"I didn't know if anyone would be here," Tatiana said as she lowered herself onto a sofa in her new home. During the week and a half they had detained her, they'd evicted her from her extensive suite of rooms in the palace. Her space declared 'property of the Moroi and Dhampir people' they had moved her personal belongings into an apartment along the same laneway occupied by Adrian and Ambrose. An identical three-level apartment to that her nephew enjoyed, the former Monarch was grateful they situated her residence beside Ambrose's and not Adrian's.

"I wanted to help you settle in," Ambrose said lightly.

Her eyes flitting around the room, Tatiana recognized he'd put considerable effort into making the space comfortable and familiar. Some smaller pieces of furniture from her former abode had been brought to the new dwelling, along with rugs, books, and pieces of art. It was all very her.

"That was kind of you," she murmured, unsettled by her change of living space but more so by her change of circumstances. Earlier Guardian Croft had visited her in the rooms where she'd been detained. He'd started by thanking her for her many years of service, stating the coup had not been a personal attack on Her Majesty, but a necessary amendment to a system of government that wasn't working for most of those it represented. Unfailingly civil, Tatiana listened as he explained that they would not allow her to live in her quarters at the palace, but in recognition of her service, an apartment on the edge of the palace had been furnished for her use.

As far as Tatiana was concerned, the way Croft spoke to her was contemptible. While they'd always had a cordial professional relationship, his previous interactions with her had been marked by distinct deference. Such was no longer the case. When detailing her new living arrangements, and the conditions surrounding her release, Croft had spoken to her as though he considered himself her equal! A Dhampir dictating terms to the Moroi Queen as though he had any right to!

Choosing not to tip her hand, Tatiana voiced the expected words of thanks, her mind already planning her next move. If Croft, Mazur, and the rest of their traitorous cadre thought she would allow centuries of Royal Moroi rule to end, they had another thing coming. She would settle in and bide her time, waiting for the perfect opportunity to right recent wrongs. One thing she'd learned from Mazur was that timing was everything!


"You don't feel used by our lunch with Lissa today?" Dimitri asked Rose when they returned from their lengthy meal with his wife's best friend. The food and conversation had been good, yet he still felt out of sorts. "If she'd wanted to catch up, we could have gone to their place…"

"She's in this position because of us," Rose chided, still feeling guilty about Lissa's displacement from the Royal Council and the timing surrounding it. "I don't care where we meet, and if it shows other Dhampir she cares, then why not?"

"She never wanted a public catch up like that before," Dimitri growled ominously, thinking every time they'd met over the years it was Rose traveling to Lissa, and usually in private. The Royal Princess had never gone out of her way to see Rose! He didn't doubt the friendship between Lissa and his mate, but sometimes he worried the young Royal Moroi expected too much of his Roza.

"Things were different, then," Rose argued. She sighed before she continued. "In the past, being public about our friendship would have done her more harm than good. I know Lissa needs to be seen with us to further her political aspirations - she hasn't made a secret of that! I believe she would be an asset to Moroi and Dhampir on the Representative Council, so if that means catching up where we can be seen, I don't have a problem with that. When I suggested Lissa run for the Council, I told her I'd help. I intend to stick to that promise."

"Ok," Dimitri said, holding his hands up in surrender, still prepared to say his piece. "I just don't want you to lose yourself in her endeavor! This is her battle, not ours!"

Appreciating this was probably about the topic her husband had raised this morning more than their meeting with Christian and Lissa, Rose placated her mate.

"Liss is my best friend. I will do whatever I can to help her achieve her purpose! I was lucky… I found my destiny the day we met. Lissa is what the Representative Council needs. We're stuck here until Baba leaves, anyway—let's play our part."

"It just feels like she is using her friendship with you," Dimitri growled.

"I don't see it that way," Rose said, lifting her eyebrows at her mate, still cursing she could not lift just one!


"Aunty! Can't say I ever expected to see you in my neck of the woods," Adrian drawled, standing aside to allow Tatiana access to his apartment.

When his mother Daniella visited him in the Guardian Headquarters, she'd informed him that the legal counsel they'd engaged on his behalf had recommended a full confession, an admission of guilt, and a public apology in return for a fine, probation, and a six-month good behavior bond. None of the family wanted a public trial, and witnesses, to bring further ignominy to the Ivashkov name and in a surprising move, Mazur had agreed to let it go provided Adrian apologized.

