AN: Wow. I'll never get used to how many responses I get and how fast!

So, I wanted to say, if you have questions about the story, I have no problems answering them, just some of your guys' questions are major spoilers! Haha! So if you want answers all I ask is that when you message me, make sure you say you don't mind spoilers and then I know to tell you all my secrets. If not, you'll find out sooner or later. HA!

APOV

I bolted off down the road, gasping for air again. I hadn't made it a hundred meters before I heard to sounds of fighting coming from behind me. I glanced behind me and my steps faltered. Rose was surrounded by six Strigoi; that was, if there weren't more in hiding. I stopped running to take in the scene behind me. She seemed to be holding her own, but she was outnumbered. She wouldn't make it without help. I pulled my cell out of my pocket and hit redial. My heart pounded as I prayed the ringing would stop.

"Rose?" Mark's voice rang through the speaker and I sighed in relief. It made sense that he thought this was her number. I hadn't really said much when we last had him on the other end.

"No, this is Adrian." He started to protest, assumingly to tell me he didn't know who I was, but I stopped him. "I'm Rose's friend. We're down the road, just outside Baia, she says. There's Strigoi." My voice shook and I spoke so quick I started tumbling over my words. "W-we need help, Mark. She's not go-gonna last much longer." I didn't get anything else out before I heard the phone hit the ground and some yelling coming from the other end. I took that as a good sign and shut my cell. I wanted nothing more than to run back to her and help her fight, but what good was I? I was not a fire user or anything of the sort. All I had was that damned spirit and- Spirit! I laughed, remembering what I had learned from some of Lissa's experiences. I reached down inside myself, touching spirit. It was a bit weak from the alcohol, but I could touch it. And that's all I needed. I sprinted back to Rose's side, taking a defensive stance behind her.

"ADRIAN!" She shrieked. I would have laughed at her expression, had it not been for the situation, that is. "What are you doing?" She demanded, distracted. She took a hard punch to the face because of it, and I tried not to wince. She needed to pay attention to them, not me.

"Focus, Little Dhampir. Mark's coming. I'm here to help." I put my fists up, hoping I could at least hit one if necessary.

One of the Strigoi let out a malicious laugh. "The great Rose Hathaway taking help from a royal Moroi? I thought I'd seen everything. What's your element, boy? Gonna burn me?" He hissed the last sentence at me, baring his fangs menacingly. I held my ground and met his eyes, holding tight to his gaze. I grabbed hold of spirit, feeling it start to well up inside me, screaming for me to let it burst forth. It strengthened me, and I grinned defiantly at him. I think, for a moment, he actually hesitated. So much

for Moroi being useless.

"No." I whispered, hate for him lacing my words and powering my spirit, "my element's spirit. And we're gonna dance!"

Mark's POV (MPOV)

Jerking awake on the couch, I gently pushed Oksana away from me, both of us having falling asleep whilst watching a bit of T.V. She stirred and started to wake as I grabbed the house phone off the end table. I checked the caller I.D. as I lifted the receiver to my ear. I froze for a moment, seeing that it was the same American number Rose had used earlier in the day. I sat upright on the sofa, instantly fully awake.

"Rose?" I asked, waiting for a reply. I heard a sigh that sounded quite relieved that I had answered, but it sounded like a male's voice so I was instantly apprehensive.

"No. This is Adrian." I started to ask who the hell he was and if the name Adrian was supposed to mean something to me. But before I could, he spoke again, silencing my attempts. "I'm Rose's friend. We're down the road, just outside Baia, she says." His voice shook, making me believe this wasn't just a social call. I knew what he had to tell me before he said it: "There's Strigoi." He began to stammer, with fear, I would guess. "W-we need help, Mark. She's not go-gonna last much longer." I dropped the phone then, jumping up and running for my coat and, more importantly, my silver stake. I just hoped Rose had been smart enough to pack her stake.

Oksana stood, staring at me with concern. "What is it? What's happened?" She asked, her voice a little higher than normal. She always knew when I switched into guardian mode, even if it wasn't often in our little town.

"Strigoi." I said bluntly. She paled at this, but stood strongly in her place. I could never understand how she had become so strong, but I thanked whatever higher power there was for it everyday. "Rose and a friend got ambushed," I explained, not stopping as I talked. I opened the door, throwing one last loving look back at her. "I'll be back soon." I turned to leave and she started to follow, I could tell through the bond. "Stay here, my love. We need you strong for healing." starting off at a jog, I took off without her.

The sight I came upon made me freeze in my steps. Rose was looking a bit frazzled, but she was at least still standing. I could see dark spots in her clothing and I instinctively knew they were blood stains. There were three Strigoi laying dead on the ground, and another three still standing. Rose had one coming relentlessly at her, fighting tooth and nail, no pun intended, to get to her throat. But she held her ground, showing just how bad-ass a guardian she had turned out to be.

But what had me dumbfounded and stuck in my track was what her friend was doing. He was a Moroi, royal I could guess by the clothing. But I was sparring off with two Strigoi on his own. But they weren't fighting him, they were fighting each other. I couldn't understand it. Shaking it off, I ran into the fray, staking one of the boy's Strigoi from behind, killing it before it had a chance to see me. Now that I had taken the other Strigoi's attention away from the boy, he seemed to have nothing to hold him up anymore and collapsed in a heap on the ground. My guardian instincts compelled me to check on the boy, but survival instincts took precedent. I began fighting the Strigoi, hoping the boy would be alright for a short time until I was free to take him to Oksana.

