"Viktoria. Wake up."

She doesn't even stir. "Viktoria, please wake up."

Nothing. But I needed to get her out of here.

With a groan, I slide my arms under her, grunting as I take on her weight. I strain her upwards, and stumble out onto the streets.

I had no idea how I was going to hail a cab with an extra hundred ten pounds in my arms. But luckily, an orange taxi pulls over next to the sidewalk, and a burly man steps out to open the door for me, watching me in surprise.

I flop Viktoria into the pleather seats, sliding in beside her. The driver gets into the front, his eyes wide in the rearview mirror.

Thinking fast, I look down at Viktoria's party dress, and smile at the man. "Sorry about this. My friend completely passed out! I told her not to drink those last shots.

The man eyes her forehead, then trails his eyes over me. I look down, and realize my face is smeared with blood. I try to make my tone light and airy.

"Oh God, I'm going to kill her if I can't clean this dress. Of course, she had to pass out and smash her head on the bar!" I laugh nervously.

"Is she going to be alright?" he asks, his accent thick.

I smile again, although I cannot answer truthfully, because I don't really know the answer.

"Yeah," I lie. "Once the hangover passes, of course. You'd be surprised how much this happened."

He nods, and I give him the address of the motel.

Viktoria doesn't stir the entire ride, and still remains unconcious as we pull up the the front doors. I'm worried as hell.

"Do you need help?" he asks, and I shake my head, not wanting him to see get even more suspicious.

I pay him, trying not to wince as I give away my last few dollars, and grab Viktoria, staggering back to my room.

I have to put her down to kick my door open, but manage to get her inside and lay her down on the cot. I peel off her bloodied dress, and slide on one of my own t-shirts.

I sit beside Dimitri's youngest sister, gently brushing the hair from her face.

"What happened to you, Viktoria?" I whisper to her, although she cannot hear. How had she ended up with Rolan?

I strip off my own dress, holding it in my hands for an extra moment. The dark material mostly hid the stains, and I filled up the dirty sink and tossed it in, reluctant to let go of the dress, or the memory of the lust charm, however much I should want to forget it.

Exhaustion finally begins to take over, and I curl up on the floor, unwilling to sleep on the disgusting bed.

...

I awake to the sound of hyperventalation.

"Viktoria?"

"Rose?"

I jump up, rushing to her side. She sits up on the cot, shaking.

"Rose, where are we? Why are you here?"

"Shhh..." I soothe. "It's alright. It's alright. Viktoria... Rolan's dead. I staked him."

I wait for her to scream, to yell, to attack me. Instead, she throws herself into my arms and begins to sob.

"Oh, Rose, you were right all along. You were right! I'm so sorry about what I said! I'm so sorry!"

I wrap my arms around her, still shocked. "Viktoria, how did you end up here? What happened?"

She sniffs and pulls away from me. "A few months ago, my... my family found out about Rolan. I hadn't seen him since...that night. And they freaked out on me! And I... I ran away."

I sigh. "Oh, Viktoria..."

"I know!" she sobs. "But I loved him, Rose! And he... he took me to Moscow. But one night, he just didn't come home! And then, it was three days later, and he came home. I was asleep, and... I just... he had red eyes... but I was half-asleep...and..." she's crying hysterically now. "And he...bit me. And I was just lost after that."

I nod, completely understanding the addiction of a strigoi bite. "It's okay," I whisper. "It's going to be alright. I'm taking you home."

But Viktoria shakes her head. "They'll never accept me! They'll hate me! I'll-"

"Viktoria," I scold. "You know they'll be ecstatic to have you back! I'm sure you've caused Olena enough stress for two lifetimes..."

She brushes her cheeks. "I can't phone mom. I just-"

I rest my hand on her shoulder, feeling remarkably like a big sister. "I'll call. Go take a shower, okay?"

She nods, and hugs me once again. "Thank you, Rose. I'm so sorry about what I said about you and Dimitri. I know he loved you more than anything." And she slowly moved into the bathroom.

I punch it into the phone, having memorized it when I was staying with them, and waited two rings before the familiar voice picks up.

"Hello, Olena Belikova."

I let out a dry sob and clutch the phone. "Hi, Olena, it's me, Rose."

"Roza? Oh thank God you're okay! When you disappeared, we were so worried! We had no idea where you had gone!"

I smile to myself. "I'm sorry, Olena, it's just... look I'm in Moscow, and was wondering if you could meet me."

As selfish as it was, I couldn't afford a train ticket.

"Oh, Roza, if you're looking for Viktoria..." she said, her voice turning dark.

"No! I... I know she ran away. She told me!" Silence. "Olena, I found her! She wants to come home! She's afraid that you won't accept her, but she wants to come home."

Olena begins to sob. "Okay. Of course I'll come get her. Oh, Roza, how can I ever thank you?"

I laugh. "Olena, I can't talk much longer. Just call me when you get here?"

"Yes, of course. Thank you so much Rose!"

I smile and bid her goodbye.

"Rose?"

I turn to Viktoria, who stands in the doorway. "Are you alright?"

I suddenly realize I have been crying. Hearing Olena's voice just reminds me of Dimitri, of everything that's happened in the past year.

"Is this about the Queen thing?"

I freeze. "You know about that?"

She sits beside me. "She was the Queen, Rose, it made news."

I sigh. "Yeah, I guess. It's complicated."

"Or is it about Ivashkov?"

"What? You know about that, too?" I cry

"He was, what, the Queen's nephew? Big news."

I let out a bitter laugh. "Does everyone know about my love life?" No way was I going to get relationship advice from Dimitri's sister. I wasn't even going to mention him. She didn't bring him up, either, and I was thankful that she had decided not to.

I groan. "Love bites."

I immediately regretted my words, looking up at her, and her bandaged neck.

But she smiles. "Don't I know it?"

Thanks so much for your amazing reviews! I really loved writing this chapter!

By the way, I accidentally deleted this chapter. This is the second version!