I know it's been awhile since I've updated, and I'm soooo sorry about that. I've just been really busy with summer and we closed the place I was working at. The last chapter was honestly one of my favorites and I can't wait to reintroduce her later in the story. I wrote this for you guys real quick tonight so excuse any mistakes, and point them out if you see them. But, here it is, the newest chapter of story and I hope you like it!


"In time of war, when truth is so precious, it must be attended by a bodyguard of lies"
- Winston Churchill


We sat at a small, round table that was in the back corner of the restaurant. We might have been in the human world, but that didn't mean that the vampires couldn't find us here. You never knew where they could be, lurking in the corners and waiting for their chance to prowl. I was still wearing Lissa's charm, the one that altered my appearance and made me look human. I knew it was working on humans, they had absolutely no resistance to compulsion but it wasn't the humans we were worried about.

"When is this Sydney chick going to be here?" Mia asked, eyeing the food on the buffet table a couple of rows away. "I'm starving."

I looked at her normally pale features, and found them even more washed out. She wasn't just hungry for food, she needed her blood too. "When's the last time you fed, Mia?"

Her cheeks flushed a bright pink. "I didn't have time to feed yesterday, or the day before."

I let out a laugh and gave her a small smile. "Let me guess, you were too busy fighting?"

She nodded and Dimitri spoke up. "When is Sydney going to be here, Rose? We've been waiting for over an hour."

I shrugged my shoulders. "Why, comrade? You getting hungry too?" I teased.

"I don't think it's a good idea to have you or the Moroi out in a public human space like this."

Leave it to Dimitri to be concerned over safety after we escaped the Court together with the Moroi.

"We're surrounded by humans, nothing is going to happen." I said, my voice laced with a harshness.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that."

"He has a point, Rose." Lissa said, her eyes resting on her hands. "Don't forget Vegas."

I looked at Dimitri and watched as his eyes hardened. "Lissa." I snapped, glaring at her.

"I mean that was the last time you took us out of Court for one of your missions. Which, by the way, are you ever going to tell us what we're doing?"

Luckily I didn't have to answer her question, or come up with a carefully crafted response that didn't give anything away. Not that it would be a secret for much longer because at that moment I saw Sydney walk through the door, her blonde hair swept up into an elegant bun and a small business brief case in her hand. She saw me and glared at me. I shot a smile at her, happy to see her. Her glare softened and she gave me a smile in return, and not a tight lip I-don't-want-to-be-here-but-I-have-to-be smile. It was a real smile that radiated warmth and happiness.

"Rose," she said, her voice tired, "I don't suppose you've killed anyone while you've been here?"

She sat in the chair next to mine, and put her brief case in the floor between us. She unfolded her napkin and sat it across her lap, she then crossed her hands across her lap and looked around the table at my friends.

"That was not my kill," I confirmed, "is that what took you so long?"

She nodded. "You must be Princess Vasilisa," her gaze slid from Lissa to Christian, "and her boyfriend Christian Ozera."

"Nice to meet you." They chimed together, their voices as intertwined as their hands resting on the table.

She looked at Mia, a blank expression on her face, and raised an eyebrow. "I'm not familiar with your file. What's your name?"

"I'm Mia." Her voice was firm, and she locked eyes with Sydney. Sydney, who was trying to be nice, squirmed in her seat.

"Nice to meet you," she muttered, and turned her gaze to Dimitri.

He was sitting on the other side of me, his brown hair pulled back into a little ponytail, with a strand tucked behind his ear. His brown eyes were focused on the wall ahead, and his face was expressionless. He looked and meet Sydney's gaze, his face never changing.

"You must be the Dimitri Belikov," she breathed, sounding astonished. "I've heard the rumors…so they are true? Rose went all the way to Siberia to hunt for you before finally bringing you back to life in the States. It's impressive, all that she went through to save you."

"I'm very grateful for everything that Rose has done for me." Dimitri said, his voice neutral.

I saw his mask slip just a little as he looked over at me, revealing some hidden emotion. Gratitude.

