A.N: Hey guys!!

Here chapter 15 I really hope you are going to enjoy it. A big thank you to Natasha (XxFormidablePassionXx) for taking the time to beta this chapter =D

Well I hope Nadine will be satisfied with the bit of Pavel we get in this chapter *wink*

Ok now, on another note, there is a poll on my page I would REALLY love for you guys to take it. I'm not trying to influence you in any way but I think that Poor Peeta Mellark is really underrated!! I mean any guys who would tell me "If you die, and I live, there is no life for me at all back in D-12. You're my whole life, I would never be happy again" get my heart (And Anto's too lol) lol

Don't forget to review this chapter and tell me what you think.

Thanks

Steffy.

Chapter 15:

My phone beeped.

"Hello…" I answered sleepily, eyes still closed.

"I'm sorry to wake you up in the middle of the night Roza but I wanted to wish you good luck."

"Dimitri…" I whispered as my eyes shot open. It worked!! I'll be damned!

"Yes Roza it's me." He said with his velvety voice and I could imagine his cold smile. The smile his Strigoi self bored most of the time… the one I hated to the core. "Do you remember the snow angels?"

"Of course I do." I said in a low voice keeping my eyes locked on Sydney who was still sleeping soundly.

"What did I tell you in the snow that day?" he invited me to continue. He knew it hurt me to revisit our rare but precious memories and I was sure he was doing it on purpose.

"You told me that you would be there for me to support me during Gladiators' day." I said trying to sound as nonchalant than I could.

"That's right" he said and I could hear the smile in his voice. "I unfortunately can't be there with you but you need to know that you're in my mind… always." He said and even if the words were nice they still managed to sound like a threat.

"Where are you?" I asked even if I perfectly knew the answer. I wanted to know if he would play with me or if he was confident enough to tell me the truth.

"I'm with you in your heart, in your head…in your soul" he said huskily.

I turned to lay on my back, looking at the ceiling trying to swallow back the tears because he was right, of course he was right!

"But I presume you mean physically." He continued as I kept quiet. "I'm too far from you Rose. I wish I could be beside you, in that bed, giving you what I know you are craving but I'll come eventually. I always keep my promises, remember."

"Then, you promised to never hurt me…" I whispered stupidly.

"What does 'hurting' mean really? It's all subjective Roza." He said seriously. "Do your best today, you wouldn't want to put your mentor to shame would you?" He said teasingly. He chuckled. "I'm not worried, you're gifted in almost everything we tried together."

That little remark made me blush furiously.

"Dimitri…" I only repeated as I was scared to say too much and have him figure it all out.

"I'll see you Roza… Just so you know, willing or not, you'll always be mine and I'll always be yours and that can't ever change" He said emotionless like he was reading the news. "I'll hurt anyone getting in our way."

"I--"

"Sleep well Roza." He said cutting me off and the line went dead.

I looked at my phone for a while. It was good I knew that. It meant that Oksana could tamper with his brain enough to probably make him change the place he wanted to target his attack, but hearing his voice, his barely hidden threats… That was hard to bear.

I turned to put the phone back on my nightstand when I crossed Sydney's eyes fixed on me.

"Was that who I thought it was?" She asked calmly.

I nodded.

"What does that mean Rose?" She asked with concerned.

"It means that, from now on, the odds are in our favor."

"Good." She said simply turning around to go back to sleep.

The next week was really crazy as we were putting the final touches to our plan.

Oksana drank a full potion this time and made sure the memory was really well implanted in Dimitri's mind. She was pretty poised so it made us all confident.

Kirova didn't mind letting us leave for a week since there were no exams left or anything like that. Lissa probably did 'help' a bit there but I wasn't sure and I didn't want to ask.

My mom had been a lot harder to convince. She didn't want to let me go alone, she wanted to come.

"Do you really think I'll let you go there, meeting a deadly Strigoi while I stay here…safe at the Academy??" She shook her head angrily. "Think again Rose!!"

"I won't be in danger Ma" I said soothingly. "I'll be with some deadly guardians! Pavel and the guys from the Secret Services and most of the Moroi there will be more powerful than ever!" I said as we realized that Sydney's potion was also working on Christian making him one hell of a flamethrower.

She sighed. "You don't understand Rose but…but I realized all the mistakes I made as far as you are concerned and I won't make them all over again."

"But it's different this time I won't be alone and…and Victor knows how serious you are about the rules." I said sincerely. "With you there, it will be impossible to fool him. You would never willingly risk you career and mine for something that trivial."

My mom pursed her lips with disapproval but I could see in her eyes that she was surrendering. She knew I was right but it didn't mean she had to like the idea and I could see that she hated it.

"You need to be careful Rose" she said sighing heavily. "You have to understand that I can't lose you ok? I… I just can't allow that to happen…ever." She said trying to sound just very sure but her voice was huskier, she was probably trying to conceal her emotions.

I hugged her tightly. "I'll come back mom, I promise."

"You better…or else" she said hugging me back fiercely.

