"Guardian Hathaway, it has come to my attention that someone is corrupting the Guardian Council behind my nose." Really? I would never have guessed.

I hid my sarcasm. "Obviously, however, what I am interested in knowing is who is doing this?"

He leaned back into his chair. "I half expected to hear you call me out."

I just stared at him. "That was why I came, but when I heard that you were expecting me, I knew it wasn't you who did it."

He raised an eyebrow. "And why not?"

"The person responsible wouldn't have waited to see me, he would have came to me. What I want to know is who did this, how the hell he or she did this and why."

The moment I went to business, Gideon's face turned agitated. "I honestly do not know who did this. Every Guardian is very loyal to the council. My best guess is a moroi who wants to turn strigoi."

I never thought of that. It is a very good possibility.

"Speaking of which, my brother Gabril, who was just in here, suggested that it could have been a human. He had thought that the strigoi found a spirit user and forced them to charm objects to make a human look like a moroi or dhampire to get into Court. From there, they could have probably shut the wards down when no one was watching and allowed strigoi to enter in court. The strigoi could have compelled the Council.

"But your theory is something to analyze as well, but first and foremost, we need to say screw the council's decision and go behind their backs and get the C4 or something strong like that to protect court. We cannot allow court to be vulnerable right now. Any other time would be somewhat acceptable, but not now; not when we have war on our doorstep."

All men nodded in agreement.

"There is only one problem, Guardian Hathaway. How do we get the C4 in here?"

I gave him a wicked smile. "Let me handle that, you just order the C4 and bombshells-"

"I don't want to order bombshells, Hathaway. They are expensive"-

"But they are necessary. You will thank me. There are going to be too many strigoi for you to handle, meaning you are going to need help taking them help. And when I mean help, I mean explosive help. You are going to need to take them out fast and hard, because the moroi will be too scared and shocked to run for cover."

"Rose is right." Dimitri chimed in. "During the attack at St. Vladimiri's two years ago, we could have had less casualties if we had explosive power. I'm not saying that explosives should be our newest weapon, but I am saying that we should use it when it is needed, and we are most defiantly going to need it when the attack occurs."

Gideon looked at Dimitri with respect. He nodded and looked back at me. "Alright, but I will order no more than twenty-one thousand."

"How many Guardians are in Court?"

"A little bit over seven thousand."

"Then that means no more than two grenades per person." Yeah, I am defiantly seeking my dad out. "Can you order double the amount?"

"No."

"Think about it, those shells are their lifeline! Give them more chances to save themselves. Please, double it for them. Give them a chance to live, Kingston!"

His face hardened. "I can't. There is only so much influence I have around here, and I am pushing my lips already with the bombshells, but the C4…that just might be my job."

I instantly felt guilty that I was pushing him so hard. He wanted to help people too; I was just too blind to see it. He was putting his career on the line and he did care, but his career will only be minimal damage done to him- he could be put in the slammer and could be charged with high treason and stealing money out of the Council's Treasury.

I would bet my Guardian paycheck that I had on a rueful look. I swallowed. "I'm sorry. I would never ask you to risk -"

He held up one of his hands to stop me from proceeding. His face lost a little bit of that steal. "You have a kind heart, Guardian Hathaway, just as your mother. This is my choice and I am willing to put my career and freedom on the line for the lives of others. It is a noble cause. When I said that I would order no more than twenty-one thousand because it will draw less attention to the Council. They will only thing that it will be the U.S military, not them who ordered it."

"Which will lead to another question for us, where will we hide these weapons?"

Gideon looked thoughtful, but it was Denis who spoke. "Rose should talk to Guardian Castile and see if he can have him buy a couple units from the local Storage Garage and hide them in there for the time being."

"Why Guardian Castile?" Dimitri asked.

"He won't draw so much attention. A moroi will, along with one of Rose's family members will."

"That, along with the C4, should be enough room."

"I believe I should order three pounds of C4."

"That's 1362 grams of C4! Are you planning on flowing up a third of court?" Denis yelled.

I raised my eyebrows, but remained calm. Strangely, I was starting to trust Gideon. "Why so much?"

He was the one that smiled at me. "Future use."

I was afraid to ask what exactly he was going to do with it in the future, so I just went with it.

"We need to get together later after I place my order and figure out where we are going to set the C4.

I nodded, reached over and retrieved a pen from a multicolored glass cup. I scribbled my cell phone number down on his card that was on his desk. "Here is my number. Call me at any time."

