L-pov

Adrian had rented a room as soon as we were sure we weren't followed. Rose was laying on the couch, still unconscious and the rest of us were just staring awkwardly at each other. At one point Christian decided to check on Rose, holding two fingers to her temple.

"What are you doing?" My voice was dry from the lack of use. He shrugged.

"Just checking if she was still breathing, I am pretty sure she should have been awake by now."

"I don't think there is a time limit on when you are supposed to be awake when you are knocked out." Adrian said bitterly still glaring at Dimitri. Christian just rolled his eyes at them.

"We can't get to Abe before she wakes up so in the meantime we need a plan." I was fascinated with how wise and reasonable he could be at times. He was completely right, we did need a plan. The sun was slowly setting outside and we needed a plan for several reasons. For one we did in fact only have two guards with us – one who wasn't officially a guard and the other unconscious. While I believed in both Dimitri and Rose I had also witnessed firsthand what strigoi working together could do. The second reason was that when the dark fell, assassins waiting would be harder to spot. We were currently putting everyone in a dangerous position. And the longer we stayed in the hotel the longer would whoever was hunting Rose have to find us.

"We need to get moving soon." I said and Adrian sighed.

"We can't move before she is awake, besides it is getting dark, strigoi will come out soon. Our best option is to stay put." He argued. Dimitri shook his head.

"No, staying here makes us vulnerable to attacks too. The princess is right we need to get going. You can put Rose in the front seat again and we will just have to wait her out and keep moving." Adrian opened his mouth about to argue but a sharp hiss sounded from the couch and interrupted him.

"Why does my head hurt so bad?" Rose complained holding a hand to where Dimitri had hit her and squeezed her eyes closed tightly before squinting at us. "Wauw hell has a twisted sense of humor, but why are you all blurry?" She joked and a worried look crossed Adrian's face as he came over beside her and gently removed her hand.

"We are not, you probably have a concussion," He shot Dimitri a dirty look. "And this isn't hell. What is the last thing you remember?" He asked her softly like a nurse attending to a patient. She furrowed her brows but winched as the movement caused her pain.

"I remember waking up, and you. There was a court meeting I wanted to attend, but I knew they wouldn't let me in. Then I remember thinking about the turns my life had taken, the future that awaits me and then searching for the pills in my drawer, then nothing." He nodded and held a hand to her head, pushing some of the hair away to examine the injury.

"You definitely have a concussion but otherwise I think you are fine, it is just a little hurt from the hit. I'll try healing it but I don't know how well it'll work." He closed his eyes and I could sense the energy passing from him to her. She groaned but sighed in relief.

"Did it work?" he asked her carefully regarding her as if he could see the difference. She hummed and nodded.

"Yeah I think so, I can see your features again." She smiled and he put a hand on her upped back before looking at us.

"Now we can leave." There was a determination in his voice that told us we could forget about doing anything if it compromised Rose's health.

"Go where?" Rose groaned as he helped her up from the couch. He brushed her hair back with a tender look I hadn't seen him give her before.

"As far away as we can get. Someone is out to kill you." She opened her mouth probably about to throw a sassy comment but Adrian cut her off.

"I know you want to die, we'll fix that later, but right now we need to get you to safety. Is there anything that could make you want to come with us willingly?" She seemed to consider when her stomach growled, answering the question for her.

"You could get me some food. There are lots of ways I want to die but starvation isn't one." She stated seriously and we couldn't help but smile. Ah Rose, always about food. He stood and held both hands out to her to help her up too.

"Come on then, I'll get you something to eat." He put his hand on the small of her back and lead her out but turned to us.

"We'll go check us out. You should go to the car, we'll be less recognizable if we are a smaller group. I think there was a vending machine somewhere at the backdoor – get some quick carbs for her till we find better." He instructed. Rose sent him a dry look.

"You make it sound like you are taking care of a child." She pointed out and pouted. He placed a kiss on her forehead.

"Right now it sort of feels like it." He mumbled to her and she pushed him away angrily and stormed off. He sighed heavily and shook his head at her before following leaving us alone in the room.

"You got the bags?" I asked Christian as I stood and he nodded holding up Rose's bag. We went to the backdoor as Adrian instructed and found the veiling machine.

"What does she like?" He asked while searching for coins in his pocket. I shrugged.

"What doesn't she like? Just get her a chocolatebar and she'll be happy." He gave me a dark look.

"She just tried to kill herself 6 hours ago. She won't be happy anytime soon Liss. That girl saved my life on several occasions, she even got me out of Spokane and now she wants to kill herself and there is nothing I can do to help her except keep her alive by buying her a snack that she likes, so for the love of god Lissa you have got to come up with something a little better than 'chocolate'!" He exclaimed. I looked at him in utter shock. I didn't know he cared that much. The way he put I could see where he was coming from. This, as small as it was, was one of the few chances he got to thank her for what she had done for him.

"Granola." Dimitri suddenly said and we both turned to look at him in surprise.

"She likes granola bars." He repeated and Christian nodded without a word and pushed the button for a granola bar. Suddenly we heard voices coming from outside and exchanged looks before quickly hiding behind the next wall. We weren't followed but it was better to be safe.

"The source sounded very sure that it was them." One brisk voice said.

"So how to find them?" The other asked as they got nearer.

"We got the master keycard so we will just have to check every room." The first voice answered.

"What do we do about her friends? I know Hathaway is to be killed on sight but what do we do about her buds?" I looked at Dimitri alarmed and he nodded. They were talking about Rose, somehow they had found us.

"We can't kill them. At least not the moroi, they are all royal but Belikov is to be shot on sight. Try to aim for the not vital parts but kill him if you must." Dimitri apparently wasn't cool with that plan cause he stepped out just them, having the advantage of surprise and quickly took them both out.

"We have to move, now!" He ordered and the simple command held all the power in the world. Neither of us hesitated following him out to the car as he covered us from potential threats. Adrian and Rose came out soon chatting lightly but stopped when they saw the expression on Dimitri's face.

"What happened?" Adrian asked immediately alert.

"We are being followed. I had to take out two assassins in the hall, chances are more are coming so we need to move." They nodded seriously and Rose headed for the front seat when he held out a hand to stop her.

"If you sit front you are easy to hit through the window. Ideally it would be better if you sat in the trunk." He told her seriously and she glared at him.

"Well in case you haven't noticed, I don't really care if I live or die so you should go sit in the trunk since you like that idea so much!" She growled and ducked under his arm. I didn't miss the smirk on Adrian's lips as he slipped in to the driver's seat beside her. He handed her his cell as he backed out the driveway.

"Call your dad." He told her simply. I felt a weird vibe coming from those words. When Dimitri made orders, they were very authorial. Adrian never really gave orders like that, yet there was no room for question in those words. Adrian was taking control of this situation.