Chapter 13

I was having a very difficult time trying to sleep. All of the events from the last day seemed surreal. First, the dream with Adrian—although I should have expected as much sooner or later. Then the brief dream with Rose, acknowledging that she somehow knew where I was. And then, not one, but two Strigoi attacks. And I had an address.

As I tossed and turned, I felt nauseated. This was what I wanted, right? I was about to find Rose and kill her. I would free her from this unnatural state of being. She'd already created at least four Strigoi. And I suspected there were more. My Roza would be horrified by her actions. She would much rather be dead than bring harm to others. Still, I couldn't imagine destroying her—driving a stake through her heart. My Roza. Could I exist in a world where she didn't? Could I be the one who removed her from this earth? Undead or not, I wasn't sure if I could handle it. But I had to. We'd made a promise. No matter how difficult, I intended to honor it.

I actually got to thinking about the Strigoi I'd staked—something that I had taught myself not to do a very long time ago. I wondered who they'd been and how Rose had found them. I wondered if they'd wanted to be turned or if Rose had simply attacked them. I'd never known a new Strigoi to go around making more new Strigoi. Usually, humans worked for Strigoi for years just for a chance at immortality. And more often and not they ended up dead rather than awakened. Rose must've been up to something.

At some point, my mind must've surrendered to my tired body, because I fell into a deep sleep.

"Thought you'd take out some of my little minions, did you?" Rose's unnatural Strigoi voice filled my ears. "That's alright. I'll make more." She smirked. We were standing in the alleyway where I'd been attacked earlier. How had she risen through the Strigoi ranks so quickly? It didn't make sense.

"I'm coming to put an end to this," I said to her, uncertain why I was saying anything. She laughed, and it rattled me.

"Think what you want, comrade." She strolled towards me, moonlight falling upon her as she walked. She was dressed in a very form-fitting black dress and stiletto heels. Her hair hung loosely and billowed out behind her in the breeze. In the dim lighting she looked almost dhampir again. I couldn't tell that her eyes were red or that her skin was pale. She looked like my Roza.

I tried to reach for my stake, as she sauntered towards me slowly. But I quickly found that I was paralyzed. I had no choice but to watch as she neared me, her eyes staring straight into mine. She came so, so close. She was inches from my face, and I couldn't move, or even try to move.

"I'm so thirsty," she whispered seductively. It made me want to cringe. "None of the others taste very good. But you, my love, I can't wait to taste you." She raked her fingernails across my neck. I could feel my heart hammering in my chest but I couldn't do anything in response. I wasn't even able to speak anymore. I wondered desperately if she could actually turn me into a Strigoi in a dream. This might be the end of it all.

She leaned her head in very close to me. I felt her breath on my ear.

"It won't be long now, comrade. Just wait until you're awakened. Then we'll be together forever. You and me." She ran her hand down over my chest. "Together we'll be unstoppable." I felt her lips brush against my neck. No! The voice in my head was screaming. But I was completely frozen. I heard her laugh in my ear.

"You're scared, comrade? I didn't think you ever got scared." Her tone mocked me. "There's no reason to be scared. It only hurts a little. I promise." She raked her fangs against my neck, teasingly, not even breaking the skin. I didn't know what was going to happen, but I had to find a way out of there! Rose chuckled again, as though she could read my thoughts.

"Oh, is big, bad, godly Dimitri afraid of his little Roza?" she asked mockingly. "That's alright. You're safe—for now." She leaned closer to my ear again. "Now don't you take your time coming to find me. I won't be patient much longer." And with that, the dream dissolved away.

I was immediately pulled into another dream. Honestly? Couldn't I just sleep?

Adrian stood before me. He didn't look angry this time—he looked downright scared. We were back in the yard of the house again. I hoped that meant they were still there.

"Belikov, I'm worried about Lissa!" he blurted out, before I had a chance to speak.

"Why? What's wrong?" I demanded.

"Rose. She keeps coming to Lissa's dreams all the time. We've got no idea how to stop it. I've tried everything I can think of, but nothing works. I can't even pull Lissa into a different dream when Rose has her. She's trapped. Christian's losing his mind with worry." I frowned. This was horrible news.

"I'm onto Rose. Give me a day or two and I should have this worked out."

"I don't know if we have a day or two, Belikov. You should see Lissa. She looks like hell. It's like Rose takes all of her energy. She's exhausted and so sick. She's vowed to stay awake so that Rose can't get to her. But she's not going to make it much longer." I could hear the desperation in Adrian's voice. I knew he wouldn't have come to me unless he didn't know what else to do.

Unfortunately, aside from stopping Rose, I didn't know what to do either.

"Look, as soon as I wake up, I am going to find her. I have an address and everything. I can fix this today," I said, wondering if that were really true.

"Please try," begged Adrian. "We can't lose Lissa."

"No, of course not. We won't," I vowed. I couldn't imagine allowing the Strigoi who had once been my Roza destroy her best friend. "Just do whatever you can to keep Lissa as well as possible. Make sure she visits the feeders and tries to eat. Hopefully by the end of the day this nightmare will be over."

"I hope so. Shit, you're waking up…" Adrian began to dissolve away from me, and I heard a distant ringing.

When I regained consciousness, I realized the ringing was the cell phone sitting on my nightstand. Puzzled, I reached for it. No one knew the number to that phone. Who on earth could've been calling? I glanced down at the screen. Alchemist.

Why was Sydney Sage calling me? Maybe she was onto who I was. Maybe they were coming to arrest me for failing to protect Lissa. I couldn't let that happen now. Not before I got to Rose! If they caught me, everything would be ruined.

I decided to ignore the phone and not answer it. It rang three more times. Finally, Sydney left a voicemail. I decided to listen to it, all the while gathering up my belongings and tossing them haphazardly into my suitcase. I needed to get out of here. But what I heard on the voicemail stopped me dead in my tracks.

"Hi, there. This is Sydney Sage," she spoke in barely above a whisper and her voice was trembling. I could tell something was wrong. "I—I met with you earlier but I didn't get your name. I—I need your… help. I've been—I've been captured. By them." Shit! She didn't need to elaborate on who she meant by them. "Please… I don't know anyone else who can help me… I'm in an abandoned building… a warehouse, I think, in Ocean Hill, Brooklyn." She described the building, very briefly. I wondered to myself how I would ever find it. I heard some noise in the background. "I have to go… please help me." The message ended.

What the hell was going on? Why had Strigoi captured Sydney, and how the hell did she have the chance to use her phone to contact me? Damn it! I needed to get to Rose. But I couldn't just leave Sydney Sage with Strigoi who I knew would certainly kill her. Sure, she was a stranger and a human, but she wasn't just any human. She was an alchemist. Alchemists devoted their lives to helping Moroi and dhampirs. Plus, she was just a young girl. The guardian in me couldn't ignore her pleas for help.

As I hurriedly gathered the rest of my things, my mind was going on overdrive. I was sure that the Strigoi who'd captured Sydney had to know Rose. It would just be too coincidental otherwise. So what were they trying to do? Was I being set up? Maybe Rose was trying to lead me to her even more quickly. That would make perfect sense! Brooklyn was much closer than the address I'd been given by the Strigoi earlier.

If all went well, I could save Sydney and destroy Rose before the day was over. I strolled out of the hotel into the bright afternoon sun. I descended the stairs into the subway. I was on my way to Brooklyn.

A/N: And now things really start to get interesting. I hope you're all enjoying the story. There will be more coming soon. This story has been so much fun to write. If you're enjoying it, please review! (: I'd really appreciate it. And a big thank you to all of you who have been reviewing! It means a lot to me! (: