Chapter Twenty Nine - Losing What is Yours

"So let me get this straight," I narrowed my eyes at the mysterious woman, finding the confidence somewhere inside myself to wander about the room, while keeping my gaze fixated cautiously on hers. "You want me to infiltrate Court and... do what, exactly? How do you expect me to get you Strigoi the power to the Moroi world?"

"I thought it would be obvious?" She said in a high pitched, sing-song voice, smiling condescendingly at me as she folded her arms across her chest. "I want you to kill Queen Tatiana. The moment she's gone, we will be able to strike and take out every measly method of defense she has in place. And then I will step forwards, as the new Queen." She definitely had an air of arrogance around her as she said that, staring off into the distance.

I continued walking around the room with my body closely to the wall, skirting my fingers along it as I walked and listened to her words. I could see her watching me with a calculated expression, and I presumed she was wondering what I was doing. I mentally laughed - if only she knew.

She turned to watch me as I peered curiously at the notes on the desk besides her, my eyes quickly skirting across everything to see if there was anything of importance. The Strigoi didn't seem bothered that I was looking at it, so I imagined that meant there was no hidden super plan she was worried I'd find out. It mostly seemed to be reports of my movement, which was kind of creepy considering how in depth some parts of it were.

Dates of when I left St Vladimir's, arrival times in Russia. Even the dates of every occasion when I left the St Basil's compound - to have dinner with Abe, visiting Dimitri's family. It seemed like she'd tracked my every move... But why did she wait so long to capture me? If she knew exactly where I was for the past three months, why not attack me sooner?

There was a picture of me on one sheet of paper, and I recognised it as the one in the St Vladimir's database that they took when I returned with Lissa earlier in the year. I furrowed my brows as I placed my finger on top of it, regarding it curiously. "You said you'd force me into one of you if I didn't cooperate." Just the thought of being turned into a Strigoi sent shivers down my spine; it created a knot in my stomach. I swallowed the lump in my throat and looked up at her. "How would you expect me to get into Court as a Strigoi?"

"Oh I wouldn't." She said simply with a shake of her head, clasping her hands together in front of her. "While you are preferable for the job, I do have other Guardians whose movements I am tracking that could easily replace you. Turning you into Strigoi would just mean you'd become a part of our reinforcements - your talents as a Dhampir will only be greatly enhanced as a Strigoi." Her eyes danced with excitement at her own words. "Imagine how fantastic you would be with the speed, the strength, the immortality of the Strigoi."

I narrowed my eyes at her. "And who exactly are these 'other Guardians' you have in mind?"

"Only some of the best in the business. Kaline Sumba in Nigeria, Lewis Smith who I believe is currently residing in England... Oh and, of course, your very own Dimitri Belikov."

"Don't even think about going anywhere near him-" I growled with clenched fists as I stepped towards her, the anger building up inside me. She matched me with her own step forwards, leaving us mere inches apart from each other, as she squared up and looked down at me with a challenging expression.

"Or what, Hathaway?" She tilted her head, a gleam in her eye. "It's not like you can stop me. You're helpless in here. You can't stop me." She laughed once, cracking an enormous smile as she began stepping backwards. She outstretched her arms and started laughing even harder, almost manically. "I rule this place. I rule you!" She was shouting now, with wide eyes and a sadistic grin. "You, Belikov, Queen Tatiana, and the rest of this God-forsaken world - you're all mine."

I stepped forwards challengingly, standing my ground. "And who exactly are you?" I glared up at her, ignoring the dreading feeling I felt inside.

Her laughter slowly stopped, and she dropped her hands to her sides, though kept the sickening grin. "I'm your worst nightmare." It was just a whisper, but that whisper held so much power that it made the air turned cold. It echoed in the air, sending shivers down my spine.

I clenched my teeth and balled my hands into fists at my side, keeping my stone-cold gaze on hers. She laughed again, just once, before I saw her shoulders relax slightly and her head tilt to the side. "Nathaniel," she shouted, and in an instant the same male Strigoi as before was at the entrance to our side. "Take Rosemarie here back to where she came from." I wanted to lash out and fight as the Strigoi made his way behind me, roughly grabbing my wrists and holding them painfully behind my back, but I knew it wouldn't result in anything good.

