"Lissa, you need to come with me."

Lissa looked toward the door where Celeste was standing. Lissa stood from where she sat with her classmates and Adrian. She saw bruises and scratches on Celeste and wanted to heal.

Celeste closed the door to the lounge and walked quickly with Lissa. "The Strigoi are leaving. We need your healing."

"Of course. Ivan, Sonya, and Adrian will willingly help too."

"I'm sure they will." Celeste released a ragged breath. "Right now, we need you to heal Mason. He'll die without medical attention. This building has been secured again, but we can't get him blood or anything else yet."

The fear Lissa had been living with for hours overflowed. She couldn't breathe for a moment.

'You can help,' she reminded herself. Drawing a few deep breaths, Lissa followed Celeste to an office on the ground floor.

A Moroi teacher was sitting on the floor, her lap cradling Mason's head. Mason's skin was ghostly white. His face, shirt, and pants were all caked in blood. Her eyes at last fell upon his right hand, oddly rounded and covered with bloody cloths. She saw a belt around that arm as well.

Lissa's magic rose to the surface. She could heal him. She needed to heal him. "What happened?"

"His hand was cut off," Celeste choked out.

"What?" Lissa snapped out of her spirit daze, turning to look at Celeste. Horror crept inside, seizing her heart. "I… is it here?"

Celeste shook her head. "No."

Lissa knelt beside Mason and the teacher as tears welled in her eyes. She touched Mason, letting spirit rise again. She could feel the warmth and light of her magic flow into him. She couldn't regrow a hand, but she could revive him.

Her lessons came back to her. The months she had spent with Ivan, Sonya, and Adrian learning to control spirit. She didn't need to fix him, stabilizing him would be enough.

Mason's breathing grew deeper. His eyes fluttered a few times before opening. Lissa stopped her magic. "Lissa?"

She forced a smile. "The battle's almost done. I healed you as best I can."

Celeste knelt with them. "Breathe, Ashford."

He drew deep breaths, trying to quell his hysteria. "My hand?" He glanced toward the bloody wrappings around his forearm.

Lissa shook her head. A sob escaped her lips. She had a feeling that it would be the first of many times that day when she would cry. "I can't fix that. I'm so sorry."

Mason closed his eyes again, letting his tears fall freely. He had been right handed. He would never be a guardian.

Dimitri and Rose were near the elementary dorms again when the last Strigoi on the campus were killed. The sun had risen over the mountains. Morning had broken at last.

Dimitri knelt on the cold earth, closing his eyes. His world was too quiet. The darkness he had absorbed in the end had burned away in rage and battle lust. Now there was just coldness and void.

Rose approached Dimitri first, not saying anything. She saw the bodies on the ground. Strigoi and guardians and Moroi lay strewn across the grassy lawn. She thought of Ivan and shuddered with the horror of what she knew.

Christian walked up to them. He was breathing heavily, and his sweat-slick hair was plastered to his neck. Worry creased his face when he looked at Dimitri. "What happened?"

Dimitri met Christian's gaze. His thoughts turned from the young man in front of him to Tasha. How could he tell them? The words came numbly from his lips. "Ivan is dead."

Christian's reaction was immediate. "No. No. No." He shook his head, face contorting with pain and anger. "He can't be dead." Christian sank to the ground next to Dimitri. "He can't. Please."

Dimitri didn't cry. He wanted to, but he couldn't. "I felt his fear. He fought. We ran to him, but when we got there-" Dimitri shook his head.

"The body was gone," Rose finished quietly.

Christian looked at her, shaking his head back and forth. "How do you know he's dead then?"

"The bond is gone," Dimitri answered. "I felt it break before I could get to him."

Christian's hands clenched into fists. "You think they turned him?"

Rose looked away. She looked away from the death around her. She reached inside her own bond, needing to know that Lissa was safe.

Rose saw that Lissa and Adrian were healing guardians and a few novices. Rose joined Dimitri and Christian on the ground as the story of Lissa's dorm entered her mind. She saw the novices entering the fight. She saw Lissa healing Mason and learned that Mason would never fight again. She realized that Eddie was missing.

