It seemed like Dimitri definitely kept his promise at "settling the situation" in training. Our training the next morning was brutal. I was dripping sweat, very un-Moroi like, and Eddie kept urging me on. Fighting with Dimitri with someone else in the room set my body on fire. I wanted so badly to be able to touch him playfully, tease him like we did in private but that was impossible with Eddie watching. So our fighting was more intense than ever before, our legs and arms were locking around each other in a sort of wrestling match as we tried to get the upper-hand on the other and both of us were panting. Finally, Dimitri had his legs wrapped around my chest as his back was pressed against the mat on the floor and I groaned.

"Come on Rose, get out of that hold!" Eddie shouted at me and I groaned louder, trying to flip Dimitri and me over so I could get out of his hold. I let my Fire run through me and to my finger tips, which were on Dimitri's calves as I tried to push him off me, and soon smelled burning cotton.

Dimitri yelped, releasing his hold on me and I stood up triumphantly, smiling. "Rose! That could've ended badly!" Dimitri said, frustrated.

"Oh please, I had it under control, comrade. Can we please end this?" I said as I bent over, catching my breath.

"Yes, you would've lost anyway for using your magic," he said with a smirk.

"Hey!" I said in reply and Eddie laughed.

"It is kind of unfair, Rose," Eddie said with hands raised and I raised my palm with sparks of flames starting. Eddie raised his hands higher and looked scared for a second. I laughed and rolled my eyes, turning around to Dimitri.

"Dimitri has god-like dhampir strength while I have fire at my fingertips, I'd call that pretty damn even," I said as I slid on my St. Vladimir's hoodie over my sports bra and tied my hair up in a messy bun.

Eddie smirked and walked beside me, carrying my backpack for me as my limbs felt a bit like jelly. When we got to my bedroom, Eddie and Dimitri stood guard outside like every morning as I showered. My shower was scolding hot and my sore limbs thanked me. Suddenly, I felt a jolt of panic run through me. But it wasn't my panic, it was Adrian's. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath as I tried to see into his mind but I hadn't gotten the hang of being able to see into his mind whenever I wanted to. It only happened randomly.

"Dammit!" I said and got out of the shower, calling Adrian and just getting his voicemail. I knew he was okay, but he was scared, and that was unlike Adrian.

I dressed quickly in fleece lined black leggings, an oversized cream knit sweater, brown knee high boots and a Tiffany blue colored beanie. I opened my bedroom door and told Eddie what I'd seen. Dimitri had already left to the guardian's offices and I wish he was here with me.

"Let's head over to his room, see if he's there," he said calmly and I nodded.

We began walking over towards Adrian's guest room when Lissa ran from the same direction and straight to us.

"Rose!" she said and she looked a bit scared. Mason was jogging behind her and seemed like he didn't know what was going on. "There's been an attack at the Court. Somehow humans got past the guards during the day and they set fire to buildings and there's a bunch of Moroi and even guardians with severe burns and it's been chaos. They've flown in a bunch of guardians from surrounding areas and the Court is more guarded than before, so it's calmed down, but there's a lot of injured. Tatiana got word of how good Adrian and I did with healing people during the Strigoi attack and she's asked us to fly over there to assist with healing."

"What? She's flying you just to heal people?"

"They need us Rose, it's chaos over there."

"All the more reason why you should stay here, where it's safe," I said, disbelieving.

"We need to go, we'll be safe, I promise," she said, but she looked scared.

"Okay, I'll go pack a bag," I said, turning to go back to my room.

"No, Rose. I asked Tatiana, so did Adrian, but it's too dangerous to have you go with us, we can't risk your life when you don't have a reason to be out there," Lissa grabbed my hand and I felt myself calming down.

"Don't use your crazy compulsion on me to calm me down, Liss," I said, frustrated and pulled my hand from hers. "I don't want you guys going without me."

"We don't have a choice and neither do you," she said sadly and hugged me tight. "Adrian's packing and I need to go finish too, we'll be leaving in less than an hour. We'll be back as soon as possible, love you."