Acquiescing to his family's wishes, they had released Adrian the day before, and he wasted no time heading back to his home to get shitfaced. Part of his release meant he could no longer drink in public, for now, he was confined to drinking at home. Accordingly, he'd been imbibing non-stop since they had released him, making up for lost time. In her visit, Daniella also told Adrian about Tatiana's belongings being removed from the Royal chambers, relocated several apartments down from his own. Adequate housing for a Moroi playboy, it was quite the fall for a former Monarch, which is why he was unsurprised by his Aunt's visit. There were few people she could see, now, without losing face.

"It's just temporary," Tatiana declared, grabbing a crystal tumbler and pouring herself a generous glug of Adrian's best scotch. "Croft and Mazur will rue the day they ever took me on," she vowed, sinking into an armchair regarding her great-nephew speculatively.

"What do you have in mind?" Adrian asked, flopping opposite his Aunt. He honestly thought Mazur and Croft had done a number on her, but there was no harm to listening to what she planned. If his mother were to be believed, almost everyone, bar the Royal families, were supportive of the proposed new system of government. Fighting that seemed like a lost cause as far as he was concerned.

"Two people are heading this 'revolution,'" Tatiana said, voicing the last word with disgust. "Croft, and Mazur." Adrian nodded, standing to top up his glass. He honestly thought his Aunt was barking mad if she thought she could regain her sovereignty. Still, her ramblings were entertaining. "That being the case, it stands to reason that the solution lies with one of them."

"What do you mean?" Adrian pressed, lolling back on the sofa opposite his Aunt. "You won't be able to get to either of them; they're both too well protected."

"If not them, then maybe people they care for," Tatiana mused, thinking out loud. "Abe cares for Rosemarie and possibly Janine Hathaway. Plus, there's Croft's wife, Miranda…"

"Mirabelle," Adrian corrected. He'd only met the couple a few times, socially, yet even he knew Croft's mate's name. How his Aunt had worked alongside the man for years and didn't know it was beyond Adrian.

"Any of them could be the key," Tatiana continued ignoring Adrian's correction, "although I'd prefer to get to one or both of them, themselves."

"A lot of people are looking out for them," Adrian drawled laconically, not taking his Aunt's words seriously. In a virtual lockdown, thanks to the terms of his good behavior order, he was prohibited from leaving his apartment except for necessary events and even then, it would be in the presence of several Guardians. Initially alarmed at the prospect of months spent home alone, once he was assured of a steady supply of alcohol—and the promise he'd be allowed to have female visitors stay for as long as he wished—Adrian had resigned himself to six months spent primarily in his apartment. So while he really believed nothing his Aunt said, she was a diversion and as such he was prepared to listen to her thoughts.

"No one is ever that well protected," Tatiana rebutted. "There's always a chink in the armor—especially if you wait or pay enough."

"If you say so, Auntie," Adrian replied, not bothering to argue with his eldest ally. Sure, she was no longer their Queen, but as a senior member of the Ivashkov family, and a major player with access to the Ivashkov fortune, he would entertain the displaced Monarch's ramblings. Yes, she was clearly deluded that she could regain her status, but drinking alone was a melancholy activity. He'd endure the increasingly maudlin declarations of a cashed-up maiden Aunt; it was what both of them needed right now.


"How are you going with the candidate lists?" Abe asked a week after they had released Tatiana, wandering into the large room Rose had commandeered as her study in their house at Court. The expected backlash from Royal Moroi not yet occurring, Rose had co-opted Pavel to assist her in putting together the campaign statement from each candidate. Much like the information they'd sent out about the proposed governing structure, it would need to be translated, typeset, and posted out to Moroi and Dhampir all over the world along with the ballot papers.

"The Dhampir section is done," Rose said with a sigh. With only twelve confirmed Dhampir candidates running for the Representative Council, it wasn't hard to collate their information ready for the elections. The Moroi list was, however, proving problematic. It seemed every Royal family intended to run a candidate, but the 'who' varied from day to day. While they'd been able to secure the candidate statements from Lissa, Ariana and a few other Moroi, every day it seemed another Moroi wannabe would throw their hat into the ring. It was getting ridiculous, really! On the plus side, with the way the voting was to be conducted, it almost guaranteed a seven Dhampir / six Moroi Council.

