Two months. That's all it took for them to find me a new assignment. In retrospect, it seemed like a generous amount. Most guardians didn't get that luxury. But most also died instead of their charges. They rarely failed.

Like I had.

Sighing, I tried to focus on the road in front of me. On the curvy grey line and the pine trees that surrounded it. The trip from the Moroi-owned airport and Saint Vladimir's Academy was short, but the dark shadows surrounding me made it feel much longer. Soon enough, I arrived before the academy gates, where I was let through after showing off my documents.

The tall grey stone towers mimicked castles found scattered across Europe. They looked nothing like colourful Saint Basil's, where I had studied no less than seven years ago. There were almost no students on the outside. They were most likely inside, in class as it was the middle of the night – or vampiric day. Since Moroi couldn't stand the sun that well, academies, and other establishments meant for the kind, operated in a schedule opposite to human ones – working at night and sleeping during the day. It suited Moroi much better, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss the sun.

My next step was to go to Headmistress Kirova's office, where I was to meet my new charge. Only thing was, I was alone and clueless as to where that would be. And it wasn't like I could just ask anybody when there was no one around. My last resort would be calling the Head Guardian, and my new boss whilst on the Academy grounds, Alberta Petrov. I didn't want to do that yet, though.

Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a figure leaning on one of the great stone walls. Focusing on it, I recognised a feminine figure. I made my way closer to her, thinking she could help me find my way. Only then I realised she was staring straight in front of her, not even blinking. I slowed down my steps.

"Excuse me? Are you alright?" I asked her. She was a dhampir; much shorter than me, probably about five-foot-seven. Her long brown hair was spilling in soft waves across her shoulders and almost down to the middle of her back.

She didn't respond. I leaned closer to her face, studying her doe brown eyes, which were staring right through me. I carefully lifted my right hand and laid it on top of her shoulder. I lightly shook her, repeating my last question.

A light gasp escaped her full lips as her eyes blinked into focus.

"Um, hello?" she asked, confused.

"Is everything ok?" My worry only grew. Her eyes narrowed in annoyance. She averted her gaze away from mine.

"Yeah, everything's fine. I'm just a bit tired," she said in exasperation. I raised my brow in response. Well, that was a load of crap. She shrugged off the hand I forgot was still resting atop of her shoulder. "I'm late to class," she said and pushed passed me. I caught her forearm with my hand.

"Wait." I watched as her body tensed, readying herself for an attack. It was almost amusing but still impressive. I promptly released her hand, holding both of mine up in defence. "I am looking for Headmistress Kirova's office. Could you point the way?"

She let out an exasperated sigh. "Come. I'm headed in that direction anyway."

Before I could thank her, she started leading the way at a hurried pace. Even with my long strides, I almost had trouble catching up to her.

"How come you're not in class?" I asked her, finally catching up to her step. Throwing another angry glance my way, I could tell she was completely done with me. So it surprised me when she answered with a simple, "I'm skipping," like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Her demeanour almost made me smile, until I remembered in what state I had found her. I decided not to push it with questions about her well-being. One thing I was curious about, though, was her identity.

"What's your name?"

She abruptly came to a halt, causing me to nearly bump into her. I took a step back.

"What is this, 20 questions?" she asked, annoyance and anger clearly evident. "Why do you care? Who are you?"

Instead of her anger aggravating me, my amusement only grew, which surprised even me. I gave her a polite smile and extended my hand toward her tense self.

"My name is Dimitri. Dimitri Belikov," I answered, dropping my Guardian title. These days I didn't even feel like one.

She eyed my hand with suspicion as if it was going to bite her any minute now. In the end, she did accept it, giving me a firm squeeze. "Rose Hathaway."

So this was the famous Guardian Janine Hathaway's daughter. I've heard some about her, not much, just that she was a good novice. Not academically it seemed. She differed from her mother. She was taller, her skin tanner. Her hair and eye colour also fared her father – whoever that was. Janine never gave his name away and nobody had ever tried to pry it from her.

"Hathaway? I've met your mother before. Guardian Janine Hathaway, right?" I asked, to confirm my thinking. Her eyes narrowed again and she promptly let go of my hand.

"Of course, you have." Bitterness filled her voice. She turned away from me and continued walking. I followed in silence, thinking it was probably better to leave her alone. Rose Hathaway. I recognised that name, besides its connection to her mother. But where?

I left that thought. Rose led me inside one of the buildings, swiftly moving through its halls. She stopped at a crossing.

"You go through there, then through the first door to the left. Then straight ahead, right to the end of the hall. Kirova's office is on the other side of that door," she explained, waving her hands around to signify specific directions. I found it more amusing than helpful.

