Chapter 19

DPOV

Three days. They had been missing for three days. We had no idea where they were. Lissa didn't know what happened and neither did Adrian. I was beginning to lose my mind. I was worried about the others but the thought that my Roza might not return, was killing me.

I had to keep my head together though, I couldn't fall apart. Lissa was adamant that at least Rose was alive. She said she would feel it if the bond were broken. Adrian's story was just as unlikely. He said that Rose was alive too and that they were being held in a basement in a suburban house in Spokane, but couldn't give us any specifics. I didn't know if that were true, but I was holding onto that hope with everything I could.

I had seen Janine a few times and she was a bigger mess than I was. She was working hard on finding them but so far no luck. The information that Adrian had provided was not near specific enough. How he got that information in the first place was a mystery to me until early this morning.

I got angry with him, my desperation over Rose impeding on my self-control. I needed to know how he seemed to know where she was when no one else did, not even Lissa. Lissa had informed me Adrian was a spirit user, but if Lissa hadn't been able to contact her, how could Adrian?

To show me exactly how he had contacted Rose, Adrian had infiltrated my dreams and I had an interesting conversation with him. I didn't like that he was able to come into my dreams without my permission, or in Rose's for that matter, a place inaccessible to me. But right now it was the only connection to her we had.

I convinced Janine and other guardians that his information was correct.

I saw him throughout a bit. He also seemed genuinely worried about Rose and he was there for Lissa. Lissa sometimes gave me a sympathetic look and I tried to be there as much as possible for her. She was worried about Rose and Christian. She was quite the emotional girl sometimes. She did say she felt Rose cipher away the darkness occasionally, again confirming she was alive. That seemed to be enough for Lissa to remain slightly stable. But I didn't have that tether to her.

I knew the situation could change in a moment. Just because she was alive at the times they checked doesn't mean she is alive now. I could not help but wonder why they were keeping them alive for this long, but I knew if we didn't find them soon our luck and theirs would run out.

RPOV

Three days. Three excruciating days. They had us bound in the basement. I was generally not afraid of Strigoi, but this was different.

And the longer we were here, the weaker we got. Mason and I were still pretty ok, but three days without food and very little sleep, was not improving our condition. But Mason and I were trained to endure. Christian and Mia were in worse shape. They weren't used to harsh conditions and they had been going three days without blood. They were starting to get weaker by the minute. But the absolute worst was Eddie. He was bitten a few times and he lost a lot of blood. The endorphins in his blood weren't helping matters either. We had to get out of here fast.

I had a visit from Adrian yesterday and first I thought I was going insane. But after he explained the whole dream stalking thing I was able to relay at least a bit of information. Creepy that he could just show up in my dreams, but in this case it was handy.

But I knew that the chance they would be able to find us based on that information was unlikely. If we were to survive this we had to get out of this and fast. I was pretty confident I could fight my way out of this if only I could get out of these binds. I didn't know if I could beat the older Strigoi, but I knew I could buy them enough time to escape. But I had to get out of these binds first.

I had been thinking about that for the last three days, how to get out of these binds? I had seen movies where someone got out of handcuffs by dislocating their thumbs. Although I did try that particular trick, the zipties that were around my wrists were simply too tight. There was no wingle room. I also couldn't break the zip ties with force. The plastic gave just enough not to bend under my Dhampir strength and I knew it was more likely to dig into my skin than to break.

I had concluded we needed a miracle, only some magical solution would get us out of this. And then it hit me. Magic? I was such an idiot. I had two Moroi here that could use magic. Christian would be the obvious choice. I signaled to Christian I had figured something out but from my non-verbal communication he didn't know what I wanted. There were still guards in our room at all times, so I couldn't actually talk freely with him.

I motioned to my hands.

"Can I get something to drink, my throat is on fire" I asked one of our human guards. All that got me was a 'shut up', that we had been hearing from them the last few days. No surprise there. But the message hadn't been for them.

Christiand still looked confused. I rolled my eyes. I needed him to see. I kept motioning with my eyes towards my hand and tried to make a blowing up motion with my hands. But it was hard because my hands were behind my back and he only had a partial view of them.

I saw Christian's eyes widen in realization. Okay we are getting somewhere. Christian sat up straighter and turned towards the guards.

"I've had enough. I can't take it anymore. I'll turn. I am just so hungry."

Christian was selling it rather well. He sounded every bit the Royal whiny baby they probably assumed he was. The older one, Isaiah had mentioned Christian's parents to him once. I imagine they would believe he would turn easier than they did Mia.

The humans looked at each other, they weren't sure they could trust Christian. But they eventually decided they would give it a try. They didn't want to be reprimanded by Isaiah.

"Okay you can feed off the boy that is already half dead." Shit not good. Christian had to come over to me. Mason would probably do too but he had no idea of the plan. Eddie was the worst possible choice.

But Christian was a quick thinker.

"I am not feeding off of a half dead body. No, you only turn once, I want a piece of that (pointing at me), I mean who would blame me. She just looks so tasty."

Christian was convincing, he was practically salivating and I think he was only half faking that. Starvation of blood for Moroi was a serious thing. But Mason, oblivious to our plan, was ruining it.

