Thank-you for your reviews for the last chapter.


Chapter 12

Ive never really felt claustrophobic before... until right now. Have you ever felt like screaming out loud, only you know very well that no-one would listen to you... well thats how I felt right now, about guardian Richard Lemming. At least his name suited him well... Dick. Yeah, he definately was one of those.

"If you ask my opinion we should of just blown up the entire compound. Get rid of the fuckers in one go" he droned on and on. I think everybody was getting as annoyed with his attitude as I was. Who the hell was he anyway. The fool had no idea what he was even talking about. We had already agreed to attack in day light, so that any of the strigoi's trying to escape would not be able to, or they would die trying, they would be bound by the sunlight.

It would be great if we could blow the place up, get it over and done with, wham, bam, thankyou mam. But it aint gonna happen, for all we know those strigoi's could have any number of dhampir's, moroi's or humans being held hostage, and it goes against everything that we believe in to risk innocents. If we simply blew the place up it wouldn't only kill the strigoi's, but their hostages aswell, and that was simply not an option. It went against everything that we believed in.

"It aint gonna happen" I finally snapped. "So instead of whining like a little girl who's lost her dolly, why dont you think of something useful to say, or even better... shut the fuck up" I bellowed. He sent glares in my direction, and if looks could kill, well... I'd be dead.

"Who the hell put you in charge Hathaway?" he sneered. Oh yep... he definately suited his name.

"I didnt say I was in charge, did I?" I growled. "But sitting here and chatting shit aint gonna get us nowhere, we need to work together on this. And just for your information" I said, whispering the last part to him, and him alone. "Queen Tatiana placed me in charge. If you have a problem with that, take it up with her." I smirked as his eyes widened. He simply made a choked sound and slumped back in his seat, remaining silent. Good fucking choice!

"So..." Guardian Steinton began, "We scope the place out first. Nobody, and I mean nobody makes any movements to attack until given the all clear by me" he eyes mischeviously flicked towards me for a moment. Ha! he knew me to well. "We know their are at least fifteen strigoi in that place, but that information was correct two nights ago. Numbers could of increased for all we know, stay on guard at all times. Rose, from what you've told us, their are about seven bedrooms in that place, is that right?" he asked. I gave a swift nod. "Good, okay. Is their anything else you can tell us? I shifted in my seat. "There's at least four rooms down stairs and then a giant safe, where they kept weapons and valubles that I presume they had stolen from their victims" I told him, as I recalled the time that I had stolen a few stakes from inside it to defend myself during my escape from Dimitri. "There could be more rooms, I mean I was running for my life at the time, I didnt really have time to sit around and take in my surroundings. There's a maze on the outside, which is pretty fucking hard to get out of, but you've already seen that from the photographs, so... theres not really much else that I can tell you." I told him. "Thats fine Hathaway. Dont sweat it, Its a start at least." He said, with a gentle smile. I think he could tell how I was feeling about being back in this place, and the hurtful images and memories that it was causing me. `It's over, It isn't real` I chanted to myself.

The sun was blazing as we pulled to a stop outside Gallina's old mansion. Just the name of Dimitri's old mentor/turned strigoi boss caused another memory to hit me full force.

"Rose"

Dimitri's voice triggered some instinctive response in me. I glanced back and saw him still grappling with Galina. They were both exhausted, but it was clear he was getting the worst of it. But in their fighting he kept trying to restrain her in a way that exposed her chest to me. His eyes met mine. Back when he was a dhampir, we'd rarely needed words to convey our thoughts. This was one of those times. I knew what he wanted me to do. He wanted me to stake her. (Memory taken from Richelle Mead's Blood promise. Page's 396 & 397)

I shook my head to clear it. I had done what he had wanted me to do. Then I had listened to the first thing he had ever taught me. `You run` and run I had done.

I had to get myself together. I guess it was just a sense of De ja vu. The last time I had been here I had been running from Dimitri to save my life, now he had returned to his previous state of a dhampir, but I was still running from him. This time not to save my life, but to save my broken heart.

"Hathaway" Jack called my attention back to the present. "You doing okay?" he asked worriedly. I nodded and gave him a sheepish smile, In the short space of time we had come to understand each other pretty well, He knew where my head had just been. He returned my smile, even though his didnt really meet his eyes. He was too worried.

"Move out" yelled. Jack and Eddie jumped out of the SUV, closely followed by me. We were split into pairs, so that nobody was left alone. Jack and I ended up being paired together.

"Becareful Rose" Eddie whispered as he pulled me in for a hug. Eddie- my oldest friend. We'd been through so much together, I returned his hug. "You too" I whispered back. We pulled apart and he went along to the other part of the building. I pitied him, being paired with the `dick` Lemming. I shuddered. Wasnt this mission hard enough. Once Jack and I were in our designated area, by a ground floor window on the east side of the building, he quickly spun to face me. I was pushed against the stone wall, as his lips hungrily met mine.

Our lips and tongues met, in a heavy, heated kiss. This was no sweet gentle kiss. It was rough, as our tongue's fought in a way that our bodies would soon be doing against our enemies. After a few moments he pulled away breathlessly.

"Stay safe for me, Rose" he breathed against my hair. I could only nod as I tried to calm my ragged breathing. "I... I will" I told him as honestly as I could. "You stay safe too" I felt him nod against me.

The radio crackled as Steinton's voice came across. "This is it guys. Keep your eyes open at all times. Never let your guard down. Stay safe and keep your wits about you. Good luck. Now. GO GO GO"

With one more look in each others direction, Jack and I made our way, warily, into the compound.


Hope you liked it. I'm working on the next chapter already.