Author's Note: wow can't believe all the feedback I am getting for this series. First I was shocked people were actually bothering to read it and now people are actually bothering to tell me that they like it. I am touched (in a non sexual way ;)). Well like I said this chapter is really long. I mean I was expecting it to not take so long but I was up at like quarter past 10 last night typing away like a maniac. Well enjoy :D

Adrian was sipping from a bottle of vodka with a lighted cigarette in hand when there was a knock on the door. Adrian frowned, annoyed at the interruption. He put the bottle down and put out the cigarette in the ashtray on the coffee table. He got up, stretched and made his way to the door. When he opened it, Reese Conta was waiting on the other side.

"About time dude," he said to Adrian and let himself into his room and sat down on the couch. He picked up the bottle that Adrian was drinking from and took a sip. Adrian rolled his eyes and shut the door. He walked over and sat on the couch opposite Reese.

"There better be a good reason for you to come because it is really early and I"- he snatched the bottle off him –"was enjoying myself." He took a sip then waited for Reese to continue.

Reese ran his fingers through his blonde hair. "There was another Strigoi attack. This time on the Drozdovs..." Adrian stared at the label on the bottle, slightly bored. Sure Strigoi attacks were bad but he didn't worry over it. He was an Ivashkov. His family wasn't under threat and wouldn't be anytime soon. "Adrian? Hello?"

Adrian was pulled out of his thoughts. "What?"

"I said what do you think about it?"

Adrian thought for a moment before saying "I think we should throw a party."

Reese frowned at him. "And I think you should lay off the vodka for a while."

Adrian raised his eyebrows as he took another long sip. A grin was forming on his face. "I'm serious. A party is exactly what this place needs to cheer the Moroi up."

Reese raised one eyebrow "Since when have you needed an excuse to throw a party?"

Adrian pretended to look thoughtful. "That would be...never" he said with a grin.

"Exactly. What did you have in mind anyway?"

Adrian thought for a couple of seconds before answering "There is a swimming pool and spa a couple of floors below us."

"Let me guess, you want me to gather the young royals and any hot Moroi girls and load the place with booze." Reese rolled his eyes.

"You're the man," Adrian said holding his bottle up to toast him before taking another sip.

"Fine. But we have to wait till after the meeting." Adrian was bored again but pretended to look interested.

"What meeting?" Adrian asked. He already knew the answer but he might as well ask anyway.

"You know, how the older Moroi gather and discuss what to do about the attacks." Blah, blah, blah.

"Well that is great and all but" Adrian stood up and opened the door for him "you have a party to plan."

"Whatever dude, later." Reese walked out the door and shut it behind him. Adrian sat back down on the couch. He had a lot to think about. He had two options. One, use this party as an excuse to get rid of the dhampir Rose Hathaway from his head. Two, use this party as an excuse to get to Rose Hathaway. There was another factor; Vasilisa Dragomir. She was the key to figuring out what was wrong with him and he could get to her through Rose. Not that he was using her because he was very, very interested in her but he had to know the truth about himself.

Adrian finished the bottle making up his mind. Option two it is.

****

Adrian walked towards the banquet hall inside the lodge. The meeting was being held in there. As he walked he heard voices up ahead. He looked around the corner and saw Rose Hathaway with Guardian Belikov.

Adrian had decided to sober up earlier so he saw their auras and didn't like what he saw. Rose was still completely surrounded by shadows but inside those shadows there were different colours showing different emotions; jealousy, lust, anger, grief; and love. Well it is not quite love but very close. Isn't he a teacher at her school? So much for not being interested in older guys. Strangely enough Adrian started personally feeling these emotions, all but love. Must be a side effect.

Belikov's aura was almost the same. There were colours of love, lust, anger, grief and sadness. The only difference was there were no shadows surrounding him. He would have enjoyed this bit of gossip if he wasn't so consumed by their emotions.

Belikov gave Rose a level look. "What happens between her and me is none of your business," he replied crisply.

