Temper me in fire

by voldobaby

AU: The world of Moroi and Dhampirs is very different, political turmoil has opened up a vacuum in which illegal and immoral actions can transpire, such as slavery of Dhampirs. Rosemarie Hathaway is born into slavery in Arizona. Her life revolves around tending to her chores and making herself inconspicuous. But that all changes when Mr.Dashkov and his Guardians arrive

40. Chapter 40

RPOV

The next morning an infuriating note's been slid under my door.

"Don't you dare go downstairs." - N

I had lain awake thinking of all the topics and questions I could bring up to Dimitri on our walk. I indulged in the idea of asking him more about Natasha and telling him the truth and how he would react. I imagined him becoming enraged with her, confronting her, and then the opposite scenario where he accused me of lying and we'd have a long argument which resulted in our faces becoming very close and…

But now there's Natalie's note that is basically a threat.

I step out into the hall and concentrate very hard on not looking to my right. I knock lightly on Dimitri's door.

Damn it's hard not to look. Maybe a peek? I mean I wouldn't see everything...

The door swings open and Dimitri stands all in black. Despite everything he still managed to look... good.

I avert my gaze to his before it travelled the length of him.

"I can't go on our walk. It's a matter of life and death."

He raises an eyebrow. "Is that so?"

I hold out the folded paper and I step into his room, feeling bold. It's warm and smelt faintly of that lemony smell and, well, of him.

"Ah. I would contest this is a warning and not a threat."

"What's the difference?" I say picking up the book from his bedside. Another western.

"A warning is a word of caution and a threat is a declaration of impending consequences, usually insinuating violence."

"Did you eat a dictionary? Also, I think Natalie is more than capable of violence."

"You are the one that eats dictionaries."

"Less so now." I murmur putting down the book. I had less need to memorize words and their meanings these days. "But just because I'm forbidden to go downstairs doesn't mean you can't."

"This laziness will not be tolerated when we start to train properly." He says folding his arms. He'd managed to tie his hair back already which I found disappointing, I was going to offer to help.

Wait what did he say?

"Laziness?"

He hums and his dark eyes glint in amusement. Something inside me jolts, he rarely joked and warmth floods my stomach in flutters.

"That is a threat, not a warning." I say. He smiles now, properly and air catches in my throat. What is the matter with me? Maybe I needed breakfast.

"It is and I don't think we should waste the opportunity. I shouldn't waste the opportunity for gentle exercise." He says the last part bitterly but it doesn't completely eclipse the mood.

"Natalie blindfolded me yesterday and I had no issues." I say remembering how easy I found it to visualise the layout of the house in my mind.

"Blindfolding you seems excessive."

"Natalie is excessive."

"You know, I would never tell her if you acted rashly and kept your eyes open going down the stairs."

I grinned. "I knew I could count on you."

He chuckles and I savour the sound. I'd gone weeks not speaking to him or seeing him, gone through an experience that could only be described as hell where every few minutes I convinced myself he'd die before we got him home, and standing here I allow myself to properly drink him in.

Dimitri makes me feel like, even though the world kept shifting under my feet I could remain steady because of his presence. And, when I think of what could have happened I have the sensation of my arms pin-wheeling in the open air and part of me resents it. I resent that I depend on him.

In the back of my mind is the blood promise and what he'd told me as he lay on the floor and I hid under my bed. I had someone watching my back for me, who is going to teach me to hold my own physically and who I knew, I just knew, would prevent me from harm.

I trust him.

This dependence also ties into how I now felt colder toward Victor. He'd offered no help to us to get back and no medical aid when we had. It had then come from her.

I could have been naive (I hate that word) in having thought that what they had here was different from the Ozera household – that there weren't hard-drawn lines between Moroi and Dhampir in which you must always prove useful. But now I don't know.

Spiridon could have left Dimitri and dragged me kicking and screaming. I'd thought he hadn't because out of loyalty but now I suspect it had to do with logic too. Dimitri is an asset. A great Guardian. To lose him would be a pain to replace – as Natalie said. But I also think that...Dimitri nearly dying had affected Spiridon too. That he felt something about it, even though he would rather cut out his tongue than ever say so.

I knew Dimitri wouldn't just think out of logic. I knew he wouldn't leave anyone alone to die because it would be easier. He made standing on trembling ground easier because he was a source of something good...and that was terrifying. I had grown up knowing that good things and good people didn't last.

"Rose?"

I blink. "Wha...Sorry."

He'd stepped closer to me and his brow has creased. "Are you alright?"

I shake off the thoughts ruining what had been a light moment. "Yes." He looked like he was about to call me out for lying so I beat him to it, "Actually I have some questions."

"You can ask me anything."

I smile remembering the first time he told me that and how much it means to me. So much of the oppression I'd felt my entire life lifted with that sentence and he knew it.

"But first, can you help me down the stairs?"

"That still counts as a question."

I roll my eyes, "I will not behave rashly and risk Natalie's wrath."

"Wise."

"I won't be risking that either." Spiridon lounges against the doorway and I'm immediately irritated. "I should inform you that unless you plan your entire walk blindfolded she'll be angry. More decorators are arriving for outside and guess who got tasked to supervise that." He points his two thumbs at himself.

How long had he been eavesdropping? "More decorations? Are you serious?"

"If I didn't know how prone to kicking she is when mad I wouldn't have set my alarm." He drawls and then that evil little smirk of his appears and I prepare myself. "But I'm so glad I did or I would have missed you sneaking into a Guardian's room asking to be blindfolded." He makes a tutting noise and my face catches flame.

"Spiridon." Dimitri cautions, all softness has left his expression.

"Also." Spiridon turns his attention to him. "Change of plans for later, I'm switching with Ben. He's going to the school with Victor and I'm chaperoning. Gives him a chance to sort out that basketcase."

"Has something else happened?" Dimitri folds his arms.

"From what I heard she started raving during a lesson about spiritual demons and having to fight them alone. Freaked the kids out."

"She needs professional help." Dimitri says quietly.

"Well, you'd know that better than anyone." The look Dimitri gives him would melt flesh. "Anyway, They should be here any minute and I'm not getting kicked in the balls. Let me know your breakfast orders when the girls get up."

"I'd like to kick him." I mutter.

"It took me years to master that self-control." He says. "Sometimes I wish I hadn't."

"You were in school together weren't you?" I guess, remembering pieces of what he'd told me.

"Yes and if it hadn't of been for Galina, we would have killed each other."

"Galina was your mentor right?"

"Yes."

"Is she still at the school?"

"No. She was turned."

"Oh...I'm so sorry."

"I planned on leaving to find her. To put an end to it. She would hate what became of her. I owed her as much."

"Why didn't you?"

"Timing. It was around the time I needed to take this job."

I remember him telling me before how Victor had come to him when he graduated but it was when his father threatened to take away the baby, Paul. He'd broken his mother's wrist too and it drove Dimitri to take Victor's offer.

"Is that what he meant before? About you knowing all about professional help, was that about Galina?"

"No. He was talking about my mother." He takes a deep breath. "She's still unwell."

"You told me before that you hid your family and that's why you couldn't be seen at Court with Victor." I recall our conversation in the garden, it seems like so long ago. "So she isn't getting any better?"

"No. I know you're familiar with how Moroi need to sustain themselves with blood and how dark it can be." A coldness settles in my chest, constricting my heart. Unwanted memories push to the surface – Mr. Ozera's shadow, the noises, pretending to be asleep, trying not to cry, and some mornings where I couldn't make Janine move or speak to me. Her eyes open, unseeing. I remember him telling me the slur for Dhampirs who engaged, willingly, in being bitten, 'Blood Whore'. "My fathers' abuse runs deep. I worry it's something she can't overcome. That all of us can't."

He'd said the last part so softly it would be easy to say I imagined it. I reach for my pendant and find my throat bare.

"I worry she will never forgive. That my sisters will resent me for having uprooted them and for nothing good to have come from it. They might not have to deal with my fathers' presence but it also means they don't have his resources, his money. I thought it would be better but I'm not sure anymore. Not being able to speak to them doesn't help. I used to comfort myself by thinking that Paul was safe, the unborn baby is safe but if my mother is getting more hostile then she's a risk. I think I might have made a decision rashly...good intentions aside."

I can tell this is something that's been weighing heavily on him, probably even more so now after Estonia and being weaker. He's always been so solid but maybe after everything he's been through, how Victor reacted...it's knocked some of that assuredness out of him. I didn't like that thought. And I can't help but think how selfish his sisters are being. He had tried to help, he had made a deal with a powerful Moroi, moved across the world to protect them, and yet they were punishing him. How much easier would it have been to abandon the problem?

Maybe that's what happened to my mom.

It blows through my mind like a sharp wind so even when it's passed I can still feel the lingering sting on my skin.

"At least my sisters only have to worry about one parent." He mutters and I focus on the present.

"If things don't get better… what happens?"

"I don't know. We let her go I suppose, let her live how she wants to at her own risk but if she chooses to return to him my sisters will not be with her. I will send them every last cent to keep them away from our father. They have lived too long under his threats and her unpredictable moods."

The fierceness in his low voice is like kindling to that fire I kept in my lower belly. Responding to the motive behind his emotion, the protective nature of it. The warmth spreads and I find myself leaning toward him, trying to pull solutions out of my head.

"There's no one else to help?"

He shakes his head. "My grandmother is too old to take her on alone. And I would not trust my mother alone with her."

The warmth contorts into weird longing and sadness. I factor in everything he's been through the past few weeks and how his family was thousands of miles away, angry with him when he was here for them.

"Do they know you were hurt?"

That you nearly died?

"Yes."

I put my hand on his arm. "You are doing everything you can. Most people wouldn't even do that." He doesn't say anything and my grip tightens. "Most of my life I was around the worst kind of people and you helped get me away from that. They are lucky to have you." I hope he could hear how sincerely I mean it. "Maybe it has to be harder now for it to get better. I am sorry this hurts you. I wish I could help."

"Thank you." His hand covers mine and my heart all but stops. "And you did help, what you just said. That helps me. Sometimes I question if I'm another form of toxicity in our lives, making them move, becoming the person they hate more than our father."