"Christian, you bastard, I thought you had more balls than this. If you want to bleed someone dry, pick me."

I almost rolled my eyes at that. Although I appreciated Mason's gesture it was counterproductive to our plan. Christian however was un-phased and shrugged.

"Sorry Mase, I don't swing that way"

He walked over to me, also not giving the humans time to protest. I tried to look afraid and angry, keeping my role. He lowered himself onto my neck, his hands going behind my back. I could feel the heat from his flames on the plastic binds. The binds weren't the only things that started to burn. I had had a lot of injuries across the years, but burns were new. They hurt. I believe the guards thought the tears in my eyes were because of my fear of death or Christian feeding from me, not from the burns.

I felt the moment the binds broke. I bit through the pain and immediately jumped out of my seat and attacked the two humans. Christian was hot on my tale. We had to move fast. Luckily they didn't have time to pull their guns or scream. I freed Mason first and he helped me get Eddie out. Christian had taken care of Mia.

"Why didn't I think about this three days ago?" Christian whispered to me. He looked down at my hands and frowned. I waved him off. Burns would heal. And if not, what was another scar?

"Sorry Christian, for a moment I thought that you were serious." Mason confessed. Christian looked at him a bit annoyed. He was used to it, people had considered him a Strigoi lover for years since his parents turned. But that Mason would believe it so easily had hurt Christian. They could hash it out once we were outside, in the sun far away from here.

Mason and I scouted outside the room. There were no guards down stairs. We checked if there was a basement exit, but we would have to go out through the main part of the house. I went up the stairs first, followed by Christian and Mia carrying Eddie. Mason was bringing up the rear. I scouted the hallway and I saw the front door. I let them pass me and I saw Christian and Mia open the door and run into the sunlight with Eddie. They were safe.

I had a momentary sense of relief, but stopped when I did. I relaxed a little until I felt it. The nausea. The pain from the burns must have blocked it out before. But it was clear now. Strigoi.

I turned around just in time to block a hard blow from the older Strigoi. I was thrown backwards. Damn, he was strong. I regained my footing and started to scan the room for the young one and a weapon. I saw a sword over the mantel piece. It was definitely decorative but it had a pointy end and that was all I needed. I ran towards the sword and took it off its hinges. I had also found the young Strigoi. She was engaging me at the moment. She was good, I had to give her that. But I was better. The old Strigoi saw this too and came to her rescue. I would have a hard time taking him down when it was just him, but two of them were a challenge.

I was losing. I had to get access to the darkness to make me stronger. It had been a while but I needed to unleash everything to be able to survive this. I was about to let the floodgates open when I saw Mason coming back and engaging the old man.

Idiot, I can't turn now. I wouldn't be able to discriminate between enemy and friend. It did give me time to get the upper hand with the women. I ran her through with the sword. That stunned her long enough for me to start hacking her head off. Damn this blade was dull. But eventually I got through. I was about to turn around when I saw the other Strigoi about to kill Mason. I had only a moment to think. I had to get there fast. I didn't have a choice anymore. I had to risk killing Mason while taken over by darkness, if I didn't he would be dead anyway.

I let the darkness in and the normal blackness took over. I knew I would remember later, when I came back to myself, but in the interim I was oblivious to what I would do. Moments later, I saw the Strigoi on the ground with his head cut off. I was covered in blood, a lot of it. Mason was next to me shocked, but alive. I noticed that although I still blackout from the darkness I did come back to myself rather quickly this time. I was wondering if I was beginning to control it somehow.

I dropped the sword and was filled with rage again. But this time it was my own. I dragged Mason up from the ground and pulled him outside into the sun just to be safe. After that the yelling started.

"What the hell do you think you were doing?" I bellowed at Mason.

He just looked at me shocked, or more shocked.

"I was saving you." He stated as if I was an idiot. I realized he had no idea why I was mad. I also realized in that moment I could have never loved him the way he loved me even if Dimitri wasn't in the picture. Mason didn't understand. He didn't understand me.

"You shouldn't have been focused on me. You should have been guarding them." I pointed towards the two Moroi in the sun holding up a barely conscious Eddie. "Even if it meant I would die. Mia and Christian are exhausted and can barely hold Eddie up. They can't protect themselves if we missed any of them. But you didn't even think about that, did you? You just rushed in trying to save me. And might I add, I didn't even need saving. All you could think about was getting the glory for killing a Strigoi. How could you do that." I asked him exasperated. The volume of my voice increasing at the end.

"Because I love you!" He yelled back.

I was taken back by that a bit, and the confession seemed to have startled Mason as well. I blinked a few times. Trying to wrap my head around it. Mason had charged in without thinking, to save me. Practically forgetting the Moroi and his best friend needing his attention more. I knew the difficulty of the situation. This was the exact situation Dimitri and I were trying to avoid, because we knew that it was an impossible decision to make. The difference was that Dimitri and I knew that this was the problem from the beginning. Mason seemed completely oblivious to it.

I was still angry and said something I almost immediately regretted.

"Well don't. 'They come first.'"

I walked past him and towards the others leaving a devastated Mason behind.