Rose's POV

Viktoria Belikova was the last person I'd expected to hear when I called the most frequently dialled number in Dimitri's phone. I knew he had kept in touch with his family, but as far as I was aware, that only happened a few times a month. This number had been called nearly daily, and I could have sworn it would have led me to Christian.

"Who is this?" Viktoria asked for what must have been the second time.

Should I just hang up? No, there was something here. I just hadn't found out what it was yet. "Rose. Rose Hathaway."

There was a squeal on the other end of the line, and I had to hold the phone away from me if I didn't want to go deaf. "Rose! Finally! I knew Dimka couldn't keep this from you for long. Are you coming to visit?"

"In Baia?" I asked. Why would she think that? Was that where Christian was? If so, what the hell was Dimitri doing in Montana, then?

"No, silly, in Missoula," she said with a bit of a laugh. Then, there was silence, and I could tell she'd figured something out. "Wait. Does… does my brother know you have his phone?"

Shit, shit, shit. If only I hadn't said anything, I might have been able to fool her. "Of course he does!"

"Put him on the phone then."

Shit. "I… can't right now. He's busy."

"Goodbye, Rose," she said and hung up.

I may not have received all the information I'd wanted, but at least I had a location. Missoula.

Granted, it wasn't a very precise location, and it might take me some time to find her there, but that was a problem for later. I quickly returned to my room to grab my car keys before making my way to the parking lot. I prayed I would make it before Dimitri discovered his phone was missing. If the call history was any indication, he wouldn't try to reach Viktoria for another three or four hours. That might give me some time to put some distance between me and the academy. When I reached my car without anyone stopping me, I felt pretty confident that I'd be able to make it to Missoula.

The guards at the gate gave me a questioning look when I asked them to open the gates but did so nonetheless. It wouldn't have surprised me if Dimitri had told them to let him know if I ever left the academy, but he couldn't keep me from leaving in my time off work.

I followed the road for a while before pulling onto the highway that would take me straight to Missoula. I wanted to be there as fast as I possibly could, but I also didn't want to attract the attention of any authorities, so I decided to adhere to the speed limit – a decision I regretted as soon as someone who was definitely not taking the speed limit into consideration overtook me. The car pulled onto my lane again, right in front of me, and then slowed down. I could guess who was sitting at the wheel, and I cursed myself for not taking the risk. Crap.

The car pulled off the highway at the next possible exit, and though it would have given me an opportunity to buy myself some more time if I just kept driving, I knew he would catch up to me, anyway. So I followed him. A mile or so later, the car stopped at the roadside. The motor was switched off, which I would have found strange if I'd had the time to dwell on it. As it was, I did not have that luxury. Within seconds, Dimitri had stepped out of the car and was currently making his way towards mine.

I reached to unbuckle my seatbelt but barely managed to do so before the door to my car was pulled open. It wasn't the one I would have expected – I'd expected him to drag me out of my seat and yell at me, but that wasn't at all what was happening. Instead, he was now climbing into the passenger seat. He looked eerily calm, and I wasn't sure what to make of it.

"My phone," Dimitri demanded, holding out his hand. Ah. There it was.

"No," I said, which earned me an exasperated sigh. I refused to look at him, fearing I would give in if I did. "I already know where Viktoria is, anyway."

Dimitri huffed. "No, you don't. Now give me the phone."

"She told me," I informed him.

He didn't seem fazed by that. His hand was still in the air between us, waiting for me to place the phone in it. "She doesn't know, either."

That forced me to look up at him to determine if he was lying or not. It didn't seem like he was. So he even lied to his own sister? Great. What chance did I possibly have at getting any truth out of him, then? "You're a horrible person."

"Yes," he agreed. "The phone."

There was no reason to keep it now, I supposed. "It's in the glovebox."

"Thank you." He opened it and quickly retrieved his phone. What I didn't expect, though, was for him to immediately start dialling a number.

I narrowed my eyes. "Who are you calling?"

He ignored me. The phone rang a couple of times until someone finally picked up. Dimitri spoke to the person who had answered in Russian, and he didn't sound so happy. Was he calling Viktoria? Chastising her for revealing her – albeit fake – location? The call ended after only a minute or so.