Strong arms enveloped Rose. Dimitri pulled her and Christian into a tight embrace. They clung together for a long time. Rose and Christian wept bitterly. Dimitri still couldn't cry.

After Lissa's dorm was deemed clear and secure, attendance was checked. Students, staff, and guests were marked off on lists. Students were ordered to their rooms. Non-residents of that building were instructed to stay in the common room on the ground floor until more buildings were cleared.

Lissa and Adrian were led to a makeshift medical center on the ground floor. Medically trained staff tended to minor injuries of guardians, staff, and students. Lissa and Adrian healed severe injuries.

Mason was not the only person whose injuries were life threatening. Some guardians had fractured bones. A few had broken ribs or internal bleeding from hits taken to the abdomen. One had a skull fracture from being slammed into a wall.

When they were cleared to go to the medical clinic, Adrian and Lissa went to tend to more injuries. They saw the dead as they walked through the campus. No one was assigned to gathering the dead yet.

Lissa froze the first time she saw a body. He had been a teacher. Lissa stared at the bloody ruin that was his neck. She had only seen death twice before- in the car accident with Rose and when the guardians rescued her from Victor Dashkov. She couldn't comprehend this violence, it was almost too much.

"Come on," Celeste said gently. She squeezed Lissa's arm. "We will mourn them all later. For now, we need to help."

Lissa nodded mutely. She wiped away the tears from her face as they walked to the medical clinic.

Adrian was just as stunned as Lissa. He had never seen such violence before. He had never been in so much danger before. His life had always been safe and comfortable. Pushing aside his fear, he remembered that he now had a purpose. He could heal. Knowing that he could do something was the only thing keeping him grounded as he walked past the dead.

Rose and Christian were separated from Dimitri and ordered into the elementary dorm to wait for further instructions. They settled on chairs in the common room.

Some of the Moroi staff gave snacks to everyone. Neither Rose nor Christian could eat. Rose did drink soda, and Christian went to the feeders who were kept in the elementary dorms. They also cleaned up in the restrooms as best they could, though blood stained their clothes.

They didn't talk. The entire building was eerily quiet. The building was also colder than expected, which Rose and Christian learned was due to water users freezing entry points. They both smiled weakly at the knowledge that Jill was likely the inspiration for that line of defense.

Rose wanted to be with Dimitri, but she knew that he was doing what he needed to do. He needed to be a guardian. He needed to secure the academy and work with the other guardians. Her heart ached for him. Her heart ached for everyone. She wondered how many people were dead.

"I'll have to tell Aunt Tasha," Christian said softly.

Rose looked at him from across the table where they sat. "That's… I'm sure the school can if… if it's too much."

He shrugged. "It doesn't matter. I knew it couldn't last. Everything was so good- you know? And good things always end, always break, always crumble into dust."

Rose didn't respond. She had no words.

"I killed Natalie Dashkov," she said a long time later. "Her body is out there with the others."

"I saw."

Silence fell again, eventually broken by the arrival of Sonya and Jill from elsewhere in the dorm.

"You're both okay," Jill said with relief. "We haven't been able to learn anything."

Rose stood and hugged Jill. "It was bad. Lissa and Adrian are healing people. They're heading over to the medical clinic soon."

"I've been asked to help as well," Sonya said. "That's why I came down with Jill. We were told you were down here, and she wanted to know about Lissa."

Rose nodded, releasing Jill. Rose and Jill sat. "Lissa is shaken, but she'll be okay. It's awful." She looked at Sonya. "Have you talked to Eric and Rhea yet?"

Sonya shook her head. "I know that they're waiting to send a message to everyone's families until we know all the details. It should be soon." She studied Rose and Christian briefly. "I heard that both of you fought."

"We did," Rose said. "Christian showed just how effective fire can be against Strigoi."

"It wasn't enough," Christian muttered.

"What?" Jill looked at him in confusion.

He looked at her, blinking back tears. "Ivan is dead. Worse, they think he was turned."

Sonya and Jill stared at Rose and Christian with stricken expressions.

"I'm so sorry," Sonya said.

Rose swallowed the lump in her throat. "Lissa can't know yet. It would be too much."

