We left early in the morning, immediately after the sun started to rise. We wanted to make sure to get there by the late morning for our stakeout. Then we could attack with several hours of sunlight left in the day. Our destination was located in Charlottesville, Virginia. Our intel told us the two strigoi were holed up in an abandoned house a few blocks from the downtown area. Our plan led us straight to the house.

When we pulled up in front of it, I was surprised to see it was still in decent shape. All of the doors and windows were intact, although they seemed to be boarded up. It had a decent paint job and was free of graffiti. That was where the niceness ended. The grass seemed to be severely overgrown, and it was clear some people had decided to use the lawn for trash. There was a tree that had been pulled up, and any roots left in the ground were clearly rotting away.

Sydney parked a few houses down to start the stake out. One by one, each guardian took a turn walking around the block to take in our surroundings. Eddie noticed one of the windows in the back wasn't boarded up, and we discussed sending someone to take a look inside. Eddie was in favor of looking, thinking that it could give us an advantage if we had an idea of what the house looked like on the inside. Mikhail was more hesitant, noting that if the strigoi smelled us we would give up the element of surprise.

They both looked at me and I realized that as the leader, I would make the final decision. I considered both views and decided looking in the window wasn't worth the risk. We would only be able to see a small portion of the house. It was more important to catch the strigoi off guard. The window was still a great asset, seeing as it would be the easiest point of entry into the house. There was no way we would be able to pull boards off the door in broad daylight without attracting attention.

One thing we hadn't considered in our planning was the strong human presence the house had. Due to its location near downtown, people were constantly walking around the neighborhood. Even though the house was thought to be abandoned by the town, sounds of a fight wouldn't go unnoticed. This made me wonder if we should give up our best ally, the sun, in order to complete our task. Less people would be out at night, but it would only take one nosy person to blow our cover. I quickly decided against that, and made a mental note that Sydney would have to play lookout in addition to her spot on the cleanup crew.

At around 3 o'clock the sun was at its highest point of the day. If we didn't act soon we would lose too much daylight. I signaled Eddie and Mikhail to meet back at the SUV to finalize our plans. When I gave her my updates, Sydney pulled out a small box from her purse and static sounded as she clicked it on. I gave her a look and she smirked as she told me it was a police scanner. I smiled back, thankful for her resourcefulness. I then turned to everyone else, the team that would be going inside.

"I want you all to know that if things start to get out of control, abandon the mission. Your lives are worth more than orders from the Queen. If that means getting outside into the sun or making the kill before we get the information, so be it. I trust you all to do what you need to stay alive. Does everyone understand?" I asked.

The other guardians nodded solemnly. Christian was the only one who showed any emotion, and I knew he was nervous. I gave his shoulder a squeeze, and his expression changed to one of determination.

"Let's do this," I said as we made our way silently to the house. Eddie carried a sledgehammer in his right hand and the chain around his back. I hoped we made it to the backyard before anyone could see him, knowing how suspicious he looked. We soon got there and all assumed our positions.

Eddie looked at me, waiting for the signal. I gave one last look around before nodding. He took a huge swing and cracked the glass. It only took one more to completely shatter the window. He jumped back quickly as I threw myself inside the hole. The nausea kicked up a notch as I slid across the counter onto the floor. I looked around and realized we were in the kitchen. Mikhail wasted no time and came in quickly behind me, just as the two strigoi we were here for ran to investigate the noise.

Eddie came into the house right as the woman turned and ran from the room. The man charged at us, and Mikhail and I both swerved in opposite directions around him, leaving him for Eddie. We heard them engage as we ran through the kitchen into the living room, looking for the woman. It would be impossible for her to leave the house considering the sun was out, so I knew she had to be hiding, waiting for us to come to her in order to attack.

We cleared the living room and the bathroom on the first floor before we found the basement staircase. I didn't like the idea of being trapped in the basement with a strigoi, but we didn't have time to wait her out.

