in seconds. Her eyes met mine.

Rosemarie Hathaway recognized me.

Her lips parted in tantalizing shock. She drew in a breath. "No…"

A moment of hesitation, of drinking me in. I let myself stare at the incarnation of beauty for a sliver of life and spoke.

"Roza. You forgot my first lesson: don't hesitate."

With that, I punched her in the head. Someone screamed. I caught Rose's body before she could fall to the pavement and gathered her into my arms.

I kissed her forehead, I looked at her face, tiny beside my hands, and felt alive again.

Somewhere, a door slammed, and we whipped out of the city as quickly as my legs would allow, a triumphant villain and the girl he'd once loved, finally together.

Phew! So, what did you guys think of the last line? Too much?

Anyway, this should progress much more quickly now that my darlings are together again. It was about time, huh?

Lots of love! (REVIEW!)