I'm SOOO sorry guys,my beta went on holidays and has been to bizy to do my story. But the good news is that I didn't stop sending things to her so you will have the next chapter soon:)

And to Guest, don't worry I'm not going to do that;)

Disclaimer: I don't own VA...but there's still time :P

And so I watched the love of my life turn and run away from me.

RPOV

I just stood there for a minute as Dimitri ran out the door. I had felt my heart break so many times already tonight that I didn't think it was capable of hurting anymore, but I was wrong because watching Dimitri turn his back on me and run away, had hurt more then I could have possibly imagined and it had taken all of my will power not to jump off of my chair and run after him.

"Well, what are you all staring at? Get back to work!" I said in my most authoritative voice. "And I want all of this mess cleaned up before The Boss gets back here or I'll have YOU tell him that you just let two guardians run out of here!"

I watched as all to the remaining Strigoi scatter around to look as busy as possible. Ivan would be back in a few hours with Sydney so it was almost time to put my plan into action. I just hoped that I had worked out enough of the details to make it work.

DOPV

We had just touched down at court after a silent flight home. No one had been in the mood to talk and everyone was just lost in thought. We had gone on a mission to rescue one person but instead we came home missing two people. I glanced over at Violet who seemed just as upset as Adrain for some reason. I knew that she and Rose had gotten close while she was in Russia, but it seemed like she was just as sad that we had lost Sydney as Rose, which made no sense as she didn't even know Sydney. She also kept holding something close to her chest. She did that a lot but I never saw what she was holding.

Part of me wanted to go over there and comfort her but the rest of me was thinking about how fast I could get away from everyone and start my solo mission to set Rose free. Yes I was making plans and thinking about all the things that I would need to go on my hunt. But on the other hand, now that Sydney was taken, a rescue would have to be launched to get her back so I may still have a chance. And if I still had even the slightest chance of getting my Roza back, then I was going to grab it with both hands.

After we got off the plane, we all went our separate ways. Eddie went with Mia to take Christian to the infirmary, Hans went to Lissa to report our failure, Adrian went with him to tell Lissa about Sydney and to start planning another rescue, and I decided to take Violet to my apartment to rest. And to get as much information out of her as possible before the other guardians did so I would have a head start.

She came along quietly and just sat down on my couch and started fiddling with the thing around her neck again. I think it was a locket. I went into the kitchen and made her some of Rose's hot chocolate and brought it out to her.

"Violet," I said in a gentle tone as I handed her the mug. She had been through a lot and being kind would definitely work in my favor. "What can you tell me about Ivan and his plans?" She went quiet and her body posture changed.

"This isn't an interrogation so don't worry. Though you will need to be interviewed soon to make sure that you're not really a spy. After the interrogation, then we will let you go so you're not in any danger. I just want to know as much as possible about what Ivan is doing so I can stop him and set my Roza free."

"Are you going to kill her?" she asked in a whisper.

I took a deep breath and let out a sigh, "I have no choice now. If I had gotten to her back in Russia, then I could have taken her back to Adrian and he could have restored her but now, it will be too dangerous to bring Adrian or another spirit user into this. My only hope is that we might run into her when we rescue Sydney and he can do it then."

"What!? You mean there's a way to bring back someone from being a Strigoi?"

I looked at her surprise, "Yes, why do you ask?"

"I...I wasn't always a slave girl. I was once free and...and in love." Her eyes had a misty look over them as she started telling me her story. "We had met two years before it happened, when we were walking on the beach. We didn't mean for it to happen, but you can't choose when and who you fall in love with."

I could well understand that

"We lived far away from each other so we mostly kept in contact by letters. We only met a few times a year. You see...he was a Moroi and not just a Moroi, but a royal Moroi."

I understood, relationships between humans and Moroi were highly scandalize, and being a royal just made things even more complicated. Adrain and Sydney's were the only open relationship in at least 150 years.

"I was always worried about him. How he would be disowned by his kind, how he could lose his royal title and of course how we would only be able to have Dhampir children. But he always told me over and over again that he didn't care about his title or his backwards culture that he only cared about me, and that soon, we wouldn't have to hide, that he would come out with our relationship and we could be together out in the open. But then tragedy struck and he was taken by the Strigoi."

She paused for a moment, as if lost in thought, then continued with a sad look in her eyes.

"I knew all about them since he had told me and had made me promise not to travel alone at night. I knew that once you were turned, that that was it. You were a monster and that the real you would rather die then go on with that life. But I couldn't help it. I didn't believe that I had lost him completely so I followed and tracked him down. When I found out where he was, I went to the estate to try to get him back. But the stories were true, he was different. He looked cold and he had a scary look in his eyes and I thought that he was going to kill me then and there, but there was enough of him left inside that he showed me mercy...or as much mercy as a Strigoi could. He was new but he still had power because he ordered that no one was allowed to touch me and he made me a maid in the house. I tried to reach out to him so many times but it was useless. My love was gone."