"You would never hurt anyone without a reason to. You would never be cruel for the sake of it."

"No, I wouldn't." He says as if confirming it to himself. He squeezes my hand, long fingers cradling mine. "Thank you."

I meet his gaze, the last rays of sunlight pierce through his window and bathe the room in a soft golden glow. The reddish strands in his hair glint and I become hypersensitive to the weight of his hand. With the light behind him, his eyes seem impossibly dark.

"You're welcome." I whisper.

Then suddenly he drops my hand and moves away but before I can take any offence Spiridon appears again.

"They're fucking late. I could have slept on." His grey eyes move between us. "What are you two whispering about?"

"How ridiculous your hair is." I smile sweetly, cutting off whatever Dimitri was going to say.

Spiridon blinks and beside me Dimitri chuckles.

"Bit rich coming from you." Spiridon replies, recovering. "Is your costume a scarecrow?"

"A what?"

"It must be, with that hair and the fact your missing a brain."

"You're very sensitive about your hair." Dimitri comments drily.

"Why is everyone in here?" Lissa comes into view in her pajamas that have bears printed on them. She looks adorable.

Natalie is close behind her, looking frantic. "Did you go downstairs!?"

There's a beat in which Lissa and I exchange a look.

"I just caught her." Spiridon says. "Belikov was just about to start his interrogation. Blindfolding was going to be involved."

"No." I tell Natalie ignoring Spiridon.

"Blindfolding?" Lissa asks.

"Not the fun kind." Spiridon says offhandedly like someone who has no idea how to be appropriate. "Your decorators are late, Dashkov."

Natalie's expression becomes murderous which is hard to pull off in a fluffy robe. She orders me and Lissa to wait in my room while she makes a call and asks Spiridon to order breakfast.

"Do we really have to stay up here until the party starts?" I ask Lissa who's curled up on my bed.

"Yep. But it will be worth it. Natalie is amazing at this stuff."

Excitement uncurls in my belly. "Do you know what our costumes are?"

"Couldn't get it out of her."

"Why can no one appreciate surprises?" Natalie demands coming into my room and closing the door. "And when have I ever given a bad surprise?"

"Well, never." Lissa admits.

"Exactly. Now, food is on the way, the stylists are coming in one hour so we should shower. By the way, Rose you're room is ground base because it's the easiest to get to."

I'd thought time would drag getting to the party however things keep happening in a nice flow. We eat breakfast, I shower and put on my robe, Victor comes to say bye to Natalie and gave us all a stern warning to behave and have fun, and just shortly after that Spiridon knocks on the door and shows in two Moroi men.

My room feels extremely crowded.

The men are dressed in bright coloured suits, embroidered with flowers but neither wear a shirt. They kiss Natalie on each cheek and introduce themselves but I immediately forget names, too busy watching them unloading cases of make-up and hair tools.

One of the men points his comb at me. "You, I have been told did a little DIY job." I feel myself flush. "Oh sweetie, don't worry. We've all been there. I dyed my hair green when my last boyfriend left me. If I can fix that I can fix anything."

He ushers me into the bathroom and into a chair Spiridon had brought up. He brushes out my damp hair and I watch him pull faces in the mirror as he assesses it.

"Please don't cut it short."

"I have already been warned, honey. I never get to work with hair this thick, it's fabulous."

He starts cutting. I try to be calm and not look in the mirror. I don't say much but there is enough conversation going on between the rest that it isn't uncomfortable. Natalie comes into the bathroom and they both exchange notes on my hair by using hand gestures and vague references to my costume. I will myself to not panic as he starts to dry it. Natalie knew me, she wouldn't make me wear something I wouldn't be comfortable in, and it would be okay.

I chance a look at the mirror and see he's drawing out the length with a barrelled brush in one hand and wielding the hair dyer in the other. My hair gleams like spun silk between his hands. He swaps the hairdryer for another hair tool and wraps sections around it causing it to curl.

"So, liking it so far?" He asks me in the mirror. I smile broadly, letting the nerves melt away. He winks and runs a brush through it, causing the curls to fan out.

Me and Lissa swap places and now I'm in front of the other Moroi who clips my hair back and begins work on my face. Natalie's make-up is finished and her dark hair has been pinned up. I can't stop staring at her. Her eye make-up is dark, smokey, and glitters in the light. Somehow it makes her green eyes burn like smoldering emeralds. Her lips are berry-stained like she's been eating blackberries.

"And now for the final touch!" she declares, grabbing a garment bag with her name on it. Lissa makes an excited noise from the bathroom. Natalie slips out into the hall.

"You have such great skin." The Moroi tells me, sweeping a brush over my face.

"Thank you." I murmur.

"If there are any boys or girls you have your sights on, they aren't gonna know what hit them. Wait to you see what you're wearing."

"What is it?"

The Moroi tuts and taps my nose with the brush. "Cheeky. You aren't getting that out of me. Now close your eyes. If we're behind schedule heads will roll."

He continues working on my face and below my feet, the floor begins to vibrate as music is turned on downstairs. It's infectious, the beat travels up and into my very core like electricity making me fidgety.

There's laughter from the bathroom as Lissa steps out. Like Natalie, her hair has been pinned up but where Natalie's looks like soft waves pressed around her head, Lissa's is sleek and pulled back into a bun. On either side white feathers have been clipped, they span from the back until their tips almost touch at her crown. It looks regal.

"I have a vague idea of what I'm going to be." Lissa grins and then her eyes widen as the Moroi moves away from me to reach for another pot. "Rose you look amazing."

My cheeks start to heat again and I wriggle around in my seat tempted to bolt to the nearest mirror. "Any idea of what I'm going to be?"

"Do not answer that!" Natalie orders, shimming into the room. She's holding a large pink bottle, three glasses, and wearing a dress that's made of thousands of tiny crystals. She holds out her arms in a dramatic pose. "But I'm your roaring twenties, baby."

Lissa makes all the appropriate noises of praise and compliments but I can't stop staring at her dress. How it moves and flows around her hips, tapering from beads into smooth black statin on the bodice. Her pale skin looks like fresh cream – the whole look is striking.

"You look…" I can't find the right word.

"Having you speechless says it all." She winks and sets down the glasses. "I brought us a little pre-game."

I don't miss how Lissa glances at me. "Nothing too strong right? It's still super early."

"I need you to stay still" The Moroi tells me holding what looks like a spider's legs between his fingers. "Close your eyes." I do as I'm told and only flinch when I feel him blowing on my face. "And one last thing. Your mask." He pulls out a strip of material from a box and asks the other Moroi to help fasten it. The material is set over my eyes, the bridge of my nose, and tied behind my head. They fuss with my hair to hide the ties under it. My eyes flutter open and I try to adjust to the new weight and the mask over my face. Both Natalie and Lissa are smiling at me.

I need to get to a mirror before I go insane.

"Here." Natalie hands me a glass of bubbly pink liquid. "Drink some of this, then costume."

"And move your ass outta the chair." The Moroi says playfully.

I jump up and move over to the window seat with Natalia. Lissa takes my spot and he immediately descends on her with white paint.

"You look amazing." I whisper to Natalie, feeling horribly shy all of a sudden.

"So do you." She grins. "I wouldn't send us out any other way. Drink that, it'll help settle the nerves."

"What is it?" I give it a sniff.

"Pink champagne. It's sweet." She takes a long sip herself.

I remember drinking the wine at the Ozera's after my blunder, how it scoured through my blood and pushed back my fear so I could think. I lift the glass to my lips.

It tastes like fizzing strawberries and starlight. "Oh."

"I know right." She takes my wrist and her expression becomes serious. "Tonight's all about fun and the minute your not having fun you tell us. Also as much as this," she holds up her glass, "is amazing, pace yourself. Water after every other drink otherwise you'll end up vomiting your guts up and not remembering the last hour of your life."

I lower my glass. "Does that happen every time you drink?"

"Only if you don't know your limits and keep going. So the rule to remember is – if you think to yourself 'this is the best night of my life' drink some water or if you're thinking 'this is the worst night of my life' drink some water. AND THEN get some more alcohol."

"Okay got it."

"Are you worried about tonight?" Lissa asks from her chair, having probably listened to everything.

I think it over and take another sip. "A little. I'm worried most about my costume and being half-naked."

"Do you really think I'd do that to you?" Natalie asks with genuine exasperation. "I better put you out of your misery then. Get your costume and get in that bathroom." I all but grab it and run. "LET ME KNOW WHEN YOU NEED HELP WITH THE ZIP!"

I shut the door and hang the garment bag up on the hook. I take a deep breath before turning to the mirror.

That isn't me.

That can't be me.

I raise my hand and she raises hers back.

"Holy shit."

My hair is perfect. Thick loose waves shine under the bathroom lights with a luster that has me running my fingertips over them. The lace mask frames my eyes, it and the thick eyelashes accentuate how big they are, making them alluring and a little dangerous. My skin glowed like I'd been out in the sun, kissed by rays instead of burned. My cheekbones are defined but not by hunger, giving the impression my face holds a sense of pride and confidence. My full lips hold a juicy red tint to them and my tongue peeks out to run exploring over my bottom lip.

I couldn't help but think for once I didn't look like something easily hunted and preyed upon – I looked like the hunter.

I take a long drink and then pull open the garment bag. Every anxious thought and fear evaporates out of my body as I eagerly pull it out. It's a bodysuit. Every inch of me would be covered.

I could kiss Natalie.

I run my fingers over the fabric trying to make out the pattern. It was all black but parts of the material were raised. I could make out flowers, trees, vines, and maybe thorns.

"Rose c'mon!" Natalie shouts on the other side. "We wanna see."

So do I.

I take a huge gulp and start shucking off my clothes. I anticipate the bodysuit to be hard to pull on, the material not willing to yield but it glides over my skin as I pull my legs through. When I have it up to my waist I pause. The suit is molded to my legs which would mean the torso would also cling to my upper half. I eye my bandages. I examine the material again and realise the neckline was lower than I thought. I pull my arms through it and heave it up.

Shit.

The top of the bandages is visible.

I step back and sit down on the bath. What if I took them off? How exposed would I feel? What other option did I have? I couldn't not wear this – not when Natalie had put so much time and effort into absolutely every detail.

