We pulled up beside the building in a black SUV that Dimitri hotwired. He had driven, as usual, and was now staring out the driver's side window at the building.

"They know me, so I'll go in first to draw them out." He turned toward me, "The rest of you need to get in position. Be ready for anything. We don't know what's in there."

I didn't like the thought of Dimitri going into a den of demons alone, especially when those Strigoi realized that he was no longer a Strigoi, which probably wouldn't take long.

"I don't like this."

Alex, so help me, looked annoyed. "He'll be fine, Rose. Won't you, Comrade?"

"Don't call me that."

"Dimitri-" I meant to protest, to talk him out of going alone, but he cut me off. "I'll be fine Rose," he said as he got out of the car.

Isabelle and Jace took places on the ground while Alec followed me onto the roof. Alex had tried, but Alec held him back, and after saying a few words I couldn't hear, Alex left to join Isabelle and Jace.

"You shouldn't string him along," Alec hissed at me.

Were we really doing this right now? "Now is not the time or the place to be having this conversation," I said firmly, watching the area by the doors.

He must have agreed because he said nothing else until the doors burst open and Dimitri rushed out, stake shining in the dark, followed by Ravener demons. Alec noked an arrow then let it fly toward one of the demons behind Dimitri. It struck the Ravener perfectly in its back. He noked another, and I looked over the edge of the building, preparing to jump down when I saw another Ravener demon scaling the walls.

"Alec!" I whipped my head around and gestured downward. "They're coming up the walls!"

He peered over the edge of the building and fired another arrow, sending the Ravener to the ground. More of them would be coming, and I did not intend on being trapped up there with them, not to mention I wanted to help Dimitri, despite the fact that three shadowhunters had just flanked him, so I braced myself and jumped, landing in a roll like we'd practiced. Coming out of the roll, I rushed to the group and began hacking away at any demon within arms' reach, thankful that the weapons I had picked out were covered in runes.

"Did you get the info. you needed?" Jace yelled at Dimitri over the shrieking, slimy bodies as I fought my way to them.

"No. I need to go back in."

"You two go ahead. We can handle a couple of Ravener demons."

I followed Dimitri into the building, leaving the shadowhunters to kill the remaining Ravener demons. As the door slammed shut behind us, the noise of the battle faded away and my eyes struggled to adjust to the dim lighting. I grabbed the witchlight from my pocket and held it above me, its white glow casting our shadows on the walls.

"Seems pretty empty in here," I noted.

"That's what I thought, but there must be something here to warrant that many guards."

"I think he knew we were coming. They're for us."

Just as I said it, I reconsidered. Why would the Strigoi Dimitri talked to warn this Strigoi that he was coming? They aren't usually friendly with other Strigoi. Why would the Strigoi run? They were pretty arrogant, and there were a lot of demons here.

As we approached an intersection of hallways, Dimitri turned to me. "We should hurry. We don't know how much time we have. A demon could have reported to its boss. We should split up."

I nodded and took the right hall while he took the left. The building was cold and damp and smelled like mold. The hall seemed to be a never-ending maze of turns. None of the rooms I had been in thus far had yielding anything of interest, and I was resigning myself to turn back when I heard Dimitri shout my name and that he found something. I followed the direction of the voice, occasionally calling to him to be sure I was headed in the right direction. When I had just past one of the rooms I had checked earlier, I heard my name very close behind me and jumped, startled, and whipped my head around.

"Jesus. I didn't even hear you!" I scolded him.

He grinned.

I blew out a breath then, when I thought he wasn't going to say anything, I prompted, "So. What did you find?"

He held out his hand and in it was "An address book? Seriously? Who the hell keeps an address book?"

He shrugged. "We should go," I told him, turning away from him to leave as he grabbed my wrist and pulled me to him. "Wait."

Being so close to him thrilled me, but I felt a sense of urgency to leave before anything else appeared in the dark, dingy place. "Dimitri-" I started, but my words were cut off when he kissed me. My mind let go of its previous thought as I kissed him back hungrily and he put his hands on my hips, pulling me even closer.

But after a moment, I again got the sense of kissing him but not kissing him, similar to yet not quite the same as it had felt when he'd been a Strigoi, and I pried myself away to look at his face. His eyes were the same brown, but the look in them was foreign. He must have noticed a strange look on my face because his hands dropped to his sides and he repeated my words, "We should go," then started to walk around me to leave. I started to reach for my seraph dagger and stopped. I had to be sure.

