*Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy, Richelle Mead does!*

The next day, Dimitri's nerves were on the edge. I had full confidence in Abe's ability, but Dimitri didn't share my confidence. Even I couldn't distract him.

At one point, I saw Dimitri try to leave the house. "Where are you going?" I asked him innocently.

"I'm going for a run," he told me. Really in all black. How dumb does he think I am.

"Mind if I join you? I haven't worked out in a while," I said to him.

Dimitri groaned. Busted. "Rose I can't just sit in here and do nothing," he pleaded.

I walked up to him. "And I can't have you tied up in any of Abe's crazy schemes. I can't let you go and risk getting hurt. You're too important to me. Don't just sit around. We really should go run and work out. It would be good for both of us," I pointed out.

He dropped his head so our foreheads were touching. "Okay. Let's go get changed," he sighed.

I grabbed his hand and we went back to his room. We quickly changed. We ran at a comfortable pace to town, circled the village, then ran back.

"Let's sprint the rest," Dimitri suggested when we were maybe a quarter of a mile away from his house. I was exhausted already, but I didn't want to look weak, so I pushed my body. No matter how hard I pushed myself, Dimitri was faster.

"How. The. Hell. Do. You. Run. Like. That?" I panted.

"Practice," he told me.

"That's not true Comrade or I would easily have been able to keep up with you. You've been making me run ridiculous amounts since I returned to St. Vladimir's," I pointed out.

"Yes, but I never took two years off of school or had three near death experiences in a row to delay my fitness training," he retorted.

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever. What do you want to do now? Obviously not weight training, but maybe some hand to hand combat?" I asked.

He nodded in agreement and for the next hours, we were all business. This was one of the first times that I took Dimitri out more than he took me out. I felt a burst of pride when I realized how far my skills have come.

"One more," Dimitri insisted. I think he was determined to beat me in the last one, because he has said 'one more' for the last ten. I groaned internally. The sun was rising which meant we had been at this for hours. Abe had wanted to stage his attack as close to sunrise as possible so it wouldn't look weird that Rolan was left alive. I don't know if I should be happy that they came up with this plan or weirded out that they took so much care planning the details.

As we got into our positions facing one another, I briefly thought about throwing it and letting Dimitri win, but he would know. Plus I was so sore, I was sure he would win.

When he lunged at me, I side stepped his lunge. While he was still recovering, I pushed his side causing him to stumble. I pushed him to the ground. Before I could get a good grip, he rolled over and pinned me to the ground. I gave up struggling acknowledging I couldn't get him off of me.

He grinned at me. "I win," he proclaimed. I expected him to get up, but he didn't. He leaned down close to me and kissed me. The kiss was just picking up.

"Eew. Can you guys ever keep your hands to yourself?" Viktoria asked. Dimitri broke this kiss, but stayed on top of me. I guess if I think about it, Viktoria was a little right about me and Dimitri. But hey, it's not like either of us could help it.

"You know you've ruined every kiss we've shared since we came to Russia right?" I asked her.

"Happy to help. Geez every time I see you guys your making out. It's gross. Someone needed to do something," Viktoria said matter-of-factly.

"What do you want?" I asked a little annoyed.

"Abe Mazur is here to see you two. He's grinning from ear to ear, so I think he has good news,' she told us.

Dimitri and I glanced at one another and were on our feet in an instance, sprinting towards the house.

Abe was sitting on the couch in the living room. "Done," he said when we walked in.

"Done? Just like that?" Dimitri asked just to make sure.

Apparently Dimitri's question was an invitation for Abe to tell us about all the injuries this 'Strigoi' left on Rolan.

"Well he has a couple of broken ribs and a serious concussion. His pretty face isn't all that pretty anymore. But all of the injuries are things that he can easily repair. He'll never look the same and he's a little shorter if you know what I mean, but he will live," Abe explained.

Shorter? What did he mean? "What did you do? Cut off his feet?" I asked stupidly.

Abe laughed, and I saw Dimitri stifle a laugh. I looked up confused. "What's so funny?" I asked slightly annoyed.

Abe stood up laughing, shook his head, and then left without saying another word.

I stared after him, shocked. "I feel like I'm missing something," I whined.

Dimitri laughed outright. "Rose. When Abe said he was shorter, he wasn't talking about his height," Dimitri explained.

"Then what… Oh!" I said as the light bulb went off in my head. I started blushing furiously.

Dimitri laughed. He didn't seem able to control himself. "Remind me never to get on Abe's bad side," he choked out in between laughs.

I rolled my eyes at him. Then I realized we were alone. I looked at him, and I think he caught up with my mood quickly. There was a spark in his eyes when he returned my gaze.

We were already sitting side by side, so it wasn't difficult to twist enough to kiss him.

His lips met mine in a hungry and passionate kiss. He scooped me up and without breaking the kiss, brought me to his bedroom.