"I won't tell her," Sonya promised. "Not until the time is right. I'll see all of you later." She walked away with a guardian, off to the clinic to heal the injured.

Lissa noticed Ivan's absence as her time in the medical clinic sped by. The injured stopped coming- other than the guardians with cuts, bruises, and scrapes who had been securing the school or gathering the dead.

"Ivan should be here," Lissa said quietly to Adrian and Sonya. "Where is he?" Her unspoken question- where was he during the battle?

Sonya drew a deep breath. "Rose said that Ivan-" The words caught in her throat. "Ivan is dead, possibly turned."

Adrian caught Lissa as she nearly collapsed. He turned Lissa toward his chest and held her as she began to sob. The news was too much, too harsh. She couldn't handle it.

Adrian held Lissa as she sobbed, running a soothing hand along her back. He tried murmuring something comforting but was at a loss for words. They could have died. They had lost at least one friend. Nothing was alright.

Lissa quieted after several minutes. "I need to see Christian."

"Soon," Sonya promised. "I don't think they want anyone out of secured buildings yet."

They took seats on a bench nearby, drained from lack of sleep, heightened emotions, and over use of spirit. Lissa tipped her head back, resting it against the wall. She didn't close her eyes. She didn't want to see images of the dead and wounded.

Mason and a few others were still in the clinic, needing blood transfusions to help with their recovery. Lissa's healing of Mason had been the most difficult on every level. He would have died if Lissa hadn't intervened, and she knew it. She had felt how weak he was when she healed him. Knowing that there were other injured people had been the only thing holding her back from healing him completely. Mason was a friend. He had been her assigned protector for almost two months. He had been Rose's boyfriend only a year earlier, and Rose's friend since they were all children.

A few silent tears still slid down her cheeks. Ivan. How could Ivan be dead? "How do they know he was turned?"

Sonya shook her head. "Rose and Christian mentioned it, but I didn't press them for details."

Lissa looked up, eyes going wide. "Dimitri! Is he okay?"

"I don't know," Sonya replied quietly. "I know that he talked with Rose and Christian before they went to the middle school dorm's common room. Rose and Christian both fought." A small smile flickered across her lips. "Jill encouraged everyone in her dorm to use magic defensively. She and other water users froze doors and windows shut, just in case."

Adrian chuckled at Sonya's words.

A faint smile ghosted on Lissa's lips. "My brave little sister. I don't know which of us causes my parents more stress."

"Your brother," Adrian said wryly.

An unbidden laugh escaped Lissa's lips. It felt wrong to laugh on a day filled with so much death, pain, and grief. She drew in a deep breath, letting it out slowly. She needed to see Christian and Rose and Jill. She needed sleep. She wanted to go home.

Rose and Christian walked to the commons in the upper campus when they were finally allowed to leave Jill's dorm. The middle school students were going to an assembly in the lower campus' cafeteria. The elementary students were going to an assembly in the elementary gymnasium. The high school students would have the same meeting in the upper campus' commons. Food would be there for the students if they wanted to eat.

They found Lissa and Adrian in the commons. After hugging each other fiercely, the four friends found seats together. The hush in the room, even as people were finding seats, felt unnatural.

Headmistress Kirova stood on a raised platform and quickly had the attention of the entire room. She was pale and drawn. Grief lined her face. Drawing a deep breath, she addressed the room.

"As all of you know, our school was attacked today." She paused, voice thick with emotion. "Many lives were lost, but many more survived. How our wards were breached is under investigation. Your parents and legal custodians have been contacted with news of the attack. They were also sent a list of casualties as they stand."

Kirova paused again, holding up a sheet of paper from which she began to read. "Assemblies are being held presently in the lower campus, though the information our youngest students are being told will be less detailed than what you are being told now. At present, we believe that at least fifty Strigoi were on campus. Twenty-Nine Strigoi were killed. Our brave guardians, along with some of our novices, and at least one Moroi student are responsible for those kills."

Lissa squeezed Christian's hand.

"Our defenders fought well and fought bravely. Thirteen guardians and one novice were killed. Twenty Moroi were killed. Fifteen others, both Moroi and dhampir, are missing. One novice has been left with a permanent injury."

