A/N: Yeah I'm really getting the feeling that the last chapter was a bust. I'm going to agree with you on that and just go on and pretend it didn't happen. I like this chapter because it's building up to what's going to happen and I'm excited to just be writing again. Writing that is something that I'm actually interested in. Hope you all are having a wonderful weekend, I know I am. There seemed to be a little confusion about the whole Christian thing. That was mentioned previously in one of the chapters. It's more of a way to help Christian cope than anything else. It's harmless on Rose's part and mostly on Christian's as well. So no worries my dears.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of this, but Cooper and he's a little punk-ass bitch.

Chapter 12

Cooper's anger was audible in his voice as he began screaming at Adrian, "She seduced me Lord Dragomir, I had nothing to do with it!"

"Well you dirty little piece of shit! You can go to hell for all I care." Rose screamed back at him as she retreated to her room.

Rose slammed the door behind her as she fell back onto the bed. She had her stake back and that was all that mattered. She got up and put on some underwear and a t-shirt before hiding the stake in her underwear drawer. Adrian's voice came bellowing from the front room, "Look at whatever you like here and keep her safe but I swear on my life if I see you like that with her again I'll kill you myself."

"You couldn't Lord Dragomir," was all Cooper had to say for himself now that they'd been caught.

"Please do try anything you want to test that theory of yours won't you." Rose rolled her eyes and crawled back into bed hiding underneath the covers. She heard the door creak open but didn't move. "If you've come to lecture me about infidelity you're wasting your breath." Adrian crawled into bed beside her, pulling the covers from over her face. "Why exactly were you alone in that room with him?"

She peaked over at him, "Lissa sort of suggested for me to go in there at first. I didn't know he was even in there to be honest; I'd just gotten out of the shower so I hadn't heard him come in. When he saw me naked, I knew I could use it to get my stake back. I knew I couldn't beat him physically anytime soon and this was the only way that I thought I could get it back."

"How opportunistic of you," Adrian replied. It threw her off because he didn't seem angry or upset. "Did you at least get it?"

"You saw me; I was able to get it when you came in. It was enough to distract him."

He pulled her back over to him and kissed the top of her head, "that's my girl. There was a real reason I came back over here so quickly and I wanted to tell you in person rather than waiting to tell you later. I've got some business to attend to in St. Petersburg and I'm going to need you to stay here while I'm gone."

"What do you mean stay here? I'm finally assigned to you and I have to stay. Not only is it my job to go with you, but don't you want me to go with you anyways? Or are you already bored of me?" She looked over to him for some sort of reassurance.

"Never, but it's come to our attention that you've got a hit out on you and it's for your best interest that we keep you here for the time being."

"Is this your Aunt's idea?" Rose asked instinctively without thinking.

"No love, it was mine. It's for my best interest that you not go; I don't want to lose you or rather let me rephrase that I can't lose you. She'd probably be happy deep down if you got hit."

Her heart skipped a beat then started back, "But what if something happens to you? There's nothing worse than knowing you could have saved someone and you didn't, just because you weren't there."

"I don't doubt you, but you've got other things to worry about like Tasha's arrival. She'll be coming the day before I return. If you could just stay in your room the entire time I'm gone I'd be a happy man, but I know that'd be asking too much of you." He smiled before leaning in and kissing her. "Besides I'm a big boy and can handle myself."

"But I want to go with you."

His eyes were so troubled but he wouldn't budge, "I can't let you. You'll stay here and that's an order." Rose rolled away from him again. "Well if you put it that way Lord Dragomir, I might as well listen to you shouldn't I?"

"Rose that's not what I mean and you know it!"

She remained quiet for a while and thought things over until she finally decided to talk to him again. Rose sat up and tried to get comfortable but it wasn't working. She looked down over at Adrian as he played with the hem of her shirt. "Who do you think put a hit out on me?"

"I'm not sure, but once I find out I'll make sure they pay for it. I've employed some of my aunt's investigators to find out as much information as they can while I'm away but there's no guarantee that they'll find anything, no one's making a big deal about putting it out there. However, this shouldn't make you worry my dear, it shouldn't take them long to find out who did it and where we can find them."

"As long as you're confident I guess I am too," she replied still thinking. "You know I only did that whole thing because I saw Lissa right? I wouldn't have otherwise."

"Yeah you told me."

"But it's been longer than forty days this time, do you think she's stuck in limbo?" The thought upset her. Mason had moved on but Lissa wouldn't and she didn't understand why. She'd been avenged because the strigoi that had attacked were now dead but she was still there.

"Maybe, I mean it's not impossible but I don't think that's it."

"What do you think it is then?" Rose asked curiously.

"I think she's just a part of you now, I can see if I can find anything in the library at my parent's house if you'd like. They always liked the story of St. Vladimir and actually have a good bit on him."

"That'll be great, if you wouldn't mind. What are you doing over there anyways?"

"I'm hosting some diplomats at my family's estate. Let's not talk about it though. I'm dreading it enough as it is. Let me take you to dinner. We'll even leave the grounds if you want to."

His sudden change of subject had thrown her off, "Are you serious?" she exclaimed with a sudden burst of joy.

"As a heart attack," he replied with a smile.

Rose was so excited at the thought of getting out of the castle, even if it was only for dinner it was enough freedom for the time being. "What should I wear?"

"Anything you want to. Let me go make a few calls and we'll go." He gave her one last squeeze and went to get up but she stopped him. Rose leaned down and pressed her lips to his. "I love you," she whispered as she leaned back against the headboard.

"And I you Rose," with that he left. It didn't take long to get ready: hair, make-up, dress jeans, and a slinky-knit top and she was ready to go. She looked good enough to eat and hoped that would be happening sometime that night. Cooper even looked nice now that she wasn't naked as she emerged from her bedroom.