He nodded and I got up. "Is there anything else we need to discuss?"

"Yes, the Decree."

My face hardened and so did his. I would go as far as to say that his looked dangerous.

"Most definitely, but one problem at a time." I said, and again, that guilty feeling coursed through me. I didn't like the idea of him giving up his career and freedom for the lives of others.

Denis exited the room, along with Dimitri, but he waited in the hall for me. I stood in the doorway, torn between still apologizing to Gideon for being so hard on him, or just leaving things the way they are.

Gideon's face of steal stayed on, but his eyes warmed up a little bit. "Go Hathaway. Everything will be okay."

"But will it be for you?"

"It doesn't matter. Only they do."

I looked at him in the eyes. "No, not always." I turned away from him before he could say anything, and by anything, I mean 'get the hell out!'

When Dimitri and I turned the corner, I almost ran into my mother. Eddie and Abe were on either side of her.

"Well?" My mother demanded, being germane.

"Nice to see you to mother," I turned to Abe and Eddie. "Gideon is going to order twenty-one thousand grenade and three pounds of C4."

"You look worried." Eddie commented.

"There are over seven thousand guardians in Court. Divide twenty-one thousand by seven thousand; that leaves less than two grenades per guardian." I sighed and scratched my head and ran my fingers through my hair in agitation.

"Gideon is doing everything possible that he can, but even so…"

Abe nodded. "It won't be enough. I will see what I can do."

I nodded. "No pleasure, but hurry up. I don't know how much time we have, but I am sure we don't have much."

He nodded and walked off toward the entrance. I looked at Eddie. "See if you can rent two storage units from the local Storage Garage. I will pay you back later and tell you what we are doing with it later."

Eddie nodded and took off the same direction Abe went. I turned to my mother. Before I could speak, she interrupted me.

"We need to talk."

I nodded. "We need to get every guardian ready for battle. The moroi will be sitting ducks unless if the guardians are ready. We will also have to walk the perimeter walls of Court to see where we will put the…stuff."I didn't want to say anymore. We weren't in public, but we weren't in a private place either.

She nodded. "But that wasn't what I wanted to talk about."

I turned towards Dimitri. "We need to spread the word that we are doing more training sessions."

He nodded. "I suggest going to the Queen and having her make an announcement."

I nodded and walked forward to the exit, but before I got there, my gang, Lissa, Adrian, and Mia were waiting in the waiting room.

"Guys," I said in Russian. I felt bad for ignoring Adrian, so I smiled at him and at Mia. "We have a slight problem." I looked at Denis to see if he might have filled them in. He shook his head no. "We need to talk about what was discussed in a more private area."

They all nodded. I turned to Adrian. "It's good to see you again." It came out stiff, but I meant it.

He gave me a wry smile. "Always during bad time though, huh?"

"Not always." I turned to Mia. "We should really see what you have within the next couple of days. When are you free?"

She shrugged. "After lunch?"

I smiled. "Most definitely."

"Rose, I mean it. I want to talk to you." My mother said, and she said it in such an authorative way, that I dropped what Mia and I were talking about to give her my full attention.

I didn't want to give her the time of day to talk to me, but as her daughter, I owed something to her, especially since that scene in the gym…and in the hallway.

I gave her one hard, stiff nod. "When and where?"

"Here and now."

"Can't, I'm busy."

She took my arm and dragged me into a vacant office across the hall. She stood, while she pushed me down into the chair and closed the door.

"Drop the attitude towards me, Rosemarie."

"Sorry, Janine, but I don't take orders from someone I don't' like."

"Well that's too damn bad. I am your mother."

"Yes, and how unfortunate for you," I got up while I said that. "Now, if you will excuse me." We were done, well- I was done with talking to her. If that is all she wanted was to yell at me, well, I gave her it.

She brought her hand sup to my shoulders and pushed me back down. "No, this is not how I wanted to talk to you."

"Then how did you want to talk to me, mother?" I spat the word mother like it was a disgusting word.

She looked at me hurt. "I wanted to apologize for what I said in the gym."

My guardian face was plastered on my face as I looked at her and waiting for her to continue. I decided I would stay and hear her out, thinking that maybe she would say something worth hearing.

"I didn't realize exactly what you were going through; still going through. I meant what I said last year before you took off for your mission for the Queen- I am sorry that I wasn't around for you when you were a kid. Believe me when I said that I wanted to be, but I just couldn't. I didn't have the money to stay and be that kind of mother for you, but I could put you on that right path to being a great guardian. And look at you now, you are great. You are feared by strigoi, and valued by moroi and dhampires.

