"Give me a hand up?" Mom grudgingly asked an obsequious Alto who was loitering uselessly beside my mother in the aisle of the plane. The closer we'd got to the end of the mission, the more devoted Stan had become. He was determined to move on from the Academy but needed a good report from Mom to boost his chances. It was a bit sad, really.

I shook my head. The drugs Dr. Olendzki had given me for the flight were wearing off fast. I still had a killer headache, but it had been enough to keep my pesky ghost friends at bay.

It had only been a four-hour flight from the Academy to Court, but Mom's pain killers were also wearing off, and it was starting to get ugly. She shouldn't be walking, but after almost losing her shit when someone had suggested a wheelchair, everyone bar Alto was avoiding her.

"Mom, I'll walk with you to the car," I volunteered, appreciating she'd probably feel happier me helping her when she was vulnerable rather than one of her colleagues. "Stan? Could you take our bags?" I asked sweetly.

I moved Mom carefully down the stairs and across the tarmac, purposefully making it look like we were walking, me with my arm around her affectionately, and not that Mom needed my support. I knew my mother was proud, and she'd rather stay on the plane than look weak walking across to the terminal, even though she had broken her leg. So the two of us ambled across the concrete, me taking most of Mom's weight.

Once inside, we continued straight through the arrivals area and out to the waiting mini bus; Stan, Dimitri and the other Novices trailing in our wake. Once Mom was comfortably installed in the passenger seat, I had few words with the driver then closed the door and walked back to the others.

"We're going to drop everyone to the Guardian dorms, first. I know the hospital is closer, but Mom's feeling funny about going there and isn't going to want an audience. Meredith? Can you collect my key and take my luggage to your room? Text me your dorm number, and I'll spin past once I've settled Mom and get my stuff."

"Um, it's just I was going to meet up with Geoff first thing…" she said, blushing a little.

"I'll take your bag and get your key," Dimitri offered his face impassive.

Better still! Hopefully, he'd be able to swing things so our rooms were near one another's!

We piled into the minibus and were soon on our way to the dorms. I looked about with interest. We'd left the Academy at 8 am for Pennsylvania, but because of the time difference, it was now 2 pm. The middle of the Moroi night! This changing back and forth between time zones then staying up late was seriously doing my head in! Still, it was interesting moving through Court during the Moroi 'night.' There were far more people out and about than I'd anticipated.

All Dhampir, people were painting, building, gardening, street sweeping and doing various other tasks that were easier and more efficiently done during daylight hours. I suppose that explained why Court always looked so good – there was a veritable army of Dhampir service workers doing things behind the scenes. Made sense, I guess. I can't imagine snooty Royals would want to witness someone trimming the hedges or emptying their garbage bins I thought a little bitterly. Not that all Royals were like that, I reminded myself. Lissa wasn't.

Lissa. I couldn't wait to see her, but I didn't know how I'd manage to hide what was going on between Dimitri and me. I was pretty sure she'd be happy for us, but if anyone else found out about us before graduation, we could be in real trouble. And then there was the complication that she was staying with Tasha. I hated lying to Liss, even if it was a lie of omission. But telling her was just too risky. Fortunately, I could tell her all about my father, and that should be enough to keep her busy!

Speaking of my father, I wondered whether I'd get much of a chance to see him? I had heaps more questions I'd thought of over the last week. Besides which, once he returned to Russia who knew when I'd have a chance to see him again? I didn't know how often he came to America; it could be years before I had the opportunity to see him in person again – and that's assuming he wanted to maintain some sort of contact once the initial novelty of discovering he had a daughter subsided.

"Earth to Hathaway," Eddie said smirking at me.

"That's my name, don't wear it out," I replied wearily.

"Alto was saying he'll go to Guardian Headquarters and schedule us to get our molnija. Does tomorrow suit you?"

"Yeah, just let me know when," I said. Eddie sounded a little keyed up about it. They were his first kills so it was to be expected. "Artyom? Are you going to have yours done here, or wait 'til you get back to Russia so your family can be there?"

It was the first time I'd spoken directly to Artyom since the fight, and Elizaveta glared at me.

"I'll have it inked here," he said solemnly. "It's fitting I have it done alongside my fighting companions." He looked at me as though he wanted to say more, but Elizaveta quickly started speaking in Russian, and the moment was gone.