As he said those words, the colours around Rose showed feelings of hurt. "Well. I'm sure you guys'll be happy together. She's just your type, too-I know how much you like women who aren't your own age. I mean, she's what, six years older than you? Seven? And I'm seven years younger than you."

Anger coloured his aura. "Yes," he said after several moments of silence. "You are. And every second this conversation goes on, you only prove how young you really are."

Rose was so hurt by those words. She didn't even try to hide it from her face. He suddenly was coloured with regret but his expression didn't show it.

Adrian took this as his queue to enter. "Little dhampir," he said.

Still stunned with the shock of Belikov's words she turned to Adrian. He grinned at her and gave a brief nod of acknowledgment to Belikov. Rose's face turned a slight shade of red and embarrassment flickered across her aura.

Adrian held up his hands in a casual gesture. "I don't want to interrupt or anything. Just wanted to talk to you when you have time." Belikov was staring at Adrian; there was a new colour that Adrian guessed was disapproval. Rose noticed his disapproval as well and turned to Adrian with a smile on her face. She walked over to him and put a hand on his arm. God damnit, why does she have to look that good? It's all for him anyway.

"I've got time now." She gave a nod to Belikov and steered Adrian away, walking close to him. "See you later, Guardian Belikov." They walked away from him and satisfaction was the new emotion showing in her aura.

"Not into older guys, huh?" asked Adrian once they were alone.

"You're imagining things," she said. "Clearly, my stunning beauty has clouded your mind." She's half right.

He laughed. "That's entirely possible."

She started to step back, but he tossed an arm around her. "No, no, you wanted to play chummy with me-now you've got to see it through."

She rolled her eyes at him and let the arm stay. "What do you want?" she asked.

He studied her for a moment than answered. "I want you to grab Vasilisa and come with me. We're going to have some fun. You'll probably want a swimsuit too." He seemed disappointed by this because he had a much better idea. "Unless you want to go naked."

"What? A bunch of Moroi and dhampirs just got slaughtered, and you want to go swimming and 'have fun'?"

"It's not just swimming," he said patiently. "Besides, that slaughter is exactly why you should go do this."

She was going to argue back when a group of people came round the corner. They were deep in conversation, though they all stopped talking when they saw Rose and Adrian. There were five of them and Adrian only knew three of them. One was the boy dhampir that was Rose's "boyfriend", the second was the short blonde Moroi named Mia from the other night, and the other one was Vasilisa Dragomir. Adrian recognised her instantly and was pleased to see her aura. It was a bright golden light that completely surrounded her.

"There you are," said Vasilisa, a puzzled look on her face.

Rose stepped out of Adrian's arm. "Hey guys," she said. There was a moment of awkwardness and Adrian chuckled. She beamed at him then at her friends. "Adrian invited us to go swimming."

They stared at her in surprise and the "boyfriend's" aura was consumed with jealousy and hurt. He didn't mind her inviting them to the party because it meant Vasilisa would be coming.

Adrian gave Rose directions then walked back to his room to get ready for the party.

****

Adrian entered the party to a chorus of friendly greetings. Reese waved at him from the bar and Adrian made his way over towards him. He grabbed a drink from the bar. "Nice party."

"It was short notice...but I pulled it off," he replied smugly.

Adrian rolled his eyes and took a sip from his drink.

"I also got your other request," he pointed to a group of girls. "They are very interested in meeting Adrian Ivashkov, emphasis on the 'very'."

"Well I am not one to disappoint. Plus it would be rude of me as the host of this party to not cater to all my guests needs."

Reese grinned then frowned. "Wait, aren't I the host?"

Adrian walked away, drink in hand. "Sure, sure."

The Moroi girls grinned as he approached them. "Hello ladies, it is a pleasure to meet you."

