As we walked towards wherever Yeva's friends lived I could only think about Lissa. She was probably still at court with Christian. The thought of those two getting together made me want to puke. I had already been at least twice in Lissa's head when she was with him and those images were disgusting. I mean who wants to see her BFF doing it with her boyfriend? Not me.

I have Dimitri and he's the only one that looks sexy to me, basically because I love him I can say that but I'm sure that even for Lissa he looks sexy as hell but Christian? He's not bad looking I have to admit but compared with Dimitri's tenderness and body that looks straight from a sports magazine or something Christian looks like a little kid.

I glanced sideways at Dimitri. He didn't seem to have a problem carrying those heavy boxes that I could almost swear contains bricks or something like that. The muscles in his arms were more visible and just by looking at him I felt much better.

He turned around and caught me staring. He smiled and winked at me. I felt heat rushing to my cheeks and I looked away with a small smile. God I love him so much and we've been together, then I can't I stop blushing like this?

I tried not to stare too much after that. I saw the buildings of downtown but instead of going that way we ended up going in other direction. The weather was not so hot neither too cool but Dimitri was starting to sweat and I got very mad at Yeva for making him do this.

I sighed. I was actually starting to get tired, more than getting actually, I was already tired and I didn't know how far we still had to walk. We should have at least taken a fucking cab but no we had to walk. Yeva however didn't seem tired at all. She was walking at a steady pace and faster than I would have thought an old woman could.

Dimitri must have sensed my discomfort because he stopped and turned to me. I stopped too.

"Are you ok?" I nodded and he frowned.

"Fine, I'm not. I'm tired do you know how far the house is?" He shook his head and asked Yeva who seemed annoyed for having to stop. They spoke Russian so I didn't understand but Dimitri seemed relieved so I took that as a good sign. Maybe we were finally getting close to their house and I'd be able to rest.

We started walking again.

"She said we're getting close, about a mile" I groaned. That was just great. "When we get there I'll ask for a bottle of water for you and you'll be able to rest. Don't worry." I nodded but didn't say anything else.

Dimitri kept glancing sideways at me worried for me but I knew I could wait a little bit more for a comfy chair and a glass of water at whoever's house we were going. I was very tired though and the baby was moving too much which was very uncomfortable. I tried to calm the baby by rubbing my belly but it clearly wasn't working.

"We're here" Yeva said and we went in.

Yeva knocked on the door twice and then a woman opened the door. She was a Moroi I could tell and it was very weird that she was living over here in the middle of nowhere. She was very pretty of course and her face lit up when she saw us. She probably didn't even know who we were but still. She opened the door and invited us in like we were family.

"Come in please"

We went in and as soon as we were in she invited us to have a seat and her husband Mark took the boxes and shoulder bag from Dimitri. Dimitri seemed relieved from having that thing off his shoulder and stretched. Looking more closely to Mark I realized that he was Damphir, I looked back at Oksana and she was Moroi. They were a couple. I must have been staring too long because Oksana smiled at me.

"Yes, we are a couple" she confirmed and I blushed.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to be rude." Dimitri sat beside me and put an arm around my shoulders pulling me close to him.

"Could you give her a glass of water please?" Dimitri asked politely and Oksana stood up.

"Of course, I'll be back" she went to the kitchen and her movements were so coordinated with Mark's that it was almost as if they knew what the other was thinking. I also realized how old he was. Oksana seemed to be in her mid twenties and Mark looked older. That's why they didn't seem surprised to see the difference in age between Dimitri and me. They actually looked happy to see us together even though they didn't even know us.

"Roza are you feeling better?" He was so close to me that I could feel his breath against my cheek.

"Yes, I'm fine. But did you notice…" He knew what I was talking about of course and he nodded smiling.

"Yes, I noticed Roza. Don't worry they won't judge us, they are also in love but you can see that of course." He kissed my cheek.

Oksana came back with a glass of water that I drank happily. I hadn't notice how thirsty I had been till I finished drinking the glass of water. Oksana started unpacking the things that Yeva made Dimitri bring and I watched with my mouth hanging open as she thanked Yeva for the gardening tools, bricks and food. She actually packed bricks! I was very enraged at this and Dimitri must have sensed it because he squeezed my shoulder reassuringly. He smiled so that I would know that he didn't mind and I tried to calm my self. This wasn't the moment to get all worked up over something.

"Calm down Roza, is nothing" I took a deep breath and nodded.

