Hello, my lovely readers. I'm sorry for this long late but I've been crazily busy with family stuff as well as work. I do have one thing to say though, actually I have two but I'll say this one first. I love all of your reviews but its hard to improve and change, and help shape the story to what you like if I get reviews that just say 'update', it's nice to know you want to continue reading, but I want to know why. The second thing I'll address in the footnote but make sure you read it as it includes a challenge to help you see a sneak peek of the next chapter.


"Aah!" I shrieked, sitting up in bed and wiping the ice cold water off my face. Ivy scampered away, holding the now empty glass in her hand. "Ivy! You are in so much trouble." I warned, spluttering. Ivy stood at the edge of my bed, just out of my reach, smiling angelically at me.

"I was just waking you up. You wouldn't wake up." She said still smiling, her eyes wide and innocent. I glared at her.

"What were you thinking of?" I sighed, wiping my face with my pillow. "That's not how you wake someone up, especially not me. That's what you do to people you don't like, not your mother." I should know. I had played that particular trick several times.

"It wasn't my id…" She started, before shutting her mouth and looking at me guiltily.

"It wasn't your what?" I asked, scooting forward in the bed. "Ivy, answer me." I said, looking her in the eye. She shook her head, and looked at the floor.

I scanned the room slowly, and saw part of a dark black sleeve poking out from behind the bathroom door. Gotcha.

"Ian." I shouted, leaping out of bed. "How dare you." He emerged sheepishly from behind the door. I glared at him, and turned back to Ivy. Who was giving Ian a thumbs up.

"You are both terrible." I huffed. "You are meant to be the mature one in this combo, Ian. You are never getting my door key again and certainly no more one on one time with Ivy."

"What?" He yelped. "It wasn't that bad Rose."

"Oh yes it was." I growled.

Out of the corner of my eye I spotted the laundry basket shaking, and the chair next to it was moved right out of position. So he wasn't the only plotter in this prank. I crept towards the chair, and then pounced and pushed the chair to the side. Jade's laughing face greeted me, and behind her was Seth.

"Seriously." I said, rolling my eyes. "All three of you. Four." I said, laying my eyes on Ivy.

"Oh you were so funny." Jade laughed, doing a terrible impression.

"You were almost as angry as you were when Ian accidently pushed you into the mud." Seth said, almost wheezing with laughter.

"I did not look like dying fish. And that was not an accident. That was deliberate. As was this." I said defensively, glaring at them all in turn. "Now you can all leave and let me get ready."

"What's the rush?" Ian said lazily, stretching out on my bed. "Training only starts tomorrow."

"I've got to go check something out." I said, picking out some clothes. "For Master Gregori." None of them picked up the lie.

"Can I come with you?" Ivy asked eagerly. "I'll be really good. I promise."

"Not today sweetheart." I said regretfully. I was going to the guardian archives, and I didn't want anyone I knew to see Ivy.

"Is this because I put water on your face?" She asked, her face crumbling. "Cos I didn't mean it. I'm sorry. I'm really, really sorry, Mummy." She said, small tears forming on her cheeks.

"Oh, honey. Of course not." I said tenderly, hugging her to me. "You know I love you. And I'm so sorry I haven't been spending much time with you. But when we go back to the Complex I'll spend every single hour of every single day with you, until you're absolutely sick of me. Okay?" I asked. She nodded, snuffling. "But I have to go do business today and you'd be very bored. So instead you get to stay with…" I looked around the room at my friends who were all doing their best to look very innocent. "Well I suppose you can spend the morning with all three of them…" They all grinned. "But in the afternoon you need to go to Linda, and catch up on some schoolwork. Okay? Is that a deal?"

"Deal." Ivy said. "I love you Mummy."

"I love you too Ivy. Now how about I get dressed, and then we'll all go get pancakes." Ivy smiled at me, and I heaved a sigh of relief.

Coming back to Court had meant that I was spending a lot less time with Ivy, and I was worried I was neglecting her. But it was better that no one here knew about Ivy, and cause problems or issues that may alert Dimitri's father. For the moment I was just glad she was happy.

An hour later, we had finished our pancakes, and I was readying to leave. Unfortunately I could tell Ivy was nearing another crying fit, so I decided to speed up and not prolong our goodbye.

