Robert was easy to spot. I was looking through Lissas eyes when we entered. She scanned the room and found his bright golden aura immediately. We made our way over, Robert's eyes lit up as Victor approached the table. Victor took the seat beside him. "Victor" Robert started wide eyed "I can't believe….I've wanted to see you for so long…." Victors voice was gentle, as if talking to a child "i've missed you too, Robert"

The waitress arrived not long after to take our drink orders. After she left, Robert seemed to notice the rest of us. His gaze lingered on Lissa and Adrian for a second before he stared at me. "Who have you brought?" he asked Victor "these children, two spirit users" his eyes cut back to me "and a shadow-kissed" Victor smiled at him "they're friends, they have some questions for you" Robert looked at Victor "you're lying, I can tell. All too tense. They do not consider you a friend" Victor shrugged. "Nonetheless they need your help, and I promised it to them. It was the price to be able to see you" the waitress returned with our drinks just then, and quickly got our food orders.

Victor kept us all strictly on a first name basis as to not drop any royal names. Robert kept looking between me and Lissa, Adrian had told us once that you can see our bond through our auras. "A bond" Robert started "i've almost forgotten, but Alden, never Alden" he rambled for a minute. "I'm sorry" I said, showing sympathy in my words. "Oh, all the mystical things the shadow-kissed can do. All the blessings they are given" he rambled more, making me uncomfortable.

Victor was quick to get the conversation back on track however. "Will you help them? Answer there questions?" Robert sat in silence staring at our group before sighing "what do you want to know?" I glanced at my friends for moral support, knowing that most of them did not agree with this. "We heard that you freed a strigoi once. That you reverted them back to their original state" surprise flickered through Victor's face before going blank again "we want to know how" I finished. "With a stake" he said "a stake charmed with Spirit '' I sat there slick jawed. It was that easy, all I needed was a spirit charmed stake? "All I need is that?" I asked, so ready to get my hands on one.

"No" Robert said "you can not do it, only a spirit user can '' my world collapsed. That was it, my far fetched dream of saving Dimitri was over. "No" I said "she can't do it I won't let her '' Lissa looked shocked. "Since when do you make choices for me?" she asked "since they put you in the line of danger" I shot back.

"How do you charm a stake?" she asked, ignoring me. "Somewhat the same as other silver, I can show you" Robert said. I was ready to drag Lissa out of here. "It won't hurt to learn Rose," she said, giving me a smile. We tried to eat after the conversation seemed to die. "We can go up to the room after this" I said giving in to the learning lesson "but not too long" I finished. Lissa looked pleased with herself, even though she knew I'd never let her close enough to touch a strigoi.

We made our way back to our room, electing on taking the stairs so as to not get separated. Eddie was leading our group towards the steps on the other side of the casino when it hit me, the nausea. "Stop!" I screamed. He responded instantly. He reached for his stake instinctively, but mine was already out. I scanned around us.

Knowing that strigoi were in the building.

There appeared to be three around us. Eddie was in motion, both of us were trying to shove the moroi behind us. They didn't need much urging. Between Eddie's reflexes and the panic, I was pretty sure no one spotted what I had.

Dimitri was among them.

My heart leaped in my chest. He'd warned me. Over and over, he'd said in his letters that as soon as I was out of the safety of the wards, he would come for me. I knew he meant it but seeing it be a reality was a totally different thing. Millions of memories flashed through my head, I pushed them away. "Get out!" My words were to the moroi, even as my stake bit into the female Strigois heart. The momentarily confusion gave me the upper hand. Eddie was not so lucky though, in Victor pushing past him he stumbled on his attack and was hit by his opponent. My attention fell on Dimitri.

I stepped over the fallen Strigoi, never taking my eyes off him. "I told you '' Dimitri said, eyes both amused and sharp. He watched my every move, each of us mirrored the other, waiting for an opening to attack. "I told you I'd find you" he said again.

"Yeah" I said, trying to ignore the struggle to my right. Eddie could take him. "I got the memos" a smile curled into Dimitris lips. He made the first move, but I dodged it as if sensing it coming. That was the problem with us. We knew each other too well. "Yet here you are '' his taunts continued "foolishly stepping outside when you should have stayed in the safety of court. I couldn't believe it when my spies told me'' I said nothing in return, instead attempting to swipe my stake. He saw me coming and side stepped me. I ignored him again, knowing he was trying to distract me by talking. "And strangest of all" he continued "you didn't come alone. You brought moroi. Always taking risks with your own life, but I didn't expect you to be so hasty with theirs" something occurred to me just then. Aside from the faint hum of the casino, and our fight, everything was silent. We were missing an important noise, say, like, the alarm of the fire door. "Lissa" I screamed "get the hell out of here! Get everyone out!" she should have known better. The sun was still out, they would be safe.

Dimitris' chatter and the disracton of them worked, although I watched him with my guard up, he got through. He pinned me against the wall, bringing his face level with mine. "Rosa," he murmured. His breath was warm against my skin. "Why? Why did you have to be so difficult? We could have had eternity together" my heart thundered in my chest. I was afraid, terrified of death that I knew could be seconds away. At the same time however I was filled with sorrow. I had lost him. Raven would lose me, she'd lose both of us. I felt my heart break. Why had this happened to us? Why was the universe so cruel?

I managed to flip my switch again, whipping away the fact that this was Dimitri. The only thing that mattered was getting home to Raven. "Sorry" I said "my eternity does not consist of being a part of the undead mafia" it almost looked like sadness filled his eyes. "I know" he said "eternity will be lonely without you" A piercing shriek suddenly rang out. Both of us winced. I felt myself filled with relief. The fire door. I used the distraction to gain the upper hand. I knocked him away, and surprisingly Eddie's stake plunged into Dimitris' side. Eddie and Dimitri engaged in a dance similar to the one I was in before. Eddie gained the upper hand, I saw him position himself to strike Dimitris' heart.

I couldn't do it. Dimitri couldn't die. Not yet.

Not after what we learned.

I swiped my stake, running it against Dimitris' face and knocking Eddie out of the way. I pushed us to the door as Dimitri tried to recover. I heard him calling after us as we made it out the door. "It's not over Rosa. Do you really think there's somewhere in the world that I can't find you?" the same warning, always the same warning.

Eddie and I tore down the strip, putting as much distance between us and him as possible. When we felt like we made it down far enough we stopped to catch our breath. "What the hell was that?" Eddie asked "you let him go!" I put on a brave face "we had to go security was coming, I distracted him so we could run" I said "and I had his heart" Eddie said through gritted teeth.

"We had to get away" I said again "he's going to leave a massacre back there Rose. You know it. People died because you wouldn't let me end it" he said pulling at his hair. I felt defeated. "I love him. He's Raven's father, I just...we could.." I felt a loss of words. Eddie's eyes were still blazing though. "You loved him, he was Raven's father. Keywords Rose. the person you loved is gone. That was a monster" I shook my head "we can save him" Eddie laughed. "That's what this is about? Rose you can't believe that" he said. I couldn't keep fighting with him. "We need to find the others," I said.

Eddie thankfully dropped it. We walked till we saw Lissa and adrian. She ran to me and hugged me "thank god I was worried" she smiled. I assured her we were fine before looking around. "Where are Victor and Robert?" I asked. Lissa's face fell at that. "Um...we...kinda lost them"

Fuck.