Rose clenched her jaw and fists. The numbers were horrifying. She looked around as the mentions of novices sank in. She knew that Mason was in recovery, and that he was the one with a permanent injury. She didn't see Eddie or Meredith anywhere.

"We have many people to thank for their efforts in fighting, defending, and healing. Your work has not gone unnoticed." She looked toward Rose, Lissa, Christian, and Adrian briefly before continuing. "For the next several days, classes are suspended. We will be on a daylight schedule. You are all restricted to your dorms outside of meal times. I know that many of you have younger brothers and sisters in the lower campus. We will arrange groups to escort you to and from the dorms to meet with siblings later today. At this time, we do not want any unauthorized persons walking around freely on campus."

Kirova closed her eyes for a moment, seeming to steady herself. "I will now read the list of those who died and follow it with the list of those who are missing."

The names on the lists were like knives through Rose's soul. She knew most of them, a few were friends. Meredith was dead. Brandon was dead. Eddie was missing. Ivan was missing, though Rose knew he had been turned. A group of royal students had been killed or was missing. It struck Rose that the names of those students- Abby Badica, Jesse Zeklos, and Ralph Sarcozy- had been part of the mână thing that Meredith had mentioned weeks earlier. Abby was missing. Jesse and Ralph were dead.

Rose couldn't breathe. She couldn't sit still. She couldn't think. Eddie had to be saved. He was missing, but there had to be a way to save him. She couldn't have him die too. The instant Rose felt like she could get out of the room, she escaped.

Rose ran to the guardians' building. She had been invited to attend a guardian meeting in a few hours, but she needed to do something now. She couldn't sit still and allow grief to swallow her. She needed to know that they would get Eddie back.

She thought that Dimitri could help her find a way to convince everyone to go after the missing people. Even if he couldn't, she needed to see him. Rose was worried about him, worried because he had lost Ivan and Brandon.

At the door of the building, Rose nearly ran into another woman- her mother. After exchanging startled greetings, Rose asked Janine Hathaway to convince the guardians to go after the missing people. Janine was reluctant to agree. After all, they had no idea where to look for the missing.

Rose bit her lip in thought, a horrible idea occurring to her. She swallowed. "I think I have a way."

"What?"

"I can ask the ghosts."

Janine's eyes widened in disbelief. "You can do that?"

Rose nodded grimly. "I think so. It's worth trying, right?"

Considering it briefly, Janine gave her daughter a brisk nod. "I need to check in-"

"That's alright," Rose interrupted. "Dimitri and I can do it."

Janine laid a hand on Rose's arm, squeezing it. "Be careful."

"I will be; I promise. Can you help me find Dimitri?"

Janine let go and helped locate Dimitri among the other guardians. They found him standing with others around a map of campus. Janine walked away to check in. Dimitri saw Rose and walked to her.

His face was a distant mask, which Rose found very troubling. His voice, however, was gentle and warm. "What do you need?"

"I have an idea for us to rescue the people they took."

Dimitri's eyebrows rose. "You do?"

She grimaced before the words left her mouth. "We can ask the dead."

"Rose…" He was wary.

Anger rose in her. "Thirty-four people are dead. You don't think their spirits want revenge or to help rescue the lost?"

Dimitri closed his eyes. "Do you really want to see your dead friends as ghosts?"

"If that's what it takes to keep Eddie alive, yes." Rose's voice shook with fervent emotion, though she controlled her volume so that they weren't overheard. "I can't lose him too. He could still be alive."

He softened. "Okay, let's go talk to some ghosts."

After excusing himself from the guardians, they walked across campus together toward the main entrance. Silence accompanied them. Rose looked around, catching glimpses of the damage done just before dawn. She saw blood staining the ground.

"Where are the bodies?"

"In the gym," he answered quietly. "We put them in the gym." He swallowed hard. "The Strigoi were gathered in a different area to be destroyed."

She nodded slowly, numbly. "How are Strigoi destroyed?"

"The Alchemists have a compound that dissolves dead bodies, although these probably already burned up in the sunlight."

