When Rose is shot by Tasha Ozera in Last Sacrifice, both Lissa and Adrian use all of the Spirit they can wield to try and bring her back. In a shocking turn of events, Rose is not only healed, but somehow ends up somewhere she never could have imagined. Canon up until Time-Travel. Rated T for language. First multi-chapter fic.

I'd seen someone die once, but I'd never seen death of this magnitude. After almost a minute, Dimitri finally removed his hand, but he stayed close behind me. I didn't want to look anymore, but I seemed unable to drag my eyes away from the scene before me. Bodies everywhere. Bodies and blood.

Finally, I turned toward him.

"It's daytime," I whispered. "Bad things don't happen in the day."

I heard the desperation in my voice, a little girl's plea that someone would say this was all a bad dream.

"Bad things can happen anytime," he told me. "And this didn't happen during the day. This probably happened a couple of nights ago."

Frostbite

-Richelle Mead

Bonds Of Time

Chapter Fourteen

Beyond The Veil Part 2

The five of us stood in a loose circle back to back as we waited in silence. Dimitri's hand found mine and he squeezed it tightly. Things weren't looking good. The glass patio doors shattered, sending a spray of sharp glass into the room. A tall Strigoi stepped calmly into the room and looked at our small group with an evil smirk on his face that bared his sharp fangs. I stood steady and let go of Dimitri's hand. Without closing my eyes I focused on the dark fog that swam around us, invisible to anyone but me. The ice cold hands of the dead grabbed at mine and I squeezed them back gently not caring that I was accosted with such rage and anguish that I wanted to scream. We could use all the help we could get, if the ghosts were willing, I didn't care what it cost me later.

A stake flew through the air, it's silver hull gleaming like a red lightning bolt as it was headed toward the Strigoi. With a grunt the Strigoi batted it away with his hand so quickly that I had barely been able to see him move. He bared his teeth and growled out a low laugh that set my teeth on edge.

Two more slightly smaller male Strigoi walked up behind the first. And then they attacked. The ghosts shrieked out and I could feel their rage and pain. I was consumed in it. I broke free from the group, ignoring Dimitri's cry as I plunged my stake into the chest of one of the smaller ones. I had missed the heart and he threw me back into the wall. I hit it with a thud that slightly dazed me, but I got back up on my feet and leapt at him again. This time I didn't miss and I didn't need the help of the ghosts to distract him. The stake buried deep as the monster in front of me shrieked and clawed at me. It went still with a look of shock plastered on it's face. I jumped to my feet and dove back into the fight with wild abandon. The Strigoi kept coming, there were definitely a lot more in their group than anyone had anticipated. There was a small Strigoi woman creeping closer to Dimitri as he fought the largest one.

"Hey, bitch!" I growled at her to get her attention. "Come get some!"

It worked, she bared her fangs and jumped into the air, the ghosts batted at her, making her eyes widen in confusion as she couldn't see the source. Her distraction gave me the opportunity to get close enough to swipe at her with my stake. The sharp silver cylinder cut a gaping gash into her side and she screamed in pain and anger. Her nails cut straight through the thick denim jeans I was wearing and the top layer of my skin. I pushed the stake into her chest as I pinned her to the floor and she yelled out in pain as I used both hands to force it in. The fight with her had somehow taken me into the dining room. The sounds of fierce fighting could be heard from the other room.

A floorboard creaked behind me and I spun around in a crouch, ready to defend myself, but to my utmost surprise and horror, it wasn't a Strigoi. It was one of the Moroi woman that we were guarding. She had come out of the panic room for some stupid ass reason and had walked right into the center of danger. When she saw me, she covered her hand with her mouth and let out an ear piercing shriek. My teeth ground together in aggravation, she had just given away our position and there were at least two or more Strigoi outside. I searched the ceiling for some kind of latch to get her back up there, but I couldn't find it.

"Where is the room?" I asked her, quietly as I could, and grabbed her wrist as I pulled her into the hallway. "Why did you leave?"

"We could hear them on the roof." She cried out in fear. "We're all going to die."

"Take me there." I ordered her fiercely.

