Hey there, I just want to say yet again, thank you for the awesome reviews, you have no idea how happy it makes me knowing that you guys like the story :-D Cheers, R.J.

Chapter 24.

I found my father out on the balcony, he was watching the last of the sun's rays peek through the dense cloud as it sank below the horizon. "We need to talk." Well that took me by surprise, I chuckled uncertainly,

"You think?" There were so many things that needed to be discussed, so where to start. I stood there silently hoping that Abe would begin. After a pensive few moments he started speaking again.

"What you did yesterday, going after Sydney by yourself, was stupid, and thoughtless. I know I wasn't here, but you could have at least taken Dimitri with you." His voice was filled with suppressed anger, he was obviously trying to restrain himself so we could actually have a discussion. "Didn't you even stop to think that it might be a trap?" I stood there gob smacked, mouth open.

"No! You don't get to be mad at me Abe. You don't get to stand there and be all sanctimonious about this, because in hind sight, yes, I made a mistake. Going out by myself was stupid, but I couldn't just let Sydney die. She may not like us, but she has helped me and you, a lot, so I didn't think, I did what I felt was right. I did what needed to be done, and yes I did have a close call yesterday, but it turned out alright in the end didn't it?" His face turned as his eyes looked over my bruised neck. It was then that something he'd said floated through my mind,

"What you said, about it being a trap, I think you might be right." He turned and faced me then, "I've been going over it in my head, if it wasn't a trap, they wouldn't have kept Sydney alive, and I sure as hell wouldn't be standing here now." Anger contorted his features again as I continued, "I kept thinking that it wasn't right, even when they had hold of me they didn't try to bite me, they didn't rip my throat out. I was just pinned down. I don't think they were going to kill me, I think Sydney was bait, for a bigger fish, me, and I think I was supposed to bait too. But the question is for who?" I was lost in my own thoughts trying to wrap my brain about everything,

"I might be able to answer that question for you." I jumped and spun around, suprised to see Mia standing framed by the door.

"What do you know about any of this?" I didn't mean to sound so sceptical but I couldn't help it.

She smiled exultantly, walking over to join Abe and I near the railing, "Back at Victor's, before he left Adrian came and saw me. He told me about coming here and what he needed to do, but he couldn't work out how to get Ilia to come to him. I figured if he was a Strigoi and in Russia, then perhaps he'd know Dimitri. I also know about the mayhem that you and Dimitri caused in Siberia, so I told Adrian to let it slip that you two were here, as for how Ilia knew about Sydney, that is really beyond me." I nodded thoughtfully, impressed that Mia had been able to come up with something like that.

"Wait. You said that you know about Siberia, how'd you find out any of that stuff? I mean, I haven't told anyone what happened, and I doubt Dimitri has either." She shook her head,

"Oh Rose, it was a power play, there were high up Strigoi killed and Dimitri had been holding you there, it was only a matter of time before the rumours started to trickle down into our world." I was still stunned that she knew any of this.

"Anyway, that's all beside the point now. I know where he is." That made me do a double take, Abe's head flicked around to her direction just as fast as mine.

"What? How?" She smirked,

"With everything going on here last night I figured you guys wouldn't notice if someone was missing." She rolled her eyes and sighed, looking like a twelve year old, "I went back to the church, and had a bit of a wander around. I couldn't find anything, so I then decided that I'd make the most of my freedom and went to the Summer Garden, I love the statues of the Gods and what not. So I was walking through and it was still raining, so I decided I'd head back, before I froze to death, I was walking close to the Tea House, when I saw a figure pacing in front of the statue that's there, that writer or what ever he was," She looked at Abe,

"You mean the monument to Ilya Krylov?" She nodded,

"Yeah that's the one, anyway as I got closer I recognised him, Lissa's brother, so I stayed back a bit and hid in the trees. He just paced for a good ten minutes then he left the park. I followed him, from a distance of course. He's at the Peter and Paul Fortress." I looked to Abe,

"Well let's go get him." Abe shook his head,

"No it's too risky, there are so many places he could be hiding over there. No we need to get him to meet us somewhere that we have the upper hand, and now he's seen Lissa he's going to be curious, so it's only a matter of time before he pops up again. We need to get him out of the city, away from people, somewhere that we know, but he doesn't." Realising where he was going with this I shook my head,

"Oh no, no, no no." He smiled at me,

"But I thought you said you wanted to go back?" I did, and he knew it, but I didn't exactly mean under these circumstances.

"Fine, whatever, but we're going to have to make sure that he knows where we're going, so he can follow us." Abe nodded, Mia was looking confused as she watched the exchange,

"What are you guys talking about?" She pouted, I smiled grimly,

"Looks like we're going shopping Mia," she looked even more confused, "We're going to Siberia."