Hey guys! I hope you're enjoying the direction I've taken the story. I promise that we'll be seeing some familiar characters soon! I'm doing my best to update more. If any of you have any other favorite stories that you'd prefer to be updated sooner than other ones, I'm all ears. For now, read, review, and enjoy!

I tried hard to stay awake as I sat in the bleachers of the gym. I was exhausted. I hadn't gotten any sleep after Nick left my room.

"Hey, Claire," said my friend Eve Castile, sitting down beside me. "You okay? You look tired."

"Didn't sleep well," I muttered. "Today's gonna be hell."

"Greetings, humble mortals," said her twin brother Emmett, sitting down with us.

Eve elbowed him. "You're a moron."

"Perhaps, but methinks a fair Moroi maiden shall find my words pleasing to the ear."

"Shoot me," muttered Eve.

I laughed. "I think that the queen would be mad if I shot one of her sister's kids. That wouldn't bode well for me."

"All right, novices, listen up!" shouted my mom from the stage. I closed my eyes. God, kill me now. She and my father were usually at Court with Queen Lissa, as she was her guardian and closest friend. The queen had asked my parents to come for the guardian training, as there had been a Strigoi attack during the only one she'd been present for, and she wanted her children looked after by the best guardians. "The other guardians and I have worked hard to pair each of you with a Moroi who will best fit you for this exercise. You will be with your Moroi twenty-four seven for the next six weeks. We will be giving you files that contain all of your information about the training exercise and about the Moroi you will be responsible for protecting. Be prepared, and good luck!"

The guardians began calling the names of dhampir novices, followed by the name of the Moroi they were being paired with.

"Emmett Castile."

Emmett perked up as his name was called.

"You will be guarding Miss Sabrina Dragomir."

The look of horror on his face was almost comical. Eve and I howled with laughter.

"So much for that hot Moroi maiden!" I snickered. He turned and flipped me off before heading down to get his folder. Truth be told, Sabrina was beautiful, and every one of the other male dhampir novices was interested in her. But she was Emmett and Eve's cousin.

"Oh, I wish I could have gotten that on video!" Eve chortled as my mom continued calling out names.

Emmett looked royally pissed off – ironic, since his mother was the queen's sister – and stomped out of the gym with Sabrina giggling beside him.

"Eve Castile!"

Eve stopped giggling at once, looking nervous.

"You will be guarding Miss Valerie Zeklos."

"God dammit," Eve muttered looking as pissed as her brother. Valerie was Nick's girlfriend, and was EASILY the biggest bitch in the school. Especially to dhampirs, and especially to me.

"Go on, get your folder," I teased, giving her a nudge.

She glared at me. "I hope you get Jacob Sarcozy," she muttered.

"She can't," grumbled our friend Thaine, who was walking past. "I'm stuck with him."

Eve went to get her folder and followed Valerie out. I gave her a sympathetic look to make up for my teasing – I really did feel sorry for Eve.

"Claire Belikova!"

I felt the blood drain from my face.

"You will be guarding Mr. Nicolas Ozera."

No. Way.

I stood, my eyes wide. I was going to be guarding my best friend for six weeks?

I didn't need the folder my mom handed me, but I took it anyway. I knew everything about him – we'd grown up together.

Nick came over to me. "Hey, guardian," he teased.

"This is serious, Nick," I said as we began heading back to our dorm building.

"Oh, come on, it's a school exercise. You'll kick ass and be done with it."

"Nick, stop it! When my mom was a student here, she had to actually defend her Moroi from a real Strigoi attack! Haven't you heard about that?"

"She did?" he asked, surprised. "Wow… And no, I haven't."

"Really? I'm surprised. You know why?"

"Why?"

"Because the Moroi that she had to protect? The Moroi she risked her life to go save? It was your father. He went to fight them off, and she had to protect him."

"Your mom got paired with my dad for this?"

"Yes. You've never heard this story, have you?"

"No, I haven't."

"The Strigoi who came to attack the school were here to try to kill your mother and wipe out the Dragomir line. Your Uncle Eddie? He nearly died protecting your mom. The Strigoi dragged him off to some caves. My mom and dad and a bunch of other guardians and novices went to rescue him, and the others who were taken. That's how my dad got turned into a Strigoi. They took him."

"I didn't know…"

"I know. But I'm explaining. I take this seriously, Nick. If we work well as a team together and I prove that I can protect you, they might make me your guardian since you and I are so close. That's what happened with your mom and my mom. I'm taking this seriously."

"All right. I will too," he said.

We headed into our building and I went to go pack.

I went across the hall to Nick's room when I was done. I opened the door to find not only Nick, but Eve and Valerie as well.

Crap.

"What is she doing here?" Valerie screeched.

"I was assigned to her. She's my guardian," Nick explained.

"No. No, she's going to guard you. No way in hell. I am going to go to Belikov or Hathaway and demand that you get a different novice."

"Val, will you relax?" Nick's voice was weary and exasperated. "She's assigned to protect me. That's all. It's no different than if she were with you and Eve were with me."

"I wouldn't want to fire magic Eve into ash. Your moms are sisters, she can't try anything with you!"

My temper flared. "Are you fucking kidding me?" I demanded. "I'm not here to 'try anything', Valerie. I'm here to be a guardian! I'm here training for my future!"

"Yeah, you're gonna try to plactice your future as a blood whore!" My jaw dropped, as did Eve's.

