"A warrant has been issued for your arrest from the Royal Council. For endangering the Dragomir Princess," Sydney spoke slowly, while Dimitri stiffened behind me.

"Can you start from the beginning? I'm confused..." I asked Sydney, trying to organize this information in my brain.

"Long story short, your Queen got suspicious when you hadn't been in communication with her for a few days and the Princess suddenly wanted to leave. She sent a team of guardians to tail them, and they busted in on our rescue mission," she started getting right down to business. I appreciated that she wasn't trying to sugar coat anything for me.

"I never wanted her to come after me," I said, ashamed I hadn't done more to stop Lissa from putting herself in danger.

"I know that. The guys tried to explain things, but she just wasn't having it. They were told they could turn on you or go to jail. They all wanted to choose jail, but Abe convinced them to turn instead and keep them out of trouble."

I felt warmth surge through me at the thought of my friends, no, my family, ready to give themselves over to mercy of the royal moroi for me. However, I was also glad Abe was there to stop them from ruining their lives.

"Abe's at Court right now?" I questioned, She nodded.

"So far, the story is that you went rogue and the guys were just following your orders. As far as the Royal Council is concerned, you weren't kidnapped and tortured so much as you lured Lissa into a dangerous strigoi layer to test the restoration theory. And according to the Queen, Dimitri was in on your plan the whole time," she explained.

It took nearly all of my self control not to explode in that moment. Queen Tatiana had taken things too far. She was blatantly making things up in order to have me arrested. Leading the task force hadn't killed me yet, and she was sick of waiting. This was just another way to ruin my life, and Dimitri's along with it. I couldn't handle the information.

"So what do we do? How do I fix things? Prove that that isn't what happened?" I asked. For the first time tonight, Sydney hesitated. Her whole demeanor changed, and I could tell she really didn't want to explain whatever came next. But she didn't have to, because Dimitri spoke up for her at that moment.

"You don't. You're staying put right here," he said, an edge to his voice. I broke out of his arms and turned on him, eyes blazing.

"What do you mean? I can't just sit here and do nothing!" I screamed at him.

"You aren't doing nothing. You're still recovering, remember?" He said, motioning to the braces on my arms. He had a point, but I was too worked up to see reason.

I started to argue back at him, but Sydney interjected before I could.

"He's right. Abe is still trying to figure things out at Court. We have to let him do his job there, and then we'll figure out how we can help clear your name," she said.

"How are you even still here? Wouldn't the alchemists recall you once I 'went rogue'?" I questioned her. Her eyes shifted from one end of the room to another before answering.

"I was."

"And? You're here because?" I asked, pushing her further.

"I didn't turn you in. Which led the alchemists to believe that I was doing a little too much to help you..." she trailed off, "they wanted to send me to reeducation. I can't do that. I won't," she said, voice shaking and tears in her eyes. I could tell she was done talking about it, and I didn't want to push her too far.

"So the three of us are... what? On the run? Fugitives?" I said, trying to redirect the subject matter.

"Essentially, yes. I know it doesn't all make sense, but that's why Abe's at Court. He's convinced something else is going on, and the Queen is just using you as a cover," she said, snapping back into alchemist mode. Or business mode. I guess she wasn't really an alchemist anymore, just like I wasn't really a guardian anymore.

I took a few minutes to let everything sink in. She was right. It didn't make sense that Tatianna had such a vendetta against me. I hadn't done anything to deserve this level of hate. Something else was definitely going on. But if they thought I was going to sit around in this motel until someone else figured out what, they were mistaken.

From that conversation we moved on to the pizza. It smelled absolutely delicious, but I couldn't do anything about it. My arms were really starting to annoy me. I couldn't even feed myself! I waited patiently for Sydney to finish her single slice before pouting at her. She silently moved to my side and helped me crush six slices in a matter of minutes. I thought it could have been a world record, but she wasn't so sure.

Once I was finished, we waited for Dimitri to catch up. He was actually chewing his food, so it took a little bit longer for him to finish. Sydney grabbed a few things off the table before explaining she had gotten a separate room for herself. She avoided my panicked look before she said goodnight and then left me alone with Dimitri once more. I didn't know if I should be nervous or excited, and I suddenly felt like I had some energy to burn.

"How much longer do you think I'll have the braces for?" I asked Dimitri, trying to break the tense silence that had come over us in Sydney's absence.

"A few more days, at the very least. You seem to be healing very rapidly." He answered, standing from the table and picking up the mess from dinner.

"I hope so. I don't know how much longer I can take this," I responded, throwing my head back to stare at the ceiling instead of him.