To ensure equitable representation, the top six Dhampir and Moroi candidates, by number of votes, would serve on the council, the thirteenth Councilor being the seventh most popular Dhampir or Moroi—whoever had more votes. With so many Moroi running, it was likely it would dilute the Moroi vote between candidates. While nothing was stopping Dhampir voting for a Moroi candidate, or visa versa, all the initial feedback suggested Dhampir and Guardians were eager to use their vote to elect Dhampir representatives.

"The deadline for submissions for those running is tomorrow," Abe reminded his daughter. Like him, she wanted this done and dusted so they could return to their lives outside Court. At one stage he'd worried Rose might want to stay and play a part in the new Moroi and Dhampir world, but a discussion several days before put that thought to rest.

"I know," Rose grumbled. "I don't suppose you've convinced a few Moroi not to run?" she asked hopefully. Known as the brains behind the emerging government, Abe's company had been popular with Moroi families and individuals hoping to run for a position on the Representative Council.

"The Ivashkov and Drozdov families have settled on Igor," Abe responded, pulling Nathan Ivashkov's candidate statement from where it was pinned on a corkboard, scrunching it and throwing it in the wastebasket near Pavel's feet. "And the Bransmar twins flipped a coin and decided that Phillipe would be the one to run."

"Great - so two less from what, forty?!"

"I guess we'll know tomorrow," Abe said, Dimitri's arrival in the room sparing him from a sarcastic retort from his daughter. With all the meetings Abe had to undertake in the last week, his trusted Guardian with him, Rose and Dimitri had been spending precious little time together. Used, as they were, to living and working in close quarters, the distance was unnerving them both.

"Let's call it a night," Pavel said, not wanting to witness another face-sucking interlude between his former boss's daughter and Guardian—especially when his own mate was still 'vacationing' in Mexico. If he was quick, he'd be able to Skype Karo and Zoya before the latter went to bed. His daughter in every way except biologically, Pavel wanted Zoya to know her Papa missed and loved her!

"Suits me," Rose said, her eyes locked with Dimitri's. Her mate looked tired, but after a day stuck inside, Rose had energy to burn. An early dinner, a massage, and then an evening of pleasuring her mate would do them both a world of good.

"Kiz—would you two like to join your mother and me for dinner? She has the evening off - we could go out somewhere?"

"Not tonight, Baba. I fancy a night in with takeout and my husband," Rose replied with a smirk, leaving her father and husband in no doubt as to her intentions. Abe grinned and looked to Dimitri, used to their antics.

"Happy wife, happy life," Dimitri replied, returning his father-in-law's smile.

"Fine. I'll take your mother out—you'll have the house to yourselves," Abe promised.

"What do you want to eat?" Rose asked Dimitri once they were alone. He'd eat almost anything put in front of him, but Rose wanted to pamper her husband, so it was his choice.

"Roast?" he replied hopefully, longing for a few slices of meat with gravy and a serve of vegetables.

"I saw a flyer for a carvery," Rose replied with a saucy grin, sauntering off to the kitchen and returning momentarily with a colorful piece of paper. "Chicken, beef, pork or lamb?" she asked.

"Pork. With crackle, applesauce, and all the sides," Dimitri replied, his mouth already watering thinking about his dinner. At Abe's, there was a housekeeper who usually cooked for them, and when she was unavailable Dimitri would usually prepare their meals. Rose's cooking skills still woefully limited, her go-to was usually takeout.

"I fancy roast lamb," Rose said, flipping out her phone, ordering a double serve of each. Food never went to waste with them, and she wanted her man full and comfortable ready for the night she had planned for him.

"It will be here in ten minutes," she cooed, walking over to where Dimitri sat on the sofa, gently sitting on his lap. Kissing her mate's neck and under his jaw gently, Rose pulled the tie from his hair, letting the dark strands fall loose beside his face to his chin. "Rough day?" she asked, using her fingernails to scratch his scalp, smiling as her man moaned softly at her erotic touch. Rose brought her lips to her husband's, enjoying the tender kisses she'd missed all day.