We pulled up outside the Guardian dorms, everyone piling out except Mom and me.

"Good luck," Stan muttered under his breath, his eyes flicking to the passenger seat where my mother sat.

"Yeah, thanks for that," I said, sarcasm evident in my voice.

At the hospital, I helped Mom from the car. She was overdue now for some pain meds, so I managed to coax her into a wheelchair by arguing we'd get her checked in and drugged up twice as fast if she went in the wheelchair and cooperated. Thankfully they were expecting us and wheeled Mom straight into a well appointed private room.

"This is fancy," my mother commented, looking at her accommodations approvingly.

"When we heard it was you, Guardian Hathaway, we saved you our nicest room. You're a legend!" a pretty young Moroi nurse said brightly.

I looked at the Moroi, trying to determine whether she was being facetious, but her bright, friendly smile never wavered for a minute.

"We can take Guardian Hathaway from here," she said to me, giving me a friendly smile.

"Ok. Mom? If you need anything just call, alright? I'll be staying in the Guardian dorms. If I'm not there, I'll probably be hanging out with Lissa, but I'll have my phone on me. Speaking of which, she'll no doubt want to visit you," I warned.

"That's fine. I'm ok, Rosemarie. Just put my bag down over there and pass me my laptop."

"Sorry, Guardian Hathaway, you're here to recuperate not work," the Moroi nurse warned tutting at my mother.

"Good luck with that," I laughed, leaving the two of them to battle it out while I went to check Mom's paperwork was all in order.

It was 3 pm by the time I made it outside, and it was bright and sunny. While I'd mostly become acclimatized to living on a Moroi timetable, the last couple of months living in daylight had been a treat. Dhampir had good night vision, but nothing beat being in the sun. I took my time walking back to the Guardian dorms, calling Dimitri on the way.

"Hello beautiful," he answered on the first ring. "I'm in room 427. You're next door in 428."

"Hmm. Anyone else from our group quartered near us?" I asked with a chuckle, climbing the stairs to the fourth floor.

"No."

"Convenient," I muttered, wandering down the hallway and locating 427. I knocked on the door.

"Hang on – there's someone at the door," he said.

He opened the door, looking handsome as hell in a pair of sweats hanging loosely from his hips. He wasn't wearing a shirt.

"I don't think I like you opening the door dressed like that," I said, disconnecting the call and walking into his room, kicking the door closed behind me. "I like being the only one to see you shirtless outside a sparring ring," I grumbled petulantly, walking into his arms and starting to kiss his pecs.

Dimitri chuckled, a rich, warm noise emanating from his chest.

"Shirt on when answering the door in future. Got it," he agreed, lowering his lips to mine. "We should get some sleep," he said, the tone of his voice letting me know he meant actual sleep.

I looked up at him with puppy dog eyes, hoping he'd ask me to stay.

"No one knows we're here," I said leadingly.

"Fine," he agreed gruffly, not showing any indication of putting up an argument, "but only sleep. The Guardian dorms are not soundproof, so keep your clothes on."

"All of them?"

He eyed me carefully.

"Some of them," he conceded.

I grabbed my bag and took it into the bathroom, emerging a few minutes later wearing sweat pants and a sports bra. Perfectly respectable! Dimitri was lying in the middle of the double bed, holding the covers back for me. I crawled in beside him, smiling as he pulled me close, a heaven sent feeling washing over me.

"I've set the alarm for 8 pm," he murmured, spooning me from behind. We always ended up sleeping this way – me curled up in my Russian God's arms.

My eyes were closed, and I was almost asleep when it occurred to me; in a few days I'd be off to an Academy somewhere, and Dimitri would be living with Tasha and guarding Lissa. We needed to make the most of these moments while we could.

"I'd better call my father and Lissa," I said with a sigh, lying in the middle of the bed watching Dimitri finish dressing. Sadly, he'd put his uniform pants on while in the bathroom, but seeing him don his shirt and do up the buttons was still enjoyable.

"She'll be excited to see you," he commented.

"I know! I can't wait to see her, too. It just sucks I can't tell her about us…"

"It's for the best, ангел. It's just a few more weeks."