He had shoved me barely two feet when the female stepped forwards again, halting our movement. She placed a single finger on my cheek and pushed my face to look at her. "You have one hour, Rose." She whispered. "One hour to choose. One hour to decide how you will join us - by free will or by force."

Everybody was on edge, just waiting for a response. Lissa, Christian, Eddie, Adrian, and Abe were all sat nervously around a table in the back room of Abe's mansion in pure silence, nervously chewing their nails or tapping their feet or practically anything to keep them from bursting into a ball of anxiety.

On the table was a phone and a radio complete with walkie talkie. Abe was watching the radio intensely, his hands folded with his chin resting atop of them. He looked like he was so focused that nothing would be able to break through to him - not calling his name, waving a hand in front of his face. He was utterly absorbed by the object in front of him.

Lissa had been crying. Her eyes were red and puffy, and she was curled protectively into Christian's arms where they sat on a single chair. She was scared. So scared. The thought of losing one of the people loved most in the world was destroying her from the inside, and she felt so helpless and weak. How she wished the bond she shared with Rose was two ways - if only she could just talk to her, make sure she was okay, reassure her that help was on the way.

But she couldn't.

Dimitri and Janine had left almost three hours ago with half a dozen Mazur Guardians to join the additional 12 Guardians that were already searching for Rose and the Strigoi, making the total number on the hunt 20. It was almost all the men Abe could spare, having lost nine in the attack on the Transit Camp, and needing at least three on the compound for protection of the three Royal Moroi's under it's roof. They were fortunate enough that Lissa's Guardians, Serena and Grant, stayed with them to protect the Moroi's, meaning Abe only needed to keep two of his own men at the property.

The sound of the radio crackling to life alerted everyone, and they all leaned closer to it to listen to the news. Abe picked up the walkie talkie and held it to his lips, even though he wasn't talking. It crackled for a couple of seconds, before a familiar voice came through. "Guardian Alberta Petrov here. We think we've found them."

Lissa was on her feet immediately at her words, stepping closer towards the table. Christian kept a hand placed behind her back as a sign of reassurance as he, too, shifted closer to the radio almost instinctively.

"You think you've found them?" Abe repeated, sounding like he was in disbelief.

"The trail ends at the edge of this forest about ten miles outside of Omsk." She explained, and they could hear the rustling of something coming from her end - maybe leaves? "Then it turns into stone and gravel and the path ends. There's a cave opening not even a hundred metres beyond it, and the whole vicinity is shielded by fifty foot trees. Pretty good place for a Strigoi nest, if you ask me."

"Approach with caution, Alberta." He tried to sound firm and diplomatic, but there was still a hint of joy and excitement in his voice. "But I think you may have found her."

I pulled myself out of Lissa's head with a gasp, grabbing at the wall besides me that I was leaning against for support. They've found me. I wanted to scream it from the heavens, feeling overwhelmed with such joy and relief - but I knew I couldn't rejoice. Not just yet.

If Lissa's thoughts were right, then there were twenty Guardians out there searching for me that very moment, and one of them was Dimitri. My fingers went to the ring on my right hand at the thought of knowing he was safe, and he was here, searching for me. I'm here, Dimitri! I'm here.

I heard footsteps behind me and I dropped my hands quickly to my side, spinning around to look at the source of the noise. The boss lady of the Strigoi sauntered in first with her hands folded in front of her and a business-like expression on her face. The Strigoi known as Nathaniel stood slightly behind her and to the right, and in the short time I'd seen their interactions I assumed he was her second in command. I'd also realised where I'd recognised him from - he was the Strigoi that attacked me. It was all thanks to him that I was in that Strigoi-infested place, and the thought made my stomach turn.

"So, Rosemarie." The female stopped a metre or so in front of me, and outstretched her hands in an open gesture. "Have you made your decision?"

The cave Alberta saw had to be this one. It just had to be. If it was, then that means she should nearly be in the entrance by now. I had no idea just how big the cave was, or just how many Strigoi were scattered about the place that they'd have to face. I didn't know if it would take them ten seconds to get to me, or ten hours. But I had to trust my instincts. I had to take a leap of faith.

