Sydney sat in the nursery with Terra. Azrian was away on a business trip for the next month. Terra was watching Sydney quietly. She had stopped crying when Azrian was gone. Sydney started to sniffle. "Damn him. Why did he have to drag us into this? What did Rose ever do to him?"

Suddenly, a portal opened behind her. Sydney felt strong arms dragging her into the portal. She was thrown to the ground and cried out. "Christian!" she heard Lissa yell. "Don't hurt her! She's not against Rose. Sydney is caught in the middle just like Stasia is." Lissa crouched down and looked at Sydney. "Stasia doesn't like Azrian. That's why she always cries when he's around. Since he's away, she'll stay quiet."

Sydney asked, "But what if she needs something? Don't babies cry when they need something?"

Rose's voice was soft as she murmured, "Not Stasia. If she needs something, she'll speak to you with her mind."

Sydney turned her head and gasped. Rose was curled up under a heap of blankets. Her eyes were dull and lifeless. Her skin was pale and sweaty. Sydney asked, "Rose, what happened to you?"

Christian grunted, "She's mourning. Even Rose isn't invincible."

Dimtri stepped into the room and growled at Sydney before sitting down beside Rose's makeshift bed in the throne room. "Sydney, we brought you here for a reason. From now on, you work for us. We can free you from Azrian if you help us."

"What would I have to do?" Sydney asked.

"Protect Stasia with your life," Dimtri answered. "And we need to know how to make Azrian vulnerable. We won't take Stasia yet because we can't kill Azrian right now."

Sydney asked, "How will you free me?"

Rose murmured, "My parents will take care of him when it's time. And if you so choose, you can come here. If you'd rather stay alive, we'd be willing to give you a pass so you can travel between worlds."

Sydney shook her head. "I just want to be able to stay with Azrian forever without getting hurt."

A smile slowly spread across Rose's face. "Then it can happen. You will receive immortality, a pass between the worlds, and be able see Azrian trapped in his prison where he is unable to harm anyone."

Sydney nodded. "I'll protect her. And I'll find out where Azrian is the most vulnerable. I do know that when Rose is at her most powerful, he's terrified."

"Do you think my parents could scare him?" Rose asked, the smile starting to fade.

Sydney shrugged. "I've never met them."

Dimtri stood. "I'll go get them." Rose watched him leave and buried herself further in the blankets.

Sydney crawled over to Rose. "Do you want to see her?"

Rose nodded eagerly. Lissa stood and Christian opened a portal. The two disappeared through it and returned a few moments later with Anastasia. Anastasia saw Rose and flailed her arms towards her. Rose sat up and took Anastasia in her arms. Stasia smiled her cute baby smile and cooed.

Vladimir and Anna stepped into the room. Vladimir smiled. "So Anastasia will be safe from now on. That's good news."

Sydney looked up and quivered with fear. "Yep. Azrian will be scared shitless of them too."

Anna smiled. "Damn right he'll be scared. He messed with the wrong people."

Remember: Terra was Sydney's name for Anastasia.