Hello everyone! If you have already read Human Price Tag, welcome back and I hope you like this story.

*If you wish to read this story but haven't read the first one and do not want to, here is a summary (ignore this if you have already read it):

Rose gets kidnapped and placed in a brothel for moroi and dhampirs. She's then forced to see clients and give services such as sex and being fed on, etc etc. She learns that her abductors use their victims for experiments and is used as well (having strigoi venom injected into her system), resulting in her turning into a half-strigoi, half-human hybrid (she is shadow-kissed, so spirit protected her). Because of her new mix, she drinks blood but still has humanity and can walk in the sun, walk through wards, and heal fast.

She is eventually saved and brought back to the academy. She deals with PTSD but has Dimitri and her friends to help her. Later on throughout the story, Rose realizes her life is in danger because she's vulnerable to strigoi with her new abilities. A little girl she met while she was in a brothel (4-year-old Nevaeh) gets kidnapped and Rose leaves the academy, breaking Damian (one of the guys that used to work in the trafficking business) out of jail to track her down and save her. She runs into Kira, an old friend from the same brothel and turns her into a hybrid; Kira then helps Rose track down Nevaeh as well. Rose finds Nevaeh and kills the abductor that tormented her and nearly dies herself, but later gets treated. Damian, unfortunately, passes away.

On the side, Rose and Dimitri's relationship progresses and they eventually discuss having a dom/sub relationship. They also discuss having a future with Nevaeh and raising her as their own.

I'm sorry the summary was so brief. I didn't want to make the author's note so long. If you have any questions, please feel free to PM me.

Disclaimer: I don't own Vampire Academy or its characters, but I wish I owned Dimitri. Actually, I wish he owned me but anyways I hope you enjoy.

I woke up from another nightmare—again. It was the third time this week. I didn't know how long the nightmares would go on for. I rarely ever got a decent sleep now. Sleeping with Dimitri helped, but it wasn't often that we could actually do that. It wasn't exactly illegal for us to be together anymore, but we still wanted to keep our relationship a secret until I left the academy. Almost all of the guardians knew along with some of my close friends, but Kirova and the rest of the student population at the academy had no idea. Secretly, I wished I could sleep with him every night, but I also needed to deal with handling things myself.

It had been about a month since coming back from Washington State. My chest wound was almost fully healed now, and I was allowed to get back into my routine of physical activity and sparring as long as it wasn't too intense. I still had to watch out for pain and shortness of breath, but I was otherwise okay.

I had been sitting up in bed for several minutes while I panted, and I figured I wasn't going to get any more sleep. It was normal for me to not go back to sleep after a nightmare. In the back of my mind, a part of me was afraid to.

I slipped some leggings on along with one of Dimitri's hoodies. His were huge on me, but they felt so much warmer and cozier than mine. Having his clothes on my body always made me feel better. I remembered him letting me borrow it a few months ago, but I never actually gave it back to him.

Students weren't supposed to get up for at least another two hours, so I decided to take a walk around campus. There was snow on the ground now and it was getting much colder out. I wondered what Dimitri would think if he saw me walking out during the winter without a coat. I could imagine him rushing up to me to give me his jacket and smiled at the thought.

My relationship with him as his submissive was still progressing, but we were happy with how things were going. Dimitri gave me simple tasks here and there such as telling me to wear certain clothing or having me help him with guardian duties if I wasn't busy. He wasn't bossy about anything and any instructions he gave me were clear. Even though his tasks were simple, I loved doing them for him. He always praised me for getting something done and it made me happy when he told me how good I was. It helped me with my confidence and it made me feel like I was loved and wanted. I had only told Lissa about that special part of our relationship and although she had been supportive, it was still taking her a while to understand things.

I avoided the areas where guardians were starting to stay on watch and somehow made it into the guardian housing. I went into one of the common rooms where guardians went to during their breaks. This was where most of them came to eat or just sit down and relax with each other when they weren't on duty. For whatever reason, their common room was so relaxing and far more organized. Students technically weren't allowed in here, but there were the occasional moments where I ate here with Dimitri. No one here really cared about it since we mostly kept to ourselves. Eddie had come in a few times to do school work with me, because other than our busy library, the students at the academy were pretty fucking annoying—particularly the high schoolers, but even university students hadn't matured yet.

Luckily, the room was empty, meaning I had the whole space to myself. There wasn't that much to do here, so I flopped down on the couch and stared at the trees outside. I took off my shoes and brought my knees up to my chest, making myself comfortable. As I stared at the outdoor nature, I thought about all the recent events that had occurred in the past few months. My life was so complicated. I was grateful and happy to be back here, but it didn't take away the underlying effects of what I had gone through.

After yawning about a million times, I fell asleep on the couch with my legs stretched out. The couches in this room were even more comfortable than my bed. It was so easy to take a nap on this.

