It decided to rain that night. Rain, I think, being an understatement. The sky opened up and poured out all of it's tears. The walls shook whenever thunder boomed, and lightning forked the sky periodically. I sat in Lissa's room with Jill, Christian, and Dimitri. I was pretending to be strong, pretending that I wasn't hurting from my argument with Adrian. I was still worn out from the tears, and I really didn't want to do much of anything, but I had to get my mind off of him. And I had to do something that would help me, since I'd been neglecting the fact that I was the prime suspect in a murder and treason case. I had sat back and let other people dictate my future far too long; It was time to take action on my own behalf. Only problem was, we didn't even know where to begin.

We were a motley crew at best. Christian was still brooding over the knowledge that his aunt was going to have a child by some Dhampir he didn't really know. Jill was absorbed by the rain, fascinated with watching the lightning in the sky. Dimitri kept watching me, giving me that worried look, because he knew me well enough to see that I was not entirely OK. And my thoughts kept turning back to Adrian. But I had to focus.

"We know that there are two wills." I said, the first person to speak in a while. They all looked up at me, surprised.

"I'm so glad you know how to count, Rose." Christian mocked. "If only you could count higher than two, you'd realize you've already said that about ten times."

I gave him the most evil look I could manage before going on. "One is real, therefore the other must be fake."

"How are you so sure?" Christian asked. "What if one is more recent than the other? What if they're both real, one's just out-dated?"

"Even if that is true," I made it obvious that I didn't think it was. "Only one will be honored. We need to look at this from an investigative standpoint."

"Ok, sherlock, what have you got?" I looked up at Christian. If looks could kill, he'd be dead by now.

"Look at the wills. One leaves Adrian with all the queen's money, Nathan with her seat on the Royal Court, Lissa with God-knows-what, and me with a bunch of classified letters. The other leaves everything to Nathan."

"Way to state the obvious." Christian muttered. I looked at Dimitri, and he could see the warning in my eyes. I wanted him to be ready. If I tried to hurt Christian, I would need him to be able to react quickly. With my mood as dark as it was, I wouldn't put it past myself to jump on him and start punching next time he made another snide remark.

"Who stands to gain the most from either will?" I asked. Jill looked over at me, and I returned her look, giving her permission to speak.

"I think Nathan would get the most benefit from the queen dying if the court-honored will were true." She said, her voice timid. But it made sense.

"And if it weren't true…" I prompted.

"Then he has the most to lose." Jill finished, looking proud of herself.

"And if the will Christian found were the real one, then nobody stands to gain everything. The share is equal, split between four people. The blame if that one were false would also be split between four people."

Dimitri was smart, exceptional even, but he couldn't see where I was going with this. "You mean six? Tasha and Ambrose signed that one as witnesses."

"And somebody would have had to bear witness to the other will, too. But when it is discovered one is fake, the heat won't be on the witnesses. Say the one Christian found is fake. What do Tasha and Ambrose have to gain from that will? Nothing. The heat will fall on us. Same thing with the other will. Whoever signed it wouldn't be someone who would seem to gain anything from Nathan's inheritance. All the heat would fall on Nathan."

"But then why would anyone risk it?"

"Because they aren't smart enough to see that it's their ass on the line." I said, happy that the pieces were coming together for me. "Tasha and Ambrose were worried about going to jail if the court won't honor the version they signed. But they wouldn't be under suspicion. I would. And Adrian."

"I don't get it." Jill said quietly. I looked around at the faces of my friends, and I could tell they were thinking things similar to what she had just voiced.

"If Nathan's will is the fake one, and I'm pretty sure it is, then whoever signed it as the witness was manipulating him. If the will was discovered to be fake, Nathan would be locked up. He would take the fall. But I bet Nathan didn't think that. He probably thought that whoever signed the will would take the fall."

"Who signed the will?"

"I don't know." I frowned. I hadn't even known about the second will until this morning when Dimitri had told me about it. But I could still speculate.

"Daniella stands to gain the most from setting Nathan up." Christian mused.

I couldn't contain my laughter. "Daniella? She wouldn't do something like this. She's smart, but not manipulative."

