Seeing that you all sent such lovely reviews, and I've got a couple more chapters done, I thought that I'd be nice and update for you all.... I hope you enjoy it....

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Chapter Eleven

When one door closes.......

Adrian's Point Of View

I heard the cars pull up outside the castle; I closed my eyes and thanked whatever God there was for bringing Lissa & Rose back alive and well, Rose especially. I couldn't wait to see her face. As the door opened, Oksana who was standing beside me ran to the foyer.

"Oksana..." Her voice was like music. She was really here, she really was safe. I walked slowly out to give time for the others to say their hellos. I could see the glow of healing happening before I reached them, Oksana was obviously healing Rose and my heart skipped a beat thinking there was something that needed healing.... Oksana's hand was at Rose's head as I walked around the corner.

"Rose. One day soon I'm going to have to go home......then what will you do hey?" she said. I smiled at that, it was true, Rose had a habit of getting herself hurt, seriously hurt sometimes, I might have to see if I can get Oksana to stay in the US; a nice isolated house would probably do....Rose told me that her house was away from everyone else in Baia.

"Thank you." Said Rose, "but just think about it Oksana. If you weren't here, just imagine how boring your life would be right now!" Everyone laughed at her comment, it was such a 'Rose' thing to say, I loved her dry wit; it's what drew me to her in the first place. She treated me like she treated everyone else, right from the first moment I saw her, who I was and how rich I am didn't even come into it, she gave me as much curry as she gave everyone else and I loved it.

Mark was the next to welcome her home, but he had to go ruin it by complementing Dimitri's teaching prowess.....mmm, he taught her alright! But then as her feet hit the ground, the whirlwind otherwise known as Vikki, flew inside and grabbed Rose around her shoulders, nearly knocking her off her feet, lucky she has good balance. Vikki was so much like Rose; it was hard not to admire her. Before the rescue, I was talking to her one minute only to turn around and find her gone. I searched the castle and when I didn't find her I realised that she'd more than likely snuck out with the rescuers. I smiled when I remembered thinking that it was something that Rose would have done as well.... Yeah.....she was very much like Rose. She was taller though, longer, more refined leg muscles but still had all the curves in all the right places. Damn....what made me think that?

She apologised to Rose for stowing away and Rose looked like she was going to tan her hide, but in a rare show of self control, she said nothing. What really surprised me was her mother, Janine Badass Hathaway almost let her guard down 100% to show Rose just how much she loved her, but before it got too emotional, she withdrew like always. Her father, Abe, he was a scary Moroi, though I would never give him the satisfaction of knowing that, he became a different person around his daughter, almost normal. I knew he'd do everything possible for her without even thinking about it. But when he said that he was assigning a guardian to her while she was pregnant, I thought Rose was going to have kittens.....but I saw a flash of red emanating through her aura, she realised he was doing this out of love for her and her baby and she loved him for it. But Rose being Rose, couldn't let the opportunity go by without having her say.... "Fine! But I won't like it...." I just shook my head and laughed....

She looked up and around the foyer, taking in its grandeur. I could see she wanted to explore so I turned back into the converted operations room, I'd see her later, but they were coming in. Her face and aura showed shock at what was here, a little regret too, knowing Rose as I do, she obviously felt bad that she'd made everyone worry about her.

"It's alright little Dhampir. I knew we'd find you." I said. Her eyes opened wide and she ran into my arms, I closed my eyes as her beautiful hair flew into my face, her scent always pulled at my heart. She kissed me on my cheek and then pulled back to look at me and tears rolled down her cheeks.

"Thank you Adrian. Thank you so much for never giving up on me, even when I've given you so many reasons to do so over the last year." She said as I wiped the tears away. She had given me reasons to walk away, but she was like a giant magnet that I just couldn't pull myself away from, although lately the pull had become less. I had to think of something to say that wasn't too mushy, I think she'd had enough mush from everyone else.

"Well, where else would I be Rose? If I wasn't here, I'd probably be living at Court drinking all night, smoking anything I could get my hands on, going to nightclubs and picking up any skirt that would have me each night....." her smile lit up her face as she shook her head, but as I put her back on the floor, the other thorn in my side spoke up.

"Gees Ivashkov, you have a high opinion of yourself, don't you?" said Vikki who was walking up behind Rose. "You really think it would be that easy to get a girl?" I looked right into her beautiful brown eyes and smiled, how lucky was I.....I had two of the most amazing sparing partners anyone could wish for. They both kept me grounded, never letting me forget my place in the world.

"You've never seen me in action." I said with a playful flick of my eyebrows...

"Yeah I have......." she said with one of her amazing smiles. "Not real impressive if you ask me. Men in Russia know how sweep a girl off her feet. Maybe I should take you there so you could learn a thing or two." Hmm.... was that an invitation? Sometimes, the looks she gave me were the ones that I'd wished Rose would give me, but never did. And she was more than capable of taking me on. Her accent wasn't half bad either. I'd heard plenty of Russian accents before, but it certainly sounded different coming out of her mouth.

