Hello hello, my lovelies! You are getting your chapter early! I sadly will not have time to do it tomorrow or Tuesday between working, getting my echocardiogram and my follow-up appointments... so you get it today! :)

PLEASE READ!

READER DISCRETION IS ADVISED IN THIS CHAPTER! There are themes of assault in this chapter and it will be flagged with ** and ended with same.

I feel like I have spent hours getting this chapter the way I wanted it to, and I hope that I got it right.

I would like to take a moment and thank HonestPassion13 for reading the chapter and giving me a wack ton of suggestions and advice. If you haven't read her stories yet, please check her out!

The hand on my back tried to rouse me, but I grumbled and rolled away from it. The hand came over my waist and pulled me towards them.

"Rose, you'll want to see this," a voice said softly, stroking my head. I cracked an eye open and looked up at Dimitri. He pointed to something and I sat up a bit and then shot up completely. A conversation I had with Dimitri months ago came back to me and I pulled the sheet around me as I got out of bed and padded out to the dock.

Hell, if I could get in the water and not scare the pod of dolphins I would right now. I leaned against the railing and watch them jump through the water. It was mesmerizing, and the rising sun in the background made it even more so. I don't want to leave this place.

"I don't think," Dimitri started as he wrapped his arms around me from behind, "that I've ever seen you so quiet."

I scoffed and pushed back into him, but didn't reply other than that. I wanted to savour the moment. I loved dolphins, always had. If animals weren't terrified of Dhampirs, I would be swimming with them. As corny as the whole thing was of Dimitri and I watching the dolphin swim at sunrise, it was something that was going to be burned into my memory forever. The air was quiet and the only noise I could find was our steady breathing and the moving of the water.

"I'm sorry to interrupt."

I flinched and looked to my right to see Guardians Tua and Howes standing just off to the side. I cleared my throat as a blush crept up my face. It was one thing to see Guardians in a bathing suit and robe, it was a whole different story when I was only dressed in a sheet.

"What is it?" Dimitri addressed Tua. I turned and tightened my arms around my chest, noticing that Dimitri had pulled on a pair of shorts. Where did those come from?

"The Princess asked me to let you and Guardian Castile know that you will both be off for the day and that myself and Guardian Howes will be replacing you," Tua explained while gesturing to Howes.

"Thank you," I said with a smile and a nod. Tua gave me a small smile in return before looking out at the water. "Beautiful creatures, aren't they?"

I nodded, "Yes. They were my favourite part of Animal Behavior and Physiology. I love them."

Dimitri chuckled under his breath, "It doesn't surprise me. I mean, with the stories your father tells about you as a child and your love of the ocean."

I pinched his arm and scowled at him, but he just laughed and kissed the side of my head. It shocked me that he did that in front of other people, but this wasn't something we needed to hide anymore. If he wanted to kiss me or I wanted to kiss him, we didn't have to worry like we did.

"Alright, Gentlemen. I will be getting dressed now," I said, stretching up to kiss Dimitri's cheek and head back to the room.

Lissa kept giving me sly glances as we got ready to go snorkelling. I tried to ignore it but eventually, my curiosity won out.

"What is it, Liss?"

Lissa shrugged as she slathered on her sunscreen but her internal monologue was buzzing in my head.

You've looked at yourself in the mirror this morning, right?

I frowned at her and nodded which sent her into a fit of giggles. She pointed to the side of my neck just under my ear and I reached up, expecting to find something there, but came up empty.

It looks like you two had a good night. Lissa snickered at her thoughts in my head and it dawned on me. But it wasn't from last night. I pulled my bag towards me and looked for my phone, holding it up to inspect myself. Damnit!

"Oh God," I moaned, brushing my fingers against the purpling skin. I put my phone down and looked over towards Dimitri and Eddie who were talking to our guide. Lissa busted out laughing, rolling back on her tailbone as she giggled. I smacked her and started to pull on my water shirt as the guys came over to us.

