Warning - This story is dark.

There is torture, violence, and dhampirs held prisoner and forced to fight; along with mentions of kidnapping, drugging, and feeding off of dhampirs. There will be comfort and eventually smut.
It's a shorter story of only 9 chapters. It's an idea that I've had for the last six months that I felt motivated to write and managed to finish in a couple of weeks. I just really wanted to write Dimitri being in trouble and Rose coming to save him.

I hope you enjoy it, I'm posting the first chapter today and the second tomorrow, and then I'll post every Monday again.

The air inside the club was stifling, bodies pressed tightly together as they danced the night away; so many of them unaware of the dangers they were risking by being here. Each one lost in the buzz of too much alcohol and the atmosphere of the club. The loud music vibrated throughout, the deep bass rumbling through my body despite being far from the speakers.

This wasn't my scene but I was easily able to blend in, with a tight dress and black heels, dark eyeshadow to make my eyes pop and red lips that stretched into sinful smirks when men offered me a drink. I would much rather be home curled up on the couch with Dimitri; him reading a book while I watched another trashy movie that he would let me give commentary on.

Hell, even being with Dimitri would be preferable. Though at this point I would give up anything to just know that he was safe.

Two and a half months ago he left Court to go undercover when rumours surfaced about an underground fight ring run by Morois with too much money and too little morals. This wasn't just any standard fight club. No, this one kidnapped dhampirs and locked them in a ring and made them fight Strigoi.

Apparently, some Moroi didn't like Lissa passing laws that protected dhampir and gave us more rights. It made me sick to my stomach to think of Dimitri purposely becoming part of that. But they needed a strong guardian that would be able to stay undercover and get the information needed to take it down.

So with a powerful charm to change his physical appearance, Dimitri went in. We received weekly intel until it stopped a week ago. When he missed the agreed-upon time for checking in, I knew something was wrong. When a day passed and we still heard nothing, others started to agree with me.

Hans was hesitant about sending in more people but I was quick to tell him that nothing was stopping me; even threatening to quit to go after Dimitri myself. It didn't take a lot of convincing after that to get it signed off; a couple of days of planning brought me here.

The club had been known for working as a front for kidnapping the drunk dhampirs; being Moroi owned, no one was making a fuss about it. Guardians didn't tend to frequent these kinds of places, not that they wanted seasoned guardians; if they started going missing questions would be asked.

Instead, they went for unpromised dhampirs; which just so happened to be most of the people in here. I would much rather start punching and asking questions later but for our plan to work, I needed to be kidnapped and taken to the fight ring. I had to catch the eye of the recruiter.

Part of the intel Dimitri gave us was about the Moroi that ran it all and liked to handpick who was taken. I knew he liked to choose from this club and he liked fit women that looked good in tight dresses.

I had been sitting at the bar, body angled out towards the club with my legs crossed so my bare thigh was exposed, slowly drinking cocktails for the last two hours. I just needed to wait for the recruiter to show their face and then I would make my move to catch their eye.

I felt naked and not because of the dress that just barely covered what it needed to. No one could know I was a guardian, I didn't have my stake; I didn't even have backup. If I was taken, I can't have anything that would give me away.

If things failed I would meet up with the rest of the team and try again at another location, but I wanted it to work tonight. Everyone else was in place, it was only me that was holding up the rescue mission.

My fingers tapped on the wooden top of the bar as I subtly glanced around the room, throwing flirtatious looks at rich Moroi in hopes that may be part of the recruiter's team. I made sure to flip my hair to show off my bare neck; pulling out all the tricks.

The ever-changing colours that flashed from the lights above would glint off the bracelet on my wrist. A charm to hide my tattoos and change my face so that no one would recognise me; Lissa, Sonya, and another spirit user had worked together to make this one. On top of hiding my identity, it also was charmed to deter others from removing it and gave my location to my team. It was powerful but had a time limit.

That's why I needed it to happen tonight so I had all the time I could get. I had four days to find Dimitri and get ready for the big escape.

