Hey everyone!!! Sorry for the really late update and all but I hope this chapter is worth the wait!!! Here we go!

14

"Will you be able to turn me in this world?"

"No."

"Then I'll risk it."

"You don't understand - "

"I understand that Rose is upset and desperately wants you back and safe."

"I don't want to hurt you Adrian."

"You won't."

"Of course I will! Strigoi bites hurt remember?"

"But this is your dream right?"

"That doesn't matter!"

"Listen Rai, you've done so much for the Moroi community, or rather, me, Lissa, Christian, Eddie and Mia. You've done so much for her mum as well! Rose had never looked so well, happy and strong before. I have seen pictures and let me tell you, Rose looks best at the moment and you did that. We would never be able to thank you for that. Let us help you, I don't know whether you like Moroi or not but please Rai. Let me help you." I said sincerely and I watched her face falter. Her lips were trembling and I knew that she wanted to.

"Keep talking Adrian, keep me distracted, please," she pleaded.

"What is the link between Shadow-Kissed and Strigoi?"

"Talk about something else."

"What happened to you 20 years ago?" She seemed to freeze on the question and she looked up at me with a strange expression. It was a mixture of a sneer and a grimace but still she looked beautiful. She stopped shaking now and I could see her fangs.

"Well now, what would you like to give me as a price for that piece of information Moroi?"

"Blood."

"Strange, I've never heard of a Moroi blood whore before," she tilted her head to the side seductively licking her lips.

"I'm not a blood whore." I defended. "I'm just sacrificing myself for a greater cause."

"But you are nonetheless offering yourself which makes you a blood whore."

"Well I'm calling myself as an emergency."

"Either way you're offering me blood. That is rather a high price to pay."

"I want to know what happened to you 20 years ago Rai." I told her firmly.

"Why? Why does it matter to a Moroi?" she scoffed.

"Because I care."

"How cute," she rolled her eyes. She took my arm, lifted the sleeve up and licked a patch of skin. Then without warning her fangs plunged in but she missed the main artery. I watched in amazement as my blood spilled into her mouth and desire shot through me as she licked at the wound. If I didn't know any better, I would've thought that she was Moroi. None of this was horrid or terrifying, it was just a feeding and she was exceptionally gentle. I could feel the endorphins seeping into my system and I had to fight for control.

"So tell me, what happened?" The blood had slowed now and she flicked her tongue out whenever a droplet of blood appeared. It was almost as if she was trying to savour it.

"20 years ago K and Alik were sent on guard duty at separate camps. We'd all thought that it was odd for us to be separated and it was even weirder that they would get the work over my birthday but they couldn't refuse because it was their duty so they went. On my 15th birthday, we had a small family gathering. Dimitri's side of the family had been unable to arrive because they'd been on the far end of Russia but none of us thought anything of it at the time. After all, Dimitri's dad wasn't the nicest guy in the world and it couldn't have been easy for his mum to care for him and his sisters so we didn't press on the matter. It was a good thing too, because if they had been there at the gathering, Dimitri would've died too and who knows what would've happened. I reckon Rose and Lissa would still be running around.

So anyway, it was night time and they just stormed in. Those who tried to run were killed by both Strigoi and guardians. I recognised them you know? They were court guardians. Guardians directly for the Queen's orders. There were too many of them and I just couldn't protect anyone let alone myself," she shook her head. "I tried to get as many of them out as possible, but they completely surrounded us. I guess that was one of the bad things about having a house in the middle of a forest. So anyway, entire family is now gone. Some of us were turned and well, I can't say that the guardians and Strigoi who attacked us are alive now. They made a mistake of turning me, if they had killed me they would still be alive, but no, they thought it would be fun to turn me and they learned the hard way that no one harms my family and gets away with it. At first I didn't know what to do; I was so out of it. For about half a year I lived on other people's blood, the first few I killed but then I began seeing clearer and so I stopped. It took my half a year to get it completely under control and afterwards I went back to the house I used to live in and fixed it back up. I started saving people from Strigoi and fed on the Strigoi instead to survive. I've tried helping other Strigoi to reform and many of them didn't work so I killed them."

"How many have you got together now?"

"6."

"Wow, there are 6 like you."

"Including Dimi of course."

"Dimi? Please don't tell me that's your name for Dimitri Belikov." She merely smirked at me. "I feel so sorry for the guy."

"Well I don't care whether he likes it or not, I'm older than him by 11 years so he has to respect me!" she scoffed.

"What is the relationship between the Strigoi and the Shadow-Kissed people?" I decided to ask now because she seemed slightly out of it. Or rather, she didn't have as much control. She was more likely to tell me something now than when she had complete control of herself.

"Shadows like the dead, did you know that?" she smiled at me grimly. "In fact, that's probably an understatement, shadows love the dead people. And you have to go, you're waking up. Think on it Adrian and tell me what you think the next time you see me."

"I will Rai." I nodded and wrapped my arms around her as I was fading.