"Bye baby. I'll see you soon. Be good." I said crouching down to her height.

"Bye Mummy." She said, kissing my cheek, giving me puppy dog eyes. I stood up and ruffled her hair.

"Remember to drop Ivy off at Linda." I told Jade and Seth. I gave Ivy a wave and then watched as Ian pick Ivy up and plop her down at a table, in front of another plate of pancakes. I smiled at the scene and walked off. Straight into Christian.

"Christian!" I said. "What are you doing here?" I looked around frantically checking that Ivy was out of sight. She was currently sitting on a chair that was looking in the opposite direction from me. As long as she didn't see me still here I would be fine.

"What am I doing here?" Christian asked. "I live at Court. I'm getting breakfast."

"Sorry." I said, giving him a mocking smile. "I just thought you would have had servants for that."

"Shut up Rose. Stop trying to be smart. Who are you hiding from?" He said scanning the area.

"What do you mean?" I asked, trying to sound casual. He knew me to well.

"You keep looking around anxiously, and you've crossed and uncrossed your arms about 3 times already. I know you, you're trying to hide from someone."

"No I'm not." I said defensively.

"I really beli- Why's that little girl waving at you?" He asked. I spun around and to my horror, Ivy was waving at me.

"Who's she?" Christian asked.

"She's… My friend's daughter. I look after her a lot." I said, thinking quickly. Hopefully he bought it. "But anyway Christian I better go. I'm late for a meeting. So I'll see you soon. Bye."

"Bye Rose." Christian looked confused at my sudden change in pace, and I could see he was a little suspicious. However after a few seconds his face cleared and he walked off, to the pancake bar. Crisis averted.

Minutes later I was walking into the Guardian Operations building. The last time I had been here was when I was being punished for taking Lissa to Las Vegas. It hadn't changed at all. I walked into the reception area, where a Guardian sat at a desk with a computer, filing cabinets and tables all around him. Behind him was the door to the archives. Lissa, Mia and I had used Lissa's compulsion to find the plans for the prison, but I didn't have a spirit user with me today. I would have to find another way to find the information I required.

The name of Dimitri's Father.

If I knew his name I would be able to identify him, and hopefully be able to trap him into a confession. Unfortunately I had absolutely no plan when it came to getting the information. I was just going to wing it.

I strode up to the front desk, not giving myself time to hesitate. I had put on all black today, with my hair pulled tightly back from my face. On both hips I had a stake, and in a hidden holster at my back was a gun. I couldn't be too careful. Though I wasn't really planning on pulling out a gun. Maybe.

The Guardian manning the desk looked up at my entry, and then seemed to stare in amazement for several seconds.

"Guardian Hathaway?" He asked. "Are you really back?" It seemed that I had become the stuff of legends. Good. Playing that angle might work in getting into those archives.

"Not for long." I told him, placing my hands on his desk. "But I do have a favour to ask of you. As you may or may not heard I came with the Complex, and tomorrow we begin our training program." At this he rolled his eyes. It seemed the Guardians weren't happy at being taught by, as they saw it, 'deserters'. Too bad. "And I require some information on some Guardians. Nothing big, just things like their birthday and place of birth."

"Can't someone from Guardian HQ give you that information?" He asked.

Not if I didn't want anyone to know I was asking these questions. But he couldn't know that.

"Of course I've been over there, but they don't seem to have the birthdates for all Guardians. They said I should come over here and that I could look it up. That you have copies of birth certificates."

"Why would you need that?" He asked, suspicious.

"We're dividing Guardians via age and nationality. We want to firstly form similar groups, to find out the level of training they are at, as age and the place of training are two huge factors in regard to skill level. Secondly we switch the groups up, making sure we have diverse groups. It's a two step process, to ensure smooth progression through the training program. So can I see the records?" Complete, and utter bullshit.

"I'm not sure if I should let you see the records. Do you have permission?" He asked. Time to be a bitch

"Do you know who I am?" I asked, softly but not timidly. He nodded. "I have sacrificed my life for your Queen, I have risked my life to find the killer of your previous Queen, and now I am here trying to help all the Guardians improve at their jobs, as well as assisting the Moroi. I don't think I should need a permission slip to see some simple information. So, I'm going to ask again, can I see the records?" He narrowed his eyes at me but got up from his desk.

