When I awoke, it was because of a shifting on the bed. I opened my eyes blearily, hoping that it would be Dimitri lying back down.

And it was. "I didn't mean to wake you," he apologized.

Sitting up, I waved him off. We really did need to talk, and he had promised we would. "It's alright," I tell him. "Who was attacked this time?"

He sighed. "The Drozdovs. Only a few survived."

I gasped. It wasn't that I knew a lot of Drozdovs, but they were a royal family. They also had tons of non-royal employees with kids who went to St. Vladimir's. People like Mia's parents. I didn't know how I even remembered that her parents worked for them. I thought back- Mason had told me the night of the dance, when we'd been revealing the truth about Jesse, Ralf, and Mia.

"Were the wards broken by a stake again?" I asked.

He nodded. "Roza, I don't want you to stress about this. You're going to be safe, I promise."

I wasn't worried about me, and I wondered if Dimitri knew that. I was worried about Lissa. They were attacking royal families, and it wouldn't be hard if they tried to wipe out the last of the Dragomirs, considering there was only one left.

It was sweet that he was vowing to protect me, but at the same time, it was his job. For all I knew, all guardians told their charges that. They probably did. Did they say it with the same intensity, the same fire in their eyes? Probably not.

"I know, Comrade," I tugged gently on him, pulling him to lie down next to me. I planted my hands in his hair, scratching his head and rubbing it. His hair was so soft, it always amazed me. "I always feel safe with you."

He smiled, one of those full-blown smiles that I hadn't seen from him in a long time. I wanted to kiss him at that moment, my eyes darting from his eyes to his lips, finally resting back on his eyes. Kissing him right now would ruin this moment. Whenever we kissed, he got angry. Usually, his anger was directed at me, but I had a feeling he was more disappointed in himself than anything I did.

I continued my ministrations, watching as his face relaxed more and more. He was hardly ever relaxed, but it was always so nice to see.

His eyes closed, and his breathing evened.

He was asleep.

I smiled, wondering why we had to fight all the time. I knew I did it because I didn't care what people thought; I didn't care that he was a dhampir. He had a strong sense of honor, though. A sense of right and wrong that had been ingrained in guardians since they had begun school. Only the girls were allowed to shack up with Moroi. Only boys usually guarded. No real relationships were allowed.

I untangled my hand from his hair, instead pulling myself closer to snuggle into his side. One of his arms snaked around me, and I snuggled even closer to the warmth of his touch. I was still tired, and I wasn't distraught enough about the Drozdovs to lose sleep. Tomorrow, Dimitri and I would really talk. When both of us didn't have the attack on our minds, when we were both fully awake.

I drifted off to sleep, content to be in his arms.

TRSTRSTRS

"Rose, wake up."

"No!"

"Rose," the voice warned. "People are coming over."

"Let them," I whined, still half asleep. "Let me sleep."

"I didn't want to do this," the voice said.

Suddenly, I was hoisted away from the bed, away from the warmth. My eyes flew open, my skin pricking with goose bumps. Dimitri was carrying me.

"What are you doing?" I yelled, completely awake now.

"Carrying you to your room," he told me.

I huffed. "Can't I just hide under your blankets?" I asked.

He shook his head. "They would all see you. Guardians aren't stupid, Roza."

I growled. "I just wanna sleep."

"You can," he said. "In your bed."

I glared at him.

He chuckled a little. We were already halfway to my room.

"If I set you down, will you actually walk with me to your room?"

"Nope," I said stubbornly.

He sighed, shaking his head. "Why doesn't that surprise me?" he asked himself quietly.

I giggled a little. I hoped Lissa would be in there, just so she could ask him a million questions about where I've been and why he was carrying me. Let's see him try to get out of that one!

Unfortunately, Lissa was already gone. She was probably off with Christian, I thought bitterly. I wondered if she even noticed that I hadn't come back to the room.

He set me gently on my bed.

"Wait," I asked as he got up to leave. "Who's coming over to your room?"

"A bunch of guardians are coming over to discuss the attack, and safety precautions we'll be taking here and at the academy."

I nodded. "Okay. I'll see you later, right?"

"Yes, Roza," he said. "You'll always see me later."

