A/N: I own nothing but the plot! Hope you guys enjoy!

Chapter 17

Lissa POV:

I was scared to death, the Strigoi had come after me alone. No one was killed and no others were taken. As if they had been commanded to take me alive and unharmed. Waiting for someone to come after me, I cowered against the wall of the maze in fear. I knew that Rose was keeping tabs on me since she got stung and remembered everything.

To my surprise, she had backup and looked totally badass. She stood in the middle of about a dozen dhampirs. I sent her a quick picture of what she looked like to me. She grinned at the image just before attacking the closest strigoi. The way she fought was like something I'd never seen.

She struck quickly and true with her stake. At some point, she lost the stake and she pulls out a short sword. A machete I think it was called. Rose used the machete with as much precision and accuracy as she had with the stake.

"Lissa, are you hurt?" she asked quickly.

No, I'm fine. I think that they were instructed not to hurt or harm me in any way. I was just scared till you showed up. I send her through the bond.

Rose nodded in acknowledgement before turning the rest of her attention to the strigoi in front of her. She thrust a knife, infused with the elements like a stake, into the strigoi's heart. His cry of pain rang out before he fell, unmoving.

Damn, Rose. I knew you were a badass but shit girl that was awesome!

She laughs at that, "well thank you Lissa."

Soon all the strigoi are dead, most by her hand, and she is covered in sweat, grime, and ichor from the strigoi. Pride surged through me as she turned and helped me stand.

"Thank you, Rose." I say with a grin.

"It's my duty. There is no need to thank me for doing my job. You come first. You are the priority." She says. "Look, I've been training to protect you my whole life."

I look down at the statement. It is true that she and the other dhampirs have trained their whole life to protect the moroi. Shame poured through me at the fact that I needed to be protected.

"Lissa, look at me." She lifts my chin forcing me to look at her. "It isn't your fault. These are the rules of our world, there is no need to feel ashamed to need someone that is willing to put their life on the line to protect you. You are a princess. The last of the Dragomirs."

I nod. She was right, of course she was right.

Rose started to zone out, and looked rather pale.

"Rose, how long has it been since you have gotten proper food and rest?"

She shrugs. I looked at Dimitri pleadingly. He shakes his head. Guilt flooded me when I realized that she probably hadn't slept or ate because she was trying to get to me. Rose's body suddenly went slack due to the exhaustion and lack of food.

Eddie, Mason, and Dimitri took turns carrying her back to the Glade of the maze. When she woke up hours later, we made sure that she ate enough to fill her before she passed out again. It must have been days since she had gotten proper sleep.

Mason POV

The last time that I saw Rose was when she had stayed back with the Strigoi in Spokane. I remember running back to save her, I don't know what happened after that. The next thing I knew I had woken up in this maze with other boys all around me, none of them were dhampirs.

I was the only one till about five months ago. A kid named Nikolai, he was from Russia like Guardian Belikov was. He and I trained hand to hand combat to keep up our skills. Every now and again, he and I would race through the maze together.

The night Lissa came into the maze, was the night she was kidnapped by a bunch of Strigoi. While I was still trying to devise a plan to rescue her, Rose shot through one of the doors and stopped. To say I was stunned would be an understatement. She was as beautiful as I remembered but something was off about her.

For a few moments she stood still, calculating something before taking off again. She didn't even seem aware that Eddie, Dimitri, her mother, and several others that I didn't recognize were following her. I quickly got Niks attention and we too took off after her and the others.

When we finally caught up to her and stopped, she looked rather scary. She is the Angel of Death. The Strigoi's Worst Nightmare. So many other names flitted through my head before I realized that she was fighting them to get to Lissa.

Dimitri

Rose was scary enough on her own, but when Lissa was in danger everyone better watch out. The look on her face when she came out of her trance was horrifying. It even scared her mother. She reminded me of the Greek Goddess Nemesis. She was on her way to carry out punishment on the ones who put Lissa in danger.

The way Rose fought was amazing to see, she took out more than I did. It was rather scary. Her determination and focus rivaled mine. Rose astounded me constantly. I was constantly throwing obstacles her way and she overcomes them with ease. Almost as if they were not a challenge at all for her.

Eddie

When Lissa was around and not in danger, Rose was like Aphrodite. However, when Rose knew that the princess was in danger, she became Athena and Nemesis combined. That mixture was scary with Rose. She was Hell on Wheels and gave the term 'When I was born the devil said "Oh, Shit. Competition!"' a new meaning.

I knew that Rose was a badass, she had more molnija marks than guardians twice our age. Everyone knew that Rose took her job as a guardian seriously. Even more so since Spokane. We both did. Both of us felt guilty about Mason. That we couldn't save him. But now I'm looking at him like I would a ghost.

Nikolai

The Rose Hathaway just appeared out of nowhere. And looked as scary as the stories and rumors said she was when her best friend and charge was in danger. Mason caught my attention after she took off again through another door. There were others following her including Dimitri Belikov, the Battle God himself.

We followed her to where there were more strigoi than I had ever seen before. Watching Rose and Dimitri in battle was an amazing thing to behold. I barely got two down by myself before Rose took over the whole fight, taking out one right after the other. By the time the battle was over I think two-thirds were taken down by her alone. She took out more than Dimitri did.

When she passed out afterwards, it scared all of us. The princess asked Dimitri how long it had been since she had gotten food and a good night's sleep. No one knew. From the looks of it, she hadn't eaten or slept in at least three days. Possibly more.

Janine

My daughter went into a trance and then as soon as she came out of it, she took off out the door in a fury. The look on her face told me that Lissa was in danger. It scared me that she just left and didn't say anything or make sure that she had back up. She led the way into the Maze that Galina had built and put them all in.

She led the way to a nest of Strigoi and froze for a second clearly communicating with Lissa. Just as she struck the strigoi she looked like Bellona, the Roman Goddess of War. Rose definitely lived up to the rumors about her fierceness in battle. Honestly, Rose gave Dimitri a run for his money when it came to lethality.

Rose

After the battle and making sure that Lissa was safe I felt the relief flood me. Then the fatigue and exhaustion flooded me and took over. I needed thirty hours of sleep and about forty pieces of pizza, a dozen chocolate glazed donuts, and twelve cheeseburgers. My infamous appetite was kicking in.

My body screamed at me again, that I needed to protect Lissa, but she was surrounded by an army of dhampirs. I gave into the fatigue and hunger before I could push myself to continue. Someone picked me up and carried me, I know it was a guy just by the way they were carrying me. A little bit later I was given to someone else.

As it turned out, Eddie had carried me a third of the way then had transferred me to Mason. After about the same amount of time had passed, the familiar aftershave wafted over me. Dimitri carried me until he put me on a bed.

Sometime later I woke up and Lissa made sure that I had eaten something before I passed back out. The next time I woke up Mason, Eddie, and Jesse were there. They made sure that I ate again and got some water into my system. At some point, I think Mia and Ralf were in the room I was sleeping in. I know for a fact that my mother was there the whole time.

A/N: Hey, Guys. I'm almost finished with this book. I have been thinking about making a second one. Let me know! Bye Loves. Till the next chapter!

-Noelove5231