A/N: Another chapter set in Adrian's point of view. It's hard for me no to want to throw him in every now and then because I feel it's important to understand what he's doing as well as understanding what he's feeling. I definitely feel it's good when trying to understand the story as a whole. I've finally reach 1,040 hits on this story! I can't tell you how happy I am about this. I hope you all enjoy this chapter, and leave a review if you feel so compelled.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of this.

Chapter 10

Adrian woke up around 7pm to an empty bed. He wasn't upset but he wasn't as happy about it either, but there was a part of him that hadn't expected her to stay around for him to wake up. He knew that Christian and Rose had plans so he hadn't meddled. Adrian had actually been told not to meddle the night before when he had stayed back to talk to Cooper. He hadn't talked to Rose about the conversation he'd had with Cooper when she'd went to bed and was surprised she hadn't brought it up when they'd spent time together earlier. He thought back to the conversation Cooper and analyzed it once more.

"I know you're fond of Ms. Hathaway, but I'll remind you that she's been through a lot these past few weeks and I don't want to see her getting hurt even more than she already has. This incident with Tasha could pan out to be nothing, but until I am able to find out more on the matter I'd appreciate it if you'd behave around her. She doesn't need that kind of stress," replied Cooper in his stern southern accent.

"I take it as her guardian you feel like you know what's best for her?"Adrian asked skeptically.

"In this matter I do. I spoke with her mother, and she feels…" Adrian cut him off.

"She doesn't even talk with her mother, so I don't see how she's even in this conversation."

Frustrated Cooper ran a hand through his hair, "Ms. Hathaway may not talk to her mother but she's got guardian experience that is helpful for Ms. Hathaway and does look out for her the best she can, given her situation."

"Oh please, her situation is self imposed. If she had wanted to have a child that she actually wanted to take care of she could have gotten out of the whole guardian business."

"No she couldn't have. She was one of the few experienced women and she still is. What she does has been ground breaking in a time where many people don't want to continue being Dhampirs because they don't see the value in it. Guardian Hathaway gives the youth a role model, especially the young girls. They see you or someone like you and they truly do think that you're going to make good on the promises you make them as you use them up."

"I'd never do something like that with Rose."Adrian could tell that Cooper was on a tirade but he couldn't help but defend his intentions for Rose.

"I'm not saying you would, I'm saying that people like you do it every day and think nothing about it. Yet you sit there in your high towers and complain that no one's protecting you, where are all the guardians? What do you expect them to do? Why would they want to send their children off to have the same thing happen to them?" He didn't believe him when he said that he didn't believe that Adrian was capable of doing something like that, he knew how much Cooper didn't approve of him.

"I can't fix all the wrongs of my people, but I can give you my word I won't do them to Rose. If I ever get the chance to make her a proper offer, I'll stay true to my word."

"But you're a royal Lord Dragomir, you have an obligation to those very same people who have mine killed on a daily basis."

"Things need changing around here; I don't think you all realize just how important you are."

"I know how important I am for the well being of your race, but I'm done talking about this. Christian and Rose are making plans for tomorrow, I know you heard them discussing it."

"I may have heard something along those lines, yes."

"I'd appreciate it if you let her have some time to herself. I'll check in on her throughout the day, but I think both of them need to spend some time together. They've got a lot to talk about and it would probably go best if you weren't there."

Adrian wasn't used to being stood up to like this from the guardians and he didn't like it too much. "I see, so I'm being told to stay away or you'll make me stay away?"

"You said it, not me sir."

Adrian had thought it over, she had seemed happy to see Christian so maybe it wasn't all that bad for her to spend time with someone other than himself, "alright I'll play along, but if something happens to her I'm holding you responsible."

"Thank you sir."

"I'll send some of my people over to you, once I wake up so that you can have some additional man power to assist you in finding out information on Tasha."

"They'll be useful, thank you."

While he didn't like being told what to do, Cooper had had a point. One that even Adrian couldn't deny. The Moroi had been cruel to the Dhampirs over the years but it was just the way things were. That didn't mean that they were all that way, but telling someone like Cooper that he was different than that was like talking to a brick wall. A brick wall with the same agenda as the last brick wall Adrian had run into. The Queen was leaving to for a weekend getaway with one of her boys and had already said her goodbyes to Adrian. So without Rose his daily schedule was empty.