Commotion on the opposite side of the bar drew my attention, bartenders pulling down a very expensive bottle of scotch and preparing a lot of drinks—this had to be for the recruiter. I looked around again, searching the faces that stood on the edges of the balcony above until I found him.

Dimitri had managed to send a picture the week before he went missing, it wasn't the best quality but there was no mistaking the scar that ran over the guy's right eye. It took a lot for me to stop myself from marching up there and beating him until I got answers, but that wouldn't get Dimitri back.

I finished off my glass—liquid courage—and pushed away from the bar, swaying my hips as I sauntered onto the dance floor. Choosing a spot that was within his sight, I began to move to the beat of the music.

It was easy to work my way through the throng of people, sliding past them to be in the middle; it didn't take long to draw the attention of those around me either. As I danced pressed against the strangers I glanced up at the balcony, pleased to find eyes on me. I shot them the trademark Rose Hathaway smirk.

I was dancing for ten minutes when a hand wrapped around my arm and a man leaned down to whisper in my ear, "You've been invited upstairs."

I feigned surprise, batting my eyelashes up at him. He was a dhampir and it made me pissed knowing he was helping with this scheme; they were the ones that kept the imprisoned dhampirs in line and who Dimitri went undercover as.

I was led up the stairs, a velvet rope lifted for me to pass, and onto the balcony. There was a large booth with a circular table in the middle, a pole in the middle with a dhampir woman twirling around it; she had so many fresh bites on her that I doubted she was aware of much. The men that lounged on the plush leather, in suits that no doubt cost more than I made in a year, were all Moroi.

In the middle of them sat the recruiter.

I could feel his eyes on me, unlike the others that stared with unconcealed lust, his were calculating—sizing me up. I pulled my hair over my shoulder to leave one side of my neck exposed as I smiled at the men, hoping to appear drunker than I was.

When I caught the recruiter's eyes, he grinned; it was sinister and chilling. "Come sit by me, my dear," he purred, gesturing to the empty spot beside him.

I had had to squeeze between the table and the men to reach him, trying to not cringe when I felt hands caress me. "Nice set up here," I commented as I sat down, crossing my legs again and angling towards him. I hated pretending like this, being stared at like a piece of meat by these people.

It's all for Dimitri.

"I only like the best." His fingers trailed down my arm, "You were quite the sight down there. What's your name?"

"Catherine Ballou," I replied in a sweet voice, "and yours?" We never found out his name, not that I could give the information to anyone if things go to plan tonight but at least it would give me something if it doesn't.

His eyes were scrutinising me before he replied, "Strawn." Now closer, I could see the scar on his face clearer, there were two faint lines and one prominent one; I wondered if it was from someone scratching his face. His eyes were so dark they were almost black—empty and cold. "Tell me about yourself."

I told him bits and pieces from my rehearsed back story—I was once at St. Vladimir's but was kicked out, my guardian mother disowned me and now I travelled around. No attachments, no one that would notice if I went missing. Exactly what they wanted.

Strawn's lips quirked in approval, sharing a look with the guard that had led me up here. "Jonathan, get a drink for our lovely guest."

My heart sped up, keeping my expression guarded so my anticipation didn't show. Dimitri explained when shadowing Strawn, one of the guards would get the latest victim a drink and he would be sent outside to pull the car around back where the then unconscious dhampir would be brought out.

Every time he checked in I knew that the horrors of what he had witnessed weighed heavily on him. The end result was to be able to take down the ring and everyone involved so that it didn't just rebuild again. We had to take our time and prepare so we could save as many as we could but while we waited dhampirs were being hurt each passing day. Being so close to everything but unable to do anything about it was tormenting Dimitri.

A glass was placed before me, two fingers of dark amber liquor. I swallowed thickly, accepting that it was likely drugged and the moment I drank it I won't be able to defend myself anymore.

It's for Dimitri.

I flashed Strawn another smile, picking up the glass and quickly drinking it. The last thing I could remember was the wide smile that spread over Strawn's face as the rest of the club became blurred and then everything went dark.

Please let me know what you think :D