I'm not Richelle Mead, She owns the characters and I write what if scenarios for fun. I have used a lot of dialogue from last sacrifice this chapter, but I want to veer further away from that in future chapters.

A guest reviewer was displeased with Rose's decision to fight strigoi, fair enough. I thought I would outline my reasons for her fighting… She is 18 (Thinks she is indestructible), she is not in a healthy relationship with the father and this is a pregnancy that was thought to be impossible. Everyone deals with stress differently, some of us busy ourselves with our work. Rose is a warrior and a person of action. Also, they usually say that you can carry on your usual activities throughout your pregnancy.

I have added a scene to discuss this dilemma, but really she is trying to be in denial of her current situation and go about her usual course of duties. She has always been a bit reckless, but I have high hopes she will grow from this.

That's my two cents.

Chapter 13

"Where are we?" I asked. I had slept for a significant portion of the trip. We had picked a roomy SUV, Dimitri was driving (Of course) and Sydney had taken the front seat so I could lie down.

"Outskirts of Lexington," Sydney said. We stopped at a gas station, we looked up Donovan's location which was five miles away. We picked a hotel a suitable distance from his location. We planned our exit route back to the hotel.

"Not a great part of town, from what I hear," Dimitri said. "Donovan runs a tattoo parlour that's only open at night. A couple of other Strigoi work with him. They get partiers, drunk kids … the kind of people that can easily disappear. The kind Strigoi love."

"Seems like the police would eventually notice that every time someone went for a tattoo, they disappeared," I pointed out.

Dimitri gave a harsh laugh. "Well, the 'funny' thing is that they don't kill everyone who comes in. They actually give tattoos to some of them and let them go. They smuggle drugs through the place too."

I regarded him curiously, as Sydney slipped back into the car. "You sure know a lot."

"I made it my business to know a lot, and Strigoi have to keep a roof over their heads too. I actually met Donovan once and got most of this straight from the source. I just didn't know where exactly he worked out of until now."

"Okay, so what's our plan of approach?"

"Lure him out. Send in a 'customer' with a message from me needing to meet him. I'm not the kind of person he can ignore—well, that he used to not—never mind. Once he's out, we get him to a place we choose."

I nodded. "I can do that."

"No," said Dimitri. "You can't."

"Why not? I could play blood whore"

"NO!" Dimitri yelled at me, he looked at me fiercely. "They would not hesitate to feed from you, among other things. No strigoi would have a dhampir blood whore working for him—only humans." Dimitri and I looked at each other, and then at Sydney.

"No!" said Sydney. "I am not doing that!"

Dimitri shook his head. "I don't like it either, but we don't have a lot of options. If he thinks you work for me, he won't hurt you."

"Yeah? And what happens if he doesn't believe me?" she demanded.

"He won't risk it, I had a reputation for being ruthless and powerful. He wouldn't risk my wrath. He'll probably go with you to check things out, with the idea that if you're lying, they'll just kill you then."

"What about her tattoo, they'll know she's an Alchemist. One of those wouldn't work for Strigoi either."

Dimitri and I were silent, he hadn't thought of that either. I didn't know where else we would find a human who would be prepared to interact with strigoi. Sydney closed her eyes and exhaled loudly.

"When I was inside the gas station," she said slowly, "they had, like, one rack of makeup. We could probably cover most of my tattoo up with powder."

Sydney purchased the makeup and we went to the bathroom to apply it to her face.

"Should you be doing this Rose?" Sydney asked me.

"It's what I do Sydney" I replied. She looked at me with a disapproving look.

I sighed and looked at her. "What do you think female guardians do when they get pregnant? They keep working, they usually don't have a choice"

"But you do, I helped set up your bank accounts." I paused for a second, I completely forgot that I had finances to rival Lissa now.

"I've spent my life training to be a guardian and this is how we do it. It's who I am." Sydney didn't looked convinced but she kept her mouth shut and I worked on obscuring her tattoo. The truth was, I didn't know how to process this information or think about my situation, so I was going to throw myself into this mission until I could cope with everything else in my life.

I did my best effort on her face, thinking that Lissa would be proud of my efforts. It wasn't a great match, but I did cover the golden lily on her cheek. We arrived in the neighbourhood of Donovan's business, it did look very rundown and in the bad part of town. Why anyone would get a tattoo from here was beyond me, they probably walked out with hepatitis.

We did a circuit of the surrounding area until Dimitri selected a location best suited for an ambush. I deferred to his experience on these matters. A gnarled wired fence stood on one side while a low brick building flanked the other. Dimitri instructed Sydney on how to lead the Strigoi to us.