"Who else would do that?" Jill asked.

"Who is manipulative?" I clarified.

"Maybe one of Nathan's guardians." Christian proposed. Dimitri shot him an angry look.

"No." I dismissed the idea. "It would be somebody closer to him. Somebody closer to the crown. Another royal."

"Victor Dashkov?" Jill suggested. She was trying to be helpful, and I was grateful, but I didn't believe that he knew Nathan all too well. I nodded for Jill's benefit and sighed.

"I know." Christian said. His voice still had it's usual mocking quality, and so I was ready to dismiss the idea before he even said it. But when he opened his mouth, it was actually something plausible. "Damon Tarus."

As I thought about the idea and let it sink in, my excitement started to grow. It was a workable idea. Damon had been a lawyer; he would know that the heat would fall on the person designated in the will. He could have manipulated Nathan into the belief that it was risk free. After all, with his high status as a lawyer, who would suspect him of doing anything underhanded? Add in the fact that he had been related to the family of the Queen by marriage, and he would not be suspect at all. It would be easy for them to believe that they could get away with whatever they wanted off the premise of their Royal blood and status. As a lawyer, it was also no stretch that he would have access to legal documents. He could have made that will up in his office, doctoring it to make it look official. He would know better than most what an official will looked like. I recalled how he had slammed his laptop shut when I went to his office. I hadn't thought much of it then, but in light of my recent suspicions, it was a mark in my favor.

"That's it!" I exclaimed, excited. "I wouldn't put that past him!" I looked at Dimitri. He seemed hesitant, clearly not as excited by the prospect as myself.

"Ok, let's say that were true." He said, no indication of conviction in his voice. "How would you prove that? Damon is dead."

"I remember." I said coldly. I didn't intend that coldness for Dimitri, but the mention of Damon being dead only served as a reminder that Mia was gone too. Her death was still recent, a wound that hadn't healed. "There's bound to be something in his office that will incriminate him."

"His office? His office is a crime scene. Never mind the fact that you can't get in there, it's not a good place for you to be seen."

"Nobody will be there at night." I reasoned. "I'll go now. Nobody will see me, and it will give me all the time I need to find something important. Besides, who's going to go out in this rain?"

"Don't think about it, Rose." Dimitri said warily. But his voice was solid, like there was no room for changes. "I'm not going to let you get out there and do something that will only hurt you."

"This won't hurt me!" I insisted. "I need to go get whatever I can. If we can prove that Damon and Nathan were falsifying documents, then it might give us a bigger window. Maybe that's not all they're capable of! Maybe they killed the queen!" I was standing, fire burning in my veins at the possibilities. Even the tiniest indication that they were involved in underhanded dealings could open up a door to other ideas. This was the first step in clearing my name, and I was going to take it.

Dimitri stood as well. "I can't let you risk something like that."

I fixed him with a hard look. "My life is not yours to control." I told him. "I am going to do what is best for me. Whether you help or not is up to you."

"Rose…" I crossed my arms, stubbornly. He wasn't going to break through my walls this time. I loved him, yes. I would do anything for him, yes. But this was about me. This was my shot to call. I wouldn't let him hold me back from this. "Fine. I'm going with you."

I nodded, looking to Christian, who was also on his feet. "Wait." I told him. "You need to stay here with Jill."

Christian's expression turned sour at the idea of being on babysitting duty. "Jill's a big girl. She can take care of herself here."

"Did you forget about the squirrel incident?" I reminded him. Dimitri looked at me, inquiringly, and I made a mental note to fill him in on that. "Somebody is breaking into this room. Two somebody's, since Ambrose got in here to steal the will. You would leave her unprotected?"

"You're the guardian, Rose. You should be looking after her."

"I have to look after myself, just this once." I told Christian. "This is Lissa's little sister. If you want to leave her here alone, you can deal with the consequences. The guilt can hang over your head."

Jill's face aptly displayed her irritation. "I'm right here, so can we quit pretending I'm not? I'll be fine. You guys go ahead, and I'll wait here like a helpless little girl."

"Jill…" I sighed. "I don't want you to wait here alone."

