He waited, for hours. Every so often, he would zone out, reaching for her mind, but she was still awake, out of reach. It was beyond frustrating. He was in desperate need of a drink, but couldn't have one, for fear it would interfere with his ability to reach her. His curiosity was driving him insane. He knew, without a doubt, that she'd made a beeline for Belikov as soon as she was able. What he didn't know, what was driving him nuts, was what had happened. What would happen… tomorrow.

Finally, his patience was rewarded. He touched her mind, pulling back slightly, as always, because he wanted to watch only, not to interact. The room that materialized around him was, as he'd expected, Belikov's temporary lodgings.

Rose was slouched on the couch—nowhere near the bed, thank God—and Belikov was… rearranging the furniture? He watched as the tall man drug a chair across the room, sinking down in it as graceful as a cat. It irritated Adrian beyond words. Surely someone so gargantuan should be… awkward. Graceless. Not Guardian Dimitri "I am perfect" Belikov. Every movement he made appeared fluid and smooth; he was the epitome of graceful. The asshole must have been born under a lucky star.

Rose picked up the battered novel that was lying beside her, studying it for a moment. Adrian glanced at the title, snorting. Another damned western. This guy had a damn obsession with cowboys.

"Why do you read these?" She asked, her voice teasing.

"Some people read books for fun," he observed.

"Hey, watch the dig. And I do read books. I read them to solve mysteries that threaten my best friend's life and sanity. I don't think reading this cowboy stuff is really saving the world like I do."

Belikov took the book from her and flipped it over. "Like any book, it's an escape. And there's something … mmm. I don't know. Something appealing about the Old West. No rules. Everyone just lives by their own code. You don't have to be tied down by others' ideas of right and wrong in order to bring justice."

Huh. Adrian smirked., knowing what he meant by that—he'd like to not be tied down by the rule that said pedophilic teachers needed to stay away from their young, female students.

"Wait," Rose laughed. "I thought I was the one who wanted to break rules."

"I didn't say I wanted to. Just that I can see the appeal."

"You can't fool me, comrade. You want to put on a cowboy hat and keep lawless bank robbers in line."

Adrian rolled his eyes. She was right. That's probably why the man wore that ridiculous looking coat all the time. Maybe he should buy him a cowboy hat and leave it anonymously outside his dorm room—that'd be worth a chuckle or two.

"No time. I have enough trouble keeping you in line." Belikov shot her a pointed look.

She grinned at him, and the sight broke Adrian's heart. He watched as their auras reached across the small space between them, winding around each other, resembling the way cats liked to weave around their owners ankles.

"I'm sorry," Dimitri said suddenly, dragging his attention back to the conversation.

"For what? Reading cheesy novels?"

"For not being able to get you here. I feel like I let you down." Belikov's calm expression shifted; he looked… worried. Adrian watched fear flash across his aura. Did the man have so little faith in Rose that he thought something as small as that would make her stop loving him? A faint green slowly flowed through the other colors. Ah. He was jealous. Worried that Adrian might have made an impression. Well, he certainly hoped so.

"You didn't," She told him. "I acted like a total brat. You've never let me down before. You didn't let me down with this."

Fuck. Seriously? The man could do no wrong in her eyes. It was as if she had blinders on, and reused to see his flaws.

He shot her a grateful look, his muscles tensing—Adrian wondered if he were about to move over onto the sofa next to her. God, if they started making out—

Belikov's phone rang. He answered, having a brief conversation with someone in Russian. Something about understanding the rules, that they'd keep their visit brief. He ended the call, standing up and nodding at Rose.

"All right, let's go."

"Where?"

"To see Victor Dashkov."

Apparently, Belikov had a few connections of his own. Adrian trailed after them, amazed at how vast Rose's dreamscape was. Even though she didn't appear to be paying the slightest bit of attention to her surroundings, every detail was there. When they'd started walking, he'd expected them to pass through… a blur. Instead, it was all extremely life like.

"Why are we doing this?" She whispered once they'd reached the jail. "You think we can talk him out of it?"

Dimitri shook his head. "If Victor wanted to take revenge on us, he'd just do it without any warning. He doesn't do things without a reason. The fact that he told you first means he wants something, and now we're going to find out what it is."

The Dashkov prince sat in a chair, idly examining his nails. "Oh my. This is a treat. Lovely Rosemarie, practically an adult now." His eyes flicked toward Dimitri. "Of course, some have been treating you that way for quite a while."

Adrian bit back a laugh. Victor may be a complete and utter ass, but the man had a quick wit. His words infuriated Rose, who charged the bars, pressing her face against them. Her expression was fierce, much as it had appeared the day he'd compelled her to release the Moroi girl.

"Stop screwing with us, you son of a bitch. What do you want?" She hissed.

Dimitri put a gentle hand on her shoulder, pulling her back. "Easy, Rose."