I raised my brows at Dimitri and watched him put on a water shirt. He caught my eye after he pulled it over his head.

"You branded me," I quipped pointing at my neck. Dimitri raised a brow before smirking and licking his bottom lip. He looked over at Lissa and Eddie before stepping closer to me, his hand coming to a rest on my waist. He dipped his head down and I felt his lips brush against my ear.

"I don't recall you complaining while I did it this morning," he whispered and my whole body shivered. I felt the ghost of his quiet laugh against my skin and I playfully punched his stomach. Cheeky bastard!

"Hey! Stop making faces at each other! We gotta go!" Eddie called over to us, cracking up with laughter. I rolled my eyes and fastened the back of my water suit. The guide handed Lissa and I our gear and we got in the water.

The whole mermaid comment made a lot of sense now that I had access to the water all day every day. I barely left the water. Lissa had to come up above water a few times but overall the experience of snorkelling was fun. And it really worked up my appetite. The sound of my gurgling stomach made Lissa roll her eyes and she suggested that we finish up and eat. Dimitri climbed into the boat before me and helped me back in, pulling my gear off of me. I gave him a cheeky smile that he returned, but the smile was a distraction that I fell into as his hands came around my waist. He dipped his head down and I reached up to kiss him, but my feet left the boat.

I hurtled into the water, sucking in a mouth full while doing so. I kicked up and broke the surface, screeching at Dimitri all the while before I realized something vital. Where did my bottoms go?! I looked around while keeping enough distance from the boat so that the others couldn't see that I was naked from the waist down.

"I lost my pants!" I screeched, making the members on board laugh. Dimitri shook his head and came to the edge of the boat holding a towel. I glared at him and hoisted myself up onto the boat and wrapped the towel around my waist.

"This is your fault," I grumbled as Dimitri kissed my cheek. He tucked a strand of wet hair behind my ear while giving me a guilty smile.

"Sorry, Roza. I couldn't resist." I rolled my eyes and elbowed him. I couldn't stay mad at him when he looked at me the way he was now. The boat ride back wasn't too long, and lunch was delicious with the different types of food and drinks, but I was itching for a shower. I loved the smell of the water, but the saltwater was doing serious damage to my hair. I walked Lissa to her room before heading to mine.

"Rose?" Dimitri called out as I got the door. I turned to face him while tightening the towel.

"I need to run down to the main resort. I got a message from Mama but I can't get enough service out here. I'll be back soon, hour tops," he said, but I could hear a twinge of panic in his voice. I nodded and told him to take his time and that I was going to have a shower. He gave me a smile and kissed my head before heading out. I walked into the suite and made my way to the bathroom, stripping off the towel and the bikini top. I sighed in relief as I washed the salt from my hair and skin, lathering the body wash over me. After deeming that my curls were smooth enough from the conditioner I got out, drying myself off. I ran the towel over me as I walked back into the main room. I heard the door creak open gently as I approached the dresser.

"Dimitri?" I called out as I rubbed the towel against my hair and then dropped it to the floor. It's not like I needed to cover up around him, and everyone else knew better than to come in without knocking. I rooted through the dresser and pulled on some underwear and a bra when a hand touched my back gently, fingertips moving up between my shoulder blades. But the sensation of the fingers was…off. I spun around to find not Dimitri, but Howes standing there. I quickly ducked to grab the towel to cover myself but as I came back up his fist came down on my face. It was a hard hit and the burst of pain along my cheekbone and behind my eye made me sink to my knees.

Howes put his weight against me and forced me onto the floor, my face pressed against the wood. I pushed against him and tried to get my hands free of his grasp as he held them tight against my lower back, but it was pointless. The only thing that was going to happen there was me dislocating my shoulder.