Mikhail took the lead down the stairs as we heard a scream. I noticed the smell of smoke and knew Christian had made it inside. With any luck, they would be ready to join us soon. I flipped the lightswitch and a dim bulb clicked to life. It was dark, but we had just enough light to see what we were doing as we reached the bottom step.

I braced for an attack, thinking she would strike as soon as she saw us. The anticipation made my adrenaline run faster than I thought possible. We made it into the main part of the basement and I heard a snarl behind me. I turned quickly, just barely missing the attack from behind. She laughed as I kicked her in the stomach. She was unfazed, and I realized why she was in charge.

It was clear she was older than the male. She had that chalky, lifeless look I had seen before in strigoi. I had underestimated her power, and now I had to make up for it. I signaled for Mikhail to take the lead as I tried to make my way behind her. She may be stronger than us, but she had one weakness I knew I could exploit. However, I didn't make it that far on my first attempt. She kicked me back, and it had enough power to send me flying across the basement.

I was disoriented for a few moments as black spots danced around my eyes. The vision blockage was more tangible than the ghosts I saw sometimes and I hoped I didn't have a concussion. I pushed through the pain and tried to army crawl until I could position myself behind her. Mikhail was sturdier than me and therefore was able to withstand more of her blows, but I still saw her get a few hits in on him.

I quickly jumped back up on my feet as she lunged at him, hands outstretched to his neck for the kill. She didn't get close to him as I threaded my hands through her long, loose hair. I gave it a sharp tug and suddenly she was falling back towards me, knocked completely off balance. I used my grip to pull her back up as I positioned my stake at her throat. She screamed as the metal touched her translucent skin.

She instantly started thrashing and knocked my stake from my hand. Mikhail was there in a flash, pinning her against me as he tried to hold her down. There was a support post a few feet behind me, and we moved to shuffle towards it. I dragged her back by her hair and Mikhail pushed her flush against the wood. We heard thundering footsteps coming down the stairs and soon saw Eddie with the chain, and Christian not far behind. Eddie quickly wrapped the metal around her and the pole as tightly as he could, holding the ends behind her to make sure she was secured.

I gave everyone a once over to check for injuries as I grabbed my stake from the floor. I wasted no time in starting the interrogation. I wanted answers before I started to fade. I eyed an opening in the chains that revealed just a small part of her shoulder. I plunged the tip of my stake inside and she screamed as I asked my first question.

"Who do you work for?" I pushed the stake in a little more when she answered with only a laugh.

"I said, who do you work for?" I gave her twenty seconds before I wiggled the stake in further.

"James, his name is James Alder," She said through gritted teeth. I pulled the stake out of her shoulder completely, looking for my next target.

"And where might we find this James Alder?" I responded, twirling the silver in my hands.

"You'll never find him," She yelled, trying to break from the chains. Eddie pulled her back into the post, but I stumbled backwards into Mikhail as he did so.

"Rose, are you alright?" He asked me, worry flashing in his eyes. I didn't have a chance to respond before the woman was laughing once again.

"Rose? As in Hathaway? Belikov's little plaything?" She asked through her laughter.

I froze. I knew that some strigoi may be aware of me from my time with Dimitri in the compound, but I didn't expect to be confronted by one that had first hand knowledge of me. It was jarring, and I wondered if I actually did have a concussion. Mikail gave my shoulders a rough squeeze and I snapped out of it. The strigoi noticed my momentary absence and kept speaking.

"It is you! You know he has hundreds of us looking for you? Maybe he isn't as good as they say he is, if he hasn't tracked you down and killed you by now."

I snapped.

I threw my entire body weight on her and once again brought my stake to her throat. I dug into the skin there, and brought my other hand up to her mouth to stop her from crying out.

"You're going to tell me where I can find James Alder. If you do, I'll stake you in the heart and this will be over in seconds. If you don't, I'll use this stake to decapitate you, one inch at a time, until you stop breathing. It might take hours, but that's fine. I have all day," I said with a smile. I punctuated my words by moving the silver no more than an inch across her throat, but I made sure she felt it. Her eyes went wide and she tried to thrash against the chains once more, but Eddie held them too tight for her to move much.

