A/n: Thanks for all the wonderful comment you guys! I know I have to continue writing this. haha.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything. It all belongs to the wonderful creater of the Vampire Academy series, Richelle Mead.

After he strapped me into my seat, which might I add was highly unnecessary, him and a few more Strigoi drove me to a place they refused to name.

"We're going to Spokane." I rolled my eyes.

They looked at me and growled. "No we're not."

"Yes huh."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"No!"

I sat there for a few seconds. "Are we in Spokane yet?"

"God dammit! We are not going to Spokane, and we are definitely not there yet!"

"I was just asking. Sheesh. Take a chill pill." I smiled inside.

"I'm going to kill her." he muttered to himself.

"Dimitri wouldn't be too happy about that. How would he react if he found out you killed his dinner?" I asked; what would I give to be able to raise my eyebrow right now...?

It didn't matter how much I wanted to go find him by myself. They wanted all the glory of giving me to him; maybe he'd knock some sense into them, seeing as I can't do a very good job. I had thrashed around forever, and they didn't even flinch. It suddenly hit me as we pulled into a familiar town. "Your base is in Missoula?"

"Dimitri? He's in his room; let me get him for you." A man replied to one of their questions.

"No its fine, I'm sure he would enjoy this more if he got it unexpectedly." He smiled, and they laughed.

I rolled my eyes. Moroi definitely had better jokes, I'll tell you that. "That was lame."

"Like you could do better?"

"I would have said something about being a blood whore." I commented, folding my arms.

"Are you?"

"No, but-" I looked down.

"Aw, did I strike a nerve, little dhampir?" he asked.

That made me angry. "No, and don't call me that." Only Adrian could.

A wave of familiar smell hit me. I wasn't ready. No matter how much I had been ready two seconds ago, my courage was gone.

"Slade." his voice whispered; a slight venom to his voice.

"Belikov." the man holding me greeted him.

Dimitri waved it off and came into view. "Leave her."

The men left immediately. I swallowed and looked at him. His eyes, blood red, gleamed in the dark.

"I'm going to kill you." he said simply, and he darted toward me.

I went for my stake, but he was too fast. Before I could put it in the correct position he slammed into me, throwing me to the ground. Pain seared in my chest. Ribs...

"Not fast enough."

"Hold on tight Comrade." I growled, getting up quickly and hitting him hard with one blow, but it was all wrong. I didn't hit the right spot; I missed. Another pain ripped through me and I fell to the ground. The pain came from my chest, but it wasn't a rib this time. I could feel the blood gushing from my wound. He would kill me now, but he didn't come. I looked around and saw him laying on the ground. I hit him, but I missed his heart.

He looked up at me with pained eyes and shock spread across his face. "R- Roza?"

I blacked out.

A familiar voice echoed in my ear and I shot upright, scrambling around.

"Rose! Rose! Its okay. You're sleeping." the voice whispered, holding me.

"Oh Adrian. It was horrible." I cried into him.

"What? What's horrible?" he asked, pulling me away.

"T- the dream? Didn't you see the dream?"

"You weren't dreaming Rose. If you were, I would have seen it." he shook his head.

I stood up and walked away from him. "So it was real."

"What happened?"

"I- I missed." I breathed, falling to my knees.

"You what?"

"I saw him. Dimitri. I attacked, and missed. He got me." I cried, putting my hands on my chest where he'd hit me.

"What?! No!" He shouted, standing up.

My skin started fading in and out as I sat there. I looked up at him and he shook his head.

"No! Where are you? You've got to tell me where you are! Tell me!" he grabbed my shoulders.

"M- Missoula." I whispered, and he disappeared. I really needed his help this time. I was dying, and there was no one there to heal me. Maybe, I'd see Dimitri on the other side. Adrian was sure to kill him after this. No matter what the price.

"Get out of here." a voice growled.

I recognized that voice. My eyes fluttered open and I concentrated on her face. "Mom?"

"Rose!" she shouted, standing up. "You're awake!"

