Abe's POV

Three pairs of eyes stared me down. I did my best to feign surprise at the news of Rose's disappearance. I was slightly offended on Rose's behalf that her closest friends didn't notice that she was gone earlier, she left almost seven hours ago.

"What do you mean, she's gone?" I demanded. Vasilisa's eyes pleaded with me, "She left us letters telling us she's doing something important and she'll be back soon. There's one for you too." She handed me an envelope. Christian kept an arm around her for comfort.

I opened it in front of the children wondering why Rose even bothered to write me a letter: Old man, is now a bad time to tell you that Dimitri and I are together? Don't threaten him like you did Adrian! Leave him alone.

It took a decent amount of my self control to not pierce Guardian Belikov with my eyes. After a moment of thought, I did it anyway. "Interesting. Guardian Belikov, do you care to tell me why my daughter is concerned that I'll 'threaten' you like Ivashkov?" I already knew that they had started dating, my word, my daughter really has no faith in me. I know everything.

Belikov didn't bat an eye, in fact he was scrutinizing me, but it was Vasilisa who spoke up, "Are you kidding me? Rose ran away! Not even that, she could have been kidnapped again! Don't you care about that?" I directed my gaze to the blonde girl, "As you said, Rose has every intention of coming back. I believe my daughter is capable of taking care of herself." Vasilisa threw her arms in the air. A new voice joined the group, "Is that why you felt the need to stalk her in Russia?" The Belikova sisters appeared from down the hallway and joined their brother along with Rose's friends.

"I was merely keeping an eye on her. That was before I knew how self reliant she can be." I didn't like the growing crowd outside my suite's door. Viktoria gave me a dirty look and scoffed. Dimitri took a step forward to look down at me, I hated being several inches shorter than him. "I don't believe you. Considering Rose's last disappearance, you should be more concerned than ever."

Vasilisa touched his arm, "What are you saying, Dimitri?" Dimitri and I locked gazes as he answered the princess, "I think Rose really did run away, and Zmey helped her."

It was the first time anyone had called me Zmey to my face. I knew what everyone said about me, but no one ever had the courage to chance pissing me off. Instead of being angry, I found myself admiring the boy's audacity. He reminded me of Rose in that sense.

I fixed him with a stern and cold look, "Don't go around accusing people about something you know nothing of, boy. By the way, I plan on having a nice talk with you later, about how I expect my daughter to be treated." I saw Dimitri swallow before I stepped back into my room and closed the door on the six people concerned for my daughter's well being.

It was almost two in the afternoon, Rose should be arriving at the hotel any minute now. I stayed up all throughout the human day to get Rose's call, I couldn't help feeling impatient. I picked up my phone and dialed, Sage answered on the second ring, "Mr Mazur, hello." There was an edge to her voice.

"Sage, where's Rose?" I hissed. Sydney assured me that Rose was "perfectly fine" and she was currently asleep. I didn't believe her. After thirty minutes of pacing my private, untraceable phone rang- Rose's name popped up on the screen.

"You are to keep me updated!" I growled. I have never used so much emotion in my voice when speaking to Rose, if she was surprised she didn't show it. "Dad, I'm sorry. I just… Something happened and I forgot. I'm okay," Her voice trailed off toward the end. She didn't sound okay.

The news of Rose's disappearance shook the Court to the bone. Even the Moroi who didn't like her knew what the implications of her death by the hands of a Strigoi would be. No one thought that she was safe outside the Court walls. Everyone in the packed ballroom was turning to each other and whispering their own theories about Rose's absence.

Janine pinched the bridge of her nose, "Can I talk to her next time you get her on the phone?" she sighed. I decided, against Rose's orders, to tell Janine where Rose was and what she was doing. I wasn't going to make Janine worry, I hated seeing that pained look on her face, "Rose would kill me if she knew I told you, so make it worthwhile." Janine was taking it quite well, in my opinion.

Nathan Ivashkov took the stage, bringing a stupid looking scroll with him. He started the nominations ceremony by stating the rules which everyone already knew and were completely bored with. My favorite part was when he said another Ivashkov couldn't run during this election. About damn time.

I watched the chaos in front of us with shrewd eyes. Rufus Tarus was nominated for king. Like I said, chaos. This was the second election I had witnessed in my lifetime. Janine stood near me in the back of the ballroom as more and more royals declared they would run for throne. Nathan Ivashkov started rolling up his ridiculous scroll and declared the session complete.

Natasha Ozera stood up, "I nominate Princess Vasilisa Dragomir." The room gasped as a whole, whispers broke out through the room. Before Nathan could say anything Christian was on his feet, "I second the nomination." Then the little worm that dumped Rose and then proceeded to follow her with puppy dog eyes shot up from his seat. "I confirm the nomination."