The other guardians would be too busy with the fight down here to be able to make it up there in time, but I was free to help. She shook as she went to the pantry where she walked in and pulled the cord to reveal a small wooden step ladder that descended from the ceiling. I let her go first just in case we had been followed, but all was quiet in the kitchen when I pulled the attic door up behind me. The Moroi sat clustered together, children in the middle, with their backs to the solid roof. The woman was right, I could hear the heavy footsteps on the shingles above our heads. If they heard us in here, with their strength, it wouldn't take a second to break through the roof. And that is exactly what happened.

A footstep sounded loudly over the heads of the Moroi and the woman who I had led back into the attic cried out in fear. The footsteps grew louder, two sets, one of them weighed far less than the other. A horrible thought went through my mind at that moment because I would regret it later. That thought was that I shouldn't have brought the stupid woman back to safety because she had just jeopardized everyone that the guardians were fighting so hard to protect. The skylight imploded with the sheer force of the Strigoi's punch, and I quietly leapt to my feet as I gestured for the Moroi families to get behind me. Before all of them could get out of the way a small Strigoi jumped down into the attic. He had to have been in his mid-teens. His face was covered in dirt and his clothes were tattered. He hadn't been well taken care of by his leader. There was such hunger and rage in his eyes that it almost made me feel bad for him. Almost.

I ducked the low hanging beams and made my way to the front of the group, placing myself between him and the Moroi, just like I had been trained. They come first. With my stake in hand and my feet ready, I waited for him to move. The ghosts surrounded him spinning around him like a whirlpool, leaving him yelling and batting away at the air. My feet were quick and sure as I rushed forward and leapt into the air to land heavily on top of him. I ducked as his hand swung out at me and cringed as I was kicked in the stomach. I scratched and stabbed at him with the stake until he moved his arms and grabbed me by the throat squeezing the air out of me. I could hear the Moroi screaming and yelling behind me as I put a last burst of strength into plunging the stake into the heart of the Strigoi. His grip loosed and his arms fell limply to his sides. He looked like a marionette doll as he laid slouched lifeless against the wall.

"Leanne!" One of the men screamed. "He took Leanne!"

"Where?" My voice was raw and gritty.

The man pointed to the skylight above me. How had it taken her without me noticing? The fight was still going downstairs and I knew that I would have no back up.

"I'm going to get her." I said in determination as I saw how fearful they looked. "If any of you have specialized, I suggest you use your magic to protect yourselves. I'll be back as soon as I can."

I hauled myself up and out of the broken skylight, trying to avoid the sharp glass. When I got onto the roof, I could see the Strigoi, a much larger one, pulling Leanne toward the edge. My voice caught in my throat, I wanted to yell and scream for help, but no sound came out. And then he jumped, taking Leanne with him. I ran to the edge of the roof and didn't hesitate to jump. The snow was soft but still my feet burned at the impact and I had to take a moment to balance myself. The Strigoi had heard my landing and spun around to face me while Leanne struggled feebly in his iron grip.

The sound of the vertebrae in Leanne's neck snapping would haunt me for years. The Strigoi laughed as he tossed her body to the side without care. My rage bathed the world in red as I ran toward the Strigoi as fast as I could. He smirked and just batted me to the ground when I was within arms length.

I hit the ground and the air left my lungs. I gave a frightened whimper and watched as the Strigoi smiled showing off his fangs as he pounced on me. He was far too fast. He hit me with the force of a truck. And I used it to my advantaged by placing the stake between us just as he was going to land. I pushed his dead corpse off of myself and stood up and jerked my stake from his chest. And then I turned around and looked for the next monster that wanted a piece of me.

Arthur was out in the yard fighting a Strigoi and another was walking toward him. The rest was a blur of movement screams and blood. The darkness embraced me and I let it in. There was no use in fighting it if the darkness was helping me. I didn't hear Dimitri when he yelled out my name. Nor did I hear Arthur's warning. My feet spun around as quickly as I could and I buried my stake into the temple of a young female Strigoi. Her body twitched as she stood in shock for a brief second before I pulled the stake out and she fell limply into the snow. I spun back around and football tackled the back of a Strigoi that had been sneaking up on Arthur. My stake shattered the back of his rib cage as I dug around until I pierced the heart. Even though he laid still, I rolled him over and plunged the stake into the front of his chest. Just to be sure.

