I still couldn't believe the little bitch had somehow convinced Dimka the kid was his. I mean for fuck's sake – the guy had always been so smart. All I could say is she must be a demon in the sack if she'd managed to make him forget that Dhampir couldn't reproduce together. I growled to myself pushing that thought away. I didn't want to think about that bitch with my Dimka, but especially not the two of them in bed together.

When Christian had called to tell me Dimka had survived his mission and was back, I knew it was a sign from God that I was being given a second chance. We had been given a second chance. I'd loved him so long and so well – it was our time to be together. It was going to be perfect! He would come live with me in Minneapolis, and we could teach together. I'd wanted to start my own studio for a while now, and between the two of us, we could manage it. We'd have to spend a year or so building up the business, but then Dimka could take over the classes while I took time off to have our baby.

With Lissa and Christian at Lehigh, we'd be able to fly down to spend weekends with them and perhaps they'd like to visit us over their Christmas break? My current unit would be too small, but there was a gorgeous little house I drove past on my way to the studio every day that was up for sale. It had a big front porch and a beautiful shaded front garden perfect for our little one to play in. It needed a bit of work, but Dimitri had always been handy.

I sighed with contentment, already picturing decorating the nursery together, cooking side by side in our kitchen, going to bed together every night then Dimka keeping himself busy between my thighs. Everything was going to be perfect; as soon as I got the little bitch out of the way.

I'd been trying to ring Dimka ever since Christian had told me he was back, but his phone was always off or rang out. I bet the bitch didn't want him talking to me. But I kept trying. I knew eventually, he'd be able to slip away from her and speak with me. I pressed redial, expecting to yet again hear the phone was switched off, so I was surprised when I got a different message. His phone had been disconnected! That cow! I bet she was behind this. She was always trying to get between Dimka and me!

I quickly dialed another number. Christian's. It also rang out. How dare he?! I had raised that boy like my own! I'd fought against my brother and sister in law to protect him. I'd been disfigured, given up all my twenties and part of my thirties to raise and support him, and the ingrate wouldn't even take my call? I'd show him. I'd show them all that Tasha Ozera was not a woman to be messed with.

Getting a chair from my kitchenette, I stood on it and reached up to the top of my wardrobe to get my small travel suitcase. Quickly stocking it with pants, jeans, and tops I added my sexiest lingerie as well. One look at me in my underwear and Rose would look like a little girl playing dress-ups in Mommy's clothes. Sure she had the hips and bust I lacked, but I had the figure of a supermodel – and isn't that what all men wanted?! I was just grabbing my toiletries from the tiny bathroom when my phone rang. I grabbed it off my bed, recognizing Christian's number.

"Sorry I missed your call," he said amiably. "I was in the library, and the librarian goes psycho if we answer our phones in there. What's up?"

I listened carefully to his voice. He seemed genuine.

"Same old," I said casually. "Just ringing to see how you and Lissa are."

"Yeah, we're good. Drowning in assignments but with only two months of school, you'd expect that. I think I'm eating, sleeping and breathing schoolwork at the moment," he grumbled.

"Sounds like you need to have some fun," I said.

"Don't I know it."

"So I keep trying to call Dimka, and he never answers," I said casually. "Is he still around on campus?"

"Yeah, I saw him earlier. I think he must be on ward duty, because he was way off in the distance walking towards the edge of campus."

"Are you sure it was him?" I asked.

"Not many guys that tall wearing a jacket like his around the Academy, Tasha," Christian joked.

"You've got a point," I laughed. Good! He was still there! "What about the lying bitch? Is she still all over him?"

"Haven't seen her today," Christian said, "but before lunch, the Dhampir are in practical lessons, and we're in our magic classes. Not that she does the combat lessons anymore."

What? That was news.

"Why's that?" I asked curiously.

"They accelerated her program or something. Because of the baby. I heard she's already passed the combat section of her finals, so is now only doing theory subjects in the afternoons."

"Don't know why they're helping the little bitch. They should have expelled her on the spot. I mean no one's ever going to want her to guard them while she's got her little bastard in tow, are they? 'Sorry just wait a moment, can you? I have to put the baby down before I can kill that Strigoi…'" I mocked.

"Yeah absolutely," Christian laughed, but he sounded a little off.

"What?" I asked. "Don't tell me you've developed a soft spot for her?" I demanded.