The thought of practicing Spirit was mildly entertaining for a while, but without Lissa or another Spirit user it just wasn't the same. If Rose had been there he was sure he would have had some enjoyment in doing it but she wasn't. Pulling out his laptop he conducted some minor business details. Having somehow managed to get into the viral marketing world when he was about 16, Adrian had secretly become one of the richest of the Moroi without even working at it. He'd set up a program that allowed other companies to advertise for a fee on certain websites. Every time their company's advertisement went out he got a kickback, pretty much like all the other viral marketing firms but he had set his apart. He'd hired a design team that made the logos for the separate companies or improved on old designs which made them appealing to internet service providers in ways previous advertisements had not. Adrian made sure that the design teams were able to keep up with current trends by hiring free lance graphic designers from prestigious blogs on the internet.

His company had managed to go global in no time and he had several offices now all over the world. He was proud of what he had been able to accomplish, but now that everything was set up and running on its own he rarely had to do anything with it. His company had become a well oiled machine and unless there was any fraud or major incidents occur it required little work on his part, which was good to an extent but meant he had more free time than he knew what to do with. The only person who really knew about his business adventure was the Queen but she didn't really care all that much only when it came in handy to threaten him with. She felt that much of the internet was a waste for humans to reach all new levels of sexual deviance.

After a while however, Adrian was unable to resist the urge to reach out and see what Rose was doing. Her mind was blurry, something he'd never encountered before. He couldn't feel what she was feeling, nor could he tell where she was. Adrenaline rushed through his veins, surely she wasn't in trouble. He tried again. This time he got a bit of the image that he hadn't been able to see before. They were in a dark room, and looked like they were watching a movie. There was a movie room on the grounds so he seemed pretty confident that that's where she was. He couldn't quite make out the movie that she was watching, but could see the open bottle she held in her hand. So I can't see you when you drink, he thought to himself. Interesting.

About an hour later he heard Christian's voice coming from the hallway. Curious he got up and went to look out his peep hole. Rose looked terrible! He hadn't gotten dressed since he hadn't been anywhere and rushed to his room and threw on some clothes. By the time he was out in the hallway they'd made it inside. Pounding on the door Adrian waiting impatiently for Cooper to answer.

"What's wrong with her?" he asked furiously.

"She's just had one too many. She's thrown up just now in the bathroom and she's resting in her room. Christian's helping her change and with some rest I'm sure she'll be fine."

Adrian pushed Cooper out of the way, "Like hell he is."

Christian had just taken her shoes off when Adrian stepped into the room. Taking in Rose's figure his heart began to beat rapidly. She looked even worse up close, but then he guessed he looked like that pretty often himself. "What'd you do to her?"

Christian answered calmly, "I didn't do anything to her. We just had a few drinks and it didn't mix well with her meds. I'm sorry; I didn't know she was on anything."

"What were you all drinking, gasoline? Look at her."

"I see how she looks," replied Christian through clenched teeth.

"I knew I shouldn't have let her go out with you." he practically growled over at Christian as he sat beside Rose on the bed. "Rose, I'm going to make you better now ok? Give me your hand."

She resisted him, "No…I don't want…"

Adrian couldn't handle her like this, so he grabbed her hand anyway and healed her in a matter of seconds. When she realized she wasn't drunk anymore, instead of being happy she seemed mad. "I told you not to do that Adrian."

"I know you did, but I was helping you feel better."

"You never listen to me."

"That's so not true," he commented forgetting Christian was standing there beside her.

"I didn't mean to get that way but I didn't want you to fix me either," her eyes filled up with tears. He wrapped his arms around her as he felt Christian's hand pat her gently on the back.

"Don't you think you've done enough?"

"What exactly have I done Ivashkov?" Christian replied calmly, but the fire was behind his eyes in a way that Adrian knew he was pissed.

"You got her drunk," he pointed to the bottle on the dresser.

"No he didn't, that was my bottle that I took to share with him. So if anyone got me drunk I'm pretty sure it was me." She replied in his defense wiping the tears off of her face. "Besides, I had a really great time today." Adrian couldn't help but feel jealous as he watched her smile up at him. Christian seemed determined to have her as a guardian but he wasn't capable of playing in the big leagues like Adrian was.

"Would you both like to get dinner now that you're feeling better" asked Christian.

