Hey guys. It's been a while but I have a couple of chapters ready to publish. Thank you for sticking with this twenty chapters later, it means so much that you like this. And if you think it's terrible but are reading it anyway, I'm currently sticking my tongue out at you... But thanks anyway. ;) Please enjoy, and please review: your comments make my day! XD
Billie. xxxx

20

I slammed my fist into his cheek and my foot came up to hit the back of his knees. It didn't make contact though because he grabbed my ankle and yanked, throwing me flat on the floor. Dimitri had always been able to see my next move before I had decided it. As I jumped up from the ground and regained my stance, I tried to think of something he wouldn't expect. We circled a little, I hoped that he would make the first move. He did, a fist striking out towards my jaw. I pretended to hesitate and at the last second, just before his fist connected, I took hold of his wrist and pulled him into a headlock. He stood up to his full height in an attempt to break my hold but I clung on, being lifted into the air. I swung my other arm around his neck and tightened my legs around his waist. Then perched on his back, the move having taken him by surprise, I slammed the stake into his heart.

Or at least I pretended to.

"I win." I grinned, hopping down onto the mat.

"Are you going to expect a piggy back from every Strigoi?" He laughed.

"It worked, didn't it?"

"Okay," Dimitri sighed after a moment of trying to create a retort.

I laughed and turned away from him, going for the water bottle at the side of the room. As I walked away, his hands grabbed my hips and pulled me down to the mat. He held me down by the wrists, reminding me of a moment not long after we had first met, and kissed me. The kiss was hot and passionate, both of us throwing into it our aggression from the fight.

I don't know how long we had been down there for when the door opened. Dimitri quickly rolled away, embarrassed as usual, whilst I grabbed my removed shirt and held it up across my bra. Thankfully it was only Lissa.

"Uh, should I come back later?" she asked.

"No, it's fine. You alright?"

"Yeah, I'm okay. Starting to get fed up of this whole pregnancy thing though."

Lissa was five months pregnant and was almost permanently nauseous. It wasn't a fun thing to experience through the bond and so I knew how awful she was feeling. I wasn't looking forward to the birth.

"Can I talk to you?"

"Sure," I started to get up but Lissa shook her head.

"I actually meant Dimitri. It's-" She hesitated. "It's about Christian."

"Oh, okay." I sat back down on the mat and pulled my t-shirt back on.

I tried to tune into the bond but it was quiet and black; I realised that Lissa was blocking me out. That was the second thing to make me suspicious. I crept towards the door but it was shut tight and they were obviously talking quietly so I couldn't hear a thing.

I had resigned myself to sitting quietly by the door when Dimitri returned. Lissa had gone, happy that she had spoken to Dimitri.

"Are you all packed for Portland?" Dimitri asked.

"Just about, I could use a change of clothes before we go though."

"Okay, I'll tidy up here and meet you at home."

"Sure, Lissa say anything interesting?" I tried to sound neutral but it probably came out reflecting my confusion.

"Not really, it was mostly to do with the flight, she wants me to try and convince Christian that she'll be fine."

"Oh, okay." I sighed. "I'll see you soon, I guess."

I walked home, still unsure as to what was going on. Dimitri and I rarely kept secrets, but for Lissa and I to do so was even rarer. It was partly to do with the bond but also because we were just that close. The last time there had been a major secret between us was back at the academy before she had found out about my relationship with Dimitri. It made me uncomfortable to think that there was something she specifically didn't want me to know.

We were going to Portland for the weekend because Lissa and Christian had some royal business to attend to. There was some kind of conference in the city to do with defensive use of Moroi magic. Lissa and Christian had been asked to represent the Queen along with Tasha because Lissa was a well-known royal and the Ozeras had experience in using magic to fight. Dimitri and I were accompanying them to help guard the conference as well as to protect our own charges. I still wasn't sure why we had to go to Portland and why the meeting wasn't being held at Court, but Lissa had shrugged and said she didn't really know either.

I changed out of my sweats and into a pair of jeans and a dark blue blouse. It was late in the vampiric day but we intended to fly out in about half an hour from the Court airstrip so that we would arrive in Portland late in the human afternoon. We would sleep on the plane so that they were ready for their meeting and we were prepared as guardians.

Dimitri came home just fifteen minutes before we needed to be at the airstrip.

"Cutting it tight aren't we?" I teased as he walked into our bedroom.

"I know, sorry, I bumped into Sonya and we got talking about the conference." He smiled apologetically.

"Huh, well hurry up." I picked by bag up off the bed and left him to finish up.

Eventually we did get out of the house and, luckily, we made it on time. Lissa was already there with Christian and his aunt. I wasn't looking forward to a weekend of Tasha trying to seduce my boyfriend. On the plane, I sat alone at the front and slept against the window. Lissa was snuggled up with Christian so there was no chance of company there and Dimitri sat beside Tasha; there was no doubt that something was going on with him, something that Lissa knew about.

"You are a wonderful person, Tasha." I heard a soft Russian voice say. We hadn't quite arrived yet but something had woken me up.

"Just not wonderful enough for you, Dimka?" It was phrased like a question, demanding an answer, either yes or no.

"That's not true," he replied gently. Not the right answer, comrade! I could imagine the smile on her face, who wouldn't want to be told that they were good enough to be Dimitri's girlfriend.

"We could have been happy, you know," Tasha sighed.

"I know." Was he not happy now? Was he not happy with me?

"But you chose her," That wasn't a question, even Tasha knew that he wasn't going to pick her.

"You're amazing, Tasha, but there will never be anyone else for me. It always has been and it always will be Rose. I'm sorry." I was thankful for his response and wanted to run over to kiss him. Instead I shut my eyes as he stood up and came over to sit beside me.

"I love you, Roza." He whispered the words into my hair as I slept.

I moved my head slowly, trying to fool him into thinking that I had just woken up. I yawned, that didn't need to be faked, and looked up at him.

"Hey,"

"Did you sleep well?" I nodded and leant into him. He placed his arm around my shoulders and pulled me closer.