"Not too bad," Dimitri grumbled when he finally pulled his lips from hers. In Turkey, he'd become used to using his brain, not only his brawn. At Court, people still saw him as just a Guardian—a meat shield—so he had no role during Abe's meetings here other than providing a visual reminder than Mazur was protected. Sure, he and Abe spoke afterward, Rose's father appreciating his detailed observations and thoughts, but being back at Court reminded Dimitri of all the reasons he'd been so pleased to leave it in the first place. "Lots of stuffy Royals with no idea of life outside their insular, privileged worlds."

"I think I'd take that over a day with Pavel mooning over your sister," Rose teased. As an Alpha's mate herself, she fully got her brother-in-law's distress being away from Karolina; however, there were only so many times a day she could hear him wonder what she was doing!

"Your father still isn't convinced the Royals aren't planning something," Dimitri said, pulling back from his Roza with a sigh. "Tatiana, in particular, seemed to take this whole situation far too well. It will probably be another week or two before Mirabelle can return home and Pavel can rejoin Karolina and Zoya."

"Do you still want to spend a few weeks in Cancun?" Rose asked hopefully. A fortnight of sun, food, and no commitments sounded like bliss after their extended sojourn at Court. And if they were to discuss a home of their own, and possibly a family, time to themselves was a necessity.

"I can't wait!" Dimitri said, going to grab his wife for another kiss, but thwarted by a knock at the door.

"Food first," Rose said, playfully slapping Dimitri's outstretched hands away. She walked out of the room, adding a sexy swing to her hips. Dimitri's soft growl the only sign that, as she'd expected, her mate's eyes were fixed on her ass!


"Fuck," Dimitri moaned as Rose's hands roamed up the front of his shins to his knees. After a forty-five-minute massage of his shoulders, back, ass, and the backs of his legs, Rose told her man to roll over. Already sporting a semi, the second Dimitri saw his wife in nothing other than skimpy lace briefs and a matching bra, his cock was standing to attention like a soldier on the fourth of July! And for the last ten minutes, she'd been rubbing his feet, shins, and now his knees, intentionally ignoring the part of him that most needed her attention.

"Baby…?"

"I'm nearly there," Rose cooed, enjoying seeing her usually equanimous husband lose his cool. Still… he wasn't the only one wanting. It had been several days since they'd made love, and more than anything Rose wanted the thrill of her mate knotting within her as he flooded her cleft with his cum. "How about I start by sucking you?"

Spurred on by Dimitri's inarticulate grunt, Rose let her hands trail their way up Dimitri's thighs, rubbing the taut, sexy muscles as she made her way to her goal. Bobbing in front of her as she massaged his inner thighs, thumbs rubbing the skin on either side of his nuts, Rose finally felt sorry for her man, grabbing his turgid cock and stroking it once or twice before lowering her mouth to lick the weeping tip.

"Roza!" Dimitri groaned.

"Hmm…" Rose hummed, the vibration in her throat thrilling Dimitri as she deep throated him. Already feeling her mate's delight via their bond, Rose continued to mouth his cock, sucking on his dick until he was right on the very edge of knotting in her mouth.

"Can't have you doing that!" Rose giggled, releasing his cock with an audible pop. "Lie back, big boy," she teased, pushing her husband back as he tried to sit up. "Let me do the work, tonight."

Crawling her way up her mate, Rose kissed his lips while her nether region rocked provocatively up and down his bare shaft. Stopping just before the tip reached her opening, Rose coated her mate in her juices. Not as abundant or moist as her slick, even outside of estrous she made a plentiful amount of lubrication to aid their lovemaking. Waiting until their bond told Rose that Dimitri could not hold on a moment longer, she grasped his throbbing cock and sunk onto it, all but shouting in pleasure as he impaled her inch by precious inch.

"Finally!" Dimitri grunted, his eyes fixated on the Goddess above him. Resigning himself to her mercy, he rested his hands on her hips, wordlessly giving her permission to do as she wished.

"I will make you feel so good!" Rose vowed, leaning down to kiss her mate before rocking her hips against his. "I'll take care of you. I promise!"