"How are you already restless? You almost died a few days ago, and now you're ready to jump right back into things," I saw him shake his head from the corner of my eye.

"It's not very much fun feeling totally useless," I explained.

"You aren't useless, Roza." he said, kneeling down so he was eye level with me. I swallowed hard, eyes roaming slowly over his features.

I could tell there was nothing but sincerity in his voice. His face was completely open to me, and I saw several emotions flit through his eyes as we leaned closer and closer to each other. I could feel his breath on my face and I let my eyes slip closed as I leaned in the rest of the way. His lips brushed mine for half a second before he jerked back and out of my reach.

Tears stung my eyes as he made his way to the bathroom. I let out a jagged breath and walked to the bed, collapsing on top of it. I made no move to get under the covers as I closed my eyes once more and tried to get control of myself once more. I made my breathing as even as possible and tried to relax my face as he came out of the bathroom ten minutes later.

Dimitri whispered a goodnight to me as he shut the lights off in the room. I wasn't sure if he thought I was asleep or not, but I didn't care. I didn't want to talk to him after what had almost happened. I let myself believe for a minute that he still cared for me in that way, that he wanted to kiss me as much as I wanted to kiss him.

I made a fool of myself in front of him once again. It was like I couldn't help but do stupid things in his presence. It was probably less endearing now that he wasn't fighting feelings for me, and I wondered how long he would put up with me before he decided turning himself in was the better option.

I tried to shake off those feelings and get some sleep, but the restlessness was back. I knew I needed to do something to blow off some steam, so as soon as I heard some light snoring from Dimitri on the other bed, I slipped out of bed and walked as quietly to the door as I could. I took a quick peek over my shoulder to confirm he was asleep before I slipped out of the room.

I took my time walking down the streets of the town we'd ended up in. I had no real destination, rather, I just wanted to stretch my legs and get some fresh air. It felt nice to be outside, and nice to have a minute to myself. I needed to clear my head after what happened earlier.

My walk was interrupted by the unmistakable sound of footsteps following behind me. The person kept pace with me, and I thought they were probably three blocks behind my current location. I didn't know what they wanted, but I was in no position to defend myself if it came to that. I needed a place to hide.

The next block had a wooded area in it, and I stepped into it as soon as I reached it, determined to shake my follower. I walked quickly to the biggest tree I could find and decided the best course of action was to try and hide myself behind it. It was probably the most obvious spot in the world, but it's not like I could climb a tree and hide that way.

As soon as I settled into my spot, I heard footsteps join me in the trees. I kept my breathing as shallow as possible to conceal my spot. I tested putting all my weight on one foot and then the other, trying to test out if my legs could carry me if I needed to run. I didn't think so, but I would have to give it a shot anyway.

The footsteps stopped just a few feet away from where I was standing, and my adrenaline was once again raised to an incredibly high level. I listened carefully as the steps started again, trying to make out the direction they were in. I couldn't tell for sure, and I knew I would have to make my move soon.

As soon as the leaves crunched around the tree trunk, I whirled around and delivered a harsh kick to the legs of my pursuer before darting around them. I heard a groan and hoped it would be enough to let me escape. I was to the tree line before a hand clamped down on my mouth and another wrapped around my waist.

"Roza!"

Fuck. I was trying to fight off Dimitri.

"Comrade?" I asked, voice muffled by his hand.

He let it drop to his side, but didn't move his arm from my waist. Which was probably a good thing, because after the stunt I could hardly keep myself upright. I leaned back against his body, and the two of us stood there trying to catch our breath.

"Why are you running?" He asked, leaning down to let his lips brush against my ear. I shivered at the touch.

"I wasn't running. I just needed some air," I responded. It was more true than ever as I sucked in a big breath through my teeth.

"You shouldn't have left the hotel room. It isn't safe."

I finally pulled myself from his grip and started to make my way back towards the hotel. I ignored the statement, knowing he was right. I didn't want to give him the satisfaction though. Instead I focused on putting one foot in front of the other, but it soon became too much. I stopped to rest, and I felt Dimitri walk up behind me.

"How'd you even find me? I thought you were asleep."

"I will always find you, Roza. Always."

I tried to ignore the double meaning behind his words. He made that really difficult when he pulled me to face him, and once again I was staring into the depth of his brown eyes. I stayed perfectly still, unwilling to let myself be embarrassed once more. Which meant I watched as his eyes left mine and moved to my lips, lingering there as if he was contemplating something.

He moved his eyes to mine once more before he quickly brought my body against his and pressed his lips to mine. I wanted to pull him closer but I couldn't, so I leaned into the kiss with everything that I had, hoping it would be enough.

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