"I'll give you half an hour." He said. I could see he was unhappy with it, but there wasn't anything he could really do. Everything I had said was true, and I really wasn't going to look up anything but a birth certificate.

He led me through the door behind him, and we hurried down the hall, my boots clicking against the floor. We stopped at the door to the vault, where he punched in his code and then let me go through. "I'll send someone to help you. They'll be here in a minute. Our records are mostly digital now, especially the ones you want." He didn't go to any effort to disguise the fact that he was suspicious and was sending someone to watch me, not help me.

"Ok." I said, giving him a tight smile. He left me at a huge computer console that stood in in the middle of the room. Behind it stretched out rows and rows of filing cabinets but I ignored them. I clicked the computer on, but to my dismay a login screen popped up. Dammit. I tried entering my old username and password but it came up with Username not known. I swore again. I was about to hit something when I realized there was one person who would have access to all guardian records and that I may be able to guess his password. I typed in the username hurriedly before someone came to watch me. dbelikov. But the password would be trickier. I first tried his birthday, even though I knew it wouldn't work. Dimitri would never be that obvious. Incorrect Password was displayed across the top of the screen, and underneath to my dismay was 'You have two tries left, before you are locked out and security notified'. Shit.

I thought quickly about the possibilities, and at first I came up blank. But going through the memories I remembered his password from the Academy. He'd told me once, when his resolve had weakened and he'd let me log into his account so I could find some more information on Victor Dashkov. Baia. I typed it into the password box. Incorrect. You have one try left. Shit. On top of that I could hear someone coming towards me. I didn't need to be caught logging into the Head Guardian's account. I spun through the options rapidly, knowing I was running out of time. Cowboy? Western? Russia? But they all didn't seem right. I went through all the words I associated with Dimitri, spinning through them so fast they seemed to blur in my head. But suddenly a word emerged from the chaos and I knew it had to be the password. Even though I left so long ago, maybe he was still hanging on. I knew I was. The word I, and I alone, associated with him. If it wasn't what I thought then I was in huge trouble. I typed in the seven letter word, hesitating before pressing enter. What if I was wrong? But the rapidly approaching footsteps decided for me. I pressed enter, and a different screen popped up. Loading. Thank God. I was right.

At that moment a Dhampir women came around the corner. She looked to be about my age and had thick glasses, which hid beautiful blue eyes. She also had her hair pulled up in a tight bun but I could see it was blonde and glossy. I could almost swear she reminded me of someone. I considered the resemblance quickly, but soon forgot about it, I had more important things on my mind.

"Are you Guardian Hathaway?" She asked.

"I am." I said giving her a winning smile, and sticking out my hand, "But please call me Rose."

"Lacie." She said, shaking my hand firmly. "Don sent me to help you find some birth certificates. Was that it?"

"It certainly was." I confirmed.

She looked around me at the computer which was now open on the records page.

"Did you log in?" She asked surprised.

"Umm, No." I said, thinking quickly. "The Guardian here earlier logged in for me. Was his name Don?" I asked.

"Yeah." She replied. If she noticed that I was on a complete access account she didn't say anything. She seemed more distracted by something in the distance, as her eyes kept flicking away.

"Do you need to go do something?" I asked.

"No." She said hurriedly. "I'm fine."

I took her at her word, and sat down, opening the search bar. I began by searching random names, and then scribbling down details on a piece of paper I had snatched from the front desk. None of them had any relevance. Eventually Lacie relaxed and lent on the desk next to me. As soon as I saw her eyes weren't fixed on me, I typed in Dimitri's name. Dimitri Belikov. There was his birth certificate.

I clicked on the attachment. I smiled broadly as it opened immediately. Finally things were going my way. It was in Russian but I could recognize the names. Dimitri Belikov. There was his date of birth, and then there was Olena's name. My eyes scanned to the line under father. But it was blank. Nothing. I couldn't believe it. All of this was for nothing. I slammed the mouse down. Lacie looked up, alarmed. I quickly closed the screen I was on and logged out, hoping she hadn't seen what I'd been looking at. Lacie was still looking at the screen, but I stood up and began walking away, silently fuming. Nothing was going my way.

"Thanks for all your help." I called back at Lacie. She seemed confused and looked like she was going to let me walk away, when she called my name.

"Rose!"