I took a deep breath and put on my sweetest Hathaway smile as I looked up at her. I stepped forwards and dropped my hands loosely to my sides, knowing exactly what would come after I spoke. "I have, yes." Her eyebrows arched upwards curiously at my words as she looked down at me. "I've thought long and hard about your offer to take down the Queen, and I think my answer can be perfectly summed up in two words." I walked towards her so that our bodies were almost touching, lifting my head up to look her in the eyes with a smirk. "Fuck. You."

She seemed unphased by my words, just looking at me, until a small smile broke out. She let out a breathy laugh through her nose and looked down at the floor, before back up at me. "Very well." Her voice was strained, and I could hear the disappointment in her voice as she acknowledged my words. "As I said, the decision was yours." She stepped away and back out the way she came, though her guard dog stood with his heels planted firmly in front of me.

I narrowed my eyes at him as he did the same with me, and I heard the woman stop in her tracks though didn't look at her. "Nathaniel," she called in a bored voice, and the boy turned his head in her direction though kept his gaze on me. "You know what to do."

He grinned devilishly, baring his fangs as he looked me up and down with a look of pure evil. "With pleasure."

"There are definitely Strigoi here." I heard Alberta whisper from where she stood beside me, vocally confirming the suspicions I had. Every ounce of my being was telling me there was danger ahead, which could only mean one thing - Strigoi.

"Let's just hope it's Roza's Strigoi." I muttered, glancing to her for a second before continuing the path down the cold, empty cave.

Alberta and Alicia Peron had been designated the two leaders of the mission, though somewhere along the hunt I'd fallen into a natural second. Perhaps it was just because of who we were searching for, or perhaps it was just natural Guardian orders. Either way, I was happy to have some sort of importance in the search.

Nine Mazur Guardians had been stationed outside of the cave as a safety precaution, as well as Janine who was in charge of that group for the time being. That left ten more venturing inside, including myself, Alberta, Alicia, and Pavel. Janine had tried to fight Alicia's orders when she'd been told to guard the outside perimeter, attempting to use the 'my daughter might be in there' excuse, but was swiftly put in her place when Alberta had also told her to stay put. It was better that way.

The only noises I could hear was our own footfalls and breathing, no evident signs of Strigoi being present. I wondered how long these caves spiraled on for, until we were met with forking pathways in two different directions. I held in a frustrated sigh as I came to a halt, stake still brandished defensively in front of me, and turned to Alberta and Alicia for further orders.

"Let's split into two groups." Alicia proposed, stepping to the front of the group. "One group per tunnel. If you meet a dead end, or find nothing of significance, make your way back to the others as fast as you can. Got it?" Everybody nodded, and she returned the gesture with confidence. "Belikov, Pavel, Harries, Whyte. You four with me. Petrov, you lead the rest."

It felt like we'd been walking for hours down this endless tunnel, with Alicia leading and Pavel bringing up the rear, when we came to a sudden stop. Alicia put a finger to her lips and hushed us, outstretching her other arm with the stake in it to the side to stop our movements. She very slowly and carefully edged forwards, leaning her back against the wall as she peered around the opening of the cave. "Strigoi." She whispered, moving back to face us all.

"How many?" It was one of the Mazur Guardians I didn't really know that asked.

"Four." She explained, rolling the sleeves of her jacket up. "Though I have a bad feeling that there's more hidden somewhere in the cave."

"Do you think the others have run into more Strigoi?" I asked with a tilt in my head, and she looked up at me with a grave expression.

"I'd like to think not, but we have no idea where that tunnel could have lead to."

I opened my mouth to speak further on the topic, before an oddly familiar voice filled the tunnels. "I know you're there." It was a female, with a light Russian accent, and definitely didn't belong to Alicia. I saw her face drop the same moment mine did, the realisation that we'd been caught dawning on us all. "I'm Strigoi, not an idiot. I could sense you from a mile away. Come on out, I don't bite." I could hear the smile in the woman's voice at the last part of her words, and I had to stop myself from rolling my eyes.