Oksana put something in the oven and was pressing some buttons when I heard Mark telling her not to put it so high, that it could burn. I probably wouldn't have cared about it if it hasn't bee for the little detail that Mark had been talking to Dimitri beside me and Oksana was in the kitchen.

"You… you are bonded" I said in disbelief and everyone turned their attention to me like I suddenly grew two heads.

"Yes, but how do you know about it?" Mark asked and Dimitri looked concerned.

Oksana came in and sat in front of us.

I couldn't find my voice just yet so I looked at Dimitri for help and he nodded in understanding.

"She's bonded to the Dragomir Princess. The princess brought her back a couple of years ago and now they're bonded" Mark and Oksana exchanged glances and then looked back at us.

"Why isn't she here?" Oksana asked. I felt guilty all over again for leaving her and Dimitri sensed my discomfort again.

"She's not here because Roza and I came here to start a new life away from the problems of being Guardians. They probably wouldn't understand our relationship because we met at St. Vladimir's while she was still a student there. I was her mentor." I waited for their gasps of surprise and the judgment but none of those things came, instead they only nodded understanding.

There was nothing in their eyes but understanding, they didn't care about the fact that he had been my mentor when we started our relationship or that I was underage and that he's older than me.

"That's ok" Oksana said honestly.

"Not many stay with their bond mate for long anyways. Sometimes becomes just too much for either of them to know that the other can read their thoughts." Mark shrugged like it was nothing and I let out a breath that I hadn't known I was holding and relaxed a little.

Dimitri beside me also relaxed and it was my turn to look at him and give him a reassuring kiss in the cheek.

"Mark can you…" I wasn't sure how I was supposed to ask this, maybe it was just me and I'd look like crazy if I mentioned this but I needed to know. "Can you see the ghosts?" I had seen ghosts here but they usually would just go away after giving me a headache because I've been trying to block them out.

Mark looked surprised that I asked him that but nodded. "Yes, I've seen them but you have to control it," His expression became very serious and I had the feeling that whatever he'd say next I wouldn't like it. Beside me Dimitri tensed again and I could only imagine how I looked in their eyes. "They could drag you along with them when they move on" I could only stare at him, he obviously realized that I didn't understand why because he sighed and started to explain things to me.

"What?" Dimitri interrupted him before Mark could continue. I knew Dimitri was worrying too much and I didn't want him to be feeling like that. I knew better than anyone else what worrying and that kind if feelings could do to someone.

"When the Princess brought Roza back some part of her soul is still dead and that's why her aura looks so dark. That's why the ghosts make your head have headaches whenever you see them, they're tearing at you soul. You could end up dead." A shiver ran down my spine and Dimitri practically stopped breathing and turned to face me. His face showed fear and concern for me and my baby, our baby.

"So they'll kill me?" My voice was empty and echoed in my ears like it was nothing. I felt numb.

"Yes, if you don't learn how to control it or wear one of this" He showed me his finger where there was a beautiful ring that seemed to be pure gold. He took it off and put it in my finger. I started to shake my head when Dimitri suddenly got up with a deadly look in his face.

"Would you care to explain why the hell are you threatening her with stupid ghost stories and give her a wedding ring?" In other time I would have started laughing my ass off because Dimitri was jealous but right now I only needed to know more about whatever Mark had to say about all this.

Mark didn't seem surprised at Dimitri's rage, almost like he was expecting it.

I had to get up and take Dimitri's hand to calm him down. He looked at me and the sat down again.

"Like I was saying," Mark continued. "Roza…" He was cut off by Dimitri.

"Rosemarie, her name is Rosemarie for you" Dimitri snarled. I wasn't in the mood for anything so I tried to tolerate him.

"Rosemarie, you could die if you keep contact with them and this ring that I gave you, is not a wedding ring" He said looking at Dimitri. "Its something that Oksana gave me to help me block the ghosts. It should help you." I looked over to Oksana who nodded.

"But you need it too, I can't take it if it risks you too" I said looking at him. He shook his head and smiled.

"I've learned to control it more than you do, she can put Spirit into another one later, don't worry." His smile was genuine.

"Thank you. But how is it possible that it has Spirit in it?" I said looking at the ring and playing with it like I do with the one that Dimitri gave me. This was actually pretty uncomfortable.

"That's just another thing we can do Rosemarie, its no big deal" Oksana explained with a shrug.