There's a light knock on the door and my heart sinks.

"Can I come in?" Lissa asks softly.

I know what I want but I don't have the courage to do it.

I unlock the door and Lissa slides through a narrow gap and closes it behind her. Her face is powdered white, like icing sugar, contrasted to her right shoulder that's dusted in sheer black and speckled with silver. What on earth was she?

"What are you thinking?" She asks, leaning back against the sink.

I lick my lips. "I'm thinking...this costume is amazing...and I feel guilty."

"Why?" I take a deep breath and tug down the front. Lissa's eyebrows knit. "What are those? Are you hurt?"

"No." I drain the last of my drink and betray the last bit of protection my mother gave me. "I...where I came from my mother would bind my chest. So no one would notice… so no one would have reason to take notice of me and...hurt me."

Lissa is quiet for several beats as I fight the thundering voice in my head, her voice telling me I've disappointed her. Lissa's hands plant themselves on my knees as she kneels in front of me.

"No one will dare hurt you now. Not tonight. Not any other night. Not like that."

"Someone already I tried. Remember? When I first got here, another Guardian with one of Victor's guests."

Her fingers tighten on my legs. "And what happened?"

I take a deep breath, a dark smile tugging on my lips. "Dimitri nearly killed him."

"Exactly." She says simply and I finally meet her eyes. They are ablaze. "I know I can't promise you that will never happen, I know I can't promise anyone that but I swear I will do everything to try to protect you. I will always look out for you and I will always be someone you can come to, about anything. If you can't do this tonight then we'll blow it off and go to my house."

Somewhere in the back of my mind, I marvel at the fact a Moroi, a Moroi princess, is kneeling in front of me and making me promises like that. Me. But that scant thought is entirely eclipsed by the ferociousness on Lissa's face and it finally hits me and makes home that this is my friend. She means everything she says and not from a place of pity or guilt.

She would stand up for me, the way Eddie and I would stand up for each other and there are no words to articulate what that means to me. And there's no time for me to try and explore it now, to allow myself to be immersed in the feeling wrapping around me like a steadying embrace.

I put my hands over hers and squeeze, working around the emotion in my throat. "Thank you. But I want to go. I do."

She searches my face and then nods once. "Okay. So, do you want to keep those on? Maybe we can find something to cover them."

"No, I...I want to take them off." The traitorous words are out.

"Are you sure?"

I nod. "They don't make me feel safe. I find it harder to breathe. It's uncomfortable and I finally get that, that day I was nearly... raped regardless." My eyes burn and it takes everything in me not to let tears spillover. I grind my teeth fighting for control. "It's more like, taking them off is pushing away the last bit of protection she gave me. It sounds so stupid."

"It doesn't." She says quietly.

"Can you help me?" I gesture to my chest. "Unwind them."

"Of course."

I stand to let Lissa unravel the fabric. I keep myself covered with my arms, managing to keep the suit high on my waist until the last length is slack and I tell her I got it. I angle my black away from her, pulling the suit up over my chest, and manage to push my arms back through the sleeves. Lissa waits patiently, eyes averted to the bath until I ask her to help me get the zip at the side.

Once again I just stare at my reflection. Lissa's face looks troubled until she catches my eye and forces a smile.

I'd tried to keep the suit high on my waist so she wouldn't see the marks but...maybe she had.

"Natalie, knows what she's doing." Lissa says, slipping an arm around my waist.

I have a waist – not skin sunk and stretched between bones.

The suit is the night molded to my body – impenetrable and dominating. It made my silhouette stark and imposing, baring to the world I have a famine shape. My gaze pauses on my thighs, no longer looking in danger of crippling under me, but shapely and a testament to all the hell they'd help me flee or fight through. My waist is an inviting soft dip, the curve leading you further up my body to meet other soft curves at my chest. The neckline is modest but the swell of my breasts is there, feminine, not hidden, womanly.

My eyes begin to burn again. "She really does."

Lissa gives me a soft squeeze and there's more than one meaning behind her question when she asks, "Are you ready?"

I hold her eye. "Yes."

Lissa pulls the door open and we walk back into the room. Natalie blinks at me, at her creation, and then makes a shrieking noise before rushing across the room. I can't absorb all the words and compliments she's showering me with, or the approving looks of the two Moroi but thankfully their focus goes back to getting Lissa ready.

Natalie pushes a re-filled glass into my hands. "This one, then water, then we join the party."

I nod and then it occurs to me, "How am I going to pee in this thing?"

"I'm more than willing to pull that zip down all night." She clinks her glass against mine and I laugh.

Twenty minutes later it's Lissa we're waiting for to step out of the bathroom. One of the Moroi has stepped in with her to help 'fasten' her in. Natalie's practically vibrating in her seat. The music from downstairs has gotten louder and I swear I can hear voices.

The door clicks and one satin foot with ribbon entwined up the calve steps out, followed by another. Natalie makes that shrieking noise again and stamps her feet, sending beads bouncing.

Lissa is both a dream and a nightmare. Her slippers are ivory, the ribbons entwined up her legs like ivy. Her skirt reminds me of a tulip, soft and layers coming to just above her knee. Her bodice is fitted satin with a heart-shaped neckline. Her collar bones and chest are dusted white to match the powder on her face. The whole look paired with her elegant bun and feathers would have made her look like a princess...if it weren't for the black and the blood.

On her right side it looks like she's been stabbed, a bloody wound that's bleeding darkness. The black runs up to her side and onto to her right shoulder, down to her elbow. Veins of fake blood run the rest of her arm to her wrist.

"What...are you?" I ask, leaning back slightly.

"A take on the princess of swan lake but she's becoming the evil one." Natalie explains, bouncing to her feet. "I think it needs more black. It needs to look like the curse is taking over, like a disease spreading."

"Ah, lovely. Thanks Nat." Lissa holds out her arms, examining herself.

The Moroi follow Natalies instructions and adds more black, spreading it over one shoulder and up her neck. There's something seriously unnerving about it all and I make myself focus on my suit and how it makes me feel.

I finish my drink in one long gulp and feel its tingle hit every nerve ending. It's make-up, it's all pretend...Lissa's not bleeding.

When the Moroi declare they're done I bounce up and start thanking them too and tell Lissa how great she looks. The men pack up their things, making a lot of jokes (most I don't get but I get the gist they're about sex) and telling us to have the best night. When they leave I see lights flashing from downstairs, the music is louder and there are voices – lots of them. Nerves flutter in my stomach.

I drain my glass of water and wish it was the pink drink.

"Almost time." Natalie sings, tapping away on her phone. "Everyone's here."

Lissa does another spin in front of the mirror and it's unsettling to watch her reflection revolve from the pure princess to darkness.

"I think the more I drink the better I'll get at this." She laughs, throwing herself into another spin and throwing up her leg. She loses her balance and stumbles back onto my dresser.

Natalie pours out three more drinks and I wonder how long before I'll need to pee. I take mine eagerly from her and start to sip. I want to keep the buzz in my veins and the nerves down.

I wander into the bathroom and again my reflection takes me by surprise. Instead of regarding it in amazement, I start to take it in, and pick apart the details. I looked like someone with secrets, someone strong, someone who could sprint out into the night and fight every dark creature out there. I looked like someone you would be nervous to approach...and I love it.

I let the costume sink into me, become my armour.

My reflection smirks and then laughs, "Natalie...I have no idea what I am."

I stride into the room as a flash goes off. Natalie and Lissa lean away from the phone in Lissa's hand.

"You're a jaguar. Queen of the jungle!" Natalie declares, waving her black cigarette holder. "The top cat. You'll purr for the right people and rip out the jugulars of others."

"Wow." Lissa says dryly, fixing her a look. "Hang on, Rose is a big cat and I'm a swan? A bird. Seriously!"

"And I'm dressed as a big lush who cheats on her husband in a seedy apartment with Gatsby's friend." Natalie shrugs.

"Should I read into this?" Lissa muses.

"Probably not, no."

They laugh and then squeal when I dive onto the bed beside them.

"Take a photo. Take a photo." Natalie demands and Lissa lifts her phone. Our faces appear on her screen. "Here, take your drink and hold it up like this Rose. Ready? Say, 'PARTYYYYYYYYY'"

The photos dissolve into acting ridiculous until Natalie slides off the bed with a thud.

"Natalie, have you had your water?" I ask through laughter.

"Oops."

---

One pee break later, that takes Lissa unzipping me and then re-zipping me, I'm pulling on my boots and praying to whoever listens to not let me fall on my face.

"Don't worry" Lissa tells me. "It gets to a point in the night and everyone starts kicking off their heels."

"Says the girls in flats." Natalie says.

"You put me in them!"

Natalie winks at her and then takes our hands. "Here, is to the best night ever. Ready?"

I look at my two friends, my real friends, and squeeze their hands feeling so much gratitude I could cry or take their faces in my hands and tell them how much I love them.

Alcohol is awesome.

"Ready." Lissa says lifting her chin and smiling.

"Ready." I murmur, feeling the weight of my mask and aware of every curve of my body.

Natalie leads and Lissa doesn't let go of my hand for which I'm grateful when we start to descend. We're submerged into music, not loud enough that I wouldn't hear Lissa talk to me but loud enough our conversation would be private to anyone standing a few steps away.

Halfway down the stairs, I stop watching our feet, sure now I won't go toppling down and lift my chin.

My gasp is swallowed by the music.

The living room has been transformed into a space I barely recognise. We could be in a completely different location. The floor is black marble with glitter encrusted into the surface, glittering and glinting under the soft greenish and white lights that gave the effect of water. The lazy waves coat the walls and ceiling, the ceiling from which bone-white skeletons we're emerging from. They held various things in their hands, necklaces, jewels, goblets, and chains.

There's a bar set up with two servers in suits, one painted as a red demon and the other green with scales. They throw silver utensils to each other and pour out florescent drinks. Various plush seats and tables have been spaced out and in the back of the room, the TV displays ominous messages.

The glass wall which is usually transparent at night is now a barrier of blue flames. They lick and dance the entire length, from ceiling to floor. I watch a girl reach out her hand and press against it, awe on her face as I'm sure it is on mine.

"We're in the underworld." Lissa whispers in my ear.