Her story hurt me more then she could ever realize. She didn't know that a Strigoi could be restored so she didn't know what Rose had gone through to get me back. So I told her. I told her that Rose was my student and that we couldn't be together because we would both be guarding Lissa. I told her all that Rose went through when she lost Mason and how we finally decided that it didn't matter that we were guardians because we loved each other and were meant to be together. My throat got tight as I told her about the caves and how I had been lost.

"You were a Strigoi? B...but you're a Dhampir! Ho...how?"

"Rose never lost faith and after finding me, I kept her for a while. I tried to make her turn willingly but she kept refusing and eventually she escaped. When she was looking for me she heard an old legend that if a spirit user infuses a stake with spirit and stakes a Strigoi, that Strigoi will turn back there previous form."

"And t..that worked? I mean obviously it did because your sitting right here but still..."

"Yes, I was restored. It's a hard thing to go through, but after a lot of struggling and guilt, I made it. But I never would have survived it without the love of my Roza."

I could see that what I said had hit home and I could also see my opening.

"I can't promise you anything, but I can promise that if you tell us everything that you know about Ivan and his operations and it proves valuable, then we may be able to convince a spirit user to restore your love."

I could see the light in her eyes, "That...would be the most wonderful thing in the world, thank you!"

"Believe me, it's the least I can do. Now, what can you tell me?"

Sydney's POV

When I woke up it was dark and that wasn't good. Strigoi were stronger in the dark but I couldn't tell if it was natural dark or if I was inside. I felt that I was sitting in a chair and my hands were tied behind my back. I don't know what the Strigoi who kidnapped me hope to achieve but I was determined not to give it to them. Just then a light turned on over my head. But it only lit up the immediate area around me so I was in a ring of light but the rest of the room was dark. Great, just like a bad cop movie.

"Hello Sydney," said a creepy mysterious voice, the same one that I heard at the hotel. "It's such a pleasure to see you. I'm so glad that you could join us here on such short notice."

"I wish I could say that the pleasure is all mine but I don't see the point in lying to an unholy creature of the night." I all but spat at him. Maybe it was because I spent to much time with Adrian or Rose and there total lack of respect with authoritative figures, but I wasn't in the mood to be a docile little rabbit.

"Tisk, tisk, what is it with young girls today. They don't know how to act like ladies."

"Well you're surely not a gentleman, going about and kidnapping innocent young girls."

"I know and alas, I did not have the luxury of giving you a formal invitation. Anyway, you would have only declined and you see, I have it on good authority that you can help me with my problem and I would really appreciate that."

"Sorry, maybe you didn't see the lily tattoo on my face, but I'm not really in the habit of helping evil creatures of the night."

"Come now Miss Sage, we both know that you have left your Alchemists days behind you."

"I still have standards."

"Such a sharp tongue, but no matter, you will help me one way or another."

"Yeah? And why's that?"

"Because I have lots of power and can get to anybody, anytime. I understand that your mother is the only family member that still talks to you. And that even though one sister hates you, you still care a great deal for them. And then there's your lover, Adrian, I believe is his name. It would be such a shame if something should happen to them all because you didn't want to co-operate with me."

I was cornered. I couldn't help them with whatever they had planned, but then again, I couldn't live with myself if my family or Adrian got hurt because of me. No, I couldn't let anything happen to Adrian so I had no choice. My only hope was that whatever they wanted me to do for them would take me awhile so Adrain and the others would come to rescue me. And I knew they would because everyone had jumped when it was Rose that needed rescuing and even if I wasn't as fixed in the group as she was, I was still a part of it.

"What do you want me to do?" I tried to keep the hate and resentment out of my voice when I asked this. It was better if they thought that I had given up.

"I am doing an experiment that involves a high level of knowledge with both chemistry...and blood. And as an EX-Alchemist, you have extensive knowledge in both."

"And if I co-operate?"

"Then I will let you go when it is done I assure you."

Somehow I didn't believe it. Maybe it was that tone of voice he was using that made this threat/interrogation sound like a friendly get together or maybe it was because he was an evil creature of the night but either way, I didn't trust him as far as I could throw him.

"Fine, what do you want me to do?"

He just clicked his fingers and someone came up behind me and cut the ropes that was holding me to the chair. They then grabbed my arms and we followed whoever was talking to me out of the room. We walked in silence through the halls. It was a little lighter out here so I could actually see were I was going. We kept walking until we reached an elevator and got in. We went straight down and when the elevator stopped, I was led out but I then stopped in my tracks.

