A/N: Finally, after 5 plus years, this story is going to get an ending. I really hate that it has taken me this long to finish the story. Still, I think you guys will find that it was well worth the wait.

ADAM

When I finally came back to myself, I was craddling a lifeless Katya in my arms. I could hear her short shallow breaths and the slowing of her heart. She only had minutes, if that, left. We were in the middle of nowhere. There was no way I was going to be able to get her to help in time, even with my Strigoi speed. I knew there was only one way to save her now, but I couldn't bring myself to do that. I couldn't turn her into the kind of monster that had made her life hell. She would hate me for that. I didn't want her to hate me. I knew the best peace I could give her at this point would be to let her die. I hated the idea, but it wouldn't be long before I found a way to join her.

I buried my face in her neck and let my tears fall. Saying goodbye wouldn't do any good. She was too far gone to even hear me.

The combined smell of living Moroi and Dhampirs caused me to look up. Panic shot through me as I remembered what Marcus had said about Katya's resuce party being ambushed and killed. Was this Marcus's group coming to celebrate their victory? Or had Katya's rescue party miraculously survive? Either way, I had a feeling that my life was going to end sooner than I thought.

I gently laid Katya on the floor before me, but stayed on me knees with my arms raised in surrender. I would show whoever was coming that I wasn't going to put up a fight.

I could feel my bloodlust returning, though as the door opened and the monster that started all of this walked through. It took everything I had to keep myself from attacking. The still rational part of my mind that I was fighting to hold on to reminded me that he was different now. I still hated him, though. My angel wouldn't be dying right now if it wasn't for him.

They were here to try to save her, though, and I wanted to do everything in my power to be sure that they did.

"Please save her." I pleaded as Dimitri approached us. "Stake me if you want, but you have to save her."

"We are going to save you both, Adam." He whispered. I could see the agony in his eyes as he stared at the death and destruction around him. His eyes fell on Katya and his face completely broke. "No, no, no." He shook his head as he knelt down beside her.

"She doesn't have much time." I begged again. "Save her. You owe her that." I knew throwing that last bit in was unnecessary. It was clear that he was in a great deal of agony over what he had caused. Still, I needed him to get the message that she didn't have a lot of time.

He took in a sharp breath and pulled a ring out of his pocket, before slipping it on her finger. I recoiled from the magic radiating off of it.

"What is that?" I growled. "How will it help?"

"It's a charmed ring." Dimitri explained calmly. "It will keep her alive until we can get her to help. Right now, saving you is more important."

"To hell it is." I growled. "There is nothing more important than saving her. She needs to live."

"And we both know that she will not want to live if we can't save you." He whispered back, placing a hand on my shoulder. I fought the growl that built up in my chest. The Strigoi in me did not like a Dhampir being this close, especially if I couldn't drain him dry. "You have been fighting the Strigoi part of you for weeks, but what happened here shows you won't be able to hold on much longer. We need to save you then get her out of here. Eddie, Sonya."

Quicker than any human, a Moroi female and a Dhampir male were by his side. The Moroi woman had a stake. I felt myself recoil from it again. Every bone in my body was screaming that I had to fight my way out of this, but my rational brain that was somehow still functioning, wanted to trust them. It was extremely difficult.

"Just like we practiced." Dimitri stated, scooping Katya into his arms and moving to the other side of the room.

"Stand up." Eddie, the Dhampir, ordered. I did as he said hoping that my trust would pay off. Eddie then grabbed both my arms, pinning them behind my back. I let him do it, because I knew it was the right thing.

Sonya stepped forward with the stake and struck me right in the heart. Agony ripped through my body as the entire room was bathed in a gold light. I heard myself scream as the light faded then everything went black.

DIMITRI

Changing Adam back to a Dhampir went smoother than I thought it would. I had expected him to want to fight me, considering my role in Katya's captivity, but he didn't do anything at all to fight us. He simply begged us to save Katya.

