"You see," Galina went on. "The Moroi world is incredibly fragile, when you think of it. And in it, the royals are not as important as they imagine themselves to be. It's the dhampirs that are vital. Without them, without their protection –"

"Moroi society will fall apart." I finished. "Yes, I understand. But how do you propose to obliterate a whole race?"

"Think about it." She smiled. "I'm sure you will see it. After all, I've already begun."

I considered it carefully. "The attack to the Academy. That's it, isn't it? You want to attack the Academies."

"It's a little more complex than that." Galina admitted. "I'm training Strigoi to cooperate with one another, in fact, and in about five years I hope to have accomplished enough to attack ten different Academies from all over the world simultaneously."

"That will be difficult."

"But it can be accomplished."

I nodded. "Yes. Maybe. And what do I have to do with all this?"

Galina narrowed her eyes at me. "Well, I do need a leader…"

o0O0o

Lucia was my appointed guide. I hadn't known Galina had a daughter, but on hindsight, the two did look rather similar.

"And this is your room." She said, nodding towards a closed door. "You can inspect it later. My mother wants me to show you the training field before you get settled."

We walked down flights of steps and winding hallways until we stepped into moonlit grass. Twenty Strigoi – male and female alike – were sparring against each other, supervised by the blond man that had turned me. Lucia followed my gaze.

"That is Nathan. He is the one who turned you."

"I know." I examined him carefully. He was older than me, but only by a couple of years, and he had clearly been a human when turned, which meant there was no way he could have as extensive a knowledge of fighting as I did. Soon, I would be able to overpower him easily – but that would probably displease Galina, who was far too strong for me at the moment, as was her daughter. I would have to beware of those two, and do my best to remain in their favor.

I turned to Lucia. "Should he really be instructing the others? Wouldn't a dhampir be better suited for the task?"

She shook her head. "He is only watching to make sure that they do not kill one another. We do not want the young ones to become stronger than us, after all. Teaching them to fight properly would be… unwise."

"True, but they will be easily beaten in battle unless they receive proper instruction." I pointed.

"They will not be able to hold their own against a dhampir that was turned Strigoi, true, but they surpass all others, even now." Lucia regarded me carefully. "Would you care to try and see if you can hold your own against them? We have a couple of spare minutes."

"Ah, yes." My smile was wide enough to show my fangs.

"Very well, then. Tanya!" She called, prompting a red-headed woman to come hurrying up to us. "This is Dimitri. Let's see if you can incapacitate him."

Tanya nodded, then lunged at me. I stepped out of her way, then deflected a kick and delivered a punch to her nose that left her on the ground. I cocked an eyebrow at Lucia, who dismissed the woman with a wave of her hand.

"Please tell me she is not your best fighter." I said, crossing my arms over my chest.

"She is, but she is only weeks old. They all are. Time will do much to improve them."

I shrugged. "I hope you are right, because if not, Galina's plan is doomed."

Ignoring my comment, Lucia nodded towards Nathan. "You should meet him. As the one who awakened you, he is your superior."

I looked him over one more time. "I could kill him too easily for that."

This time, she was the one who shrugged. "Perhaps so, but my mother remains inflexible about one thing: etiquette. And she is right, because it is the one thing that keeps us all from destroying each other."

"Your mother has always been a smart woman." I admitted.

"So you will let me introduce you, then?" I nodded, though I really had no choice in the matter. "Excellent. Nathan, come here for a second."

The blonde darted between partners until he was standing before us, and he bowed to Lucia and shook my hand. "Belikov. Nice to meet you."

"The pleasure is mine." I answered, hating that I must show deference to this weakling because of Galina's rules. He may have given me a stronger, altogether better body, and immortality – but he was also the man that has condemned me to go through life yearning for Rose, and that, I could never forgive.

We lingered in the field until the closeness of dawn chased us inside, and Lucia accompanied me to my room, even though my memory was too good for me to forget the way.

"Goodbye, then, Dimitri." She said, unfailingly polite, even though she was my superior and could treat me like a dog if she wished. She began to leave, but I caught her arm to hold her back before she could disappear into a maze of hallways.

"Lucia." It was only her name, but it was enough for her to turn to face me once more, unconsciously graceful.

I do not know how it happened, but we crashed against each other with the sound of thunder cracking through the air. Her lips fell upon mine, hot against stone flesh, and she was not Rose, but she was enough. So I pulled dark hair and tore off clothes again, and the bed was wrecked under our combined force. With Lucia, I was neither gentle nor loving. I took her like a desperate man, and we were a hurricane in our passion, but I was shocked to find that stars did not explode against my eyelids, and I was not quivering with pleasure when we finish and lay back next to each other, utterly silent.

Something is missing, I told myself, remembering an altogether different kind of dark hair. And I know exactly what it is.

But she did not care, and I was too broken care, so who was going to stop us? And we went on in the same fashion all day, until she put on her clothes and left to do her duty, and I was left with the memories that I had been trying to escape.

Hi, everyone! This took a while. Sorry! Blame school =)

As for Lucia - he's EVIL, remember? So, trust me.

Shadow Kiss will be over shortly, so prepare for more surprises and review!

Love, Lissie.

PS - LuciaHathaway: I try to update every week, usually on Saturdays or Sundays.

Basic Bookworm: Every book will be in DPOV, I swear. And I will write the whole series, so don't worry.