I followed Viktoria down the stairs, wondering what she had planned. I'd had to leave Dimitri behind, and he got to work with his shift, and got another guardian to cover mine. When I reached the living room, Sonya, Karolina, Sydney and Lissa were all communed around the small coffee table. I frowned.

"What the hell is going on in here?" I asked Viktoria.

"We're planning an ambush," she explained, giving me an evil grin.

"Is that safe?" She raised and eyebrow and it reminded me so much of Dimitri.

"Since when have you cared whether things are safe, Rose?" Lissa blurted.

"Since I became the 2nd-to-last Dragomir, also known as the Royal Moroi Queen, and my best friend's guardian." She hung her head.

"It'll be fine, Rose," Sonya told me. As the oldest girl, I trusted her more on this. "We're not going to harm them or anything. It's just a stupid prank." I nodded slowly.

"Okay...what are we going to do?" Viktoria told me and I gasped before bursting into laughter. "You're kidding, right?"

"Nope. Dimitri hates it when we dirty his duster. He's gonna be soooo mad!" Viktoria giggled.

"So the plan is, destroy his duster? Nothing more?"

"Do we need anything more?"

"Do you know where he gets those dusters?" She shook her head. "Well he gets them damn fast. He even managed to get on whilst on flippin' house arrest, for crying out loud!" Their faces fell, except for Karolina's.

"It's not just Dimitri we're pranking though. We can do all sorts of stuff..." she spilled the info and I cackled like a witch. Everyone turned to me but I brushed it off. It's not my fault. When I'm excited I go a bit crazy. And then we got down to business. Viktoria was in charge of taping up pictures of Dimitri when he was younger all over the house. We'd flipped through the stash eagerly. Typical Momsy pictures of the kids in a bath as babies, dressed as a cowboy, married to the infamous Barbies. Lissa was probably trashing Christian's room or something. Sydney shocked me. She made a prank call pretending to be 'Adrian's secret mistress' and left a saucy message on his phone. It was something along the lines of, in a sickly sweet purr,

"Hey, Adrian...remember me? I miss you baby, I miss the way you stroke me. I miss your touch. Will you come back to me, babe? I bet there's a lot of things we can do together." And much much worse. By the end of it we were all either hysterical or suffering from shock. The worst thing I'd heard her say before was 'damn'. She flushed when we told her. Sonya and Karolina sabotaged the house and warned Olena and Yeva before grabbing the female guardians and getting them in on it. That left me to destroy the duster. I was walking towards where it was laying when I heard somebody shift. I whirled around, but there was nobody there. Shaking my head, I focused on the task ahead.

It hung up on the peg, its leathery-ness smelling of his natural scent mingled with the aftershave. I felt a sudden pang of regret. Did I really want to destroy one of his prized possessions? Stupid question. Of course I did. He could always get another one. Knowing Dimitri he probably figured how to make them himself. I pulled it off and made sure only belongings/keys etc were out. There was a little note in the front pocket.

Comrade,

I love you!

Rose

Xxxx

I laughed. I remembered writing it some time before this all happened. I put it with his keys before attempting to rip the duster in half. Jesus, this leather was a bitch! I grabbed a pair of scissors from the kitchen and made little cuts all around the edges and then ripped form there. I could've just cut it up, but I wanted the pleasure of ripping it. I didn't know why. It just overcame me. I tore the leather. And then again. And then again. And then I piled it on the floor outside and lit it. It felt good.

CPOV

"Okay...what are we going to do?" I heard Rose ask from the living room, and then there were hushed whispers and giggles. I peered around the wall and saw all the girls communed on the living room floor. A thought hit me at once. They're going to ambush us! I was about to dart up the stairs, when I decided to stay and listen. "You're kidding, right?"

"Nope. Dimitri hates it when we dirty his duster. He's gonna be soooo mad!" Viktoria giggled. They're gonna dirty the duster? Do they have a death wish?

"So the plan is, destroy his duster? Nothing more?"

"Do we need anything more?"