"Valerie! Enough!" shouted Nick. "I have homework to do, so I'd like some privacy. I'll talk to you later!"

"Fine," she seethed. "Let's go!" she barked at Eve.

Glaring at the back of Valerie's head, Eve followed her out.

"Sorry about that," Nick muttered.

"Why are you with her?" I demanded.

"Honestly, I don't know anymore," he said, sounding exhausted.

"Then why not break it off?" I inquired.

"Because there's a good part of the year left that I'd have to deal with her trying to set me on fire."

"Hey, you're a water user, remember?" I teased.

"Ha ha, very funny," he said. He went back to what he had been doing before I walked in, making up a bed on his sofa.

"Wait," I said. "Put the couch under the window."

"Why? It's heavy!"

I rolled my eyes. "Move over, you weenie." I began pushing his sofa to a new position from under the window. "It's logical. A Strigoi likely wouldn't be able to get inside due to the extraordinary number of guardians inside and outside. But if it did, a window would be easier access than trying to sneak through all the levels of building. And if it came through the window, I'd hear it and wake to protect you."

He smiled. "I'm impressed. I wouldn't have thought of it."

"Because you, O Royal Pain in the Butt, have not had guardian training."

"Harsh," he teased. "I could have your head for that."

"No, you couldn't. You're not a king yet, just a bratty high school student," I teased back.

"Speaking of brats, Valerie wants me to hang out at her room later.

I made a face. "Great. So Eve and I have to sit through a morning with Valerie?"

"Well… I don't know that her activity of choice should have an audience," he said uncomfortably.

"What do you – oh, ew!" I said, getting it. "So we're going to have to sit outside your room like pimps?"

"Well…hopefully not," he said. "I'm trying to keep it from happening. I don't want to. At least until…" he trailed off.

"Until…?" I prompted.

He looked at me. "Until I find the girl who will eventually become my queen."

I smiled. "That's sweet."

He shrugged. "I'm not trying to be sweet. I'm just being honest."

"Still. I think it's sweet."

He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. I'm gonna do my homework now."

I took my practice stake and began studying my field experience instructions.

After a couple hours, he stood with a sigh. "All right, let's go."

I groaned. "Do we have to?"

"Unfortunately, yes."

I grumbled, but followed led the way to Valerie's room and I waited outside. After a moment, I heard her voice screeching at Eve to get out.

Eve emerged, looking more annoyed than I'd ever seen her. "Oh my God, I'm going to strangle her with her own hair."

I chuckled once. "Sucks to be you."

Emmett and Sabrina rounded the corner. "What are you guys doing out here?" Sabrina asked, looking confused.

"Nick and Satan's Mistress are in there canoodling."

She wrinkled her nose, her blue eyes looking at the door. "Gross."

"Switch with me," Eve demanded of Emmett.

"Hell no, I don't want her."

"Come on, I thought you wanted a hot Moroi girl you weren't related to."

"Yes. But I don't want her to be hot because she just crawled up from hell."

I opened my mouth but was halted by a screech from inside. "YOU WHAT?!"

Sabrina's eyes widened. "See ya." Her white-blonde hair fluttered behind her as she and Emmett departed at high speed.

The door flew open after a few more minutes of screeching and the sound of several things breaking.

The door flew open and Nick sprinted out. "Let's go, let's go, let's go," he muttered, grabbing my wrist and towing me down the hall.

"What happened?!" I demanded.

"No time! Run!" he shouted.

We ran down the hall until he stopped, pounding on Sabrina's door. "SABRINA, HELP!"

The door flew open. "What the hell is wrong with you?" Sabrina cried, looking alarmed.

"Let me in, let me in!" he said hastily. He dragged me inside and slammed the door.

"What the hell, Nick?" she demanded.

He sat down in a chair, panting. "Needed a water user," he gasped out. "Just in case… Valerie… pissed… fire…"

"What did you do to her?" Emmett asked.

"Broke up with her."

"What?" the three of us exclaimed together.

"Are you nuts?" Sabrina demanded.

"I couldn't handle her anymore!" Nick said defensively.

"She's gonna turn Eve into ash!" Emmett said.

Nick's phone chimed at that moment. He pulled it out, read the text, and winced.

"Who is it?" I asked.

"Eve."

"What'd she say?" asked Sabrina.

He let us read the message.

YOU SUCK!

"Way to go, moron," said Sabrina, smacking Nick in the head.

"What?! You guys all kept saying to break up with her!"

"Yeah, but not when Eve's stuck with her for six weeks and can't escape! How is it that you were born eight minutes before me, but you act like you're eight years younger?"

"She'll turn me into ash eventually, it won't matter."

Sabrina's eyes widened. "Claire, don't let him die. I don't want to be queen."

I chuckled. "I'll do my best."

"We should probably head out, it's getting late," said Nick.

"Okay. Goodnight," I said to Emmett and Sabrina. Sabrina hugged me and Emmett fist bumped me before I followed Nick out.

"Well, today has been sufficiently crazy," Nick said. "Oh… I got some snacks for you in case you get hungry. They're in the cupboard by the sofa."

"Thanks." I took a granola bar and ate it before getting in bed.

He ulled his blackout shade down, creating a barrier against the rising sun. "Try to get some sleep… You look exhausted."

I nodded. "I'll try." I closed my eyes and let sleep take me.