I thought she was going to pee her pants, but she nodded along, all business.

"Humans who serve Strigoi worship them—they're eager to please. Since they're around Strigoi so much, they aren't as startled or terrified. Still a little afraid, of course, but not as much as you look now."

Sydney gulped, I could tell she was regretting her decision. "I can't really help it."

I felt guilty for putting someone who believed all vampires were evil, and we were sending her into a nest of the worst kind, putting her at great risk. She had very little experience with live strigoi, except for the time that I saved her in the alley in Russia.

I walked her most of the way, giving her words of encouragement and advice. "Remember, Dimitri is a badass, and you've seen my skills. Just stay calm and get the hell out of there when you can." She nodded at me and walked around the corner.

"We may have just sent her to her death."His face was grim.

"I know—but we can't do anything now."

Dimitri and I got into our positions at the end of the alleyway, He had to boost me onto the roof of the low brick building.

I crouched in position, watching him. I tried to stay focused, Sydney's life hung in the balance. Then I realised, so did my child's life and Dimitri didn't know. I felt guilty. Whatever we had, it was nothing like we had before and I didn't think it was going to sustain a family.

But I will always love him and I had always dreamed being able to give him children. One day, in the very far, far away future. I shoved the thoughts from my mind and focused on Sydney.

I kept thinking about Sydney, what we'd asked her to do. This was going directly against my training, deliberately putting someone in the path of danger. After a long tense wait, I could hear footsteps and the familiar nausea sensation. Sydney was flanked by Donovan and two other strigoi. I tensed, my stake gripped tightly in my right hand.

"Belikov?" demanded Donovan, voice harsh. "Where are you?"

"I'm here," came Dimitri's response—in that cold, terrible Strigoi voice.

He appeared from around the building's opposite corner, keeping to the shadows. Donovan relaxed slightly, recognising Dimitri. Then he went rigid, sniffing the air and noticing Dimitri's appearance and at the same time a henchmen jerked his head.

"Dhampirs!" he exclaimed.

I lept off the roof, landing on one of the strigoi henchmen. I aimed my stake but he pushed me off him. I saw Sydney drop low and scurry out of the alleyway from my periphery. She was to go to the car and keep the engine running, ready to leave if the Strigoi emerged from the alley.

Donovan and the other guy went for Dimitri, as usual they saw him as the greater threat. My opponent lunged towards me and I dodged while aiming a kick to his knee. He didn't seem to budge. I aimed my stake for another strike at his chest, but he threw me off and I hit the ground hard. I curled to protect my abdomen, but scraped my legs in the process.

I recovered quickly, finding an opening, lining my stake for his heart. I didn't pierce all the way, but he writhed in pain and I drove the stake in further to finish him off.

I turned quickly to see how Dimitri was faring. His face was terrifying, he looked like death in a duster, ready to take on hell itself, but his level of fierceness was at a whole new level. I realised that this was personal, he wanted to destroy the evil that he had been.

He staked the second henchmen forcefully, it looked like he had pierced the wall behind him. Instead of turning to the next threat, he stayed fixated on his victim that he didn't notice Donovan advancing towards him.

I slammed into Donovan, pushing him away from Dimitri. Dimitri was staking the henchmen again, but I was going to need his help to subdue Donovan for questioning without killing him or myself.

"Dimitri!" I yelled. "Come help me. I need you!"

He appeared at my side, but then he surged forward, knocking Donovan to the ground with his stake poised to strike. I pushed his stake arm out of the way and put my stake to Donovan's neck.

"We need him! Don't kill him!" I couldn't see any sign that my words registered. He looked ready to spill blood. I smacked his head while trying to hold Donovan down. Dimitri looked like a man in pure rage, but my hit made him focus.

"Don't kill him!" I repeated. I could see him acknowledge me. Donovan almost broke free from our grasp, but Dimitri seemed to have unnatural strength.

"Where is Sonya Karp?" He roared and smashed Donovan's head on the ground. Donovan kept trying to stall, but he inevitably realised that it wouldn't work with Dimitri. He looked afraid.. terrified even afraid of dimitri, I was too.

"Paris," he gasped out. "She's in Paris!

Dimitri proceeded to smash his head into the concrete. "Christ," I exclaimed. "We cannot road trip to Paris."

Donovan shook his head, well as much as he could with Dimitri shaking him in return. "It's a small town—an hour away. There's this tiny lake. Hardly anyone on it. Blue house."