"What?" I barked back, walking over to her.

"Was that Dimitri Belikov's birth certificate?" She asked.

"So what if it was?" I asked, trying and failing to raise an eyebrow. She looked confused, and I could see she was looking over at some of the other archivists who were now walking around.

"Look Lacie. I'm going to be mentoring Dimitri and I just want to find some more information about him. Ok?" I asked calmly, trying to put a gentle look in my eye.

"Oh." She said, a smile breaking out on her face. "That makes sense."

I smiled back at her and left hurriedly. Since when were Guardians this gullible? Although now I thought of it I didn't notice a promise mark on her neck. She probably wasn't a guardian. But why not? I was so caught up in my thoughts that I walked straight into someone. What was with me today? I looked up, ready to yell at whoever had stepped into my path, when I was met with Dimitri's chocolate brown eyes. He was currently looking at me like I was a chair that had managed to walk into his way.

I stepped away rapidly. "I'm sorry." I muttered. "I was distracted."

"So was I." He said. For a few seconds it looked like he was just going to walk away, but then he sighed and stayed where he was.

"Look Rose. I'm just going to say this now. I'm not saying I'm happy about this mentoring business, but I think we should make the best of it, and not make it unpleasant. Let's just try and be friends. We did it once before, we could do it again. It doesn't have to be horrible." I looked up at him conflicted. Yeah but back then I didn't have to be worried that falling in love with you would lead to your death, or me ending up with another broken heart, or about breaking your heart again. I looked up at him conflicted. "How about we meet up tomorrow and just talk about it? I'll ask you questions about your life at the Complex, and you can ask me questions. We can catch up on each other's lives, and wipe the slate clean. We don't have to talk about the past. It's in past it has no relevance now." He continued.

His words had given me another idea. He'd said I could ask him questions, and wasn't that just what I wanted to do? Ask him directly who his Father was? I had no other way of getting the information. I was so absorbed by my idea, that I didn't hear Dimitri continue talking to me.

"Rose?" He asked sharply, snapping me back to reality. "Would you be okay with that or are you still…" He didn't finish his sentence but I could see what he meant. Was I still scared of him?

"Dimitri, of course not. I'd absolutely lo-" No. Not love. I shouldn't be too enthusiastic. "It would be great. "

"Good." He said, and I could see a slight smile in his eyes.

"So I'll see you tomorrow then? What about ten o'clock at the donut store?" I said, trying to resist the urge to beam at him. I'd get my answers regarding his Father and maybe I'd be able to ask enough questions to prove to myself I hadn't ruined Dimitri's life. Dimitri nodded at me. This interaction, along with Dimitri's password proved that he didn't hate me as much as I thought.

"Tomorrow." He confirmed. "Goodbye Rose."

"Goodbye Dimitri." I said, letting myself give him a small smile. He didn't return it, but I could see in his eyes that he wasn't as detached as he was before. And that gave me hope.

Having made a firm decision in regard to Dimitri, I felt more relaxed than I had in weeks and decided to go to the gym and have a quick training session before I picked up Ivy. I had just finished my run, and was getting ready to do some push ups, when I heard the entrance crashing open and then pounding feet running into the room. I rose to my feet, placing one hand on my stake. I couldn't be too careful. To my surprise, it wasn't some enemy who was bursting into the room but Jade, she was breathing heavily and I could see she was on the edge of crying.

"Rose!" Jade gasped. She looked absolutely distraught and worried. "I'm so sorry."

"What's wrong? What happened?" I asked worriedly.

"It's Ivy." She said, tearfully.

"What happened Jade? Tell me." I asked frantic, barely restraining myself from shaking her.

"It wasn't Linda's fault but…" She stopped, gulping down air.

"What? What happened?" I asked frantically.

"I don't know how to say it." She said tearfully.

"Just say it." I shouted at her.

"The Queen has Ivy."


I'm terrible, I know, and I'm sure you all want to see the next chapter as soon as possible, however I'm not sure when that will be. If you want to see a sneak peek of the next chapter its easy, review and tell me one thing you would like me to write about, change, or see more of, but thats just the short sneak peek, if you want the extended one, try and work out Dimitri's password. It's seven letters and its word that has special significance between Rose and Dimitri. Its related to the words she thinks before she works out the password. So good luck, please review and have a lovely day!