"Earth to Rose." Said Sydney as I was getting ready for what could be my last day at the Academy. Now win or lose…there were no turning back.

"I… Yeah." I said shaking my head as remembering this intimate moment with my mother brought tears in my eyes. "You know about tomorrow…" I said trailing off,

"What about it?" She asked sitting on her bed.

"It will be dangerous…VERY dangerous" I said sitting on my own bed so we faced each other.

"I got it Rose I'm not that stupid!" She said somehow offended that I mentioned something that evident.

"No I know you're not, it's just…" I took a deep breath. "You can go home now" I said gently.

She looked at me silently for a minute and I could see anger and rejection in her face. "I see…" She said nodding. "Now that you've gotten everything you needed from the alchemists you send me away…" she snorted "and I thought we were friends!"

"But we are!" I said offended "that's why I'm trying to keep you safe. I…" I sighed and went to sit beside her. "I hate for the people I care about to get involved in what I'm about to do Sydney and I know you will not want to stay here without me and I hate the idea to have you there on the front line with no way to defend yourself. I'm just trying to protect you Syd, I promise."

She narrowed her eyes slightly with suspicion but relaxed almost immediately. "Yeah but that's the point, you're my friend and I want to be there, dangerous or not."

I sighed in capitulation. I was stubborn but I was no match to Sydney and I knew that. "But you'll have to stay hidden you know that right? Not with me but with the Moroi and other dhampirs."

She nodded "I know and it's all good, I just want to be there I mean…" she grinned "I went through like 2 weeks of super boring preparation putting on with Ivashkov's idiotic behavior… I want to share the spotlight."

"It's reckless and stupid you know that right?" I asked more rhetorically than anything else. She had been raised with the idea that every single person in our world was evil and dangerous so of course she knew how dangerous it would be.

She just smiled.

I sighed and rolled my eyes but didn't comment. Sydney was on board now, no matter what. I thought that telling her she would have to stay almost two days without me might make her change her mind but she told me that Lissa, Mark and Oksana were, and I quote, 'kind of ok to hang around' which was, for Sydney, one hell of a compliment!

Today we were all tense on different levels, and once you knew our little group enough, you could see what the main concerns were, even if none of us worded our fears and doubts out loud. It was too late to do that anyways. Abe's plane would be here tonight to pick me up along with Adrian and Eddie. We needed the daylight as a weapon to get Victor out of Jail.

The others would spend the night at the Academy, probably not really sleeping getting ready for their own plane very early in the morning to go to Lissa's cabin.

Sydney went to stay with Oksana and Mark that night since she couldn't stay in my dorm room with me but she was on her best behavior. She didn't want me to change my mind and send her away. She even went there with a smile on her lips…scariest thing ever!

That night just before I went to go meet Eddie and Adrian at the plane, I quickly stopped by the Moroi dorm and took Christian over to Lissa's room in order to say goodbye to them.

"Ok guys I know I'll see you two in two days but…" I looked at them both sitting patiently on Lissa's bed looking at me with both concern and confidence. They trusted my judgment but couldn't help being worried about what was about to happen. "Everything will be alright you know" I said with a sad smile.

I could feel that Lissa was doing her best to fight back her tears. She knew it was silly as we'd be apart for only two days and what I was doing was not that dangerous but she didn't like us being separated.

"You take care ok?" I asked locking eyes with Christian for him to understand I meant 'you take care of her'.

He quickly glanced to Lissa to show me that he understood. "Always" he said and I could hear the underlying emotion in his voice. "And you be safe ok? Nothing is worth you being hurt if anything…anything at all doesn't turn out right you just run as fast and as far as you can, ok?"

"Of course!" I said with a smile but I knew that it was probably one of the biggest lies I'd ever told. I would never leave Adrian or Eddie behind. I would rather give my life saving them.

I could feel relief through the bond meaning that Lissa bought it but I could see in Christian's eyes that he didn't buy it for a second but he was kind enough not to word his doubts.

He just stood up hugging me fiercely. "Please be careful." he whispered to my ear.

"I'll do my best" I whispered back kissing him soundly on the cheek. "Come on Liss give me a---"

My phoned beeped.

"Hello?"

"Come on! Hathaway where the hell are you?" barked Pavel. "We're ready and waiting!"

"I'll be right over." I said not able to conceal my smile. I was probably more of a masochist than I even thought I was because I did miss him.

I kissed Lissa's forehead. "I'll see you in two days. I…I love you guys." I said as I exited the room. I still had trouble to express my feelings but I decided to work on that later…if I had a later.

I ran to the runway where my mom was waiting for me. Her face was grim and hard probably trying to keep her emotions in order.

"Mom." I whispered stopping in front of her.

I could see her eyes glint slightly, she had tears in her eyes and it hurt me deep in my chest.

"It will be alright mom, we have it all planned." I said taking her hand.

I could see Pavel in the shadow of the plane door but he didn't say anything, giving my mother and I the couple of minutes we needed.