I only got about an hour of sleep but was woken up to the sound of footsteps in the room. I stretched myself out and turned around, sitting up to find my lover opening the cabinets. The back of the couch was facing his view, so he couldn't see me right away.

"Comrade," I called. Dimitri pulled a small box out of the cabinet as he noticed me.

"Rose?" He hadn't been expecting me. "What are you doing here?"

"I took a nap. I know, I know, I'm supposed to be in bed. I just thought it was nicer in here."

Dimitri frowned, taking a mug out of the cabinet. "I take it you didn't have a very peaceful sleep."

I scoffed. "My sleep is anything but peaceful."

"You're still having nightmares?" he asked. There was a kettle on the counter and I realized he was trying to boil water.

"Yeah," I replied softly.

Dimitri glanced at me, and I could see in his eyes that he was concerned. After a few minutes, he poured boiling water into his mug. He grabbed another one from the cabinet and poured water into that one as well. "Is it still like this every day?"

"Almost," I mumbled, tucking my hands into the sleeves of Dimitri's hoodie. "It's fine though."

Dimitri looked at me again, this time with a small smile playing at his lips. "You can't lie to me, you know."

I sighed, knowing very well that he was right. After placing tea bags into both mugs, he carried them over to the table in front of the couch and sat down next to me.

"Thank you," I said, taking the hot mug. I didn't usually drink anything other than water and blood now, but a cup of hot tea in the winter was quite nice.

"You're wearing my hoodie," Dimitri noticed. "I was wondering where that went."

"Well, it's mine now," I said, making him chuckle. I took a sip of my tea. "Do you want it back?"

"You keep it," he said, shaking his head. "It's cute on you."

I grinned. "Half of my closet is filled with your hoodies."

"Yeah, and half of mine is empty. I would scold you for stealing so much..." he paused, giving me a look that made me squirm. "But I like seeing you in my clothes."

"Then it's well worth it," I said cheekily. Dimitri had so much control over me—in a good way—without even trying. Wearing his clothes made me feel like I was sitting in the palm of his hand, and my inner submissive loved it. I wore his clothes more than my own now, both because I liked the feeling of him being so close, and also because his hoodies were so big on me. They were so comfortable and warm.

"We should talk about what's been going on with you," Dimitri said, changing the subject. I stiffened, going quiet. I didn't feel uncomfortable talking about it with him, but I wasn't sure if I wanted him to worry even more than he already did.

"I know you're not sleeping well. There's no one else here. You can talk to me."

I hesitated for a second, but I didn't think it was a good idea to keep anything from him. He was the only person I could be vulnerable with.

"I just wish it would all go away," I said. "The nightmares, the memories, the pain. Even the guilt."

"Guilt?" he asked.

"Damian," I clarified before continuing. "And I've killed people. They may have been bad people, but I still killed them...I don't know, maybe seeing disturbing things in my dream is just karma. I'm always back in that room, being strapped down and tortured against my will. I just want it to go away."

At that moment, a few other guardians came in. They weren't surprised to see me as I came in here quite often now. Since they knew about my relationship with Dimitri, seeing us talk to each other was nothing new.

Dimitri moved closer and wrapped an arm around me, and I visibly relaxed against him. Having him close always comforted me. "Would it help if I slept with you?" he suggested, keeping his voice low so that only I could hear him.

"I was thinking about that," I whispered. "It'd be nice."

"Okay," he said. "We'll sleep in my room tonight."

I pulled him closer to me, hugging him gratefully. "Thank you."

Pulling back, he said, "I think we should get you to the feeding department. Your body's feeling a little cold, and you're white as a ghost."

I chuckled, rolling my eyes. "Thanks, Comrade."

After Dimitri took me to the feeding rooms, he spoke to the receptionist in close whispers even though I could easily hear what they were saying. When Kirova had sent documents to the department about my 'condition', they put me into the system and kept it a secret. I usually had to bring a moroi friend in with me to avoid suspicion, but the place was empty since it was early.

They put me in a little cubicle and had the curtains closed. My feeder was a woman named Emily and she had brown hair and brown eyes—just like me. I'd say she was in her twenties, so she was pretty young. I had gotten to know her a little more over the past month. She almost felt like a friend to me. As usual, she was excited to see me—a little too excited. I knew she was anticipating the bite as I remembered the feeling of feeding Lissa my blood a few years back. This girl, however, was an addict.

Dimitri walked into the cubicle and sat down in the chair on the other side of the cubicle. I always had to be supervised while I fed to make sure I didn't take too much. I never did, but with my impulses, I could still lose control. The last thing I wanted was to kill the poor girl.

"Hey," she said, her shoulders rising in anticipation. She straightened her back against the medical chair. "How are you, Rose?"