"No hard feelings?"

Cooper laughed, "I knew you'd get it back but I didn't think you had that in you."

"What? You mean the whole tease thing?" Rose couldn't imagine Cooper not knowing that she was at least a little skilled when it came to teasing, but from the look on his face he looked serious.

"Yeah, I thought you were more wholesome than that."

She couldn't help but laugh, "I guess I'm wholesome? However, I'm quite the pro at teasing to please in order to get what I want. I wasn't 'active' until recently so I had to do something to get my way."

"Interesting."

"I guess," she shrugged they walked out into the hall and began and waited for Adrian. He eventually came, followed by his usual group of guardians who seemed to make themselves busy 90% of the time they were together. "Everyone ready?"

"I know I am! I'm starving," Rose replied eagerly.

"Then right this way my little Dhampir." Adrian had called ahead and made reservations and had even gotten one of the town cars that sat waiting for the castle guests to use. It was bigger than a normal one, but still felt small with the amount of muscle in the back of the car.

"When do you leave for St. Petersburg?" She asked, leaning into him once they were all settled in. Adrian wrapped his pale arm around her as she rested her head on his shoulder.

"In the morning, sometime around 7:30"

Her heart sank, "so soon?"

Adrian nodded, "They'll be there the day after tomorrow and I'm sure I'll be up all night doing the finishing touches. Don't worry little Dhampir, I won't forget about you all the way across the sea."

"I'm not so worried about that. I'm sure they're just a bunch of old stiffs anyways."

He laughed, but remained silent as he continued holding onto her. Rose was a little scared to leave the grounds now that they were finally doing it. The reality of the fact that there was a hit out on her, and the thought of who might be willing to partake in her downfall was just disturbing. As she felt a swell of panic form deep in the pit of her stomach she thought back to the numerous attack's she'd witnessed over the past few months and wondered if her death would be something like that. Rose was also unaware of how the spirits would react when she went out or what Adrian might be able to do to help her if it got to be too much. The panic kept growing, flourishing within her in like great waves of emotions.

"Shhh…"he whispered into her ear as he bent his head down onto the top of hers. Nothing happened the entire time she was in the car. Lissa was in the car with them as usual, but that was more of a comfort than anything else. Adrian had decided to take them to this Chinese restaurant in town that he was fond of. It wasn't anything like what she was expecting but surprising it was delicious. The panda statues that filled the restaurant were a comforting sight. Something about the meal really felt natural, like this was where she was meant to be and looking at the others sitting around the table it was as if they all belonged there as well. The group was all seated at a large round table and had enough food in front of them to feed a small army. They ate and joked like they'd all been friends for years. It was just what they all needed. It appeared that Adrian had been working them all overtime, and for once they were all able to let loose.

Once they'd all gotten back to the castle Rose followed Adrian back to his apartment. As she sat there taking off her shoes, she watched as he poured himself a drink. He looked ragged and she imagined it was from being outside of the wards. She knew she hadn't felt anything but that had to mean that he was feeling all of what she normally would have. Rose instantly felt guilty for what she was doing to him. Being close to him as she was now, she wished she were capable of knowing what he was feeling like he was her and like she had with Lissa. Rose knew what it must have been like for Lissa all those years now that she was dealing with it with Adrian. Instead of saying anything to him about his drinking, she opened her arms to him and encouraged him to come over to her. She scooted back onto the bed allowing him to sit between her legs. Rose took the drink from his hand and sat it down on the bedside table so she could take his shirt off unhindered. She wrapped her arms around his body so she could reach the buttons that lined the front of his shirt, Rose was able to make short work of them and soon enough had the bare expanse of his shoulders sitting in front of her.

Rose started working the muscles of his upper body. She wasn't the best at massages but he was so tense and she knew what he must be feeling. She leaned in and kissed his shoulders, "tell me what's bothering you."

"I just don't want to go," he admitted.

"How long are you going to be gone?"

"Six days, but it'll feel like forever. You never know if they're going to extend their visit or what. It's just…" he sighed with frustration. "This is my mother's job, not mine but my aunt feels it will be excellent practice for me and I didn't want to influence her more than I have to so I'm stuck."

"It seemed that for a while there you had her in order," she observed.

Adrian smiled, "I could if I still wanted. She falls harder for my charm than anyone else I know."

"That's scary, if you ever do take her place who knows what you'll be capable of. It's getting late though Adrian and I should probably let you get some rest, I'm keeping you awake."

"If I had wanted to go to sleep I would have done so by now. Plus you're not leaving this room, I won't hear of it. I want as much rose-time as I can have before I leave." Adrian turned around in her lap and pinned her down to the bed.

"Oh yeah says who?" She challenged, giggling at his sudden burst of playfulness.

"I do," he half-spoke, half-growled at her.

They spent the rest of the night like this, playing with one another in an endless cat and mouse game. They fell asleep sometime around dawn, and when he woke up so did she. He was already packed, so she watched as he got dressed and ready and walked with him to the airplane. "Promise you'll keep me up to date on what's going on with you." She asked as one of his guardians took the carry on from his hand.

"I will, if you promise to do the same." Adrian pulled her close to him in a tight bear hug.

"Promise," she said but it was barely audible as her words got lost in the dark blue blazer her face was pressed up against.

"I've really got to go. Watch your back and really stay away from Tasha as long as you can. I love you."

Rose gave him one last squeeze goodbye, "I love you too."

He kissed her one last time before boarding the plane, "I'll be back before you even notice."

She smiled a fake smiled and waved at him through the window. Once her back was turned she let the anxiety of the next few days wash over her. "But not soon enough."