"It will be easier for you if you don't struggle," Howes said using his hand to crack my head down on the floor. Alright, that mixed with the few drinks I had did not go well together. I groaned as the world before me spun, but a faint noise that set everything straight. The sound of him undoing his pants. It's like the sound snapped something in me and I wiggled violently under him, trying my best to get him off of me. I managed to buck myself up to knock him off balance but the sickening crack of my shoulder made a scream slip through my lips.

I used the moment of him being unsteady to roll under him, ripping my hands from his grasp. I reached up and gripped onto his neck and butted my head against his as hard as I could. His nose cracked against my forehead and he swore, moving away from me to avoid the punch I aimed. It was sloppy, but I managed to clip his jaw. It was the split second I needed to scramble away from him, but I didn't get far, because he grabbed onto my foot and dragged me back to him.

"No!" I screeched, kicking out at him but he was smarter than he was before and clamped my legs together. I yanked as hard as I could but knew that he was going to use his weight against me, so I used the only advantage I had in this moment. I looked up at the heavy sculpture on the table and used every ounce of strength I had, hurling it at Jared, praying that it hit him. Weight was lifted off me and I crawled out from my spot, getting to my feet and moving across the room as fast as I could. I looked at him and watched, waiting for him to move but he didn't; he just laid there.

I grabbed the closest thing to cover myself and high tailed out of the room, running into someone immediately. I raised my hand to throw a punch but Guardian Tua gave me an alarmed look.

"Woah, Woah, easy kid. What happened?" he asked. I couldn't make any words come out over my heavy breathing and the onset of tears, so I just pointed shakenly to the room. My hasty exit must have drawn the attention of other Guardians because four more came around the corner along with Lissa and Eddie, Dimitri not far behind them. Lissa was next to me in a heartbeat, grabbing onto my shoulder, and I yelped in pain, forgetting about the dislocated shoulder. Dimitri came over and looked me over while Eddie followed the trail of Guardians into my room. Dimitri's face was stone-like as he palpated my shoulder, gauging my reactions before moving my arm into position to pop it back in.

"Ready? On three?"

I nodded.

"One-" was all he said before he popped my shoulder back into place. I gasped and gripped his shoulder with my other hand. Dimitri's face softened considerably as he maneuvered my arm into a rest position. I held my arm in place before thanking him and looked up at him.

"What happened Rose?" Lissa asked, putting her hand on the side of my face. I could feel the hot-cold feeling spread through my face.

I looked from her to Dimitri hesitantly before whispering, "Guardian Howes came into the room when I was changing. I thought it was Dimitri."

I watched the muscles in his jaw tick before turning to walk into the room to see the damage that had been done. Lissa wrapped her arms around me gently and I rested my head against hers, shaking slightly as the gravity of the situation settled over me. Lissa squeezed me a little harder and pulled me to sit down on the ground, tucking me into her.

It's ok, Rose. Just breathe.

"Kid?"

I looked up to find Guardian Tua standing in front of me, holding a cellphone out to me. I glanced at the name on the screen and took it, tucking it against my ear.

"Dad?" I asked, my voice cracking. Dad sighed in relief on the other side of the phone and I could hear Mom's voice in the background, but Dad shushed her.

"Are you ok?"

"Yeah, I'm ok. He just snuck up on me, I thought it was Dimitri who came into the room," I said, rubbing my other hand under my nose. Lissa squeezed my shoulder and rested her head against me and sat beside me while I explained what happened to Dad. He didn't say much aside from the intermittent grunts of understanding.

"How much trouble am I in?" I asked, biting my nail.

"Trouble?"

"I assaulted a Guardian, an on-duty Guardian."

Dad sighed, "Kiz, nobody is going to find out about this."

"You don't know that Dad, he could still say something," I argued as Dimitri and Eddie came out of the suite, both with blank looks on their faces.

"No, he won't," Dad retorted gently, "He's dead, Kiz."

My mouth opened and closed as I processed what he said. Out of my peripheral vision, I saw Lissa lift her head up with a gasp, turning to look at the guys. I felt like I was going to puke.