The school bell rang out, announcing the end of the current period. Students started spilling out of their classrooms, hurrying to the next one.

"Thank you, Rose. You better head off to class," I said. She scoffed but wore an amused smile.

"I'll see you later, Dimitri."

She turned on her heels, her hair flowing around her, and promptly walked away. I became aware of the grin on my face. I shook my head and sighed. Back to work.

I followed Rose's directions. Once I had arrived at the Headmistress's door, I lightly knocked on it. After a strong "Come in" I opened the door and stepped in.

Inside sat Headmistress Kirova, behind her desk. In front of her, with her back turned to me, sat a young woman, the Princess herself. She'd turned her head to face me, looking at me with curiosity. Next to each wall stood two guardians, expressionless and unmoving.

"Oh, there he is," said Kirova, standing up. She extended her hand toward me. "Princess Vasilisa, this is your newly assigned guardian, Dimitri Belikov."

Vasilisa followed Kirova's lead and stood up, facing me. She granted me a polite smile.

"It's an honour to meet you," I said, bowing slightly. "I must apologise for being late, I got a bit lost along the way."

Kirova just waved my apology off. "Don't worry, we haven't been waiting for long." She pointed to the chair next to Vasilisa's. "Please, have a seat."

We all sat down.

Vasilisa turned back to the Headmistress. "Why would I need a guardian while I'm still in school?" she asked her, no accusation in her voice.

"After what happened with Lord Dashkov last year, we wouldn't want any repeats," answered Kirova. Victor Dashkov had kidnapped Vasilisa a year ago. There wasn't much information on her file about it, but it seemed to have something to do with her specialisation or lack thereof.

"But in the end, Rose was there for me. She is supposed to be my guardian," she argued.

There it was. That was where I'd recognised Rose. Princess's file. She was only mentioned a couple of times, mostly by her initials, R. H. She was the one who helped when Princess had been kidnapped by her so-called uncle, Victor Dashkov. But now it seemed as if she was more important than her file let on.

"Rosemarie is a Novice. She'll be lucky if she even manages to graduate, let alone be assigned to you." The tone in Kirova's voice was covered in disdain towards Rose.

"That's unfair," remarked Vasilisa. "She excels in her… guardian classes," she said, for a lack of a better word. Still, she continued. "And my father-"

"I know what your father wanted and that is one of the only reasons why she hasn't been expelled yet, despite her violent actions," interrupted Kirova. Violent actions? Sure, she seemed frustrated but aggressive? I hadn't looked into Rose's file, although it now seemed like I'd have to.

"What about our bond? Isn't that valuable?" added the young Princess. Kirova rolled her eyes. "We still don't know enough about that."

Bond? What bond? That was nowhere in her file. Yes, Rose had been mentioned a couple of times, but she was mostly written off as a delinquent. I decided to let it go for now, but I would have to look into it further in the future. Being kept in the dark like this made me feel uncomfortable.

"If I dare interrupt," I focused their attention on me. I continued with a soft tone. "You will be assigned two guardians once you graduate. There's no saying Rose shouldn't or couldn't be one of them." Vasilisa smiled and nodded.

Kirova just scoffed. She stood up. Vasilisa and I followed.

"We'll have further discussions about this. Princess, it's about time for your feeding." Vasilisa nodded again and gathered her stuff, putting her schoolbag on one of her shoulders. She looked at me. She was taller than Rose, but (of course) still considerably smaller than me. She was the antonym to her, fair and blond, with deep green eyes and a polite smile.

"It was a pleasure to meet you, Guardian Belikov." I smiled back in slightly bowed my head. "You too, Princess Dragomir." I turned back to Kirova, who sat down.

"Head Guardian Petrov is waiting for you in her office."

I said my goodbyes and left to find Petrov's office. After I'd arrived back at the hall where I last saw Rose, I came to a realisation that I, again, had no clue where to go. I swore to myself in Russian.

"Guardian Belikov?" called out a voice behind me. Turning around, I was met with Princess Vasilisa, who was following after me after being excused. "Can help you with something?"

"Could you point me in the direction of Head Guardian Petrov's office?" I asked, embarrassed I was in this very same situation again.

"I'm heading in the same direction. I can lead you there," she said with a polite smile. Where Rose seemed rough and antisocial, Princess was soft and accepting. I followed as we walked down the long corridors and out of the building. "There are different facilities designated for specific ages and classes," she explained. "Kindergarten and elementary school have their own buildings, connected with dormitories for their students. The building we were just in is designated for high school students, but it also shares administrative spaces with most of the Academy officials. Except for guardians, you have your own office buildings and quarters. They are close to high-school novices training grounds and the main gym, which is close to our dormitories, Moroi and dhampir share housed in separate buildings, which are also split by gender."

