Memorial

Here's the next chapter. This one was a hard one for me to write. I cried while I wrote some of it. I hope you like it.

Richelle Mead owns all original VA.

Two days later we had the memorial for Adrian. I had seen him every night after I fell asleep so I wasn't a complete basket case. I still cried and it was possibly the hardest thing I had ever done. My dad had flown in the day before to be with me and it was very appreciated.

There were a lot of people there, I sat with his family and my friends. A lot of people got up and spoke about him, but I just couldn't do it myself. Everyone seemed to understand. They had a dinner afterward and at that I had a lot of people come up and tell me how sorry they were. I cried a lot, no matter how hard I tried not to.

Tatiana leaned over to me and whispered, "Adrian left a will, we are having the reading tomorrow. I think you should be there." I just nodded. I wasn't sure why she wanted me there; I wouldn't deny her after all she had done for me.

My father and I spent the rest of the day together. He was the one person I could let my anger out to and he would just let me go. "I want revenge! I want to kill them. All of them!" I was yelling at that point. "They took my love. They took my heart! I have to do this. I just don't know how." I paused and began to cry again.

"I know honey." My dad was rubbing my back. "What if I told you there might be a way? A way to kill them all." He looked at me curiously.

My father had never been one to lie, but I didn't know or understand what he was saying. "What do you mean kill them all?" I asked slowly.

"My bloodline goes way back to ancient times, as well as your mothers. There is documentation that had been passed down, that I am in possession of that details a way to destroy all Strigoi. There's no way to stop them from reemerging again, but this speaks of a way to decimate them now. It can only be done once every generation, and takes a special person." He finished.

I processed this. Once a generation, special person. What did that mean? Well, one way to find out. "What does a special person mean?"

"Well, they have to be Shadow Kissed, which you are, be of a specific bloodline, which there again, you are, and you must have pure intentions. It cannot be just about revenge. The place you must go is very hard to find."

"That's a lot to take in. Do you have this book, or whatever it is, with you?" I asked. Maybe reading it would be a better way for me to understand.

"I don't have it with me, but I can have it by tomorrow." I nodded, thinking that would be fine.

"What about this specific bloodline?" I asked. I wasn't sure what that would be.

"Well, obviously being shadow kissed you have to be Dhampir. But you have to have the blood of the first shadow kissed in you. I did a family tree some time ago for your mother and I found you are a descendant. It was a man from centuries ago. His name was Elias Devenigh. You are a descendant of his. The only problem now is you having pure intentions or you won't be permitted onto the sacred ground. You need to work on getting rid of the hate. That is part of what drives Strigoi and you need to rid yourself of that to destroy them."

"I will work on that. Where is this place?" This was a lot to understand, but I wanted as much information as I could get.

"All I know is that it is in Russia. It is called the Cavern of the Light- пещера света in Russian. The people of Russia would know better than I. There is a map in the journal I have, but you will need a guide when you get there. You will need to train hard, get your friends to train hard; you cannot do this on your own. And you have to purge this hate in you or the cause is lost."

I had to do this for Adrian. For all the lives that could be lost to more Strigoi. "Okay old man. Get this journal of yours here, then we will tell my friends and you can contact whomever you need to. Right now, I need to go. I need some rest and I need to get out of these clothes." My dad put his arms around me.

"Get some rest Rose. I'll talk to you tomorrow. I love you." Abe said and walked me to the queens' mansion.

"I love you too Dad. Thanks. See you tomorrow." And I walked inside.

I found Tatiana sitting in the main room. "Hello Your Majesty." I said as I stopped at the door to the stairway.

"Rose, please, call me Tatiana." I nodded.

"Tatiana, can I have a picture to put in my room?" I asked. I knew I didn't have to explain, she knew what I wanted. She nodded and we walked into a large room covered in family portraits.

"Take your pick." She said motioning to a cabinet that was filled with pictures only of Adrian's life. They went from infancy all the way up to adulthood. "Take as many as you would like. I'll leave you alone."

"Thank you." I said as she left the room. I stared at all the pictures. There was one of him as a baby swaddled in a blanket, his eyes shut and he was sucking his thumb. Another showed him on a swing as a child with the evening sun shining on the back of his hair making him look angelic. His school pictures, baptism, graduation, family gatherings, Royal functions. Then the ones of him and me.

My hand went to my mouth and tears threatened my eyes. I touched one of the first pictures of us. We were at one of the Royal parties, Adrian in a black tux, and I was in a flowing red gown. He was twirling me around on the dance floor. That was the night of our first kiss. There were so many others but I knew which one I wanted. Towards the middle was one of us laughing, looking into each other's eyes, it was a close up and always one of my favorites. I grabbed it and went to my room. I sat it on my nightstand so it would be the last thing I saw at night and the first thing I saw in the morning.

Rose, where are you? Lissa said through the bond.

In my room. Come on in. I said back.

Be there in about fifteen minutes. I went to the balcony and sat in one of the lounge chairs. I had gone to Adrian's room the other day and found some of his clothes, so I would be able to have some semblance of him being here. I could picture Adrian sitting here with me with a drink in his hand, just relaxing. Maybe I'll find his secret stash of alcohol and have a few drinks. Who knows? All I knew that as the day went on I missed him terribly. I couldn't wait to get to sleep so I could see him and feel him. But I had promised him I would live and sleeping all the time was no way to live.

Lissa finally came in and I had changed into jeans and one of Adrian's wife beaters. Lissa was still in her black dress. "Were did you find that shirt?" She asked, a little concerned.

"Oh, I found his room here and grabbed some of his clothes. I'm just not ready to let go." I said, some more tears pooling in my eyes.

"Well, that's understandable. You don't have to let go yet. He's still here right?" She asked smiling.

"Yeah, he's still here. I still talk to him every night. It's comforting. I know I'm acting crazy Liss, I can see that's what people think, but I miss him so much." She hugged me tightly.

"I know you do. No one thinks your crazy. You're in mourning and hurting. It will take some time. We all know that. Hopefully it will get easier. I don't know how I'd be if I lost you or Dimitri. Probably the same way, or worse. Who knows? But I know you are not crazy. None of us think that." I knew she meant it.

We spent the evening talking, on the computer playing games, and sitting on the balcony watching the sunrise. It was beautiful. We even went down to Adrian's room where I finally found his alcohol stash and I found his leather jacket that I always loved. I took the jacket and alcohol back to my room and Lissa and I did a shot in honor of Adrian.

Thank you all for reading. I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

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