A/N: I'm not really sure how you're all going to take this chapter either. I'm glad to see however that there are still some of you out there reading this. It pleases me, and I'd love to hear any positive thoughts you have about it. The next chapter will be from Adrian's point of view. I hope things are coming along nicely but I'm still not sure. This is usually the spot where I give up on a fic and it never gets finished, but I'd really like to finish this one! It's my goal. So enjoy this. It's not so much dialogue as the last few chapters have been so it seems like there's a lot more to it when there really isn't I don't think. It is a little lengthy though, so get cozy! XOXO – Sophie.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of this. I simply just work with what was given to me.

CHAPTER 15

I shouldn't be okay with this; I know I'm not okay with this. Rose was muttering to herself internally. She only had a few seconds to imagine what alternatives she might have at her disposable, besides the inevitable "whoring" herself out. Her mind was in a state of panic though, so her choices were limited.

Christian was by her side once more, wrapping a stray arm around her midsection, "So those pools you were mentioning, I was able to obtain us one if you're still interested." He waved a spare key in her face before taking a sip of his martini.

Rose smiled through clenched teeth, "I'd love to."

He guided her coolly through the masses of bodies. Boys and Girls had apparently come from everywhere to be at this party. Some royal was having a birthday, but Rose hadn't been interested enough to ask whose birthday party it was. Christian was so pale he was practically glowing in the dim lighting that surrounded them. She wasn't as tan as she used to be, but she wasn't as ghastly as he was either. Her mind drifted to Adrian and she wondered what he might be doing. Russia seemed so far away and she wondered if he had made it there yet. He had to be there by now she thought confidently to herself. Rose wondered who it was that he was entertaining for his Aunt, how old they were and if they were younger if they had brought a young and tempting royal daughter with them. The thought made her feel deflated and alone as she followed after Christian into a nearby room.

This room was much smaller than the main pool hall. This room was small and looked more like a cave than anything else. The walls were covered in a stone like material with patches of moss on the ground that crept up the walls, in the corner there was a waterfall that dripped casually into the steaming hot Jacuzzi that was built into the center of the floor. It was clearly the centerpiece of the room. Even the door that she watched Christian shut behind them was seemingly built to look like part of the rock face.

"Do you like it?" Christian asked, groping his way around to the side of the pool.

"It's absolutely beautiful," she replied with a sigh. I just wish I were here with Adrian and not you.

Christian stepped into the pool ad placed his martini glass on one of the built in drink holders in the rock face. He turned and faced her, beckoning her to join him. He outstretched his hands and wiggled his fingers, enticing her in the best way he could to reach out and grab them. Rose slipped out of her dress and threw it onto a dry spot in the corner of the room. He seemed upset that she wasn't wearing a bikini when she turned to face him but he still welcomed her nonetheless.

The water was BOILING! Her skin grew ten shades pinker than normal; she could barely tolerate it at first and wondered how Christian had been able to take it as long as he had. "So tell me Christian, what were you doing before I got here?"

"Drinking, I honestly didn't think you would be able to come. That oaf of yours is slavish. You need an Eddie."

She sat a good distance away from him once she finally got into the water completely and settled herself in. Rose stretched her legs out in front of her and played with her toes in the bubbly-hot water. Every now and then she would allow her toes to just break the surface of the water and wiggle them around. "He's not so bad really and no more strict than Dimitri was. I just didn't listen to Dimitri as much.'

Christian went to grab her feet but only caught one successfully, "Why do you listen to him more?" He asked quite curiously for the state that he was in. His fingers were warm, but that could have easily been explained by the water, but it was a different kind of warm. Rose wondered if he caught fire when he got really excited and almost laughed at the thought.

"Probably because of everything that's happened, and he's always been open and honest with me. That's something that I really respect so I'm more apt to listen to him if he's going to treat me like an adult."

It was Christian's turn to laugh, "Well that's one thing I'm sure Adrian doesn't do for you." Not only were his fingers warm, but intoxicating as he worked them methodically over the pads of her toes, the arch of her foot, as well as the lower portion of her calf. Rose was a sucker for a good massage but she needed to stay in the here and now.

"So, Adrian tells me what I need to know when I need to know it. There's no reason to gang up on him just because he isn't here right now." She replied defensively.

"I'm not, simply stating facts." He replied with a shrug bringing her leg out of the water to have a nibble on her big toe. "You know that your room is bugged right?"

Rose stiffened, "Excuse me?" He'd said it so nonchalantly she'd almost mistook him at first.

"I said that your flat has a bug in it. I could hear the frequency when I was in there this morning, but I couldn't quite make out its location. It was either in your den or your bedroom, I know for a fact that it wasn't in Cooper's room, I'd made a conscious effort to listen when I'd walked by it."

"Will you help me find it later?" She asked with a bit too much edge in her voice.

"Sure thing," he replied before planting a kiss on the bottom of her foot. "I'm sure it's just Adrian, no need to be so scared."