"I want to be in your life now, Rose. You let Ibrahim into your life, please let me be in your life. I will help in any way that I can. I want to help you deal with the bond, but most of all, I want to get to know you."

It was quiet a speech for Janine Hathaway, and probably the best, and only, apology that I have ever gotten from her.

I realized that I needed to apologize for my faults. This is going to taste like vinegar. "And I'm sorry," yup, most definitely tastes like vinegar, "for being so closed off and rotten towards you." That was it. If she thought that I was going to give her as good of an apology as she gave me, she was dreaming.

Fortunately, she seemed happy with what I said. She nodded, and being the unemotional Janine Hathaway, walked out the door. My mother was never the loving or affectionate type, so you can't expect her to give you a hug or a kiss of the forehead- but still, it stung that she never accepted me in her life with open arms.

I got up as well and walked out the door. I was slightly happy that my mother wanted in, but was also still a little bit hurt that she wanted to be in my life after I died and nearly died again. I pushed those feelings aside and decided to get back to business.

Dimitri was waiting for me. "Where is Gabe?" I asked in Russian.

"He went to tell the others." He came up beside me and grabbed my hand. My mother looked down at the connection with a grimace, but didn't say anything, which was smart on her part; I would have laid into her.

We headed outside. "We need to tell my mother what we discussed with Guardian Kingston in private."

Dimitri and my mother nodded. "My room seems like the safest place to talk."

"Go to Adrian's. His is just a few miles down from here."

I nodded. When we arrived at Adrian's room, I knocked and he answered.

"Little dhampire, what a pleasure." Adrian's hair was messy and was wearing an Areo white T-shirt with dark blue lettering and Abercrombie and Fitch sweat pants.

"Can't say it really is. I'm here on business and I was wondering if we can use your place as a private area to talk?"

He stepped aside. "Anything else, my little dhampire?"

"Yeah, give me a hug." I smiled and he smiled back at me little bit stunned that I said that. And yeah, I was stunned too. He stepped over and gave me a hug out in the hallway. He pulled back and went inside, waited for us to enter and shut the door behind us. We walked over to Adrian's living room and sat down.

He had an expensive glass table in the middle, with white plush carpet and white leather seats. Next to the couches, are dark oak tables with white Tiffany lamps, which had black outlines on the lamps. His place smelled of lilies. I sat down on the love seat and Adrian sat next to me, smiling. Dimitri and my mother sat beside each other, watching and waiting for me to start talking.

I started talking immediately. "Guardian Kingston is doing all he can to give every guardian at least two grenades, but even he has his limits. He is sending out an order for C4 shortly."

"How much?"

"1362 grams."

"You mean three pounds! But that can-"

"He is storing some of it for future use as well, but I have a feeling we are going to use all of it. The walls are thick here, and C4 is explosive, but every explosive has its limits."I actually didn't think of that until now. Courts walls have got to be at least three feet in width, and over ten feet in length long of stone and concrete.

"I don't think you know how strong C4 is, Rose." Dimitri commented.

"Go on Youtube, little dhampire. They have everything on action. Thank god for morons and idiots!"

I shook my head, but it was Dimitri who spoke. "Don't underestimate Guardian Kingston. He may be old Rose, but he still is your superior, all of our superior."

I nodded. "I know that, Comrade. His gray hair and old age is enough to tell me that. What we need to do now is walk the wall of Court to find several spots in the wall to place the bombs."

My mother nodded. "But we should be unobtrusive."

I smiled at Dimitri, and he smiled back, knowing very well what I was thinking. But I spoke. "Just two lovers taking a long walk to sort out their problems." We had problems to work out, and I wouldn't be Rose Hathaway if I didn't work two problems out at once- Dimitri and the safety of the moroi.

"Just walking hand-in-hand," a few stolen kisses, his eyes silently added to me. I smiled shyly at Dimitri's words.

"Mother, you should get Abe, and do the same-a lover's walk." I suggested.

My mother looked at me for a minute, probably seeing my real intentions- to see them happy. "Of course." Her voice hinted in a small smile. "How many grenades is he ordering?"

"He told me twenty-one thousand, but he is trying to see if he can get more somehow. He is pushing his luck already." I just hope he is careful and doesn't get caught.

"That won't be enough for everyone to get two. Some will, but not everyone."

