Only got three reviews for the last chapter :/ I dunno, maybe I'm updating too soon but I can't help myself :P Enjoy :)

Chapter 20

On instinct, I backed away from the top of the stairs, as did Rose and Sydney, wracking my brain for some way out of this. How was it possible that they had found us? We had been so careful. There was only one possible answer.

Someone had told.

I heard the many heavy footsteps of the guardians thundering around the bottom floor of the house. It would take them merely seconds to realise that we were not on the first floor and move onto the next.

"Get out," Sydney said suddenly and urgently. "I'll distract them."

The thundering moved onto the stairs.

"Come on!" I yelled at Rose, not thinking twice. I grabbed her arm and pulled her to the furthest bedroom.

Rose yelled something back at Sydney but I wasn't listening. The guardians had already reached her, meaning they were only about three seconds behind us.

I opened the window and looked at Rose, who was looking back at me, concentration and determination on her face. We needed no words.

Knowing that there would be guardians also surrounding the place, I jumped out the window first. Rose landed beside me a few seconds later, her ankle twisting slightly. I steadied her and saw her wince. I didn't have time to worry too much about it when I saw dark shadows suddenly move around us.

I fought the many guardians that came at us, watching Rose's back as she stood by mine; our fighting and bodies in sync.

I slammed a guardian into the ground, effectively knocking him out. I hated doing it, I did…but I would do anything to protect Rose.

"The others will be out any minute," I warned her. "We need to move – there." I said, spotting an opening on the property. "That gate."

We both took off, running side by side, not wasting any time. I heard the guardians that had been raiding the house spill outside, finding their men unconscious. We made it to the gate and slipped out, and continued running along the quiet road.

Rose was limping more and more with every step, slowing her down. I slid an arm around her, urging her to let me take some of her weight.

"We can't outrun them," she said a minute later. "I'm slowing us down. You need to –"

I cut her off, knowing what she was going to say and stopping her.

"Do not say leave you. We're doing this together."

A flowerpot suddenly exploded near us. They were after us.

"They're shooting at us," Rose said shocked. "They're actually shooting at us!"

"With a silencer," I commented, remembering training with them many years ago. "Even so, they'll be cautious. They don't want the neighbourhood thinking it's under attack. We need cover. Fast."

I saw a couple of backyards on our left and led Rose towards them.

We ran through a couple until I saw an escape route.

"There." I said to her. We ran toward the large glass patio door in the backyard of one particular house. The glass door was open but there was a screen in the way. It was locked when I tried so I pulled out my stake and carefully slashed it down the way. If any guardian came looking, it would take them a while to notice there was even a rip in it. I slipped inside, pulling Rose with me and held her tight to my body so that we were both out of sight.

I signalled for her to be quiet and listened as the guardians came into the yard, searching everywhere for us.

As quietly as I could, I moved off into the living room, avoiding windows. Rose followed me as I moved into the kitchen. I spotted the door I was looking for and entered the garage, Rose at my heels.

"Two car family," I said, noticing that there was another car in the garage. "I was hoping for that."

"Or they're out for a walk and about to come home when they notice a SWAT team in their neighbourhood." Rose whispered

"The guardians won't let themselves be seen," I replied just as quietly.

We searched around the place for keys. Minutes had passed when Rose finally found them.

"Got 'em." She said and tossed me the keys, to my surprise.

"Will they spot us in this?" she asked me when I was backing out of the garage. "It's, uh, a bit flashier than our usual stolen car profile."

"It is," I answered. "But other cars will be driving down the street. Some guardians will still be searching the yards, and some will be guarding the Mastranos. They don't have infinite numbers. They can't watch everything at once, though they'll certainly try."

We both stayed silent as I drove out of the suburb, hoping not to be spotted by the guardians. We didn't seem to grab their attention and I continued driving along the road normally.

"They turned us in, didn't they?" Rose said, having come to the same conclusion I had earlier. "Victor and Robert called us in and then took off. I should have kept watch."

"I don't know," I replied. "It's possible. I saw them just before I talked to you, and everything seemed fine. They wanted to go with us to find Jill, but they knew it was only a matter of time before we turned them over to the authorities. I'm not surprised they came up with an escape plan. They could have used the feeding as a distraction to call the guardians and get rid of us."

"Crap," Rose muttered, running a hand through her hair. "We shoule've gotten rid of them when we had the chance. What'll happen now?"

I stayed silent, thinking about the madhouse we'd just left. "The Mastranos will be questioned…extensively. Well, all of them will, really. They'll lock Sonya up for investigation, like me, and Sydney will be shipped back to the Alchemists."

"And what will they do to her?" She asked me, sounding worried.

"I don't know," I replied honestly. "But I'm guessing her helping vampire fugitives won't go over well with her superiors."

"Crap," Rose muttered again. "And what are we going to do?" she asked me.

"Put some distance between us and those guardians. Hide somewhere. Wrap up your ankle."

I felt her look at me. "Wow. You've got everything planned out."

"Not really," I was still trying to work out the best place for us to stay tonight. Hotels were out of the question; having left the credit cards with Sydney. Not to mention it would be dangerous for us to stay around people in case we were spotted. "That's the easy stuff. What happens after that is going to be the hard part."

I took the next exit off the highway when I spotted a sign for camping grounds. It was our best bet.

"Hotel?" Rose asked me.

"Not quite," I replied. I spotted a small 24-hour drugstore on the side of the road and pulled in.

"Stay here," I said to her after I had parked.

"But –" she started to argue but I looked pointedly at her. She glanced down, realising what I was saying. Her dress was torn, which would attract attention in a small human town. Her limping would also draw attention – attention we couldn't afford.