"Love you too," I said and sighed. She and Mason waved at Eddie and walked past us to go to her room. I walked to Adrian's door and knocked. He opened his door and he smiled sadly at me.

"Little Fireball," he said and pulled me into his room and into a hug.

I hugged him back, "Are you sure I can't go with you?"

"You ran into Lissa, I assume?" he asked and I nodded, pulling myself from our hug and sitting on the couch with Eddie as Adrian continued with his packing. "I asked my aunt, she said it was too big of a risk having you go. Lissa and I are just going to go use some Spirit, heal some people and get right back to our lives."

"If you say so," I said with a small smile and couldn't stop the anxiety from pounding in my chest.

Classes were canceled because a lot of students' family members were at the Court and everyone was too worried to focus on school, including the staff.

I was sitting in my room with Eddie as Dimitri stood outside my door again as my guardian because they were afraid the Academy may be attacked again when I felt another jolt of panic, but this one was different. It was laced with heart-wrenching fear and I jumped up from the bed. Something was wrong with Adrian and Liss.

Suddenly, I was in a car flipped on its roof in a snow-filled ditch and I was looking at an unconscious Lissa with blood running down her temple leaning against a panting Mason.

"Are you okay?" Mason asked Adrian, before trying to shake Lissa awake.

"Yeah, I'm okay," Adrian said with a gasp as he unbuckled himself and felt a sharp pain in his side. There was a shard of glass from the window in his abdomen and he pulled it out slowly, screaming in pain. He threw it outside the broken window and crawled beside Mason, helping him unbuckle Lissa, who hadn't awakened yet. Mason kicked at the door as hard as he could and it flew open. Just as Adrian was about to crawl through the open door, a body appeared, then a face came into the light. I screamed in my own body I realized that the face didn't belong to a guardian. It was Aleksander's face. It was terrifying. His skin was pale, almost as white as the snow, his eyes ringed with deep red and his mouth was open wide to show fangs already dripping with blood. He must've bitten into the guardians that were driving.

This wasn't just any car accident. It was an attack, most likely acted out by Aleksander and his pack of Strigoi. Aleksander reached forward and pulled Adrian out, tossing him on the snow-covered ground like he weighed nothing. He reached towards Mason, who was reaching for his practice stake in his coat pocket. When Aleksander saw it, he laughed without emotion and grabbed Mason and slammed his head against the side of the car, knocking him out. He reached for Lissa, who was still unconscious and cradled her like she was a precious item and dragged Mason out as another Strigoi grabbed Adrian and dragged them towards an SUV. Adrian began struggling in the Strigoi's arms and the Strigoi seemed to get annoyed, so he hit his fist against Adrian's head. Suddenly, there was a blinding pain and I was pushed out of Adrian's head as he was also knocked unconscious.

I was back in my room at the Academy and I had tears streaming down my face. Dimitri was on his knees in front of me on the floor and he was holding my hands between his, repeating my name. When he saw my eyes focus on his, he sighed with relief.

"Roza, what's happened? Is Adrian alright?" he asked, worried.

I shook my head, not knowing where to begin as my overwhelmed mind kept the tears flowing. I was sobbing and I didn't know what else to say. "I saw… Adrian and Lissa… And Mason…" I thought of all three of them unconscious with heartless, terrifying Strigoi who were taking them who knows where and I began sobbing again.

Dimitri placed his hands on either side of my face, "Breathe, breathe with me." He began breathing in and breathing out and I struggled to match him. After a minute of deep breathing, I had finally calmed down and could speak again.

"They were in a car accident, I guess on the way to the airport to fly to Court," I said. "But I don't think it was an accident, Aleksander showed up and kidnapped Lissa, Adrian and Mase. I didn't hear any other guardians, I don't think whoever was accompanying them lived."

Dimitri ran his hand through my hair with one hand and got his phone out to call other guardians, I assumed. I sniffled and looked around to see that only Eddie remained in my room. He looked between Dimitri and me, realizing what was going on. I was too distraught to care, and I knew he wouldn't tell anyone.

"Is Mason okay?" Eddie asked, obviously worried for his best friend.

