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Ich besitze nicht Vampirakademie. (I don't own Vampire Academy.)

Rose POV

"Ahh, my pretty Dhampir, what a wonderful surprise to see you tonight. I have been thinking about you since our last encounter." says the charming but deadly Strigoi with the inticing Italian accent. Conner and I get off the motorcycle quickly and get ready to fight. I look around me, trying to see if any other Strigoi are laying in wait to pounce, but he seems to be alone. "I've waited so long to see you again. You're even more beautiful than you were in your last life." he continues. Umm, what the hell is this lunatic talking about?

"Yeah, I get that all the time." sarcasm dripping off every word. I'm standing in a ready position facing the Italian while Conner is behind me, surveying the rest of the area for other threats. The Strigoi chuckles as he slowly walks toward us.

"You still have that fire in you. I suppose that will never go away, no matter how many lifetimes you live through. It's one of the qualities that made me fall in love with you in the first place." I guess Strigoi are prone to insanity, because this guy is mad as a hatter. Only one Strigoi comes to mind that would be this crazy.

"What do you want, Stephan?" I growl. He looks surprised that I figured out who he is already.

"You remember me, don't you my love?" he looks hopeful.

"No, sorry. All I know is there's a crazy Strigoi after my charge for something his ancestor did. Right now, your talk about past lives sounds crazy so I figure you must be him." I shrug like it's so obvious. By the scowl on his face, I don't think he appreciates my explanation. He starts walking back and forth, like a caged panther, never taking his eyes off me.

"It's not what his ancestor did that will lead to his death. It's what you did." his voice has become menacing and his red eyes look full of rage as he stops in his tracks and points a pale, bony finger in my direction. I don't want to let him know that he's beginning to scare the crap out of me, so I do what I always do, cover it up with attitude.

"Sorry, so not following you."

"You were mine." he says possesively. "Back when I was Moroi, you were my guardian."

"I'm guessing I fucked up considering your state of being now."

"We were in love, you and I. That is until he, my so called best friend, came and stole you from me. You were with him when I and my other guardians were attacked. You were the best, something that has remained a constant throughout your many lives. You should have protected me, but he took you from me and you both betrayed me." he says. I guess I have a history of falling for my charges.

"Hey, I'm sorry you weren't enough to keep your woman satisfied, but it has nothing to do with Adrian and me. But I'll tell you what I'm going to do for you. I'm going to kill you and free your soul." Apparently I'm also a commedian because he starts laughing, hard. I slowly creep up closer to him so I can get a better chance at staking his heart.

"Oh my love, you say that every time, but it always ends the same, with your and your lover's death." he sounds amused. "Every lifetime, you two find each other, Moroi and his guardian, fall in love and die together. But I think this time, my love, I might spare your life. But he still must die." He looks at me intently as he steps forward. I resist the urge to take a step back, gripping my stake tight as I wait for the perfect opportunity to plunge it into his cold dead heart. From my right, I hear footsteps crunching on the gravel, coming up to us quickly. I steal a quick glance to see two Strigoi walking towards Conner and me. By the time I look back to Stephan, he is inches away from my face. Man, he's fast. With him this close, I can see his features more clearly. He is very handsome, if you take away the red eyes and deathly pale skin. I can see why I might have fallen for him in a past life. But, according to him, Adrian was who I truly loved many lifetimes over, and still do. I raise my stake to end his life only to have it stopped by his grasp. He grabs my other arm and holds it to my side as he leans in to whisper in my ear. "You're much too beautiful to waste." Fear momentarily paralyzes me when he leans down and lets his teeth graze against the skin on my neck. My breathing hitches and my heart races having him so close. I close my eyes and prepare myself for the inevitable bite, only to feel him place a tender kiss over my pulsing artery. He pulls away while inhaling the scent of my skin deeply. "So sweet." he whispers. He's toying with me, which pisses me off. I regain my composure and lean away from him.

"Conner, I say let's kill this delusional bastard." I yell as I kick out and hit Stephan in the knee. He releases his grip on me and backs away quickly before I can strike out. The two Strigoi that were standing to the side, jump in and attack both of us. They look like they were guardians before they were turned, so their fighting skills are pretty good. Too bad for them, I'm better. I take mine down in a matter of minutes, but not before suffering some good punches to the face and gut. I go over to help Conner after I hear him scream in pain. The Strigoi broke him arm so badly I can see bone poking through the skin. I go in between them and take over for Conner. This one is really good. I manage to rake my stake across his chest, causing him great pain and a huge gash. It's enough to distract him so I can stake his heart. I look to where Stephan was standing and I see him slowly clapping with a smile on his face.