I can't bring myself to speak and let her pull me down. I finally tear myself away from the decorations to realise how many people were there and how half of them were staring at us. Natalie has paused and we stop on the step behind her.

The music turns down and the people that weren't already giving their attention to Natalie now do. She's expecting this, anticipating it and she lets them wait. A skeleton in a suit brings her a florescent gold drink and she takes it.

"I'd thank you all for coming but I know there's no other place you'd rather be." Natalie says, her voice silky and promising. "So, instead, you guys can thank me by grabbing a drink and making this the best and last rager of senior year!"

Cheers and whistles ring out across the room and music swells once again.

"I need another drink." I tell Lissa as Natalie disappears into a crowd of people and the thought of following makes my knees a little weak. That magic in my veins has sputtered.

"Then let's get one!"

I grip Lissa's hand as she leads the way, winding through bodies and greeting them but never lingering. I keep my spine straight and my chin up. We reach the bar and Lissa slides the menu over to me, I point to something with strawberries in it. I liked that kind of alcohol so far.

"Yeah, I want that too." She orders for us and I try not to think about the press of bodies on either side of me.

The weight of my mask centres me.

My drinks set down in front of me, in the black solo cup I'd unpacked, the rim coated in pink sugar...and it's smoking. I lift it and give it a sniff. It didn't smell like smoke, well whatever, I'm grateful for something to do with my hands. Lissa pops a straw into my cup and says something about my lipstick. I take a long sip – strawberries and lemon burst across my tongue.

We move out of the queue for the bar and Natalie appears in front of us, her drink gone and cheeks flushed. "How amazing is this!"

"I feel like I'm underwater!" I shout watching the greenish-blue waves of light tumble around the walls.

"It's incredible!" Lissa adds.

Natalie beams at her and then wiggles her fingers at some girls. She turns back to us, "C'mon, there's still more to see!"

We are a chain of hands winding toward the little garden which is decorated with pumpkins, cobwebs, multi-coloured skeletons that light up and a massive scarecrow looms in the flower bed which has a protective fence placed around it. On the grass, lots of little cube stools and low tables have been placed around. Two big steel buckets are tucked into the corner filled with ice water to cradle bottles of water, beer, and soda.

"This is the dance break area...or smoking area I suppose." Natalie explains.

"I love it. I love all of it." I haven't stopped gaping, trying to take it all.

"We're not done." Natalie sings, grabbing our hands again.

She leads us, winding through more bodies, and my fingers grip Lissa's so tightly I might hurt her. She squeezes back and a cool rush of ease seeps through me, reminding me she's here, what she said in the bathroom.

The kitchen entry has been curtained by long silver-sparkly strips. Natalie pulls us through and we emerge to excited yells and whooping.

Strip lights run the perimeter of the ceiling leaving the room in a cool white glow. The decorations I'd been unpacking yesterday have been used here. The appliances have been cleared from the surfaces and the Island has candy, chips, and festive-looking junk food laid out.

"Just in time!" A boy with red hair holds up a tall bottle and shakes it. "You heard me lift this out. Admit it Nat."

Natalie's eyes narrow. "I am not shotting that, no way, Mason!"

"Pussy." He grins.

"I'm a flapper actually."

"If that's what you want to call it."

A boy in a sharp, pin-striped suit and hat breaks away to slide an arm around Natalie's waist and kiss her. She grins up at him but holds up her middle finger to Mason.

"Lissa, Lissa's friend?" Mason gestures to us with the bottle.

"Um…" Lissa begins but I realise that this moment is the perfect opening to find my voice otherwise I'm going to cower and grip Lissa's hand all night.

"Sure." I say and feel both Lissa and Natalie look at me.

Bravely I step away from Lissa and approach them all at the island where they were pouring out drinks into small cups. How hard could it be? I'd already drank half of this pink dream juice.

"Guys, this is Rose." Lissa introduces me and then goes around naming people in this group and I realise these are the girls' friends, their close group. It's hard to put the name to pictures I'd seen in the yearbook as they were all dressed up, except Mason, which Natalie doesn't let go unpunished.

"I am dressed up." He protests and moves his jacket aside to show a sticker on his shirt.

"What the hell is that?" Natalie practically spits.

There's a collective of sniggering and chuckles around the Island.

Mason taps the sticker. "Name badge. My name is Dave."

"Mother fucker." is what I make out as Natalie lets out a string of curses that sets my face aflame. Mason's grin gets bigger and it's all so ridiculous I start laughing. He winks at me.

"Did you expect anything better from him? Seriously?" Lissa says, accepting two small shots from a girl and handing one to me. It didn't smell great...it smelt like cleaning product.

Maybe this is a bad idea but I can't back out.

"How hard would it have been to get a mask?" Natalie grumbles, sinking into her boyfriend's side. They both accept their shot glasses.

"I'm too busy training to save the world, so excuse me." Mason retorts, still grinning. I have a feeling he's rarely not. "Right down to business. To Natalie, for throwing the most kick-ass party as a way to make up for kicking our asses around school 24/7."

"Well someone has to." Natalie says sweetly.

"To Nat." Ralf says, holding up his shot and in a ripple effect, everyone starts throwing them back.

Lissa gives me a nervous glance before taking hers and I follow suit.

Holy shittttttt.

"First is the worst." One of the girls is saying, grimacing and holding a hand to her lips.

My throat is on fire. My stomach is on fire. My tongue has been flayed. It's going to kill me. I clutch Lissa's arm and she shoves a bottle of water at me, hastily screwing off the cap of her own.

I gulp it down and slowly the taste in my mouth dies but the fire is still in my stomach.

"What the hell was that?" I rasp.

"Russian vodka." Ralf answers, shaking his head. "Fucking hell it's like lighter fluid."

"Why?" Lissa demands.

Mason answers her, after swigging from his beer. "It was cheap and it seemed like an exotic choice at the time."

"You're such a dumbass."

Something is happening to me. The fire is spreading like a poison through my blood, burning through my bones and inhibition. I feel almost weightless. I start laughing and I don't know why.

"It's doing the job though isn't it?" Mason gestures to me.

"I feel like this is something Dimitri could drink by the gallon." Natalie says and a new wave of giggles start. "It explains why he's so straight-faced all the time, he needs this to feel something."

One of the girls who's been glancing at me a lot and not nicely says to me, "That's a very form-fitting suit. Really shows off your figure."

Her tone is loaded, it sounds like a compliment but it's not. So I run a hand over my hip in pride. "Thank you, Natalie knows what to put me in."

There's a pause where I think she's waiting for something and then her smile turns plastic. "Lucky you."

Lissa leans into me. "Do you wanna go dance?"

"Yeah!" I lean around Lissa to ask Natalie but she shakes her head.

"I'm gotta go do the rounds." She says, linking her arm through Ralf's.

Mason holds up a hand, turning it left and right rigidly. "Ah, the King and Queen will grace the peasants."

Natalie sticks out her tongue before disappearing with Ralf through the archway. More people filter into the kitchen from the living room and out the kitchen door. I can see twinkling lights out there and laughter carries into the kitchen with the smell of spice...I know that smell.

Lissa takes my hand. "C'mon! Lets put the lighter fluid to use."

I let her pull me back into the Underworld where people have started to dance. I spy Natalie and Ralf sitting with people under the blue flames.

Lissa pulls me into the press of bodies, smiling at those she passes and they all smile back at her. It dawns on me that I don't know how to dance. Looking around at people, mostly girls, and how their moving their bodies makes me feel so clueless. Lissa turns on the spot and spins under my arm, grinning.

"I don't know what to do." I tell her, locking up.

"Don't think about it. Feel it." How could I not think about it? It must be written all over my face because she takes both my hands and starts moving us, an encouraging smile on her face. "Just feel it."

I look around at other people and I know that there is no way I am going to get this if I keep trying to analyze them. I close my eyes and let Lissa move us in, my body relaxing into the motions and then I feel the shift. The music seeps into me and I feel the same sensation I had with alcohol, the inhibitions ebbing away. I lean into it. I open my eyes and grin at Lissa who's grinning back. More people are dancing and it hits me no one cares what I'm doing.

All awkward thoughts leave my head.

I don't know how long we're dancing for but Natalie joins us with two other girls I don't know. Things start to get silly as Natalie and Lissa start shouting lyrics at each other and there's a lot of finger-pointing and acting out the words

"I need to pee!" I shout at them.

I find myself in my bathroom with both Lissa and Natalie. Lissa unzips me and the cool air hitting my skin is a whole new level of deliciousness.

"Urgh, I am so sweaty." I groan, more or less falling back onto the toilet.

"Join the club." Natalie says, splashing cold water onto her neck.

Lissa leans back on the counter, neither one of them nor me caring that I am in fact peeing. "Are you happy?"

"I am. It's turned out so cool right? Like amazing?" Natalie says bouncing on her feet.

"Way better than bobbing for apples and a keg." Lissa agrees. "Nat, you have a nightclub downstairs!"

"In your face, Mia." Natalie cackles.

"Who the hell is Mia and why did you invite her again?" I demand, jumping up after hastily and flushing. "Also is this not weird? I feel like it's weird. Why are we peeing together?"

"Girls always go to the toilet together at parties, I don't know." Natalie says, switching places with me. "Mia, isn't even here so don't worry about her."

"You know she's coming." Lissa says, dabbing make-up onto her lips and then helping me with my zip. "She's just going to arrive on her on time and make a thing of it."

"Bitch."

"I bet she comes with Aaron too."

"I am not above causing a scene. In fact, I like it."

"Isn't that one of the rules though?" I ask, drying my hands. "No fights?"

"Exactly. Also, there's no point Nat, they won't be able to get back to the school right away and it'll get awkward super fast. She knows what she's doing, you'll look like a dick, I'll look like the jealous ex and everyone will be on their side."

Natalie flushes and shimmies in between us to wash her hands. "What do you propose then?"

"Kill her with kindness."

Natalie snorts. "Your first two words, I like."

"I really don't care about her and Aaron. I really don't" Lissa says.

"I care that she cares so much about trying to hurt you." Natalie replies.

I whip around, almost losing my balance, and tell Lissa, "I won't let her hurt you."