I asked him, "Will you call Mason when we get back in the car? Let him know what we found?"

"Of course," he replied, not turning to look at me. Then I shoved the blade into his back. Black fluid poured onto my hand and I jerked the blade out, letting the Eidolon demon twitched and crumple in on itself, becoming smaller and smaller until it disappeared. I spared a sickening feeling at having stabbed Dimitri yet again, although, as with the other times, it wasn't him. Then I panicked. Where was he? Where there's one demon, there's usually more. I grabbed the book off the black coated floor and ran in the direction of the exit, thankful for the rune that quieted my steps.

I ran and ran and ran, around every corner, hoping I wasn't getting lost. When I could no longer stand the silence, I yelled for Dimitri, but his voice didn't fill the silence. Wrapping around the next corner, I almost collided with a ravener demon, which hissed and lunged for me as I lept backward. When it was close enough to make contact, it raised up just enough so that I could thrust the seraph blade into its abdomen and when I did it fell on its back, its multiple legs convulsing before becoming still. I called for Dimitri again, and this time I heard the faint sound of my name come from the room just behind the vanishing demon.

I raced into the room whose flickering lights had long since given way to blackness, and I grasped my witchlight. Dimitri was slumped against the wall, breathing heavily, and the floor was covered in black.

I strode across the room to him and tilted my head to see his face. "Are you okay?"

"One of them stung me. On my chest."

"Can you walk?" I asked, not sure what I would do if he couldn't. I could create a portal, but it would mean leaving the others.

He nodded and pushed himself off of the wall. I stayed by his side as we turned down the hall, glancing nervously at him. Ravener venom could easily become deadly, I'd learned from my Codex, and I had no means of helping him at the moment. When we were back in the main hallway, close to the exit, I could hear voices-unfamiliar voices. I froze, listening to assess a threat. I heard what sounded like scolding and the phrase "unsanctioned raid" before deciding it would be best if we doubled back and ducked into a room. Would they come in the building? I didn't want to find out, and Dimitri was looking worse and worse, his face pale and clammy.

"I'm going to make a portal," I told him seconds before I heard the main doors burst open. Holding the address book in one hand and my stele in the other, I hastily drew the runes for a portal, terrified that we wouldn't hear the shadowhunters coming before they got to us. We hadn't encountered any more demons after the last Ravener, but I just then I was hoping there'd be a swarm of them. Something-a demon, I assumed, slammed into the door as I drew the last of the runes and thought of the one place Dimitri might get help. I yanked him through it, leaving behind the stench and the sounds of dying.

The noise of the club slammed into my ears as we fell to the floor in the little side room of Pandemonium where we had met Magnus, startling a couple who were making out on the couch.

"Sorry. Do you know where we could find Magnus Bane?" I asked them, since they were staring.

The woman looked at me like I was crazy as her companion grabbed her hand to lead her out of the room.

"So much for that." I looked over at Dimitri who was still on the floor, though sitting up, leaning back on his elbows.

DIMITRI POV

I had meant to stand and go over to the recently vacated couch, but when I tried to get up, my head swam and the pulsing club music becoming a dull background noise to the static in my head as I strained to keep my eyes open. I heard Rose say something before rushing out of the area. Then I fell backward. My eyes closed and I fell into a dizzying black current and drifted in it.

I heard her voice as through water, and I tried to open my eyes to see her. All I managed was a fluttering at first, and when I finally managed to keep them open, they were still half closed. I heard the soft thud of a door shutting and my eyes scanned the unfamiliar surroundings which were showy and covered in purple and gold. There was an empty chair beside my bed. Rose sat curled up on a purple velvet chair facing a television on low volume. I got the sense that she wasn't paying it much attention. Maybe she was in Lissa's head. If that was the case, I didn't want to bother her. I was still heavy from sleep and there was a dull ache in my chest. I closed my eyes again. I hadn't meant to fall asleep again, but I did, and the next time I heard her voice, it was much closer to me. Her fingertips brushed across my face, gently moving my hair. As I fought to open my eyes, I felt her lips brush against my forehead.

"Roza." My voice was raspy from misuse, but she looked relieved at the sound all the same.

She smiled. "Hey Comrade."