"I'm not going back to the academy," I clarified.

Dimitri looked at me with an expression I was all too familiar with. "I know."

"Then what are you going to do?"

"Giving you directions," he said matter-of-factly. "Now start driving."

"If you lead me back to the academy, I swear—"

He let out a weary sigh. "I won't. Drive."

I was sceptical for several miles but eventually realised that he was leading me further and further away from the academy. That had to be a good sign, and I finally relaxed a bit.

"Are we going to see your sister?" I asked hesitantly.

Dimitri was clearly not in the mood to talk. "Yes."

"Okay. Why? What is she doing here?" I pressed.

"Keep your eyes on the road and your questions to yourself. You'll find out soon enough."

He didn't allow for any conversation after that. The only sound disrupting the silence between us was the motor and the occasional direction he gave me.

After about another hour of driving, we stopped in front of a nondescript motel not too far from Missoula. Maybe Dimitri hadn't actively lied to his sister but simply counted on her lack of knowledge of the general area. It wasn't Missoula exactly, but close enough that some may simply call it that for convenience's sake. "Is this it?"

"Yes. Would it be too much to hope that you'll stay in the car while I go inside to check on something?" he asked. He didn't sound hopeful at all, and for good reason.

"I think you know the answer to that question."

Dimitri closed his eyes for a second, then nodded. "Fine. Let's get this over with."

I hadn't expected anyone but Viktoria to be in the motel room but, in retrospect, I probably should have. She was the one who opened the door, but as soon as we were inside, I saw another person sitting on the bed. A young man with black hair and several burn marks on his face. He had a cast around one of his legs and his arm rested in an arm sling. It took me a moment to recognise him – Christian.

"Hi Rose," he said with an expression that almost resembled a smile. "Didn't think I'd ever say this, but it's good to see you."

He tried to get up from the bed but it was clearly a struggle. Viktoria rushed over to him, trying to push him back down. "You're not supposed to overexert yourself."

Something had very evidently happened to him, and I looked at every person in the room, wondering when someone would finally explain. Neither of them appeared to have any plans to do so.

"So… am I expected to figure this out myself or is somebody going to tell me what's going on here?" No answer. Christian was the one who lowered his eyes in shame first, though, so I honed in on him. "What happened to you?"

He hesitated, still unwilling to meet my eyes. The other two remained silent. Eventually, Christian spoke. "A Strigoi got me good."

"You were attacked?" I asked, but I already knew the answer to my question. If it had been a simple attack, Dimitri wouldn't have been so ashamed. And I was sure that was the reason why he hadn't allowed me to see Christian until he no longer had a choice in the matter. Nothing else made sense.

Christian confirmed my assumption. "No. I… we went looking for them. Looking for answers. We didn't… it all happened so fast." I looked at Dimitri, but Christian immediately came to his defence. "It wasn't his fault. I was the one who wanted to charge into battle. It was… all my fault. Don't blame him."

I wouldn't have needed him to tell me that. Of course, Dimitri wouldn't take Christian straight to any Strigoi if he could have helped it. He would have never had a choice, though. I knew Christian, and I knew nobody could have stopped him from fighting if that was what he wanted to do. I just didn't understand the why just yet. He'd said something about answers, but what did that mean? I turned toward Dimitri again and shot him a questioning look.

It was Viktoria who spoke next, though. "Christian needs to rest. This isn't good for him."

"I'm fine," he said, but he certainly didn't look it.

"Viktoria is right," Dimitri said. "Christian needs rest, and you've had the opportunity to see for yourself that he is alive and well taken care of. We should get back before anyone notices we're gone."

I didn't want to leave yet. Too many questions, and not nearly enough answers. Why had Dimitri and Christian seemingly gone on a Strigoi hunt? What was Viktoria doing here and how had her family allowed it? And what the hell did St. Vladimir's have to do with any of it?

But Dimitri was right – if anyone noticed we were both gone, that could only raise questions. "Fine. But you're going to answer my questions this time."

"I thought that was a given."