I might have put too much enthusiasm into it as they both laugh, affection on both their faces.

Natalie puts an arm around my shoulders. "I think it's time to do more shots. My hostess rounds are overrrrr."

"I am not drinking that rocket fuel." Lissa grimaces. "And neither is Rose. It's poison and we'll die."

"It burned through my very soul." I tell them both, following Nat out.

"The bar people are leaving at 12 so I'll go grab some cocktails and you guys get the shots lined up." Natalie orders. "Liss, get the apple one. It's like sour candy."

"Why are they leaving?"

"They're human… and also like, witnesses."

"Witnesses?"

"Yeah, things are gonna get wilder as the night goes on."

I can feel it in the air as we come up the stairs. People running around more freely instead of sitting/standing around in small groups talking, laughter mixes with the music and more people are dancing.

I follow Lissa into the kitchen where Mason, Jesse, and some girls are standing around. With a jolt, I realise I know the golden-haired boy talking to Mason and his friend, Lissa's brother Andre.

"When did you get here?" Lissa asks him. "Natalie's going to kill you for not being in costume."

Andre holds up a red eye mask as a show of effort. "A while ago. Who's your friend?"

Andre is looking at me in a way that makes me want to avert my eyes. He didn't recognise me but then again, why would he?

Mason answers him. "This is Rose. Rose, Andre. You girls want a drink?"

"Natalie's getting the cocktails." Lissa says.

"Rose? As in...lives here Rose?" Andre asks, looking at his sister in disbelief.

"You live here? At Natalie's?" Mason asks, eyebrows raised.

I have no idea how to navigate this so instead I say, "Are we doing more shots or not?"

"That is an excellent idea." I turn to the new voice and nearly take a step back. "And I'd know you anywhere little Dhampir."

"Adrian!" I fling my arms around him, not giving it a second thought. I'm so pleased to see him, happy that I know someone else among all these people.

I feel his surprised laughter through his chest but he hugs me back, one arm tightly around my waist.

Then the contact is too much and I step away. I'd thought about him in the last few weeks and his ability to enter dreams but the further behind Estonia became the less real some of it seemed. And now here he is, grinning devishly at me dressed as the... devil. Black pants, a black shirt, red velvet jacket, and black horns crowned in his dark hair.

"Why haven't you... spoken to me in ages?" I demand.

Adrian's dark green eyes shine and don't match what comes out of his mouth. "I've been busy being a college hooligan with Andre."

"At least I go to class." Andre smirks, pouring out shots. Amber liquid this time, no sign of that disgusting vodka. "Get the lemons, Liss."

A girl is glaring at me behind Adrian's elbow and I guess she's walked in with him from outside. Her blatant jealousy reminds me of Astrid and it makes me smile.

Adrian leans down to whisper in my ear. "You're looking good little one."

In this costume with my make-up done, my mask, and my bindings long forgotten, I feel it.

"I know." I say proudly and he chuckles.

I look up to find Lissa, Mason, and Andre staring at us. I take another step away from him and take a seat at the island. "Shots?"

Andre slides mine over and everyone gathers around. Lissa eyes the drink I lift with apprehension pinching her mouth but I pretend not to notice.

"Your less gauche." Adrian comments, sliding up beside me. The spice I'd smelt earlier clings to him.

"I've been drinking." I blurt and he laughs.

The girl clears their throat on his other side. He turns to her but I have this smug feeling in my stomach that I'm not proud of. I know he's more interested in talking to me.

"There better be one for me!" Natalie's sings, gliding through the sparkly ribbons. She had four drinks clutched in her hands. Ralf is right behind her carrying three more.

She slides one in front of me and then to Lissa. Andre passes her a shot which brings him to her attention. Her jade eyes narrow. "Where is your costume?"

"Um."

"Good luck dude." Mason murmurs stepping away from him.

"See, the thing is, the point being, in hindsight…. it's bit childish isn't it?" Andre grins.

"Adrian managed." She snaps.

"Adrian is a child." Andre retorts.

"Rude." Adrian protests, sliding a candy ring onto his finger.

"I think Andre should drink the gasoline shot as punishment." I say, trying not to shrink when everyone around the island looks at me. "Or two."

There's a murmur of approval from the veterans who survived the first shots of vodka. I catch Mason's eye and he mimes clapping his hands together.

"One shot, every two minutes, until you can put a costume together OR you have to jump in the lake."

"Piss off, Nat." Andre says, trying to brush the whole thing off and then looking more livid as everyone starts to agree.

"When you go to a party you respect the dress code." Mason says in a serious voice, pointing to his name badge.

"You were raised better." Lissa says, feigning disappointment.

Jesse places another shot glass next to the amber one in front of Andre and Mason hands him over the vodka bottle. "Shot No.1 of lighter fluid."

"Tequila first."

Everyone lifts the amber shot and I copy.

"Happy Halloween!" Ralf shouts and the domino effect of slinging the drink back starts.

WHY HAVE I DONE THIS AGAIN?!

Shots are not fun. They are not nice. I am not doing another one.

Natalie furiously points at the lemon wedge in front of me and I see she's got one jammed into her mouth. I pry my fingers from the counter to lift the fruit, wondering how the hell it's that going to help but what do I know? It can't get worse. I bite into mine.

Doesn't help. I take a long drink from my cocktail.

"Right, I'm setting a timer." Mason says, holding up his phone. "Two minutes on the clock, every time it hits zero and you're not back with a costume assembled we add another shot."

"Mason has a fucking name tag on, how is this fair?"

"My name is Dave thank you very much. I am a divorcee, looking for love, and enjoy disc golf."

Ralf turns to Jesse and mutters. "What the hell is disc golf?"

"As if you're going to have a problem getting some girls and boys to part with articles of their clothing." Adrian shrugs, taking a drink from his flask.

Lissa pulls a face that leaves Natalie in hysterics.

"First shot, go!" Mason instructs and Andre throws back the vodka.

"Holy f-fucking shit." Andre splutters, catching himself on the island as his face flushes red. "Is that legal?"

"I could make so many jokes right now." Adrian grins, "But I won't because I'm a gentleman."

"I am not looking after him." Lissa tells him as everyone laughs at Andre's torture.

It's six minutes, three shots later before Andre races back into the kitchen wearing a black cape, a bumble bee hairband, and chains around his neck.

"How am I still managing to get high-school girls to part with their clothes?" He says breathlessly. "I thought I'd surpassed this stage of my life."

"I hate that I'm related to you." Lissa mutters, taking a long drink of her cocktail.

"I just make you seem all the more angelic little sis." Andre says, toasting her.

"THERE HE IS!" Jesse suddenly shouts and everyone turns to the newcomer.

My stomach lurches, nails digging into the countertop and the noise in the room dies in my ears. Whatever Mason is telling me and Adrian is forgotten.

Christian Ozera saunters into the room. He's smiling as he approaches and accepts Natalie's hug and Jesse clasps his shoulder.

Fingers close around my arm, "Are you okay?"

I drag my gaze away from Christian to Adrians. His dark eyes seem to pulse but that could just be how weightless my limbs have felt, how tingly my fingertips had been from my drinks. My tongue is heavy in my mouth.

"Water?" Adrian asks, concern furrowing his brow.

I nod and keep nodding until he hands me a bottle. I hear the girl he's with make a nasty comment about 'lightweights' but I don't care.

"Oh and this is Rose! Rose lives here, she's our Guardian Ben's sister." Natalie's voice breaks through the fuzz in my head.

I can't look at him. I can't.

"You don't go to school?" The girl that's clinging to Adrian's side asks.

"Homeschooled right?" Adrian supplies and I'm grateful he remembers the lie we spun in Estonia. Even though he knows it's not true. "Now lives here getting work experience."

"What the hell? If your dad was offering work experience why didn't you say?" Mason demands, turning to Natalie.

"Uh, like I would know." Natalie says, shifting uncomfortably.

"That's so cool. You must be guaranteed a job when you pass in June?" Mason asks but I can only shrug.

"She doesn't look like she could handle more than a paper bag." The girl snides.

"Do you want a demonstration?" I snap, focusing on the irritation she's inspired instead of the stunned state I'd been left in.

"Stop being a bitch." Adrian says boredly to her, taking back his arm.

She mutters something else but I don't care to hear it. I don't want to be in this room anymore.

How did I forget he would be coming? Natalie had more or less told me when going through her yearbook. The ringing shock finally gives way to calm fury, simmering in my stomach with the alcohol.

I had been having the best night with my friends, in the house I live in and I had been doing so well. I'd beat back the edge of panic when it crept up and I hadn't needed to escape to my room to breathe like I thought I would have to. I'd tried to become the woman in the suit, I'd started to believe I could be. And now he was here, ruining it.

I get an impulse to leave and lock myself in my room, pretending I feel sick but….why should I hide? Why should I?

For once he can feel uncomfortable. For once he can feel like he doesn't belong. He can feel afraid.

I take a deep breath, push my shoulders back and lift my chin.

He's smiling at something Lissa is telling him but he must feel me looking at him. His gaze meets mine and I put every ounce of venom I possess into it and then I smirk. He looks away and his throat bobs.

"Christian should do vodka shots to catch up." I announce, still glaring at him.

"Wow, you're really into torturing the guys aren't you?" Mason says.

"Only the ones that deserve it." I say, taking a sip of my cocktail and ignoring Adrian watching me intently.

Jesse lines the shots up and seeing Christian splutter and brace himself on the island barely soothes the dark angry thing in me.

"I'm going to the bathroom." I tell Natalie.

I'm very aware of myself as I stride out of the room. I clear the silver ribbons and resist the urge to pull them down.

I nearly collide with Dimitri.

He leans down, his face is all sharp planes and angles in the dim light. "I was coming to see you, to tell you Christian has arrived."

The flames lick over my skin and I snap at him, "Bit late for that."

His dark eyes bore right back into me and a movement over his shoulder pulls my attention. Natasha is lingering a few steps behind him, dressed in a Witch costume complete with a pointy hat. I turn my glare back on him. "Have fun with the witch."

Heels make it hard to take the stairs in a hurry but I manage.