Alicia slowly ventured forwards into the large chamber with each of us following close behind, each with a stake in hand. My eyes darted around the room immediately, taking in the different faces and the different threats. I could see two more large openings in this room, one directly besides where we emerged from and another on the opposite side. As she had said, there were four Strigoi, though one of them had their back turned towards us.

There were two male, previously Moroi, and one female that was previously human. I couldn't tell what the other female was stood across from us, only being able to see her wildly curly dark brown hair. Alicia stepped forwards with confidence, ensuring the rest of us were behind her to establish both leadership and protection. "Give us the Novice." She said calmly though with vigour, sending a chill even through my own spine.

The Strigoi with her back to us laughed a high pitched, almost childlike laugh. I heard her sigh with amusement before she turned around to face us, and I felt my entire body tense up as I took in her face. Five years of daily training and I'd know that face anywhere. Except now it was deathly pale, the dark brown eyes being replaced with the pure evilness of those red-rimmed ones. "Galina?" I growled her name in both anger and confusion, not knowing how she had become Strigoi but being inherently disgusted that she was.

She looked at me with an affectionate smile, tilting her head to the side. "Hello, Dimitri. Long time no see."

"You know her?" I heard Pavel speak quietly as I stepped forwards, lining myself up alongside Alicia.

"She was my mentor back at St Basil's." I confirmed, never shifting my gaze from the creature I saw in front of me. "What the hell happened to you?"

She clutched her hands in front of her and looked down sadly to the floor, almost theatrically. "It's really quite the tragic story, though one that isn't necessary right now." She looked back up at me, before her eyes skirted across the rest of the Guardians alongside me, finally resting back on me. "I suspect you're here for Rosemarie? Your dear darling Roza?"

"Where is she?" I shouted, having to restrain myself from attacking immediately and doing something foolish that could possibly get me killed. I couldn't let my emotions get in the way of my abilities as a Guardian, no matter who it was I was trying to protect. "Where is Rose?"

"Oh, well," her brows knitted together as she placed her hands on her chest, again another dramatic action. "Another tragic story. I'm afraid Rosemarie isn't with us anymore." My entire body ceased up at her words, and I felt a fracture in my heart. She looked directly at me, her somber expression slowly morphing into a sadistic smile as she dropped her hands to her side. "She's dead."

That was it. Every ounce of restraint I had in me? Gone. My heart shattered into a thousand pieces, and it felt like my entire soul had just been sucked from my body. It couldn't be. I'd be able to tell if she was dead! She wasn't dead, I tried telling myself. She couldn't be dead. I glared at the woman - no, the Strigoi - in front of me, and clenched my fingers tightly around my stake. "You're lying!"

I bounced off the balls of my feet and found myself running instinctively for her, the feeling of rage and disgust clouding my every judgement as I saw red. I raised my stake as soon as I got near to jam it right in her heart, but she was anticipating it, spinning out of the way just in time so that my stake would instead stab into the empty cave wall.

I growled as I spun around, eyes desperately searching for her. I could see her making her way across the room, while the other Guardians and Strigoi battled around us, and I focused everything onto her. It was like tunnel vision - I didn't care about what was happening around me. I didn't want to care. I just wanted to make her pay for hurting my Roza.

Charging for her again, her back was to me this time, so I hoped I'd catch her off guard. I was successful as I grabbed her around the waist, using our combined momentum to barrel us to the floor in several rolls. I managed to pin her to the floor and was just about to thrust my stake when she threw her head forwards, connecting it with the bridge of my nose. I shouted out at the sheer strength behind the attack, falling backwards onto the floor and off from her.

She was on her feet in an instant, as was I, now circling me this time instead of running off. "You don't really think you can beat me, do you?" She teased with a sadistic tilt of her head, clearly trying to spur a reaction from me. "I taught you everything you know. I am your superior, and you are no match for me!"

"We'll see about that." I said cockily, lunging forwards with my stake and swiping for her heart immediately. She dodged it to the side and so I swiped for her neck, her ducking underneath it. She was impossibly fast, faster than any Strigoi I'd ever encountered, and I found myself getting more and more frustated.