"I always enjoy watching you fight, but this time, you're so much better. You're truly a wonderous sight." The way he is looking at me with what looks like lust in his eyes sends chills down my spine.

"Then why don't you fight me yourself instead of sending you're now dead friends to do it? Afraid that I'll actually kill you this time?" I say through heavy breaths. I'm so sick of his little games that I just want to get this over with. What better time than now with Adrian safely behind the wards at Court. Feeling bold, I start walking toward him. He doesn't make a move, allowing me to get closer. Finally when I'm only a couple feet away, I attack. He isn't fighting back, staying on defense, blocking my blows.

"I must say, you're the best guardian I've fought in all my two hundred years." he says while fighting. "That's how I always find you, you know. It doesn't take long for word to spread of a guardian who is as deadly as she is beautiful. I always know that it is you and the two of you are together." His talking is causing my anger to spike, which I use to change my fighting style, causing him momentary confusion. During his lapse, I stab his chest, unfortunately missing his heart. He lets out a scream as he looks down to my stake as I pull it out of his body to strike again. Only this time he evades my thrust. He growls at me as he covers his wound with his hands. I move to strike again but he takes off with lightening speed away from me.

I don't even bother trying to catch him since he's much too fast for me. I turn around to see Conner sitting on the ground, cradling his broken arm in his lap. I don't know if Stephan is going to come back with reinforcements, but I don't plan on sticking around to find out. I rush over to my friend and help him stand up. "We need to get out of here, now." I help him get on the back of the bike and put his helmet on him. I do the same and get on, trying to figure out how to start this thing. I find the key, already in the ignition and turn it, bringing the bike to life. Conner shows me what to do next and how to go and stop. As I take off, it's a little jerky, but eventually I manage to pick up speed and get us back to Court.

I drive us straight to the Court hospital to get Conner fixed up. "No offense, but I don't think I want to take ballroom dance lessons with you anymore." he jokes as he sits on the bed waiting for the doctor to come in. "Too dangerous." I bump him in the shoulder for that remark causing him to wince in pain.

"Oh, sorry. Do you need me to stay and hold your hand, or can I take off? I need to see the Queen about what happened this morning."

"I think I can handle it. You go on." he says, shooing me out with his good hand. I take off and head right for the Queens office. I get to her secretary's desk and she does a double take when she sees me. I must look pretty bad, but I could care less right now.

"I need to speak with the Queen. Now." I say with urgency. She nods her head and picks up her phone to talk to whoever. I pace back and forth in front of her desk replaying everything Stephan told me over and over. Finally, I'm let into her parlor to speak to Tatiana. She walks in and quickens her pace when she sees me.

"What happened?" she asks.

"Well, I met Stephan in the next town over and he told me some pretty interesting things. Do you know the real reason he's after Adrian?" She looks at me puzzled and I can't tell if she kept the truth from me or if she never knew the real reason either.

"He wants to kill Adrian. What more is there to know?"

"Maybe the reason is because Stephan thinks Adrian and I are reincarnated from his guardian he was in love with and the Ivashkov that stole her away from him. He hasn't just been hunting the Ivashkov family, but the souls of those two people he believes are responsible for his being turned and betraying him." She looks genuinly surprised by this news. She sits down on in her chair and thinks quietly to herself. She looks back over to me and takes in my ragged and bloody appearrance.

"I don't supposed you killed him?" she asks. I stare at her and raise my arms over my head in exasperation.

"Do I look like I killed him? If he was dead, I'd be doing my little happy dance all over this freakin' place." I let out a big breath and continue. "I did fight with him and he's going to be very hard to kill. He's strong and fast, but I did manage to stake him, but I missed his heart." I can feel the tears welling up in my eyes as I think about how close I was to ending all this madness. I plop myself down in the chair across from her and rest my head in my hands and my elbows on my knees, trying to calm myself down before I loose it.

"Rose, dear, why don't you get yourself cleaned up. I'll let you know what the next plan of action is as soon as we figure it out. Get some rest." She says while she gently places a hand on my head. I look up to her and nod. I walk back to my room thinking about how Adrian is going to react, and I'm pretty sure my dance lessons are officially over.

Well, what do you think of Stephan? Review and let me know.