In my room I find two people kissing which gives me the opportunity to vent some of my anger by telling them to get the hell out. There's a damn scary 'Keep Out' sign on my door for a reason.

I go to the bathroom and sit on the edge of the tub, taking long, deep breaths until I feel myself settle.

Didn't I just tell myself I wasn't going to hide in my room?

I make myself stand and run my wrists under cold water, letting it calm me further as it used to when I was a child and the heat was too much.

Looking in the mirror helps settle the tumbling emotions in my stomach for good, letting the overall effect of the suit seep in again.

I can admit to myself that just because I'm angry... didn't mean I was strong. One awful comment from either one of the Ozera's could make me crumble. If Christian had shot something back at me I might have caved in.

"They don't own me." I whisper to myself. "They don't own me anymore." I take more deep breaths and finish the drink I'd brought with me.

I lock my eyes with my reflection and get annoyed with the hint of fear my she is showing.

"Go back downstairs and have fun." I order her. "Lissa, Natalie, and Adrian are your friends and you live here. You belong here more than he does."

My hand clenches and unclenches before ripping back the lock and stepping out into my bedroom.

Someone else has ignored the sign.

"Are you okay?" Dimitri asks.

He's leaning back against the door, arms crossed and blocking the way out.

"Yes." I all but hiss.

"I was supposed to be notified when they were arriving. I was going to you a heads up." He explains, watching me levelly and expression revealing nothing.

"So you already said. Please move."

"Rose, they're not like -"

The last twenty minutes of composing myself goes right down the drain.

"I don't care, Dimitri!" I fire at him, taking two long strides toward him. "I don't care and you have no right to tell me how to feel about them."

His lips are a hard line and some of his hair has escaped his hair tie. "You can't go down there angry."

Those flames are coating my insides, climbing up my spine and soldering it.

"You're worried about me losing my temper? About telling."

He stares back at me, dark eyes unyielding. It's hard to believe how different our conversation had been earlier, when he was framed in the last ray of sunlight and his warm hand had been over mine.

"In part." He says and a pang of hurt goes through me.

My eyes play another trick when I think something flickers across his face, something like regret.

I clench my teeth together and force more words out. "As long as she doesn't come near me, I'll be fine."

"Tasha is here to chaperon. The kids downstairs are Christian's friends, he'll be near you." He reasons and I want that calm tone to give way.

"Aren't you supposed to be chaperoning? Hope nothings slipped by the wards in the time you've been giving me this useless lecture."

His expression darkens and shame flits through the fire.

Dimitri pushes away from the door and crosses the short distance between us, my heart beating faster with every step he takes until he's bearing over me.

Heat that has nothing to do with anger blossoms low in my stomach, heat that has nothing to do with anger radiates from his body.

"Do not act impulsively." He says quietly, lips barely moving.

I step forward, feeling reckless and bold, high from the fire embodying me. My head cranes back, our chests almost touching. "Do not tell me what to do."

I can see the gold flecks in his eyes. Burnt gold in the dark.

"Rose." He says softly, handling the only possession I had.

I don't know what happens. It's like my room, the party, and what I'm angry about fall away. Everything stills. My breath, my heart, and my head. There's nothing but his gaze holding mine, a magnetic pull -

"Your taking forever!" Lissa's voice shatters whatever the hell is happening.

Dimitri steps away, and everything comes rushing back in a wave of disappointment.

Lissa looks between us from the doorway. "Is everything okay?"

Is it? What was that? I felt on the verge of fighting him and that doesn't make any sense.

"Dimitri was worried I'd had too much to drink." I lie easily, pushing past the embarrassment and confusion choosing instead to stay somewhat angry. "But I really haven't and I'd like another one."

I feel him glaring at me. Good.

Lissa casts him a wary look and I remember the reality of the situation. Dimitri is in charge and has the power to dictate how the rest of my night can go. He could tell my time at the party was over which...which would negate the risk he was so worried about.

"I'm looking out for her." Lissa tells him, stepping into the room. "I promised I would and I won't let anything happen. She's doing so well fitting in and isn't that what everyone wants?"

Dimitri inhales and finally nods.

Well, now I had his permission.

I flounce across the room and take Lissa's hand, giving it another grateful squeeze.

We're turning away from Dimitri when she says, "I think Mason likes you."

I reply a bit loudly, "I like him too."

"Do you actually?" She asks as we step around people sitting on the stairs. Some kissing, one crying. "He's nice, I mean he likes to be centre of attention but he's really sweet. He wouldn't make you do anything you wouldn't want to do."

I know she means well but what she's said irritates me, reminding me I'm this naive person everyone needs to worry about. Could I just not be someone that needed to be coddled for once?

"I want to do things." I reply and she looks alarmed.

"Rose -"

But I slip through the silver waterfall. More people are gathered around the island. Some girl has taken my seat and Adrian is nowhere to be seen. Christian, I realise he's dressed in some bizarre purple suit and has green in his hair, is talking to Jesse and Ralf. He looks up as we come in and a shadow of worry crosses his face as Lissa comes up beside me.

"Drink?" I prompt her and she nods, looking like she wants to continue the conversation from before. "Liss, I'm not thinking about taking my clothes off."

"That's a shame." Adrian sidles up to my other side and I glare at him. "Then it would be a party."

"Better than the first one you took me to anyway."

"When did you two go to a party? How do you even know each other?" Jesse asks from the corner.

Most of the room is now looking at us with open curiosity.

Hm, there's power in this.

"Aren't you from like, a community?" That annoying-ass-Adrian-clinger-girl says from across the island.

"Don't be jealous." I tell her and she sneers.

"Please stop trying to fight my date." Adrian says in a low voice.

"Date nicer girls then."

Lissa is pouring drinks and Christian has come up beside her, a hand on the small of her back. The flames begin to spit and roil.

"What, like you?"

I turn away from the view that's making me need to break something. "You're too old for me."

"Rude. With age comes experience."

"Then your not old enough for me yet."

Adrian puts a hand on his chest and feigns being in pain. "When did the kitten get claws?"

"She's a dark horse this one." Lissa says, passing me something that isn't like the cocktails from earlier. She notices my face. "It's past twelve, you'll like it. It's sweet."

"And if you don't grow up and drink straight liquor like the rest of us." Adrian says.

I roll my eyes as Natalie and Mason stumble through the backdoor, laughing so hard they can't stand up. Her heels are missing and something that looks like whipped cream is covering her hands.

"What have you been doing?" I yell across to her and step up beside Lissa, aware Christian is on her other side. I slide my arm around her waist and she put my chin on her shoulder.

Christian takes a subtle step away.

Good.

There are tears on Mason's face. "One of the Guardians is going around spraying people he finds getting too frisky in the enchanted forest so we asked if we could be recruited."

"Spiridon." Natalie explains, trying to breathe. "Oh my god, did you see Wade's face?"

"I could make such a filthy joke right now about Wade Voda, unexpected white stuff, and disappointment." Mason says, wiping his eyes and laughter chases his words.

"That's really unprofessional of a Guardian." Adrian's date feels the need to comment.

"Spiridon is unprofessional." Lissa giggles, leaning her head against mine.

"Well, I suppose being in a Prince's pocket means you get away with whatever you want."

The atmosphere in the room shifts. The laughter fizzing out.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Natalie asks, sounding too calm. Lissa's hand tightens on my shoulder.

"Like it's any secret that the Royals poach the best Guardians when they graduate." The girl shrugs.

"That's not true." Jesse says but Mason is looking down and as one of the few Dhampirs in the room it's very telling.

"Dimitri Belikov and Ben White work for you too right?"

I can't work out what the accusation is. Natalie's said before about the boys being highly regarded and how difficult it would be to replace them but didn't it make sense that someone as wealthy and powerful as Victor has them?

"Can we change the topic?" Christian asks.

The girl's lip curls, "Well of course an Ozera wants to."

"What is your problem?" Lissa snaps and I uncurl myself from her.

The girl lifts her chin and Adrian cocks his head at Andre, motioning for them to head into the other room. The girl is his date shouldn't he be, trying to calm the situation? I glare at them as they leave but Adrian's too busy draining his flask.

"My problem, and half the worlds', is how talent is being hoarded. One Prince has three Guardians and a novice in his house no doubt being trained for you." She throws a hand toward Natalie. "And daddy will still buy off two more when your graduate to follow you around college and stand outside your Sorority House whilst communities and schools are being murdered and raped and -"

I have no idea what the rest of her sentence is because Natalie starts yelling at her, Ralf holding her back, Jesse is shouting for everyone to calm down, Lissa is shouting about equal Guardian opportunities or something and Christian is trying to calm her down.

If I joined in, even in attempt to calm things, I could lose control. I could end up using it as an opportunity to scream at Christian and I couldn't do that, no matter how much it tempted me.

Mason leans around Jesse and I barely make out him asking, "Have you been outside yet?" I shake my head. "Wanna get out of here?"

I slip around the back of Lissa and Mason takes my hand to navigate us through all the yelling people. Despite everything, the fact a boy is holding my hand rings like a bell.

"It's so annoying they're fighting right now." I tell Mason as we step into the cool night.

He snatches up some bottles from a bucket.

"Yeah." He sighs, cracking them open and handing me one. "Angeline has a point but tonight's not the time or place. Beer not for you?"

I'd taken a sip hoping it would chase away the clinging buzz of irritation but it's disgusting. I try to re-arrange my face. "I prefer sweet drinks."

"If you want I'll brave all the hair-pulling and food flying to get you one?"

I grin. "No, it's okay. Oh."

I hadn't noticed when we'd first stepped out but now I look around the green. There are chairs and tables out here, a few occupied, with orange and white fairy lights strung around but the main focus is on the path into the woods. On the trees closest to us lanterns hang and the path has a canopy of vines hanging over the path's entrance, just like the kitchen entry. Beyond the vines, I can make out multi-coloured twinkling. A sign has been planted in the grass that reads, 'The Enchanted Forest."

"Walk in the woods?" Mason asks, offering me his arm.

I grin and take it. "Is Spiridon still running around in there?"

"Probably, let's avoid him."