Rose stopped in her tracks, staring at Dimitri. "What?"

"They won't give us the formula, so we need to either call Alchemists to work with us as clean up, or we can leave the bodies out in the sun to burn up."

"Oh." She couldn't quite process all of that at the moment. They continued walking. "Natalie Dashkov is dead. I staked her."

"Are you okay with that?"

"I don't know. I don't think any of this feels real right now. How can they all be dead? Meredith and Brandon and Ivan… How? And Mason lost his hand. He can never be a guardian." She stopped talking as the lump in her throat grew. She didn't want to cry again, not when there was a mission to accomplish.

"I know." His words were soft as a breath.

She looked at him, slowly realizing again how much Dimitri had lost. "Are you okay?"

"No," he said honestly.

"I'm sorry. Losing them both…" She shook her head.

"Everyone lost someone today."

She quietly agreed. "Yeah."

They were silent again until reaching the gates. Dimitri talked to the guardian on duty, who allowed them outside. They walked several paces away, past the line of the wards.

"Can you still feel the ghosts?" Rose asked.

"Yes," he replied, a bit surprised. "Are you ready?"

She swallowed. Was she? No, not really. "As much as I'll ever be." She let out a deep breath. "Okay, let's do this."

They let their mental walls drop and looked at the dead. The ghosts flickered around them, some faint and some vibrant. The newest dead, the ones who had lived at the academy only hours earlier, soon moved to the front. Rose and Dimitri called for different ghosts.

"Meredith."

"Brandon."

The shades of Meredith and Brandon soon came to them. Rose and Dimitri pushed away the other spirits with their wills. Soon, only the translucent forms of Meredith and Brandon stood close to them.

Rose forced herself to draw deep breaths. Seeing her dead friends as ghosts was almost too much to handle. Dimitri clasped her hand, and that small gesture was oceans of comfort. She squeezed his hand for reassurance and strength.

"Brandon," Dimitri began. "I'm sorry. I… can you understand us?"

Brandon and Meredith nodded.

"But you can't talk?" Rose asked.

They nodded.

Rose continued. "I'm sorry you're both gone, dead. I… we wanted to know if you could help us. They took people from the school. They took Eddie." Her voice caught in her throat.

Dimitri noticed the shift in the two ghosts at the mention of the missing people. They seemed more alert, more agitated. "Can you help us find them?"

They nodded emphatically.

"Are they nearby?" Dimitri asked.

Yes.

"Is Eddie alive?" Rose asked.

Yes.

"Where?" Rose's voice had a panicked quality.

They stared at Rose for a moment before pointing back toward the school. After a few moments of confused questioning, Dimitri got a map from the guard at the gate. When he returned, Brandon and Meredith pointed at an area of the map a few miles away from the school in the middle of the forests. With more frustrated questions that could only be answered yes or no by the two ghosts and another trip to the guard at the booth, Rose and Dimitri learned that there was a large cavern complex on the far side of the school. It was a place large enough for the Strigoi to hide until sunset.

"Thank you," Dimitri said. He held the gaze of his partner's ghost. "I wish you were still with us."

Brandon nodded.

"Can you sense Ivan?"

The instantaneous change in Brandon's expression made Dimitri and Rose take a step back. Brandon was hard, angry. His nod was terse.

Dimitri swallowed hard. "Did they turn him? Is he a Strigoi?"

Yes.

Rose clasped Dimitri's hand, squeezing it as pain flashed across his face.

"Thank you," Dimitri said tightly. "We should go. I'll miss you."

Brandon nodded sadly.

Rose looked at both of them, trembling. "I hope you can both find rest. I'll miss both of you too. I'll give everyone your love."

The two spirits didn't fade, so Rose and Dimitri closed the walls of their minds to the ghosts. They walked back to campus in silence. They didn't hold hands as they passed the guards, but they did again when no one was in sight. They walked through silent wooded paths, the weight of the day heavy on them both.

Dimitri stopped, the sudden movement startling Rose. Before she could talk or question what was wrong, he kissed her. The press of his lips against hers was urgent and fierce. One of his hands pressed against her lower back, drawing her close. Another hand cradled her neck, fingers tangling in her hair.

