I know that last cliffy was mean, sorry. I also couldn't let Dimitri remove the contacts too soon, I had to put the drama in there. Besides we had to know if Rose was really capable of killing Dimitri if she had to. You never know...he could still turn Strigoi before the end.

I'm starting to get writers block, so there may be more time between updates. I know what I want to happen next, I'm just struggling with putting it all together in the time frame of the story. I could have gone on with this chapter, but I think that I made you wait long enough to find out what happens to Dimitri, and who our little mystery man is, its not who you think.

This just makes me have to update soon.

Chapter 12

Just as the point of the stake hit my skin her eyes grew wide. I'm not sure what made her do it. Whether it was the similarity between my struggles with her in the cabin the night we made love, or that she finally realized that she wasn't feeling ill, but faster than could have been imagined, the stake stopped its forceful plunge toward my heart. Instead it tracked its way down the right side of my chest gouging a scrape the whole way before she plunge it into the ground up to its hilt. I gasped with relief, panting from the tiresome fight and the pain searing at my side. I reached up and cupped her face in my hands pulling her lips down to mine. The kiss was full of love and desperation. I missed the touch of her skin. One of my hand snaked its way up the back of her neck becoming tangled in the dark silken mass, while my other hand slid down her cheek, caressing her shoulders. Her body trembled under my touch as my hand rested on the small of her back. Once I had swallowed every bit of her sent, I pulled her close to me in a tight embrace. Her tear streaked face nestled into the nape of my neck as she spoke, "Oh my god, Dimitri, I almost killed you!"

"Rosa…my Roza...I'm okay!" I labored to get out as I pulled her tighter to my chest forgetting about the others standing around us.

"Rose, what the hell are you doing? He will kill you!" I heard my younger sister Alena yell as she stampeded her way toward us on the ground.

Immediately Rose shielded me saying, "No! He isn't Strigoi! I swear! I can tell! I wouldn't let him live like that if he was!"

"You said it yourself, Rose, the Strigoi are becoming more powerful. They are getting bolder. Working differently than they ever have. How can you be so sure?" my other sister, Katya asked.

The Moroi Royal then spoke up as well, "I think she is right. I don't know what exactly is going on here, but he had plenty of opportunities to kill me, and didn't. He also saved me from a Strigoi attack. If he were Strigoi, he wouldn't have done that, no matter what. There is too much bloodlust, they cannot control it."

My family, still horror-struck at what they had just seen, slowly lowered their weapons.

Rose began to help me to my feet, but soon realized that my shirt was soaked in crimson liquid as blood oozed from my wound. "Dimitri, you're bleeding! Let me see," as she started to lift my shirt. I didn't want her to see the wound, knowing that she had caused it. And I wasn't sure exactly how bad it was. I held my shirt down, saying, "I'm fine Rose. It's just a scrape."

We went into the house and I drew the curtains. Everyone immediately turned to me wanting to know what the hell was going on. I promised that I would answer their questions, but not before I got answers of my own.

I turned to the Moroi Royal, "I cannot shake the familiar feeling that I have had since I first saw you. Who are you?" I asked.

"My name is Lord Szelsky. I was at the academy over the holidays with my guardian," the Moroi Royal said.

"Szelsky! Jesus Christ. Janine Hathaway is your other guardian and she quit! She is one of—" I said exasperatedly.

"My mother quit?" Rose interrupted astonished. "She would never—"

"She did, well it's more of a sabbatical really. She did it so she could find you Rose," he said as he turned to face her.

"What do you mean?" Rose asked. "She has never cared about what I did."

"She got word from Headmistress Kirova that you left St. Vladimir's again. Initially she thought that you and Lissa went off gallivanting. She was pretty pissed that you would throw away your future like that. But when Headmistress Kirova said that you withdrew from school and left alone, she got very worried. She knows the bond between you and Lissa cannot be broken. She knew that there had to be something that drew you away. Between the reports she had read about relating to Victor Dashkov and the attacks at St. Vladimir's and your involvement in the defense, she worried that you were in more danger. She left to find you, Rose. She wanted, rather needed, to protect you." Lord Szelsky replied.

The room grew quiet while Rose digested what Lord Szelsky had told her. She was starting to realize that her mother really did care about her, more than what Rose was truly aware of.

While Rose and Lord Szelsky continued to speak, I went to the bathroom. Alena and Katya, still not sure if they could trust me, followed me and saw me remove the contacts from my eyes. Immediately they hugged me in a tight embrace. I was happy to be with my family again, but I was also reminded of the searing pain at my side. I recoiled from the hug grasping at my side. My sisters helped me to remove my shirt to access the damage from the stake. I was right not to have allowed Rose to see this. It was bad. The scrape was more like a gouge. My flesh was in jagged tears all the way down my right side. I was definitely going to need stitches. Katya went and got my grandmother while Alena started to help me clean the wound.

Having been a former guardian, my grandmother still had many of her guardian field supplies in her room. I followed her, where she immediately had me lie down on the table that used for her tarot card readings.

"She is special, Dimitri," she said as she stitched my side. "That Roza of yours."

"You have no idea," I replied.

"Oh, but I do," my grandmother said slyly. "She is not like others her age. She has experienced both life and death. She has connections to both realms. She is the key to all of ours future."

I grew thoughtful as my grandmother's words gnawed at me. Was this a warning? A premonition? Rose has been through so much already. I know that she is strong, but is she ready for this?