Rose smiled encouragingly, "I'm sure you're right." She moved over to him, and grabbed his glass taking a sip once more before bringing it up to his lips and pouring it into his mouth. Rose tilted his head back as she watched him finish the drink off. Christian grabbed hold on her arm, pulling her on top of him easily in the water. She positioned herself so that she wouldn't be right on top of him, but it was hard to do without being obvious.

"There that's better," he replied with a smile as he grabbed hold of her hips planting her down as far as she would go. Her attempts had been useless after all but if she thought enough of Adrian she could make it through this. Rose wrapped her arms around Christian's neck and leaned into his ear.

"I brought something to spice up the evening," she'd hidden this little trick even from Cooper when they were getting ready because she thought it might come in handy if she'd need to drug anyone. Reaching down in between her breasts she pulled out a small container and held it out in front of her in order to entice him.

"What is it?" He asked curiously.

"It's a Percocet if you're interested." She'd gotten the prescription at one point or another from a doctor who took pity on her and her situation as a guardian. She'd never taken one, rather opting to feel in the pain in order to grow accustomed to it. Christian brought a wet hand from out of the water and gladly took the small pill from her.

"I didn't think you did this kind of thing?"

Rose shrugged as she cheeked her pill instead of actually swallowing it, before placing the container back into its confines. "Sometimes I will, when I want to let go."

"hmmm well whatever makes you do it I'm happy."

Rose smiled and leaned back into the water, leaving her legs wrapped around his waist using it as a sort of makeshift anchor. She pretended to be wetting her hair as she spit the pill out of her mouth underwater. Rose pulled herself back up, as Christian brought his hand up in order to move the hair from her face with some difficulty.

The drug would take a little while to kick into his system, at which point he would probably be so high she could get him to do whatever she wanted him to do. She started squirming around on his lap, teasing him as she kissed him. Rose figured if she could play with him at least 20 minutes without anything really happening she'd be alright. In the short span of time they did just about everything they could have without actually having sex. Christian sure enough was growing weaker and weaker as they continued but he really did seem to be having a good time. When he eventually whispered that he loved her against the bare skin on her neck she knew it was time to stop. Rose stood up in the middle of the small pool and pulled him up to the side of it.

"Christian I need you to tell me everything that you know about this party, and I don't mean whose it is and what we're celebrating. I mean the nitty gritty of it. I know Eddie wouldn't have brought you here without knowing everything about it first right? That's how Eddie is, and the thing about you is you wouldn't have come without knowing what he knew too."

Christian gave her a goofy smile, "How did you know?"

"Why don't you call it my womanly intuition, but I mean it Christian. It's important for you to tell me what you know." Rose was still in the pool as she placed her hand gently on the side of his face to ensure he stayed awake.

"There's this neat tunnel system they use to get around. We passed the door when we walked in here and you didn't even notice."

"Who uses them Christian?"

He leaned in a kissed her on the nose, "the servantsssssssssss."

She wrapped her arms around him and gave him a tight squeeze. "That's exactly what I needed to know, thank you."

"Iz tell yous again I get hug?" His speech was blurring together, but he was doing a good job at holding onto to his consciousness but she could tell it wouldn't last much longer.

"Sure," but before he had a chance to do it she just hugged him. He was flushed against her skin that despite the warmth in the room was covered in Goosebumps. If Rose were Spiderman she could have said that her spidey-senses were bothering her, which in fact they were.

"I need you to be quite and lay here alright," she whispered into his ear. He nodded in the affirmative and started sucking his thumb. It took every fiber of her being not to laugh at such a cute picture. Getting out of the pool and walking to the door took more courage than she thought it would. She cracked the door open and looked both ways. Rose failed to spot anyone she knew and quickly made her way into the service entrance. There was a couple staff members gathered around a table that was filled with several different alcoholic beverages. One older staff member saw her entrance and walked over to her.

"Is there something I can get for you ma'am?" asked the kind-eyed old man.

Rose looked as innocent as she could before speaking, "I'd hate to be a bother but is there any way that I could get two sets of your uniforms? It seems that my escort and I have had a little too much to drink, and being who he is I don't want him to be seen in public in the current state that he is in. I can take care of him but I'd like to hide his identity as best as I can."

The older man looked concerned and showed her to the closet where they kept a few extra smocks. "Take these, leave them for the maid service and they'll be returned here. Come back and we'll show you the way out alright?"

She smiled a wide eyed smile, "Thank you so much sir! I really do appreciate your help!"

Obtaining the uniforms had been a million times easier than expected. Getting him dressed wasn't so difficult but getting him out of there without Cooper noticing was going to be harder than she might imagine it would be. She'd spotted him in one of the pools in the main room observing when she had come out of the kitchen with their close, and there wasn't any guarantee that he would still be there when they exited but it was still possible. If she could just make it to the service door without him noticing he would assume that they were still in there.

