Hey guys, so first of all I hope everyone will have an awesome Labor Day weekend. LOL No school on Monday, now how you feel about that? It feels awesome to me, No College. So for this chapter our dear storywriter Daisy is unable to upload it because her and her family have gone to Washington state as a mini vacation! Let us all wish her a good one and hope she meets Richelle Mead! I'm her beta for the story, Maribel! I just want to say thank you all for your comments and for reading this story! I got to say sometimes it feels that I'm reading the actual book but then think 'Wait, I have to edited' LOL. Enough about my chatting!

Enjoy!

Maribel

Chapter 14

Abe POV

I shook my head. "Fucking humans, always want more power than they can handle."

"I can't believe it either," said Milo. "It feels like no place is safe now."

"This is why they are doing this, to evoke fear in everyone. People who are afraid are easier to manipulate," I said as everything started unraveling in my head. "Something big is brewing. Something that no one is expecting and I don't like. Not one bit."

Rose had just been a distraction to lead everyone away from the killer, but I wasn't fooled so easily. We hadn't made much progress on who the killer actually was, but we had a good list of suspects. We had started with many people but had managed to narrow it down to around five people.

Thinking of Rose reminded me that I should give her a call and tell her that everyone was okay. I dialed Belikov's number and waited for an answer.

It had rung only once when he picked up on the other end. "Dad is everyone okay?"

"Belikov I know you're going to pop the question, but don't you think it's a little too soon to start calling me that? I mean Rose hasn't even accepted yet."

"Uh, it's Rose not Dimitri," she said slowly.

Ooops, hope I didn't just ruin that for Belikov. "Oh, err…" I trailed off, not sure what to say. I could have just ruined my daughter's proposal.

"Don't worry, he already proposed."

Whew, got saved from that one. "And you said…?"

"Yes, of course." I could practically hear the smile on her face.

"I'm happy for you kiz. I was just calling to tell you that Vasilissa is fine. Her and your other little friends are fine too." As I said this I turned to see Vasilissa, who was still hugging Christian, sitting next to the Ivashkov boy and a petite girl I didn't recognize.

"Oh thank god," she sighed.

"What, don't you trust me? I told you she would be safe."

"No, of course I trusted you." We were both silent until she asked the question I knew was coming. "How many guardians died?" she asked in a low voice.

"I'm not sure, but we did lose a lot of the newly promised guardians." She didn't respond to that and she was so quiet I thought she had hung up. "Rose?"

"I'm still here."

"What are you thinking?"

"I can't help feeling like this is my fault. They used me as an example and now there's a bunch of unprepared teenagers protecting fucking old Moroi who are too afraid to fight for themselves."

"Don't beat yourself up kid, you couldn't have known that what you did was going to spur this decision."

"Yeah, I guess."

"Look I have to go, but I'll talk to you later. If you need anything don't hesitate to call."

"Okay. Take care old man."

I hung up with a smile on my face. I hadn't known Rose for a long time, but my girl was growing on me. She always managed to make me smile with her witty comments and retorts. It sort of made me wish that I had been in her life more when she was growing up.

"Abe..?" I was snapped out of my thoughts by Milo. "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, just thinking..."

"Well we should get a move on, then. We still have to meet that person."

"Right." We were walking away when I remembered something. "Milo, did we lose any men?" I don't know how it could have slipped my mind.

He shook his head. "No, we're all fine."

"Good, tell them to go back to base and I'll wait for you in the car."

As he nodded and walked away I made my way towards Vasilissa. She was no longer crying and hugging the boy but she was still holding his hand. "May I have a word with you Vasilissa?" She looked a little surprised but agreed anyways. I led her to a corner where we were out of earshot from anyone. This thought had only occurred to me now, but I thought it would be best for Rose. "How would you like to go to Russia?"

Her confusion grew even more. "Umm…Russia?"

I nodded and lowered my voice. "I think Rose would like to see you."

Her eyes widened. "You know where she is?"

"Yes and this incident has only made her worry about you even more. I think she would be more at ease if she was near you."

"Of course I want to go with her. What will I tell everyone though?"

"Don't worry, leave that all to me. We can just say that you are taking a much needed vacation but you will not disclose where you are going for protection issues. I will arrange for you and your boyfriend to leave as soon as it becomes light outside. You will take my private jet and you'll have at least three guardians with you at all times." I looked at my watch. "Sunrise will be in a few hours so you won't have much time to pack."

