I uploaded the wrong chapter, and instead fixed up the previous chapter thinking I didn't have it already up :S

I'm so sorry about that! I hope you enjoy this chapter :)

Chapter 10

In my room, I dressed Hope in warm clothing, protecting her from the night's cool air. I bought us matching clothes, green army cargo pants and black tank tops. Well, I specially bought her a long-sleeved top. The weather would affect her more than it would for me.

I placed her in the middle of my bed while I went to pick up her baby bag. She made a high-pitched giggle and arched her back so she could see where I went. I quickly packed a spare set of warm clothing in her bag before returning. I situated her bottle of warm milk in the holder on the side of her bag and packed a couple of toys.

Her watchful eyes took in my every move, the way I put her toys in her bag, the way I sighed every five minutes.

I was troubled. I didn't know what to feel. My Strigoi side was always getting the better of me. Always in a dark corner, luring me in. But I refuse to acknowledge it. I hadn't eaten in two days, but refused to look at her as food.

Instead, I was surprised to find that I was looking at her in a way a mother would. Not her guardian or a friend.

I was the one person that what close to a mother for Hope. Only then did I realize how much I meant to her. And how much she meant to me.

I jumped when the door creaked opened. I turned my head to find Raiden trudging in, a look of disappointment on his face. His eyes went from Hope to me.

He caressed my shoulders. "You can still say no, Rose. You can stay here and-"

"My decision is final," I said a bit harsher than I intended. My eyes were apologetic when I looked up at him.

"Will our plan work?" I asked, hoping he'd give me faith.

He was hesitant and chose his words carefully. "I believe it will work as long as you don't stress," he said, pulling me in his arms. "I hate this plan," he grumbled in my hair.

I tsked him. "Are you ever going to stop complaining?"

"Only if you back down," he hinted.

"Nope, not happening," I said, stepping out of his embrace.

Turning my back on him, I swung the bag over my shoulder and reached for Hope. She giggled when I picked her up. I blew softly on her face, making her blink a few times and then clapped her hands excitedly. I smiled, hugging her to me.

"Look at you two," Raiden said softly. I looked over at him to see him standing awkwardly. I gestured with my head for him to come closer. He walked slowly up to us and wrapped his arms around us. I snuggled in his chest.

"Everything will turn out right," I said. "I promise."

(This little part is the prolouge so if you want to skip it, then by all means skip it. But don't skip the part that's after :P)

The music coming from the club down on the next level was booming through my ears. I gritted my teeth. Of all place he wanted to meet here. A storage room above a club where all the gothic people liked to' chilax' and listen to loud as music.

I wouldn't mind, it's just that Hope hated it. Every time the music boomed she'd cringe. I clutched her to my body with one arm and held my gun in the other hand.

I gritted my teeth and waited.

About ten minutes later he came. I kept the door unlocked so he wouldn't ram the door down and send splinters of wood in Hope's direction.

I watched the handle twist and the door opened, revealing a certain Strigoi that should have been dead. I took a deep breath and concentrated. Remember the plan, Rose. Don't falter,I told myself.

Tallon took a step into the room. And another, until we stood ten paces away from each other.

He gave me a half-smile.

"Hello, Rose."

"Tallon," was the only greeting I gave him.

His eyes drifted to the baby in my arms then back to me again.

"You got a lot of nerve bring her here," he said, and nodded in Hope's direction.

My grip on her tightened.

"You should have known by now that I'm not afraid of taking risks," I replied.

He chuckled. "It's good to see you, Rose. How's Raiden?" he said, conversationally.

Nice try, buddy.

"So, I guess you've got a new coven to tag along with now, right?" I asked, not even bothering to answer his question.

Anger flashed through his eyes. "What's it to you?"

I shrugged. "Nothing."

"Then why ask?"

"Because I want to know why you told me to meet you here," I retorted.

"Just to see how you're going," he said with a cruel smile.

I scoffed. "Why tell me to bring the baby then?"

"Because my boss said so. Although I honestly didn't think you would."

"And is your boss here?" I challenged.

"Perhaps. And is yours?"

"I don't have a boss."

"Oh? So then who's this Sonya?"

"She's family, which is something you never will have ever again."

He narrowed his eyes.

"They're here, aren't they? Your whole family. Surely Raiden wouldn't let you come anywhere near me alone," he taunted.

"I think its fair to say that I'm sure we both have backup."

"I'm sure we both do," he teased.

Silence filled the room because Hope let out a wail. I rocked her back and forth slowly, while whispering shhh to her soothingly.

A blasting ring tone came from Tallon's direction. He brought the phone to his ear.

"Hello?"

His eyes never left mine. From the way he spoke, I assumed it was his boss talking on the other end. Funny that.

"Ofcourse," he said and hung up. Placing his phone back in his pocket, he looked up at me with those same eyes that I looked at everyday: Raiden's eyes.

"My boss decided to speed things up a little. She's here now," he said and a moment later the door opened to reveal a woman.

A woman I knew so well.

She took one step into the room. Her blood red eyes met mine in an instant. Her eyes were calculating and she twisted a strand of her dark hair around her finger. She wore a red cocktail dress that hugged her curves. I narrowed my eyes at her with burning hatred.

"We meet again, Rose," she said.

I tried to not let her know how frightened I was at that moment. I just walked into a trap and now not even Raiden could get here fast enough to help me out of it. This was something I'd have to get out by myself.

I hugged Hope even closer if possible.

Tallon set me up. All the attacks that have happened, all because of him and this woman standing before me.

The woman smiled, showing her fangs

"Tasha," I whispered.