With that, he left, closing the door quietly behind him.

I couldn't sleep anymore, so I contented myself with finding things to do.

I read Shalako, which I had hastily packed at the bottom of my bag before leaving. I tidied up the room. I cleaned the hair out of the shower drain.

And finally, I decided to just watch TV. It was then that Lissa finally showed up, giggly and happy. What had she and Christian been doing? I checked on her through the bond, realizing that they still hadn't done the deed, but they had done a lot. In this room. On her bed. Ew.

She was lucky I'd been with Dimitri.

When she saw me sitting on the sofa, the smile fell off her face. "Where have you been?" she asked.

I couldn't just tell her I'd been sleeping with Dimitri, even though we had really only slept.

"Around," I finally said. She looked at me slightly disappointedly. She thought I'd been out with Mason, shacking up with him. She was fully approving of any relationship I wanted, but she didn't think we should be having sex so quickly. It was like she didn't even know me.

If only she knew that my thoughts were always on another dhampir, one who I had come very close to shacking up with numerous times. Not that we ever had. No, we would have if it were up to me. Dimitri just had to have a strong sense of honor.

She shook her head, deciding on what to say. "With Mason?"

I decided I might as well make her think even less of me. "No."

She frowned, confused. The thought crossed her mind that I'd been out with Adrian, but she immediately dismissed the idea. At least she'd figured out that I didn't feel anything for him.

"Okay," she said, giving up. She sat down next to me.

"I don't have to ask you what you were doing last night," I said waspishly, still annoyed.

Her eyes widened. "You were there?"

"No," I said. "Thank God. Your feelings are just broadcasting it right now."

"Oh," she said.

My friendship with Lissa had been kind of strained lately. Maybe it was because both of us were keeping secrets. Or maybe it was because I knew I couldn't tell her about Dimitri without his permission, without an actual relationship to tell her about.

"You wanna go get breakfast?" she asked.

"I'd love to."

TRSTRSTRS

After breakfast, Lissa and I hung out for a while. I was still annoyed with her, but it was nice to have some best friend time.

We painted each other's nails, and I was glad that she had thought to pack the nail polish. I didn't own any, always leaving it up to Lissa when I wanted my nails painted.

"What color do you want?" she asked.

I wondered which color Dimitri would like. A nude color was too sophisticated, as was a champagne gold. I was torn between fire engine red and a sparkly bottle green. I finally decided on the red, since I would be wearing a red dress to the party in two days.

Lissa chose the champagne gold, as I had predicted she would. It matched her golden looks so well.

It continued to amaze me how completely opposite of each other we were. She was the good girl, one who did everything expected of her. The one thing she'd deviated on was Christian, whom she had gotten close with very quickly. I didn't understand how she could judge me so harshly when she and Christian had only been dating for about a month, themselves. Lissa had already lost her virginity to Aaron, so perhaps that had something to do with their progression of their relationship.

It was a stunning contrast to me. I didn't do what anyone expected. I was the bad girl, the non-royal the royals had always kept around for the fun of it. I had always been willing to do crazy things, never afraid to speak my mind. And yet, I had never had a serious boyfriend. I had never even had sex. The closest I had ever come to doing so was with Dimitri.

It was in that moment that I came very close to telling Lissa. We had always told each other everything before we had returned. Now, however, we were drifting further and further apart, despite the bond.

Tears very nearly came to my eyes, and I excused myself to the bathroom in order to give myself a pep-talk in private.

"You're okay. Lissa's okay. You are both okay," I told myself. I took a deep calming breath, focusing on centering myself. "You're okay," I repeated. I took one more breath, flushed the toilet, and ran the faucet. I let it run for ample time before turning it off and giving a few seconds to dry my hands off.

I exited the bathroom, still a little upset, but so much better than I had entered it.

Lissa looked up from painting her toenails the same color as her fingernails. "Are you okay?" she asked.

She would choose this one time to be perceptive.

"Yeah," I pasted on a smile. "Why do you ask?"

"You just seem…" she paused, looking for the right word. "Off, somehow."

"Well, I'm golden," I joked. "In fact, I'm more golden than your nails."

She laughed, instantly believing me.