Shadows loved the dead… It made perfect sense though, because Shadows did indeed love the dead. They certainly loved Rose and you could argue that she was technically dead in the sense that she should be. Everything she said pointed to the fact that Strigoi also took darkness. Then I remembered what Rose had said, to take the shadow away from everything. I could understand why Strigoi were such blood hungry monsters. I remembered the day Rose lost her mind with Jesse Zeklos because she took Lissa's hatred away. Hell if that was what absorbing from one person was like, I didn't want to know what it would be like to take the shadows from everyone around you. I started thinking that maybe, the reason why Rose wasn't going crazy and neither was Lissa was because the Strigois were taking the shadows indirectly and I had a ghastly feeling that Rai had been taking all of theirs. If so then she had amazing control because from what I hear, Rose was safe with her which was just odd to me because Rai was a Strigoi, and yet she wasn't the least bit threatening. Not even when her fangs sank into my skin.

I could still feel the tingling sensations of her lapping at my blood and it made my body burn with desire. It made me hot in ways that I'd never felt before. Sure I'd felt lust before but it'd never been this much. I realised that this was the after effects of her feeding from me. I had carried it from my sleep. But I'd also come out of it feeling extremely satisfied somehow. I couldn't explain it but I suddenly felt like I had nothing to worry about, I couldn't feel the depression of being a Spirit user pressing down on me. Then I realised. Rai must've taken it from me. I revelled in the feeling of not having to worry about the depression. It was the oddest thing to feel, especially since it was because of a Strigoi.

As soon as the classes finished, I looked for the others to tell her what I learned. I told them the link between the Shadow-Kissed and Strigoi. To say that they were stunned would be an understatement. Lissa immediately started thinking about how she was going to be able to thank Rai for all she'd done for her possibly even without knowing. Somehow, I got the feeling that Rai did know about her taking the Shadows from Lissa too but I didn't say anything.

Ed and Christian teased me about her name. They were all calling her Raisa to be respectful and they were wiggling their brows at me for calling her so intimately. It was the name she told me to call her by when she finally told me her name and I saw no reason to change that just because I now knew her full name. Of course I didn't tell them about the blood part of the dream; I'd left that bit out since I wasn't sure how they would act about it. Some part of me shouted that Rai still didn't have complete control. That she still did thirst for Moroi blood. But I knew that her greatest control was being able to drink without killing. Sure her control slipped slightly but she didn't kill me, hell she didn't even hurt me. Instead, I felt like the happiest man alive.

I continued to postpone telling Lissa about Rose and Dimitri because I knew that she'd be upset and that wouldn't help Rai. I knew that she was still in trouble and adding to the flow of darkness wasn't going to help her. I couldn't wait until I fell asleep again to ask how she worked out the link with the shadows and how she was shutting down her mind and where she was. It was the only way I was going to be able to help her. I was going to act as a liaison between Rai and Rose. It was the only way.

This time entering her dream wasn't as horrifying as the last, things weren't so grim and dark and some of the peacefulness had returned. But this time, there was no one here. I couldn't see nor sense her. Setting myself on a tree, I simply waited. After a few minutes, everything changed. Things were relatively calm and peaceful until her scream echoed throughout the field. In that second, everything changed. Her pained screams filled my mind and yet there was nothing I could do about it.

The field turned red and black and grey. Swirls of shadows hovered over the clearing and the sea turned blood red. Images hung all around and they horrified me. Many showed a man ripping Rai's clothes away and her struggling but she wasn't screaming like she was now. She wasn't screaming out loud, she wasn't going to give that bastard that satisfaction. But her mind was fighting against him. But she was so weak again, she hadn't taken much last night, just enough to stabilise herself again. She hadn't taken enough to be of any real help against that bastard.

She thrashed and she writhed but he simply smiled. It was the most horrible thing I had ever seen in my life. His brown hair was slightly long falling to his shoulders, his skin was pale and rough looking, his eyes shone with animalistic desire, his hands were roughly groping her, his touch was hard enough to bruise even a Strigoi. His fangs were extended and he bit into various normally unseen parts of her body. He bit at her breasts and her thighs and even her core. The entire field was echoing with her protests and cries. Her wrists had been tied with silver restraints on the bedpost. When he plunged into her I had to cover my ears to block out the worst of the bloodcurdling scream. In the images she continued to fight and keep her mouth shut but she was crying. I didn't know that Strigoi could still cry but apparently they could. She refused to submit to him and some part of me was glad and proud of that. The greatest guardian I knew was still as strong as the legends. A larger part of me wanted to kill the man violating her. I hated him for causing her so much pain. I understood why I saw her so broken last night; it was the state that he left her in.

He kept thrusting into her until she bled and after what felt like hours, he finally withdrew and placed a revolting kiss on her lips.

"You will submit to me eventually Zarya, they always do," he told her.

"Go fuck yourself in hell." Rai spat. She waited until he was out of the room and waited a few more moments before closing her eyes. A few seconds later she was in the field with a knife. She cut at her wrists with tears pouring down her face. Stunned I ran towards her and threw the knife away cutting my palm in the process. Before I realised what was happening, her lips sealed over the cut and she was licking at the blood delicately even though I could see the need in her eyes.

"Bite me Rai, it'll be alright. You need strength to fight that monster."

"You don't know what you're talking about," she whispered.

