Here is another update – I've got so much planned for this series, I hope you guys like it!

Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy, or any of its characters. All rights go to Richelle Mead.

RPOV

I kept waiting for my body to give out; for my legs to quiver, for my breath to slow, for my eyelids to flutter shut. It never happened. Dimitri had recovered his strength quickly, and we had spent most of the day reuniting on a more physical level. I now laid on the red satin sheets of the bed we had spent the last few hours destroying. I was completely naked, save for a few feathers that were now scattered across my flesh and around the room. The goose down pillows had been one of many casualties. The headboard was smashed into the wall, and judging from the strange angle of the bed, I guessed one of the legs supporting it had given out. I reached my arms above my head, stretching my limbs like a cat, before rolling over to face Dimitri. The red eyes I had once found so terrifying looked at me hungrily. He pulled me closer to him so that my head laid on his chest. A few months ago, I might have found this gesture to be sweet or romantic, now it made me feel like he was trying to establish dominance over me. Dimitri had always been my superior, but things were different now. There were no more rules, no more student-teacher standards to live by. I would abide by no ones word but my own. I was finally free; free of everything, I realized for the first time.

The bond was gone. Mark and Oksana had told me about someone they had known who had lost their bond-mate, they said it had almost driven him insane. Is that what Lissa was feeling right now? Did she even know it was gone? Probably not. She had always taken our connection for granted, she had taken me for granted. She used her magic without sparing even a second thought for what it would mean for me. Her darkness would no longer bleed into me, threatening to push me over the edge. I was already gone.

Dimitri had begun tracing a lazy pattern on my back with his fingers, "What did I tell you?" He asked, his thick Russian accent wrapping around me like an embrace.

"You also once told me that you would rather die than be Strigoi," I told him casually. "Looks like we were both wrong."

He chuckled, though it was devoid of any emotion that might fill a living being's laughter, but that no longer bothered me. Nothing bothered me.

I began studying him. I was still drawn to him, there was no denying that. I wanted him all to myself and would rip the head off of any woman who even looked at him wrong. But there was no fondness to the way I regarded him. There was no love. Love seemed such a fickle thing to me now. How many wars had been fought? How many people had died, all in the name of love? I pitied the countless number of people who would spend their existence living like slaves, all because they were in love.

"So what comes next?" I asked him.

He considered my question for a moment before speaking. "We have a lot of work to do. I'll need to make a few phone calls. You left quite a trail of bodies behind in your daring escape attempt."

I scoffed at his use of the word attempt, but decided to let it go. The technicalities of what had happened didn't matter. Things had obviously worked out for the better.

"I had to take Galina out a little earlier than I had originally intended, but we can deal with that. There are a few other holes in our ranks that will need filling as well."

"Why?" I asked bluntly.

"Why, what?"

"Why do we have to work with other Strigoi at all?"

"Being awakened isn't all about blood and sex," he told me.

That wasn't exactly the response I was expecting. In fact, the only things I had wanted so far were blood and sex, in any order.

"Galina has left behind quite the empire, it's ours for the taking. We can have whatever we want; money, power. It becomes even easier when you have underlings. That's why we need to recruit."

"There's a group of Dhampirs living in Novosibirsk, I know how they work. Besides, they've probably grown pretty sloppy without me at the helm. It should be easy enough to turn them."

Dimitri smiled at me, flashing his fangs, "Perfect, turning them ourselves will increase their loyalty us."

"What about humans?" I asked. "What about blood?"

"Yes, Roza, there will be blood."

LPOV

"I am telling you the truth! Avery is a spirit user, just like me!" I was sitting in the newly reinstated headmistress Kirova's office, only I couldn't remember how I had gotten here.

Kirova looked at me skeptically, not saying anything.

"She…I don't know, something went wrong, she used too much spirit and it drove her mad. It happens. It happened to Sonya Karp!"

That was a lie, well sort of. She had gone insane from using spirit, but it hadn't come from her.

"Then explain what happened to her brother, and to her guardian! Did they also go mad?" The tone she used sounded like it was meant to mock my explanation, but I ignored it.

I hadn't yet decided if it mattered whether or not people knew about Avery's bond situation with her brother and guardian. My decision was made when I finally realized I had no explanation, other than the truth.

"She was bonded to them, you know like St. Vlad and Anna? I guess whatever happened to Avery happened to them too."

She pinched the bridge of her nose and let out an exasperated sigh.

"We will of course need to verify all of this. However right now, all three of them are completely incoherent. For now, you're free to go."

"Lovely," I said, rising from my chair.

I made a beeline for the door, patting down my pockets as I went. I was in desperate need of a cigarette and knew smoking one would be out of the question once I had reached the medical ward. I needed to check on Lissa.

Check on Lissa? Why was I going to check on myself? How could I be in Kirova's office and in the medical ward at the same time?

That's exactly where I was though. I could hear the beeping of machines, and the soft murmurs of nurses out in the hallway. But what I saw was something different entirely; I was walking across the lawns, I was smoking a cigarette. I could feel the smoke filling up my lungs, burning my throat, yet offering a sweet relief at the same time. My senses were at war in my head, and I thought the conflict would tear me apart.

One version of my existence started screaming, and I could feel someone's hands on my shoulders. They tried to soothe me, but it was useless. The pain in my head was agonizing. But after what seemed like years, I felt the two sides of me being slowly pulled back together, like some one zipping up the front of their jacket. I soon found myself sitting in a room within the academy's medical ward. My head still ached, but it was nothing compared to the hole I now felt in my chest. It was like some one had ripped out a part of my soul. There was a black hole swirling within me, threatening to consume me. My whole body shuttered and I was racked with sobs, unable to control any of my emotions. There was so much darkness, more than I had ever felt in my entire life.

Rose. I needed Rose, she would fix this.

Rose was gone though, she had left me for him. It dawned on me suddenly, the reason for the ache in my chest. Until now, I had never realized that a part of me had always been aware of her presence in my head, aware of the bond. It was gone now, that part of me was gone.

I let out another scream as I spiraled further into my fit. I wanted to bang my fists on the wall, or to rake my nails across my own skin, anything. I couldn't though, some one had had the foresight to restrain my wrists and ankles. I struggled against the padded cuffs, hoping it might cause enough physical pain to block out the internal pain that filled every part of me.

"Lissa! Shhh, everything is fine, you're safe now."

The voice was vaguely familiar, but it was wrong.

"She's dead," I gasped. "Rose is dead."