"Basically," Oksana continued (AN, that was who I meant before), "in Olena's head I could sense so much compulsion. It was as if somebody had just shoved the entire of their powers in there. Our minds kind of connected. You'd probably see it as an invasion of privacy...which it kind of is...but the compulsion drew me in. I managed to draw a little bit out, but we'll need more help." We stared.

"I can help," Lissa piped up.

"Your Majesty..." some of the guardians warned, but she brushed them off.

"And we can get Adrian to help too." The rest of us froze. "What? Rose, don't tell me he still won't help you. He'll come around and..." I shook my head miserably. "At least try?"

"Okay, fine," I huffed. "But only for Olena." I trudged upstairs to one of the spare bedrooms. I heard them inside. I creaked open the door a bit and Sydney was leaning against Adrian's chest with her eyes closed and his arms around her. I sighed softly and he turned.

"What do you want, Rose?" he asked me. I was surprised at the iciness in his voice but knew I deserved it.

"To talk to you," I told him simply. Sydney stood up and awkwardly smoothed her skirt before stepping out. She respected our privacy.

"What is there to say? We've already been through this, Rose." There it was again. Rose. Not little dhampir or any kind of weird nickname he may have for me. I felt my face fall automatically.

"Adrian, look, I'm sorry, okay? I'm so, so sorry. If I could go back and change it, I would. But...I just-"

"Spit it out, Rose." He crossed his arms.

"I need you." He sat up higher. "I need your help. To heal Olena." He sank down then, realising my words, shot back up.

"You want me to heal his mother? Are you insane?" I flinched as his voice rose. "You ruined my life with him and you expect me to help him?"

"For me?"

"Why should I?" he spat. "What good would it do me?"

"Look, Adrian, I'd have thought that, now that you've found Sydney, the so called 'love of your life', that you would've gotten over this. Maybe you'd be nice and help me, possibly try forgiving me. Because, you know what, I do want to be your friend. Yes, I let you down. But Sydney's there for you. That's what love means. Surely you know by now that I'm not the one for you?" He just stared at me and I knew that if putting Sydney hadn't worked, I was done for.

"You're right," he whispered so low that I barely caught it. "You're right. I will help her. Rose, I'm sorry for being like this. I just felt betrayed, you know."

"I know. Adrian, I'm sorry." I drew him in for a hug and we grinned at each other before heading back downstairs.

"Okay," Lissa called. "Everybody ready." Olena stared into Oksana's eyes and they glazed over as...

Mark POV (ikr)

Don't worry, I'll be fine, Oksana sent through the bond, but I couldn't help myself. It was bad enough just the three of us joined, let alone everyone else. I didn't know whether I felt jealous of or glad for Rose that she was no longer bonded. Oksana held Olena's eyes in her gaze and I felt the compulsion make its way into her brain. I fell into Oksana's head helplessly and felt everything as her mind connected with Olena's.

Everything okay in there? Oksana asked.

Erm...kind of... Olena barely thought out.

We need to wait for the others. I soon felt the presence of another spirit user.

Adrian may be a while, Vasilisa told us. He's struggling to get it to work.

It's just basic spirit...

Thanks for that, Liss, Adrian's snarky voice thought. I'm perfectly capable. Lissa mentally giggled.

Mark, are you ready? I didn't know why she asked. I was completely incapable of answering in any way, so she took my silence as a yes. Here goes...

With her mind, Oksana sought out the ball of compulsion at the back. In her mind she formed it into a pulsing, glowing orb of golden light. I had no idea what it actually looked like. Probably not much.

You see that? She asked the others.

What is it?

It's the compulsion. We need to draw it out. Oksana started. She clenched her muscles and focused all her senses on drawing out as much as she could of that compulsion ball. I could feel the sweat running down her cheeks and she gritted her teeth. She'd pulled away about an eight when she swayed and had to grip the sofa. Vasilisa didn't manage much more, and Adrian was pretty pathetic.

It's not going to work! Vasilisa moaned.

Of course it's going to work! Oksana snapped a little too harshly. We need to be strong. Like he dhampirs. Keep going, come on. She drew out a little bit more this time and barely restrained herself from falling backwards. Vasilisa pulled just a bit more and so did Adrian. There was still half a ball left.

Together.

They clenched their jaws and squeezed their eyes shut. The strain was getting to be too much. They pulled and pulled and-

I fell out of Oksana's head. Gasping for air, I collapsed backwards, watching helplessly as the three spirit users fell to the ground. The Belikova's rushed out and brought us all some more water. I gulped mine down eagerly and still felt woozy. I really needed a spirit ring for that darkness...

RPOV

I was so proud of Lissa. I held her still and stroked her hair as she panted and drank her water down in a few less-than-delicate gulps. She glanced at Olena anxiously, but she was snoring lightly on the sofa. We both sighed in relief and I shot Dimitri a happy look. He smiled back and then looked out of the window.

"Definitely time for some sleep," he stated. "It's been a long day, and I bet you guys are all tired from spirit and stuff." We all nodded and trudged upstairs.

"You go first," Polina offered. I gave her a grateful smiled and fell into a deep dreamless sleep. Several hours later, she woke me up and I took my position outside her door. The guardian outside Christian's room was looking desperately weary and I wondered what sort of shift he had arranged with Dimitri. The Dimitri I knew would be taking extra shifts, not sleeping in. I shrugged and leaned sleepily against the doorpost until I heard odd noises coming from the room. Christian poked out his head.

"Rose?" he wondered. "Could you come here quickly?" Tomas nodded at me from across the room so I knew he would watch Lissa's room for a bit as I crept into Christian's room. Christian himself left the room and I wondered what could possibly be up with Dimitri.