"Do you know where he gets those dusters?" Viktoria shook her head. "Well he gets them damn fast. He even managed to get on whilst on flippin' house arrest, for crying out loud!" Their faces fell, except for Karolina's.

"It's not just Dimitri we're pranking though. We can do all sorts of stuff..." she spilled the info and Rose cackled like a witch. I had to muffle a laugh. Seriously, Rose? Everyone towards her but she brushed it off. And then they got down to business. Viktoria reached for something on the table and I saw Lissa heading for the stairs. Sydney shocked me. She made a prank call pretending to be 'Adrian's secret mistress' and left a saucy message on his phone. It was something along the lines of, in a sickly sweet purr,

"Hey, Adrian...remember me? I miss you baby, I miss the way you stroke me. I miss your touch. Will you come back to me, babe? I bet there's a lot of things we can do together." And much much worse. I stifled yet another laugh. An Alchemist? Wow. Karolina and Sonya also snuck up the stairs, leaving Rose alone, cackling to herself like some mad old lady. I hoped for everyone else's sake that she wasn't turning into Yeva. She was walking towards where the duster was laying when I realised that she would be able to see me. I sprinted up the stairs and then peered down from the top, breathless. She shook her head and walked off.

I flung open the door and woke up the guardians before forcing us all to commune in my room. They all gasped as I told them the story.

"There's more of them than us," I told them.

"And Rose is lethal," one of the guardians murmured.

"Not just Rose," I heard Dimitri mutter and I wondered what his sisters were like. I knew that Viktoria had a sneaky spark.

"What do we do?"

"We could...trash their rooms?" I mused. They shook their heads.

"Too unoriginal," Tomas stated and we all agreed.

"We destroy them," somebody growled. Umm... "I mean, we crash their next meeting. Listen in and pretend we're oblivious. Then, when they meet, we tackle them. We're men. We show them who's boss." Dimitri had a weird look on his face and I wondered what his idea of showing somebody who's boss was? Probably some creepy Russian torture...

We separated and took up listening positions throughout the house, when suddenly, my nose wrinkled up.

"What is that smell?" Being the only Moroi except Adrian-who was pretty useless- I was the only one that could smell it, but the guardians soon came to their senses.

"It smells like burning," somebody told me.

"Christian? Are you doing fire magic in the house? That's not very sensible, you know," Dimitri called, walking into my room. I shook my head and ran to the window, opening it in the hopes of getting air but instead being suffocated. I peered through the smoke and saw a small fire in the back garden. Rose was standing by, grinning like a psycho. I wondered if she was going to campfire dance. Dimitri's eyes widened and then he glanced down at himself. He swore in Russian and I realised what was missing from his whirl as he sprinted in. He leapt down the stairs and I followed him down into the garden. Coughing, we stalked towards the pile. Rose had disappeared. Dimitri looked the angriest guy in the world.

"My duster!" he roared. Oh shit. "O chertovski derʹmovoĭ ad! yebut yebut yebut!"

"Language, Dimka!" Olena called from the doorway, shaking her head.

"But, Mama, my duster! Look!" Olena poked at the burnt leather, which was really started to smell, and disguised a laugh in a cough. Dimitri's face automatically softened. "Are you okay? Does it still hurt?" She shook her head.

"I'm okay, Dimka." Then she winked. I was shocked. Was she winking at me? Why? And then I turned to see Rose behind me, smiling. I leapt at her and attempted to tackle her to the floor but she sprinted whilst I was mid-air, leaving me crashing to the ground. Dimitri helped me up.

"Don't worry," I told him. "We'll get them." He nodded.

"We'd better."

RPOV

With one last longing glance at the duster, Dimitri and Christian headed back in. I grinned again. Silence 1...2...3 Somebody roared wildly, and then a very anfry Russian was storming towards my room.

"Oh, Rose, you didn't," he yelled. Ouch.

"I didn't. You're right."

"Who did?"

"I will not betray the pact."

"'The pact?'" I nodded and he sighed before running a hand through his hair. "I'm being serious, Rose." Again with the Rose.

"So am I. You needed a new one anyway." Understanding lit his features and just as is hands reached out to grab me, I flung myself out the window. He gasped and I watched as he raced to the window, just to see me land on his spare duster that I'd found hidden in his room. He growled.

