Disclaimer: I own nothing except my own characters. Richelle Mead owns everything else.

Author's Note: I'm back with a new chapter! This one will be a bit shorter but I hope you guys still enjoy it. Please read and review!

Chapter Seven: Best Laid Plans Go Terribly Wrong

Billy's POV

Landing in Palm Springs was a little like being back home in Spain. The main difference? It was a lot hotter and more humid here.

"So," Rose said as we sat in the minibus that would take us to the home of Clarence Donahue, an old Moroi who'd agreed to let us use his feeder/housekeeper. "What should we expect to find at Clarence's? Is the house secure?"

"Yes," Abe said. "Clarence is a very ... paranoid mad."

"In what way?" I asked. "Did something happen to-"

I was cut off by the sound of shattered glass as the window was smashed to pieces. In a flash, Rose, Eddie and I had our stakes out and the minibus had screeched to a shuddering stop.

"What the hell is going on?" Eddie asked as the mini-bus door creaked open, revealing half a dozen Moroi men, all armed with deadly-looking knives.

"The assassins," Jill whispered, "They've found out about our plans."

Whether Jill was right or not, it didn't matter. All that mattered was securing this place and keeping the Moroi out of danger. As one, Eddie Rose and I ran forward and engaged with the Moroi.

The fight didn't last very long, but it wasn't without injury. All three of us were covered with minor scrapes, but right now I didn't care.

We'd managed to knock all of the Moroi out, and of course, we'd got rid of their weapons, too.

"Is everyone all right?" Eddie asked. Everyone nodded, though I noticed that the Moroi looked a bit shaken.

"What now?" I asked. "We can't stay in Palm Springs after this."

"We'll have to arrange for another secure location," Rose said. "I'll call Lissa now and let her know what's going on."

As Rose made the call, I went to Nicolaclair's side, to make sure she was okay.

"Are you sure you're all right?" I asked her worriedly. "You looked pretty shaken."

"I'm ok," She assured me quickly. "I just ... I guess the fact that Moroi assassins want to kill me is just beginning to sink in. I never really ... understood what that meant at first."

I put my arm around her shoulders. She was shaking so violently that I thought she might shake apart at any moment. I pulled her closer and met her eyes directly.

"You'll be OK," I whispered to her, running my hand gently through her beautiful dark brown hair to soothe her. "I'll keep you safe, I promise. Those assassins won't get anywhere near you with me on guard."

"I know you'll do everything you can," She whispered. "But what if they come back? What if... I don't know, they get in when I'm alone?"

"That won't happen," I told her, trying to keep my voice even. "Trust me, nothing will hurt you. You'll be completely fine."

She finally nodded, then she rested her head on my shoulder and waited for Rose to finish her conversation with Lissa.

"Right," Rose said when she'd hung up the phone. "You're not staying in Palm Springs, at least not for long. You'll be staying there for a week, max. Then, you'll go ... somewhere. Lissa says she's looking at new locations now. For now, she says stick to the plan and she'll be in touch soon."

"But what if the rebels try something else?" Eddie asked. "There will only be two guardians on campus and we can't be with Nicolaclair and Jill 24/7."

"She's sending two more guardian today. Don't worry, we'll make sure nothing else happens."

We agreed, although I really didn't like the idea of staying here after what had happened, and kept driving towards Clarence's.

Once we'd arrived at Clarence's, we found that he by a nice old man who seemed to get distracted easily.

Soon after we'd arrived, two humans, unmistakably Alchemists, came in.

"Sydney!" Jill said happily as the humans entered the room, her eyes lighting up in that enthusiastic way of hers.

Sydney, a girl of about 18 with dark golden hair and brown eyes and the golden lily tattoo that marked her as an Alchemist, managed a smile for her and then she turned to the rest of us.

My first impressions of Sydney were that she was a very professional person who seemed to be very nervous about meeting such a large group of Moroi and Dhampirs. Her colleague, Keith, on the other hand seemed down-right terrified of us.

"So, who's this?" Sydney asked, nodded at Nicolaclair and me. "We were told that there was only Jill, Adrian and one guardian."

"I'm Nicolaclair," She replied with a polite smile. "I'm the queen's sister, too. I only found out last week."

"Right," Sydney said. "And you are?" She added, looking at me.

"I'm Billy, Nicolaclair's guardian."

"Well, pleased to meet you both." She said and we nodded politely.

Not long after Abe and Rose had left, we got into Sydney's car and made our way to Amberwood for what would hopefully be an uneventful week.

Author's Note: I know this was pretty short but I hope you enjoyed it. I'd also like to thank Guest for your review! Please keep it up. :) hunterofartemis126