Rose wrapped her arms around his neck, needing to feel that he was close and alive. When they broke apart, breathless, Dimitri cupped her face with his hands. Her eyes were blurred with tears. His face was tear-streaked as well.

Drawing several shaking breaths, Dimitri pressed his forehead to hers. "I could have lost you. You could have died last night."

"I didn't." She swallowed back her tears, closing her eyes. "We're both alive."

He wrapped his arms around her, standing straighter. She was crushed against his chest. "I don't think I could handle losing you too."

"You won't," she promised. "I'm still here." Shakily, they pulled apart. "Let's go convince the guardians to save a few more lives."

Ivan Zeklos' first few moments as a Strigoi were disorienting. A moment of pain. A moment of darkness. A moment when his eyes opened, and the world was entirely new to him.

"Run," his creator said.

Ivan ran with his creator, a male. The screams and scent of blood in the air were distracting. They ran past the boundary of the school to caverns nearby. More of their kind arrived in batches, some brought captives from the school.

"This one is yours to taste," his maker said.

Ivan looked at the man. He had been a teacher at the school, someone Ivan had talked to and played chess with more than once. A few Strigoi had already bitten him. Ivan's mouth watered. He lowered his mouth to the man's neck and bit. The blood was warm and sweet. Ivan had never tasted anything so intoxicating in his life. The man was dead before Ivan dropped him.

They waited in the caves until they could escape at nightfall. Some of the Strigoi talked to him, explaining the basics of the new world into which Ivan had been reborn. His maker paid no more attention to him, and Ivan wanted nothing to do with the man. Some part of him despised his maker.

"There are rules," a man with long blonde hair said. "You probably thought that we're all lawless. We are. However, if you want to live more than a few days, there are some basic guidelines."

"Are you going to tell the new one to drink blood and not to walk in the sun?" One of the Strigoi mocked. Several others cackled with laughter.

"Enough," a woman commanded.

Ivan and the others looked toward her. She was a petite thing, barely over five feet tall. Her long hair was dyed in varying shades of purple and hung in a braid. She wore black leather and seemed very young at first glance. Upon further consideration, there was a coldness to her that made her seem far older than her looks. Instinct sent a chill through Ivan. Somehow, he knew that she was old and very powerful. Ivan realized from the deference of the other Strigoi that the woman was a leader of some kind.

"When we leave at nightfall, we will all go our own ways. You can work with a more organized group, or you can go off on your own. Being on your own often leads to a faster death. Being weak will get you killed. Some regions are claimed. Do not anger the leader of a region if you are unwilling to face the consequences."

"Which region do you lead?" Ivan asked.

She smiled darkly. "This is my territory. I have watched this region for a very, very long time." She motioned around. "My friends and I decided to have some fun. This was quite the battle to arrange."

"And it was quite the success," the blond man said. "I suppose we'll have to get rid of the rest of our meal before we leave."

"Of course," purple hair replied. "Do be sure to give my regards to Galina when you return to her." She looked at the others. "And my regards to the leaders in your regions. They will be talking about this one for years."

Cheers and laughter rang out in the cavern, echoing loudly. Ivan and a large group of Strigoi went to a lower cavern while others remained in the upper caverns with the food. Ivan paced impatiently for some of the time. His eyes always flicked to the elder female Strigoi. There was something about her that seemed familiar, though he didn't know why.

The attack happened while they waited. Most of the Strigoi ran out of the deep cavern to fight but many more remained in waiting. Ivan watched the leader. She didn't move. She barely blinked at the sounds of battle echoing through the cavern.

Every instinct in Ivan's body screamed for him to run into the battle. He wanted to fight. He wanted to kill. A higher reasoning told him to follow strength. He wanted to follow her. She studied him as well, eyes intently watching his every move. She was a predator, beautiful and lethal.

Fewer Strigoi returned to them when all was said and done. They all left the deep caverns when the sounds of battle died. The sun had set.

"They got the food," the blonde man announced at the entrance to the upper cavern. The others began walking toward him as he continued, "and they used fire. There was some kid using fire in the school too."

"Kid?" Ivan asked.