Adrian tuned out as he always does when talking to most girls. He was thinking about if Rose would actually turn up and being able to chat to Vasilisa after all this time. Just as he was thinking this, Rose and Vasilisa entered the party. Rose was wearing a maroon bikini which made Adrian want to take it off. Rose and her friends got into one of the pools. Adrian focused back to his guests. He chatted to them for a while before excusing himself to get another drink. He made sure that he drank enough to enjoy himself but not enough to stop seeing the auras.

Adrian found Reese again exactly where he left him.

"Enjoying the party?" Reese asked.

"Are you?"

Reese grinned. "You know what I always say. It isn't a party until someone breaks into a fight."

Adrian was looking at a group of Moroi. Two guys had very angry auras. "Well you might be in luck," he nodded towards the group.

"Excellent. Well you keep an eye on the fight and give me any updates. I am feeling a bit hungry," he winked at Adrian. Adrian rolled his eyes as Reese made his way to the feeder room.

Adrian scanned the room and saw Rose walking around. From the looks of her she was very drunk. She was looking at her feet as she walked so she didn't notice when she walked straight into the fight. After one of the men punched the other, Rose instinctively jumped in the middle to try and maintain peace. From the pool, Rose's "boyfriend" got up and rushed to her rescue. Unfortunately for him she didn't want to be rescued. Together they stopped the fight. Reese will be annoyed. Rose turned towards her "boyfriend" and got angry at him.

After arguing, Rose stormed, or at least tried to, away from him. She turned and walked into the feeder room. Adrian, no longer wanting to be an observer, went after Rose. When he found her, Rose was watching Reese feed off a redheaded human. She watched them with fascination. Desire appeared in her aura. She has been fed off before.

"Want to volunteer?"

Adrian brushed her neck with his fingertips, and she jumped. She turned around and saw Adrian with a smirk that hinted he knew more than he was showing.

"Don't do that," she told him, knocking his hand away.

"Then what are you doing in here?" he asked.

She gestured around her. "I'm lost."

Adrian looked at her. "Are you drunk?"

"No. Of course not...but..." she looked a bit nauseous. "I think I should sit down."

He took her arm. "Well, don't do it in here. Someone might get the wrong idea. Let's go somewhere quiet."

He steered her off into a different room, and she looked around with interest. It was a massage area. She sat down on the carpeted floor, leaning back against the wall. Adrian walked away and returned with a glass of water. Sitting down as well, he handed it to her.

"Drink this. It'll help." Adrian knew too well from experience what to do in these situations, even if they were years ago.

"I told you, I'm not drunk," she mumbled. But she drained the water anyway.

"Uh-huh." He smiled at her. "You did nice work with that fight. Who was the other guy that helped you?"

"My boyfriend," she said. "Sort of."

"Mia was right. You do have a lot of guys in your life."

"It's not like that."

"Okay." He was still smiling. "Where's Vasilisa? I figured she'd be attached to you."

"She's with her boyfriend." She studied him.

"What's with the tone? Jealous? You want him for yourself?" Adrian knew this wasn't true because he couldn't see any jealousy of that kind but there was some jealousy in her aura but it wasn't directed at Vasilisa's boyfriend, at least he thinks it wasn't.

"God, no. I just don't like him."

"Does he treat her badly?" he asked.

"No," she admitted. "He adores her. He's just kind of a jerk."

Adrian was enjoying this. "Ah, you are jealous. Does she spend more time with him than you?"

She ignored that. "Why do you keep asking about her? Are you interested in her?"

He laughed. "Rest easy, I'm not interested in her in the same way I am you."

"But you are interested."

"I just want to talk to her."

He left her to fetch some water. "Feeling better?" he asked, handing the glass to her.

"Yeah...I didn't think those drinks were that strong."

"That's the beauty of them," he chuckled. "And speaking of beauty...that's a great colour on you."

She shifted. Her aura showed slight signs of lust. She drank more water deep in thought. "You haven't had a cigarette in, like, ten minutes," she pointed out.

He made a face. "No smoking in here."

"I'm sure you've made up for it in punch."

His smile returned. "Well, some of us can hold down our liquor. You aren't going to be sick, are you?"