"Christian I need you to get up now," she whispered into his ear from where he was laying on the floor.

He mumbled something but opened his eyes and attempted to stand. Rose helped him to his feet and wrapped his arm around her neck. She cracked the door open and didn't see anything so she crept out of the room once more, making sure to shut it tight behind her. No one came rushing at them as they made their way into the kitchen.

"He is quite the mess isn't he?" replied the older gentleman.

Rose laughed, "He doesn't drink much and with the heat of the pools I think he's just having a hard time holding onto his liquor." There were some other people in the room who seemed a bit more suspicious of her as they cut their eyes in their direction but they stayed quiet and went about their business. The tunnels were interesting, nothing more than a bunch of hallways that made a little network, when they finally reached the end of the maze Edgar wished them luck as Rose stood attempting to gather her surroundings. They weren't near the entrance of the party but the other side of the building, closer to Christian's room. She rummaged in her pocket and pulled out his keys that had been in his bathing suit pocket. Rose was half carrying him, half dragging him down the hallway as she sat him in front of his door and opened it. She wasn't sure who or what might be in there so she snuck in as quietly as possible. Checking all the rooms she finally made her way to Christians and gathered a few spare changes of clothes. In Eddie's room she had pulled out a bug detector. It was one of the many James Bond-esque tools that Eddie had gotten upon graduating and she figured she needed it right now more than he did.

When she returned to him he was exactly in the same position as he had been when she'd sat him down. "Looks like no one tried to take you from me." She replied with a smile and picked him up once more. It was harder now with the addition of even more clothes, but she was managing just fine.

Her room wasn't far, but it was farther than she would have liked. "Christian," she whispered against his ear.

"Huhhh?" he murmured.

"I need you to stay as quiet as possible. No noises no nothing, no one must know we came here alright?"

He squeezed her hand as she sat him down once more. This time she left his things with him and picked up the device. She turned it on before entering the room scanning the hallway for any signals that might be picking up their presence. Nothing registered. She sighed heavy before slipping through the door. It was dark as she checked the underside of each of the surfaces in the room. She found one transmitter underneath the bar and one on the back of her headboard. She was able to disengage both without making too much of a fuss. She knew now that they weren't going to be able to get far without someone coming their way.

Rose grabbed a few spare clothes and the emergency key to Adrian's apartment. She wasn't afraid to make a little noise now that she had found out where the devices were and was running recklessly around her apartment. Even running the risk of Christian's capture by leaving him in the hallway, but this was far too important a mission to have him ruining it in a drunken stupor. She grabbed a few of the basics; throwing them into a spare duffle bag she generally kept her things in, as well as her cosmetics kit. It wasn't much: toothbrush, toothpaste, hair brush, mascara, etc. She'd learned early on to always keep them packed. Rose could hear Lissa in her mind; it's just easier this way.

Lissa had been surprisingly absent as of late. Rose wasn't sure what she was doing, or where she was doing it, but she felt certain that even in that moment, Lissa was still there with her. Rose didn't zip it back up until she got into the hallway. Even then she was certain she was being watched by whoever it was that bugged her room. She threw the bag over her shoulder and continued on her way. Adrian and Christian were about the same size, but the difference was significant which was why she hadn't just let him wear Adrian's clothes. Rose was unsure that they should hide in Adrian's room considering it would probably be the first place they looked but it was the only place she knew to go.

The thing about Adrian's room that she hadn't told even Cooper was that it was a panic room and could be locked down completely should the moment ever arise. It was a feature not often found in the castle's walls but a convenient one that the queen had added for certain guests. It was her way of ensuring that certain royals were able to obtain the extra security measures they needed in order to continue their blood lines. Adrian being her own successor had the safest room besides the queen's own bedroom on the grounds. As she allowed Christian to fall haphazardly on the floor she checked under tables and countertops for any hidden appliances that might have been hidden in the room. She didn't find any and allowed herself to feel at least a little more at ease.

Rose tossed the bag of their stuff on the couch and went to set the alarm. She was banking on the absentmindedness of the security guards to allow the room's lock-down mode to go undetected. This was an extreme risk that she was taking, but she felt confident that their location was secure for the time being.

She hated the fact that they had to resort to hiding in such a way as they were. Rose felt a deep sadness as she walked over and picked Christian up off of the floor, carrying him into the spare bedroom. She slipped off his shoes and unbuckled his pants. He was more than likely going to get sick in a little while so she decided it was best not to change him completely just yet. She walked back into the front room and put on her own change of clothes. The hoodie she'd been wearing when Christian had come to her apartment just hours prior was her only comfort at the moment. Pulling the desk chair over to beside his bed she waited patiently for him to either suffer from a hung over from hell or for him to just sleep it off. As she waited she began to cry, something she didn't usually do and soon found herself asleep, resting her head in the blankets that covered both Christian and the sorrow she felt about her situation.