Where Rose had been sparse with her words, Princess was more than happy to explain the setting around us and point out specific buildings as she mentioned them. She also pointed out the chapel of Saint Vladimir for me, which I was beyond grateful for. We came to a stop next to a set of benches.

"I'm meeting somebody here. Will you be able to find your way?" she asked.

"Yes, thank you, Princess Vasilisa," I bent into a slight bow. She laughed nervously.

"Oh, none of that is necessary. Just call me Lissa, please." I nodded, not responding, but knowing I won't be calling her by her nickname anytime soon. I walked towards the building she pointed out before. I didn't come a long way before somebody stepped in my way.

"Why were you talking to Lissa?" demanded Rose, who looked a lot more worn out than the last time I saw her. But she was just as fierce, if not more. Her hair was now pulled up into a ponytail, gracefully displaying the delicate outline of her neck. Her breathing was shallower, she must have just been done with training. The duffle bag that was currently slung over her shoulder supported that theory.

"She just showed me the way, that's it," l explained. She scoffed, rolling her eyes.

"Wow, you really are a piece of work, aren't you?" she remarked dryly.

"Excuse me, it's my first time here, what do you expect?" I replied, trying not to sound as agitated as she made me. She was getting under my skin.

"I just expected something more from the great Dimitri Belikov. The mighty do fall, I guess," she jabbed. I stilled. I was taken back to that night, coming back home to find it had been broken into. My replacement laying next to a stairway, in a pool of his own blood. Running up, finding Ivan struggling with a Strigoi, the latter overpowering him swiftly. Me trying to shake him off, getting injured in the aftermath, leaving me with three jagged scars, running diagonally across my chest. Falling, hitting my head in the process, and losing consciousness. By the time I'd come back to myself, the Strigoi was already gone, scared off (and slayed) by the backup somebody in the neighbourhood had called. I remembered holding Ivan, trying to revive him, feeling his cold blood seeping through my fingers.

I met Rose's gaze with my cold eyes. "You know nothing, Novice Hathaway," I bit out. For a moment she was taken aback, before rising on her toes and getting in my face.

"I know plenty, Comrade," she shot through her teeth.

"Oh, yeah?" I leaned closer to her.

"Rose!"

We jumped from each other in sync. Lissa, who had noticed the commotion, was standing next to the bench and waving Rose over.

"C'mon, Rose, we don't have all day!" she called out again.

Rose eyed me up and down for a moment before walking off. "It was nice chatting with you again, Comrade."

She left me seething. I flexed my hands, which I didn't even realize had been clenched into fists.


"Anything else I can help you with?" asked the Head Guardian Alberta Petrov, after finishing explaining my duties at the academy and handing me my schedule.

"Actually yes," I responded. "Princess Vasilisa and the headmistress mentioned Novice Rose Hathaway," I stated more than asked. I kept my meeting(s) with her to myself. Alberta sighed and leaned back into her chair.

"Of course, they did. What do you want to know?"

"She seems like an important person in The Princess's life, but there's almost nothing written about Rose in her file. She also mentioned this bond?" I inquired. Alberta straightened up.

"Rose is missing from Lissa's file for a reason," she started, dropping all of the formal titles. "It's partly to protect Lissa from Rose's reputation and in part to protect both of them from additional harm. You've heard about last year's incident?"

I nodded. "A bit. Victor Dashkov kidnapped the Princess."

She returned the nod. "But do you know why?"

I grimaced and shook my head.

"According to the girls, and what later Dashkov himself confirmed, Lissa has… a special power. Whereas other Moroi usually specialise in four elements – water, air, earth and fire – she has specialised in a fifth one, Spirit. There's not a lot of information on it, but apparently, Lissa can do things such as healing. Victor had figured it out and used their close connections to kidnap Lissa so she could heal him of his illness," she explained. I furrowed my brows, trying to take everything in.

"Why not just ask her to help? I'm sure she'd want to help, especially if they were close." Alberta shook her head.

"I can't say for sure, but I'd speculate it has to do with the nature of his illness, Sandovsky's Syndrome. He would need repetitive healing." I nodded. The Sandovsky's Syndrome was a chronic disease that ate at all the vital organs, slowly and painfully, until it eventually killed.