"What did you say?" I whispered, praying that I misheard him. I heard scuffling on the other end of the phone before Mom's voice rang clear.

"Rosemarie, he's dead. You said that you tried to get him off you by pulling something across the room? You did hit him, but you hit him in the head. He's dead."

I shook my head in denial despite the fact they couldn't see me. No, I didn't kill him. I just knocked him out. I dropped the phone and scrambled up to go into the room, but Dimitri intercepted me at the door, trying to block me from entering without hurting me.

"No, Rose, don't go in there," Dimitri said but I managed to get around him, stumbling into the room. The Guardians in the room looked up as I barged in, and they turned to look at me, all with blank faces. My eyes flicked to the ground where Howes's body laid, and I breathed in a ragged breath. There was so much more blood than I thought there was. A set of hands came to rest on my shoulders and I flailed out, my hand connecting with flesh.

I did this. I killed someone. I murdered someone. And it wasn't a complete accident, I wanted to hurt him to get him off of me! The feeling of dread flooded my veins as what I did settled into my mind and it felt like a tidal wave was rolling inside me. But it wasn't just rolling inside me, it was rolling off of me. I could feel the dread and horror flow out of my body as the Guardians around me wobbled on their feet.

Oh no!

It all erupted out of me. It felt like my entire essence was swelling up and out of me, and I couldn't control it. The Guardian from Court seemed to be confused, but Dad's Guardians weren't, they were trying to brace themselves against the invisible barriers. I could hear a voice in my ear, telling me to stop but I couldn't focus on it. It was like listening to someone talk underwater.

I could feel another wave building in my mind, but it wasn't one being built by me. It was being built by Lissa. A hand clamped onto my face and yanked my head to the side, and I started into jade green eyes.

"Go to sleep!" A velvety voice commanded. The words sounded good, and all I wanted to do was close my eyes. So, I did. I was asleep before my body hit the floor.

A warm body was curled next to mine, fingers playing with my hair. I felt fuzzy, almost like after I felt after drinking too much but not enough to give me a hangover. I cracked my eyes open and found a mop of platinum blonde hair on the pillow.

"Liss?"

Lissa popped up with a sigh, "Finally, I was worried that I may have overdone it."

I pressed my fists against my eyes and groaned, rolling onto my stomach. I felt like I got nailed by a freight train. I stretched my neck as I sat up, shaking my head to clear it. But instead, I just remembered everything. Lissa saw my expression change and she leaned forward, pulling me into a tight hug.

"Don't think about that right now. I'm just glad to know that you're ok."

I nodded numbly against her shoulder and hugged her back, but I didn't really feel it. I felt numb. I felt guilty. I was a horrible person. I took someone's life. Dad was right, I wasn't controlled enough to protect Lissa, hell, I wasn't controlled enough to not hurt her. She could have been hurt because of my outlash.

I pulled out of her hug and gave her a tight smile before getting off the bed, rubbing my stomach as I growled. It was dark out, so I was out for at least a few hours, but I wasn't sure how long I was out for. I voiced the question and Lissa shrugged.

"It's roughly two a.m."

I nodded and stretched my arms over my head. "Have you eaten?" I asked. Lissa nodded and I groaned. Alright, I guess I'm hunting for food on my own.

"I'm going to get something to eat, I'll be back soon," I said, stepping out of the door before she could follow me. I adjusted my shirt and wandered down to the main lodge, praying that there might be someone in there still. I was lucky and scored a sandwich and curled up on the chair while I ate. It was eerily quiet and I was thankful for it. I didn't need to look at anyone or talk to anyone. I managed to eat all of my sandwich before someone sat down next to me. The presence was comforting and familiar, but I knew it wasn't Lissa, and I knew it wasn't Dimitri. The person next to me smelled faintly of tea and tobacco.

I looked beside me to find my dad sitting in the chair, his face pinched between the brows. I sighed slowly and pursed my lips together at the overwhelming surge of emotion welling inside me. Dad nodded his head and reached out to me, pulling me off the chair and tucking me into his chest.