"Hardly!" he said. "I'm just a bit worried about Lissa. Rose and Dimitri were the ones slated to guard her at Lehigh, but that's obviously not going to happen now. She thought maybe her other Guardian, Matthews, might step in, but when she asked her today, she said she's not putting in for reallocation."

"Lissa can request her anyway. She's the last Dragomir – if she specifically asks for her, I'm sure they'll make it happen. She's Royal Christian. So are you. Don't forget that still means something…"

He sighed.

"I know," he said in a tone that suggested he didn't.

"Anyway – it's 9 am, here. I need to get to work," I said, using my cheeriest voice. "Christian – are you sure you're ok?"

"I'm fine. Just a lot of schoolwork. And starting to worry about the future, you know?"

I smiled. I did know. He was a good boy. He deserved a nice place to visit when he came home for the holidays.

"Don't stress. Things have a way of working themselves out," I reassured him before ringing off.

I made two more phone calls. One to work to resign effective immediately, and another to the real estate agent who had that little house listed. I arranged to meet them there in half an hour. That would give me time to finish packing and fuel the car. It was a solid two days drive to the Academy, but it would be cheaper to drive, and I'd need a car once I was there. Things did have a way of working themselves out. But sometimes they needed a little bit of a nudge in the right direction. Christian was off to college soon. It was time for the next phase of my life to begin. The stage I was going to spend with Dimka.

"I think it's perfect," Pavel mumbled when the realtor was out of earshot. "Or will be with a bit of work. But do you really intend to spend any time here, or is just an excuse to give her somewhere safe to live?"

"Most of the old families are basing themselves in the US now," I said, considering Pavel's words. "So there's more and more business to be done here, and you know the problems I've had trusting some of our American associates. Having a permanent US base would help with that. I mean, Europe will always be home, but I've been itching for a new adventure. I can see myself spending at least a third of the year here."

"Ok. So what about the boyfriend?" Pavel asked.

"What of him?" I asked, knowing what he meant.

"Well, do you think he's going to stick around? Do you want him to stick around?"

I sighed. It was the same question I'd been asking myself. I'd had every possible background check run on him, and it was the same story over and over; he was an exemplary young man respected by all his peers. He owed no money. In fact, had been single-handedly supporting his family in Baia ever since he graduated. He didn't gamble, had no reputation for violence outside of his work, didn't drink to excess, and the women he'd dated all described him as honest, thoughtful and a skilled generous lover. In fact, the only questions I had were how did a man well known for his discipline and self-control end up sleeping with and impregnating my seventeen-year-old daughter, and why did his bank account recently get a one-hundred million ruble deposit from an account that had proved to be completely untraceable?

"I'm still making up my mind. What do you think of him?" I asked Pavel curiously. The guy had been with me years and was one of the most astute judges of character I knew.

Pavel pondered for a moment.

"I want to distrust him, but somehow I don't. I get the feeling he cares about her deeply. I also feel he has a really strong sense of ethics and is a hard worker."

"I get that feeling, too. But how does a guy with strong ethics end up screwing his seventeen-year-old student?" I asked, not able to put it together.

"Maybe you need to ask him?" Pavel suggested.

Sometimes Pavel was more help than he realized. He'd suggested asking Belikov about it. I thought it would be much more telling to ask Rose, and I said as much.

"Let's bring them out here. I'd be interested in their reactions to the place," I said. "I'd like to come in daylight so we can get a really good look."

It was midnight Wednesday, and we had the unit to ourselves. Abe, Pavel and most of the Guardians had gone out somewhere, the remaining two Guardians were stationed outside. Alyce had gone to buy ingredients for dinner, and I was standing at the kitchen counter making Rose and I toasted cheese sandwiches for lunch.

I needed to talk with her. I needed to tell her more about Russia. About Galina and also about the money. I'd been putting it off - mostly because I didn't want to upset her. I wanted her to be reassured about my love and affection before I told her an undead woman worth possibly billions had wanted to bed me - even if it had been about power and not love. And I also wanted to explore my options for finding an allocation before I told her about the money and why I'd hoped to give most if not all of it to my family. However I'd spent a couple of hours at allocations again this morning, and it was starting to look as though it was going to have to be the human world – and I needed to let her know how this was going to be possible without relying on her father's money.

The sandwiches on the pan, I reminded her to take her blood pressure. It had come down after her freak out with Abe yesterday, but I needed to keep an eye on it. It was still within range, which was a relief. I served her lunch, and we ate mostly in silence. I was nervous and wanted to prepare myself for what I needed to say.

