"She deserved to know, even though it was going to kill her inside. "Come on, I'm not hungry anymore." I steered her in the direction of my room. "We need to talk." ""

...

Lissa stared at me, her expression completely blank. We sat in an uncomfortable silence for what felt like hours. Finally I couldn't take it anymore. "Lissa, say something," I whispered. "Please."

"Rose... I know where Christian is and it's not Billings. He's in Russia. Strigoi have him. I don't know where the guardians got their information, but it's wrong. I know that because I got it straight from the source.

It was my turn to stare at her, my mind ticking, not comprehending what she was saying. Slowly, agonizingly slowly, I started to understand what she said.

"Y...you've spoken to them?" I asked in horror.

She simply nodded. "They called me. That's what I was talking to Adrian about before. He said that he has visited Christian in his dreams, but he had no idea where he was. He was blind folded as soon as they got him out of the academy. And... And I think they have drugged him. Adrian said he was a bit... Delusional. Christian didn't really know what had happened to him. Oh Rose, what am I going to do? I can't lose him!" Tears glistened in her beautiful green eyes.

"I told you before; you won't lose him," I said, the determination clear in my voice. "Lissa, I need you to stay right here, and i'll be back in five minutes." She nodded and I left her sitting on my bed.

I rushed down the stairs to the staff room, searching for Dimitri. He wasn't there. I made my way to the east wing of campus where the teachers and guardians lived. Slipping through the door, I practically ran down the hall to Dimitri's room, banging loudly on his door until he jerked it open, looking a little irritated until his eyes fell on me, taking in my frantic expression. I realised then that I had obviously dragged the poor guy out of bed. He stood before me dressed in nothing but black satin boxers. I forcefully drew my eyes away from his shirtless torso, focusing on his face.

"Rose, what's wrong?" he asked me, a bit wearily. He did look really tired.

"it's Lissa, well, Christian. She knows where he is. But she said it's not Billings. Dimitri," I took a deep breath, "Christian is in Russia, held by Strigoi, possibly drugged according to Adrian." I finished.

Instantly, sleep fled from his dark brown eyes, replaced by a hard determined look. In a flash he was pulling on his jeans and t-shirt. He grabbed my hand and pulled me out the door behind him.

We barged back into my room, and I breathed a sigh of relief to see that Lissa was still sitting patiently on my bed. She stood up as Dimitri and I entered.

"Princess," Dimitri bowed slightly in her direction. "Rose has told me what has happened, but we need more information." Just then there was a knock on my door. I frowned ad went to open it. Alberta pushed her way into my room with a; "Miss Hathaway please move."

I frowned again. "How did you..." Dimitri cut me off.

"I paged her." was all he said. I nodded.

"Miss Dragomir, please give us a full explanation on what you know about the whereabouts of Christian Ozera and Jesse Zeklos." Alberta said in a no nonsense voice.

Lissa took a deep breath before starting what I'm sure was a very difficult task for my bestfriend. "Well, I received a text message on Tuesday of last week saying that if I wanted Christian to survive, I... Uhh, I had to hand myself over." I felt a low growl build in my chest and I was about to say something when Dimitri placed his hand on my arm in a silencing gesture.

Lissa continued. "I asked them where they were, but I didn't receive a reply for over 24 hours. They eventually called early Thursday morning saying that I was to meet them in Moscow in Russia in two weeks." she lapsed into silence.

I walked over to her slumped and defeated form, wrapping my arms around her trembling body. "It's okay, Liss," I rubbed her back in a soothing manner. "I already told you, I won't rest until I find Christian and kill those bastards for taking him," she smiled a watery smile, and returned my hug.

Dimitri and Alberta were talking in low whispers. I could pick up what they were saying with little difficulty. "We need to get moving quickly, devise a plan today," Alberta was saying. "There's no question that Miss Hathaway and Princess Dragomir will stay at the Academy where they will be safe."

No way in hell was I not going. "But I can help!" I blurted out, pulling away from Lissa and standing up. I saw Dimitri suck in a deep breath before he turned to me.

"Rose, you need to stay here," he said quietly. "We don't know how many Strigoi we are dealing with here, and you aren't ready for that kind of thing yet," I knew that a part of him was just using that as an excuse. He was worried about me, if I got hurt. Well I could look after myself, and I wasn't going to let this one slide. But before I could say anything, Lissa stood up facing the older guardians.

"I have to go too," she began. I growled. But she gave me a look that silenced me. What was she doing? How could she help? I opened myself up to her thoughts. But she spoke them aloud anyway. "They want me, if they think anyone else is going they will kill him. They need to think it's just me. And besides, I will know where they are, and where exactly to meet them." It made sense really. She was the one they would give info to, but if any news that guardians were accompanying her, Christian wouldn't live to see another day. The Strigoi would either kill him or worse.

Dimitri was watching Lissa carefully, contemplating what she said. "Princess, it's going to get very dangerous... We can't risk the life of a Moroi, especially a royal Moroi." I stole another glance at Dimitri. I completely agreed with Dimitri, but I also knew that Lissa could be of great benefit to getting Fire Boy back.

I turned to face Dimitri and Alberta. "Guardian Petrov, Guardian Belikov," I addressed them formally. Saying Guardian Belikov never seemed to come out right, it just didn't sound natural coming from me. "I think Lissa should come, and maybe even Adrian." Confusion swept over the guardians' faces. I could see Dimitri was about to interrupt, but the look I gave him kept him quiet. "Adrian can dream walk, he is the only one that can get a direct connection to Christian. And I think that if he keeps trying, he may be able to get some useful information." I hoped.

Finally, finally, Dimitri and Alberta seemed to start agreeing. More guardians were called and soon my dorm room was full. They started making plans.