Dimitri's Point of View

I never should have let her leave.

After pacing around the small space in my room for the last hour, I finally gave up on waiting for her to come. I knew I was probably over reacting; she was in the safety of the wards after all. But even with how upset she was when she left, she definitely should have been back by now.

Knock Knock Knock

In two long strides I was over to the door and had it open, but the sight that met me nearly stopped me in my tracks. Standing in the doorway was a pajama clad Christian and he was holding an unconscious Rose.

"What the hell happened?" I bellowed, and I saw him flinch a bit at my tone.

"Before you rip me a new one, can you maybe take her off my hands. She's not as light as she looks." He chuckled. I could tell he was just trying to joke to lighten the mood, but that wasn't happening.

I scooped Rose carefully into my own arms and laid her gently on our bed. I could see the remnants of tear stains on her face, and her long dark curls splayed out haphazardly around her head. Even in her sleep she looked distressed, and it broke my heart to know I was responsible for this. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't seem to stop disappointing her and I damn sure hadn't been able to protect her…again.

Once Rose was safely tucked in bed I turned on Christian.

"Now talk!" I ordered. Something had happened to Rose when she left this room and I needed to know what.

"You might want to sit down." Christian told me with a heavy sigh. For the first time since he'd shown up here with Rose, I noticed just how weary he looked.

I was still feeling too agitated to want to sit down, but I took a seat anyway.

"Okay now before I tell you any of this, please try to keep in mind that when I ran out of my room tonight I was only wearing my pajamas and I didn't have a cellphone..." He asked, once he'd taken a seat beside me on the small in suite couch.

What the hell is he talking about?

"Fine, I'll keep that in mind." I agreed, anxious for him to get to the point.

He still seemed pretty nervous, but with a reluctant sigh he started to explain.

"After that bombshell you dropped on Rose earlier she showed up at mine and Lissa's place."

I'd expected that much.

"Lissa was able to talk her down and after a while we convinced her to go home. She was barely gone two minutes when Liss noticed she forgot her jacket and sent me out after her, but when I got to the hallway your room is on I saw Rose sprinting out the double doors leading outside. She looked pretty upset so I followed her."

What the hell was Rose doing outside in the middle of the night in Siberia… in January?

"At first I thought I was being pretty sneaky, but of course Rose was on to me the whole time. She jumped me outside this old cabin just past the tree line and started to interrogate me, but I flipped the tables on her and that's when she showed me this"

I was about to ask him what the hell he was talking about when I noticed the cellphone he was holding in his hands. He handed it over and my eyes nearly bugged out of their sockets at what I saw.

"Who sent this to her? Was it Victor?" I shouted. Christian shook his head and gave me a pointed look towards a sleeping Rose, reminding me to lower my voice.

"Chill man, it wasn't Victor…but it might as well have been. It was her mom."

Oh shit.

"Needless to say Rose was shocked. Janine begged Rose to hear her out and after she did, she dropped another bomb on her." He was looking at me strangely now, as if trying to decide the best way to tell me this next part.

"Whatever it is Christian just spit it out."

"Dude, Frankie is her little sister…"

I was still trying to process everything Christian had told me when I felt Rose beginning to stir beside me.

"Roza?" I called out tentatively. I wasn't sure if she was really awake this time. We'd had a couple false alarms already.

"Mhmmmm." She mumbled, rolling onto her side and snuggling closer into me. I pulled her flush against my body, wishing more than anything I could keep her this close and safe always.

I had no idea what to expect from Rose when she woke up. After Christian told me that Rose collapsed when she heard the news about Frankie, I was trying to brace myself for any number of Rose Mazur reactions; some more terrifying than the others.

Thinking back about it now, it all made so much more sense. Frankie's unusually good looks, her enhanced reflexes and advanced abilities. All the things that always made me so suspicious about her and now I knew why.

"Comrade." Rose croaked, craning her neck to look up at me. She had a sad look in her eyes and I leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead.

"Do you want to talk about it Milaya?" She scowled an adorable pout and I knew she was annoyed Christian had filled me in. I didn't see why; it only saved her the trouble.

"Talk about what Dimitri? The fact that I saw my not so dead mother tonight, or the fact that the little girl I risked my life to save is actually my crossbred Strigoi half-sister…"

Well when she put it like that…

"God, how could I have been so stupid!" she cried, throwing her hands up in the air. She shifted her position in the bed so she could sit up Indian style and face me.

"And what's worse is now I have to admit you were right about Frankie." She added with a grumble.

I couldn't help but laugh at how disgruntled the thought made her.

"Roza there was no way you could have known." I tried to reassure her. She just glared at me in response.

"You knew" she countered, trying and failing to raise her eyebrow.

Would she ever stop trying that? I seriously hoped not.

"I only knew something was off because I'm suspicious by nature. You Milaya have such a kind heart. You see the best in people, even when they don't deserve it."

She seemed to consider my words for a minute, but in the end she wasn't satisfied.

"Whatever, I still should have seen it. Apparently everyone else did. Even Ivan and Christian and those two are the most unobservant pair I've ever met."

I laughed out loud again earning another deadly glare.

"I'm sorry Milaya." I told her, pulling her body closer to mine for comfort. She laid her delicate head against my shoulder and sighed.

"You know what the worst part is?" she asked sadly. I knew it was a rhetorical question so I just waited for her to continue.

"The worst part is that I'm still worried about her. My mom sent her off somewhere with my dad, saying Victor knew where I was and that I was close to her. She didn't want to see Victor use our bond against us, so she just yanked her out of her life in the middle of the night and shipped her off to some stranger. God, Frankie must be so terrified."

I could hear the desperation in her voice when she spoke of her, and I knew she was going to miss Frankie more than she wanted to admit.

"We could call your father…" I suggested. "Find out where he's taken her."

"Really?" She asked excitedly, pulling back to look at me. For the first time since she'd learned her mother was alive she seemed hopeful.

"Of course we can Roza."

She was looking at me adoringly and that's when I realized she actually believed I would object.

"Roza, she's your little sister and she's scared. Of course we can check on her. It's not like I hated Frankie or anything, I just knew something wasn't entirely right. Truth be told, I love her almost as much as you do." I admitted.

And I'd meant it. Even while I was investigating her, I kept holding out hope that nothing would turn up. That I would be wrong and that sweet little girl could stay a part of mine and Roza's life. Turns out that would be happening now anyway, seeing as how she and Rose were related.

Rose looked at me sweetly for a few seconds longer before pulling my face towards hers and enveloping me in a passionate kiss. When she pulled away breathless she rested her forehead against mine.

"Thank you." She murmured while she regained control of her breathing. "Now hand over my phone."