I made sure to slip the spirit imbued ring Oksana had given me onto Katya's finger almost immediately. It would've been better for Katya if she had been able to wear it before Marcus had hurt her, but we couldn't risk Marcus taking it from her. Oksana assured me that it would still be effective after the fact. I could only pray that she was right.

I picked Katya up and moved her away so Sonya and Eddie could help Adam. Again, he didn't even put up a fight. I continued walking out of the room as the gold light enveloped everything. Yes, Adam would need some help transitioning back, but I couldn't focus on that now. I had to get Katya to Oksana as soon as possible.

Abe had an offroad Jeep waiting for us when I exited the house. I laid Katya in the backseat and slid in beside her. The others would be coming behind us soon.

"Don't worry." I whispered as I stroked her head. "I promised I would save you both, and I don't plan on breaking that promise."

Knowing there was nothing I could do for Katya, I pulled my phone out and called the person I knew would be dying to hear from me.

ROSE

I had the phone out of my pocket and pressed to my ear within a matter of seconds.

"Please give me good news, Comrade." I said without preamble.

"Everyone is okay." He answered. "Turns out, there was no trap. He was just trying to slow us down, but we made it there in time. Adam has been turned back into a Shampir, and Katya and I are on our way back to me family's house."

I breathed a sigh of relief as I heard his words. It had been a fake out, and nobody had been hurt. I took a moment to thank the God I barely believed in. My friends and the man I loved would be coming home to me soon. Now that I knew that I could move on to other things.

"How is Katya?" I asked. Was it selfish that I didn't ask about her first? I really didn't know.

"She is in pretty rough shape." He told me. "Marcus beat her up pretty good. There was blood everywhere." I could hear the barely contained lump in his throat and imagine hime shaking his head. "She was barely breathing when we busted in, but I put Oksana's ring on immediately and it is keeping her alive, but I don't know how long the magic will last."

"Oksana's magic is strong. She will make it." I assured him. I didn't know if I truly believed that or not, but he didn't need to hear my doubts right now. He needed hope, and that was about the only thing I could give him right now. "What about Marcus? Please tell me you killed the bastard."

"Didn't have to. Adam had killed him and all of his buddies before we even got there.I didn't stop to hear the full story, but once I find out, you'll be the first to know."

"Good. Get Katya home and healed and come back to me." I told him.

"Always, Roza, always. I love you."

"I love you, too, Comrade." I clicked off my phone and looked at my family who hadn't left my side since the mission started. "It was a success. Everyone survived, inlcuding Katya and Adam. Katya is in rough shape, but Dimitri is getting her to Oksana. I expect she will make a full recovery."

"Thank, God." Lissa said as Christian pulled her close. "And Marcus?"

"Dead." I stated.

"Good." Christian answered. "Too bad there are more Strigoi and Moroi for that matter just like him out there."

"The same can be said for all species." My mom spoke for the first time in a while. "We should rejoice in the fact that we got rid of one and saved to inoccent people."

"Exactly. And we will continue to do what we can to get others like him off the streets and keep vulnerable moroi, dhampirs, and humans away from them." Lissa stated making her way over to her desk. "In fact, I am going to work on convincing the council to create a group of dhampirs to search for these clubs all over the world and take them down."

"Here, here." Adrian said draining his glass. "Now, if you guys don't mind, seeing as the excitement is over, I am going to go have a little fun."

I rolled my eyes but bit my tongue as he exited. I had to give him credit for being there for me while through this whole thing. He was still angry with me, that was clear, but he had at least been there for me through all of this. I wasn't going to take that away from him.

"I'm glad everything turned out okay for you everyone." Mom said. "I'm gonna go and let the others know how things ended. Your Majesty." She curtseyed to Lissa and gave me a hug. "If you need to talk about anything, I am here."

"Thanks, Mom."

