When I swim back into consciousness, I can feel myself lying on a hard bed. There are tubes in my arms and I feel dizzy surrounded by blue and white walls. I look over to see 2 white curtains alongside the bed and I can see a figure sitting with his head on my bed. His brown hair ruffled and his pale skin cold. Adrian, I figured. Adrian. With that everything comes flooding back, the shopping trip, the mall, Victor and me dying. Wait, I died. How am I possibly alive? I open my eyes more, adjusting to the bright light shining over my lying figure, and I cough, my throat dry.

"Rose! Huh?" Adrian shouts from beside me, awakening from his dream which I presumed was about me, his eyes red and filled with sleep. He rubs his eyes and looks over at me, his eyes widening and he comes over to hug me. "Rose! Finally!" I smile and inhale his scent, missing the way he smelled and the way his body and mine fit perfectly against each other. "Guys! She's awake!" He shouts, pulling back from my embrace, my body already cold without his against me. I miss his touch already.

"Rose!" I turn over to see Lissa, her smile so wide that I can see her fangs pointing out. She runs and pulls me into a crushing hug, and I feel her sobbing into my shoulder. "I thought you were going to die. I was so worried. Never do that to me again. I thought I was going to lose you too. I can't lose you Rose. You're the only family I have left. I love you." She says, sobbing into my shirt. I smile and hug her back, stroking her hair soothingly.

"It's okay Liss. I won't leave you. I love you too." I whisper, making her choke out a relieved laugh. Christian comes next and hugs me, unexpectedly. "Hey Sparky, I missed you too. Although I'm still shocked that you're hugging me." I say teasingly, causing Christian to laugh.

"You got Lissa hysterical. I'm just glad that you're awake now so that she'll stop crying. But, I'm glad you're alive." He says, ending with a smile making me tear up a bit. Who knew Christian cared? Well cared that much anyways. Mason practically pushes Christian away and hugs me tightly, kissing my hair and peppering my face with kisses making me giggle.

"Good to see you too Mase." I whisper to him.

"I missed you. So much. You can't imagine how worried I was." He whispers into my ear, nuzzling my neck.

"Hey, it's okay. I'm here now." I whisper back, hugging him tightly. He pulls back and I see Eddie waiting patiently for his turn. I laugh and pull him in, hugging him.

"Never do that again, you hear me?" He says sternly, pulling back from the hug. I nod and roll my eyes. He kisses my cheek and goes back to join the rest of my friends who are looking at me expectantly. What? Then I see him. Connor.

"Hathaway! You're alive!" He says, grabbing my petite figure in a bone-crushing hug. "You know when they said you were trouble, I didn't think it would be like this." He says, chuckling. I roll my eyes and playfully hit his shoulder, which is when I hear him.

"Roza." My eyes widen and I push Connor out of the way and see my Russian God. I love Adrian so much but I still love Dimitri. Though I loved Mason and Eddie too, but not as much as the two of them. Is it possible to love 2 or 4 men all at once? None of that registered into my mind. In my head it was just me and him. Dimitri walked to my side cautiously and hugged me, in a friendly way. I was slightly disappointed. I wanted to run my fingers through his hair and kissed his lips. But just like always, nothing ever goes my way.

"Hey Comrade." I hear him chuckle at his old nickname and Dr. Olendzki comes out to see me.

"Ah Rose. You're finally awake. Well you're already healed so you can leave at once! You made a remarkable recovery! Just don't overwork your body, okay Rose?" I nod and get out of the bed and shiver, at the cold air hitting my body. Mason looks over and puts his coat on my shoulders, and I smile thankfully.

"So, what did I miss?" I say, pulling Mason's coat on as we walked through the academy.

"Well after you got shot, Lissa healed you and Guardian Santos and Blake finally found us with the car. They broke the blocks trapping Belikov and Johnson's feet and freed me and Mason using a key from the guardians who were passed out." Eddie says.

"Wait! So you didn't get that sick fuck?"

"No, Christian burned him a bit and punched him, making him unconscious. Then when the other guardians came we handcuffed the three of them and they're being transferred to Court for further instructions." Connor said.

"So, I'm going to head out to my room. It's probably past curfew anyways." I say, giving Mason his coat back.