"Rose!" Arthur's voice sounded like a mere whisper.

My head pounded fiercely behind my eyes and my vision was beginning to blur as I stood up and spun around searching for another Strigoi. My chest heaved as I tried to draw in breath. My hands shook as I gripped my stake so hard that I thought it would crumble in my hand. The rage was leaving me slowly, and leaving with it was the adrenaline. My eyes raked the landscape and all I saw were bodies everywhere. Tall, short, men women, children. Face down on white carpet. Blood pooled around them with their wide unseeing and fearful eyes staring at me.

"NO!" I screamed out in rage as I buried my hands in my hair and fell to my knees.

"They're all dead." I gasped out. "I failed. I fucking failed again."

"Rose!" Arthur's voice cut through the haze.

Arthur stood in front of me at least ten feet away as my stomach rolled and I heaved, but nothing came up. Pain both physical and emotional washed over me and the stake rolled from my hand as I fell over on my side into the cold snow trying to escape it. Thick swirl clouds of darkness covered me like a heavy blanket and I lost myself in it until there was nothing left to lose.

Strong warm arms lifted me out of my icy bed and to my shaky feet. I didn't have the strength or the will to beg him to put me back. My eyes burned fiercely as I blinked back the tears that I wouldn't let myself shed. Arthur held me up as he led me through the broken patio door. The house was in shambles. Broken glass and furniture littered every inch of walking space. Bodies laid haphazardly on the floor where they had fallen. I averted my eyes and stared straight ahead. I didn't want to know if they were friend or foe. I feared the answer would be more than I could bear.

And then I saw him. He was walking out of the kitchen with the little girl in his arms. She was playing with his hair and he had a sad smile on his face. Our eyes met and he gently handed her back to one of the Moroi women. I turned around and ran out of the room and back into the cold dark night. I ran from body to body and yet there were no Moroi, no children, only Strigoi. Relief overwhelmed me. A hysterical laugh bubbled up in my throat. Until I reached her, the one I had failed to protect. She couldn't have been much older than thirty and she had curly blond hair that fanned out in the snow as she stared lifelessly into the night sky.

Quiet footsteps crunched on the ground behind me, but I didn't bother to turn around. His arms wrapped around me as I sat there quietly.

"We have to get back in, Roza." He said quietly. "We'll be leaving as soon as help arrives. And you're hurt."

"I fucked up." I said as I stood and turned away from Leanne's body. "I couldn't get to her in time."

Dimitri didn't say anything as he pulled me into a hug and held me there as my tears fell along with the snowflakes. We walked back into the house together as I leaned heavily on him. He had some scrapes and bruises, but he was otherwise unharmed. When it had been Arthur out there to pull me out of the haze, I had feared the worst. My fear was too big to even voice.

"Oh Miss Hathaway," An older Moroi woman ran up to me and pulled me into a hug, "I'm so sorry about Leanne, we didn't know she'd pull a stunt like that. Are you okay?"

"Yeah," I shook my head and looked at her in confusion, "what do you mean?"

"Well, setting you up, of course," the woman scoffed in disgust, "she said that if we could get you on the side of the room with the Strigoi that you could hold him off until we escaped. We tried to tell her that it wouldn't be right, but she was too scared to listen."

"It's a natural response, ma'am." I told her honestly. "I still wish I could've saved her."

The woman's eyes filled with tears and she went back to her husband. And I was left thinking about how hard I tried to save somebody who had basically offered me up as bait. Oh well, there were bigger problems to face. Dimitri took me by the hand and we walked into the dining room.

"Come have a seat, Rose," Arthur pulled out a chair for me, "I'll get you a drink."

He handed me a plastic cup that was half full of clear liquid. Vodka. I drained the cup in one gulp. "Pour another round?"

"Of course, child," Arthur poured me another cupful.

