Three days after my phone call to Olena, I sit beside Viktoria in a small, old-fashioned diner in Moscow. It's mostly filled with locals, some of the staff barely speaking English. I sit in a vinyl both with Viktoria, squeezing her hand, comforting her. The smell of the rich food is overwhelming, and I suddenly realize I haven't eaten since yesterday. But with only a few rubles left, I really couldn't afford a meal. Or anything, really.

When Olena walks in, I barely recognize her. She's aged. Her dark brown hair has been streaked with thicker strands of gray, the lines and creases in the corners of her eyes and mouth had become more defined. The proud woman I once knew had been seemingly compacted by the world.

But when she sees Viktoria, her whole face lit up, and tears spring to her eyes, making it clear that in her youth, she had been very beautiful. She wraps her arms around her daughter, sobbing into her, while Viktoria cries into her mother's shoulder. She is murmuring in Russian, soothingly, and strokes Viktoria's hair.

After gently brushing the tears from her youngest child's cheeks and a short conversation in Russian, Olena sits down across from me, Viktoria by her side. She grips my hands, looking at me lovingly.

"Roza, we seem to meet under the circumstances of you doing favours for our family. I can't thank you enough for everything you've done."

I smile, deeply moved by the display of emotion, and choke down my own tears. "I'd do anything for you guys. You're practically my family."

Olena smiles, her eyes still moist. "We just assumed you went home after you disappeared that night from our town. We didn't know you had left for Moscow."

"Well, I did go home. But then the whole Queen's murder was framed on me, and the whole Adrian thing, and then the whole Dimitri thing, God it's complicated. I needed to get away."

I waited for a comment on Dimitri a what did he do? but both of their faces blank. Finally, Olena croaks, "Dimitri? What 'Dimitri thing?'"

I freeze. "Dimitri...turning back into a...a Dhampir?"

They stare at me, the same look passed through the generations. "You're lying," Viktoria whispers.

"I'm not! Lissa, my friend, she's a Spirit user! I told you about her... She charmed a stake and staked Dimitri. And he turned back! He didn't... you mean you didn't hear?" I say, unable to believe he wouldn't have called his own family.

Olena shakes her head, but Viktoria's eyes narrow. "You're lying! You're crazy! That's not possible!" She turns to her mother. "She's using us. She's a liar!" Although I could understand her disbelief, I still felt the rejection.

Tears fill my eyes. "I'm not! It's the truth!"

Olena gently shakes her head. "Please, Rose, this isn't something to joke about," she whispers.

"I'm not joking! I've got his number! You can talk to him!" I cry desperately

Viktoria shakes her head, but slowly, so slowly, Olena reaches out a shaky hand. I quickly pull out my phone and turn it on.

61 New Voicemails

73 Unread Messages

Ignoring the alerts, I scroll to my contacts and press Dimitri's number, setting down the phone and sliding it across the table, as if they're afraid to touch me. Viktoria grabs the phone and turns it onto speaker, so that both her and her mother can hear.

After another two rings, a wary, exhausted voice answers. "Belikov."

Olena immediately begins to sob, and Viktoria doesn't move, doesn't breathe.

"Oh, Dimitri, Oh God, oh God. Is that really you?" Olena cries.

"Mama?"

That just makes her sob harder. "And Viktoria, your sister's here as well. Oh, Dimitri, you're alive."

He breathes out shakily. "Yes, Mama, I'm alive."

"Why didn't you call me? Do you know how sick I was? I thought you were gone, Dimitri! I thought I had lost you!" And she trails off into a rapid string of Russian, using her 'scolding tone.'

Dimitri answers her, and I give a blank look at the language. Viktoria, silent so far, leans over. "He says he's had to deal with the horrors of what he's done. He's needed some time." I nod.

"Viktoria?"

She sniffs. "Hey, Dimka," she answers. "Sorry, just translating. I've missed you so much. I thought..."

"I know, I'm so sorry, I didn't intend for you to wait so long. I've missed you, too. How have you been? How is Sonya's baby? And translating? Who's there?"

Horror consumes me at his last question, but Viktoria answer too quickly. "I've been...okay. Sonya named her baby Anya, she's doing good, loud, but good. And I'm just translating for Rose."

NO! Silence on the line. "Wha... Rose? I mean, Roza? Rose Hathaway?"

She laughs. "Yeah, Dimka. Rose. Your Roza."

I wince, your Roza, and they both catch it, and obviously now see that something has happened.

"Is she there right now? Can she hear me?"

"Yeah, but-"

"Rose? Roza, can you hear me? Roza, please, please come home. Rose, talk to me. Talk to me! The Princess needs you! Your parents are doing everything they can! Where are you? Rose? Rose? Mama, where are you right now? You have to keep her there! Don't let her-"

I immediately stand up, grabbing a pencil from the survey container, and jotting down his phone number on a napkin before snapping my phone shut.

"I'm sorry, I have to... I've got to go. This is Dimitri's phone number, for his cell. I'm so sorry, I-"

But I didn't let myself finish, and before either of them could get up to stop me, I dashed from the restaurant.

...

Yeah, Dimka. Your Roza.

I shiver, though it's not from the cold. Your Roza. He had pushed me away, dismissed me. Although he had become extremely involved in my trial, and even defended me against Tasha, at the end, he had repeated his original message. I'm sorry, Rose, he had said. I don't love you. I never will. I admit it, I care about you, how could I not after what we had gone through. But I don't love you, and I never will.

I had left, embarrassed, humiliated. And then I had pushed myself away, not just to make him angry. To save myself from heartbreak.

But now, just hearing his voice made me want to run back, to collapse, to cry. I was horrified at Viktoria for the words she had said. Your Roza. But in truth, that's all I wanted to be.

I quickly headed back to the gritty motel, fighting back tears, and longing. I throw myself onto the cot, my body shaking with sobs that I refused to let out. I wish I could switch motels, one where they don't know the location of, but I don't have the money.

I had thought this would be easy. That I would just leave, that my friends and family would maybe just wait, see if I come back, and slowly, I would fade. But I had never expected this emotion, this pain. The memory wasn't enough. I needed to be with them.

Suddenly my phone vibrates, and, out of habit, I answer, the sudden realization coming onto me at what I had just done.

"Roza," he breathed, obviously shocked I had answered. But I said nothing.

"Roza, please. Are you there? Can you hear me?" I bit my lip, tears escaping my tear ducts. "Talk to me. Please talk to me." I could only hear his heavy breathing in the background.

"I need to hear your voice. I just need to hear you, Rose. Please, just say something."

I clutch the phone, feeling close to complete breakdown.

Dimitri lets out a shaky breath. "Come home, Rose. Vasilisa needs you. Adrian needs you. They're falling apart. Rose, Vasilisa can't rule without you."

Vasilisa needs you. Adrian needs you. Angry swells within me. Still avoiding me, even over the phone.

"Roza, Rose. I know it's you. Please, talk to me. Tell me where you are. Roza, please. I...I..." he sighs, and another wave of self-pity and anger hits me. I hang up.

Cradling my phone, I let it out, let myself cry. And when, my eyes are so swollen, they can barely open, I give in to the exhaustion. And I fall asleep.

Another chapter done!

And for anyone who is interested in the background story (aka, Tasha killing the Queen and everything that happens between Rose and Dimitri) I have a story called Assassination. I'm not trying to push my other story onto you! I know it's long! But if anyone is interested in a summery or description, feel free to tell me :)

And for anyone who just wants the basics, I would recommend reading the first and second-last chapter. Pretty much sums it up!

The only difference between the two stories is that Dimitri doesn't tell Rose he loves her, and that the epilogue doesn't happen!