Thank you for the amazing reviews.

It seriously makes me want to update sooner.

Oh well, here's chapter 4.

Enjoy :D

- jo

Chapter 4

"Dimitri's worried about you."

Shock ran through me. That's unexpected. I thought he wouldn't care at all.

"Why does he even bother?" I tried to sound un-interested. But Lissa can see right through me.

"Oh, don't even pretend that you don't want to know what he said." She rolled her eyes.

She's right, I do want to know. But I won't admit it here, not while Adrian's here. I looked up at Adrian, hoping that Lissa would get what I'm trying to say. She did.

"Uh, Christian, Adrian, can me and Rose have some girl time?"

Christian and Adrian nodded. Adrian looked a little suspicious. I'm relieved that they went out; it gave me and Lissa some privacy. Lissa went outside my cell too, somebody will probably get mad if they see that Last Dragomir inside the cell of a traitor. Lissa and I sat facing each other, just like earlier except now there are bars between us.

She sighed, "I get it, Rose. You don't want to hurt Adrian. That's why you don't want to seem interested in Dimitri, right?

I nodded but didn't say anything. She continued,

"Dimitri's really worried about you. He knows you didn't do it."

Anger flashed through me. "The hell he does! You all know me better to think that I did it."

"Ssssh, calm down, Rose. None of us think that you did it. Um, I heard about that happened in the café, you know when the Queen's guardians came to arrest you. He fought for you, didn't he? He protected you? News has been coming around that he fought 15 guardians just by himself."

"It doesn't mean anything, at least maybe not to him." I refuse to seem hopeful.

"I, um, asked him about that."

That peaked my interest, "What did he say?"

"He said that his instincts took over him. His instincts that say, and I quote, to 'protect Roza no matter.' He said that he's so used to protecting you that being a strigoi and being brought back didn't take it away.

"Oh, so his protectiveness of me didn't fade but his love did. Gee, that makes me feel so special." I said sarcastically.

Lissa bit her lip, & I could feel that she knows something but is having second thought on whether to tell me or not.

"Spill it, Liss."

She sighed and slowly said, "Uh…. Well….. I talked to Dimitri yesterday. We talked about you; we talked about the possibility of you being guilty of killing the Queen. Don't get me wrong, we know you didn't, but others don't. Then, um, we talked about what they do to traitors. Err, apparently, they execute them. Um, he slipped. He said, 'no one will ever hurt the one I love. No one will hurt Rose. I won't let them.' After he said that, he realized that he said something that he shouldn't have, and then he asked me to leave. We haven't talked since."

My eyes bulged. I didn't know what to say to that. He made it clear that he didn't want me anymore. So what is he doing now? Hasn't he hurt me enough?

"He wants to see you. He's always outside your door trying to figure out how to get in." Lissa continued.

"Why does he want to see me? Ever since he came back, I've done nothing but to try to talk to him. He didn't want to talk! What the hell changed?" I was yelling now. "Is it because he feels sorry for me because I'm going to die soon?"

Lissa flinched, she quietly said, "No, you won't."

I ignored that, "What does he want, Liss?"

"He wants to apologize. He's sorry for hurting you, but you have to know that he's hurting too. You have to understand what he's going through. He's – "

I cut her off. "I do understand. That's why I wanted to see him and talk to him before. I wanted to help him. But he doesn't need my help. He made that clear enough." I frowned and looked down.

"He needs you." Lissa said softly and touched my hand.

"I need him more. If I really am going to die soon, I need to know how he feels about me. How he really feels. I need to hear it coming from him. Look, it's late, you should go sleep now. You can come back tomorrow; I won't keep you out again." I grinned.

"You better. I'll be back tomorrow, okay. I love you, Rose. Life sucks without you," She smiled and gave me a hug.

"Love you too, Liss. Always."

When she left, it gave me a lot of time to think. I felt a little better somehow. I felt better about Dimitri, though not entirely. Even if he does love me still, there's no way we can be together now. I won't get out of this.

Yes, I won't get out of this legally. I have to act soon. I have to find Lissa's half-brother. I think I have to bring Lissa with me. Whoever killed the queen might still be here in court and I can't leave Lissa unprotected.

I felt tired; I laid down on the bed realizing what I have to do: I have to break out.

I won't be able to update tomorrow.

exams starts on monday.

So, I hope these 4 chapters are enough.

I'm sorry and I thank you for your patience.

I'll update soon :D

Reviews please. :D