In front of me was a lab, a very nice lab with equipment that I would normally drool over in less dire circumstances. But that wasn't what stopped me. Neither was it that not only were Strigoi and Dhampirs working down here, but also humans. No, what stopped me was a sight that I never thought that I would see, or more accurately a sight that I hoped never to see. Sitting in front of me, like she was there the whole time, like she belonged there, was Rose. And she was a Strigoi.

ROPV

Show time. I smiled at Sydney like she was just coming over for a dinner party.

"Well, hello Sydney, what a pleasure it is to have you here."

"That's exactly what I said, but she didn't return my feelings." Ivan said in the same fake cheery voice that I was using.

"Well, maybe it's because she doesn't know who you are?" We were talking like we were characters out of a 60 sitcom, being way too polite and speaking far too properly. It was an act, and one that I hoped that Ivan would keep up because I didn't want Sydney to see what an angry Strigoi looked like close up.

"Oh, you're quite right my dear, I haven't introduced myself yet," He walked around in front of Sydney and bowed like a proper gentleman.

"Forgive me Miss Sage, I am Ivan Zeklos and it is a pleasure to be in your presence." Sydney just stared at him with wide eyes and was frozen like a statue. She knew who he was because she was Sydney and she knew most things about everything. Her eyes were darting back and forth between Ivan and me.

"Oh the poor thing is still confused," I said in my most mock caring voice "maybe it would help if you explained your whole plan to her?"

"You're right again my dear. Now Sydney, because Rose was shadow kissed and then turned back, her blood is very special and if we combine her blood with the right chemicals, then it can be used to make a very powerful biological weapon."

Sydney turned very pale very quickly.

"And what will it do with it, I hear you ask? Well, we would distribute several of these bombs around the world, then when we make them go off, every Moroi and Dhampir in the world will be put into a coma which would give us enough time to apprehend them and putting us in a position to take over the Moroi world." Ivan smiled like he was pleased with himself for explaining it so well.

"You want me to make you a biological weapon that targets specific DNA genes? That's extremely advanced and I don't even have a degree in chemical engineering."

"Don't worry my dear I have faith in you." And with that he walked out. Sydney then turned to me and just stared. This was probably really hard for her to see and I wanted to put her mind at ease. I was new but Ivan had given me lots of power, so no one challenged me when I took Sydney by the arm and let her out to a side door and up the stairs. We kept walking until we reached the roof since it was the most secure and private place that I had found, and I needed privacy with what I was about to tell her.

"Sydney, I need you to listen to me, what I'm about to say can never be repeated do you understand?"

Sydney looked at me funny but nodded.

I took a deep breath and told her, "I'm not a real Strigoi."

"Really? You could have fooled me." I was surprised by her strong tone, she had definitely gotten stronger after hanging around me and my friends for so long.

"No, I mean I've been turned Strigoi, but I'm not like them. I'm not really sure why but I'm not evil like they are. "

"If your not like them then what are you doing for food?" She said with a clear challenge in her voice, she was not going to believe me easily.

I was hoping to avoid that question but..."It's true, I do need blood to survive, but I never kill." I hurried along when she looked like she was going to interrupt.

"I did what Dimitri did when he had me, I snack on a few different people every few days and that gets me by. It doesn't satisfy my hunger like draining someone dry would, but at least this way I can keep a clean conscience."

"So if you're not evil like the rest of the Strigoi then what are you still doing here? Why didn't you leave when Dimitri came to rescue you last time?" She asked with a more questioning tone so that was progress.

"Because Ivan already has my blood, and if he can get his hands on the right formula and can actually make that bomb, then it could spell the end of our races for good."

"Then why did you bring me into all of this mess? I'm not stupid Rose, I know that Ivan couldn't have just flicked, through a yellow pages and picked my name at random. You told him about me." She was angry and I couldn't blame her, I mean it was my fault that she was here. But I think that she was starting to believe me.

"It was an accident. Ivan was talking about how he couldn't find anyone smart enough that had the right skills to do what he had planned and I muttered to myself that I bet that you could and he heard me. So it's really your fault for being so unnaturally smart."

Sydney just rolled her eyes and said, "Well that settles it, you're you. There's no way that you could have your Rose logic and not be Rose. But this is just great because now were both stuck here. So what do we do now?" She was acknowledging my Rose logic and including me in her statements so in Sydney language, that means I'm in.

This was it. I wasn't sure if this would work, but if it did then it would be the end to all of our problems for possibly the rest of our lives. I took a deep breath.

"I have a plan."

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