Nathan was making large gestures and waving his arm wildly, making stupid complaints, "You're not from her family! She doesn't make quorum!" Natasha glared at Nathan, "We don't have to be from her family. And she doesn't need a quorum to be a candidate, she only needs it to actually be queen." Nathan started to protest further but Vasilisa slowly stood, keeping her eyes straight ahead and her head tipped high, "I accept the nomination."

The whispers amplified in volume, some were shouting. Nathan, who had become red in the face, dismissed everyone and stormed off the stage. I grabbed Janine's hand and led her through the crowd, I smugly noticed how people moved out of my way. We made it out of the ballroom, and I started scanning the area for Vasilisa. I spotted her and her friends making their way to the royal housing building.

I had longer legs but Janine easily met my stride. We caught up with Vasilisa's group before they even made it past the church. I walked right up to the princess, "That was interesting. Do you plan on making a fool of yourself by going through the trials just to be knocked out in the end by the quorum?" I glanced at Christian, "Or do you plan on having some kids right away?"

Vasilisa scoffed, "I don't know why I accepted. It was Rose's idea." I almost stopped in my tracks. "You've had contact with Rose?" Rose was only supposed to be in contact with me. Vasilisa looked sideways at me, "No. In the letter she left me she said that she needed me to do something." She turned her head and glared at Natasha, Christian and Adrian, "She just didn't tell me what it was."

Christian shrugged, "Rose told us to do it, don't you trust her? She'll have a good reason." I stroked my beard, I would have to talk to Rose about this when she checked in next. I didn't appreciate being left out of any plans, especially if they were interesting and controversial plans.

Vasilisa shook her head, she pivoted on her foot to face the group, stopping us all in our tracks, "Do any of you realize what you've gotten me into? And why didn't anyone bother to tell me about it?" I had never seen the princess so frustrated, she was always the picture of serenity.

"You would have tried to talk us out of it. If we surprised you, then you'd have no choice but to say yes. Hey, don't look at me like that. Blame all of this on Rose." Christian held his hands up in a defensive gesture.

To my surprise, Janine spoke up, "We're all in this together. We'll help you get through the trials. If this is what Rose wants, we have to just trust her judgement until she comes back and can explain herself."

I think the whole group was a little shocked that Janine would go out on a limb and blindly trust anyone. Especially Rose. Vasilisa took that into consideration, her face turned thoughtful, "Okay." She put her head in her hands, "She should be back by tomorrow, she said she'd only be gone two days in the letter. She has a lot of explaining to do."

Dimitri, who had been silent the whole time, rolled his eyes, "Yes. She does." I had never seen Dimitri act like this before. Natasha beamed at the group, "Just think of how amazing it would be if Lissa did become queen!" Everyone including me looked at Natasha as if she'd just suggested we get naked and run around the court.

Christian wrapped his arm around Vasilisa, "C'mon, you need some rest. I'll take you back to your room. Everyone else will go do their own thing." He emphasized the last sentence. Adrian put up his hands, "Whoa, we get it. Take Mazur's suggestion and go make those Dragomir babies." Vasilisa shot Adrian a dark look, though there wasn't much mirth there.

I clapped my hands together, "This has been lovely. Vasilisa, I look forward to you completing your trials, just imagine the gossip you'll cause then."

"Old man, hey. Don't freak out, but we won't make it home on time. Plan's changed." I was about ready to pull my hair out. So this is what it feels like to have kids. Janine sat on the couch next to me tugging on my elbow.

"Put her on speaker!" she ordered. I glanced at the impatient look on my beloved Janine's face and complied.

"Do you care to explain?" I demanded, holding the phone out like it was a magical orb. Janine stared at it like it might make Rose physically appear. Well, her voice appeared at least, "You sound distant. Am I on speaker?" Janine jerked forward at the sound of her daughter, eyes bugging out, "Rose! What on earth do you think you're doing! Why would you leave Court! The Strigoi have been waiting for you to leave!" she screamed.

"You told my mom?!" Rose whined, I really did feel like a father of a delinquent child, if only life were that simple. "That's beside the point Rosemarie," I said between my teeth. "The plan was that you'd be home tomorrow. What happened?"

Rose gave us a dramatic sigh, "The plan is to get the child, old man. We're at Sonya's house. Robert transformed her. After Sonya calmed down from the initial shock Mikhail was able to convince Sonya to tell us where the child is. We have to go to Detroit, where the child lives."

I groaned, "One more day. You have to be back before Vasilisa starts the third trial. No exceptions."

