They lost sight of Eddie and Rose almost immediately. The dhampirs were fast—too damn fast, in Adrian's opinion. Christian determinedly ran on, headed towards what he assumed was the Northwest side of the school property. His lungs were burning within the first few minutes, his breath coming in wheezing gasps. Ozera didn't seem to notice—or care—not bothering to slow down in the slightest.

A group of guardian's lead by Belikov passed him if he were standing still, moving through the trees like silent predators. The Russian glanced over his shoulder at them, his face showing the faintest touch of worry.

"Johnson, Brown—take them back to their rooms." His tone left no room for arguments, he didn't even wait for affirmation. Dimitri disappeared into the trees, the other guardians following on his heels like a group of well-trained dogs.

"Fuck that!" Christian glared as two guardians—presumably Johnson and Brown—dropped back form the group. "Lissa's in trouble!"

"Which is why you need to come with us, Lord Ozera. You need to stay out of the way and let the guardians do their job." The man—a tall sandy haired dhampir—strode towards them with a determined look on his face. His partner branched out, flanking them from the other side.

Adrian knew what Christian was planning before he attempted it. As soon as the man latched onto his arm, the sleeve of his jacket burst into flame. The guardian jerked back, stunned, his partner rushing over and attempting to put out the fire.

Sighing, he stepped forward, catching the younger man in his gaze and shoving spirit into his mind. Ozera's eyes—which had been bright with anger—dulled over as the compulsion hooked its claws in both his conscious and sub-conscious mind. Once he knew he had him, Adrian spoke softly, struggling to make his voice sound calm, betraying none of the anxiety he felt inside. inside. "We need to go with them, Christian. Lissa would want you to cooperate with the guardians."

"I'll cooperate." Christians anger drained out of him instantaneously. He nodded passively, turning towards the angry dhampirs.

"Thank you Lord Ivashkov." The blonde man glanced over at him as he reclaimed Christian's arm. Adrian opened his mouth to answer when a strange, flickering light in the corner of his peripheral vision caught his attention. He turned, his green eyes widening as he stared up into the sky.

In the distance, he saw the bright golden glow of Lissa's aura, flashing with orange. As he watched, other colors joined the first, brilliant flickers of gamboge and warm amber. Surrounding it all was an rapidly glowing cloud of darkness, rolling and swelling until it looked as if it would swallow the trees and everything they sheltered beneath their boughs. He could feel its crushing weight pressing against him even at a distance, making him take a few involuntary steps backwards. He understood what that cloud represented, and it terrified him to the depths of his soul.

Madness.

Lissa had pulled in too much spirit, and it was eating away at her, driving her past the point of no return. She was falling down the rabbit hole, never to return. Good God, what in the hell had she been doing?

His attention was pulled away from the lightshow by the touch of a hand against his arm. "Lord Ivashkov?"

"You will forget about me. Take Lord Ozera to the clinic. The Princess will be there soon." He hoped. Staring into the man's eyes, he could somehow feel Lissa's darkness growing around her aura, still expanding, as if it would consume the entire world. As soon as he felt his compulsion take hold, he switched his gaze to the other guardian, repeating his orders. Only when the men set out, keeping Christian between them did he return his attention to the horrific vision painted across the tree tops.

The blackness was… almost sparkling now, as if it were lit from within with tiny twinkling lights. It was twisting and turning, sliding towards the right, almost like…

No. Oh fuck, No.

It was moving in the exact same manner he'd witnessed in the library—when Rose pulled it into her own aura. She was doing it again, in an attempt to save Lissa's mind. Only this time, it would be too much. His little dhampire… His Rosebud would fall into the darkness and never be able to fight her way free. Unless it found an outlet, it would corrode her mind and—

An outlet. She needed an outlet. Someone familiar with the madness might be able to take a portion of it, and save her. Somehow.

Adrian Ivashkov kept his eyes above the trees as he began to run, heading straight for the dark cloud. As he drew closer, he could almost feel black tentacles reaching out to him. Almost as if it were welcoming him home.

Within ten minutes the black cloud had receded, no longer visible in the sky. It left him without a concrete destination, so he chose to continue heading in the same direction he'd been traveling—trusting he would eventually find them. He had no idea how long he'd been running, all he knew was that his body ached and his legs felt like they were about to quit working. The entire time he'd been struggling through the trees, he'd been hearing Rose scream inside his head. He had been seeing dead, lifeless bodies staring at him from the dark room inside his head.