"I know. So what's the plan for today?" I said, choosing not to dwell on unpleasant thoughts.

"I thought you'd be visiting and I was going to run some errands and then Castile asked if I could spend some time with him in the gym."

"Is he ok?"

"Yeah. He just needs to talk."

I nodded, rolling over and picking up my phone from the bedside. Dialing the numbers I'd know in my sleep; I stroked Dimitri's leg as he came to sit on the bed beside me.

"Rose! How are you going!" Lissa answered excitedly.

"Good! How are you?" I asked, a smile in my voice.

"Ok. Getting ready for class. What are you doing?"

"Not much. Just in the Guardian dorms at Court about to have a shower," I said casually.

"In the… You're at court?! Already?!" she shrieked.

"Yep!" I said gleefully, popping the p. "Arrived about six hours ago."

"Why didn't you tell me you were coming?" she wailed, and I could feel hurt through the bond.

"Sorry, Liss. I was going to call you when we got to St. Vlad's, but we were attacked by Strigoi on the way. Mom got a badly broken leg and had to come to Court for medical attention so we didn't stay at St. Vlad's as long as expected. This is the first chance I've had to call you at a decent hour," I explained.

"A Strigoi attack! How many! Is everyone ok?" Liss gasped.

"Other than Mom's leg, one of the Russian Novices who was with us was bitten and lost a lot of blood but is alright now. Everyone else is ok. Eddie and Meredith made their first kills," I said, despite knowing Lissa wouldn't appreciate the full significance of that.

"So when can I see you?" she asked, all annoyance forgotten.

"Depends – what time does school finish?" I teased.

"Come over now!" Lissa begged. "I have so much to tell you!"

"Ok," I laughed, knowing Lissa would want to see me straight away. "Have you had breakfast?"

She laughed. "No, but come now and I'll feed you!"

I stood up, digging in my bag and finding some skinny jeans and a top.

"I'll be there in twenty minutes," I promised. "Get the food ready!"

"So what's he like?" Lissa asked in awe after I'd finished describing meeting my father. I'd told her I'd managed to get a hold of my original birth certificate application and got his name from there. Technically, not a lie!

"A bit scary, really. But he's been nice to me," I added quickly.

"Is he really a mob boss?"

"I think so. Abe hinted at it, but Dimitri told me what he knew about him, and even Mom said his business dealings were shady."

We were sitting in the sunroom off the kitchen in the Ozera house. It seemed a bit pointless, to me, to have a sunroom in a house that ran on a nocturnal schedule, but that was Royals for you. I'd finished breakfast and Lissa, Christian and I were now catching up. I hadn't seen Tasha yet; Christian said she went running at this time every day. I hoped her route didn't take her anywhere near the Guardian gym!

"Rose, the daughter of a mob boss. Suddenly everything makes sense," Christian joked.

"Bite me fire boy," I growled at him, still feeling a bit sensitive about this new development in my life.

"You know if you'd stayed away another decade or so, I might have started to miss you," he snarked.

Lissa gave him a reproving look, and I poked my tongue out at him while her back was turned.

The rattle of the front door handle announced Tasha's return. She walked into the kitchen, wearing skin-tight workout pants and singlet.

"Rose!" she said with a friendly smile. "When did you get here?"

"A few hours ago," I said, doing my best to return her smile.

"Are you here for long?"

"I don't think so. Just here to debrief on the mission and then off to finish my training and do my trials at one of the other Academies," I said, forcing a smile.

"Oh? Is the mission over then? That means you'll be getting your favorite Guardian back," Tasha said, beaming at Lissa. "Did he come to Court with you?" she asked me.

"Yeah, he did. I'm not sure if he's resuming guarding or what the plan is. They haven't told us yet."

"Well, I'd love to catch up with him while he's here. I'll go give him a call."

"Maybe leave it a few hours," I suggested.

Tasha looked at me with surprise.

"He was going to spend the morning with Eddie. We were involved in an attack on the way back to St. Vladimir's, and Eddie made his first kills. It's a big thing, and he's a bit freaked out about it. We're probably being inked this afternoon, and I know Dimitri was going to try and spend some time with him before that."

Tasha nodded but wasn't pleased.

"Inked? Did you make some more kills?" Christian asked soberly.