I could hear the huge grin in Rose's voice, "So she got nominated, did she? Good to know my friends listen to me every now and then. Speaking of them, they'll get worried if I'm not back by the time I said I would be. Tell them that I called you from a payphone or something and let them know I need another day… And dad?"

The use of "dad" still took me by surprise. Rose's tone had gone from business to very personal, and nervous. "Yes?" I asked wearily. Rose paused before answering, "Nevermind. Thanks." The line went dead. Janine balked, "She hung up!"

"Yes, that's what people do when they no longer want to talk to you." I rubbed my temples. Janine shot me a look that said she didn't appreciate my tone. "How could you let her leave? She's in danger out there!" Janine pointed, presumably in the direction of "out there".

I raised my eyebrows, "She's in danger here, too. Do you not remember the queen's murder and Guardian Belikov's recent trip to the hospital? Besides, she feels passionate about helping the dhampirs and feels that this mission is necessary and her duty as princess. I couldn't argue with that."

Janine's grimace wouldn't go away, "Abe, she's our daughter. It's our job to protect her, not throw her in the face of danger. The Strigoi have no doubt been waiting for Rose to leave Court's borders. What if she's ambushed?" Janine was close to tears.

I cupped her face in my hands, "She the strongest person we know. She gets her strength from you. No Strigoi could take either of my beautiful women down. Rose will be okay, nothing is going to happen to our daughter." I promised, but I wasn't sure how much truth was in it.

I didn't tell her how worried I was for Rose. I didn't tell her how I let Rose go because I had to. Rose was relying on me to be a good father and help her. I couldn't detain her. I didn't tell Janine how I couldn't sleep last night because I fear for our daughter's life. Rose would have gone on this mission with or without my help; at least this way I get to stay informed and offer her what I can to make things go smoothly.

Janine closed her eyes and sighed, "Abe…" I wanted to comfort her, honestly I wanted to kiss her. A knock on my suite's door ruined any chance I had at kissing Janine. She probably would have slapped me anyway.

"Guardian Belikov," I stated gruffly. Dimitri stood in the hallway looking tired and disheveled. He nodded as a greeting, "Can we talk?"

I opened the door wide to let Dimitri in, holding my arm out for him. Janine was already standing when I closed the door.

Dimitri didn't bother with pleasantries, "Where's Rose? I know you know more than you let on earlier." His tone was cold and frankly scary. It was a scariness that tested my own capabilities. Janine and I exchanged looks. Dimitri had a hard look on his face that said don't lie to me. He didn't look like he was leaving anytime soon. "Sit," I nodded to the lounger across from the couch.

I sat on the couch, grabbing Janine's wrist to pull her down next to me. I took a deep breath and smiled, "I don't know where she is. Only what she's doing." Dimitri studied me and Janine. His eyes narrowed, he looked ready to murder someone, "You're lying. You do know where she is."

I waved my hand, doing my best to keep an air of nonchalance, I am Zmey after all. "I knew that she was headed for Kentucky, but she called me not too long ago and said they got new information and are moving to another state. They extended their little trip for another day." I hoped Dimitri would take the marcels of information and let it be.

Dimitri leaned back, seeming pleased that I was coughing up information, "What was in Kentucky?" Dimitri had one eyebrow raised, I remember Rose joking with Viktoria about his annoying ability to do that at his memorial in Russia.

"That," I said tersely, "is something I don't know." My tone left no question that this conversation was over. Dimitri noticed this and didn't challenge me. He changed topics, "She called you? Is she okay?" he asked softly, worry taking over his features.

"I'm getting sick of the word 'okay'. We could say she's well, healthy, alive, conscious, etcetera." I ticked off the adjectives on my fingers. Dimitri's are you serious face told me he didn't appreciate my response. He took a deep breath, "Then I'll be going now." He started to stand but I held up my hand, "Wait."

Dimitri settled back into the chair and gave me a questioning look. "As Rose's father, it is my duty to deem anyone who takes an interest in her worthy of being with her." Dimitri's face transformed, he suddenly looked like a young boy under a parent's scorn. I fought to hide a smug smile. Janine straightened her back, taking a new interest in the topic. Dimitri nodded, telling me he was ready for the infamous talk I gave Adrian.

"First of all, I'm not an idiot. I know that you two had some sort of relationship when she was still a student at St. Vladimir's. That's why I found her in Russia, is it not?" Dimitri's eyes widened slightly, he barely managed a nod. I gave him my most sinister smile. If this boy couldn't handle the full force of Zmey he definitely couldn't handle Rose Hathaway. I was going to give him everything I had.

"Let's talk about that, shall we?"