"So are you going to spit it out, or do I need to drag it out of you, Comrade?" Rose finally asked.

I couldn't help but smile. She could read me like a book.

"I have something to show you and then some things to tell you," I said. "Wait here."

I went back upstairs to our room, fetching the well-wrapped item I'd brought in my luggage. I sat on the sofa, gesturing for her to sit beside me.

"Milaya? You know how I brought the ledger out with me? From the manor? Well, I brought something else, too." Without waiting for her reply, I unwrapped what I'd stolen from the mansion.

"It's beautiful," she whispered, looking at me uncertainly.

"Yes. Yes, it is. But that's not why I took it," I said looking at the exquisite cup and saucer sitting on the coffee table.

"When Galina first called me to her in the mansion, she was drinking from a cup from this tea service. She had the whole set and I can remember thinking I could work as a Guardian for my entire life and never earn enough to buy even a cup from that tea service."

Rose looked at me, unsure where I was going with this.

"When Galina asked me to turn, she intended to make me her second," I continued.

"Yes. You told me that."

"What I didn't mention is that she also wanted me to be her lover," I said, watching her face carefully.

"But she was your mentor! That's gross!" Rose gasped. "Once she was Strigoi I mean," she quickly added realizing what she'd said.

I gave her a small smile.

"During the five weeks I was there, I had to let her think I was coming around to the idea of being turned. I had to do things I didn't like," I said tightly. Rose looked confused for a moment, and then comprehension dawned.

"Did you have sex with her?" she asked me in a flat voice.

"Hell no!" I said instantly.

"Then how far did it go?" she asked me beseechingly. "I'm not going to blame you – but I need to know."

I nodded and told her everything. The touching and the biting.

"The worst thing is, I liked it," I whispered in a tortured voice. "The biting. Afterward, she'd have them take me back to my suite, and I'd lie there and could almost believe we were together. The venom made my dreams of you seem so real."

She nodded. She was taking this better than I'd expected.

"And the touching. The worst of it was that time when you served her breakfast?" she checked.

"Yes. It was gross, and the worst thing is I had to try and pretend to enjoy it."

"What did you do?" she queried.

"I closed my eyes and tried to imagine it was you," I told her honestly.

"And then a week later you killed the bitch?"

"That's right," I confirmed.

She looked at me, playing things over through her mind.

"Alright. I'm ok with that," she announced.

I lifted an eyebrow.

"It doesn't bother you?"

"Comrade, I said to do whatever it took. I'm not thrilled some undead bitch touched you in a way that made you uncomfortable, but I don't feel it's any betrayal of me," she explained.

"Thank you, Roza. It's been bugging me you not knowing," I said giving her a relieved grin, feeling as though a skyscraper had just been lifted from my shoulders.

"Is there anything else I need to know?" she asked playfully.

"Yeah, there is," I said. "It also has to do with trying to convince Galina I was genuinely thinking about being turned. At one stage, she asked me if I had any questions or requests, and I tried to think as I would had I been considering it as an option," I explained. "She didn't know about you, and I was keen to keep it that way, so I said I was worried about how my family would cope without my financial support. You know my wage is basically their only income."

She nodded encouragingly.

"She said she'd make a generous payment to them to mark me being turned. A way to ensure they'd be looked after even when I was no longer there to provide a wage for them. I'd asked her to schedule it for the day before I was turned, in case it was no longer important to me once I was Strigoi. I wasn't sure whether she'd follow through – but that night in Baia after I'd escaped, I'd discovered she had. She'd deposited one-hundred million rubles in my account."

"A hundred million?" Rose gasped in amazement.

"Rubles, milaya. So about one and a half million US dollars. Still a fortune," I agreed. "It had been my intention to gift it all to my mother. I support the whole family, and with Sonya pregnant, it's soon to be eight. It would be a relief not to have to worry about providing for them again."

"Had been your intention?"

"I've been looking over the allocations, milaya. There's just nothing suitable. It's not that I'm picky," I assured her. "They're either guarding positions where I'd be moving around constantly at the whim of my charge, or a Court position where I could be working sixteen hours a day, and for so little I'd only be able to have you live a long way outside of Court, and it would only be practical for me to see the two of you on my days off."

As I'd expected, Rose was looking teary.

"So I thought maybe it's best we take some of the money to establish ourselves in the human world? It wouldn't have to be forever, but it seems like right now it might be the best option?"

"Where? What would we do?" She didn't sound scared, more perplexed.