"I saw what he did to you." I said softly wrapping my around her and held firm when she flinched. I wanted and needed her to see that I would not harm her. I wanted to be able to protect her.

"You can't tell the others. Please don't tell them," she pleaded crying into my chest.

"I won't, I promise." I nodded. "Let me help you Rai, don't shut yourself from me. Tell me where you are, please."

"I don't know where exactly but Dimi will know. Tell him that I'm in the derelict castle northwest from the town they're staying in. Tell him that it's the same castle the academy used for training." Rai mumbled.

Without thinking, I lifted her arm and began licking at the blood on her arms. Electricity flowed between us and she stiffened and I looked up at her innocently to see her biting her lip. Smiling, I carried on until one arm was clean; then I proceeded with the other, licking at her blood softly and sucking gently every now and then where blood was still flowing. Her blood tasted like wine and I savoured every bit of it. It was so sweet and intoxicating. I gave a satisfied smirk when she moaned softly. Looking up at her again I found her staring at me with wide eyes. They were clouded with uncertainty, pain, fear, surprise and desire. There was a small speck of hope in her eyes and that urged me on. I wanted to build her hope; I wanted her to know that I would help get her out of there. I wanted her to be safe again. There were so many questions I wanted to ask her. I was becoming addicted to her. She was my saviour; she continued to take my darkness even in her despair.

Rose's POV

I woke with a start in hope. Adrian would help us find Riya! I just hoped that nothing too tragic had happened to her yet. Everyone was growing slightly restless by the day but we remained calm for the sake of the town. Many guardians took turns patrolling the town in case any more attacks were going to be made. "Dimitri!" I yelled and ran through the halls to find him.

"What's wrong Roza?" he asked worriedly seeing my flushed face. He looked around cautiously in case there was an attacker.

"No one's attacking me Dimitri." I giggled. "But Adrian might be able to help us out!"

"What'd you mean? And who the hell is this Adrian?" Zana asked.

"Adrian's this friend of mine I have and he's a spirit user and a dream walker. He told me last night that he got into Riya's head. How that would work if she didn't need to sleep is beyond me, but he may be our only hope of finding Riya!" I said excitedly.

"It would be great if he does manage to find out where she is." Dimitri's eyes glowed with determination and for the first time in that past few days I felt hope of finding her. For the first time in the past few days, everyone felt hope. I was going to owe Adrian big time!

"What I don't understand is how he would be able to get into her dreams if she doesn't sleep."

"Well, Riya is very talented and one of the few things she had always been able to do was to shut herself within her mind. Riya had always been good at closing herself from the world and still be able to see what was going on around her." Dimitri explained.

"Now that you mention it, I remember seeing her once or twice looking as though she was asleep. I tried surprising her a few times but she would dodge me every time and throw me at a tree." Luka smiled remembering the memory.

"That's why you should never try to sneak up on her. She always seems to know you're there no matter how fast or quiet you are. It's creepy sometimes." Zana grinned.

"You would have to be stupid to try and sneak up on her." Aleksandr shook his head.

"I can't wait to be able to find her." Konstantin sighed in relief. "I don't like not knowing where she is. It's just like when she disappeared all over again. When we find her again I'm going to chain her. She can't keep doing this to us."

"She'd always get out and you know it." Cain rolled his eyes.

"I know." Konstantin shook his head.

"So can you explain what you mean by spirit user?" Aleksandr asked.

"Spirit is the fifth element of sorts." Zana explained before I could even open my mouth. "There are disastrous effects though. Different spirit users have different abilities. They have compulsion that could rival a Strigoi's compulsion. Their other elements are average. They can heal and bring back the dead but there is a great price to pay. To heal and especially to bring back a soul, it takes a part of the user's soul from them in order to heal the person. In time the soul would heal but it could cause the user to go crazy or go into depression."

"Just like Lissa." I agreed.

"As in the last Dragomir?" Cain asked.

"Yeah. We found out about two years ago that Lissa was special and that there was something watching her so we ran from the academy. Then we got dragged back by Dimitri two years later and it was only a few months ago that I started on some research about St Vladimir and Anna. They were just like Lissa and me. I'm her Shadow-Kissed guardian. I can feel her emotions and if they're really strong I can get dragged into her head. I also take the darkness away from her so that she doesn't go completely into depression and kill herself. We left two years ago because the school was taking such a toll on her that she was into heavy self harm." I explained. "Adrian, my friend used alcohol and smoking as his medicine."

"Why have I heard that name before..?" Konstantin rubbed his chin.

"If it helps, he's the queen's nephew." Dimitri stated. "His name is Adrian Ivashkov."

"That bitch's nephew is a spirit user?" Zana raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah." I nodded.

"That's interesting. So our only hope of finding Riya is the bitch's nephew? No fucking way." Cain growled.

"Adrian's not that bad." I admitted.

"So you've changed your opinion of him?" Dimitri asked with an amused tone but it was slightly guarded. I remembered that he never liked Adrian much either.

"He really isn't that bad when he's not drunk or smoking." I defended with a laugh.

Horray Riya might be rescued soon and Rose defended Adrian! Big shocker there!!! Thanks for reading!!!