Damn. She wasn't who I expected to be here. Dimitri was. And now this plan was kinda screwing up.

She took a few steps into the room before signaling everyone out except me, her and Hope. Tallon reluctantly left but not without winking at me first. The door slammed shut.

At first we just stared at each other. Well, Tasha stared at Hope. And it was definitely not in a motherly way. I wouldn't call it food either, but...it was need. She needed Hope.

Too bad she'd never get her.

"She's beautiful," Tasha admired.

Another thing I found out about Tasha: she can't act.

"Yes, she is," I said, playing along.

"Can I hold her?" she asked, but then her expression soured. "Oh wait, I don't have to ask, since she's my child."

A second later, Tasha made her move. She lunged at me with ferocity that she thought would scare me. Think again, Ozera.

I swiftly moved to the side, sending her running head first into the wall that was behind me. I turned around to face her and held up my gun. The door opened behind me. Tasha was still getting up, so I whipped my head around to see that it was Jade.

"What are you doing?" I gasped. She was supposed to wait outside, along with everyone else.

"Sonya told me to come up and take Hope," Jade said. She walked forward and saw Tasha and gestured to her. "Sonya also wants you to kill her."

Tasha's head whipped up and snarled at Jade. Jade, not taking any notice of her, reached for Hope. Hope reluctantly let go of me and let Jade cradle her in her arms.

"Don't worry about me. Joe's outside," she said, then left.

I let it go. Jade's appearance wasn't part of the plan, but if I were to kill Tasha, I'd much rather not do it in front of Hope.

Tasha was breathing heavily, crouched down and piercing my eyes with a glare that made her face look feral.

I lifted my gun and aimed for her heart.

"Before I kill you, I want to know something," I said, then paused to see if she'd protest. She didn't. "Dimitri said that he was ordered to sleep with you. Why?"

Tasha went still. Her eyes narrowed with surprise. The fact that I knew he was ordered to do that with her embarrassed her. I knew he wouldn't have done that without a good reason. She knew that the only way for them to be together was if he was ordered to.

It all made sense now.

"Hope wasn't created from love and happiness. She was made for a purpose. You wanted me dead so that Dimitri could move onto you. But that would never happen unless you two shared something," I said. "And you both shared Hope. But how did you make Dimitri do that, Tasha?"

Her expression changed. Still narrow and calculative, but now she was more astonished that I guessed her plan.

"I used compulsion on Tatiana," she said at last, then paused. "It wasn't easy. It took a lot of concentration and time. I wanted him as close as I could get him. So I told her I wanted him as my guardian. When I finally got her to tell Dimitri that he was my newly assigned guardian, he accepted it. I wanted more though. So I told Tatiana that I wanted a child. Dimitri went to her and she ordered him to sleep with me so that I could have what I wanted. Dimitri never liked it, and after it was complete and I became pregnant, he wouldn't barely talk to me. He was ashamed of what he had done."

Now it all made sense.

"And then once the baby was born, you called the Strigoi to 'attack' you and Dimitri," I said.

"Yes, and it worked. Tatiana took my baby away and drove out to your destination. I knew where you were the whole time. It was just a matter of when and where that I'd attack. Of course, Dimitri has been in the dark this whole time. It was all about getting my baby back, well, for him. But now that you're here, I might as well finish it now," she said evilly.

I took the safety off my gun and dared her to come closer. She didn't but threw her head back and laughed.

"A gun? Seriously? Guns don't kill Strigoi."

I shook my gun gently in the air. "These aren't ordinary bullets."

"What? They got silver in there?" she mocked.

I shrugged. "Well, you're about to find out."

Before I was about to pull the trigger she held her hand up. "You don't want to know who the Strigoi that attacked Dimitri and I are?"

"It's not relevant," I spat.

She grinned. "Oh, yes it is. You know them."

"Like I said-"

"A certain Strigoi twins, in fact. One works for me and the other is involved with you."

Silence overcame the room and I was having a hard time processing what she was saying. She was implying that Tallon and Raiden were the Strigoi that made Dimitri and Tasha Strigoi. Tallon, yes, but Raiden, no. He'd never do that to me. We've been through so much. He wouldn't...couldn't do that to me. That's just not Raiden.

"It was all Tallon's idea, and then Raiden joined in too. Their sisters are around here somewhere," she teased.

No...no, this wasn't happening.

"Raiden was playing you the whole time, Rose," she said seriously. "He even made you believe that he loved y-"

I shot her.

She flung against the back wall and cried in agony. Her hand was at her heart, trying to take out the silver bullet.

"Enjoy Hell," I hissed, and shot her again, an again. She didn't move after the third bullet, but just in case, I grabbed her by the head and decapitated her.

Tasha Ozera was officially no more.

Adrenaline filled my body. I assumed I should have felt guilty of killing a person that I've known, but this feeling I had was exhilarating. I felt indestructible, fearless and so damn badass.

But while my moment only lasted for about a minute, I knew I had things to do. Luring in Dimitri was the second step, and then Raiden would kill him.

Raiden.

My thoughts were jumbled up about him. I didn't want to believe Tasha. But it all fit.

I put that thought at the back of my mind when I left the room and saw four Strigoi bodies dead on the floor. Thank you, Joe!

I ran down the hallway, the opposite way I came in, and took a sharp left and ran into another Strigoi. Both of us had a hard crash landing to the ground. On high alert, I jumped to my feet the same time she did. When I looked up to see who it was, I froze, and so did she.

Jenna.

A/N: What do you all think? Pleaseeee review :)