"Five," I said seriously, not wanting to glorify it. All else aside, Christian's parents, Tasha's brother and sister-in-law, had turned Strigoi and been killed by Guardians. I knew Christian understood – his involvement in the defense of St. Vlad's proved that – but it must still hurt thinking about it.

"Oh my gosh! Is everyone alright?" Tasha gasped.

"I guess. Mom got a broken leg, and another Novice was bitten but is ok now."

"We should visit your mother," Lissa suggested, exactly as I knew she would. "What are her favorite flowers?"

"You ok, Eddie?" I asked later in the afternoon as we filed into a meeting room in Guardian Headquarters. Lissa and Christian had ended up ditching school for the day, so I'd still been visiting at their place when Stan had texted me the time we were due to be inked for the kills we'd made in the fight on the way back to the Academy.

"All good," he said, although he looked a little green.

Lissa, Christian, and Tasha moved to one side to sit with Geoff, Meredith's boyfriend. Or maybe it was ex? Elizaveta was already there sitting with Blake, and at the back with his chief Guardian, Pavel, was my father. I made my way to my seat at the side of the stage, sitting between Meredith and Artyom.

It was for the best Mom was still in the hospital and not here to witness this inking. I didn't think she'd appreciate Abe's presence, but when Lissa suggested I call him and tell him about the attack, and that I was being tattooed today, he'd been so keen to attend I didn't have the heart to say no.

Is that him? Lissa asked through the bond, her eyes flicking across to where Abe sat looking around him mildly amused.

I nodded imperceptively, laughing when Lissa's eyes widened with surprise. In a bright suit, and a technicolor scarf, Abe looked shifty and every part the mob boss!

We were called up one by one; Alto, Belikov, Castile, Edwards, Hathaway, Vitsin. Dimitri took his top off when it was his turn, and from my seat at the side of the stage, it was impossible to miss Tasha's appreciative gaze. Normally other women checking out my man didn't bother me, but something about Tasha ogling him pissed me off.

Still – she didn't know he was mine, so I shouldn't blame her for admiring his physique, even though it annoyed the hell out of me.

His tattoos took the longest, Eddie's and Meredith's not taking long as they were getting two and one respectively. Then it was turn for me to get my five. I had nine now. Mom was right – it was a lot. More than Dimitri had when we'd met. He'd had six molnija at twenty-four, yet here I was – just eighteen and not yet graduated with nine as well as a zvezda. Dimitri had once said trouble seemed to follow me, and maybe he was right.

Once I was done it was Artyom's turn, and then we were finished. Eddie, Meredith, Dimitri and I walked across to where Lissa and the others were waiting.

"Dimitri!" Tasha greeted him enthusiastically. "Good to see you! I'm so glad you're back from your mission! I have the car here - we can pick up your things from the Guardian dorms after this. I've got a room ready for you at my place for when you start guarding Lissa again," she suggested with a grin.

"Thanks, Tasha, but I have some things to do this afternoon. Also, I'm not sure whether I'll resume guarding the Princess straight away. I need to wait for further orders, so it's appropriate I remain in the Guardian dorms until that is decided."

Tasha was disappointed, and through the bond, I could feel Lissa was feeling sympathetic. She knew Tasha had been hopeful Dimitri's stay under her roof might tempt him to become her Guardian.

There was an awkward pause that was interrupted when my father approached our little group. Crap! I hadn't considered whether he'd want to be introduced when I'd told him about the inking. Did he want to be known as my father? Did I want to be known as his daughter?! We shared a look where each of us seemed to say 'I'm game if you are,' so I motioned him forward.

"Tasha, Christian, and Lissa – can I present my father, Abe Mazur? Abe? This is my best friend Lissa Dragomir, her boyfriend Christian Ozera and his aunt Tasha," I said gesturing to each in turn. "Lissa and Christian are seniors at St. Vlad's like me, but came to finish the academic year here when the Academy closed," I explained.

Polite pleasantries were exchanged, and Abe was about to say something to Lissa when Elizaveta hissed "Zmey?"

She was standing off to one side of our group, and that she and Artyom knew of Abe was written all over their faces.

"That's right," he said, stepping forward and holding out his hand. "I'm Abe Mazur, Rose's father."