Too bad I was about to ruin it for her. "Did you hear about the attack?"

Her eyes immediately darkened. "Yes," she said. "The Drozdovs. They're having another meeting about it tonight."

"Tonight?" I asked, surprised. "Who? The royals?"

She nodded. "They want to find a way to protect Moroi better."

I sighed. This was a case that could easily be solved by offensive magic. Too bad it was taboo.

"Well, we'll have to make sure to go," I told her, full of certainty.

TRSTRSTRS

When we got there that night, there were tons of Moroi and dhampirs alike. Guardians were either stationed along the walls, looking as impassive as ever, or they were sitting in legions in the audience. The Moroi, on the other hand, were sitting by family. The first rows of seats were reserved for the royals. Since Christian and Tasha were still being ostracized by the Ozeras, they sat in the guardian section. Lissa and I joined them, me taking the empty seat next to Dimitri.

I smiled up at him. "Hey, Comrade," I greeted.

He lifted up on corner of his mouth. What I wouldn't do for one of those real smiles. "Rose," he said, a little formally, much too formally for my tastes. "I see you finally decided to wake up," he joked.

My heart jumped when I realized that he was still willing to joke with me. "Well, I didn't want to miss lunch," I quipped.

He laughed a real, relaxed laugh.

Tasha looked over at us, something in her eyes that I couldn't quite figure out. "Hey, Tasha," I said cheerily. She looked shocked, as did Lissa and Christian.

"Hello, Rose," she said, taken aback. Her hair was pulled back into a lithe ponytail, accentuating both her scar and her sadly awesome cheekbones. She wore a dark purple sweater and a pair of jeans, along with a really cute pair of Michael Kors boots.

"Cute boots," I complemented.

I felt Lissa's confusion through the bond, but decided to ignore it. Her thoughts and feelings would not ruin the good mood Dimitri had just put me in.

"Thanks," Tasha said quietly.

I turned back towards Dimitri, who was wearing a proud look on his face. "Don't forget," I reminded. "We still have to talk sometime."

"I haven't forgotten, Roza," he whispered.

My heart skipped a beat at the tone of his voice.

It was then that the meeting began. It was pretty boring, talking about how the Drozdovs would be dearly missed. While my eyes wandered the room, I spotted Mia sitting next to Mason and Eddie Castile, her eyes red and puffy. Her face was pale, as if she hadn't had blood in a while.

She probably hadn't. As much trouble as she had given us over the last semester, I felt sorry for her. She actually loved her parents, even if she was slightly ashamed of how poor they were. She had had a real relationship with her mother, unlike me. And now, her mother was dead.

I looked away, trying not to feel too much pity for the girl.

"-We need more guardians!"

I looked up from my reverie. A Moroi man who kind of looked like a tool- I recognized him as an Ivashkov, though I wasn't sure which one- was speaking. "We need more protection!"

I rolled my eyes, and sensed that Tasha was probably doing the same thing. I didn't have much room to talk, considering I had a guardian, but I certainly hadn't asked for one. I mean, I was grateful for Dimitri, grateful that he had come into my life and had done so much for me.

Tasha stood up. "How could we possibly do that, Nathan?" she asked.

Nathan stood up. "We could lower the graduation age for novices."

Lower the graduation age? I mean, I'm sure the novices were capable, but I had seen them occasionally at fifteen, and they were definitely not ready. But what did I know? I wasn't an expert.

Outrage broke out throughout the ranks of off-duty guardians and novices. Maybe I had been right.

Tasha's eyes flashed dangerously. "Lower the graduation age? How old would they be, Nathan? Fifteen? Sixteen? Do you know how many guardians we would have then? They would be nowhere near ready to face Strigoi!" She paused for a moment. "What we need is to protect ourselves!" she proclaimed. "Offensive magic!"

She lit a flame in her hand, and I watched as it danced in her palm. Seeing the flame made me want to cast my own magic, but I pushed the impulse down in favor of watching the argument play out.