"Um, Rose it's time for breakfast." I look at Connor, raising my eyebrows and gaping. "You've been out for 2 days." Shit, I though I was only unconscious for a few hours. So that means they've been waiting for me for 2 days. And Adrian. He hasn't gotten any sleep since then. I shake my head when I feel my stomach rumble with hunger. "Hungry?" Connor says with an amused smirk.

"It's Rose we're talking about. She's always hungry." Christian retorts, laughing at his own comment. I roll my eyes and walk to the cafeteria, grabbing Lissa's arm, not bothering to deny Christian's statement.

Are you okay Rose?

Yeah, don't worry about it. Anyways, did you guys wait for me in the infirmary all this time?

Kind of. Headmistress Kirova wouldn't let us skip our classes so we would go there in the morning or at lunch or after school. Connor and Dimitri were usually there when they weren't needed though.

And Adrian?

He wouldn't leave your side.

Oh.

He really loves you, you know?

I know. I love him too but…

Do you really think Queen Tatiana would actually do what she said she would?

Without a doubt. That bitch is a menace. I don't- no. I can't underestimate her.

I just hope that Adrian will live through it.

Yeah…

Whenever the nurses would tell him to go he had a fit and I tried to persuade him to go to his room and take a shower or feed but he just couldn't leave you alone. It was really cute.

Yeah Liss. Me dying and him waiting by my side was real cute.

Oh shut up, you know what I mean.

"Oh look, the bloodwhore is finally out of the infirmary? What happened? You got pregnant? Abortion? I wouldn't doubt it with how slutty you are." I turn around to see Mia Renaldi behind me, smiling maliciously.

"Sorry to burst your bubble but no. And it's such a shame too, because I know you have a lot of great tips on teen pregnancy seeing as you've probably gotten pregnant at least twice." I retort back, smiling smugly. She huffs and stomps away, glancing back to glare at me. I laugh and walk to the counter, asking for a sandwich and walk back to our usual table. As I walk over I see that everyone has decided to join us and I sit next to Adrian, squeezing his hand making him smile softly. I could see his red eyes, dark bags under his eyes and how messy his hair is- and not the usual messy, sexy hair. I finished my sandwich in minutes and tug Adrian's hand, blocking out whatever anyone said while I was at the table.

"I need to talk to Adrian. I'll see you guys at class later." I say dismissively, tugging Adrian's hand and leading him outside of the cafeteria. I turn back to him, his lazy posture making me frown. "What is up with you? Why are you doing this?" I ask him, raising my eyebrows.

"What do you mean?" I roll my eyes and glare at him.

"You! You're not sleeping and you're not feeding. You're not taking care of yourself!" I exclaim, crossing my hands over my chest.

"You would think a girl would be happy to know that someone was always there by her side, but here you are getting mad at me for doing just that." He grumbles, sighing. I frown a bit and walk over to him, placing my hand on his cheek making him melt under my touch immediately.

"I am happy. I'm really grateful that you were there but I don't want to see you like this. It hurts knowing that you're not okay." I whisper gently. He looks up into my eyes, his green eyes a bit dim.

"Well I'm not okay. I haven't been okay since you broke up with me!" I look down, suddenly finding my shoes interesting. "I'm sorry that you don't think we're a perfect match, but I do! And I blamed myself for not getting in front of you in time to block the bullet every minute I was there in the infirmary sitting next to you bed." He sighed, running his fingers through his already messy hair. "It just hurts, knowing that you don't love me. Or that you did and I did something to make you stop loving me." I suddenly looked up and went on my tip toes, crushing my lips against his. He was a bit shocked at first, not responding but finally kissed back. Our tongues fighting in dominance, that old spark igniting in the pit of my stomach as his fingers crawled my skin and went through my hair and as my hands played with the hair in the nape of his neck. This kiss was similar to the one we had in the plane, it was full of hunger and lust, but also love. I tried my best to pour all my love out in that 1 kiss, trying to make him see that I did or rather that I do love him. I pulled away, leaning our foreheads together and breathing rapidly, trying to catch my breath.

"You didn't do anything to make me stop loving you. It was never your fault and it will never be your fault." I say sternly, making him nod. "You just have to trust me that we can't be together for some reasons." He sighs then nods, running his fingers through my messy and knotted hair.

"I trust you. It's just sad knowing I can't do this anymore. Or this." He then kisses me again, making me kiss him back but him pulling back too soon for my delight. "But just know that I love you and I will always love you. And I will fight for you." He says, kissing me chastely once more. "You will always be my little dhampir. And I will always love you." I hold back a sob, biting my bottom lip in happiness. How can I be so stupid for kissing him? I'm just leading him on. And here he is, saying these things that's making me melt inside. I nod and pull away, readjusting my shirt and clearing my throat.