"It's ok, Kiz. It's ok, let it out," he said softly, cupping the back of my head and rubbing my back. I could feel the emotions syphon out and be replaced with calmness. It was almost like Dad was pulling my negative and heavy emotions out of my body. I pulled back to look at him and I saw a flash of gold flicker through his eyes before he gave me a smile. Dad reached up and wiped a tear that leaked out of the corner of my eye.

"What did you do?" I asked quietly, wiping my face.

"We can help settle another's emotions when they become too overwhelming. I wouldn't recommend you doing it though, it'll burn you out faster than it will me. Why don't we have a drink and discuss what happened, hmm?" Dad said before gesturing to the woman standing behind the counter. I grumbled, not wanting another drink after the day I had but Dad picked up the two glasses filled with amber and gestured for me to follow.

Dad sat down in a swing chair and I sat next to him, tucking my legs up under me. I sipped my drink and grimaced as the whiskey burned in the back of my throat. Dad rocked the chair gently as he sipped his glass, resting the glass against his lip.

"You're not the only one to have something like this to happen, to have your abilities be the cause of a death. It happened to me too, and my father. It's almost like we have to reach our worst potential before being able to curb it. I was hoping that I would be able to shield you from that," Dad started quietly, bringing the glass down from his lips and into his lap. I nodded and sipped my drink again as I contemplated how to respond when he spoke again.

"In this instance, you're lucky. You didn't know Howes personally. But I knew the person I killed, I loved them, and it took me a very long time to forgive myself enough to move past it."

"Who was it?" I asked, playing with my glass. Dad tipped the contents of his glass into his mouth and he swallowed it with a deep sigh.

"Aergul."

My heart stopped at the name and I bit my lip. He was right, I did have it easier. I didn't kill my own sister. I mimicked his motions and tipped the last of my glass back and set it on the ground. I turned and gave him my direct attention. I reached out and slipped one of my hands into his, and the gesture startled him. Thinking that he may not want the physical comfort, I started to pull away but he grabbed my hand and held it tightly.

"Aergul was my twin. She was fortunate not to be born like you and I. When we were your age, there were a series of attacks in the city we lived in. And not by Striogi, but human looters. Crime was high there and we didn't have Guardians assigned to our family. My father was a tailor and my mother worked in an office for a human politician. We weren't well off, but we got by."

Dad took another deep breath and set his glass down on the railing and squeezed my hand again.

"We lived above the shop where my father worked, and it was targeted one night. I went down with Baba to try and protect what we had, but I didn't know Aergul came down after us. Her element was fire and was skilled, far more skilled than most. One of the looters pulled a gun and I tried to knock him back, but the gun went off anyways and he shot Baba."

I squeezed his hand again and sniffed. I wasn't an emotional person to most, but hearing about the hardship he went through at a young age made my heart hurt.

"What happened?" I whispered.

"There was one of those big fireplaces in the shop, ones where the mantles would come up to my shoulders. I lashed out like you've done and knocked her back into it. The blow severed her spinal cord," Dad said, gesturing with his hand just how high the fireplace was. If it had been me, it would have hit just at the back of my head.

I let go of his hand and shuffled over to wrap my arms around his neck, trying to comfort him. Dad sighed shakily and returned the embrace, resting his head on my shoulder.

"You're just like her, you know? When you walked into Kirova's office I thought you were a ghost. You have her kindness too. It's like looking at her every time I look at you."

I gave him a squeeze when his voice cracked at the end. It was clear to me how much this bothered him to this day. A man like him could be terrifying to those who were on the wrong side of him, but to me, he was quickly becoming one of my favourite people to be around. The heavy emotions were starting to weigh down at me, so I tried to lighten the mood the other way I knew how.