"Am I dead?" I asked, attempting to look at my hand, but it tugged on something.

"Uh uh! You have an IV." she whispered, patting it back down.

I growled. "How am I alive?" I asked her, looking around. I quickly rethought that. "Is he here?"

"I'm sorry Rose. He left after he brought you in. He seemed pretty antsy."

It was just like Adrian to do something heroic and then leave before the rewards. I slipped into Lissa's mind while we sat in silence. She was sitting in the lobby trying to talk to Christian, who apparently just got there.

My mother broke the silence with a whisper. "He told me to tell you that you're not crazy."

I smiled as Lissa cracked the door open. "Ah! Rose!" she exclaimed, running over and trying her best to hug me. "Oh my god! I was so worried about you!"

"I told you not to."

She smiled and kissed my forehead. "If you haven't figured it out yet, I don't always listen to you."

"Not always." I agreed. I missed her terribly. Not being able to jump up and hug her was like resisting something I would die without.

"Um Rose?" she asked quietly.

"Yeah Liss?"

"I have a question about-" she swallowed. "Dimitri."

I had forgotten all about that. "Wait, did I kill him?"

"I- I don't know." she admitted, looking down.

"What do you mean 'I don't know'? Is he alive?"

"Yes, but Rose, he's... alive. Like, he's back."

I shot up abruptly, like I had just been stabbed in my leg. "He's alive?!"

"Rose! Lay down!"

I regretted that move instantly as the medication swirled in my head. I fell back down and blinked my eyes hard. Their figures were swimming in my vision. "I don't feel so-" I threw up. Of course.

Later, I could finally sit up and eat something. "Lissa, please can you get him in here?"

"They won't let him in. Believe me, he's about to throw punches." she whispered, smiling.

"I want to see him."

"I know you do Rose, and we're trying the best we can."

I folded my arms and laid my head back on the pillow. "I guess I could get some sleep. I really need to talk to Adrian too. Liss, could you turn the light off?"

She followed my instruction and sat back down, watching me.

"Thanks." My mind shrunk into blackness and then the familiar place surrounded me. "Adrian? I know you're here. Please, I need to talk to you."

"Fine. Talk." he came into sight.

"Thank you for saving me."

"Yeah yeah."

"I'm serious. I wouldn't be alive if you hadn't been there." I grabbed his hand.

"Don't get all mushy on my Rose. I'm not a very soft guy." he moaned as I hugged him.

"I think you could be." I smiled, letting him go.

We were quiet for a minute. "What really happened?" I asked him abruptly.

"When?" he asked, but he already knew. "Okay. Well, we were talking and when you started to fade, your aura just- disappeared."

"Disappeared?" I gasped.

"Yeah it freaked me out. I new something was wrong, but I knew you wouldn't tell me where you were. Hey, about that. Why did you tell me?"

"You didn't try to use compulsion?" I asked sarcastically, putting my hand on one hip.

"Nice try."

"Okay, well. I knew I was in trouble, and since I had failed at getting Dimitri, I figured he'd still be there when someone arrived."

"Th- that's all?"

"I guess."

"Okay, well I might want to tell you something about your guardian friend."

"I heard he's okay." I told him, putting my arm down.

"Yeah, he's there at the academy somewhere. He said he wasn't going to leave until he talked to you." he shook his head, rolling his eyes.

"How is that possible?"

"What? That he's alive? Oh yeah. I don't know about that." he shook his head again.

"Where is he going?" I almost begged him.

"The Royal Court."

"What's he going to do there?"

"He has to explain why he's alive. The school guardians won't let him out of their sight. Good luck talking to him."

I sighed; he was right. How was I going to get around them? "I'll find a way."

"You always do." he nodded. The look on his face reminded me of the one he gave me when I told him I was leaving. It hurt to think about him that way.

"Adrian, about the promise I made..."

"You don't have to do it."

"I don't?"

"I understand now, how much you truly love him. I'll find somebody, Rose." he smiled. I couldn't think of this as a 'I'm off the hook' kind of thing, so I hugged him.