Sydney snorted. "Grateful doesn't even begin to cover what you should be feeling, you-"

"Sydney, now that you've meet everyone can we move on? I'm not exactly supposed to be here, you know." I interrupted, and Dimitri shot me a grateful look.

She looked at me and the smile that she had worn since walking through the door faltered. "Rose, your father told me to tell you that he knows where you are. That he can find out wherever you're going and that you can't hide from him. Also, your mother is furious." She said the words in a rush, running them together. She looked down at her hands, so she didn't see the glare that I shot her.

"You. Told. Abe." I said, my voice somewhere between a hiss and a shout. "You. Ratted. Me. Out." I noticed that my jaw was tight, my teeth clenched together.

"I had to, Rose," she explained. "He's my boss. I couldn't hide it from him, think about what would happen if he found out and I didn't tell him about it. I could have to go back to Siberia." She cringed at the last part and looked at Dimitri. "And you're a criminal, a suspected wanted in the murder of your queen. I couldn't just hide it."

My anger was boiling and I wanted to scream at her. I felt that horrible blackness in me, the result of Lissa using her magic so much the last couple of days. I took a deep breath and counted to ten. "Did he say anything else?"

"To be careful." She looked uncertain, like he said something else but she didn't want to tell me what. "And not to get caught. They could kill you."

Well that was just a perfect way to start the morning, talking about my untimely death for something that wasn't my fault. I pushed my worries to the back of my head. This meeting was about Lissa. Running away was for Lissa. My life was devoted to Lissa and if I got caught, if I died, it would be for something. It would be for Lissa.

"I need those papers." I said bluntly, knowing she would know what papers I was talking about.

"With everything going on your still worried about that? You want files on Lissa's father?"

"Wait. What?" Lissa exclaimed, shock radiating through the bond. "Why do you want files on my father?"

"Some of your fathers files went missing from the Alchemists, and we need to get them." I turned my attention back to Sydney. "So will you give them to me or not?"

"No, Rose." Lissa said, her voice rising. "Tell me what's in those files." "I don't know, okay." That wasn't technically a lie, I didn't know everything on those files or I wouldn't be wasting my time here getting them.

"Rose."

"They went missing and I thought it was strange."

"Your lying." To speak the words scared her. I broke out of jail to get files on her dad, there had to be something huge in them. Something that could change the world, or at the very least her world. She was nervous and scared, and betrayed.

"Can I just explain later, please?" I didn't want to get into all of this in front of everyone. I wanted to explain to her when it was just the two of us, in private.

A tear rolled down her cheek and Christian squeezed her hand. "Lissa, it's okay. We'll all talk about this later."

"Is it really bad?"

"I don't know."

We all feel silent, and looked at each other. "Excuse me," Lissa said, standing up and walking away.

"Sorry," Christian said, following her out of the room.

I wanted to go after her, to comfort her, but I had business to take care of here.

"I'm sorry too, but I'm starving." Mia said, getting up and going to get her food.

"Are you giving me the files or not?" I asked Sydney again.

"Rose I already told you-"

"If you don't hand them over I will break into your office, I will steal those files, I will get everything I need to help me." I felt a little bad about threatening her, but it faded. I didn't have time to waste breaking into her office and stealing those files. It would be so much easier if she would just hand over the files.

Sydney pursed her lips, narrowing her eyes at me.

"Rose, calm down." Dimitri said, then he did something incredible. He reached under the table and gently took my hand, almost as if he was forcing himself to touch me. But it was a start, and it distracted me from my anger for a moment. His long fingers ran over mine, grasping them.

I suddenly flashed back to the night in the cabin. Me going out of control and Dimitri being there to calm me down. I could feel how his lips felt against mine, his lips traveling down my neck and kissing the exposed skin of my shoulder. Suddenly I was anything but calm, I was nostalgic. I wanted to go back in time and stop Dimitri from falling in that cave. None of this would be happening and we would both be together at court guarding people and being with each other.

"Please," I whispered.

She gave me a long measured look before reaching into her brief case and handing me a folder of papers. "You owe me, Rose."


Please review! :)
-Tay