Adrians POV

Sydney was still in the shower when I heard another knock on the door.

I opened it and it was Rose again.

I had been able to get presentable again in the meanwhile and Rose held a folded pile of clothes in her hands.

"For Sydney" she explained and I took it and placed it on the bed.

"Oh I thought it was for me. Thanks for clarifying that little Damphire" I laughed.

She rolled her eyes.

"I´m really happy for you" she then said.

"Thanks" I replied.

We looked at each other for a few seconds.

"I´m really sorry about… how things ended between us Adrian, honestly. I´ve been wanting to say that for some time now" she then went on.

"Thanks" I said again unsure what else to say. The things that had happened felt like a lifetime ago and I had a million other things on my mind at the moment.

She sighed "I guess there really isn´t anything more to say. But Dimitri and I….." she trailed off looking for the right words.

"Are soul mates?" I suggested.

She shrugged "Pretty much yes. I mean when I´m with him…" she stopped again.

"Sorry it´s awkward isn´t it?" she asked.

"No, not really. I get it Rose, honestly. We are good, one hundred percent. In a way I´m glad we ended, otherwise Sydney and I never would have happened, so thanks for being… you I guess" I replied.

"Gee thanks" Rose said and I tilted my head chuckling.

"Look at you getting cranky about that now. We both found the loves of our lives and me for my part, I couldn´t be happier. We should be thankful for that. Not everyone is that lucky" I said.

She gave me a genuine smile "Love of your life?" she then asked.

I nodded "Definitely. I don´t think I knew what loving someone really meant before … I mean we had a good time together, well mostly and I genuinely liked you… but with Sydney. " I trailed off.

"Yea. I get it. With the right person it´s so much more" she replied.

"So much more" I agreed nodding.

"Anyways, one day I want to know how you and Sydney broke down all the prejudices and against all odds became a couple. I remember she used to be uncomfortable even being in the same room as me. And I´m not even drinking blood. I am basically a human on steroids but you Ivashkov… that´s a whole new level" she said.

I laughed "I am charming" I simply replied and she laughed at that.

"Oh I know you are, but I don´t think that was all that was necessary to convert Sydney" Rose replied.

"Well I´m very charming" I said and she rolled her eyes at me again.

"We just get each other. Human or moroi, it doesn´t matter. We just fit, like a puzzle" I went on.

Rose made a face at that "Please spare me the details. I really don´t need to know about… stuff" she said.

"Well it´s the second time you are bringing this up and it´s kind of getting awkward Rose" I teased her.

"Whatever" she said chuckling "I mean we never actually had sex, so I guess that makes it kind of less awkward" she went on.

"I guess so" I replied.

It was a strange experience. There used to be a time when thinking about having sex with Rose would have been exhilarating but now it left me cold. Well I was still a man and Rose was what men in general would call hot, but it didn´t matter. I could appreciate her body and her beauty but other than that, Sydney was the only woman I really wanted to get naughty with and nobody, not even Rose could compare with my goddess.

"Are you okay?" Rose asked after a moment of silence and I realized I had been in thoughts and hadn´t talked.

"I really don´t want to have sex with you, like … at all" I answered chuckling and she frowned at me.

"Well good, cause I don´t want to have sex with you either" Rose replied sounding a bit confused.

"Good" Sydney agreed behind me and I turned around.

She was wrapped up in a towel coming to a hold next to me.

"Well, that´s my clue. See you guys soon" Rose said giving Sydney an apologetic smile and then she left us.

I closed the door and Sydney watched me curiously.

"What was that all about?" she asked.

"Oh nothing really. We just talked" I replied.

"About you not wanting to have sex with her?" Sydney asked.

I chuckled and toyed with her towel.

"Exactly, because I only want you" I said, letting the towel fall down on the floor behind her.

Sydney blushed and looked up at me.

Our eyes met and then my gaze wandered down the curves of her body and I had a hard time to calm myself down. This was getting ridiculous. I felt like an horny 14 year old teenager.

"Rose brought some clothes for you" I then said clearing my throat "They are here on the bed" I went on motioning to them.

Twenty minutes later we were on our way to see Lissa. It was a relatively quick walk from our room and after we passed a few guardians we entered a spacious room.

