Lissa was shocked to see Christian and Adrian together, willingly, at her apartment late at night. If I wasn't feeling so detached I might find her reaction funny. Everyone had grown closer since graduation and the friendship group existed in an imperfect harmony. Still, certain members of the group weren't known to go out of their way to hang out together, Christian and Adrian being a prime example of that.

Adrian stomped out a cigarette as Lissa invited them inside. They made it to the living room, walking past a silent Dimitri as he took a customary guardian position against the wall. I briefly wondered if he had his own apartment like I did, or if he was staying at Lissa's. I scolded myself for caring.

"To what do I owe this pleasure, gentleman?" Lissa joked with the two men.

"We're here to talk to you about Rose," Christian responded hesitantly.

"I don't want to talk about Rose. She knows where to find me when she's ready to apologize for her outburst," Lissa said and stuck her nose in the air. She turned slightly to glance at Dimitri, who was staring intently at the ground.

I winced as I remembered the fight we got into after I had my last meeting with Dimitri in the church. Lissa was furious I kept pushing him, and she told me as much to my face. I only made it worse when I asked her how she could watch me suffer and offer me no support. I didn't regret my words though. I could have approached her in a more calm conversation, but the sentiment would remain the same.

I was soon pulled out of my own thoughts and thrown back into Lissa's.

"Well that's obviously not going to happen. She's leaving tomorrow. Probably for good," Christian said.

"What do you mean leaving for good? Where is she going?" I was surprised to hear Dimitri ask the question.

The room went silent as Christian struggled to think of a response. I could tell by the look on his face that he didn't know the best way to approach the topic. Just as he opened his mouth, Adrian, who had been silent up to this point, spoke loudly into the room.

"What kind of deal did you make with my great aunt?"

Lissa went completely rigid at those words. Her head snapped to look at Adrian, and I could feel fear strike out quickly through the bond.

"What do you mean, deal?" She asked.

"The deal where you traded Rose for Belikov!" Adrian stood up and shouted.

Dimitri was on him in a flash. He planted himself in front of Lissa and gave Adrian a glare full of ice that let him know not to come any closer. He huffed in frustration as Lissa told Dimitri to stand down. He moved from in front of her, but he didn't reclaim his position against the wall. Instead he hovered over the group, only an arms length away in case Adrian lost control. I rolled my eyes, knowing Adrian would never do anything to hurt Lissa.

"That wasn't a deal... I didn't have much of a choice..."

"What did she say to you then?"

"Queen Tatiana called me into a meeting earlier this week. She wanted to talk about Dimitri. She said he was too good of a guardian to let his talents go to waste, but that the guardian counsel wasn't ready to give him his status back yet. However, we came up with a sort of work around. If I insisted he was my guardian, they would have to let him. She said I was the only one with enough influence to have him in my detail..." she took a deep breath before continuing, "But... with the Vegas stunt we pulled, the guardians wouldn't trust me to have both Rose and Dimitri on my team. She assured me Rose would have no problem getting another assignment. So I picked Dimitri because I knew he would suffer if I didn't..."

Adrian's manic, humorless laughing started up again at Lissa's confession. Christians face looked like it was made of stone, and I felt a new wave of fear through the bond. Lissa looked up at Dimitri, who was back to staring at the floor. I could see the shame evident on his face and I wanted nothing more than to tell him he was still worthy of being a guardian.

Lissa asked Adrian what was so funny, but he wasn't able to answer her. She turned to Christian, lost, and he finally had the courage to speak up.

"Lissa, Queen Tatiana tricked you," He looked at the confusion blossom on her face.

"Tricked me? Tricked me how? What are you talking about?" she asked him, frantic.

"Rose isn't getting another guardian assignment, Liss. My aunt is forming a task force, a secret kill squad. She's sending her out to take down Strigoi operations based on new information," Adrian looked squarely at Dimitri as he revealed that piece of the story, "She wants to keep it hidden and she knew Rose would never go if she was your guardian. Not that she was given much choice in the matter. But now she isn't," he concluded simply.

"No. We can't let that happen. We have to get her out of here, now," Dimitri was instantly in motion, ready to take off on the mission he thought of not even ten seconds ago.

"Don't you get it? She was rejected by her boyfriend and her best friend. You both told her you didn't want her, even if you didn't use those exact words. Even if we had a plan to get her out, she wouldn't come with us. She actually wants to do this," Adrian started pacing around the room, matching Dimitri's anxious energy.

"She has no idea what the Strigoi are capable of. What they control. What they'll want to do to her if they find out who she is. There's no way the queen can send her out there. Rose will be killed," Dimitri responded in a strangled tone. There was a lot left unsaid in his words, things that the others wouldn't be able to pick up. But I knew what he meant. The Strigoi who worked for him would know me, and might even want revenge.

"Rose is a lot stronger than we give her credit for. If there's anyone who can do this and survive, it's Rose Hathaway." I was surprised to see the only one coming to my defense was Christian. Everyone knew what I was capable of, what I had done before, but the most cynical of our little group was acting as the optimist.

"No, he's right. Rose will be killed. And it'll be all your fault, Belikov," Adrian spat out into the group.

The room went silent once more. Adrian left soon after with a loud slam of Lissa's front door. She quietly dismissed Dimitri for the night, and he left the apartment in a much more controlled manner, although I could sense Adrian's words had shaken him. Lissa then collapsed onto the couch, throwing herself in Christians arms as she sobbed.

I wanted to stop watching and tear myself away. I knew I needed some sleep before the early morning wake up call to my new life, but I couldn't leave when she was upset. I hoped Christian would be able to comfort her.

"It's all my fault, isn't it? I'm trying my hand at politics and I'm losing. And it's going to destroy the people I love," she cried.

Christian hesitated for only a second before he assured her it wasn't her fault. That second didn't go unnoticed, and Lissa called him out on it.

"You hesitated. You think it is my fault."

"It's not your fault, Liss. I just think this restoration has been hard on everyone, and that maybe you're focusing on the wrong things.." He trailed off.

"What's that supposed to mean?" She sprung out of his embrace.

"It means you've been catering to Dimitri's every need and ignoring how things are for Rose. I know none of us knew if this would even work, much less what to expect if it did. But I don't think Rose thought she'd be rejected after it all. It can't be easy on her,"

"So what? I'm just supposed to let Dimitri suffer because Rose can't handle a little heartbreak?" Lissa snapped at him.

"No, but-"

"Stay out of this, Christian," Lissa stood up from the couch and walked towards the door, signaling it was time for Christian to leave. He walked out without saying another word. That left Lissa alone in her apartment to try and figure out how to fix things.

I finally, mercifully, was able to pull myself out of Lissa's head. I detached myself from her mind as completely as I could. I had no idea what to make of the explosive confrontation that had happened on my behalf. I decided it wasn't worth worrying about as I tried to force myself to sleep.

Tomorrow, everything about my life would change.