Welcome back, fellas! We are going to get some dhampir training action, so get ready for some awesomeness comin' up! KEEP REVIEWING AGAIN, AND AGAIN, AND AGAIN! You all are SOOOO awesome, and your reviews are SOOOO FREAKIN' KIND! I love ya'll! (I don't own VA.)

"Never turn your back on your target," I shouted to my students as they sparred with each other, "It is the most foolish thing you could possibly do!"

Eddie stepped up to my side. "Do not stop fighting until you and your moroi are safe, and NEVER hesitate. Hesitating is a weakness, one that will cost you not only your life, but your charge's. Remember, they come first."

We watched as the novices train, proud at their hard work. When we started working here last year, we instantly gained a celebrity status among all of the students, not just dhampir. It was like being in high school all over again, but I had more power. It was fucking awesome.

"James," Eddie called, "great hold!" He then scanned the room so he could address the rest of the class. "Once you find your enemy's weakness, you sure as hell better use it! There's no sense in prolonging your battle."

I glanced at the clock on the far wall, and put a hand on Eddie's—my husband's—back, "Time to bring it to a close, honey."

He nodded with a grateful smile. "Alright, guys, great work today. Have a good weekend!"

"Make good choices!" I shouted as the kids grabbed their towels and water bottles.

Eddie chuckled, "That's funny, coming from you. I've never thought of you as one to make good choices."

I smiled as he put an arm across my shoulders. "It was worth a shot."

"Mommy! Baba!" Two little voices called. I beamed as my little ones ran into the training room ahead of Adrian, expertly dodging the big guys trying to leave class.

""Cuse me, 'cuse me," Orchid Marie said as she wove her way through them, giggling when my students said hello to her.

Briar on the other hand, was not so polite about it. He bulldozed his way through, all the while yelling, "Honk, honk!"

I laughed as Orchid jumped into my arms and said, "I missed you!"

"I missed you, too, sweetie. Did you have fun with Adrian?"

"Yes!" She enthused, "A-deen prince, I princess!"

I chortled, "Adrian was your prince?"

My girl nodded happily, "Yeah! He wore cwown!"

Eddie set the hand not supporting Briar against his hip, onto Orchid's back. "A crown? Wow, that's cool, baby girl!"

My son tapped my shoulder, "Mommy, I princess' bodyguard!"

"Oh, I see. You were your sister's knight!"

Briar smirked, "Yeah."

I set Orchid down so I could go gather mine and Eddie's things. When I was putting my water into my gym bag, I glanced up and saw Adrian talking with Eddie. I frowned as Eddie straightened, alert, and suddenly livid. I strained to hear what they were saying.

"They haven't made a move in two years, Adrian."

"I'm just telling you what I know."

"I won't let them touch my family."

"Then let him help you, he's the one who told me. He cornered me when I was at Court a few days ago. I saw his aura, and he wasn't lying. I'm sorry I waited to tell you, but I didn't know how."

"I'm not letting him within a hundred miles of Rose."

"He can help!"

"The bastard nearly kidnapped my daughter!"

I dropped our two heavy bags, and they crashed onto the floor. The two men glanced back at me, curiosity and worry etched onto their faces.

"What about Dimitri?"

Adrian glanced to the twins pretending to spar on the other side of the room. "He wants to help you protect them."

"From what?" I ask, incredulous.

Eddie looks me straight in the eye, "It's a who, not a what."

Reality hit me full force in my chest, and I could barely breathe. Tears welled up in my eyes, and my heart sank into my stomach. How could I have been so stupid? I should never have let myself forget the threat that still lies outside of St. Vladmir's grounds. "Lord Sarcozy," I murmured.

"Yes," my husband confirmed, putting his arms around me. "Adrian said that Belikov was reassigned to Sarcozy after Tasha was arrested. He heard what Sarcozy was going to do, so he told Adrian he left, and is on his way here. To 'help'."

I was only married for two weeks, and a family crisis had already arisen. I'd uprooted myself—and Eddie—twice in order to protect my babies, what else could I do? We couldn't just keep running away from them. One day, they were going to catch up with us.

"I don't want him near our babies," I heard Eddie whisper in my ear.

I nodded, though I pulled my head back to look at him. "But what if he's our last chance?"

"I won't let it come to that."

"Eddie," I sighed, "Your shoulders are not broad enough to carry every burden we encounter. The thought of him near the twins makes me sick, but the thought of losing them is even worse. Dimitri knows something, something that might help. I'll do anything to protect them."

"You know I would, too, Rose."

"Yes, Eddie. Which is why you are going to listen to what he has to say, alright?"

Eddie closed his eyes, and his hands were fists on my back. "I can't let anything happen to them. I just can't. But I am not just going to let him near Orchid or Briar, I wo—

"Baba, owie!" A child's voice wailed, and our conversations was forgotten. Eddie whipped around; sprinting immediately to Orchid Marie's little form, curled up on a mat. Briar toddled to me, clutching his forehead.

"Mommy," he weeped, "hurts!"

In a flash, I had him in my arms, trying to soothe him. Adrian rushed to my side to see what was wrong with his Godson. He tenderly pried Briar's fingers away from his face, and I gasped when I saw a purple bruise above his left eyebrow.