We step through the vines and all annoyance at my friends fades away. I didn't think it would be possible to be shocked at this point but my mouth drops open. If the living room is a version of hell then this is a fairytale. Everywhere tiny lights have been hidden or draped or planted, all glowing different colours, fading in and out against the dark. Mushrooms of all sizes and been put around the bottom of trees and in the hollows eyes peer out.

"There are some booby traps along the path." Mason tells me.

"This is amazing." I whisper.

We wander along the path, finding bowls of candy and hanging threads of green popcorn. I rip some off and throw them at him and he retaliates. I take off running, my beer sloshing over my hand. I scream as something in the woods roars at me as I pass but it gives way to laughter.

I feel free. I feel weightless again. I pass people nestled in between trees and I see signs of where Spiridon had interrupted.

An arm closes around my waist and I let out a yelp, going over on my ankle, and then we're tumbling to the ground. We fall in between two rises in the treebank, laughing.

"Are you okay? I didn't mean to tackle you." Mason's face appears over me, his blue eyes searching my face. His are a nice blue, not the electric fire of the Ozera's but powdery, soft.

"I'm fine. Taken worse falls than that."

He grins. "Yeah, same."

He's looking at me in a way that makes my breath thin, a kind of nerves. I push up and back against the grass. We were cradled in the grass mounds, the moon full and bright, reflecting off the lake beside us. Mason stretches his legs out and leans back on his elbow, grinning at me.

"What did you mean earlier, about Angeline?" I ask.

Something like disappointment flits across his face but he recovers. "Uh well." He lets out a breath. "She's not wrong, the wealthier Royals buy off the Guardians with the highest marks when they graduate."

"And they shouldn't?"

"Where did you grow up?" He asks, bringing me up short. He sounds curious, not accusatory.

I shrug and take a sip of my beer. "I was homeschooled and then my Mom died so I came here to be with my brother."

"So have you trained or…" He seems embarrassed to have asked but the beer has topped up my fuzzy feelings.

"A bit. But Dimitri is going to train me when he recovers, he got injured a few weeks ago."

"That's...that's seriously cool. Maybe you could ask nicely and I could get in on that one weekend."

He smiles and shifts so his arm is pressed against mine, angling him so he's looking up at me. I realise how alone we are...how far away from everyone else.

"Maybe. Dimitri isn't the easiest to talk to."

"Wear an outfit like that and he won't be able to say no."

I flush and he smiles at my reaction. "No, um, Guardians are supposed to be fairly allocated by The Gaurd in their first few years."

"Oh." That's all I can think to say. I can't be bothered with serious big-world things right now. "Why did you ask me to come out here?"

He tilts his head. "Isn't it obvious?"

I'm not exactly in the loop with a lot of what should be obvious. "I want you to say it."

"I wanted a chance to talk to you, alone."

"Am I that interesting?"

"Very."

The compliment fills me with the validation I'd been striving for the moment I'd left my bedroom with Natalie and Lissa.

Mason is nice, just like Lissa said, and I feel... comfortable being alone with him. Another curiosity lights up, something that had played in my mind before, a thread I couldn't drop, and right now I felt like pulling it.

"Mason."

"Mhm?" He's taking a long drink from his beer and I steel my nerve.

"Do you want to kiss me?"

I bite my lip so I don't laugh as he chokes and splutters.

He wipes his mouth with his wrist. "You're...really direct, aren't you?"

His obvious nervous energy emboldens me further. "Well?"

"Well, now I feel a bit of pressure."

I smile and sip the final drops of my beer. Urgh, my breath probably reeks of it but I'm not backing down now. I wanted to know what it felt like, what all the fuss was about and I didn't feel intimidated by Mason. I knew if I asked him right now for us to go back he would.

Dimitri flashes in my mind, that look on his face as he towered over me and I could feel the heat of his body on my chest.

I slide up onto my knees and lean toward Mason. His eyes widen. "I'll kiss you then."

I see him swallow. "Okay."

I suppress the urge to giggle and duck out or take off running again. I close the distance and press my lips against his.

They're soft. I don't know why anticipated they wouldn't be or expected something different. Mentally I congratulate myself for having the nerve to follow through but… it's just skin pressed against skin.

My eyebrows crease.

I pull back a little feeling disappointed. Isn't it supposed to feel different? Shouldn't it feel...like more?

Mason sighs against my mouth and then he's kissing me. It's a bit alarming and I don't know what to do, his lips are moving and I'm trying to match them but it's like how I felt when Lissa was trying to show me how to dance. His hand moves to my hair and I try to think of a nice way to tell him I want to go back. I put my hands on his shoulders to keep my balance, ready to push him back.

I've saved from having to as a hand clamps around my arm and hauls me to my feet.

"Hey!" Mason blindly reaches for me but stops when he sees the newest member in our little spot.

"I suggest you get back to the party." Spiridon says nonchalantly, hand still fastened on me. I try to shrug him off but he tightens his grip.

"Let go!" I growl.

"It's my fault." Mason springs up.

"Oh, I don't doubt that." Spiridon drawls. "Taking advantage of impressionable young women isn't a favorable character trait."

I tear myself free of his grip.

"Stop being an ass."

His gaze is stone cold. "Get back to the house. Now."

I make a show of rolling my eyes. "C'mon, Mason."

---

We amble back the way we came and I can't decide if I'm glad Spiridon gave me the excuse I needed or worried about what he'll say about it because there is no way he isn't going to try and humiliate me with this. If he hadn't done it enough already.

"Are you worried he's going to tell your brother?" Mason asks. If anything he looks more worried about that idea.

"No, Ben won't care."

I don't think it's entirely true but Ben wouldn't be as...much about it.

"We weren't doing anything really, that was a complete overreaction."

I force myself to smile. "Exactly."

We cut through the vines and the kitchen comes back into view. Mason takes my hand. I have the feeling I'm getting caught up in something not easily got out of. The girls will know what to do, what I should say. In the kitchen, Adrian is wrapped around Angeline which is one way to shut her up I guess. Our group is gone.

"Guess they're dancing." Mason says and I let him lead the way, still gripping my hand.

Watching people make out is gross. Is that what Spiridon had seen? Urgh.

The living room has nearly everyone packed into it dancing and it takes us a few minutes to find the others. They yell like they haven't seen us in weeks.

"Where were you?" Lissa demands, her hot breath hitting my ear. "And what were you doing?"

"Kissing. Spiridon interrupted." I yell into her ear.

Her eyes bug wide and she leans in to ask, "Did you like it?"

I glance at Mason who got his arms around Jesse and Ralf's shoulders. "No."

Lissa cringes but this isn't the time to talk to her about it so I take her hands and dance. A few minutes later Natalie collides with me and somehow ends up climbing onto my back where she stays, screaming lyrics, until Ralf pulls her off me.

Across the floor, I spy Dimitri in the shadows with a witch beside him. Christian is there too. Lissa catches me looking.

"He doesn't dance. I couldn't convince him."

"He's a loser." I reply over the music and she yells back in agreement but smiling. Maybe I should of put more venom into it.

We dance and someone passes around a flask that I refuse. I keep looking over to the corner but I can't make much out, only glimpses when the lights flash over them. For a second they're illuminated in green and Natasha is wrapped around Dimitri's arm, laughing with Christian. There's a small smile on Dimitri's mouth and I stop moving my body.

They come first.

The flask comes round again and I take it from Jesse. I take a long, long drink until Lissa snatches it from me looking enraged. I see her mouth 'calm down' and then ask me something I don't hear but I don't care. It tasted like cleaning products and pooled like fire in my stomach, burning everything.

I somehow find myself dancing near Mason, or with him I'm not sure and then I'm kissing him again and there is yelling around us. I think Natalie is shouting my name but she's also laughing. Mason's arms are around me, maybe holding me up, and I can't feel what my lips are doing but I'm not thinking at all. The music is vibrating through my brain.

What am I doing?

I break away from him but he still holds onto me. He's trying to talk into my ear but I can't make it out, the rooms blurring. I yell that I'll be back and propel myself toward the kitchen, concentrating on every step.

This time I nearly do rip down those damn ribbons.

"You okay? Rose?"

Water. I need water.

I stumble down the back step and nearly enough fall over into the ice bucket. But the mission is complete and I go sprawling onto my ass, water bottle clutched in my hands.

I smell, rather than see, who sits down beside me.

"Overdone it little one?" Adrian asks, and I can picture him exhaling cigarette smoke "Hey, talk to me. Stay in the present."

"Go away." I groan and he chuckles. "I think everyone is laughing at me."

"No one is laughing at you. Drink that whole thing, the world will seem a little better after."

"The ground is moving." He laughs again and I blindly fling my hand out, happy when it smacks some part of him. "He didn't even care."

"Alright, okay. Here, drink this now." I guzzle the water to the point of feeling full but keep going. "This all-or-nothing attitude you have is really something."

I finish the bottle, gasping. My visions cleared a bit but it's still safer to keep my eyes closed.

"Is she okay?"

Lissa. Always Lissa. Not him, couldn't be bothered and why would he? She's here and she's interesting and she paid for the Alchemists.

"I like my alcohol in many forms but whatever Jesse has in that flask is more like petrol." I hear Adrian say.

"I'm pretty sure it's tequila topped up with Russian vodka." Lissa says from far away or beside me or above me, I don't know.

"That flask is the equivalent of a loaded gun." A hand runs gently over my back. It's nice. "This one's the first victim."

"Stop talking in riddles." I whine and the smell of cloves wraps around me, causing my stomach to lurch. "Oh, god."

"Do you feel sick?" Lissa asks. She sounds angry. "Rose?"

"Dizzy." I moan.

She presses another bottle of water into my hands and I drink it. The whole time she rubs my back and a cooling sensation trickles through my stomach, calming it, spreading up the back of my neck to clear my head. Water working its magic.

I come up for air I ask her, "Is everyone laughing at me?

"No. I think they're planning your wedding." She takes the water from me and takes a sip.

"What's this?" Adrian queries, taking another drag on his cigarette.

"Will you put that out?" I snap. "It smells gross."

Adrian smirks but does as I ask and Lissa answers, "Rose and Mason made out."

"Twice" I whine and fall against Lissa's shoulder.

"Why did you kiss him when you said -"

"I don't know!"

"In Estonia, I could barely get you to accept a soda." Adrian muses. "Now you're a right little kiss slut. Drinking everything in sight."