I sank back into one of the armchairs as she walked out the door letting out a long sigh. These last few weeks had been long and exhausting but it was finally over. And, honestly, I couldn't wait to get back to business as usual. Yet, I couldn't help but think about Katya and Adam.

Would they ever be able to get back to business as usual? Katya's life was forevered changed by what had happened, and so was Adam's. How were they going to move forward from this? Were would they go? What would they do? Neither had jobs or money. They wouldn't even have a place to live.

I knew Olena would never actually let them be homeless, but I was sure that Katya would want to get as far away from creatures like us as possible. I wondered if we would be able to make that happen.

"Lissa, can I ask you a favor?" I said after a long moment of silence.

"You know I would do just about anything for you?"

I had expected that to be her answer. "Katya and Adam are going to need help getting back on their feet now that all of this is over. Do you think you could..."

"Set up an account with enough money to allow them to start a new life. Already done. I figured we owed them that and so much more. I am disgusted by what our kind has done to this poor girl. I will do everything I can to make sure they are taken care of for the rest of their lives."

"And that is why you are my best friend."

KATYA

Almost dying was quite different the second time around. There was no flashback to the most horrible moments of my life. Not even a white light to follow. There was just darkness and numbness. It almost felt like my body was trapped between life and death, and there was something keeping the pain away. Whatever it was, I was grateful for it.

Slowly, though, that numbness wore off and everything came back. The pain and the fear of not knowing what I would find when I finally came back to consciousness. Did Adam survive? Or did Marcus decide to let me live knowing Adam was dead? So many questions, and I was terrified to wake up to find the answers.

"Katya, baby, it's Adam." I heard his voice after what seemed like years. It was like a breath of fresh air, making me forget about everything else, even the pain. I held on to the voice as I fought my way back to the surface. "Marcus is dead, and I'm okay. You're safe. He can't ever hurt you again. Come back to me please."

I couldn't quite make it back just then. I could feel my mind figthing to make sense of what he was telling me. How was Marcus dead? It was impossible. He had won. It had to be a trick.

"Please, baby, wake up. I love you, and I don't want to go forward without you."

The voice would not stop talking as I continued to fight my way back to reality. He kept saying the same things over and over. I wanted to believe them, but I couldn't. It was just too good t be true.

Somewhere distant, I heard a door close another voice joined in,

"How is she doing?" It couldn't be Dimitri. Marcus was confident his ambush had killed my resucers.

"She still won't wake up." Adam replied. "I keep talking to her, trying to pull her out, but it isn't working. Are Sonya and Oksana sure that she is completely healed?"

"Physically, yes." Dimitri's voice answered. "Mentally is a bit trickier. Her mind is still trying to protect itself. She just needs time."

"But it has been two days. Shouldn't that be enough?"

"Perhaps."

"What if it was too much for her this time? What if she never wakes up?"

"Then I will never forgive myself." The self loathing in Dimitri's tone spurred me to fight harder. I had to pull myself out of this to remind him it wasn't his fault.

"Neither will I." Adam growled.

"Look, I am sorry for the role I played in..."

"Save it." Adam snapped cutting Dimitri off. "She may have forgiven you, but I never will. Nothing can change what you did to her."

"You're right, but I am never going to stop trying to atone for it."

"As long as you stay away..."

"Adam, stop." I heard my weak but stern voice say. "He saved us both."

"Kat." All the anger in his tone had melted away as a smile spread across his face. "You're alright." He threw his arms around me pulling me close to his chest. I did my best to hold him back, but my arms were still weak and sore.

"And you're you again, right?" I barely whispered.

"Yes."

I pulled back and pressed my lips to his putting as much emotion into the kiss as my strength would allow. His kiss expressed enough for the both of us. I vaguely heard the door open and close again as I pulled away from him.

"What do we do now?" I asked Adam.

"Anything. We are finally free."

A/N: I hope you guys enjoyed the ending. Yes, I will be doing an epilogue. I hope the ending doesn't see too abrupt. I didn't think it needed anything stretched out.