"Nobody knows who I am. It won't make a difference. The worst that will happen is somebody will come in and tell me I'm not allowed to be in Lissa's room."

"I agree that you shouldn't stay here by yourself." Dimitri said, making Jill turn pink. It probably made her feel incapable, having him more or less command her to stay there.

"So then I'll come." Jill suggested. "I could even fight off the rain and you guys won't get wet."

"Jill, you are staying here. But not alone."

"Well, then I could have Jesse come over." I looked at Christian, making my point. I'm sure that even without some kind of bond, he could hear my thoughts. Would you rather her stay here and invite Zeklos over? Christian grimaced.

"Fine. I'll stay here with jailbait."

"Don't give me that!" Jill said, saucily. "I don't want you to stay here any more than you do."

"We'll be back soon. Try not to kill each other." I begged, my eyes falling on Christian. He stuck his hand up in the OK symbol, and I was quick to get out the door before they could change their minds. I explained the whole squirrel situation to Dimitri as we headed out the building. "That's why I don't want her being alone."

"Somebody is threatening Jill?" Dimitri asked, giving me a sideways glance.

"No. Somebody is threatening me. And I think I know who it is."

"Victor?"

"Bingo. You remember those dead animals he left on Lissa's bed when you were her guardian?"

"I thought you said that was him trying to trick her into using spirit?"

"It was." I agreed.

"So what's his motive this time?"

"To let me know he's here." I suggested. "Or else to let me know he set me up. The necklace, and now a squirrel? Maybe he wants to talk to me or something."

"Maybe it was meant for Jill." Dimitri said. I was about to ask him what he meant by that, but we had reached the exit of the apartment building. We would have to run through the onslaught of rain to get to Damon's office as dry as possible, and that would leave no room for idle chit chat.

We exchanged a knowing glance and Dimitri flung the door open. We ran out into the night. I wasn't really worried about being seen. Most moroi and their guardians were in bed by now, and nobody sensible would be out in this inclement weather. The sun was pretty much gone between the clouds and the rain, so even those who were accustomed to staying up late would be hiding inside. We ran through the rain, dodging the torrential downpour as best we could. The rain made the ground slick, and so we had to be careful of our footing. We were both in excellent shape, despite our lack of conditioning. I looked over at him as I ran, longing for the training sessions I had once despised. When this was all over, I would have to ask him if we could try those practices again.

My lack of attention cost me. I missed the fact that the Earth had softened, and I slid into the mud, falling face first. Dimitri stopped and waited for me as I picked myself up off the ground. Through the cascade of rain I couldn't see his face, but I was sure he must be laughing. As I was righting myself, I noticed something jutting out of the ground. My curiosity overwhelmed my better judgment, and I reached out for it with both hands. The rain had softened the Earth enough to make my removal easy.

I cleared the mud away from the spot and gave it a firm tug. It came free of the ground, and I held it up to see what it was. A fork of lightning touched down close to me, illuminating the sky enough for me to see the object clearly. I should have known what it was by the feel of it in my hand, the way it's contours fit perfectly into my palm, but I was so surprised to see what it was that I dropped it. Dimitri had doubled back to me by now, and his curiosity got the better part of him too. He bent down and retrieved the object from the ground, holding it up so the rain could wash the mud away. His eyes connected with mine when he could see clearly what it was, and the unspoken question between us hung in the air.

Dimitri handed it to me wordlessly, and I could only stare at it in astonishment, turning it over in my hand. I could feel the pattern etched near the top as I ran my finger over it. A nausea planted itself in my stomach as I held it. I didn't concern myself with questions. I pocketed the object and we ran the rest of the way to the shelter Damon's office would provide.

Once we got to the office, the doors were still unlocked. Since the whole first floor was only a lobby, there was really no need to lock the doors leading in. The only doors that needed locking were the individual doors leading to separate offices. I flicked the light on and saw it dance off of the silver. I looked up at Dimitri distrustfully, affirming the question he hadn't yet asked. "It's my stake."

a/n: i'm so tired, i'm gonna leave it at that ;) tell me your thoughts and you know i am happy to here them. love, bellec