We did the lethal dance for an immeasurable amount of time, never managing to hit her once with the stake. She'd landed several good hits on me, and I was fairly certain she'd broken a couple of ribs as well as my nose from earlier. I was tiring, and I knew now was when I'd start to get sloppy.

She must have sensed it too, because a wicked grin broke out on her face. "You've lost your touch, Belikov." She egged me on once again as we began circling each other, just enticing the other to attack. "I thought after being the best in your class back at St Basil's you'd of at least kept that reputation up. Looks like you're not the scary Dhampir everyone thought you were."

I laughed at her, shaking my head. "You haven't even seen scary." I assured her, kicking my leg out to swipe hers from beneath her. She wasn't anticipating it, and landed right on her back with a yelp of either surprise or pain.

She was back on her feet before I could act, and I launched attack after attack with a renowned sense of worth as I tried desperately to rid her once and for all. I didn't see her as my mentor, and there was no remorse or blurred line as every inch of my being told me to kill her. It wasn't like me - usually I felt at least some guilt when attacking a Strigoi, but for some reason I didn't have that guilt this time around. Maybe it was the thought of her hurting Rose that spurred me on, but truth be told I wasn't entirely sure that was the reason.

Galina stepped backwards before launching herself towards me in an aerial kick, and I laughed to myself at the feeble attempt. Thanks to Rose, I knew every trick in the book when it came to aerials, and hers was pitiful at best. I blocked her kicks with my forearms before knocking her out of the air, forcing her to miss her landing and stumble on her face.

I could see her panic as she spun around on her back to stand up, but I was already on her before she could get to her feet. I used my knees as anchors to pin her body to the floor, one arm tightly across her chest and arms. She was struggling beneath me, screaming and spitting at me with as much anger and hatred she could muster. "It's over, Galina!" I bellowed through gritted teeth, watching as she slowly stopped squirming. "It's over."

I thrust the stake with as much force as I could muster into her heart, feeling her flail beneath me for a moment before she went limp. I watched the life drain from her eyes, and I watched the terror and anger melt from her features.

With an almost defeated sigh I rose to my feet, glancing at her one more time before I looked around the room. The fighting was over.. I'd been so preoccupied with Galina that I hadn't even registered the other group of Guardians having found us, nor the appearance of more Strigoi as judging by the dead bodies scattered on the floor.

A feeling of dread settled in my stomach as I realised how blinded I'd been in attacking Galina, not having a single focus for the rest of my team. I swallowed hard, looking up to see a few of them circling something on the floor by the wall. I ran over to them in an instant, shoving my way past a couple Mazur Guardians to see Alicia curled up on the floor, Pavel close besides her. She was coughing and struggling, her eyes rolling into the back of her head as Pavel tried to keep her awake. Her jacket had been ripped to shreds and there was blood coming down from her dominant side. "What happened?"

"Two Strigoi's jumped her from behind while she was attacking another." Pavel explained, placing pressure on the wound at the top of her shoulder. "Just when Petrov arrived. She managed to throw the Strigoi's off her before they could do too much damage, but she was still sufficiently injured. I think her leg's broken as well."

"Pavel, Whyte, carry Peron back to the Guardians outside the cave and tell them to take her straight back to Mr Mazur's compound." Alberta instructed, and I watched Pavel nod as he scooped Alicia into his arms. She winced at the pain as he tucked his arm beneath her leg, and he apologised profusely.

I let out a shaky breath I didn't realise I'd been holding once the three of them disappeared from sight, turning myself back to Alberta. "Was anybody else severely injured?" She shook her head, gesturing around to the remaining five Mazur Guardians. They were battered and bruised, but they were all on their feet and at least seemed to be responding.

"Where is Rosemarie?" She asked, and I swallowed the lump in my throat.

"They said-" I began to speak, before cutting myself off, feeling the knot in my stomach was back. More Strigoi.

I spun on my heels with my stake raised defensively in front of me, before I immediately dropped it to my side as I took in the sight in front of me.

I recognised the Strigoi immediately as the one who'd attacked me back at the Transit Camp, and my heart leapt as I took in the lifeless figure in his arms. Roza. "Looking for her?"