"I'm alright. Just a little tired, as usual," I responded. Emily held out her wrist for me.

"Well, hopefully, this can give you enough energy for the day," she said.

"Oh, it will. Thank you." While moroi never usually thanked their feeders for their blood offerings, I always did just to let them know I was grateful.

Holding Emily's wrist up to my mouth, my fangs came out again. That familiar smell of blood invaded me, and the sound of her pulse was almost like music to my ears. I sank my fangs into her skin and moaned in satisfaction, leaning back against the chair I was sitting in. She hissed as the painful feeling of the strong venom in my teeth as I pierced her. She relaxed after a few seconds as the pleasure set in and the pain subsided. I closed my eyes, embracing the pleasurable feeling. Her blood was never as nice as Dimitri's, but it was still sweet and refreshing. Whatever stress I was feeling before was put aside for the moment as I drank. I felt like I was getting high and didn't want the feeling to stop.

A shake of my shoulder snapped me out of my clouded mind, and I realized Dimitri was now standing by my side. I didn't even notice he had moved. I wished the feed could have lasted longer, but I realized I couldn't risk taking too much. Emily was human and she would take longer to recover. I still had to remember to control myself.

I removed my fangs from her arm and leaned back, taking a few deep breaths to get myself together. The nurses took her away as I tried to come down from my little high. I was usually left feeling like this after I drank blood, and it usually took a few minutes for it to wear off. Dimitri was watching me intently, but he wasn't bothered. At this point, he was probably used to seeing me like this.

Whatever blood I had left trickled down from the side of my mouth. "Where's the tissue?" I asked.

"I've got it," Dimitri said, giving me one of the wet cloths. I wiped the remaining blood off of my lips before he handed me a mint which I gladly popped into my mouth.

"It's weird, isn't it?" I asked him after he brought his chair over to sit in front of me. The nurses had taken Emily away who was too high to even speak.

"What is?" he asked.

"Seeing me drink blood," I answered. "It's not every day you see a dhampir do this."

Dimitri chuckled. "I'd be lying if I said it wasn't strange. How does it feel? The feeding process, I mean."

"It's like getting high," I said, "but it only really happens while you're drinking. It wears off after a few minutes."

"Interesting," he said before briefly checking the time on his phone. "Your class starts soon, so you should get ready. I'm guarding that class today, but I have to meet up with Alberta first to plan some things out. I'll see you there."

"Okay. See ya," I said softly, kissing his cheek and making him smile before he left.

I headed back to my dorm to grab my bag and change into something more fitted for combat. On the way to my first class, I couldn't shake off the feeling of being watched. Something was wrong. I saw a dark shadow looming around in my peripheral vision, and as I turned to see what it was, the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. Oh god, it was happening again. Either I was crazy or his ghost was real.

Damian stood just a couple metres away from me, and he was staring at me. He looked the same way he had when he died—pale, sick, and lifeless. Was he sad? Worried? Anxious? It was hard to tell. Seeing him reminded me of Mason. It was happening all over again. Sometimes, I hated being shadow-kissed. I didn't want to see the dead. It scared the crap out of me.

A hand on my shoulder made me jump and I nearly screamed.

"Woah," Eddie gasped, putting his hands on both of my shoulders. "Hey, are you okay?"

I looked behind me, but Damian was gone. I sighed as relief flooded through me. Maybe I had just imagined it. "Yeah," I said, blinking. "What's up?"

"Class starts in five minutes," he said, still eyeing me suspiciously.

"Let's go," I said quickly, trying to avoid the earlier topic. I trusted Eddie, and he knew about my sightings of Mason, but I didn't want him or anyone else worrying about me again. He had become very protective of me since coming back.

It wasn't hard to spot Dimitri when I walked in. There were some high school students here and he helped some of them with their technique as they practiced. It wasn't very often that he did this, so when younger students had the chance, they bombarded him with questions about fighting and being a guardian. Out of every guardian in the school, he was the most feared and respected, and nobody dared to mess around with him.

I didn't want to bother him while he worked with other students, so I practiced with Eddie. Dimitri had trained Eddie for a bit, and it paid off. Other than Dimitri, both of us were the best fighters on campus and watching us fight was entertaining. After taking each other to the ground over and over again, we decided to take a break. My chest was seriously starting to hurt now and Eddie could see that. He wasn't going to mention that in front of everyone, but he often looked out for my unusually harsh breaths and signs of pain. I was good at hiding it, but he knew when I needed to stop.

Almost everyone in the gym had stopped what they were doing, gathering around our space as they stared at us in awe. Even the other guardians and instructors had stopped to watch. Meanwhile, Dimitri was smiling at us with pride. Eddie and I were undoubtedly his favourite students back when he used to teach us.

"They're so good," someone whispered in the background.