Taking a deep breath, she slowly stepped backward, beside him. Their bodies tilted almost immediately, leaning towards each other, mirroring each mirroring the others posture.

Victor straightened up in his chair and laughed. "After all this time, your cub still hasn't learned any control. But then, maybe you never really wanted her to."

He felt his lips turn up in a smile. Why would anyone want Rose to learn control? He had a feeling her inability to control herself would translate into extremely pleasurable bedroom activities. She'd be a little wildcat in the sack—a fact he hoped Belikov never had the pleasure of discovering.

"We aren't here to banter," said Dimitri calmly. "You wanted to lure Rose over, and now we need to know why."

"Does there have to be some sinister reason? I just wanted to know how she was doing, and something tells me we aren't going to have a chance for any friendly chats tomorrow."

"We're not going to have a friendly chat now," Rose growled.

"You think I'm joking, but I'm not. I really do want to know how you're doing. You've always been a fascinating subject to me, Rosemarie. The only shadow-kissed person we know of. I told you before, that isn't the kind of thing you walk away from unscathed. There's no way you can quietly sink into the regimented routine of academic life. People like you aren't meant to blend in."

Shadow-kissed. There was that term again. Adrian moved closer, forcing himself to concentrate.

"I'm not some kind of science experiment."

Dashkov acted as if she hadn't said anything. "What's it been like? What have you noticed?"

"There's no time for this. If you don't get to the point," warned Dimitri, "we're going to leave."

Rose leaned towards the bars, giving the man behind them a bone chilling smile. "There's no way they'll let you off tomorrow. I hope you enjoy prison. I bet it'll be great once you get sick again—and you will, you know."

Victor regarded her with an amused look. "All things die, Rose. Well, except for you, I suppose. Or maybe you are dead. I don't know. Those who visit the world of the dead can probably never fully shake their connection to it."

Rose looked… stunned. He would have given a great deal to know what was playing through her head at that moment. It appeared that Dashkov agreed, because he was studying her intently.

"Yes? There's something you'd like to say?" He asked.

Rose stared at him. "What is the world of the dead? Is it heaven or hell?"

"Neither," he answered, still smiling.

"What lives there? Ghosts? Will I go back? Do things come out of it?" She was shooting off questions in machine gun fashion, her aura flaring with pure panic.

Victor's smile morphed into a full on leer. "Well, clearly some things come out of it, because here you stand before us."

"He's baiting you," said Dimitri. "Let it go."

Victor gave Dimitri a brief glare. "I'm helping her." He turned back to Rose. "Honestly? I don't know that much about it. You're the one who has been there, Rose. Not me. Not yet. Someday, you'll probably be the one educating me. I'm sure the more you deal death out, the closer you'll become to it."

There was a riddle in those words, one that Adrian's unstable brain picked up on in an instant. The more you deal death… The more you deal death… The words echoed in his head, committing themselves to memory. But why? Why should that mean anything to him?

"Enough," said Dimitri, voice harsh. "We're going."

"Wait, wait," said Victor, voice congenial. "You haven't told me about Vasilisa yet."

Rose moved forward again. "Stay away from her. She doesn't have anything to do with this."

Victor gave her a knowing look. "Seeing as I'm locked away here, I have no choice but to stay away from her, my dear. And you're wrong—Vasilisa has everything to do with everything."

"That's it," Rose said, suddenly getting it. "That's why you sent the note. You wanted me here because you wanted to know about her, and you knew there was no way she'd come talk to you herself. You had nothing to blackmail her with."

"Blackmail's an ugly word."

"There's no way you're going to see her—at least outside of the courtroom. She's never going to heal you. I told you: You're going to get sick again, and you're going to die. You're going to be the one sending me postcards from the other side." Rose smirked at him, trying to wound him with her words.

"You think that's what this is about? You think my needs are that petty?" The mockery was gone, replaced by a zealous look. "You've forgotten everything, why I did what I did. You've been so caught up in your own shortsightedness that you missed the big picture I was looking at."

"You wanted to stage a revolution—still want to. That's crazy. It's not going to happen," She said.

"It's already happening. Do you think I don't know what's going on out in the world? I still have contacts. People can be bought off—how do you think I was able to send you that message? I know about the unrest—I know about Natasha Ozera's movement to get Moroi to fight with guardians. You stand by her and vilify me, Rosemarie, but I pushed for the very same thing last fall. Yet, somehow, you don't seem to regard her in the same way."

"Tasha Ozera is working on her cause a bit differently than you did," noted Dimitri.

Rose tensed as soon as Belikov spoke the other woman's name. Adrian rolled his eyes. After everything Natasha had done, Belikov still thought she was one of the good guys?

"And that's why she's getting nowhere," Victor retorted. "Tatiana and her council are being held back by centuries of archaic traditions. So long as that sort of power rules us, nothing will change. We will never learn to fight. Non-royal Moroi will never have a voice. Dhampirs like you will continually be sent out to battle."

