It's a long one - but I think it's worth it. I've given you Rose & Lissa; I've given you kinky Strigoi fight-pashing.

Maybe my favourite chapter so far?! Hope you like it too!

37. King Street Station

(Sonya POV)

My whole life had changed in the space of thirty minutes, and I stared at the red eyes in the rear-view mirror as I decided what to do next. I felt normal enough, but while the girl in the mirror looked essentially like the old me I realised nobody else would accept me for what I had become. They would send guardians after me to hunt me down and kill me - I had no choice but to cut myself off from everyone and everything I knew. There was no time to dwell on what I'd lost - I just had to start over.

Ditching my bag at a rest-stop not far from the school and throwing my phone into the dense forest undergrowth by the side of the road, I drove on to Spokane without another look back. It was a lot busier here in town but I couldn't stay long - it was still too close to St. Vladimir's and guardians would be swarming the place in a few hours. No - I had to get further away. Seattle. I hadn't been back in a while but I knew every street and building, and already had a good idea of where I could stay without being discovered. Stopping off at a gas station, I had no trouble convincing a balding middle-aged man to give me the keys to his Ford pickup before spending the rest of the night speeding towards my destination. When I reached the outskirts of the city the sky was already beginning to lighten in the east and I knew I only had half an hour before I needed to be safely tucked away out of the sun. Parking the pickup outside a small train-station downtown, I jumped a train and alighted ten minutes later at King Street Station. Most areas of the station building were operational now since the latest spate of renovations were completed, but I knew the clock tower was still closed to the public and I mounted the stairs quickly, climbing until I reached a dark recess on the seventh floor. At last, I would have a chance to rest and try to figure out who I had become - what it meant to be Strigoi.

After a day of rest and reflection, the sun finally sunk below the horizon and I ventured out into the night, taking a train back to retrieve the car I'd abandoned, before travelling aimlessly north and following my instincts until I found myself at a familiar turn-off in the mountains. The Torma Estate. Mum and Dad would never understand the choice I'd made, never accept me for who I was now, but they were still my parents and I had to let them know I was okay before I cut them out of my life forever. Strangely, nobody was home when I stopped in at the chalet so I took the ring from my finger and left it on Mum's pillow, stooping over the bed to greedily breathe in the sweet moroi scent that instantly made me salivate and I actually heard my stomach grumble. Stop! I commanded myself, recoiling in horror at my involuntary reaction. How could I possibly find this smell inviting? She was my mother for God's sake - I didn't want to eat her. I wasn't a monster. I hurried out of the house and sped back towards Seattle, resolving never to return. After all, the city was teeming with careless humans, and I was sure I could find somebody for lunch that wouldn't make me feel so guilty afterwards.

When I'd been in Seattle about a month I finally felt I was getting the hang of my new life. I spent my days in the station clock-tower reading or sketching, then when the sun finally set I usually headed downstairs to find some breakfast. There was an unused balcony on the second floor of the train station that looked out over a period-style waiting room and it had become a nightly ritual for me to gaze out over the unsuspecting passengers as I selected my meal. It wasn't that different to using feeders like I had when I was a moroi, only now there was a broader selection to choose from and if I felt particularly thirsty there was nobody there to stop me from drinking my fill.

Looking down at the crowd of people in the waiting room tonight, my eyes shifted carefully over each face. Their expressions didn't mean anything to me - all I saw was threat or prey. There was a young man slouched on an old-fashioned bench seat with his back to me, playing with his phone while music blasted through the headphones in his ears - prey. A couple of old ladies sharing a newspaper as they filled in the crossword puzzle - prey. A muscular man in his late-thirties dressed like he was on his way home from the gym - prey.

Wait... what was that amazing smell? It was so much brighter than the bland human scent that wafted up from the waiting-room below me. I turned my head and breathed deeply to confirm my suspicions. Moroi - the ultimate prey. I hadn't tasted moroi since my first kill back at St Vladimir's medical centre - it still weirded me out a bit, as if draining a person from my own birth-race would somehow make me a cannibal, but tonight I thought I might make an exception. My mouth began to salivate as the delicious aroma came steadily closer and my eyes widened with anticipation as a tall, blonde girl emerged from a dimly lit corridor to my right and walked quickly to the elevator. It would only take a few seconds and my lips would be on her neck, but just as I moved out from the shadows, the elevator doors opened and a young dhampir stepped out with her silver stake drawn. Threat? I slunk back against the wall to observe.

'What the hell, Lissa? What did you just do?' the dhampir sounded angry and afraid as she lowered the stake, grabbing her friend by the elbow and punching the 'down' button as she waited impatiently for the lift to return from the ground level. 'Remember what Miss Karp said the night of the raven – it's dangerous to use your magic. What were you doing up here anyway? I just turned around to pay for our tickets and suddenly you were gone. You can't run off like that – what if there was a strigoi lurking around?'

'Well, there wasn't, Rose,' the moroi replied haughtily. 'It was just a guardian, but I've taken care of him now. I only needed to use a little bit of compulsion to wipe his memory so he won't be a problem for us anymore. See? I'm not completely useless when it comes to self-defence.' The girl looked almost proud of herself and her face shone with the brief afterglow that came from using spirit magic.