My stake made it another inch into her throat before she stopped. I released my hand from her mouth and she quickly began to speak.

"I don't know where he is. He moves around a lot. Last I heard he was checking in on some people we have at another operation," she cried out.

"I need their names and locations," I demanded. She gave them to me after I resumed putting pressure on my stake.

Just then I heard footsteps on the upper level of the house. Mikhail gave me a look and I told him to go check it out. He made his way quietly up the stairs, and I covered her mouth once more so she wouldn't make a sound. It only took Mikhail thirty seconds before he was running down the stairs, Sydney behind us.

"We have to go. The police are on their way," she said, pulling vials from her purse. I pulled my stake out of the strigoi's throat and lined it up on her chest. Before I had the chance to thrust, she spoke one more time.

"If Belikov doesn't find you soon, James will. And he won't hesitate to kill you," she spat at me.

I thrusted the stake into her heart with as much force as I had left in my body. She slumped against the chains, and Eddie let her drop to the floor as Sydney walked over with her potions. I started yelling orders for the others to start the retreat, and as soon as the body started to smoke I was dragging Sydney up the stairs with me. I could feel myself losing strength but I knew I had to make it to the car. We all heard the sirens screeching in the distance.

I watched as Mikhail and Christian escaped through the glass. I urged Sydney and Eddie to go next. I faltered as I tried to crawl up onto the counter and boost myself through. Everyone was already running as fast as they could, but Eddie turned around and saw me struggling. He sprinted back to me and drug my limp body through the window. I could feel pieces of glass lodging in the undersides of my arms and my stomach, but I didn't make a sound. He threw me carefully over his shoulder, and he somehow quickened his pace as we rushed for the car.

The sirens were so loud now, I knew the police would only be a few blocks away. The SUV started to move towards us, meeting us halfway. I saw Mikhail behind the wheel as the back door flew open. Eddie shoved me inside as he was climbing in. We didn't have a chance to get buckled before we were flying down the main street downtown. I could only hope we hadn't been spotted as the sirens got farther away.

Sydney handed me a towel from the front seat, and I looked down at myself to assess the damage. I was coated in a layer of blood, and I couldn't tell what was mine and what was from the strigoi. I winced as I moved my arms, noticing the glass shards stuck in them. After taking a closer look, I was willing to bet most of the blood was mine.

"Holy shit Rose!" Christian exclaimed. He grabbed the towel and started to put pressure on some of the more serious cuts. The rest of the car stayed silent. Us guardians were no strangers to injuries on the job, and I was glad Christin hadn't had to experience that for himself. I vaguely heard Sydney say something to Mikhail, and he tightened his grip on the wheel. Soon we were pulling into a cheap looking motel, the kind you rent out for short bursts of activity..

Sydney had gotten us one room reserved for two hours. She explained that we needed to clean up and administer first aid in case we got stopped on the road. It was too far of a drive home for us to risk a police officer asking too many questions. Christian and Sydney looked fine, but I could definitely see the signs of battle on us three guardians.

Sydney got to work with tweezers on my arms as the guys took turns in the shower. She wasn't even halfway done by the time they were finished, and I was definitely hitting my pain threshold. I was ready to pass out from both pain and exhaustion by the time she got every last piece of glass out. I somehow managed to force myself to walk to the shower and stand under the warm water. I felt like I was in there for hours waiting for all the blood to come off. Eventually I realized I would need to get out and have Sydney bandage me up for it to completely stop.

All eyes were on me as I left the bathroom. I couldn't read anyone in that moment, and I hoped I hadn't lost any respect for my interrogation tactics. I sat down on the bed again and let Sydney cover my arms and stomach in bandages. She assured me I didn't have a concussion, and I was grateful to be cleared for sleep. Christian offered to incinerate our bloody clothes,and we were back on the road again in no time.

The ride was so silent I had no problem drifting off into sleep as soon as we hit the highway.

Of course that meant I'd be seeing Adrian.