The sound of a large group of people traipsing through the brush at a rapid pace, pulled him out of his thoughts, filling him with relief and stopping him in his tracks. He caught his breath as they came into view—it was a large group of guardians and students heading towards the academy. Two guardians carried the Zeklos boy, who seemed to be unconscious. He was covered in blood, one arm dangling at an unnatural angle. Adrian forced his eyes away from the gruesome sight, searching the assembled faces for the only person he wanted to see—Rose. He didn't see her, but he spotted Lissa towards the back, surrounded by guardians. She was sobbing as if her heart had been broken, causing his relief to drain away, replaced by a growing sense of panic. Was he too late? Only one thing could upset Lissa Dragomir to this extent—something happening to Rose.

She caught sight of him, breaking away from the crowd and hurling herself into his arms. "Adrian! Oh God, Rose, she—"

"What?" He cut her off, the frantic tone in her voice increasing his anxiety. Holding her at arm's length he studied her face, praying Rosebud was still alive.

"She's insane! She tried to kill Jesse!"

"Where is she?"

"Nobody could control her, she was too strong. Not even Eddie—he could barely hold her back! Then Guardian Belikov came and—"

"We need to get you to the clinic, Princess." Alberta's voice was firm as she and another female dhampir approached them.

Lissa allowed herself to be reclaimed by the tall woman, shooting him a desperate look as they led her away. Adrian's eyes locked with Alberta's, searching for the answers Lissa had yet to provide.

"Is she dead?"

Alberta took his arm, leading him a few feet away from the others. "No, but… I don't know what's wrong with her, Adrian. She was acting—"

"Insane." He offered sarcastically. "Yes, the Princess told me. As for what's wrong with her, she took the darkness from Lissa."

"What the hell does that mean?"

"It means, Guardian Petrov, she did what she always does. Put Lissa first." He pulled out a cigarette, trying to ignore the fact his hands were shaking so bad he could barely light it. "Spirit users run the risk of… becoming mentally unstable every time they use spirit. It's the flipside of the coin. We can heal, do amazing things, but our element has a price. The darkness. The insanity. You've seen it when it's hit me—the other day, when we were going to your office, for example. Whatever Lissa was doing out there," He paused, gesturing towards the surrounding forest, " she pulled in so much darkness that I could see her aura almost as soon as we entered the trees. It was like an atomic cloud, hovering over the trees, filled with rage and hate. Rose used the bond to pull it into herself, so Lissa wouldn't become a raving lunatic."

"My God." Alberta looked nauseated. "Poor Rose."

He drew deeply on his cigarette, almost feeling the mind numbing effect of the nicotine rush through his system. "Poor Rose is right. With that amount of darkness, she might never be sane again. Where is she?"

"I have no idea. I told Belikov to calm her down and he drug her into the forest. For all I know, they could be on their way back to the school."

"Not likely. You just gave him a free license to—"

"Not now." She narrowed her eyes, her voice sounding low and threatening. "None of your innuendos, Adrian. Is this what you had a bad feeling about? Rose and the Princess?"

He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I don't think so. No. What's coming is something much worse than this."

Alberta barked out a harsh laugh. "Worse than this? Rose nearly beat a royal Moroi to death. It doesn't get much worse than that, Ivashkov."

He stared at her, dropping his cigarette and grinding it out in the dirt. "I remember two things, Allie. They came to me while I was running. Rose's horrified screams and dead bodies. In my opinion, that's a hell of a lot more serious than some privileged brat getting his ass kicked."

He walked off, intending to head deeper into the trees. He'd find Rose, and hopefully there would be some way to siphon off some of the madness. He could handle it—he had to, truth be told. Because he was nowhere near as dangerous as Rose. She'd trained since a very young age to become a killer. Add madness to her wicked skills, and you had the recipe for a disaster of biblical proportions. Best case scenario, the powers-that-be would lock her in a cell and throw away the key. Worst case, they'd put her down, the same way they'd treat a rabid animal.

He'd be damned if he'd let either one of those things happen. Not on his watch. No siree.