I whack him again as Lissa says he's 'one to talk'. I let their conversation wash over me until I'm certain the grass feels still and solid. I lift my head from her shoulder and cautiously open my eyes. The stars stay put in the sky.

"That was awful." I say, sitting up straight and Adrian chuckles.

"Why did you do that? It was like you suddenly became possessed."

"I looked possessed kissing Mason?" Oh god, I'd made out in front of people. Did he put his tongue in my mouth? I can't remember and the thought of it makes me want to peel my skin off.

"No! Drinking."

"I don't know. I got annoyed." I say pathetically.

"Yeah? Well be normal and pull me outside to bitch about it next time. You can't drink like that. It's stupid and you could have been really sick. I told you I'd look after you but you don't have to make it difficult."

"I can confirm being the person that pukes and pisses everyone off, does ruin the mood. Then you feel like shit in the morning. I still do it anyway." Adrian supplies unhelpfully from my left.

"Sorry…I'm sorry, Lissa. Hey, you've lost your feathers."

She softens but I'm not entirely forgiven. "I think they're on Ralf's hat."

A shadow falls over me. I look up and groan, just when I thought the worst was over.

"Still making a show of yourself?"

"Can you, for once, not be an asshole to me? Please?"

Spiridon looks the most serious I've ever seen him. "Drunk and stumbling around the woods with a boy you just met – and I'm the asshole?"

Adrian and Lissa are trying to make excuses and say things to appease the situation on my behalf but we continue to glare at each other.

"You won't always have a babysitter, Rose." He snaps.

"I thought I had a jailer." I spit.

His eyes narrow and I feel Lissa tense up beside me.

"Sober up. Go to bed. Stop being a liability."

He stalks off and the fight goes out of me.

"That guy's a dick." Adrian says but he sounds amused. "Take no notice. If you were that bad Goliath would have hauled your ass to your room. He's been watching you most of the night."

"Who?" Lissa asks perplexed.

"He doesn't care." I repeat glumly.

"At least your brothers not here." Adrian comments, smirking at the lie.

"Ben's the best. Ben wouldn't yell at me."

"Who the hell is Goliath?" Lissa asks and I fall into a fit of giggles.

---

A while later we go back inside, losing Adrian to the crowd as we take a bathroom break. Lissa forgives me, and assures me there's nothing to be embarrassed about and to come back downstairs.

"You know, I almost feel sober again." I tell her and she laughs.

"Maybe we keep it that way."

When we hit the floor I promise myself I'm not looking in his direction again and I'm saved from temptation when Lissa starts trailing me toward the little garden.

"What's wrong?"

She doesn't answer but she looks angry.

Natalie is on Ralf's knee but it looks like he's forcing her to be there. Jesse and another girl who's been in our group are sitting here too. I snatch up a beer whilst Lissa isn't looking and flop into a seat. At least Mason isn't out here.

"Just be nice. Be cool. Rise above it." Ralf is telling his girlfriend, a plea in his voice.

"Why should I? They turned up dressed as the fucking king and queen. The audacity! WE'RE THE KING AND QUEEN."

Jesse seems a bit dazed but holds up a hand. "Look it doesn't matter Nat. Like...it doesn't matter."

Natalie starts protesting and trying to get up again but Ralf won't let her. "Natalie, if you start something you will regret it."

"kill them with kindness...or indifference." Lissa says. She catches me taking a drink. Before I can feel guilty for being caught she takes it from me and sips it herself.

"Who are we talking about?" I ask.

"My ex-boyfriend is here." Lissa explains. "Aaron. He came with Mia."

"Yes, they're here but we knew they were coming so who cares? Let Aaron have his pity party. He's hooking up Mia, who cares? We all know he's not over Lissa, Lissa's got a thing with Christian now. It's all good." Jesse's says, trying to smooth everything over but at the mention of Christian and 'thing' the three of us look to Lissa.

She's gone a bit pink under what's left of her white make-up.

"Thing?" I ask, trying to sound even. I knew I picked up on something earlier but I'd been trying to ignore it.

"Well, no, I mean we're not…"

"We're not?" A voice muses and I stiffen.

Christian appears and perches himself on the corner of Lissa's seat. Her blush gets deeper.

Somewhere in my mind, I can see what they all see. He is undeniable handsome with his inky black hair (under the green) and bright blue eyes, tall, lean, and looking at Lissa in a way that somehow feels like it should be private. But the larger part of me, the instinctual part, only see's evil and the cruelty I know he's capable of. He might have shown me kindness but that was only because Victor had them cornered.

Everyone, mainly Natalie, has mellowed out by his arrival. Ralf doesn't have to restrain her at least.

Christina slips his arm around Lissa, hand resting on her hip. I drink my beer and feign being relaxed.

How weird things are. Sitting here, drinking alcohol with Moroi royals, the young Master no less, unafraid, angry, but looking at the same stars.

I hear Lissa make introductions between Christian and myself, a flutter of pleasure when she calls me her 'good friend' but I only nod my head a fraction of an inch in acknowledgment. Not even bothering to look in their direction. Natalie's frowning at me and the air gets a little awkward but I don't care.

"I don't want to hide from my party anymore." Natalie announces, her voice a little slurry.

"You promise you're not going to start anything?" Ralf asks and she answers by kissing him...very enthusiastically.

I don't wait for them and walk back to the dance floor with Jesse. Mason is easy to find, his red hair glinting. He's surrounded by people, the centre of attention, gesturing with his hands as he tells a story. He reaches for me, not breaking the flow of what he's saying, and tucks me into his side. And I realise what it is that I like about this. Everyone flocks to Mason, everyone likes his company and likes to be around him and he was choosing me. He wanted my attention and it gave me some sense of confidence and value. Like my place among these people is secure.

"Are you okay? You just ran off."

There's no way I'm telling him I nearly puked. "I needed to ask Adrian something."

He doesn't look particularly happy so I smile up at him until his expression relaxes. His gaze drops to my lips

"Who is this rando?" A girl demands loudly.

I turn to find the blonde Moroi lazily pointing at me and sniggering at the girl next to her. I note the gold crown atop her curly hair and the paper-thin silk dress clinging to her lean body. Mia.

I force myself to be still and not cringe away. Instead, I slowly look her up and down then I smile.

Like Mistress Ozera would.

"Play nice, Mia." Mason says. "This is Rose."

"From a community." The girl on Mia's other side supplies and the sniggering starts again.

"You must like Halloween." I say to Mia and her laughter trails off. "Gives you the chance to play Princess…seeing you're not a Royal and never will be."

I'd memorized that yearbook. I knew the Royal names.

Mia recovers quickly and I brace myself, willing my chin to stay up. "You must love a night off from being a Blood Whore. Although the night is still young, you could still end up on your back."

I can feel all the blood rushing to my head and my fist wants to be in her face.

Natalie appears at my side, teeth bared. "What the fuck, did you just say, to my friend?"

Ralf is behind her looking defeated, having spent the last hour trying to avoid this.

"I thought this was an exclusive party?" Mia says to her. "Is it true she lives here? Your daddy's Blood Whore in the -"

"Shut the hell up." Mason snaps. "Why did you bother coming if you were just going to be a bitch."

"That's the only reason she would. Lets be honest." Ralf chimes in.

"Watch it." A Moroi boy says looking at Ralf. He's tall, blonde, and also wearing a crown. Aaron.

"What's going on?" Lissa asks, coming to stand between me and Natalie. Her calm, mild presence balances out the hostility.

Aaron stares at her with a pained expression that quickly gives way to a scowl when Christian comes up behind her.

"Mia is being herself." Mason says. "C'mon let's go to -"

"What on earth are you dressed as?" Mia exclaims, an evil laugh following her words. "A used tampon?"

Lissa blinks and I can see even in the dim light her face is flooding with colour. I start toward Mia but Mason pulls me back whilst Natalie is spitting words.

"Man, take your little yappy dog outside." Christian says to Aaron.

Jesse is holding up his hands and trying to tell everyone to calm down. No one is listening to him. People have stopped dancing to look at us, some have their phones out.

"Why are you being so hostile? I just asked the question everyone is talking about. Does Victor Dashkov have a live-at-home Blood Whore? I mean, typical Dhampir slut with her tits out and -"

A shadow falls over Mia and the smirk drops from her face. Dimitri towers over her and Natasha is right beside him looking stern.

"What is going on?" She demands.

"None of your business." The words are out before I can think twice and she throws me a look.

"The first shuttle back to the academy is leaving soon." Dimitri says, he looks calm but there's an edge to his voice.

"We're not leaving." Mia says, somehow looking down her nose at him.

"I wasn't asking." Dimitri responds flatly. "You have disrespected your hostess' hospitality and your invitation here is now void."

"Who do you think you're talking to?" Aaron says, puffing out his chest. "Why don't you go back to work?"

"A Moroi brat." Dimitri replies coolly.

"I'm sure your father will be interested to hear all about this." Natasha says. "He's in town this week, no?"

"Your threatening to tell on us?" Mia smirks. "Oooh no."

"He couldn't get any more disappointed." Christian starts, voice laced with arrogance. "Not after his son went from dating a Princess to a Pauper."

And then I don't know what happens but suddenly our drinks explode and someone screeches.

"You vile bitch." Lissa shouts, beer glistening on her skin.

Dimitri blocks Aaron who is trying to reach Christian, Mason moves to help and I see Mia lunge for Lissa. I collide with her instead. We hit the floor and it's a mess of hair pulling and wrestling. I finally get her under me, unsure what I'm going to do now I've got the upper hand and I'm saved from figuring it out.

I'm plucked from the ground and Dmitri's voice tickles my ear. "Roza, stop."

Time slows with my back against his chest, his lips grazing my ear and I go completely still.

Then he lets me go and I slide down his torso, my feet hit the ground and my knees nearly buckle.

Natasha is holding Mia by the arm and hauling her toward the door. Dimitri gestures to Aaron to follow. Mason standing between him and us. Aaron throws Lissa the ugliest look before stalking off.

"I am so fucking sick of drama." Jesse mutters.

"Really?" Adrian says, staggering out of nowhere. "Because that was really entertaining."