She shook her head, "no I think I'm going to call it a day. I just kind of want to lie around here and watch some TV. There's a lifetime movie coming on that I was told was pretty good, so I might check that out."

Christian laughed, "I didn't peg you as the kind to watch Lifetime."

"I'll watch anything as long as it's good."

"I'll text you later then Rose," he moved in and gave her a hug that she returned happily. "Adrian," he replied with a nod in his direction as he left the room. Adrian didn't say anything till he heard Cooper say his goodbyes and shut the door behind him.

"You could have hurt yourself today you know that don't you?" The harshness had fallen away from his voice as he crawled in under the covers with her. "I mean the dosages of tranquilizers you're on alone are enough to knock out an elephant, so adding alcohol to that could stop your breathing within minutes."

"I know," she replied flatly.

"You're feeling that way again aren't you?"

"You can't just tell?"

He laughed, "I'm still feeling the after effects of your hangover. I've not been able to read you all day."

"I'm just anxious that's all."

"Over what, this whole thing with Tasha or something else?"

"Yeah, just this stuff with Tasha. Not to mention I'm stressed over who I'm going to be assigned to. I just want a quiet job somewhere where it's not too cold. I mean I already have more monija marks than almost all the other guardians' individuals. I mean I don't even really feel all that much like a guardian since I never passed the final test."

"But you've been given your mark, how do you feel like you're not a guardian?"

"I know it's stupid I just feel like it's more complicated than that."

"I'm sure Kirova knew what she was doing when she let you out into the guardian world. I wouldn't stress over it little Dhampir."

"I guess you're right," she replied but with no confidence at all.

"Don't you know by now that I'm always right?"

She laughed, "Tell me what you and Cooper found out last night. I never got the chance to ask you."

He pulled her over to him allowing her to rest against his chest, "We weren't really able to get much done. I heard what she said to you thought. I wouldn't worry about it. There's no evidence that you two were ever together and if Tasha were to use Victor as a reference for her findings no one would believe her because it just wouldn't make sense. As much as I hate to admit it Belikov has become quite a popular guardian with the royals now that he's gone. They never realized what he was able to accomplish until now and many of them wish they would have had him assigned to them instead of Lissa."

"I get that part; I couldn't believe the amount of Moroi that were at his funeral I always thought that it would be just the other guardians. But then I guess I never really thought he was going to die. I thought he was beyond that." She sighed and he felt a bit of stress leave her body and enter into him. "I just don't understand why Tasha would want me to spy on you. There's no real benefit to her from me doing it because I mean what could you know that someone like Christian wouldn't know when it comes to what she's trying to accomplish."

"I can't remember if I've told you this or not, but I've been picked by the Queen to be the next in line. She tells me things she doesn't usually tell others and while there are things that Christian knows that the general population doesn't, I probably know a little more. I often wish she hadn't picked me. There's no real benefit to me from being picked, I don't want it."

"Then why don't you tell her that you don't want to be King?"

"Do you realize what would happen to me? She'd destroy everything that I've been able to accomplish."

"Couldn't you stop her or something? I mean why would she even care, it's your life."

"If I knew the answer to that question I'd tell you. She's hell bent on having me be the next King, but I don't think she'd like what I'd do once I got into court but I'm not going to tell her that until she makes that decision."

"What would you do?" She asked curiously. Rose seemed genuinely interested as she laid there in his arms, so he explained it some detail. Adrian told her how he wanted to make sure that the guardians were given a higher status among the combined community as a whole, explaining that the way things had been weren't working anymore and that unless they were willing to change they'd all die eventually. As a leader he would encourage the Moroi youth to learn to defend themselves if they wanted at first and as they integrated it into the curriculum but once it was in place he'd make it mandatory in all of the schools. If these changes went well he'd spend time setting up programs for the Dhampirs in order for them to go through treatments to overcome the compulsion they felt through blood drinking. He told her about the studies that were already being taken in order for these women to overcome the disorder but as of yet there had been no successful tests. There were other important things he went over and it felt good talking about it with her. Adrian was pleased to see that Rose had some ideas of her own and was willing to talk about them with him and debate over whether or not some of his major ideas should be implemented. They ordered some room service later that night and just spent most of the day in bed. Adrian hadn't been that happy in the longest time, he'd been happy the night before when they'd spent time together sexually, but this was different. He'd never really had a meaningful relationship before and was pleased to see that it was as good as he always thought it would be.