The Strigoi I was paired with was a larger male, but I think he had been a human before he died. He was slow and uncoordinated in his movements, making me believe he had also just recently been turned. When you are made into something superhuman, you don't automatically learn to master your superhuman skills. But, lucky for me, I had mastered my skills. I took a hit to the shoulder and pretended to fall back from the blow. He followed me down, thinking now was his chance for a meal. I laughed sadistically as he screamed when he landed straight on my stake. It was the oldest trick I knew, but it worked almost every time on the newly changed.

I was pushing his corpse off of me when I heard her scream. Rose! My mind screamed and I pushed harder, nearly throwing the body a yard away from where I lay. I jumped up to save her, but I was too late. The boy was standing now and had a look of pure vengeance in his eyes. Rose lay discarded on the ground, but I could just make out a slow movement in her chest. If we could make it out of her quick enough, Oksana could save her. The boy stepped forward toward the Strigoi, purpose in his steps.
"Oh, I take out Hathaway, and I get a Moroi. How boring." The Strigoi complained, though something inside me almost pitied the monster. Something about the way the boy away staring dead on at him, no fear in his eyes, scared even me. "What you going to do to me, little rich boy? Sue me?" He laughed at his own joke, though he paused when the boy laughed right along with him.

"No, it's not what I'M going to do; it's what YOU'RE going to do." He grinned evilly at the Strigoi and I swear I saw fear in a Strigoi's eyes that night. "You'll start by taking those sharp nails of yours. You're going to slash your own skin. Over and over, until I'm pleased." He said loftily, but the Strigoi began doing as he said, crying out in pain and shock. I could see the struggle in the demon's eyes, knowing he did not want to do this, but not being able to stop himself. I walked up upon the Strigoi, putting my stake to his heart. I tried to pierce him, but something was holding me back. I looked to the boy knowing he was the cause.

"Boy, let me finish this. We need to go inside." I said to him, but the boy was overcome with his compulsion. He didn't even seem to have heard me speak. I wasn't there, as far as he was concerned.

"Now use those nails to stab out you eyes. I want you to feel the pain you cause others." He commanded, and I almost vomited as the sight of the Strigoi obeying his wishes. The scream the came from it didn't help any. I had never once pitied a Strigoi, never in my life. But tonight I could say I pitied the animal in front of me. He never could have known that hurting Rose would have caused this kind of consequence.

I tried to remember what the boy said his name was. "ADRIAN!" I shouted, hoping I had gotten it right. He jerked his face toward me, anger and hatred oozing out of him so thick I thought I'd choke on it. "He's payed for what he's done. Let me finish this." I struggled to be free of him, and I moved about a half an inch. "Please. Let us be done here. Let's go." I pleaded and again I fought, moving just a bit more. He seemed to be tiring, but he wouldn't give up.

"No. He killed Rose. He has to pay." He said, no remorse in his tone, only hatred for the monster and hurt for Rose. I shook my head vigorously at him, hoping he was still paying attention.

"She's not dead. She could be if you don't stop." I used his need for her to be okay to bargain with him. If I didn't know better, I'd say he loved her, but I couldn't tell for sure at the moment. "We have to get her back to Oksana. But I can't do that until you let me kill him." I looked back to the Strigoi who had begun to slash himself again. He was a blinded animal. I knew I would have to act quickly if he released us both.

Adrian looked conflicted but finally glanced at me. "She's alive?" He whispered. I nodded vigorously, hoping I had him. He nodded back at me, and released me from his hold. I staked the demon just as he began to run blindly forward. One last screech and he too was on the ground. The boy collapsed again and I couldn't blame him. Moroi couldn't use compulsion like that without it taking a toll. Even Oksana, a spirit user, had a hard time with it. Who knows what element the boy could control and how he had just managed a feat like this.

I hoisted Rose's body into one arm and shoulder and somehow managed to get the boy into my other one. I carried them back toward the house, stumbling every few feet from the weight. I really needed to get back into guardian shape, I mused. I should have been able to make it without even breaking a sweat. I shook my head at my thoughts and picked up the pace, not wanting to come across anymore Strigoi with two unconscious bodies in my protection.

I kicked the door when I got to it, and it immediately swung open, Oksana standing behind it with a look of worry that turned quickly to shock. "Get them inside!" She demanded, and I complied, not that I had much of an option. I lay them both of them on our two sofas and collapsed into the recliner next to the fireplace. Oksana looked lost as to where to start with the two. I offered her what little I could.

"Start with Rose; the boy just collapsed from exhaustion." She nodded and started to heal Rose and I could feel the magic well up inside her. I stole the bits of darkness that were forming and she asked silently though the bond, How did this happen? I shrugged, tired as I had ever felt, and just replied, "Strigoi. She was overwhelmed." I set my head back to rest when I laughed just a bit and Oksana looked shocked by the sound. I lifted my head back to look at her and said what had made me chuckle in such a dark moment.

"Rose always knows how to make an entrance, doesn't she." She just shook her head at me, focusing back on healing Rose, but I could tell she agreed.