'Shit, Lissa. I'm here to protect you, not the other way around. Just tell me before you take off next time, okay?' her friend pleaded and there was a bing as the elevator doors opened again and both girls disappeared inside.

I considered following them, enticed by the glorious moroi scent, but another smell drew me off in the direction of the corridor that the tall girl had just exited. It was familiar somehow - earthy and salty - and I gravitated towards it like a moth to a flame. There was a man standing half-way down the hallway looking lost and slightly bewildered, but he must have sensed my presence because he glanced back and noticed me standing in the doorway. The moment I saw his face I froze in disbelief - it was Mikhail.

The memories of our months together came flooding back all at once and I took a step closer, my senses lighting up as I breathed in his musky fragrance. I'd loved this man, I'd seen his face in my dreams. For one stolen night I'd taken him as my own, and suddenly here he was. Except of course, everything was different now - he wasn't my lover anymore; he was a dhampir guardian and I was his prey - threat. I dropped to a defensive crouch as his hand flew to the stake at his hip, but he paused before drawing his weapon and I couldn't miss the look of desperation on his face as he recognised me too.

Realising he wasn't going to attack immediately, I ranged closer, stepping lightly down the hallway towards him without losing eye-contact. There were things that needed to be said between us and I didn't want to scare him away. When I was nearly in line with him I heard Mikhail let out a slow breath and his heart rate accelerated in wary anticipation, but I stepped past him carefully and continued on towards a door at the end of the corridor that led up into my clock-tower abode, pausing to beckon him inside before skipping up the stairs. Heavy footsteps followed me higher and higher but I only stopped when I reached the top floor, standing with the cool light of the clock-face behind me and listening as my pursuer's breathing became laboured before he finally emerged onto the wooden landing.

'Sonya,' he whispered, staring at me with a mixture of pain and longing that I couldn't resist a moment longer.

'Mikhail,' I closed the distance between us in a second and launched myself at him, wrapping my legs around his waist and kissing him with an unquenchable passion. I felt him respond to my lips but he stumbled backwards against the wall, turning his face from my mine.

'No!' he shrugged away from me, trying to release himself from my grip but there was no way he was strong enough to escape.

'Just relax, Misha. It's me,' I assured him, letting my lips wander down his neck, greedily tasting his skin and pressing myself against him, relishing the subtle changes in his body as he became aroused despite himself. His breathing came in short gasps as the hairs stood up on the back of his neck and I thrilled at the sound of his low sigh when I unbuttoned the top of his shirt. The overwhelming scent of dhampir blood prickled at the back of my nose and I shifted the fabric aside curiously.

'You smell so good,' I murmured, deftly tearing the bandages from his shoulder and lowering my lips to kiss the bruised, half-knitted flesh under his collar bone. Mikhail never told me how badly he'd been injured and I wished I'd been there to protect him from his enemies - maybe I could have even healed him with my spirit magic. The pulse that throbbed in Misha's neck only inches from my mouth was tempting to say the least, but I had no real desire to feed on him. All I wanted was to be close to him, to take comfort and pleasure in his body. I ran my tongue slowly over the long wound in the hope that the enzymes in my saliva would quicken his healing, while simultaneously delivering a concentrated dose of endorphins into his system to take away any pain he might be experiencing.

Something hard came between us and I pulled back in shock as I became aware of the stake pressed against my heart. 'What are you doing, Misha?' I asked, hurt that he didn't trust me. Only a few weeks ago he had promised to love me, never to leave me. Surely a little thing like a change in eye-colour wasn't enough to make him go back on his word?

'You need to stop,' he pleaded roughly, and I felt the tip of his stake push through the outer layer of my clothes. 'You aren't the real Sonya. My Sonechka is gone and I can't let you run around killing more people in her name.'

I backed off slightly, seeing the determination in his eyes, but the overpowering scent of his pheromones told me the truth - Mikhail wanted me as much as I wanted him.

'I get it, Misha...so you want to play?' I teased him, twisting away to race up the spiral stairs in front of the clock face. Leaping from the top step, I jumped down onto his back, clinging on like a monkey as he struggled to dislodge me. The guardian waved his stake about ineffectively while I contented myself by raking my fingernails over his chest, burying kisses in the back of his hair. Desperate to regain control of the situation Mikhail changed his strategy, suddenly rushing backwards to smash me against the metal scaffolding that lined the walls of the small room and the unexpected impact jolted me from his back. I flipped easily up onto my feet and smiled as he advanced once more, admiring his persistence even though he was still clearly favouring his left arm.

Unperturbed by my lover's constant attempts to kill me, I found myself strangely turned-on by the violent nature of our encounter and dodged each flurry excitedly, circling closer and closer until I was less than a foot away, dancing just out of Mikhail's reach as he made each fresh attempt. When there was no strength left in his strikes I stepped right up to him, taking hold of his wrists and kissing his lips demandingly, gazing into his eyes as he continued to struggle against my advances.

'Give up, darling,' I hissed into his ear. 'You're no match for me. I'm in charge now.'

