Hey everyone,

Sorry that it's taken me so long to upload, I've been really busy over the weekend reading Linger by Maggie Steifvater and the My Blood Approves Series Books 1-3 by Amanda Hocking. Thanks again for the reviews I really appreciate them, and keep them coming cheers, R.J.

Chapter 14.

After what felt like hours we decided we'd better go back to the house. I was anxious to face Lissa again, knowing that I owed her an apology for blowing up like I did, all the while trying to push aside the guilt over keeping her father's secret.

We were close to the safety of the wards when my head felt like it was going to split in two. I winced at the light flashing behind my closed eyes and must've made some sort of noise as Dimitri squeezed the hand he was holding, concern covering his face. He was talking to me, but I couldn't make out the words he was saying. I bent over my hands squeezing my head hoping that the shattering would cease, as I realised what was coming. I forced myself to stand up, holding myself rigid as the apparition forming in front of us became more solid. Grinding my teeth I raised my eyes to see the ghostly outline of Tatiana, gasping at the anger and confusion washing over her features.

"Tatiana," I whispered barely, I could feel Dimitri take my hand, his eyes watching me and the space that held the former Queen.

She looked like she was trying to speak, and as I could see her frustration taking hold I explained to her, "I can't hear you, but if I ask you questions will you answer?" She nodded,

She looked at Dimitri regret covering her features, before she turned her face back to me. I had so many questions that I needed to ask her, so many things I needed to find out, but knowing that I only had a limited time with her I decided to get down to business.

"You wrote the note that Ambrose gave me?" I was holding my breath waiting for the answer, she nodded. My breathing returned to normal as I wrapped my head around the implications. All the questions I wanted answers to were jumbled around in my head as I tried to work out what I needed to know the most.

"Do you know about the stolen Alchemist files on Eric Dragomir?" again she nodded, "Do you know who stole them?" Looking frustrated she shook her head, "But you have your suspicions don't you?" She nodded.

"Is there anyone else that knows about Eric's other child?" I could still feel Dimitri watching me with his questioning eyes, I was holding my breath again. She nodded, as she did she seemed to shimmer and start to fade, knowing I was about to run out of time I quickly asked a final question, "Is the person you suspect and the person that knows of the child the same person?" She nodded emphatically, she was starting to disappear into the night, "Is it the same person that killed you?" the last thing I saw of her was her head moving up and down.

The ringing in my ears disappeared and my head although feeling a little like cotton wool didn't feel like it was going to crack open.

"Rose, are you ok?" Dimitri asked tentatively, I took a deep breath, released it then turned to face him. I nodded my mind racing with the knowledge I'd just been given, "What was that about Eric Dragomir's child?" I suddenly realised that Dimitri knew nothing about the note that Tatiana had written for me. Making a decision I lifted his hand to my face,

"Come on, I'll explain it all to you when we're back at the house, but right now I need to find Abe."

It dawned on me as we walked into the house, well mansion really, that other than Abe, Lissa, Christian and Dimitri I didn't know who else was here, and I still didn't know where here was. When Dimitri, still holding my hand, opened the front door, I could feel Lissa, she was sitting on a chaise lounge in what looked like a study, Christian was holding her and murmuring reassuring things to her. She was still upset about me yelling at her, but she was also curious about Dimitri taking off after me. He'd been in an adjoining room when he'd heard me yelling, opening the door to see Lissa standing there sobbing, watching me run down the stairs. He only stopped briefly to make sure she was ok before running down the stairs.

Deciding that I needed to talk to Abe before I spoke to her, we walked through the foyer toward the back of the house, Dimitri leading the way. Stopping briefly as we heard raised voices on the other side of the door, Dimitri pulled me to him and placed a brief kiss to my forehead, before pushing it open and walking through. When I looked up the first thing I noticed was the silence. Then as my eyes adjusted to the semi-darkness of the room they locked on the person sitting behind the oversized oak desk,

"Hello Rosemarie," as recognition set in I gasped.