Lissa was sitting on a couch with Christian and they were talking softly when we entered.

Rose was nowhere to be seen.

"Adrian" Lissa exclaimed when she saw me "And Sydney. It really is good to see you both" she said getting up.

"Long time cousin" I responded greeting her with a hug.

Christian greeted me with a handshake and shook Sydneys hand.

"Good to see you, too" he said and Sydney nodded.

"Likewise" she replied.

"I´m sorry, but I have some things to take care of, so I´ll leave you guys for now. I´m sure I´ll see you again later" he went on. With a quick kiss for Lissa and a wave to Sydney, Christian left.

"Hello" Sydney said obviously unsure how to greet Lissa "I´m sorry I don´t know the protocol" she went on "Do I bow or do a curtsy?" she asked.

Lissa chuckled softly.

"No you don´t. Besides, this is a rather informal meeting" she said motioning to herself. She was wearing casual clothing and didn´t look like a queen at all.

Sydney nodded carefully "I´m sorry. I know I am supposed to know you… or well at least have met you before, but my memories are a bit gappy at the moment" she said.

"Rose said something like that, yes. How did that happen?" Lissa asked offering us seats on the coach opposite of her.

"Well we are not really sure about that yet" I said and Sydney nodded.

We all sat down and Lissa watched us expectantly.

"We were hoping to find shelter here for a while and figure things out. Did Rose tell you about our friend in Palm Springs yet?" I asked.

Lissa shook her head "No, we didn´t get much time to talk yet. She only said you two needed to talk to me and mentioned the memory loss. What do you mean by shelter?" Lissa asked.

Sydney and I exchanged a look and I could feel and see her tension. I might feel free to talk here, for her on the other hand everything was new and Lissa was a stranger to her.

I took her hand in mine and squeezed it softly, trying to calm her down a bit.

She gave me a small smile and returned the squeeze.

When I looked back up at Lissa, her eyes were on our entwined hands and Sydney almost tried to remove her hands under her scrutinizing gaze, but I held it steadily "It´s okay" I whispered.

Lissa frowned for a moment and then leaned back in the couch, surprise all over her face.

"You didn´t know" I then realized and she shook her head slowly.

"No, I didn´t. I mean Rose said something about a surprise but I didn´t think…" she trailed off.

"Lissa I know. Nobody was more surprised about this than me, believe me, but I love her" I said.

To my surprise, Lissa nodded "I can see that. Your auras are so in sync. How did I not notice that the moment you entered the room?" Lissa said more to herself.

"Well, probably because it wasn´t something you could have expected or were looking for" I replied.

Lissa watched us for a long time and Sydneys tension grew visibly.

"I´m sorry, this is just so…" Lissa started unsure how to end the sentence.

"Unconventional?" I offered.

That actually made her laugh "Well that´s one way to put it" she replied.

"Sydney, what happened to you?" Lissa then asked seriously.

"I don´t know much your majesty…" she started.

"Please, call me Lissa" Lissa interrupted and Sydney nodded.

"Like Adrian said, there is a woman in Palm Springs and she does magic. We were hoping to find refuge here and maybe bring her. Hopefully she could help us" Sydney said.

"Magic? Is she Moroi?" Lissa asked.

I shook my head "No she is a human witch" I explained.

"Oh?" Lissa asked surprised looking at me.

"Apparently I used to… work with her before I was taken your ma… Lissa" Sydney added.

I nodded and Lissa studied Sydney for a moment.

"What do you mean work together?" Lissa asked "Were you not a student at Amberwood with Jill and the others?"

"I was. Miss Terwilliger is a teacher at the school and a witch in her free time. She introduced Sydney to magic" I said.

Lissas mouth opened "Hold up. Sydney, is that true? I never heard of humans using magic before. How does that even work?" Lissa asked Sydney.

"Yes, Adrian is telling the truth. I still have difficulties to actually grasp magic. It´s different to moroi magic, mostly. While you draw magic from within, we… well humans have to draw it from the outside. I´m still working on wrapping my head around all of this. I think if I see Miss Terwilliger things might come back to me. Or well… she could teach me again " she replied.

I watched Sydney surprised. I hadn´t gone into so much detail with her and now wondered, if Jacky had told her about that.

"And that woman…" Lissa interrupted my thoughts.