"Black haired kid," the blonde replied.

Ivan chuckled. "Christian Ozera. Maybe the Moroi will finally start being a challenge."

"Perhaps, though I doubt it." The woman seemed amused. "We should all leave. They will return at sun-up." She looked at Ivan, pointing to a corpse on the ground. "Your maker is dead. Where do you want to go?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"Sure," the man said. Others were filtering past them, into the night. "You could come with me to Russia, work with Galina."

The woman laughed. "Work for Galina. Nathan, you work for Galina, not with her." Nathan growled at her. She bared her fangs in a dangerous smile. "Do you really want to fight me Nathan? I am far older than your mistress."

Nathan inclined his head slightly. "No, Sofia, I don't want to fight you."

"Wise."

Ivan made his choice. "I want to follow you, Sofia."

She turned to him and touched his cheek with a gentle hand. "Good choice."

Ivan ran with Sofia and two other Strigoi, a man and a woman, to a van which was waiting for them several miles away from St. Vladimir's. Other Strigoi had cars waiting there as well, though others kept running to their escape points. A human drove their van to a cabin about an hour away from the school.

"Greg and Dahlia are two of my best workers," Sofia said as they drove. "I had another worker named Isaiah who was even better. He ran the attacks against the royal houses a few months ago. Some young ones killed him in Spokane around New Year's Day. We had a little Dashkov girl working with us today, but she did not return from the school. Another servant helped us finish breaking the wards. He was a Moroi. He Awakened himself but failed to make it out as well."

"Natalie Dashkov?" Ivan asked.

"Yes. She was an interesting child. She Awakened herself for her father, and then she ate him. A shame she did not make it back; she was becoming quite the good spy for me."

Sofia talked while Ivan asked questions. The other two Strigoi, Greg and Dahlia, remained silent. The most Ivan saw from the pair was Greg removing a plastic bag, containing a hand, out of a coat pocket. The human driver also remained silent. Ivan longed to sink his teeth into the human but knew that the driver was off limits.

"Do not eat the servants," Sofia ordered. "We need humans to work for us in the human world, and they are ever so tedious to train properly." She spoke about the humans as though they were pets.

When they arrived at the cabin, Sofia dismissed everyone except for Ivan. She showed him around. The cabin was an estate. So deep in the forests that it was almost cut off from the world, there was solar power for electricity. She showed him a series of rooms- library, kitchen for the servants, bedrooms, food room, ossuary, gym, sitting rooms. She ended at a rather sparse bedroom.

"This is your room. We do not sleep, but this is your private space. I will have a computer set up for you. There is the library where you can read anything you want. You may bring books to your room. You can keep a bed companion if you want, but only if the creature is willing. I do not permit blood-whores on my property. There are places out there for that sort of entertainment if you so desire, but not here."

Ivan looked at her curiously. "We can have sex?"

She laughed, looking very young. She hopped on the bed, grinning at him. "Of course, we can. Feel the steady beat of your heart. You are more now than you ever were in life. We eat. We breathe. We have no need of sleep. We are faster and stronger than most other creatures on the planet. Only the sun hinders us."

Ivan leaned against the doorframe, watching her, processing her words. "How old are you?"

"What an impolite question to ask a lady." She laughed again. "I was just a girl when I was Awakened. The year was 1817, and I lived in Philadelphia."

"You're nearly two hundred years old." He was stunned.

"And I do not look a day over seventeen years old. My family moved to America to escape the increasing Strigoi threat in Bukovina. We came to this continent with half the family court."

"Court? You were a royal?"

"Duchess Sofia Yelizaveta Zeklos, eldest daughter of Prince Vladimir Kristof Zeklos."

Ivan blinked in astonishment. He remembered seeing a portrait of her face only weeks earlier when he and Tasha had been researching Moroi magic. "We're cousins. I'm descended from his brother Aleksander. I'm Ivan Zeklos."

She jumped up, bouncing slightly on her feet. "Well, I guess this is my lucky day. Welcome to my home Ivan Zeklos, my cousin."

Notes:

Thank you to everyone who is following, commenting, and favoriting. You make me smile.

Critiques are welcomed :)