"Let's go." I say, nodding in the opposite direction from the cafeteria. Adrian raises his eyebrow at me, and I roll my eyes.

"I know you haven't fed in 2 days. I know if I don't push you and take you there myself, you won't even go there today. So, let's go!" He chuckles and walks with me, going to the feeders where I stepped out and waited from him outside, still disgusted by the whole human-feeder process.

"Roza, what are you doing here?" I turn around to see Dimitri looking at me curiously, as a waft of aftershave hits me like bricks. It's intoxicating actually, and I loved it.

"I was just walking around." I say all too quickly, making Dimitri raise his eyebrow at me, still contemplating in his head whether or not to believe me. "Why are you here?" I ask him in return.

"I'm on patrol and I've been looking for you actually." I raise my eyebrows and a smug smile finds it's way on to my face.

"Really? And why were you looking for me Comrade?" Just as Dimitri was about to respond, Adrian clears his throat and walks up to me.

"Little dhampir? If you want to go now, we can." He states. "Guardian Belikov." He greets Dimitri curtly, glaring at Dimitri.

"Lord Ivashkov." I notice the tension between those two and tug on Adrian's hand so that he would let it go.

"Lissa's calling, we better go." I lie to him, making him snap from his trance. "I'll see you later Comrade." I call out, only to get a silent nod. Ugh, I hate his guardian mask.

"Where does Lissa want to meet up?" I blink a few times and look up to Adrian. Oh right. Shit.

Lissa?

No response. Nada.

Lissa.

… What the hell is going on with this girl?

I concentrate hard on Lissa and suddenly get sucked into her head, making me grab Adrian's wrist.

"Rose?" I hear him call out but I ignore him, patting his wrist in reassurance. I hear moans, coming from… me? Oh Lissa! Oh my god. This is disgusting. I quickly concentrate on Adrian and pull myself out and shudder in disgust. "Little dhampir, are you okay?"

"Yeah, just a little shaken up. I think Lissa's a bit too preoccupied at the moment to meet us."

"What do you- oh." I shudder and Adrian chuckles, making me glare at him.

"What's so funny, Ivashkov?" I hiss, making him chuckle more.

"It's just that you're so disturbed by the thought of Flame boy and Lissa getting it on." He says, grinning.

"Yeah, so?" What was the point?

"Well, you weren't so disturbed when you and I got it on? And as I recalled we didn't just go for 1 round. We were up all night." He says, smirking smugly. I felt the blush creep up to my cheek. At this point we were walking to the lawn near the infirmary, sitting cross-legged under a tree.

"So you're saying that you would want to watch Lissa and Sparky get it on? No thanks, pervert." I tease, shoving his head away playfully, making him laugh.

"I miss this. I miss you." He says suddenly. I froze, shocked by the abrupt change of subject. I nod sheepishly, looking down on our shoes.

"I miss this too. And I miss you too." I sighed and got under his loving gaze, his green emerald eyes shining with love. "But you know just because we broke up, that doesn't mean we can't still be friends."

"Hathaway!" I turn to see Connor grinning like an idiot and waving at me.

"What?" I shout, hoping that he would hear me.

"Belikov wants to see you!" Ugh, great. And he had to tell me in front of Adrian. I see Adrian glower beside me and hear him growl a bit. Growl as in an animalistic growl. It was kind of hot.

"Yeah, I'll be at the gym in a few!" I shout back, seeing him nod in response. "I have to-"

"Just go to Belikov." He hisses, making me flinch. I want to reach out and tell him that I loved him too but I knew I couldn't afford to do that with the possibility of getting caught by some of the queen's spies that might be lurking around. I nod at him and stand up, brushing the grass and dirt off of my skinny jeans.

"I'll see you later okay?" I tell him reassuringly.

"Yeah, whatever." I sigh and nod, leaving him alone under the tree and jog over to the gym. I walk in to see Dimitri pacing at the back of the gym, near the bleachers with a sheet in his hand. "Comrade. What's up?" He turns to look up at me, his deep brown eyes lighting up at the sight of me, making my smile inwardly.

"Roza. There has been another attack." I stopped in my tracks, my eyes widening in the memory of the Badica family slaughter.