"Hello?"

"We have a problem on the northwest campus, between the pond and fence. Be there." Celeste barked, hanging up on me before I could even ask for an explanation.

A problem? Alayah asked.

If it's not Strigoi, then what could it possibly be? Daemon wondered.

Rose.

And then I was really running, legs pumping quick and furious on protesting snow, and the wind on my face was shrieking at me to go faster, and I couldn't. I couldn't go faster.

The first thing I saw was Eddie Castile trying – and failing – to hold a raging Rose away from beat-up Jesse, who currently had a bloody and bruised Lissa hovering over him like an angel.

Then I noticed the people that were on the ground around them.

Rose seemed to be fine, and more Guardians had arrived, so I began to help Alberta determine which Moroi were in serious need of medical help and which were fit to be questioned.

And then Rose began screaming. "You can't let him go! You can't let him go!"

"Rose, calm down. It's over." Alberta soothed.

"It is not over! Not until I get my hands around his throat and choke the life out of him!" She answered, flashing eyes boring into mine.

Alberta's patience was non-existent. "Get her out of here. Get her cleaned up and calmed down."

I began pulling Rose away from the scene. "We can make this easy or difficult. There is no way I'm letting you go to Jesse. Besides," I added as an afterthought, "he's at the med clinic, so you'd never get near him. If you can accept that, I'll release you. If you bolt, you know I'll just restrain you again."

Hesitation. Then, "Okay."

If you love her, Dimka, let her go. Daemon stage-whispered.

Alayah, too, nodded dramatically. If it's meant to be, she'll come back.

Though I did not see the humor in their impromptu show, they fell into a laughing heap. Idiots.

I slowly released her arm.

"Alberta told you to clean me up. So we're going to the med clinic?" Rose guessed.

"Nice try. I," I informed her, "am not letting you near him. We'll get first aid somewhere else."

The 'somewhere else' I had referred to was what I called Tasha's cabin. It was clean, it had a small lamp and the Guardians that had once used it had stuffed a first aid kit into a closet.

I got Rose to sit on the bed while I started a fire, then found the kit and a water bottle. I dragged a chair over and sat in front of Rose, wetting a piece of gauze for her forehead.

"You have to let me go. Don't you see? Don't you see how Jesse has to pay?" She asked, eyes begging. "He tortured her! He did horrible things to her."

"He'll be punished," I told her, dabbing at a cut right below her hairline. "believe me. And the others."

"With what? Detention?" She huffed. "This is as bad as Victor Dashkov. Nobody does anything around here! People commit crimes and get away with it. He needs to hurt. They all need to."

Uh, dude, why does your girlfriend sound like the Terminator right now? Daemon asked, clearly freaked out.

Terminator? Alayah scoffed, but she was worried. More like Darth Vader.

"Rose, I know you're upset," I began, "but you know we don't punish people like that. It's… savage."

"Yeah? What's wrong with that? I'd bet it'd stop them from doing it again." She said, voice too loud. "They need to suffer for what they did! And I want to be the one to do it! I want to hurt them all. I want to kill them all."

Rose shot up and I pushed her back down onto the bed. She struggled. I dug my fingers into her arms.

"Rose! Snap out of this!" I shouted. "You don't mean any of it. You've been stressed and under a lot of pressure—it's making a terrible event that much worse."

"Stop it!" She shrieked. "You're doing it—just like you always do. You're always so reasonable, no matter how awful things are. What happened to you wanting to kill Victor in prison, huh? Why was that okay, but not this?"

"Because that was an exaggeration. You know it was. But this…this is something different." I gulped, reluctant to admit what I had known for some time. "There's something wrong with you right now."

"No, there's something right with me. I'm the only one who wants to do anything around here, and if that's wrong, I'm sorry. You keep wanting me to be some impossible, good person, but I'm not! I'm not a saint like you!"

"Neither of us is a saint." I spat. "Believe me, I don't—"

Two things happened at the same time.

Daemon pulled Alayah – who was very close to shaking – from the room.

And Rose bolted for the door.