"Jacky" I said.

She nodded "I really want to meet her" Lissa said.

"So we can make arrangements to get her here?" I asked.

"Yes. I don´t see why not" Lissa said "But Adrian, about you two…" she went on.

"What about us?" I asked defensively. I was really getting tired of this. I knew it was only natural, since a relationship like ours simply wasn´t common, but it still annoyed me, that we had to justify ourselves.

"I can see it in your auras and I believe what you are telling me, but truthfully, a human and a moroi… I haven´t heard of anything like that in centuries, save the keepers" she said.

"Sydney, if you don´t mind me asking and please don´t take this the wrong way" she stopped for a moment, watching both of us.

"Is this something that came with the memory loss?" Lissa asked "I mean is it because you didn´t know about our world and you simply fell for a handsome guy?" she went on.

I didn´t like the question, feeling it implied, that I had taken advantage of Sydneys situation.

Sydney blushed "No. I mean yes and no. We used to be a couple before they took me but I don´t remember that sadly. When Adrian found me in New York and I fell in love with him all over again, he was very honest about everything. But I knew who he was back than and I still fell for him." Sydney said.

It wasn´t exactly a lie, but she didn´t mention I had taken more time in New York than I should have, telling her the truth about myself and our world.

"You have" Lissa replied looking at me again.

"I have" I said, almost expecting a similar question as Rose had asked, if I had compelled Sydney.

"And you are okay with this? With everything it involves?" Lissa asked emphasizing the word everything.

Sydney nodded slowly "I am. I love him. Vampire or not, that´s not why I love him. Maybe I am supposed to feel differently, at least that is the feeling I´m getting from people lately, but I am not. I accept Adrian completely without any buts, with any exceptions" Sydney said and I smiled.

"My family and the organization I´ve been working for are looking for me. I´m not sure if they know I am with Adrian and at the moment I´m hoping they don´t. That would give us an advantage. I don´t know what will happen if they catch me and quiet frankly I really don´t want to find out. They were able to delete my whole life from my memories. They actually provided my brain with a new life. The memories I have from before Adrian found me are all fake. I don´t know how they´ve done it, but I´m sure it is because of my relationship with him" Sydney ended.

The door opened and Rose and Dimitri entered. We both turned torwards them

"I´m Sorry Vasilissa. We didn´t want to interrupt. But you know Roza… if she wants to be somewhere she will be" Dimitri apologized and Lissa gave him a knowing smile.

"Relax Comrade, Lissa knew I was going to be here for this" Rose said rolling her eyes and sat down next to Lissa.

"Sydney, Adrian. It´s really good to see both of you" Dimitri greeted us.

"Likewise" Sydney said getting up and shaking his hand.

I nodded at him and he mirrored the gesture.

"You remember Dimitri?" Lissa asked Sydney in surprise.

"I do" she said "Some memories are slowly coming back to me. I remember Rose and Dimitri. I remember a few more things, too. And I have a feeling, that the dreams I´ve been having are more than just a fabric of my imagination. I feel like they are things that already happened. Memories and things I once had and knew but was made to forget…" I had been watching the people around us while Sydney was speaking but shifted my attention to her at that moment. It was the first time I heard her talking about her dreams since the first days I´ve found her in New York. I wondered why she hadn´t told me about them earlier and I wondered what she had been keeping to herself about them. Lissa, Rose and Dimitri were watching her curiously.

"I want to remember everything, no I need to remember everything. I have nowhere else to go. I have no one else to trust, but I trust Adrian and even though I am not your subject…" Sydneys eyes met Lissas "… I hope with your help we can get to the bottom of this" Sydney ended.

Everyone kept quiet for a moment when she ended and I couldn´t blame them.

"I am not sure how I´ll be able to help" Lissa said after a while "But let me know if there is anything I can do. You are welcome to stay here at court as long as you want. You are right, you are not my subject, but you are no stranger to me or anyone in this room. I know what you have been doing for Jill in Palm Springs and how you helped Rose. It is my time to help" she ended.

"Thank you" Sydney and I almost said in unison and our eyes met.

"Under one condition" Lissa added.

"Name it" I repied.

"I want to get to know Jacky and want to learn more about that human magic you´ve been talking about".