"Well, that's for us to talk about. I'm not saying this is the way it has to be – I'm putting it out there as an option."

"What other ideas did you have?"

"Well I seriously considered going to Baia – but there's not a lot to do for work there. Also while I know my family would adore you, I worried about you not being able to speak the language and knowing no one but my family. Also, Baia is a tiny town. If Tasha followed us there, there'd be no hiding."

She looked at me nodding.

"We knew it wasn't going to be easy, didn't we Comrade?" she said nervously but with conviction.

"We did, Roza," I said taking her hands in mine and looking into her eyes with the promise of a lifetime of devotion.

"So why did you take the cup?" she finally asked.

"It was to remind me never to be afraid to do what is right," I explained. "Had I taken Galina's offer, I would have had wealth beyond imagination. But I knew it wasn't right."

We were still sitting on the sofa, me stroking Roza's baby bump, she drinking herbal tea from a cup and saucer worth more than the building we sat in when Abe came home.

"Belikov? I was wondering whether I could get your opinion a little later? I've been looking for property surrounding Court as a base for my US operations, and I think I've found something suitable. I'll get a building surveyor out – but you know how Guardians are accommodated over here and what they expect. I was hoping you could look it over for me tonight and let me know whether you think it could be made into something suitable?"

"I'm not sure I'm any expert, but I'd be happy to take a look," I replied.

"Great! I thought we'd go just after sun up? Rose? Would you like to come? It's only a twenty-minute drive, and we won't be there for long."

"Yeah I'd love to," she said.

We spent the rest of the afternoon hanging around the unit. The baby was particularly active, according to Rose, although try as I might I still couldn't feel it from the outside. We'd been reading the baby book together, and it said it could probably hear things by now, so I lay on the couch with my head in Roza's lap speaking to the baby. I felt a little foolish uttering my hopes and dreams for it, so I did it in Russian knowing Rose wouldn't know what I was saying. She sat there stroking my hair and texting various people our new phone numbers.

"Should I give mine to Lissa?" she asked clearly in two minds about it.

"Do you think you can trust her?" I asked, planning to leave the decision up to her.

"Yeah. I mean things still aren't great between us, but I think she's learned her lesson. I'll call her and tell her not to hand it out and to store it in her phone under a different name," she decided.

I lay there stroking Rose's bump while she rang Lissa. The conversation seemed to go well, although Christian did ask to speak to me about a call he'd received from Tasha.

"She sounded normal," he said. "Too normal. She asked if you two were on campus and I said yes. I expected her to pump me for more details, but she didn't. It just seemed odd."

I thanked him and asked him to tell Alberta and to get Lissa to call Rose should anything else happen. Rose seemed flat after the call.

"What's up?" I asked her.

"Just it's my birthday on Saturday, and for the first time I won't be celebrating it with Lissa," she said.

"Do you want to?" I asked.

She shrugged.

"I don't know. We had all these plans for our eighteenths, and now none of it is happening. And I can't even get drunk because I'm pregnant."

My heart clenched a little. Something else taken from her because I hadn't been able to keep my dick in my pants at least until she'd graduated.

"I'm sorry, Roza," I whispered.

"It's ok," she reassured me. "Back when I made those plans I didn't know I'd have you to spend my eighteenth with."

I still felt like shit, though. I'd got her pregnant, inadvertently destroyed the closest relationship she'd ever had and now it looked like the only way I could provide for her and our baby was to take her away from everyone she knew. I could spend the rest of my life trying to atone for the damage my love had brought Rose, and as far as I was concerned, it still wouldn't be enough.

We were both quiet over dinner, both of us lost in our thoughts. And as well as all my other thoughts, I was also trying to come up with the perfect eighteenth birthday present. All the usual things didn't seem suitable in her current situation – but as possibly the only one to get her something to mark the occasion, I knew I had to come up with the goods.

At 8 am we piled into a van with Abe, Pavel, and half a dozen Guardians. It was light out, so security-wise it was relatively safe. As Abe promised, it was an easy twenty-minute drive to the property he was considering. He pulled up outside an imposing home set within a clearing but surrounded by pine trees, ferns, and mountain laurel.

"The décor is a little dated," he was saying to Rose and me, ushering us all out of the van, "but I'd get a decorator and contractors out to modernize that. Ideally, I'd be looking to live here for a third to half of the year, and I'd leave a small permanent Guardian team stationed here to maintain the residence and take care of tasks in my absence."

"That must be expensive?" Rose said thoughtfully.