"Not fair! They were both trained by Guardian Belikov!" someone shouted. A few eyes started to land on Dimitri.

"Well, I'm here now, so if you want my advice, now's the time," he announced. Novices started swarming around him, asking him a handful of questions while watching his technique in admiration. Eddie and I had seen it all, but it was still fascinating to watch him. Even the other instructors had to admire his fighting skills.

When the class was over, Eddie and I were cooling down beside each other, stretching out our muscles. "Hey, I don't mean to pry, but what happened earlier out in the hallway?" he asked, barely hiding his shock as I slid effortlessly into my splits.

I glanced at him, wondering if I should be honest or if I should lie. Eddie was like an older brother to me. After everything we'd been through together, I didn't see the point in lying.

"I think there's something wrong with our wards again," I said.

"Why do you say that?" he asked. Dimitri was putting equipment away, but I knew he could hear parts of our conversation.

"I saw Damian," I whispered, a shiver travelling down my spine. "Call me crazy, but the last time I could see ghosts on campus, our wards were broken. I'm sure you remember what happened after that."

"You don't think..." he trailed off. We all knew that if our wards were broken, all of us were at risk. Strigoi could get into the academy grounds.

"I don't know. I could have imagined it, but it's just like that thing with Mason all over again."

Our conversation was interrupted when Alberta's voice came through. I didn't even notice she was still here. "Sorry to interrupt, but Mr. Castile has a class with me soon," she said.

"Right." Eddie packed up his stuff, quickly hugging me before he left. "We'll talk later, Rose."

I started putting away the equipment we were using earlier. Dimitri was the only other person left. "New wards were just put up if that's what you're worried about," he said. "There was a malfunction, but it's been resolved. They're being checked more often now."

I frowned. "That's not all I'm worried about."

"You mentioned seeing Damian," Dimitri said. "Or, well, his ghost."

I nodded, leaning against the wall. Putting up new wards meant I wouldn't have to see him again, but the thought still bothered me. The dead didn't just show up for no reason. Maybe he just couldn't find peace, and I couldn't blame him, but he must have been here because he wanted something. Maybe he just wanted to tell me something, but I wasn't sure.

"I probably sound crazy," I muttered. "It's like before when I saw Mason."

"I don't think you're crazy. After Mason warned you about the strigoi...well, he was right, so my beliefs have changed even if I can't see them myself."

I sighed. This was such a downside to being brought back from the dead. I was thankful that Lissa had given me a second chance to live, but with every wish came a consequence. People who died were meant to stay dead. Coming back left a mark on me that I'd have to live with for the rest of my life.

I didn't even realize how watery my eyes had become until Dimitri pulled me into his arms. I wrapped my arms around him, letting some of my stress out. I already felt slightly better. I didn't have to put on a show or act like some tough goddess. I could just be myself around him, and I loved that.

I could have stayed like that all night if I wanted to, but we had to pull away. Dimitri walked me to class and I decided to sit at the very back to be closer to him. He usually stood at the back, and having his presence there made me feel at ease.

Unfortunately, I could barely pay attention to Stan's lecture. It wasn't necessarily the boredom that got to me, but rather the fact that I still couldn't stop thinking about Damian's appearance. I wanted—needed—to know why he was here. He couldn't have just shown up for no reason.

The wards were up, meaning it'd be impossible for me to see him as long as I stayed here. Dimitri was standing at the back of the room, and although I knew it was risky, I lied to him and said I needed to use the washroom. He nodded to show that he understood before I gathered my things and left class.

I headed to the front gates of the school where I could see a guardian staying on duty. He was a little surprised to see me and was quick to interrogate. "Excuse me, Miss, you can't..."

He went quiet as I stared at him and concentrated on my mind-control tactics. I hated having to compel people. I knew it was wrong, but I needed to leave the wards.

"Open the gates for me," I ordered. The guard didn't need any further encouragement. My ability to compel was very strong and effective. He punched a code into the keypad near the gates and they opened up, allowing me to walk out. I went a little further out, keeping an eye out for any potential threats. Being outside of the wards at night was extremely dangerous. If anyone found out what I was doing, I could get into so much trouble.

I was expecting to see a cloud of ghosts, but instead, all I saw was him. Just like before, he was pale and looked sick.

"There you are," I said, stepping closer. "What's wrong?"

Damian looked like he was trying to get sound out of his mouth. "Danger," he whispered.

"Danger?" I repeated. "What do you mean? Am I in danger?"

Damian struggled once again, but before he could answer me, he was already gone.

Thank you so much for reading :) I hope you all enjoyed. If anyone has any feedback or constructive criticism, feel free to let me know. Stay safe!

Also, this is random but if you look closely at the cover pic, Rose has red eyes. I made her skin really pale too. It's basically what she would look like now.