"What about this "bond" then?" Alberta grimaced, looking away. She reached over into a nearby cabinet and pulled out an impressive file. It was overflowing with loose documents she, successfully, tried to keep inside. It landed with a thud on her desk. "I don't personally understand it a lot," she admitted. "Girls seem to have their own theory and are working on figuring out more, along with Lissa's powers. You'll have to ask them." She pointed to the file she had just put in front of me. "This is Rose's file. It might explain her behaviour a bit more."

Great, Rose would probably love to tell me more about the dear friend she wanted to protect from all harm imaginable. I thanked Alberta and took the file with me as I went out of her office. I returned to the guardian-issued car to retrieve my luggage. Not that I had a lot. Just one suitcase. I made my way to the guardians' quarters, taking in the environment around me, and repeating the names of the buildings in my head. Alberta gave me the rest of the day off, so I could unpack and regroup with myself after a long flight.

Unpacking didn't take too long; I set my clothes in my new closet and my documents in the wooden desk's drawers. Rose's file was waiting for me on top of it. My favourite part of unpacking was sorting out my books on the small bookcase. Most of them were westerns, my guilty pleasure. I brought a few of them with me, still trying to travel as light as I could.

My room wasn't particularly large. Big enough to fit all of the furniture with some additional space for me to freely walk around. Eyeing the bed, I could already tell it was going to be too small for me. But I was used to that, it's not like I've had any experience with beds that could actually fit.

I didn't have my own bathroom; there was a single communal one at the end of the hall in which my room laid. We also shared a kitchen, which was where I was headed after unpacking. I was just brewing myself a cup of tea when two guardians joined me. The younger of two, with bright blue eyes and an easy smile, came closer and offered me his hand.

"You must be Guardian Belikov. My name is Yuri Novikoff," he introduced himself. I took his hand. "I've read a lot about you. You're a legend around these parts. Especially with the kids."

He was probably around my age, twenty-four or something, but he seemed more relaxed. At least in this environment. He let go of my hand and gestured toward the other guardian. "This is Guardian Stan Alto." Stan just gave me a curt nod, which I returned. He appeared much more serious than Yuri. He crossed his arms and leaned back onto the frame of the kitchen door.

"So, guarding the last Dragomir? What an honour," he mused. I poured my boiling water into the cup with a teabag. "Indeed. However, I didn't know she'd come with a packaged deal."

Stan laughed. "Rose, eh? She's a special one," noted Yuri. Stan snorted.

"That's one way to describe her. She's a lost cause, really."

"What makes you say that?" I asked.

"A waste of potential. Too undisciplined. All opinion, full of temper. With the number of disciplinary reports she has, it's a wonder she hasn't been expelled yet," he explained.

"You called her a "waste of potential". So she is at least somewhat good?"

"She's amazing," Yuri piped up. Stan glared at him. "What, you know I'm right. She is at the top of her guardian specialised classes, a bit lacking in theory, but definitely number one in training."

Stan just sighed in resignation. "I agree. My point still stands."

We fell silent for a moment. I said my goodbyes and went back to my room, my cup of tea in hand. I sat down at the desk, putting down the cup next to Rose's file and turned on the lamp. I sighed and opened the file.

Rosemary Hathaway. Born March twenty-first nineteen-ninety-two. Technically born in Glasgow, Scotland – like her mother Guardian Janine Hathaway – but never spent more than a couple of months there. Father unknown. Was brought to the academy at the age of four.

First disciplinary action: kindergarten, throwing a workbook at her teacher, calling her a "fascist bastard". Classy. There were many other disciplinary reports after that, varying from inappropriate language all the way to speculated assault. Stan was right, it truly was a wonder she hadn't been expelled yet. Probably her connection with the Dragomir Princess, which was still missing from the file.

Was in a car accident that killed most of the D. family. What? She was nowhere in Lissa's files when it came to the accident. The medical report stated she wasn't heavily injured, which they wrote off as a miracle. According to the investigation, her placement in the car should have resulted in death.

I leaned back in my chair. I took a sip of my now lukewarm tea. Alberta mentioned Lissa's specialisation, Spirit, which apparently gave her the ability to heal. Was she the reason Rose was still alive? If that's so, I wasn't surprised Rose had been such a hardass about her.

Reading on, I found out Rose had gotten worse after the accident. Reported as constantly on edge while slacking off in class. Vital in the search for P.V.D. No further explanation on how and why. She was deliberately separated from Lissa in most reports.

"What is it about you?" I asked myself, looking at the photo of Rose pinned to the front of her file. Smug smile, sparkle in her eyes. She was younger in the picture, it was possibly taken even before the accident.

"What happened to you?"