I drained it as quickly as I could to avoid tasting it for too long. "So when are we leaving?"

"Our backup should be here soon." Arthur said softly as he stared at me. "Do you realize how many you saved tonight, Rose?"

"Not enough." I put my head down.

"If it hadn't been for your warning, we would have been ambushed." Arthur looked around the destroyed room. "I must say that I am very proud to tell you that you have passed your Qualifier. Hell, child, if I had the authority I'd give you a stake of your own tonight. I haven't seen a novice as skilled as you since that tall one there."

He had pointed at Dimitri when he said that and to me it was the best compliment I could ever get. "Thank you, sir. That means a lot."

Headlights shone through the broken windows, breaking up the eerie red glow that we had all become accustomed to. Dimitri stood beside me as a group of guardians walked in. The Moroi were taken to the two huge black vans first. And then the two injured guardians were loaded up in the second van. Leanne had been the only casualty and it had been under my guard that she had been killed. I really didn't like that feeling. A group of humans, all bound and gagged were loaded into the third van. I could see the haze in their eyes and the scars on their necks and knew exactly why they were helping the Strigoi. It didn't make what they did right in any way, but they hadn't been helping just to help. They were addicted to the bite. And I pitied them.

Arthur turned to Dimitri and I as he was climbing into the van. "I'll be giving Lionel a call tonight. We were attacked by a total of eighteen Strigoi tonight and all eighteen are dead. The humans have all been captured unharmed. Rose, you will be getting six marks. Dimitri you have earned five. I can't tell you both how much I am grateful for your assistance."

"Take care, Art." Dimitri waved as I stood there gaping in shock.

Six. I had killed six Strigoi. The entire fight had barely lasted forty-five minutes. To me it had felt like days.

The area was swarming with guardians, and people I recognized as Alchemist, as we walked back to the Bronco, and I wondered what Sydney was up to at this time. For all I knew, she could have been one of them. Dimitri held the door open for me and I got in wondering why he was being so quiet. The tension in the vehicle was so thick that you couldn't have cut it with a sword if you tried. I picked at the wound on my leg just to distract myself from it. The muscles on his arms were so strained that I was sure that he was going to break the steering wheel if he gripped it any harder. We had pulled onto the main road before I couldn't handle the silence anymore.

"You can yell at me now." I whispered as I laid my forehead against the ice cold window to alleviate my headache.

"I'm not going to yell at you, Roza." Dimitri answered carefully as though weighing his words.

Suddenly, he stopped the truck and pulled to the side of the road. My eyes searched our surroundings and I found no sign of attack or anything out of the ordinary. But when I turned around in my seat to ask Dimitri what had made him stop. His eyes bored into mine freezing me in place. He moved so quickly that I almost flinched as he pulled me from my seat and onto his lap in one fluid motion. My hands buried into his silky hair and I gasped as his lips met mine. He kissed me so passionately that I couldn't contain the moan that came out. His hands carefully pulled the jacket from my arms and I winced as it pulled at the wound on my side. But in that moment I didn't care. I needed him.

"I thought you were dead." Dimitri stopped his kisses as he ran his thumbs along the sides of my jaw. "When I heard the scream I thought it was you. I thought that you were either hurt or dead while I was trapped in that room. And all I could think was that I could not lose you."

"I thought the same about you when it was Arthur who came to get me out of the snow." I stared down at him. "I think I freaked him out a little bit."

"No," Dimitri shook his head with a sad smile on his lips as his fingers graze the sides of my neck, "I tried to get you to calm down, but after twenty minutes Arthur came out to relieve me and said that he would try. That maybe he would have better luck. He was right."

"I'm sorry," I put my forehead against his, "I didn't even know you were there."

"You have a lot of explaining to do about your gift when we get back." Dimitri told me seriously as he kissed me again.

"It's a long drive, comrade." I smiled at him.

"And we will be taking our time to get there." Dimitri said as his fingers grazed the top of my jeans and burrowed underneath my shirt.

"I like you," I tilted my head to the side as he grinned at me, "you're tall."

End Chapter 14

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