First off happy new year! Any good new years resolutions that you plan on keeping? So I really wanted to get this chapter out before school started again. What happens with Dimitri will be all of the next chapter. But for right now lets see what happened to Lissa

Chapter 10

Rpov

I heard Liss shriek and I knew that something was wrong. She would cry out in a time like this and give us away. I turned to her to see Christian setting two Strigoi on fire while more came out of an alley next to them. I rushed over to them and put Liss behind me. Eddie and Mikhail quickly joined us to help fight. There was at least a dozen Strigoi surrounding us. Liss' fear rang through the bond loud and clear but she knew that we could handle ourselves and that we could take them all down easily. Christian and I worked like we did at the academy. He would set them on fire and I would stake them. Between me and Christian we took down half of the Strigoi. Christian lit one on fire and he was still able to swing at me. I quickly dodged his attack and came back with my own kicking him in the stomach and then I elbowed him in the face. He came down and I quickly stabbed him with my stake. He was down and Christian and I kept doing the same thing. He would lit them and I would beat them up and then stake them. I looked over and saw that Eddie and Mikhail were still trying to handle three between the two of them. I snuck up behind one of them and easily staked him. Mikhail, Eddie and I took out the last two while Christian watched Liss.

The whole thing took about 10 minutes. I dialed Sydney and told her that she had another mess to clean up and I could hear the relief that I was ok. She said she would take care of it and that I really needed to stay out of trouble. I laughed and asked if she knew me at all to stay out of trouble and she just chuckled and hung up. Everyone was giving me questioning glances. So I explained," Sydney is an alchemist. Every time I come across a Strigoi and kill them I call Sydney. She calls local alchemists to come clean up the mess before humans see what happened and report it."

"Well we can at least move them more into the alley so everybody can see them." Eddie said.

We all agreed and with teamwork we were able to move them all farther into the alley and out of passerby's sight.

"Let's get back to the hotel before anything else happens that can endanger all of us." Mihkail suggested. We quickly walked back to the hotel and the security of our rooms. I checked in across the hall and saw that all the guardians were in there discussing a mission. I tried to open the door quietly so I could listen but the damn thing had to squeak. Stupid door. They all straightened up and I saw that my mom looked very distraught but was trying to mask it from me. I reported everything that happened and Mikhail and Eddie backed it up also saying that everything was true. They quickly worried if we were hurt but we were all fine. The Strigoi all had to be fairly young as none of them were hard to take down. Again here was an odd sight. Strigoi banding together to take down Dhampirs and Moroi. What was happening?

When we were done talking I walked back into our shared room and saw that Adrian was back.

"Hey. Where did you scamper off to today? And I see you got ahold of your booze. That didn't last long now did it?" I remarked sarcastically.

"Aw did you miss me Lil' Dhampir?" he replied back.

"Of course not. It was actually a nice day not having to listen to your drunken blathering all day. That and we didn't have to smell your disgusting cigarettes." I retorted.

"Hmm. Well they keep me sane. And I just has some business to attend to. Nothing important." I could tell he was hiding something. I looked to Liss and saw that she was looking at him strangely.

Through the bond she said There's something off with his aura. I cant tell what because i'm not good at it yet but he's definetley hiding something that isn't good.

I nodded showing that I understood her and that I wouldn't push the issue at the moment. I sat down on the bed and the room fell into an awkward silence. Before I knew what hit me Christian asked me a question I wasn't sure how to explain.

"So Rose who exactly is this Chris guy? And why did he help you get away from Dimitri?" he questioned lounging cross his and Lissa's bed.

