When Lissa and I were thirteen her family had been invited to spend two weeks of the summer vacation at the Dashkov manor along with three other Royal Moroi families. Inviting an impure blood such as a dhamphir like me was unheard of and yet somehow I had managed to wrangle an invited to the elite get together. Lissa's puppy dog eyes, perfected pinch pout and begging had always been the key in getting her own way with her parents but I had my suspicions that they pitied me and my situation; my situation being a homeless dhamphir whose world renowned kick ass mother couldn't spare a few weeks out of her busy schedule to look after the child she brought into this world.

"Keep walking." The blonde Tom Cruise wannabe pushed on my shoulder with the palm of his hand almost knocking me off balance. A sighed escaped my lips as I steadied myself and went to take another step, but apparently he wasn't trying to illustrate a point he was trying to piss me off. He reached out with his hand again ready to give me another little what he probably would call a helpful nudge in the right direction but out of instinct and habit I reached over my shoulder with my hand, grabbed his wrist before his palm touched my shoulder and twisted his wrist causing a clean break. "Ouch.. what the f-"

I stopped in my tracks and turned to glance up at the fairly short blonde moroi. "Oops, sorry..." A smirk touched my lips as I uttered my insincere words. "I think I heard something break, you should get that checked." A forceful push on my back kept me from uttering another sarcastic comment his way or breaking any more bones. I sighed, contemplating my odds. Three moroi men, one now only working at half pace with a broken wrist and two guardians against lil old novice me, well in Spokane I'd had worse odds and somehow had managed to survive, barely. But then Lissa's life hadn't been on the line.

"As soon as he doesn't have any need for you," Blonde Tom Cruise opened his mouth again. "Your pretty little head will be in my hands and I'm going to break your neck."

"Might be a little hard if your missing a jugular and not to mention dead." I responded in true Hathaway wit. Sure I may have been down but I certainly wasn't out. Well not yet at least. "So what's the going rate for being a sell out these days?" I asked the former guardians behind me, wanting to distract myself from the fate that awaited me. "I'm just asking because I might be interested in joining for a pretty penny." I said trying to make small talk, I of course had no intention in joining the ranks of sell outs who like to kidnap and torture innocent people.

"Don't answer, she's just trying to bait you." One of the guardians responded to my little dig.

"What's the matter?" I asked confused, "Hearing that your selling out your own race and those whom you've sworn to protect hitting a little too close to home?" I continued striding forward nearing the parlor at the end of the hallway which was apparently our final destination. I didn't want to think about Lissa right now, I couldn't risk losing hold on my subconscious and sneaking into hers. I needed to be alert. "So what's the overall plan? You take me to Victor, he decides thats I'm too much of a pain in the ass to keep around so he drains the life from me and becomes Strigoi?" I turned and looked over my shoulder, looking specifically at the two former guardians. "Which one of you is gonna dispose of my body? Are you going to bury me? Burn me?" I shuddered at the words I was uttering. "Just to let you know, I don't have any religious beliefs.. I don't think I'll be welcome into the pearly white ...whatever gates. I don't believe in reincarnation, so this is it for me..wow.." I sighed dramatically. "Seventeen and I haven't even lived yet."

"Shut up!" One of the guardians demanded with an irritated voice. So maybe one of them did have a conscious.

"Ah, Rosemarie. It's nice to see some things never change."

I hadn't realized that we had come to the end of the hallway and entered the parlor. I had been far too busy trying to find some kind of reason with my captors. Turning my head, I looked across the overly furnished room and found myself face to face with the man who months earlier had forced his daughter to turn Strigoi and who had tried to kill my best friend because of his insecurity with morality. "Victor.." I eyed him cautiously, once upon a time I would have greeted him with much more respect. "Jail looks like it's been good to you." I said noting that the disease Lissa had cured him of hadn't returned, if anything he was glowing. Bastard. "Is it true what they say about inmates?"

Victor shook his head with amusement. "Fortunately no." He strode across the room and looked at the men behind me, nodding to them. "It's good to see you, my child." And then he leaned down and kissed me on the cheek.

"I think I just threw up in my mouth." I responded and pulled back from his touch, backing into the guardian behind me. A big part of me wanted to just strike out and go on the attack. I was inside the compound now, Victor was less than five feet away from me and the temptation to just reach out and wipe that smirk from his mouth was almost too much to resist. "I'm not into the whole sugar daddy thing." Tongue in cheek humour had always been my forte.

"That's not what I remember." Victor said without missing a beat, the smirk on his face widening. He was the only person that knew of the connection that Dimitri and I shared and that was in large part due to the magic pendant he had given me that caused both my and Dimitri's hidden desires to come out of hiding and apparently we both had desired the same thing; each other. "But dear sweet Rose..." He circled around me, causing the two guardians behind me to take two steps further back. "This is not the reason your here."