There was a collective gasp among the Moroi and dhampirs alike. Offensive magic was taboo. It was against the law. Most Moroi believed that magic was a gift given by God, so it wasn't right to use it against somebody else. I thought that was like saying dhampirs couldn't use their physical advantage to fight off attackers (whether they be Moroi, dhampir, human, or Strigoi). Nevertheless, the stigma was there. And Tasha had just made herself even more of an outcast than she had previously been.

The argument continued on, more and more Moroi getting angry and riled up.

Finally, I'd had enough of watching them squabble. "Let's go," I told Lissa and Christian.

Dimitri sent me a look, and I smiled softly at him. "I'll see you later, Comrade," I told him.

He nodded stiffly, immediately going back into guardian mode.

"Why do you call him 'Comrade'?" Lissa asked.

I was surprised she'd never noticed it before.

I shrugged. "Cause he's from Russia," I explained. "Isn't that a good enough reason?"

She giggled a little, a fond feeling forming within her. A fond feeling for me. Wow. It had been so long since I'd felt that coming from her. Usually she just got irritated with me, lately.

Not that I blamed her, I guess. I had been a little prickly as of late, too.

As we were walking, Mason, Eddie, and Mia caught up to us. Mason was giving me a weird look, and I remembered our kiss the day before. I felt immensely guilty. I shouldn't have led him on.

Reconnecting with Dimitri the night before had made me regret my decision. I knew I should never have kissed him, not when he had feelings for me. I knew I'd feel the same way if Dimitri kissed me to get over someone else.

I ignored his pointed looks, listening as they chatted amiably.

When we turned around the corner, we ran into Adrian Ivashkov, again.

"Coming from the meeting?" he asked.

"Yes," Lissa said.

"You weren't there," I noted. "Off getting drunk again?"

"Rose!" Lissa chastised.

"It's alright, cousin," Adrian soothed. "Ah, Little Fireball, how you wound me. Have you no trust in me?"

"No. I trust you about as far as I can throw you," I quipped.

He laughed heartily. "And that is why I like this girl," he told Christian. Christian stared at him, annoyed.

"Like Rose?" he asked. "I wasn't aware anyone but Lissa could tolerate her. You'd have to have the patience of a saint."

Adrian smiled charmingly, and I could tell that he was a little buzzed. "Why don't you cats come to a party with me?"

"Cats?" I questioned.

No one listened to me.

"Of course, you'd have to bring your bathing suits," Adrian told us.

The group agreed, even though it seemed that only Eddie, Mia, and Lissa really wanted to go.

We got our swimsuits, and then Adrian led us down a long staircase that had to lead to the bowels of the resort.

"Are we there yet?" I whined.

Adrian chuckled. "Not yet, Little Fireball. We only have about one more flight to go."

He was right, luckily. Soon, we could see light shining around the rounded corners of the wall.

"Finally," I complained. I looked around, observing what kind of party this was.

It had to be exclusive, because it was only royals there. They were all stylishly dressed in designer swimsuits, their pale skin glistening under the warm lighting.

Adrian led us over to a hot tub, stopping a cocktail waitress and letting us each grab a drink. I examined it. It didn't look like it could cause any harm. It looked like chocolate, some sort of dessert. It couldn't have that much alcohol, right?

We all jumped into the Jacuzzi, Lissa immediately sitting in Christian's lap. I pretended to vomit before taking a drink of whatever cocktail I had grabbed.

"If we ran into some Strigoi, I would kill them all!" Mason crowed.

"Yeah," Eddie agreed, miming a knuckle sandwich. "We could be a team."

"I would help!" Mia proclaimed. "With offensive magic!"

"Water wouldn't help anything," I slurred.

She gave me a strange look. "What could you possibly do with water?" I explained. "Fire, you can burn them to a crisp. What can you do with water? Not drown them, that's for sure."

"Do you know about offensive magic, Rose?" she asked.

I looked at her, realizing that I'd spilled a secret. "Of course not. That's just logic, Doll Girl."

She huffed, turning back towards Mason and Eddie.

As the night went on, I noticed the world was starting to spin faster and faster. How many drinks had I had?

I stumbled out of the hot tub, in search of another drink, though some part of my mind warned me that it wasn't a good idea. As I was searching for a waitress, I tripped. Catching myself before I ate it, I looked up to discover that I had literally landed in the middle of a fight.