"It's what we dedicate our lives to," said Dimitri. His frustration was evident. Judging by his aura, he was about to pull a Vesuvius and erupt.

"And it's what you lose your lives for. You're all but enslaved and don't even realize it. And for what? Why do you protect us?"

"Because … we need you," Rose answered. "For our race to survive."

"You don't need to throw yourselves into battle for that. Making children isn't really that difficult."

Wait… what? Reproduction was difficult, no impossible for dhampirs—they couldn't procreate together. Everyone knew that. Adrian narrowed his eyes, straining to see the faint aura around Victor. It was hard, because he'd never paid attention to the man's aura in reality. With Rose and Belikov, well, he'd studied them so intently, that he could pick them out of a crowd. This… This was difficult. There—he studied it, cocking his head as he tried to get a feel for Dashkov's emotions. He knew something. Something important. Surely he didn't know a way to fix…

Rose's voice drug him out of his analysis, making him realize he'd missed out on quite a bit. He'd totally zoned out, trying to grasp what was hidden.

"Unbelievable," She said. "First you wanted to hide her away to keep you alive. Now you actually want her out in the world to use her compulsion for your own psycho plans."

"I told you, she's a force for change. And like you being shadow-kissed, she's the only one of her kind that we know about. That makes her dangerous—and very valuable."

"Lissa will never do it. She's not going to abuse her powers."

"And Victor's not going to say anything about us," said Dimitri, tugging her arm. "He's achieved his goal. He brought you here because he wanted to know about Lissa."

"He didn't find out much," Rose said.

"You'd be surprised," said Victor. He grinned at Dimitri. "And what makes you so certain I won't enlighten the world about your romantic indiscretions?"

"Because it won't save you from prison. And if you ruin Rose, you'll destroy whatever weak chance you had of Lissa helping you with your warped fantasy."

Victor flinched. Dimitri stepped forward, pressing close to the bars, imitating Rose's early movements. When he spoke his next words, Adrian felt chilled, even though the words weren't directed at him.

"And it'll all be pointless anyway, because you won't stay alive long enough in prison to stage your grand plans. You aren't the only one with connections."

Adrian stared at the man. He'd come to think of him as nothing more than an obstacle—a speed bump standing in the way of him winning Rose's affections. Watching him now, standing there, glaring down at Dashkov from his considerably greater height, hearing him threatening the man—he realized how dangerous the Russian could be. He was a killing machine. And he would do anything to protect Rose. If Dashkov followed through with his little threats, Belikov would not rest until the man was six feet under, taking a dirt nap.

If Victor was frightened by Belikov's threat, he didn't show it. His jade green eyes flicked from Rose to Belikov, then back again. "You two are a match made in heaven. Or somewhere."

"See you in court," Rose said.

He followed them as they made their way out, listening as Dimitri thanked the guard on duty. It amused him to see Rose's frustration when the conversation flew in Russian; maybe he'd teach her a word or two, if she ever acted friendly.

Walking behind them, he could tell Belikov was still furious. The man was so angry his jaw was tense; he was almost shaking with pent up rage. Apparently Rose noticed it too.

"Are you okay?" She asked, watching him from the corner of her eye.

"Yes."

"You sure?"

"As okay as I can be."

"Do you think he'll tell everyone about us?"

"No."

They walked in silence for a bit, Rose glancing at him from time to time with a curious expression on her face. He waited, knowing she wouldn't be able to contain it for long. Whatever it was she was thinking—

"Did you mean it… that if Victor did tell…that you'd…" She stopped in mid-sentence, biting down on her full lower lip.

Adrian almost laughed. He knew her too well.

"I don't have much influence in the upper levels of Moroi royalty, but I have plenty among the guardians who handle the dirty work in our world."

"You didn't answer the question. If you'd really do it."

"I'd do a lot of things to protect you, Roza."

Her aura flared a brilliant, bright pink. In that moment, she loved him more than anything. It made Adrian want to vomit.

"It wouldn't exactly be protecting me. It'd be after the fact—cold-blooded. You don't do that kind of thing," She said. "Revenge is more my thing. I'll have to kill him."

Adrian stopped walking. Was she serious? He could imagine Belikov doing something like that, there was something… animalistic about the man. But his little dhampire? No way.

Belikov didn't like the thought either. "Don't talk like that. And anyway, it doesn't matter. Victor's not going to say anything."

They entered the building, splitting up. Adrian waited for the dream to fade, but surprisingly, it didn't. The hall they were walking down… shifted, and so did Rose's clothing. As a matter of fact, her entire demeanor changed, and so did her aura. Now it was full of despair and… heartbreak. He pushed out slightly, testing the boundaries of the vision. No, this wasn't just a regular dream. While sleeping, Rose had fallen into another memory. He contemplated pulling out and leaving her to it, but as she walked down the long, dark hallway, he couldn't help but wonder, where in the hell was she going?