Christians Point of View

Where the hell was she going?

It was the middle of the night and here I was trudging after my hysterical friend with no idea what we were getting ourselves into.

Sound familiar?

*Flashback*

I was sitting in the south wing lounge of the lodge when Mason went tearing past like a bat out of hell. Eddie wasn't very far behind him.

"Seriously Mase, this is crazy!" Eddie yelled, grabbing his best friends arm and pulling him to a halt.

Mason just glared at him.

"Nobody asked you to come along." Mason spit back, jerking his arm out of Eddie's grip.

"Yeah well it's not like I can let you go to Spokane alone." He grumbled.

What the hell was in Spokane? I wondered.

I looked between the two of them, trying to figure out what the hell this was all about, but I got nothing. Eddie looked desperate and Mason just looked furious.

"Look Eddie, consider this your out man. You don't have to tag along you know. This is my problem."

"You don't have a problem Mason, you have a bruised ego!" Eddie shouted, clearly exasperated with this particular conversation.

"You didn't see the way she was looking at him Eddie! How could she do this? Why Belikov?"

Ahh so he finally found out about Rose and Dimitri. It wasn't exactly common knowledge given their tricky predicament, but I was in the know because of Lissa.

Eddie's face softened as he saw the hurt flash across his best friends face. Even I felt pretty sorry for the guy.

Ever since my Aunt Tasha had showed up causing problems for Dimitri, Mason had been Rose's go to for a pick me up. She had been flirting constantly with him on this trip, partly to make Dimitri jealous, but mostly because she was feeling sorry for herself. For the first time since her and Dimitri had gotten together she'd began to wonder if their ages really did make a difference.

"Look Mase, I know you're hurting right now but running off halfcocked isn't going to change anything." Eddie argued.

"Yes it will!" Mason shot back.

You know, for two guy about to sneak out of a heavily guarded compound on some sort of fool's errand they sure weren't being quiet about it…

"Rose only likes the guy because she feels safe with him, but he's not the only one that can protect her you know! She'll see that!"

"Mason!" Eddie called after his best friend as he slung his backpack over his shoulder and stalked out the door.

I knew I should probably tell someone about this.

I wasn't normally the kind of guy who would poke his nose in someone else's business. I didn't bother other people and they tended not to bother me. But I liked those two dudes and I honestly felt bad for the guy. Rose had been toying with him and I'd hate to see something bad happen to him over a girl. Even if that girl happened to be one of my best friends.

I tucked down the corner of the page I was reading and rose from the couch.

"Christian!" Rose called out running up to me out of breath. "Have you see Mason?"

Judging by the frantic and guilty look on her face I was guessing she was aware he knew about her and Belikov.

"Yeah about that; he and Eddie just passed through here. The guy was pretty pissed Rose." I tried not to sound too judgmental but her gaze shifted guiltily towards the ground anyway.

"He didn't happen to mention where he was going did he?" she asked, slightly hopeful. Rose wasn't a bad person and I knew she'd never meant to hurt Mason.

"Actually he did. He said something about Spokane…" Her eyes darted up to meet my face and I could tell that meant something to her.

"What!" She screeched, grabbing my arm. I could feel her studying my face, looking for some sign that I was mistaken but she found none. And after a few seconds I think she realized that.

"Shit!" She shouted as she sprinted towards the door. It would have been hard not to see the complete and utter terror that was plastered on her face.

"Rose, wait!" I called after her, heading towards the door.

Something told me this Spokane business was even more serious than I thought.

Rose never even bothered to look back and as I chased her out into the cold winter night I remember thinking I'd picked a hell of a night to forget my cellphone.

*End Flashback*

After Rose's midnight meltdown in our bedroom, she'd rushed out of there forgetting her jacket. And like the good best friend that Lissa was, she made me chase after her, worried Rose might need it. Of course while I was on my way back to Rose's room, I saw her sprinting down the corridor and out the double doors that lead outside.

That's how I ended up here now, following my ridiculous and reckless best friend across the campus of St. Basils without a cell phone and wearing nothing more than my pajamas.

I swear I could strangle Rose for this.

When we reached the tree line I could vaguely make out the shape of what looked like an old guardian post. It was similar to the one Rose and Dimitri frequented back at St. Vladimir's. The one they used as their own personal love nest…

I was so distracted surveying my current surroundings that I hadn't even noticed when Rose slipped out of my line of sight. Of course a few seconds later she made her presence known when a small hand reached up to muffle me from behind.

"What the hell are you doing here?" She hissed. Her eyes kept darting around nervously.

I couldn't decide whether she looked more angry or terrified. Either way I had a bad feeling about all this.

Damnit Rose…What have you gotten us into now?

"You forgot your jacket in our room." I told her holding up the article of clothing for her to see.

"And that translates into you stalking me all the way out here how?" She asked snarkily. God she was such an ungrateful bitch sometimes. She was lucky that I loved her.

"Cut the crap Rose, what the hell are you doing out here?"

I was cold, tired and in no mood for bullshit. I wanted some answers and she had no choice but to give them to me.

I could tell she wanted to argue, but one look at my face and she thought better of it. Instead she handed over her cellphone.

"Seriously Rose?" I nearly shouted, wanting to choke the life out of her for being so stupid. "Why wouldn't you tell Dimitri about this?"

"Because he would have tried to stop me!" She cried, her voice full of pleading desperation. She was willing me to try and understand her but I couldn't.

I didn't understand this obsession she had with Frankie and her constant need to protect her. She'd only known the kid a few weeks, but you'd think she'd been looking after her her whole life.

I knew I shouldn't be letting her do this.

I couldn't let her do this.

But one good look at her expression and I knew I was going to let her do this.

"Fine." I grumbled. But I'm coming with you.

Rose's Point of View

Christian could be a real pain in the ass sometimes, but in this moment I could have kissed him.

"Thank you, thank you!" I cried, throwing my arms around him in a bone crushing hug.

"Yeah yeah." He grumbled. "Let's just get this over with and get back before Dimitri kills me."

After a few minutes of game planning, we headed towards the cabin doors. I had half considered forming some sort of elaborate plan so as to disguise the fact that Christian had tagged along, but Strigoi had the kind of senses that made that impossible. Besides, I was pretty sure when they said come alone they were referring to any Guardians, not some "helpless" Moroi. In fact, last time I checked, Strigoi never turned down the chance at easy prey.

Not that I would ever let them get close enough to try anything.

When we opened the door to the cabin, I noticed that it was poorly lit, and there was no sign of Frankie anywhere.

"I thought I told you to come alone." A female voice called out from the shadows.

"Where the hell is she?" I demanded. I was in no mood for pleasantries.

"She's safe…for now." The voice answered, stepping out into the light.

All of my previous irritation at Frankie's abduction immediately took the form of complete and total shock as I stared back at the woman standing in front of me.

"Mom?"