"No, I'm here because your a sadistic asshole who has kidnapped two people I care about." I responded cooly, trying to calm the darkness that was beginning to swirl deep inside of me. One of the side effects of the blood bond between Lissa and I; the usually incontrollable rage that consumed me. "So let's just cut the crap, shall we?"

Victor clapped in response. "Oh, I do love your candidacy. It's most refreshing in such a young soul." I crossed my arms over my chest and tapped my foot against the mahogany polished wooden floors and waited. "Charles would you be so kind and bring them up, I'm sure Rose would like to see her friends again." I turned and watched over my shoulder as the blonde Tom Cruise nodded and made a move to step outside of the parlor. "Oh and invite Travis inside won't you."

"That's a good lap dog, Charles." I spoke over my shoulder watching as he turned and snarled in my direction, baring his fangs. "If your a good boy, you might even get a treat." I cocked an eyebrow at him and then turned back to Victor. "Sorry about your little guard dog, he got a little mouthy on the way here.. he needed to be taught a lesson." I said referring to having snapped his wrist.

"It's of little consequence to me." Victor sighed and turned around walking across the room to a large arm chair. He turned and sat down, keeping his eye on me. "You however, Rose are of get importance." Victor spoke with such a musical chime to his tone, as though he were saying my name like a prayer. "You and Lissa of course. I'm so intrigued by the blood bond you share, so intrigued." He said his eyes turning going slightly hazy as his mind went elsewhere.

"GET OFF OF ME!"

I turned around and saw Lissa and Adrian walking towards me. Both of them hand their hands bound behind their backs and blind folds over their eyes. They were being guided to the parlor by Charles and another guardian I hadn't seen. So far by my count, if I was going to engage in battle it would be against three moroi and three guardians. Still not the worst odds. "Lissa!" I called out to her.

And then I felt it through the bond, it was so powerful that it almost knocked me off of my feet. For the better part of forty eight hours, fear had been coursing through her veins and yet something as simple as hearing me utter her name was enough to wash away the fear and replace it with relief. Completely and utterly idiotic really considering that she was still bound and we were all held captive. "Rose.. oh my god Rose" She cried out my name as Charles pulled the blind fold off of her eyes so she could see me with her own jade colored eyes. He cut the rope holding her wrists together and she didn't hesitate in running away from the man and towards me. She threw her arms around my neck and embraced me with such an iron clad hug that just a bit tighter and I would have trouble breathing.

I looked over her shoulder and watched as Adrian's rope and his blind fold were pulled away, freeing him. His usually bright dark jade eyes were tired but there was an obvious sparkle as he and I locked eyes. A small smile played at his lips as he walked over to us. "Always charging into battle, huh little dhamphir." It wasn't a question, more of an observation.

Lissa pulled back from my embrace and looked over her shoulder at Victor, who was watching the reunion between the three of us with bemused eyes. "You..." She frowned and took a step forward. "Why are you doing this to us?" I had to reach out and grab ahold of her arm to stop her from charging forward at him.

"Because you intrigue me. You both do." He sighed and leaned further back into his arm chair, now watching us curiously. "I thought that maybe you would be willing to experiment with your friend there." He said referring to Adrian, "But you struggled to find your power to heal him through the numerous beatings he suffered. I therefore figured that maybe with the right kind of encouragement you'd be more willing to experiment with your spirit ability."

"What the hell are you talking about old man?" I asked, confused as to his ramblings.

"She brought you back from the dead. She can cure the injured and the diseased." He said speaking directly at me. "There is so little known about this element and yet so much to be discovered." Victor stood up and stepped away from his chair towards us. Instinctively I stepped in between him and Lissa and took up a defensive stand. "And I'd like you to be the guinea pig."

"Over my dead body." Was all I could respond with.

"Exactly."

I cried out in pain and fell to the floor.

"Rose what's wrong?" Lissa bent down and looked at me, her eyes trying to find the cause of my pain.

"Get to the window... now." I said breathlessly. She knew me better than to question, she took a hold of Adrian's hand and pulled him towards the window. The three moroi and three guardians didn't approach them but rather walked across the room and took their stand in front of Victor, guarding him.

I looked up to the door and watched as a burly red eyed creature of the night walked into the room. Apparently he didn't need to scan the room for his victim, it had already been chosen for him.

He took in a deep breath, taking in the different scents of the room and smirked as he identified the one he needed. His blood red angry eyes found mine and then he smiled and then it hit me like a ton of bricks, not very subtle but very effective. There was no way out for me.

Tonight it would end.

A/N: Not exactly a long chapter but hopefully still keeping you somewhat intrigued. All the reviews have been wonderful to read, I do enjoy reading the feedback.