"Doesn't matter, I'll be ready by then." She surprised me by giving me a hug and I awkwardly put an arm around her. "Thank you so much," she said in my ear.

"Don't worry about it. Just be sure not to tell anyone except your boyfriend. And I mean absolutely not one person. I still don't think it's safe for anyone to know where Rose is."

She nodded in agreement. "I won't tell anyone."

I put my hand on her shoulder and gave it a slight squeeze. "Thank you."

After nodding goodbye to the other kids I walked out of the church. As I made my way across the court's quad, I passed by the remnants of the battle. Dead bodies and blood littered the floor like garbage in an abandoned town. I was so distracted by my thoughts that I didn't notice there was someone in front of me until I ran into a wall of flesh.

I looked up expecting to see red eyes but instead was faced with a pair of eyes that I knew all too well. "Janine?"

"I'm so glad to see you Abe." Relief was clear in her voice.

"What are you doing here? I thought you were with your Moroi in Finland?" Well at least that's what I had heard.

"I was but my charge had some business to take care of here at court. We were about to leave when this attack happened so I decided to stay and help out." Looking at her more closely I noticed how her face had a few bruises and her clothes had dirt and blood stains. But apart from that she looked perfectly fine. She was a lethal woman with the same character as Rose, I was starting to realize.

"So how have you been?" I asked.

"Where's Rose?"

"Excuse me? What makes you think that I know where she is?"

"Don't play with me Abe. I know that you know where she is."

I looked at her but didn't say anything, unsure of whether to tell her or not. She stared back at me with a dangerous gaze that said if I didn't tell her she would break my arm. Then her eyes softened and she looked down. "Please Abe, I've been worried sick about her since she disappeared."

I sighed. "Okay fine, I do know where she is," I said giving in.

"Is she okay?"

A small chuckle escaped my lips. "If only you knew."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Well… I'm not sure if…umm… I am the… the umm… right person to tell you." Rose might chew off my head if I told Janine and she didn't want her to know.

"You can't just bait me like that and decide not tell me in the end."

"Fine but don't take it out on me alright?"

"Just tell me already." I could see the frustration clearly written all over her face.

"Our daughter, Rose, is… umm pregnant and engaged," I mumbled.

Janine stared back at me with her mouth hanging open and an incredulous look that said she couldn't believe a word that had come out of my mouth. "She…she's pregnant and engaged? No… but she's only been away for like… two months!"

I shrugged. "Things happen in a blink of an eye."

"How can you be okay with this? She's only eighteen!"

"Well she's going to be nineteen in a couple of days and if she's happy then I'm going to support her."

"Abe she doesn't know what she's doing and she's too young to have a child! I don't want her to make the same mistake that I—" She stopped abruptly, realizing what she was going to say.

"Make the same mistake that what? That you did? You don't give her enough credit Janine. She has been through more than both our lifetimes put together. You might regret having Rose but I sure don't." Her comment stung a little bit.

"Abe I… I didn't mean it that way. I'm just saying that I wish I had waited to have Rose until I was ready."

"Look its fine. Just know that she's safe and happy."

I turned around to leave but she surprised me by grabbing my hand. "Wait," she said.

The hand that she was holding felt like it was on fire. The time that Janine and I had spent together had been filled with passion and love that still sparked through my being. She still managed to bring up those buried feelings from within me. I swallowed and turned around to face her.

She was looking up at me with loving eyes that were rare on her face. She always had a hard, serious looks that never reveal her feelings. "I'm sorry. Rose is one of the best things that happened to me and I don't regret having her. It's just that this attack has me a little shaken up."

She was still holding my hand that felt like it was about to erupt. I looked down at our joined hands and back up to her face. "Don't worry Jane; I know you love our daughter just as much as I have come to love her."

She nodded. "Will you at least tell me if Adrian knows?"

"What are you talking about?" I was confused. "Wait you think… hahaha…the baby is not Adrian's."

Her eyes snapped open. "What? So she got pregnant from a different Moroi and ran off with him?"

I shook my head. "A Moroi didn't get her pregnant."

"Was it a human then?" I smiled and shook my head but didn't say anything. She looked confused but then a look of understanding replaced her features. "Come on, you can't expect me to believe that another dhampir got her pregnant."

My smile grew wider as I nodded. "Oh come on Abe, don't play games. Now tell me who the father is."