"Is that why you wear those god-awful suits? 'Cause your Dad was a tailor?" I sniffled. Dad was silent but I could feel his upper body shaking, and out of fear, I pulled away thinking he was crying. But he was laughing and was just starting to gasp for air. A laugh bubbled up in my throat and I joined in with his mirth.

"You deal with uncomfortable situations like I do," Dad chuckled while he shook his head.

Dad gave me a tight smile and stretched his leg out, fishing in his pants pocket for something. Pulling out his wallet he flipped through photos, one of them I noticed to be me as a child, before pulling one out and handing it to me. I took it with raised brows and flipped it over, gasping quietly. He was right, I did look just like her.

The picture was faded but if I didn't know any better it could've been me and a younger version of my father. My aunt smiled at the camera with a half-grin, her thick hair billowing around her face. She had it cut short in the photo, coming to rest just above her shoulders. She was beautiful and I could appreciate why Mom fell for Dad. He really was a looker when he was younger.

I handed the photo back to him and he tucked it back into his wallet before putting it away. Dad glanced down at his watch before standing up.

"Alright, I've been on a helicopter most of the day and you need rest. How about you, me, Lissa, and your friends meet for breakfast in the morning?" Dad said, pulling me to my feet. I nodded and leaned into him to hug him goodnight.

"I'm sorry for acting like a brat before I left for the trip. You were trying to look out for me and I was being a bitch."

Dad chuckled and squeezed me. "Don't worry about it. I knew that you would be upset. It doesn't matter, but you should get some sleep."

I smiled and nodded my head and bid him goodnight. I headed back to Lissa's room only to find her asleep, sprawled across the bed. Even though she had a Queen size bed, there was no way I was going to fit with her. I closed the door gently and padded down to the only other room I knew besides mine. I wasn't ready to go back into mine yet.

As I approached I saw a Guardian standing a few feet away and I slowed my steps, trying to figure out who it was. As I got closer, I realized that it was in fact Pavel and relaxed.

"Your father is in the room beside Belikov," Pavel said blankly. I nodded and knocked on Dimitri's door, waiting a moment before opening it to see that it was dark inside. I slipped in and padded to his bed.

"Dimitri," I whispered. There was no response and judging by the pattern of his breathing, he was asleep. I pulled one of his shirts out of his dresser and pulled it on before slipping into bed behind him. Dimitri laid on his side with his back to me and I wiggled closer, wrapping my arm over his waist and resting my face against his back. I pressed my lips between his shoulders and closed my eyes, trying to clear my thoughts of the nightmarish day.

But I wasn't that fortunate. While the compulsion induced sleep was dreamless, this one wasn't. This sleep plagued me with the events of the day, the sounds of Howes's voice in my ear, the tilting vision from when he cracked my head against the floor. The whole thing kept playing over and over in my head before I was able to knock him off of me, rolling over to pin him down. My dream self wrapped my hands around his throat when I jolted awake.

Well, I wouldn't say I jolted awake, I was shaken awake.

I expected to see Howes' face, but it was Dimitri's and he was below me. I gasped uneven breaths when I realized that my hands were in fact wrapped around someone's throat, Dimitri's. I let go and snapped my hands away in horror as Dimitri sucked in deep breaths.

"Oh God," I whispered, mortified. Dimitri calmed his breathing quickly and sat up, tucking me against him. I buried my face against him as he rocked me gently, reassuring me that he was ok and that it was just a dream. But it wasn't just a dream. By the time I calmed down, my eyes were starting to droop, and Dimitri laid back down, pulling my hair to the side.

"I got you, Roza. I won't let anything else happen to you," he whispered in my ear and I slipped into a dreamless sleep.

*Waves white flag* So... If you hate me I get it, but this idea came to me when I was almost asleep after publishing chapter 8 and I stayed up two hours getting it out on paper... A lot of plotline for this story (and most of my writing ideas) come when I'm just falling asleep. So I haven't been sleeping much lately lol.

Also... I promise to make it up to you in the following chapters