"No"

"Good."

She was deep in thought and her aura showed traces of confusion.

After a moment she spoke. "Adrian..."

He looked at her. "Yes, darling?"

She frowned. "Never mind."

He started to retort, then tilted his head towards the door. "Ah, here she comes."

"Who-"

Vasilisa Dragomir stepped into the room, eyes scanning around. When she spotted Adrian and Rose relief coloured her aura. He was certain it was relief because it showed on her face. "There you are," she said, kneeling beside Rose. Glancing at Adrian, she gave him a nod."Hey."

"Hey yourself, cousin," he returned, using the family terms royals sometimes used around each other.

"You okay?" Vasilisa asked Rose. "When I saw how drunk you were, I thought you might have fallen in somewhere and drowned."

"I'm not-" she gave up trying to deny it. "I'm fine"

Adrian's expression turned serious as he studied Vasilisa. Her aura was still golden. "How'd you find her?"

Vasilisa gave him a puzzled look. "I, um, checked all the rooms."

"Oh." He looked disappointed. "I thought you might have used your bond."

They both stared at him.

"How do you know about that?" Rose demanded.

"Hey, I can't reveal all my secrets, can I?" he asked mysteriously. "And besides, there's a certain way you two act around each other...it's hard to explain. It's pretty cool...all the old myths are true."

Vasilisa regarded him warily. "The bond only works one way. Rose can sense what I'm feeling and thinking, but I can't do it back to her."

"Ah." They sat in silence a few moments, and Rose drank more water. Adrian spoke again. "What'd you specialize in anyway, cousin?"

She looked embarrassed. "I haven't," she said.

"Do they think you're going to? Late bloomer?"

"No."

"You're probably higher in the other elements, though, right? Just not strong enough to really master any?" He reached out to pat her shoulder in an exaggerated show of comfort.

"Yeah, how'd you-"

The instant his fingers touched her, she gasped. Adrian let his magic flow into her. She stared at him in wonder. His eyes were locked onto hers too. He had finally been able to talk to someone like him.

This bothered Rose. "Hey," she said. "Stop that. I told you, she has a boyfriend."

"I know," he said, still watching her. A small smile turned his lips. "We need to have a chat someday, cousin."

"Yes," she agreed.

"Hey," Rose said even more confused. "You have a boyfriend. And there he is."

Vasilisa blinked, confused. All three of them turned toward the doorway. Rose's "boyfriend" was standing there along with who Adrian assumed was Vasilisa's boyfriend. Vasilisa sprang up, looking mildly guilty.

"We're getting ready to leave," said the boyfriend.

"Okay," she told him. She looked down at Rose. "Ready?"

Rose nodded and started to get up. Adrian caught her arm as she did and helped her up. He smiled at Vasilisa. "Nice talking to you." To Rose, he murmured very quietly, "Don't worry. I told you, I'm not interested in her in that way. She doesn't look as good in a bathing suit. Probably not as good out of one either."

She pulled her arm away. "Well, you'll never find out."

"It's okay," he said. "I have a very good imagination."

Adrian watched them leave. Reese walked towards him, confused. "Who were they? I don't remember inviting them."

"Don't worry, I did."

Reese frowned. "But why? They are just a bunch of young school kids and none of the chicks are hot, well except for the brunette...you're after the brunette, aren't you?"

"Don't worry I have a plan."

"And that plan involves?"

"Now Reese I can't give away all my secrets," said Adrian grinning. He walked away and went back to the group of girls that were talking to him earlier. He began tuning out again until he decided something. There is still time for some of option one. He turned to one of the blondes and whispered in their ear, "I think we could take this conversation to a more... private venue."

The blonde followed Adrian back to his room. He opened the door for her and as she walked through he smelt perfume on her neck. It reminded him of the conversation with Rose a couple of days ago.

"Do you mind if I make a phone call first?" Adrian asked the blonde. The blonde agreed and Adrian made the phone call. After he was done he walked back towards the blonde. "Now where were we?"