I shook my head, tears starting again, "I don't know, Aleksander knocked him unconscious and then he did the same to Adrian and I couldn't see anything anymore."

Eddie put his head into his hands and I looked at Dimitri, who was pacing outside my door and on the phone with someone, talking quickly.

A few minutes later, Dimitri walked back into my room and sat beside me in my bed. "It's my fault," I said shakily.

"No, Roza, of course it's not," Dimitri replied in a whispered voice.

"Aleksander is after me, not them," I said sternly.

"Aleksander is after all royals," Eddie said, trying to make me feel better.

"And I'm his number one prize," I said with a sigh. "He must know Adrian brought me back after the attack, he must know we're bonded now. And of course he knows Lissa is my best friend, along with Mason they're the perfect bait to get me to him."

"Good thing you won't be falling for that bait," Dimitri said. "You will stay here and let the guardians take care of this situation."

"Dimitri, you can't possibly think I won't be joining you all to go rescue three of the most important people in my life," I said angrily, standing up.

"I do think so, there's no way I would ever risk your life in a situation like that. Especially taking you into a, what will most likely be, a den of Strigoi! I don't want a repeat of the last time you encountered Aleksander, he killed you last time."

"But—" I started to say and I was quickly interrupted by Dimitri.

"Enough, Rose! This conversation is over," he said and turned to Eddie. "Watch her, don't let her leave. We'll be sending another guardian to guard your room, Rose. Don't you dare think about sneaking out, I will not lose you again."

Dimitri walked out, almost slamming the door and I screamed angrily, the tears beginning once again. Eddie came to sit beside me on my bed and I rested my head on his shoulder, wrapping an arm around me.

"I feel so helpless, Eddie, I feel like I need to go get them, wherever they are," I said and covered my face with my hands, not wanting my tears to continue falling.

"I know, we will. We'll figure something out Rose, I promise," he said with confidence. And for some reason, I believed him.

Eddie and I eventually fell asleep on my bed, me under the covers and him on top of them. I woke up with a gasp and sat up as I was pulled into Adrian's head again.

Adrian looked around and I see that the three of them are in some sort of basement, and all three are tied up. Lissa is finally awake, as is Mason and my heart swells with relief. They're alive, that I know for sure.

Adrian was hurt though, his head was pounding.

"Adrian, do you know if you can alert Rose somehow?" Mason asked and Adrian shook his head.

"It's a one way bond," Adrian replied and Lissa turned her head to them.

"I'm sure she knows something's wrong though, she must've alerted someone already," Lissa said and I smile a little. Of course I have, Liss!

The door to the basement is slammed open and Aleksander walks, no, he struts in. He's smiling, as much as Strigoi can smile, with empty eyes and he paces in front of my friends.

"Adrian Ivashkov… How nice to see you again," Aleksander said and kneeled in front of Adrian. "I've heard you have quite a bond with Rose. Is that true?"

Adrian said nothing and Aleksander continued his rant.

"I'm assuming by your silence, this is true. Good, she can see through your eyes at points, no? I do hope she's watching now," he said with a blank smile and looked into Adrian's eyes. "Hi Rose, I've missed you so much. You've certainly made me very angry; you are very hard to get to. Thankfully, your friends are much easier to get to. And they'll stay here until you come here and surrender to me." He stated an address and added, "Oh, and don't you dare tell any guardians where you're going when you do come, believe me, I will find out and all three of your friends will die."

"Don't do it Rose!" Mason shouted.

"Oh, don't listen to sweet little Mason, Rose. The longer you take, the quicker he dies. I do enjoy dhampir blood just a bit more than Moroi," Aleksander said and walked over to Mason, leaning forward and sinking his fangs into Mason's throat. Mason screamed and quieted soon as the endorphins from a Strigoi bite set in. Aleksander pulled away after a minute and patted Mason's head. "Good pet," he said with a humorless laugh and walked out.

I pulled myself out of his head and, breathing hard, told Eddie what I had just seen. And we began making a plan.

So what do you all think is going to happen? Please leave what you think may happen in your review! I'm having a blast writing so much, I can't wait for the next chapter!

XOXO,

Erica