"Of course's a big deal! Do you have any idea what finding another Spirit user besides Lissa and Adrian means? They're going to be…" Oksana interrupted me.

"Lissa and Adrian?" She asked in disbelief.

"Yes, Lissa is my… bond mate and Adrian is another friend of mine" I explained and her eyes widened, she looked over at Mark and they began a silence conversation. Then Mark turned to us.

"We've only known about another Spirit user, this changes things. The man we knew… that was a long time ago and we haven't seen him since." I didn't know if that was good or not so I just nodded. He looked like he was talking more to himself than to us.

"The past will come and catch up with you, there's not going back or any place to hide" Yeva said suddenly matter-of-factly and we all turned to her. She didn't seem to mind that we were waiting for an explanation but she certainly wasn't looking at Mark and Oksana. Her gaze was fixed on Dimitri and me.

A shiver ran down my spine.

We avoided the spirit subject for the next hour and a half. Oksana and Mark invited us to have dinner with them and we gladly accepted. I was practically starving and I almost as much as Dimitri. He was kind of amused watching me eat like that because he said that I looked sexy. Of course he had to whisper that in my ear so nobody else would hear but Oksana heard and she smiled at us. Dimitri didn't seem embarrassed for getting caught but I blushed bright red.

"We have to go, its getting late." Dimitri announced looking at his Grandmother. She nodded with a knowing glance between them and we all stood up.

"I hope you can visit soon Rose, Dimitri" She reminded me too much of Lissa. Oksana was just as polite and has the same warmth in her eyes as my friend.

"Yes, I look forward to" I said to her with a smile. She got closer to me and gestured to my belly.

"May I?" I looked at her shocked that she even asked. She was certainly the first one to ask. I nodded and when she touched my belly the baby started to move and she must have felt it too because she grinned.

"Wow, you must really like her" She laughed and Dimitri chuckled beside me.

We said our goodbyes and headed back to the house. Now Dimitri had nothing on his hands and the night had cooled a little bit. Dimitri noticed that I was shivering and he took off his duster and put it on me.

"Dimitri no…" I started but he put it on me anyways.

"I don't want you to get sick Roza" The tenderness in his eyes made me stop arguing and I just nodded. The smell of him still lingered in the duster. I inhaled deeply and smiled to my self. Dimitri pulled me closer to him and rested his chin on the top of my head humming something. I wanted to ask him what he was humming but the silence between us was just too good and precious that I kept my mouth shut.

I stumbled over something when I saw black spots dancing around me, everything around me started to spin around me and thank to Dimitri I didn't fall. He steadied me and took me in his arms like a baby.

"Roza are you ok? Please say something." Dimitri's frantic voice made me open my eyes.

"I'm fine." I managed to say but he didn't believe me of course. "I'm just… tired." Then as Dimitri kept walking I felt a rush of nausea that could only mean one thing. Strigoi.

"Dimitri…" He didn't stop he kept walking and the nausea got worse. "Dimitri Stop!" Just then a Strigoi came from behind on of the bushes and tackled Dimitri along with me. Dimitri landed on his side and he dropped me. I landed a couple of feet away from him with a pretty bad-looking bruise already forming on my thigh that I could see because my jeans were torn by the impact and a cut on my hand that was bleeding and it burned.

I miraculously landed on my side and I was able to try to sit up. Yeva was by my side looking worried and slightly scared. But I think the fear was for me because Dimitri was doing pretty good fighting the other Strigoi. In one moment Dimitri was fighting one Strigoi that was clearly losing and the next three more were coming from behind Dimitri with the intention of attacking and probably kill him and I couldn't let that happen.

Suddenly I noticed that there were shadows lurking around us, slowly they started to take form and I realized that they were ghosts. I looked at my finger and I noticed that the ring was missing.

The ghosts started to attack the Strigoi and Dimitri had to step back. The Strigoi were yelling and swearing like crazy to the ghosts to go away and they attacked even more eagerly. I heard loud screams and then Dimitri was scooping me up in his arms and carrying me away from there. Yeva must have been right behind us. The screams were still loud and that's when I realized that it was me screaming because of the pain inside my head. It was unbearable it felt like something was smashing my head against a wall. The pain was just too much and I must have blacked out.

I'm sorry for not updating sooner but I have been very bussy. Anyways thank you for the 200 hundred reviews and all your support guys. Please keep reviewing and I'll publish soon