The strigoi were back, and I knew my time to come up with a plan was limited.
"Rose." The strigoi started. I growled at him.
"How the hell do all of you know my name?" I demanded. He chuckled.
"Your popular among the strigoi world, I must admit." He told me.
"Well, keep my name out of your mouth." I growled at him. He shook his head.
"I suggest you watch it Hathaway. I'm giving you a chance to live, so shut up and listen." He snapped. I recoiled a little at his tone.
"What?" I demanded, knowing it was some ultimatum to get me to join the strigoi.
"You have to choose one of them. Your queen, or your 'best friend'." He said, giving me a look.
"What do you mean, choose?" I asked, getting agitated.
"One of them can live… and it'll be your choice. One of them lives… but in the end, to keep yourself…alive you have to kill the other yourself." He said.
"What kind of sick, twisted game are you playing here? So… I get to choose who lives, and I have to kill the one I don't choose, but then I get turned?" I asked. He shrugged.
"Sounds right." He said. I laughed.
"You're an idiot if you think I'm going to go with that." I said. The strigoi chuckled.
"If you don't…all of you die. Would you rather save one, and yourself, or all of you die?" He asked. I growled.
"Get out. I don't want to look at you anymore." I snapped. He chuckled.
"Make your decision Hathaway." He said, before leaving. Tears were streaming down Lissa's face. I knew she was terrified. I looked at Adrian to see his eyes were on the ground.
"It should be me." He said.
"What?"
"Pick Lissa. I should be the one that dies." He told me.
"No. Neither of you are going to die."
"Oh yeah? How do you plan on getting us out of here?" He demanded.
"Adrian, no one is going to die."
"I don't think we're going to get out of it this time." He said, shaking his head.
"Don't doubt it, Adrian." I snapped. He looked down at the floor. I turned to Lissa.
"It's going to be okay." I whispered. She shook her head.
"It wont be. It doesn't matter if one of us lives and dies… your going to be a strigoi." She cried.
"I'll be fine. Don't you worry about me, you worry about you, and getting your ass out of here." I said. She nodded, but I knew she was still worried about me. The room fell silent, but I heard a voice in my mind, a voice that I'd know anywhere. My daughters voice. "Just hang on mommy, we're coming." It said. Bailey. Dimitri was using her to lead her to us. It was possible that all of us could make it out.
"Lissa, how long do you think someone can be dead before you can heal them back to life?" I asked. She shrugged.
"Maybe an hour or two." She said. "Why?" She sniffled.
"Just wondering." I said. I fell back into my planning. If I could hold it off for a little while longer, I could go through with the strigoi's demands. I could kill Adrian, fight our way out with the help of Dimitri and the other Guardian's, have Bailey heal him back to life, and all'd be right. I just had to work on the timing issue. What if they didn't make it here in time? What if we waited to long to kill Adrian and he really was dead? What would I do then? I had no idea. I was so scared. So many things could go wrong.
BAILEY'S POV:
I sat in the front seat, still leading daddy down the road to mommy. I could feel the struggle in her head. She was freaking out, worrying about how to get Auntie Lissa and Adrian out of that place. As I heard her plan in my head, I informed daddy. He nodded, not really saying anything. I wondered what he was thinking. I knew he was scared, scared for mommy. He'd lost his baby, my brother or sister, and it was possible we could lose my mommy, and his wife, and two of our best friends. I couldn't even imagine what that'd do to him.
"Daddy… We're going to save them." I whispered. He met my gaze for a second before turning back to the road.
"I hope your right baby. I hope your right." He said. I settled back into my seat, and slipped into my mothers head. Listening to my mothers thoughts was always interesting. She was going through ways of escaping, and also trying to work her wrists out of the ropes that confined them. She was almost there, but not quite.. She still had a long way to go. I felt that she knew I was in her head. She knew that I was watching, and listening. She was being strong for me, and I knew that. The door opened, and the strigoi came back in. My entire body locked up as my mother looked up into the monsters red-rimmed eyes.