"So I know I told Liss everything that happened and I'll just tell you guys the summary. So I came to Russia to save Dimitri as we both made a promise to each other that we would rather die then be a Strigoi. On the way I met his family and I had to tell them what happened to him. I ended up coming here with a group of unpromised students. We were hunting for Strigoi when Dimitri found me. He knocked me out and brought me to a building outside of the city where a lot of Strigoi stay together. Galina is the leader and she trains them to become stronger. Dimitri had me as a prisoner of sorts in his room. On several occasions I got hurt. Chris was somebody that Dimitri trusted and he helped me to escape. He then told me a way to change Dimitri back as he was a Dhampir that was changed back himself. Now there are some strange things that happen when Dhampir's are changed back from a Strigoi. Dimitri started to get suspicious of everyone, especially Chris, and that was when I called Liss. Chris took me to another room where I had to disguise myself. Dimitri came barging in and I had to convince him that I was a Strigoi that Chris found on the streets and that Chris was going to train me. I was able to convince him but I know he is still suspicious about Chris. I told him that I was a friend of Viktoria, his sister. And he out rightly lied about who he was. Now the question is, why would he lie about what his name is?" I paused trying to gage everybody's reactions. I saw a lot of surprise and concern, when I saw nothing alarming I continued. "Chris was able to sneak me out here and he had to go back as to try and keep Dimitri calm so we could scheme. I haven't heard from him sense I got here and i'm getting a little worried that something isn't right." By the end of my spiel I was a little out of breath.

They all sat there seeming surprised about what I said except for Adrian. "Adrian how are you not surprised by this?" Lissa asked him.

"I heard Rose talking to you on the plane and I just pieced everything together. And plus if he was a bad guy Rose wouldn't be here right now." he said without turning away from the window.

We all gave each other a knowing look saying that we didn't believe him. "Ok hot stuff. What's really going on? How did you really know all of that already? And what was that meeting about yesterday?" I asked bluntly getting irritated with him.

"Oh so now you're interested in my life? It's not like you even really care. None of you really do. You just want to save Dimitri and then go home to your peachy lives." He said bitterly.

"What that's not true! We all care about you. What's the matter with you Adrian?" I asked incredulously.

"Nothing I can talk to you about lil' Dhampir. " He sighed and then left the room slamming the door shut behind him. My new mission was to crack Adrian and make him tell us what was going on in his cluster fuck of a head.

**Adrian pov** (the rest of the meeting)

"So what you're saying is that when Lissa changed Rose back and infused her with Spirit, Rose is now able to harness her own Spirit? How does that work? And what about to everything else that Lissa brought back?" I asked lost.

"Rose's temper is due to the princess using magic and also her own magic. I have been trying to uncover more about this sense I learned that the princess brought Rose back. It could just be that easy. Rose died before the princess brought her back. Rose must have connected to the spirit world while she was dead. So when the princess brought her back Rose is now able to harness spirit herself. I'm not sure exactly how it works. But if Rose were to get rid of all the walls she has built up around her she will be able to break into her spirit. With help from you and Lissa she would be able to do that. Mark and Oksana, a couple I know are spirit bound. Oksana is a Dhampir and Mark is a Moroi. Oksana has been able to do unexplainable things that she couldn't do before he brought her back. I have met other spirit bound couples and they have said the same thing. The one that is shadow-kissed has been able to do unexplainable things sense coming back. Oksana and Mark though, they heal the darkness from each other, so they don't feel the dark effects of it like Rose and Lissa do. Now I have found that no other couple thought to do that. And once they started to do that the shadow-kissed ones could control said unexplainable things. So I think if the princess would heal the darkness from Rose then Rose would be able to harness her abilities. For example she would be able to strengthen her ability of being able to tell when a Strigoi is near. She would be able to tell how many there are, how far away they are, and possibly how old and strong they are. So this isn't a bad thing. In fact it will be great for the both of them." Abe said this all with a calm expression on his face and acted like it was an everyday conversation.

I on the other hand had no idea what I could possibly say about it. I was speechless. Janine too looked like she had no idea about any of this. I could tell this was the first time that she had heard any of this. He could gage from our silence that we needed some time to think this over. How could this be true? We haven't heard about anything like this before. We all sat there in silence for what seemed like hours but was only a couple minutes.

"So you want me to help Rose discover that she can harness spirit? Then why did you want me to bring Janine?" I questioned.

"Yes. And because I wanted to tell her too what was going on with Rose and we haven't seen each other in years." He said smiling at Janine. "Adrian you can leave whenever you want. I would like to talk to Janine privately for a few minutes if you don't mind."

