Ew.

Okay, I'm going to say it again: I really didn't like Nathan. Not after what he did to Dimitri. But…bleh. I don't think even he deserved a death like this.

The Strigoi, my new followers, had torn him to shreds. Literally. I don't think there was a piece of him left larger than a square inch. Blood pooled on the stone walkway that wound around the garden. It would probably be stained forever. Wait, no, there were a few humans coming to clean him up.

Thankfully for me, Dimitri hadn't joined in the fun. He had just laughed sadistically on the sidelines. I had never seen him so cruel. The Dimitri I had known would have felt the same way I did - creeped out. Yes, I was a guardian, trained to not be squeamish around blood…but this wasn't blood. This was gore and carnage. This was just outright cruel.

And if not for the ring on my finger, I'd be laughing alongside him…

I was afraid what would happen to me when the magic wore off.

Dimitri noticed the absence of laughter from me and gave me an odd look. "What's wrong, Roza?"

Shit. Improvise, improvise… "It's hard to laugh when…when I'm in control of a large group of people who are stronger than me."

"What?" He drew back and gave me an angry look. "You're stronger than they are. And you just proved it. Besides…" Just as I thought my cover was blown, he took my hand and kissed the ring. "I'm here to protect you."

Yeah, the ring was clearly keeping my humanity. Whenever Dimitri touched it in any way, his voice became warmer and filled with life. And when he stopped touching it, he became colder.

Something moved behind me. I whirled around to find out what it was and was knocked to the ground by a powerful force.

"I will rip you to shreds, blood whore!" Galina was back and better than ever. That was pretty damn obvious, because I couldn't push her off.

"You will do no such thing," Dimitri said coldly, and sent Galina flying as if she weighed nothing. He then shouted something at her in Russian, and whatever it was, it got her really pissed off.

Dimitri merely nodded to me, and I already knew what to do. We were going to finish what I had started.

As she raced to knock over Dimitri, I intercepted and sent her smashing into the stone walkway where Nathan had been killed. The humans who had been cleaning fled as soon as they saw Galina rise, so she smacked right into some sharp-edged stones that had come up with the Strigoi mauling. Before she could move, I pinned her there hard. Dimitri spoke something grim in Russian, and Galina squeaked. I caught the word 'heart', but that was it.

"Let me have her," he spoke through clenched teeth. I backed away and he had her neck in his grasp within seconds.

I realized then I didn't know how Strigoi killed other Strigoi. Ripping to shreds clearly worked, but what about one-on-one? They didn't breathe, so strangling didn't work. Based on his words, I think it had something to do with the heart.

He spoke something in Russian with a sadistic smile on his face. I caught the words 'end', 'you', 'good night', and Galina. My assumed translation is, "This is the end for you, Galina. Good night."

He let her go, punched through her body before she could fall, and drew his arm back through. It happened so fast, if not for my Strigoi eyes all I would have seen is Galina falling to the ground with her heart in Dimitri's hand. He laughed loudly and with a coldness so intense I froze in place and shivered. It chilled me to my bones. I was afraid of Dimitri. So very, very afraid…

When he began making his way towards me, my heart began to drum against my ribcage, filled with the same terror I was. With the hand that didn't grip Galina's heart, he stroked my cheek ever so lightly. "Ah, Roza…I'm so sorry I didn't give you the pleasure of destroying her. But this was personal, you see…"

How could a voice be so soft and warm yet so hard and cold at the same time? I was terrified of him right now, but when his lips found mine I couldn't resist.

I wound the hand that held the ring through his hair to soften him up a bit, and it did the trick. The kiss was warm enough to melt the dark glacier that had been Dimitri.

We had been there for God-knows-how-long, but it must have been a while because the humans from before came back to clean up. I didn't see them, only hear them. Humans walked heavier and less gracefully than Strigoi. The difference was large enough so that even as a fledgling Strigoi I could already tell.

I could smell their fear. They wanted to say something but didn't. I don't know if it was because of the fact that we were Strigoi, the new leaders of the building, or if it was Galina's heart in Dimitri's hand. Dimitri hadn't appeared to notice them as I had, he was still kissing me. At least, until he noticed I had stopped kissing back.

"Ignore them, Roza," he whispered to me so lowly that they couldn't hear.

They noticed that we had stopped kissing and attacked us, assuming they had been noticed. A group of three humans, attacking two previously dhampir Strigoi. Not a good idea on their part. I was wondering why they were doing it until I saw Inna at the head. She was pissed about us ordering Nathan to die.

Inna took me, and the other two took Dimitri. She had figured out I had made the final call. For a human, she was pretty tough. She managed to deflect two of my hits and made one nice punch to my arm. But it didn't do much for her. I took her arm to pin it to the ground and accidentally ripped it off when she moved. Oops.

Dimitri had already finished with his. One was on the ground…in pieces…the other was in happy land from the bite Dimitri had given her. As Inna fell to the ground, he picked her up and drained her of all the blood in her body.

When he was finished, he let her drop to the ground and turned to me. "Ah, I hadn't eaten all night. I was too busy watching over you." He spoke with an air of casualness that made me slightly sick and nodded to the endorphin-addled human girl. "That one was for you. I suggest you take it…she's rather tasty."

I wanted to puke right now. But one thing was certain, I had to feed. Eventually.

So I decided to make it easier on myself. I took off the ring and handed it to Dimitri. "Hold this while I feed…I don't want to have something as special as this touch unworthy human flesh."

Sucks how I have to take it back though. That ring turns me into a freaking pansy. But whatever, I'll figured something out.

He took the ring and nodded. "Right. Glad to see you treasure it so much." My Dimitri smiled. How could I not find those fangs sexy? He looked way better with them.

Why do I keep calling him Dimitri, anyways? He's going to be my husband…he needs something sweeter. But not too sweet, like honey or sweetie. Saying those would taste as good as puking.

"Why are you hesitating, Roza?" His eyes bore deep into me. Those eyes…ah, those dark pools of beauty, accented with a gorgeous red ring…I could stare into them forever.

"I realized I don't have a name for you like you do me. I'm Roza…but what should I call you?"

A small laugh escaped his lips. "Certainly not 'comrade'. Dimka will do." The laugh was warm and it made me nauseated. Stupid ring.

I growled. "No. That's what Tasha called you. How about Dima?"

He smiled warmly. "Or Lyubov. It means 'love'."

"Well Lyubov…I'm going to have dinner." I gave him a quick peck on the lips and went to the human.

She was small and weak. Prey. And I was the predator. Blood was spilling out of her neck, and it smelled oh-so-sweet. It was enough to make me forget about that stupid giggle she made when I came close to her neck.

I held her down firmly with my hands, opened my mouth, and…