She nodded, letting me know she understood and I walked into the store.

The last thing I wanted to do was leave Rose on her own, especially with guardians searching the vicinity, so I moved quickly and efficiently through the store, picking up everything we needed. I walked over to the camping section and grabbed a tent and a flashlight. I also picked up a couple of blankets, knowing it would be cold. Next to it was a first aid shelve so I grabbed a couple of things, including a bandage to wrap her ankle in. There was a small frozen freezer at the back of the store. I studied it's contents of chips, peas and fish and picked up a bag of the peas to help with the swelling of her ankle.

I brought my items to the counter, where they had stacks and stacks of food. I picked up a bar of chocolate and a packet of crisps, knowing they would make Rose happy, along with some other food. I purchased my items and the cashier fit them into two plastic bags. I slung them over my shoulder and propped the tent up under my arm.

I returned to the car and found Rose in the exact same position I had left her five minutes before.

I jumped in and shoved everything in the backseat.

"What's that?" Rose asked me, pointing to the tent.

"A tent," I answered, waiting for her to put it together.

"Why are we –" she started and then groaned. She put it together. "No hotel, huh?"

"We'll be harder to find at a campground," I explained. "The car will especially be harder to find. We can't get rid of it quite yet, not with your foot."

"Those poor people," she said, more to herself. "I hope their car insurance covers theft."

I know I shouldn't have been thinking about it in such a dire situation, but I loved how much she cared about other people; even strangers. Not a lot of people got to witness Rose's compassion…I was one of the lucky ones.

I followed signs to the camping ground and it wasn't long until we arrived. I got out and talked to the man about payment. After a minute or so, he took the money I was offering and gave me directions to a spot on the opposite side of the campground.

I parked the car in a place where it was almost completely hidden and got out of the car. Rose tried to help me with the tent but I refused her, insisting that she stay seated and rest her ankle.

I put up the tent in a matter of minutes, remembering all the time I had camped outside with my sisters when we were young.

I helped her inside and she sat on one side, while I sat on the other. I emptied one of the bags that contained the flashlight and propped it up so that we could both see.

"Let me see the ankle," I instructed her. She complied to my request and stretched out her leg. I pushed her dress up to her knee, ignoring the fluttering feelings as I did so.

I tested the mobility of her ankle, and studied the degree of swelling as carefully as I could, not wanting to hurt her any more than I had to.

"I don't think it's broken," I told her. "Just sprained." I removed my hands and fished through the pile until I found the bandaging material.

"That kind of thing happens when you keep jumping off roofs," she joked. "You know, we never practiced that in our training."

I smiled at her and at the fond memories of our training days; days that were now long gone.

After wrapping her ankle securely, I rummaged through the other bag and pulled out the peas.

"A bag of frozen peas?" she asked me.

I rested the bag gently on her swollen ankle. "Easier than buying a full bag of ice."

"You're pretty resourceful, Belikov," she said. "What else do you have stashed away?"

I emptied the other bag next to the other and let her see for herself.

Her face lit up when she saw the chocolate and crisps. The sight warmed me.

Suddenly, her face dropped. "You didn't buy any clothes, did you?"

"Clothes?" I asked confused.

She grabbed a handful of her dress. "I can't wear this for long. What am I going to do? Make a toga out of a blanket? You're such guy, never thinking of this stuff."

"I was thinking of injury and survival," I reasoned. "Fresh clothing's a luxury, not a necessity."

A sly look crept onto her face. "Not even your duster?"

I froze. I remembered removing my duster before my shower and hanging it on the chair in the bedroom.

"Shit," I swore in Russian.

"Don't worry, comrade," she said, an amused smile on her face. "Plenty more where that came from."

I grabbed the blankets and spread them out along the tents floor. I lay back on them. I couldn't believe I had left it behind.

"We'll get you another one," Rose said. "You know, once we find Jill, clear my name, and save the world."

"Just those things, huh?" I asked her, and we both started laughing. The sound of her laugh made everything better.

She lay down carefully beside me.

"What are we going to do?" she asked me quietly.

"Sleep." I answered her. We had to take one step at a time. I clicked off the flashlight. "Tomorrow we'll get a hold of Abe or Tasha or…someone. We'll let them handle it and get Jill where she needs to be."

I made it sound so simple.

"I feel like we failed," she spoke after a moments silence, suddenly sounding a lot younger and more vulnerable. "I was so happy back there. I thought we'd done the impossible, but it was for nothing. All this work for nothing."

"Nothing?" I repeated incredulously. "What we did…this is huge. You found Lissa's sister. Another Dragomir. I don't think you really understand the weight of that. We had almost nothing to go on, yet you pushed forward and made it happen."

"And I lost Victor Dashkov. Again." She said.

"Well, the thing about him is that he doesn't stay hidden for long." I assured her. "He's one of those people who always has to be in control. He'll have to make a move eventually and when he does – we'll get him."

"And I thought I was the optimistic one here."

"It's contagious," I replied and I couldn't help myself. I took her hand in mine and laced my fingers with hers. "You did good, Roza. Very good. Now sleep."

I wanted to get closer to her; to hug her or kiss her in some way but controlled myself.

I told her to sleep, that I would watch for a couple of hours and then we could switch. After a couple of minutes, I heard her breathing even out. I listened to the sounds of her breath and the wind blowing the trees outside. Her warm hand in mine gave me all the comfort in the world.

Suddenly, I felt myself slipping. Not being able to resist, I shut my eyes and fell asleep.