Before I could question him further, Dimitri stabbed him with his stake. He then pulled it out and stabbed him repeatedly. I tried to grab his arm to stop him.

"He's dead, Dimitri! He's dead! Stop this. Please"

I crouched beside him, trying desperately to get through to him. "He's dead! Let it go. Please. He's dead."

He slowed his movements and dropped the stake. I grabbed his head and looked into his eyes. My hand brushed hair out of his face and tucked it behind his ear. I tried not to look at the corpse.

The rage on Dimitri's face completely gave way to desperation… and then that gave way to despair.

"It's over. You've done enough."

"It's never enough, Roza," he whispered. The grief in his voice killed me. "It'll never be enough."

I pulled him closer to me until his head rested on my shoulder. He wrapped his arm around me and hugged me tightly. "You're the only one." He clung more tightly to me. "The only one who understands. The only one who saw how I was. I could never explain it to anyone … you're the only one. The only one I can tell this to …"

I looked back at him and stroked his cheek with my thumb. "It's alright, i'm here. I will always be here for you". He is the father of my unborn child, I love him and would always support him.

"I can't stop dreaming about what I did, everyone that I killed." His eyes drifted back to Donovan's body. "I keep thinking … maybe if I destroy enough Strigoi, the nightmares will go away. That I'll be certain I'm not one of them."

I cupped his chin, so that he would look as me again. "I loved you so much, that I tried to convince myself that the strigoi wearing your face was you. I needed some part of you to still be in there. I was there when you were restored and as soon as I saw your face again, I knew how wrong I was. I have no doubt that there is nothing left of the strigoi in you, I know the difference. The Strigoi Dimitri didn't make love like you do or have compassion for others. He wouldn't have felt remorse or regret for his actions. It proves that you aren't that monster. With the life that we lead, you could die at any moment, what matters is that we are alive now. You have to live your life with purpose, with your soul. You have been given a gift, so you should embrace it"

I remembered him weeping when he was first restored, he felt everything all at once. Dimitri had always fought hard to maintain control and must have blocked himself from his emotions to protect himself. Everything he had been was still inside, only coming out in bursts—like this moment of rage and despair. My Dimitri was still there, he was just locked away and didn't know how to come out.

Dimitri started to turn toward Donovan again, but I wouldn't let him. "There's nothing beautiful here. Only death."

I used my softest voice, making him listen attentively to hear me. "Dimitri, you just need to find one thing that is beautiful to appreciate, to show that you aren't one of them".

He was studying my face, staring deeply into my eyes. He didn't speak for a long time, I knew we had to get out of here in case other strigoi went looking for Donovan. But I stayed looking at him until he spoke, I wanted him to be a little less broken than he was before.

His voice was barely a whisper. "Your hair."

I looked at him, I patted my head. Pieces were coming out of my bun and I felt something slimy on the side. I must have looked a sight.

"What?"

"Your hair," repeated Dimitri. His eyes were wide, almost awestruck. "Your hair is beautiful."

He looked so sweet and innocent but broken when he looked at me. He was finally opening himself up to his feelings and for the first time, he needed me to protect him.

"You see? You're not one of them. Strigoi don't see beauty. Only death. You found something beautiful. One thing that's beautiful." He caressed a lock of hair that had slipped from my bun. I kissed him on the forehead.

It felt nice to feel in sync with him again. I didn't know where we were headed, especially with the child growing in my abdomen. I thought as a bare minimum, we would always be very good friends who support each other. I would never stop caring for him as he would always have a place in my heart.

We reached the car and I tried to convince Sydney to give me her strigoi dissolving solution to spare her the site of the battle. She refused, but looked very pale as she walked back to the car. I couldnt help but smirk at her.

Sydney made us sit on garbage bags that she placed all over the back of the car, not wanting to ruin the upholstery of the precious car.

I let him have the first shower and I sat in the middle of the floor, sitting more garbage bags.

Sydney brought over her laptop and we looked at Paris Kentucky on Google maps.

"Not many lakes, mostly creeks and rivers"

I pointed to a small pond. "Applewood pond, do you think that is it?"

"Mmmm, I don't think - AHHHHH. Right here" She pointed to the screen which showed a larger body of water labelled Martin lake. We used google earth to find the blue house and were able to get an address. I could see a large garden from the birds-eye view, that was definitely the place.

After my shower I called Lissa to give her an update. I had already checked in with Hans earlier today.