He stiffened in my arms and his scent become bitter with the hint of fear as I trailed my fangs over his skin. 'Don't be afraid, Misha - I'm not going to kill you,' I assured him. 'I've just waited so long and now I mean to have you all to myself.'

Eventually I felt him give in to my kisses and he relaxed into my embrace, the silver stake clattering to the floor unnoticed as he gripped my waist with both hands and drew me hard against his hips, his tongue moving urgently against my own. A second later I pushed the dhampir roughly against the nearest wall and my fingers worked to loosen his belt buckle while he fumbled at the buttons on my shirt, whispering my name over an over as he nuzzled into my neck.

Now I finally had his trust there was nothing else to hold us back. I let out an excited snarl as he lifted me up and carried me to sit on the staircase, hovering over me so closely I could see the desperate longing etched on his face. Pushing my blouse and jacket back to expose my breasts, he ran his hand over the sheer fabric of my bra, fondling the pink fleshy peaks that stood out clearly through the lace as he worshipped my body like he had that night in my apartment. I dragged him closer and ripped the shirt from his back, shivering with pleasure at the sight of him. It had been far too long since I'd seen him like this and I didn't plan to ever be separated from him again.

My arousal was almost unbearable and my whole body pulsed with desire as Misha came closer to kiss the furrow between my breasts, but just then another reaction began to surface too and I realised the heat in his blood was becoming too much for me to resist. 'Maybe a little bite, sweetheart,' I whispered. 'It won't hurt - I promise,' I added, closing my eyes in anticipation as he lifted his head from its hiding place.

I went to reach my hand out and draw his neck to my lips but found that my arm didn't move. My eyes flashed open in confusion and I realised that Mikhail had looped my wrist through the wrought iron bars of the staircase railing, essentially hooking me to the bannister and trapping me in place.

'I love you, Sonya,' he whispered brokenly as he leant over me, gripping my other wrist firmly and reaching for a second stake he had hidden in his back pocket before lining it up with my heart, 'but my Sonechka would never want me to be her blood whore. You aren't her. You never will be.'

I reefed my body sideways at the last second and the stake glanced awkwardly off my shoulder, slipping from Mikhail's grip. His split-second hesitation was enough of an advantage for me to free myself from the bannister and flip my attacker onto his back, straddling him to pin him down.

'That's not the way you show a girl you love her,' I whispered coarsely, my chest heaving as I fought off the tears. Of all people, I thought Mikhail would have understood why I had to turn strigoi - that he would have loved me regardless of who or what I was. 'I guess your love isn't deep enough to see past the monster you think I am,' I choked out, letting the bitter tears fall as I beat his chest with my balled hands in frustration and regret before I gradually became aware that he was crying too.

'I'm so sorry, Sonechka,' he reached a hand up to stroke my cheek. 'I failed you. I failed to protect you and now I've found you again I can't see a way for us to be together.'

I lowered myself carefully to rest my head on his chest, listening to his frantic heartbeat.

'I'm sorry too, Misha,' I admitted sadly. 'I promised to be strong until you returned but I couldn't bear the darkness any longer - this was the only way to make it stop.'

He ran his fingers through my hair in truce, and we held one-another quietly for a long time before I finally lifted my head to speak. 'Well, darling. If I can't change back into a moroi and you can't bear to be with me as a strigoi then I can't see any other option.'

The dhampir instantly tensed beneath me and his expression contorted with fear and suspicion, probably assuming I planned to turn him.

'Ssh,' I assured him as I placed a finger to his lips and pressed my mouth against his forehead one last time. I wasn't sure how effective my compulsion would be compared to when I had spirit magic, but I'd already used it plenty of times on humans to varying degrees of success and figured it was worth a try. I spoke softly and clearly, gazing intently into Misha's eyes as I willed him to trust in my words.

'You came to Seattle to find me but I wasn't here. This was all a dream. Leave this city and forget you ever saw me, but remember I will love you always,' I watched as he resisted the compulsion and felt a rush of relief when his eyes eventually glazed over and he nodded slowly in understanding.

'I love you Sonechka. I wish this wasn't a dream,' he murmured, reaching up to touch my face.

I lowered my lips to his for the briefest second than turned and ran, hurrying down the steps of the clock-tower before I lost my resolve, willing myself not to return to the man who had once meant everything to me. Misha had already sacrificed so much for me and now it was my turn to make a sacrifice for him. He deserved a chance at a life and a future. I had to let him go.

Author's Note:

I knew I wanted Sonya & Mikhail to meet up while Sonya was Strigoi, but had to find a way to make sure Mikhail thought he never found her to stay true to the books. This was the neatest way I could imagine. I felt it was important to give Sonya some of her own character - not just a rough Strigoi stereotype, so she does have emotions and self-control, but she's still a lot tougher than she was in Moroi form. This kind of reflects how Rose & Dimitri found her at her blue house - still gardening, etc. like she wan't quite as intoxicated by the primal Strigoi nature as Dimitri was.

Throwing Rose & Lissa into the mix was more of a last minute decision but really glad I included them.

Having never been to Seattle, it was fun researching a bit about the city to discover the King Street Station location - such a pretty building if you want to look it up.