He realized—too late, of course—that he should have cleaned himself up and changed his shirt before leaving his suite. At the time, however, his mind was completely fixed on finding a bottle of vodka. He'd forgotten to ask Belikov where he had stashed his supply.

His excessive use of spirit had drained him to the point that he felt almost too weak to walk. The hallway was empty, he supposed all the Guardians were preparing to rush off like the cavalry to save the missing kiddies. When he wandered into the lobby—it had taken almost ten minutes to make the trip—the first person to spot him was Guardian Petrov. She rushed to his side, a horrified expression on her face.

"Lord Ivashkov! Did he hit you?"

Adrian stared at her, dumbfounded by her question. "What? Who?"

"Belikov. Did he do this?"

Shit.

"No, I… overexerted myself." He smiled. Even that small movement felt like it took a monumental amount of energy.

She had an expression on her face that clearly stated she didn't believe a word he said. He realized that now might be a perfect time to rectify Belikov's earlier indiscretions. Not out of any desire to help the Russian; Adrian's sole concern was to protect Rose.

"Guardian Petrov," he smiled at her, focusing all his attention on her. When her eyes locked with his emerald gaze he caught her in his compulsion, amping it up with a burst of spirit. "What's your first name, Guardian Petrov?"

"Al… Alberta," she stammered.

"What a beautiful name. It fits you perfectly, you know—a beautiful name for a devastatingly beautiful woman."

Her girlish giggle made him smile.

"You're going to forget all about Guardian Belikov's earlier outburst, Alberta. His behavior has been totally and completely normal, hasn't it?"

"Of course it has." Her voice had a strange, dreamlike quality to it.

"Rose Hathaway and Guardian Belikov have the most professional student-teacher relationship, don't you think?"

"Yes. They're very… dedicated to each other."

Adrian frowned. That—in his opinion—was entirely too close to the truth, for his liking.

"There's nothing suspicious about their behavior, is there Alberta?"

"No. Not at all."

Adrian swayed on his feet. "Thank you. It's been lovely chatting with you, Alberta."

"Likewise, Lord Ivashk—"

He fell forward, landing on top of her as his consciousness drained away in a single heartbeat.

When he woke up, he was in the resorts infirmary, with Vasilisa sitting nearby. Her head was tilted back, her eyes closed, making tiny, delicate snoring sounds. He watched her for a moment, enjoying the feeling of having someone sitting at his bedside, waiting for him to awake. It was the first time in his life someone had ever cared enough to do it. His mother didn't have a maternal bone in her body, and his previous girlfriends—well, the less said about them, the better. Meeting Vasilisa had been a blessing in more ways than one. Not only had he gained access to someone who shared his element, but he'd also found a… damn, what the hell was she? A friend, definitely, but his feelings were stronger than that. She was the little sister he'd always wanted. Yeah—that's exactly what she was. The thought pleased him. He glanced at his watch, realizing he had somehow lost an hour of his life.

"What the fuck?" His voice was loud in the high ceilinged room.

Lissa jerked away, looking startled. When she realized Adrian was conscious, she beamed at him. "Thank God!"

"I repeat, what the fuck, cousin? What happened?"

"You blacked out. Guardian Petrov carried you in here before heading to Spokane. You're a hero, Adrian!"

"No—I'm not. I don't want anyone to know about my part in this whole screwed up incident." He frowned. "Especially not Rose. Get someone on the phone now."

Lissa looked confused. "Why? What you did was—"

"Because I refuse to have everyone know what I can do. I'm not going to become some sort of walking, talking GPS. It takes too much out of me."

"But—"

Adrian cut her off. "Fine, I'll do it myself." He threw his legs over the side of the bed, preparing to rise.

"No. I'll do it. Stay in bed. I'll be back in a minute."

Adrian watched her hurry off, pleased with the excuse his brain had provided on the spur of the moment. The truth was, he didn't want people to know he had the ability to view or change their dreams. They would be even more afraid of being around him than they were now. Better to be known as a crazy drunk than someone who could access hidden thoughts and feelings. Hell, Rose would never come near him again if she knew some of the things he'd seen in the Russian's head. As soon as he was able, he'd use compulsion on Belikov to wipe any memories of his abilities from the other man's mind.

A nurse entered, trailed by a young red haired human. He smiled at them both, knowing he probably looked like absolute shit. He needed a cigarette. Followed as quickly as possible by massive amounts of alcohol—he had to figure out where Dimitri had hidden it. Asshole.

"Hello ladies. What's shakin?"

The nurse rolled her eyes. "I've brought you a feeder, Lord Ivashkov. Once you're finished, you can leave. Your vitals have all returned to normal."

Now it was his turn to roll his eyes. He had no need of medical help, he could have told them the problem, had he actually been awake. Hell, he'd told Petrov right before he'd used his compulsion. He had drained himself. For years he'd used his vices to mute the power within him, and going almost cold turkey over the last 72 hours had made him reckless, drawing too much on the element he held within himself. He probably should have waited until he recharged before exerting himself further, but he had to protect Rose from the school finding out about her and Belikov playing footsie together. He smirked, realizing that after everything that had happened, there was no way in hell Belikov would take Natasha's offer. Too bad, that meant they were still competing for the same girl.

Throwing his legs over the side of the bed—yet again—he held out his hand to the feeder, drawing her close to his body. "What's your name, gorgeous?"

"Gina." She giggled.

He sighed. Flirting seemed like such a waste when the only woman he felt like being with was Rose. "Well little Gina, close your eyes and count to three. I'm about to send you to never-never land." He waited a moment, and then leaned forward, biting down sharply on her outstretched neck. The woman gave a loud moan of pleasure, and Adrian couldn't help but remember the erotic sounds sweet Rose had made when he'd watched her in Belikov's dream.