"It's Dimitri Belikov."

"Guardian Belikov…? As in her instructor from…from …St. Vladimir's?"

"Yes."

"I can't believe it. I don't even know how to react to this. How do you expect me to believe that Guardian Belikov got her pregnant?"

I shrugged and shook my head. "It's the big mystery that we're trying to figure out. Rose is positive that Belikov is the father because she says she hasn't been with anyone else."

"They were in a relationship when she was still a student huh? This is unbelievable. Is he the one that she's marrying?"

I nodded. "He's not so bad Jane. We all know he's a respectable guardian and he'll be able to protect Rose from anything."

"I'm going to have a serious talk with both of them."

"Glad you're happy. Now if you will excuse me I have some business to take care of. See you around grandma."

"Very funny Abe. Tell Rose that I'm going to have a talk with her."

"You got it boss."

As I walked away I heard her mutter faintly, "I'm going to be a grandma."

When I got to the car Milo and my other two guardians were already inside waiting for me.

"What took you so long?" said Milo.

"Just ran into Janine."

He smiled and waggled eyebrows. "And how did that go?"

"Oh grow up Milo." I retorted as we got into the car and drove away.

How had it gone? I thought to myself. I had expected her to pound me to a bloody pulp for allowing this but she had given in quickly. Maybe she secretly liked the idea of becoming a grandmother.

Half an hour later we arrived at a diner that bustling with costumers. The man had agreed to meet us here because of the large crowds that usually lingered in the diner. I looked around and knew I had found the right guy when I saw man sitting by himself in a corner booth.

"Good evening," I said when I reached him. "I'm Abe Mazur."

He stood up and extended his arm. "Mr. Mazur, pleasure to meet you."

We shook hands and then took a seat across from each other. There was no point wasting time with small talk so I got right to it. "Where is Miros?"

"The last time I saw her was when I helped her escape to Russia with her husband and a baby boy."

"And you haven't talked to her since?"

He shrugged. "I talked to her occasionally, but I haven't heard from her for over a year. Last I heard she was in a dhampir commune outside of Omsk living with her husband and boy."

"Outside of Omsk? Are you referring to Baia?"

He nodded. "Yes that one. Her boy was going to St. Basil's Academy and if I'm not mistaken this is his last year before graduating."

"What is his name?"

"Nikolai. Nikolai Malenkov."

Nikolai Malenkov… I think I had seen him at Baia when I had been urging Rose to come back home. But it couldn't be, could it? I would have to go check this out myself. As a matter of fact, I would go with Vasilissa to Baia in a few hours. I had completely forgotten about the man until he cleared his throat. "Oh, is there anything else you can tell me?"

He shook his head. "No I'm sorry."

I stood up. "Okay well nice to meet you Mr…?"

"Ronald West."

"Well Mr. West, thank for your time and information." I took out a wad of money and handed it over to him. "Here's for your troubles."

He smiled at me. "Any time Mr. Mazur."

I nodded and walked outside with Milo and my guardians.

"Where to Mr. Mazur?" asked the guardian driving.

"Back to Court." He nodded and took off. I turned to Milo who was sitting next to me. "How are we doing on the search for the killer?"

"It's tricky Abe. Right when we think we've got the right one, we get evidence that proves us otherwise. The good news is that we've narrowed the list down to two people."

"Two? Really? That's great, we're close now."

He nodded. "And I have a feeling I think I know which of those two the actual killer is."

His comment sparked my curiosity. "Really? Who do you think it is?"

"Well I don't think he's the killer per say because he hasn't been spotted near here, but I have a feeling he's involved in this."

"Who?"

"Who else? Victor Dashkov. He's been missing since everything started happening."

"But you don't think he's the killer?"

He shook his head. "I think he got someone on the inside to do his dirty work."

Of course, I had been so caught up with everything else that I had failed to see the most obvious suspect. "We should get some men trying to find him."

He smiled. "Already ahead of you. I've told our best investigators to find him."

I nodded in approval. "Good." I looked down at my watch. One hour until sunrise. "Milo, call and get the jet ready to go."

"Where are we going?"

"We're going to Russia."

Who will it be? I have to admit I can't wait to find out for Daisy writes and from there I find out but still... Dum-Dum-Dum-Dum... Till next chapter! You all now be safe for Labor Day weekend ok. God Bless you!