"Just come back to me Rose… Whatever happens, we can work it out. Just be safe and come back." She said barely louder than a whisper. I presumed it was the emotion that kept her from talking louder.

I just hugged her burying my face into her chest. I couldn't say anything, everything that could have been said would have sounded all wrong and I knew that.

"I'll see you soon." I said letting go of her.

She smiled at me and gently removed a strand of hair from my face. "I'm so proud of you Rose. You are so brave and fearless. A real fighter! I couldn't have dreamed for a better daughter."

I smiled back and walked into the plane.

"Don't forget what you told me Ivashkov" said my mother louder before Pavel could close the door.

"Never!" Said Adrian who was sitting in the back of the plane.

I frowned slightly with confusion but I knew I would find out eventually.

"What took you so long?" Asked Pavel as I quickly sat down across from him as the plane took off. "We can't say you particularly took care of your appearance" he said pointing to my clothing.

"We can't all be naturally charming like you Papav." I said snickering.

Eddie snorted and tried to hide it with a cough.

"Hey Buddy!!" I said as cheerily as I could. "Ready?" I asked.

"As ready as I can be." he said with a wink but he didn't fool me, I could see the apprehension in his face.

"What about you Papav? Ready?" I asked as I had to stay in front him till the pilot said it was ok to walk around. "What's your first name anyways I mean…'Pavel' is a bit impersonal. We're buddies now!"

Pavel looked at me for a minute. "I have to be ready don't I? And my name is Gavrilovich."

"Really?" I grimaced, "Gavrilovich?" He pursed his lips. "I'm sorry dude that sucks."

Adrian burst into laughter from the back. I decided to go sit beside him later.

"My friends call me Gav." he said with a small smile.

"That's shocking!" I said with fake surprise. "Well I don't know what is more shocking really, that you allow people to call you Gav or that you have friends."

This wit made him smile even wider. I was ready to bet that he loved my teasing as much as I liked his.

At this moment we heard the beeping sound releasing us and I almost jumped out of my seat.

Eddie stood up too and I could see excitement in his eyes.

"You are not going to beli---" He started but was cut off by Pavel.

"Rose let me introduce you to Guardian Arch from the Secret Services." He said formally.

I turned around just in time to see the man exiting the cockpit, he was probably sitting beside the pilot and that man was… that man was huge!! He was the biggest man I had ever seen. A real killing machine!

I detailed him, mouth agape. He was at least 7 feet tall and 360 lbs. He was so broad, I would have needed at least 3 Dimitri's to make one like him and my Dimitri was already broad shouldered. He had black hair and gray eyes with olive skin. He was beautiful in a rough, manly kind of way but he was scary.

"Wow…you're some piece of a man!" I exclaimed without even thinking.

Pavel had a ghost of a smile playing on his lips but tried to keep his seriousness.

"Miss Hathaway. Nice to meet you" said Arch ignoring my comment.

My hand almost got lost in his enormous one.

"It's nice to meet you too" I said as formal as he was. Apparently he was not the kind of guy that you joked around with.

"Just so we get our story straight my name is Sebastian Arch and the cover story will be that I'm Adrian Ivashkov's guardian." He said nodding toward the back of the plane where Adrian was sitting.

I turned around and grinned when Adrian winked at me.

"That's all good. I'm pretty sure I can remember that." I said as a joke but his serious nod led me to think that he didn't get it.

"OK….Well I'll catch you later" I said going to sit beside Adrian. "Hi there."

"Hello Rose" he said letting his head roll on his head rest so he was facing me. I took a similar position and relaxed as we looked into each others' eyes. "You seem tired." he said with concern.

I shrugged slightly. "Don't worry I'll sleep on my way to Norway."

He nodded and reached for my hand wordlessly.

I squeezed his hand tightly after he intertwined our fingers. "We're going to be alright." I said.

"I know." He whispered still keeping his eyes on mine.

"What did you say to my mother?" I asked curiously.

"I'll tell you in due time." He said with a small smile.

I couldn't help the small yawn.

"We still have a bit more than one hour flight Rose you could take a small nap."

I nodded, and without even thinking about it, I inched closer and rested my head on his shoulder. I needed the contact and hearing his quiet breathing, smelling his wooden aftershave, feeling his warmth made me feel safe.

Adrian wrapped his right arm around my shoulders and rested his cheek on top of my head.

"I'll do it" he whispered but I decided to ignore it as I had no clue what he meant and I was feeling so good right there… I just closed my eyes and tried to forget everything that was about to happen.

I didn't even realized I fell asleep when felt Adrian's hand gently brushing my cheek.

"Rose…Angel, wake up" he whispered against my forehead.

"Ummm?" I muttered still keeping my head on his shoulder.

"We're about to land" he said gently kissing my forehead. "It's time to free the big bad wolf." He added seriously.

"Victor." I said as my eyes shot open now wide awake.

"Victor." he repeated as a confirmation while tightening his arm around my shoulders as the plane started to descend.