I nodded. "We know that, which is why he is trying to get more, but he can only get so much without attracting so much attention…"

"Rose." Dimitri said in warning, telling me to tell her the truth.

I grimaced, but didn't look away from Janine. I sighed. "Which is where I come in. I, uh…told him that I would take care of it, which I will." I gave her a wicked smile. "I never got caught breaking into a high securitized building." I shrugged, not elaborating on what kind of building. "I never got caught sneaking alcohol," my mother's eyes narrowed at me, "into my dorm; I don't think I will get caught sneaking in explosives into a garage."

"What! Rosemarie!" My mother exclaimed about the drinking.

I rolled my eyes. "Come on mom, it's not like you didn't drink when you were a teenager."

My mother didn't say a word. I knew she was a partier just like me. I stood up. "I'm going to change into comfortable clothes before we start. Meet you in thirty minutes at my hotel's lobby?" And when I mean comfortable, I mean something sexy. Why not drive Dimitri crazy in the process?

She nodded.

I went to the door, and Dimitri followed me. I stopped at the door and looked at Adrian and smiled. "I miss you."

He gave me a half a smile. "I know, I can see it." He quickly added. "And I know how much it annoys you when I look into you aura." He laughed. "But I'm not going to stop."

I shrugged. "You wouldn't be you if you stopped being annoying."

I walked out before I could hear him snort. I started walking down the hallway when an arm came out and touched my bicep. I stopped, lost in the feel of his hands. His fingers trailed down my arm slowly, and entangled his fingers with mine and lead me to my room. He opened my door for me and we walked in.

"What is it exactly that you are looking for?" he asked as he approached me and pulled me into him. I reached up and wrapped my hands around the back of his neck. I mentally sighed at the closeness- and was suddenly turned on. Oh, how I loved him! Does he know how much it hurt me to reject him? Well, I didn't say no, but I didn't give him a straight yes either.

"I'm just looking for good places where Guardians won't see the bombs. I mean, we can have Lissa charm the bombs and make them camouflage, but how long will that last? Besides," my mood darkened, "I'm not really on speaking terms with her right now, and I am not sure how good Adrian is at charming things like that." Not to mention that the object has to be silver…

"I've noticed." His hands, that were on my waist, rubbed up and down my sides in aphrodisiac. "But she is your best friend, Roza; make things right."

I snorted, suddenly turned off. "It's not my turn to make things right, Comrade. She is the one that should be making things up." Groveling at my feet.

He lifted an eyebrow at me. "I know you miss her."

"Doesn't change anything." I was adamant. I can't just forgive her if she doesn't apologize to me. It is a big deal for me…she can't be selfish like this anymore. I meant it when I said that I won't die because of cowards, and when I say cowards and that mean anyone, Lissa included.

"Roza, just talk to her; you owe her and yourself that much."

I dropped my hands from his neck and tried to step away, but his hold was strong, and I didn't fight it.

"Dimitri, she can come to me. I'm not going to give her the easy way out this time. I love her, but if she loves me, she will come to me."

He nodded. "Just be open to her when she comes. You promise?"

I sighed and nodded. "Now, let me get dressed."

His hands traveled down my waste and cupped my ass. "Right after this." He kissed me, and it wasn't a short, sweet kiss. It was long and very, very passionate. I kissed him back with just as much, but I laid back, wanting to enjoy what he was giving me. My arms went up to his neck and pulled him closer to me.

My hands soon traveled down to his chest, while my lips left his and traveled down to his neck, all the while leaving a trail of kisses. He moaned.

I stepped away, not wanting to go too far right now. Dimitri placed a kiss near my ear, then his lips stayed there for a moment. In a low voice that made me shiver, he said "I love you." His voice was deep and it gave me butterflies in my stomach.

"I love you." I said, my voice as low as his, near his ear as well.

He stepped away from me and sat on my bed. I turned away from him and rummage through my closet- the hotel had a nice walk-in closet. I found the perfect dress. I think Dimitri is going to have a hard time staying away from me…or keeping his eyes off me.

I smiled.

Just what I need; I need him around longer than forever.

Please Review. I want to thank everyone again for reviewing. Keep on reviewing and telling me your thoughts. what do you think Rose and Dimitri should talk about, b/c honestly, I'm having a hard time coming up with good topics they should talk about. what do you think Abe and Janine should talk about? Please give me ideas, cuz I NEED them. Thanks

-Rose