"Briar," I exclaimed, "what happened?!"

"Orchid punched me good, Mommy," he moaned.

I glanced over to my daughter. My husband was on his knees, cradling her in his arms and rocking her gently like a newborn baby. She was sobbing into his chest, staining his shirt with tears. I noticed she was holding her hand.

My daughter hurt her hand punching my son's face. Great.

After playing nurse to my children's booboos, we all headed off to Lissa and Christian's house for dinner. We needed to tell them about the Sarcozy situation, and I still wasn't sure how we should handle the whole Dimitri thing.

Adrian had Orchid Marie on his hip, and Eddie had Briar on his shoulders, so I was baby free for the long walk. Once we got to Lissa and Christian's house, the kids ran straight into the Victorian mini-mansion (they couldn't go as big as their home at Court), and into the kitchen.

"Auntie, Unckie!" They cried with joy.

"There are the little monsters!" Christian exclaimed as I scrambled after my little tots.

"Unckie, I not monster!" Orchid said, incredulous at such a foul claim.

Briar smiled like the Chesire Cat. "I am."

Lissa laughed as she picked my son up and studied the fluorescent green gauze around his head. "What's this?" She asked, glancing over at the fluorescent pink wrap on Orchid's hand.

"Battle scar," Briar told his aunt with authority.

Eddie chuckled as he took a seat at a stool by the kitchen island. "They were sparring like the big kids, and Orchid was better at throwing punches than Briar thought."

Christian's eyebrows furrowed as he checked on the garlic bread in the oven. "But why does he need the blinding gauze? Was his head bleeding?"

"Nope," Eddie said, "Rose wrapped up Orchid's hand so she wouldn't agitate the bruise while playing. Briar wanted Mommy's attention, too, and was adamant that he needed bandaged up like sissy."

My son stuck his tongue out at Eddie. "Tattle tale."

"Briar," I started, "That's not nice."

My little boy pouted. "Yellin' not nice. Baba yelled."

Lissa and Chris turned to me, surprised looks on their faces. I sighed, and told the twins to go watch some TV in the living room. Once they were settled on the couch in the neighboring room, I told my friends about the situation with Dimitri, and the Sarcozy's. I also clarified that Eddie had yelled at Adrian and not me.

Christian scowled as he took the lasagna out of the oven to cool. "I hate that family."

I could feel Lissa's fear through the bond as she plopped into the stool next to Eddie, looking deflated. Her eyes landed on Adrian. "And Dimitri is coming here?"

The moroi nodded, his perfect bronze hair following the movement. "Yes. Kirova is aware of his sudden visit, and has cleared it."

Christian pulled of his oven mitts, and leaned back against a counter. "I don't get it. If Belikov knows 'so much' that will help us, why hasn't he informed Queen Tatiana? Vivienne Sarcozy's brother will be arrested, and Dimitri won't have to come here. Bada bing, bada boom, problems solved."

Adrian poured himself a drink from a bottle that I had no idea where it had come from. "That's a great idea. Too bad I already thought of that. My aunt is apparently visiting some important moroi in Romania. She's not answering her phone, and I haven't been able to reach her in her dreams. I've been checking every few hours and no luck."

"Keep trying," Christian said, "if you can get a hold of her, our troubles are over."

"Rose," Lissa began, "Why didn't you tell Tatiana to begin with, when those guardians tried to kidnap you and Briar?"

"We were safe in court. For the time being, everything was fine. But, I was sloppy. I let the threat of Lord Sarcozy slip out of my head. Out of sight, out of mind, right? I should've known better."

Chris exhaled noisily. "We all got a little sloppy, Rose. None of us were actually worried about this after a few months. But that doesn't matter. If we can't contact the queen, then we'll fight."

"How?" Eddie asked, running a hand through his silky hair. The hair I raked my fingers through every night as I fell asleep. "It's just us, and a crazy man whose motives for helping us are still in question. I've not forgotten the day he pulled out a stake on Orchid Marie."

"You know what confuses me?" Adrian mused, after downing the remnant of his glass. "How did Belikov get released from jail at Court so soon after that little episode with Orchid? I mean, everyone heard about it. Must've been a pricey bail."

I let that sink in. Then it hit me in the chest at full force, knocking my breath out of my lungs. "The Sarcozy family," I gasped.

"Yeah," Christian drawled out slowly, like I was crazy, "They've been mentioned frequently in our conversations. What about them?"

I felt the adrenaline running through my veins with my revelation. "Dimitri was reassigned to the Sarcozy family after Tasha was arrested. Under normal circumstances, the family that has a guardian in jail won't bail him out. It's like they shamed the family. But, like Adrian said, everyone knew why he was arrested. Lord Sarcozy knew Dimitri had come very close to kidnapping my daughter, so Sarcozy bailed him out. He would've wanted Dimitri to try again, only next time there would be more guardians in on it, so the abduction would be successful."

Everyone was silent for a while. Then Lissa groaned, and said, "So Dimitri only just now found this information out, and that's what he's coming to tell us."

"That would be my best guess," I agreed.

Christian set the table, and placed the food out. When he was finished he turned to look at all of us. "Well you solved one problem. You don't need Dimitri's information anymore."

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