"You are going to pay. So bad. I'm going to show you who's boss." I smirked. I wondered what his code for 'showing me who's boss' was. It sounded rather fun. The girls and I headed out the house and sat in the middle of the road in a circle as we waited patiently for the boys to finish enjoying themselves. I heard a lot of swearing, mainly in Russian, and called out,

"Comrade! You always tell me off for swearing, but you're so much worse! Do you remember when we were in bed a few nights ago? You were pretty out of control then and I think you may've just written the Russian Swearing Dictionary. We should tell to your mother." Who was currently staring in shock at a very angry dude coming out of the house, tiny pieces of coloured paper with his face all over them in his fists.

"Rose, you are so going to be thrashed. Remember that. I will catch up to you. And when I do..." He left the threat open and I shivered.

The girls and I picknicked and chatted for a while and we soon found the lights going down. The other guardians and I sorted out some shifts and we took places around the garden when, suddenly, the door burst open. The boys piled out and launched themselves at us. I suddenly found myself tackling a garden who I quickly incapacitated and dumped him on the ground. Teaches you for messing with Rose Hathaway. I just had enough time to catch a glimpse of Adrian hauling Lissa back to 'base' where Christian was waiting, warding anyone off with fire magic.

"Compel him!" I yelled to her, desperately hoping that she heard me. "Comp-" I was cut off by a nice-smelling hand covering my mouth.

"Quiet now, Roza. We don't want you crying out like you did a few nights ago, do we? I think you may've alerted the whole court about our relationship. Oops." Karma's a bitch. I glared and then licked his hand. He squirmed, keeping his hand there. Ok then. I bit down on a finger and he yanked it back, swearing, for once, in English. HAHAHAHAHA. He came at me again, flipping me over his shoulders. I pounded my fists on his back as he squeezed my ass. "Like this, wasn't it, Roza? Or was it more than that? Am I not as sweet and innocent as my family thought I was? Oh wait, they already knew that, because you told them." I squealed as he deliberately lost his grip. The ground came rushing towards me and then his hands clamped around my feet. Because he was so tall, I was still a foot or so away from the ground, but he lowered his hands until my hair was brushing the floor. I wondered if he was going to bash my head against the ground, but realised he wouldn't be stupid enough to do that. This was fun, not death. I suddenly felt my arms being grasp in an iron-grip and realised I'd been handcuffed. I shrieked. Another guardian was holding me in place, and the two of them were swinging me from side-to-side, making suggestions like, "shall we make a barbecue out of her?" or "Belikov, you could use these for something else," with a suggestive eyebrow wiggle that I really didn't like. That did it. I snapped, tossing around and wiggling crazily. The guardians were losing their grip and they almost dropped me. I screamed again, but all the others were at 'base'. Except Lissa. I suddenly found myself being lowered to the ground and realised she was smooth talking. Compulsion.

"Stay still," she murmured softly. "Don't move." She nodded to me, my cue, and I scrambled up, jumping behind the first guardian and bashing my fists on his head. He cried out and fell to the floor, out cold. I bashed him again for good measure, hoping the bruise wouldn't be too big. Then it was Dimitri. I stroked his face knowing I didn't want to ruin it, and then stalked around the outside of him like a predator circling it's prey. Dimitri was technically out of the compulsion. He knew what I was doing, and damn he looked afraid, but he was bound to the floor by some sort of magic. I wondered what this was doing to Lissa. Some of the other guardians came to help him, so I ran up and locked my arms around his head. His eyes bugged out.

"Sorry, Comrade," I murmured, and he collapsed to the floor. I fought my way, alone, through some of the other male guardians when I saw Mark clutching his stomach. At first I thought he was trying to get out of the game-i.e. being thrashed by me-but then I recognised it.

"What's going on?" everyone asked. He shook his head but I understood everything.

"Stri-"

"Rose!" someone called. I whipped around to find myself staring into a pair of red-ringed eyes.

Ooh, all the guardians are out cold. What do we do? Hehe