"Strigoi are back." I said, out loud to my father.
"What's going on?" He asked, voice hard.
"I don't know yet. Hold on." I said, going back to mommy.
"Have you made you decision yet?" He asked.
"What decision?" Mommy said.
"Who your going to keep, and who your going to kill?" He asked.
"Your impatient. That's a big decision, and you expect me to make it in twenty minutes?" Mommy snapped back at him. She was such a smart-aleck. I'd have to remind Eddie that's where I got it from.
"You have till sunrise to make your decision. If you haven't made it by then, you're all dead." He said. Mommy growled at him.
"How long is it till sunrise?"
"Two hours." He said. Mom nodded and watched as he turned and walked out.
"Shit. We've got to figure out how we're going to get out of here." Mommy told them. They nodded. I then pulled out of mom's head and explained to daddy what the strigoi said.
"Sun rise? We've got two hours?" He asked. I nodded.
"We're not far dad, just breath." I told him. "We're going to get them out of there." He nodded once, not agreeing or disagreeing.
"I hope your right."
"I am. Now, this road up here… Make a right." I told him. He nodded and followed my directions. I knew we we're close.
"Bailey, when we get there, I want you to get in the back of the van, and duck down. I don't want anyone to know you're here. They might come after you. I also need you here because I might need you to heal someone." He told me. I nodded.
"I'll be here."
"Your so strong baby. Your just like your mommy." He told me. I grinned.
"I've always told her I wanted to be just like her." I told him. He smiled a little, which I hadn't been expecting.
"Go back to mommy." He said. I nodded, and crashed back into my mothers head. Her hands were free now, she's managed to work her wrists free of the rope. Not without cutting up her wrists. They were bloody, and I could feel she was in pain. She untied Adrian and Lissa's ropes.
"Now, I want you to listen… Dimitri and the other guardian's are coming." She whispered, trying to avoid having the strigoi hear. "We're going to have to hold off Atleast until they get here." Mommy told them.
"How do they know where we are?"
"They have Bailey. Bailey's been in my head. She's strengthened our bond. She's leading Dimitri and the rest of the guardian's to us." Mommy said. "Worst case scenario, they don't get here in time, I'll snap Adrian's neck.." Uncle Adrian's face fell.
"We have two people who can heal you if it comes to that. You wont actually die."
"Wont that bond me to one of them?" He asked. Mommy shrugged.
"I don't know, but that's a chance we're going to have to take." She told him. He just nodded, not questioning her. "Lissa, we're getting you out of here. You have a baby, and you're the most vulnerable. You have to get out, period." She told her. Lissa just nodded.
"Their close. I can feel Bailey getting closer through our bond. Maybe.. Maybe we'll get out of here complication free." Mommy said. Our bond had gotten pretty strong. I'd pushed myself into her mind, causing us to be linked pretty well. If she knew I was close, the bond was strong. I pulled myself out of her head, and said stop. Dad hit the brakes.
"What?" He asked. I stared off into the forest, but saw nothing. I opened the door and got out of the van, peering off into the forest.
"She's that way." I said, pointing. Daddy walked up next to me, and all the other guardians stood behind us.
"Your sure?" Eddie asked me.
"I'm positive." I said, looking at him. He nodded once.
"Bailey, get back in the van, huddle down in the back seat, and lock the doors. I'll be back with mommy soon." He told me.
"Daddy, I want to help." I complained.
"Bailey.. I don't have time for this. The sun's coming up soon. Please." He said. I sighed.
"Fine… Be careful.. Please. All of you." I said, turning to face all the guardian's who were set on saving my mother, the queen, and Lord Ivashkov's son. I walked back into the van, and got into the backseat, shutting and locking the doors. They didn't have much time, and I knew that strigoi were very impatient. I hoped they could make it. I hoped they could save them all. I wanted my mommy, Aunt Lissa, and Uncle Adrian home safe. I closed my eyes, and fell into my mommies head, waiting on the crashing of the Guardian's breaking into the house.