I caught her immediately, thank God, though I was distracted. With a push, we both fell onto the bed, and I was on top of her, my weight holding her down.

My hands encircled her wrists. "Let me go!"

"No. Not until you break out of this. This isn't you!" I said, because it wasn't. It couldn't be. This was evil.

Rose was anything but.

Tears filled her eyes. "It is! Let me go!"

"It's not. It isn't you! It isn't you." I repeated.

What else can it be?

"You're wrong!" She sobbed, furious and so, so sad. "It is—"

Her words broke off. I watched as she fought against whatever had come over her, helpless once more. I was always of no use when she needed help.

"Rose." I breathed. It was all I could do.

And it was all it took for her anger to turn to fear.

"Oh my God."

I let my fingers trace a pattern down her face. "Rose. Are you okay?"

"I…"She faltered. "I think so. For now."

"It's over." I whispered, brushing her hair away from her pale face. "It's over. Everything's all right."

She shook her head. "No. It's not. You… you don't understand. It's true—everything I was worried about. About Anna? About me taking away spirit's craziness? It's happening, Dimitri."

No. Please. No.

But she thundered on. "Lissa lost it out there with Jesse. She was out of control, but I stopped her because I sucked away her anger and put it into myself. And it's—it's horrible. It's like I'm, I don't know, a puppet. I can't control myself."

I could feel myself going into denial. "You're strong. It won't happen again."

"No." She sat up. "It will happen again. I'm going to be like Anna. I'm going to get worse and worse. This time it was bloodlust and hate. I wanted to destroy them. I needed to destroy them. Next time? I don't know. Maybe it'll just be craziness, like Ms. Karp. Maybe I'm already crazy, and that's why I'm seeing Mason. Maybe it'll be depression like Lissa used to get. I'll keep falling and falling into that pit, and then I'll be like Anna and kill—"

"No. It won't happen to you. You're too strong. You'll fight it, just like you did this time." I said, and I didn't know who was less convinced, me or her.

"I only did because you were here." I folded my arms around her. "I can't do it by myself."

"You can. You're strong—you're so, so strong." I realized. "It's why I love you."

And that was that. I'd finally told her.

"You shouldn't. I'm going to become something terrible. I might already be something terrible."

I pulled away and took her face in my hands, ever so gently, like she could break.

"You aren't. You won't. I won't let you." I swore. "No matter what, I won't let you."

And when she looked at me with her soul in her eyes, my gut twisted, propelling me towards her. Somehow we fell into each other, and lips found lips, and we were perfectly in sync, so sweet. So gentle.

So suddenly filled with desire, I was burning, freezing, choking for more and more and more. Control died. Because this, this was so much bigger than me, than us. It was the whole Universe, and God and his stars, coming together right then.

It was fucking Fate.

And still we hesitated, for the briefest moment.

"We can't." My words were scrawled into the air between us, harmless. This was beyond us.

"I know." She whispered, and we were desperate, falling, we were doomed and silently screaming at the world to go to Hell because right and wrong were nothing – nothing – in front of this.

Clothes vanished as our kisses became more desperately passionately needy, as unstoppable as a force of nature. Limbs tangled and lips crashed together again and again, a useless attempt at becoming the same person, and I looked at the goddess beside me and shattered in blissful pieces against the walls.

I had never known sex like this. It was a quick fire, spreading all over me while I kissed her neck, her arms, her everywhere, and I wondered how much the pleasure it brought me hurt, like an arrow in the heart.

Then I burned out into ash, and peace washed me away.

"I love you, Roza." A kiss. "I'll always be here for you. I'm not going to let anything happen to you."

"And I won't let anything happen to you. I love you." Another kiss, longer this time, and we just stayed there, legs and arms and hair intertwined, breathing.

Just breathing.

I have a confession to make. I was gonna post this tomorrow so more people would review.

But that wouldn't be fair, would it? So here you go. I hope you'll be nice and tell me what you thought on the sex part. I saw Dimitri as kind of incoherent and nonsensical right then.

Oh, and don't worry. Daemon will star in the next chapter. I just wanted sweetness for a change. =D