"Nope, knock yourselves out. But don't get too crazy. Now, I'm going to make a friend with your stash of alcohol that I know you have somewhere."

"Its in the office. Its in the big cupboard doors. Don't drink all of my scotch." He teased.

I walked into the office and opened up the cupboard doors. And behold! My best friends! Bottles of vodkas, scotches, and other various drinks along with a few packs of cigarettes. I think I like it here.

***Janine pov*** (Just to see what's going on there)

Its been years sense I saw Abe. We talked on the phone every once and a while so I could give him updates on Rose. I know she thinks I abandoned her and I don't care about her, but I feel the exact opposite. I did this because I didn't think I would be a good enough mother for her. I am told everything she does. I was told about when she threw that book at the teacher when she was little. I heard about her running away with Princess Vasilisa. I was part of the group that found where she was, but I wasn't there the night that they actually found her. I was with my charge. I heard that guardian Belikov would be training her and nobody could have been better then dealing with her then he was. I was heartbroken when I found out that she went to hunt down the Strigoi in Spokane. The look on her face when we found her will be forever in my mind. I was so glad when her and Prince Ozera teamed up to take down the group of Strigoi that was attacking the dorms. I knew that she had a more intimate relationship with guardian Belikov by the way she acted when he got taken in the caves and also now. Wanting to save him. I had no idea that he could be saved. And Abe. Oh Abe. Just when I thought I was starting to grasp things he tells us this and im lost all over again. My mind is still trying to wrap around all of this.

"So Janine. When does Rose plan on changing back Dimitri?"

His words broke he out of my trance. "Thursday. So we don't have much more time to prepare. The next few days we will be going over strategy and the course of action."

"That's not very long to get her ready for this. Adrian and you will have to tell her soon and start training her so she can embrace this. You also need to tell her about Chris. Who he really is. She needs to know the truth of who he is. And in case you don't know quiet know who she is talking about, Chris is Sevastyan." he said with a furrow appearing.

"She doesn't know who he really is? I think he should tell her when he's ready. I can't tell her who he is. Its his secret to tell. Not mine." I said. I was not going to break this kind of news to Rose right before we save guardian Belikov. She wouldn't be able to focus.

"Now go get his royal highness before he drinks himself to where he cant walk anymore. I don't want a passed out boy in here." Abe said as a way of dismissing me. "Oh and Janine. This wont be the last time that we see each other while you are still here. " He whipped out his phone and made a phone call. I went to grab Prince Ivashkov and found that he was already close to getting drunk. I sighed and we went down to the lobby. Him with a bottle nuzzled close to him.

***Sevastyan pov*** (Just to kind tell what's going on with Dimitri )

Dimitri was still suspicious of me. But with a little convincing I was able to relinquish that. I was his loyal friend again and did as he said. He was still trying to find who took Rose and I kept leaving hints and clues that Nathan was the one that took her. He is starting to believe me and doesn't suspect that I did anything at all. I haven't heard from Rose lately and I haven't contacted her at all either and I was curious as to when she was going to pull off her master plan. I knew it was going to probably within the week but I wasn't sure when. When I get away I will have to make a quick call to her. Dimitri was going out tonight to feed. He was hoping to run into her is she did in fact escape on her own. Which is not likely. He didn't suspect her at all when he met her the other day when she was disguised. We were currently trying to ponder all of the evidence that I left to blame Nathan and he wasn't sure who it was. He said he was going out to feed and would be back later. As soon as I heard both doors lock behind him I called Rose and had her tell me what was going on. I made it a short phone call and only got the necessary information. The plan would take place on Thursday which was just a few days away. I needed to keep Dimitri unsuspicious and occupied. They would do the rest.

That's it! I know it kind of bounced around a lot but I wanted to wrap up some things. And I just had to add in this last few parts to fill ya in some I hope you enjoyed it. The next chapter with be all about changing Dimitri. Im so excited to write the next chapter. And I posted this before school started! So score for me! And every school in Minnesota was closed for this coming Monday. So theres another day to get the next chapter done. Record lows for temps are not gonna be fun. But no school! Until next time