"Liss, we found a lead on Sonya Karp"

"Really? so quickly." The bond hummed with surprise and a touch of anxiety.

"Well, we have a town and we just need to find the house."

"I'll join you, just think, we could get another spirit user back"

I sighed, I didn't think that Lissa had fully recovered from restoring Dimitri. I was worried about the darkness backlash, it was a large amount of spirit for Lissa to wield in six weeks. I didn't know what impact the darkness would have on pregnancy and my child.

"I don't think you can leave, you have the first task tomorrow."

"But we could get her back, Rose"

"You staying put is more important, continuing the investigation is much more important."

I was dying to tell Lissa about my little discovery, but I could see Dimitri watching me intently.

"Hold on" I could hear discussion in the background and the phone changing hands.

"Where are you, little girl?" Abe said to me over the phone. I felt a little bit of deja vu reminding me of his call from the plane.

"Kentucky, we found a lead on Sonya Karp"

"Where exactly?"

"Paris Kentucky, a blue house along a lake" I responded. I could hear him talking to someone in the background, but I couldn't make out who it was. "Want to come along, I think I might need help getting her to talk"

"Yeah, we will be there"

"But Lissa shouldn't do this, she hasn't fully recovered from the last restoration"

"I know Kizim, we will figure it out." Kizim?

"Okay"

"I'll meet you tomorrow, in Kentucky, for now, rest."

L POV

Eddie came over to report about his investigation of the tapes and to go with me to question staff at Roses apartments.

"I was able to scope out the camera angles facing Roses building, there were a few which might show the entrance in the background. I have made a request to Hans Croft to gain access."

"How long will that take?"

"Maybe if we had suspects, it would help narrow down what to look out for"

"Lets start questioning then" I said and we walked out the door. Christian tagged along, pretending that he didn't have anything better to do. I knew that he cared for Rose and wanted to help her as much as I did. I found it particularly amusing that they both tried to pretend that they didn't care for each other.

We made it to the apartments, there was no reception or doorman like in the Moroi apartments. The more I looked into the investigation, I couldn't help but notice the contrast of how I was treated compared to Rose. I was disgusted at myself for being oblivious, just like I had been in the past.

When we were kids, it took me a long time to realise that Rose didn't have any money of her own. As I was taller, I would pass my clothes down to Rose when we were in elementary school. My parents noticed and started making sure Rose was appropriately attired, particularly for the winter. They even gave Alberta money to pass onto Rose without her knowledge.

Thinking about my parents made me think of my shattered vision of their marriage. A part of me wanted to deny that my father could ever do something like that to my mother. It hurt to think that he wasn't the man I remembered him to be. Similarly, it had been difficult to accept that my brother had been less than kind to someone like Mia.

I wasn't above reproach, despite Avery Lazar's influence and my intoxication, I had kissed Aaron while I was with Christian. I guess none of us are perfect.

We came across a janitor, I let Eddie take the lead.

"Hello sir, My name is Guardian Eddie Castille, This is Princess Dragomir and Christian Ozera. Do you mind if we ask some questions?" He looked at us nervously and agreed.

"What is your name?"

He gulped looking around at us. "Joseph Diver, but everyone calls me Joe"

I stepped forward with a big smile. "Hi Joe, thank you for taking the time to help us"

He removed his hat and nodded politely towards me.

"Where you working on the night of the 15th June? Before the queen was murdered?" Eddie asked.

Joe pulled out the phone and checked his calendar. "Yes I was"

"Did you see anyone out of place?"

"No, not really?

Eddie frowned "Not really? Did anyone stick in your memory?"

"Is this about Rose Hathaway?" I arched my eyebrow, this had potential.

"Is there something you remember about Rose? Eddie asked.

"There was a moroi man who asked about her that night."

I leaned forward excitedly "Who? Who was he? What did he want?"

"He wanted to know when Hathaway was around."

"What did he look like?"

"Like no one special" said Joe. "Plain. Ordinary. Except the hand. It was an old injury, scarred"

Christian and I exchanged looks with excitement. Eddie tried to extract more details, but Joe couldn't recall. He eventually admitted that the man paid him to knock on the door and to check whether Rose was in her place.

We knocked on doors on Rose's floor, no-one had information of substance. However, I was elated, because we had a lead. It didn't matter how small. Eddie went back home to scan the tapes to look out for a moroi man with a scarred hand. A distinguishing feature could make all the difference.

Please review, feedback is always appreciated.

I feel like I have run out of stories to read, I think I have read about 500. Please recommend some.