As we all sat around the room, I looked over to Rose and Lissa; their aura's glowed. Sometimes they forgot that I could see when they spoke between themselves and I wondered what was being said now; whatever it was at first didn't impress Rose, but then she started to blush slightly. She saw me looking at them and realised I'd seen their silent conversation so she stuck her tongue out at me and smiled, Lissa's laugh at our exchange got everyone's attention onto Rose.

She stood up signalling that she was done for the night and said, "None of your business!" to everyone. "Well, the sun's coming up and I'm off to bed. I'll see you all in the morning. Night...." Dimitri's eyes never left her as she walked off to the foyer, then he giggled under his breath as I saw her run up the stairs. I expected him to go straight away, but he didn't.

"Dimitri. Do you know what that was all about?" Janine asked.

"No. But I'll ask, I don't know if she'll tell me, you all know she does things in her own time." You're not wrong there Belikov, I thought to myself. Abe stood up and held his hand out to Janine.

"Well, I'm sure everyone is exhausted after the recent events," he said, "and I know that the Princess definitely needs to sleep, so I think we should all come back tomorrow. I've got a large villa not too far away, plenty of room for everyone."

"My family's villa is only about 10 minutes from here too." I said. I looked around and noticed that the older guardians and Abe were walking together and the younger ones stayed with me, including Vikki, so obviously we were all going back to my place! Dimitri stood and said good night to everyone but didn't wait for us all to leave; he just walked at a rather brisk pace to the staircase and sprinted up three steps at a time. A little jolt of jealousy tugged at my heart as I gave a little sigh and shook my head.

Just then a hand came onto my shoulder, "Don't worry Adrian," said Vikki, "you'll have someone to run after soon enough......if you open up your eyes wide enough to see." She flashed me a grin and walked to the front door. Before going around the corner of the room that led to the foyer, she stopped and looked at me. "Are you coming? After all, I'll need someone to show me how to.......get there." She winked at me with a wicked smile and then disappeared behind the wall. Yup! Definitely an invitation..... But would I take it? As I walked to the foyer, I looked up to the stair case and then to the door where Vikki had just gone through and realised that my life was now at a crossroad. Left would keep me anchored to someone who I knew loved me in a way, but was starting a life with someone she adored, and to the right was to someone who I definitely had chemistry with and was offering a chance of a happy life..... Just open up your eyes wide enough to see, she said.... I smiled as I took one last look up the stairs...."Bye Rose." I whispered to myself then I turned and walked out the door, ready to grab my future life with both hands.

I got to the car and Vikki was in the front seat but Stan, Tyler and Celeste were in the back seats. I got into the driver's seat and leant over to Vikki. "You....are bad. Don't start something you don't want me to finish Vikki." I whispered to her under my breath with a half smile.

She smiled and raised her eyebrows, "I never say anything I don't mean Adrian."

"Mmm...." I nodded while looking deep into her eyes. "Just remember, you started it." I sat up and started the car. I glanced over to her and she was biting her bottom lip with a big grin on her face. We followed Abe's car out of the castles gates and was surprised to see that his villa was only a few hundred yards away from mine; this was something I never knew. I knew there were other Moroi in the area, but I never knew they were so close, especially not him.

My family's villa had a constant staff, they lived here so that whenever me or my family suddenly turned up, everything was on hand, and the wards were always up; kept strong by the Moroi staff. I opened the door and everyone followed me in. "The kitchen is though there," I said pointing to the left, "If you want something to eat or drink, it's fully stocked." One of the staff greeted me and asked if we had any luggage, to which I said was in the car. "Do you want to see your room?" I asked Vikki. She went to say something but stopped herself, then chose something else to say.

"Sure, then I expect a full tour. After all, I wouldn't want to get disorientated and find myself in someone else's room now......would I?" Oh.....she was going to fun! It wasn't long before Stan, Tyler and Celeste went to their rooms, which left Vikki and me standing at the marble barricade in the courtyard which overlooked the rear gardens. I had my cigarettes and I'd found my favourite bottle of Vodka and intended to do a little self medication.... "Are you sure Adrian?" she asked from beside me. I turned to her in confusion.

"Sure about what?" I asked. She walked closer to me and stood about one foot away. She was nearly as tall as me, so looking into her eyes wasn't a problem.

"Are you sure you're ready?" Something in her expression told me exactly what she meant and I felt a tingle run down my spine. I smiled at her forwardness....

"Are you?" The smile fell from her face only to be replaced by fire....and then she closed the distance between us and kissed me. It shocked me a little at first, but I wasn't that shocked..... I threw the glass in my hand into the garden that was behind the barricade I was leaning against and took her face in my hands. She was a very good kisser, and I had to use all my willpower not to take things any further. I never expected to feel like this......about anyone else, maybe I was ready..... Suddenly I felt like the prey! "Yup...." I said when I pulled back to look at her, "You are bad."