"Yes and no. I far prefer to have my own space, and it's often advantageous to do business away from the prying eyes at Court. I travel with my own group of Guardians," he said gesturing to Pavel and the other Guardians, accompanying him, "but the Guardian accommodations in rented accommodations are not always the best. As I'm spending more and more time at Court, it's time to buy a place here," he concluded.

We looked inside, and Abe was right; if you could look past the dated décor, the bones of the house were good. I checked the wiring and plumbing, all of which seemed sound. A quick check of the attic proved the roof was watertight and likewise the basement was crack free and dry.

"Structurally it appears ok," I said. "A couple of things layout wise I'd alter – for example, that laundry is in an awkward place. I'd be inclined to turn that into a butlers pantry and move the laundry to the other side of the hallway where you could have an external door added to a fenced service area. Similarly, I'd switch the formal lounge and dining areas. But overall I think it has potential."

Abe nodded thoughtfully.

"I wouldn't have thought of that, but you're right – that would work much better and would make the kitchen more workable. You have a good eye for this Belikov. Come look at the Guardian quarters would you?"

The Guardians were walking the fencelines, inspecting them for breaks or weak spots. Abe, Pavel, Rose and I were wandering from building to building, Pavel carefully opening and closing the doors with a bundle of keys the real estate agent had provided.

We walked across the undergrowth to an adjacent building. Already kitted out to accommodate Guardians, it was livable already although I pointed out a few upgrades it would be worth doing over time. At the end of the Guardian building was a large gym area. It would need some work and some money to make it functional, but the space was there, and that was a good start, and I said so.

"The rooms are a decent size," I added. "If you're going to spend any amount of time stationed somewhere, it's nice not to be in a dog box."

I quickly checked the plumbing, which seemed up to scratch and then Abe led us carefully through the undergrowth to a cottage set amongst the trees.

"This was the caretaker's cottage, but as you can see things got away from him in the end," he commented wryly. "It's been abandoned these last ten years."

Yeah – the place really needed work. It would need gutting, but the space itself was good. Single story with a shingled roof, the steep roof predisposed itself to dormers. I climbed into the roof space and as I'd expected it was leaking.

"You'll need to re-roof," I told him.

"Ahh – so better to tear it down then?" Abe asked.

"No. Shingles aren't that hard to redo. You could patch them, but it seems foolish to do only half the job. I'd be inclined to peel the whole roof off, build in dormers front and back and move the bedrooms upstairs. There's a lot of space up there – you could easily do one large bedroom, two smaller ones, a bathroom and a landing. Put the stairs in the middle where those cupboards currently are downstairs, then turn the two bedrooms downstairs into a dining and a formal lounge. Then you could extend the kitchen into the current formal lounge to make a kitchen meals and living area and divide the current bathroom into a powder room and laundry."

Abe shook his head in disbelief.

"Is it worth it?" he asked. "Wouldn't it cost a fortune?"

"Depends if you need to use it. Most of the cost is in the labor."

"Is that so? How do you know so much about this stuff?" he queried.

"You've seen Baia – almost every house has been extended at least three times. My mother has been sending me to help out with our neighbor's building projects every summer since I was a kid."

He canted his head, lost in thought.

"Last thing to check is the workshop," he said. "It has a couple of rooms above which is where the caretaker ended up living," Abe explained.

It was a simple timber structure situated beside the cottage. Originally a garage, it was now fitted out with maintenance things for the property. The machines were all rusted and worthless, but the hand tools would come up with some TLC, and there were good dry seasoned timbers stored there. Above the workshop was a small unit. One large bedroom and one tiny one attached to an open living space with a kitchenette at one end and a bathroom with a shower basin and toilet at the other. It all needed a good clean, but it was so small that would take no time at all.

I was watching Rose from the corner of my eye. She was standing at the sink looking out through the window to the cottage and smiling. And I smiled too - an idea starting to come to me.

"Rose? Would you return to the main house with me?" Abe asked. "I'd like a woman's opinion on some of the modifications I've got in mind."

She agreed, and the four of us walked back down the narrow stairs that ran down the side of the workshop.

"Belikov? There's some old equipment over behind the cottage I'd like to take a look at," Pavel said. I wasn't an idiot. They were clearly separating the two of us, the thing I couldn't figure out was did Abe want a private word with Rose, or did Pavel want to speak with me?

"Sure thing. Roza – we'll catch up with you and Abe at the house," I said with a cheerful smile.