Rose

Even when I'm unconscious, I still end up inside of Lissa's head. She was worried. She was afraid. Christian was with her. Although his clothes with damaged beyond repair, his skin was clear of cuts and bruising. I figured Lissa healed him as soon as he was back at the school. I could feel her body shaking with sobs, her face buried into Christian's shirt.

"I'm scared." Lissa whispers softly.

"What if...she's..." Lissa began to say but couldn't. She was worried that I was either dead or turned strigoi. "...oh Christian this is my fault."

Christian stares at her. "It's not your fault. The guardians are doing everything they can. I'm sure they'll find Rose."

There was uncertainty in his voice.

I was pulled from Lissa's head. Unsurprisingly, I woke up with a headache, considering how many times I was hit on the head. For a few seconds, I had no idea where I was or what happened. I felt very drowsy and unable to gather my thoughts together. I tried to sit up but I end up falling back down. Those damn strigoi must have drugged me. Then I started to feel very sick to my stomach.

Fuck. Strigoi was near.

I heard a door open and my stomach was getting more sick. Shit! Shit! Shit!

There was two people standing by my bed side. It was the blonde strigoi and with him was a female human. She wore a white trench coat suggesting that she was a doctor. Her bright blue eyes was trap in a dazed. They must have used compulsion on her.

She gently lifts up my head, turning it to the left and then to the right. "She has a minor concussion."

"Is she going to be okay?" The blonde strigoi demanded.

What? Why was he so concerned if I was alright? He's a goddamn strigoi. The evil undead for god sakes! He's not to have empathy!

"She'll be fine. The doxepine should be out of her system in the next couple of hours." The doctor said.

The blonde strigoi looks at her. "I'm a bit hungry, how about you let me bite you?"

The human doctor tilts her neck to the side and he quickly bit into her neck. The room was being filled with the sounds of her moans. Of course, the bites of a strigoi was a thousand times better than bites from moroi.

Then I heard the sickening sound of neck snapping and her body was drop to the floor. I instantly felt guilty because here I am laying here incapable of fighting and not being able to protect the human from harm.

"I'm sorry you had to see that, Rosemarie." He said. His mouth was smeared with fresh blood. "I tend to get easily...anxious."

"Fuck you." I spat. If I was going to die, I wanted to go Rose Hathaway style.

He chuckled. "That's what I like about you. Your feistiness." I felt his hand going from my neck to my chest. "And your dhampir body." He gave it a slight squeeze. "I bet the moroi men are all over you."

"Who the fuck are you?" I ask, getting annoyed.

"Nathan." He said simply.

"Okay Nathan, why did you keep my alive? Why not kill me or turn me?"

Nathan flashed a smile at me. "Because without you, how will I get the last Dragomir? Plus I think I wanna keep you all for myself."

Dimitri

It was the longest and agonizing twelve hours of my life. I was given iron supplements for the blood loss. Dr. Olendzki had sent me away to deal with others who had life threatening injuries.

I went over to the chapel. It was filled with moroi and dhampirs alike. Some cried. Some prayed. Some just stared off into space in shock. I wanted to cry. I wanted to pray. I couldn't. I couldn't do anything until I know what happened to Roza.

"Guardian Belikov!" I heard someone called for me. It was Guardian Alto. His face was covered in cuts with a couple bruising.

"Stan you should be-" I began to say but he cut me off.

"We're going to check the caves. Are you able to come with us?" He asks.

I nod.

The guardians had assembled a large group to check the caves. I was part of that group. I kept a emotionless face as our group enters the cave. The imagine of Rose lying dead on the ground kept flashing in my mind.

Hours went by as we found bodies of the dead. I haven't realized that Rose's mother, Janine, was part of the search. She went deeper into the cave and I followed her. She turned to look at me and hatred flashed over her face. I pretend it didn't bother me but I knew she blamed me. Rose had only came back to rescue me.

As I was searching, I found a small puddle of blood with a chotki next to the puddle. I knelt down to pick it up. It was Rose's chotki, the same one the princess have given to Rose in Spokane.

"Guardian Belikov." Janine calls for me. Her eyes was red and slightly puffy. "We have to leave the caves."

"What about Rose?"

Janine looks down. "She's not in here."

Lissa

Me and Christian waited by the border of the wards. I couldn't last five minutes without crying into Christian's chest. I needed to know if Rose was alive or dead. I dunno if I can handle the spirit darkness without her.

After three hours, someone yelled that the guardians was coming out of the caves. I leap up from Christian's embrace. I watch as the guardians was carrying the bodies of the dead. I looked at each face, wondering if Rose was next. I couldn't find her. I ran up to Guardian Belikov and Guardian Alto who was carrying the same strencher.

"Where's Rose?" I demanded.

Guardian Belikov didn't answer right anyway.

"I'm sorry princesss," His voice sounded broken."but she wasn't there."

I felt my heart shattered. I didn't want to believe him. "Did you look good enough? Maybe she's still in there-"

He didn't look at me. "Lissa," It was the first time he referred to me by my nickname. "Rose is not in the cave."

Rose. Her body was gone.

"No," I gasped out. "It can't be..."

A tear leaked from his eye. I never seen anything like this from him. He pulled something from his pocket. It was the chokti I given Rose. It was somewhat covered in blood.

My heart and world shattered. It was true.

My guardian and best friend since kidnergarden was dead.