"I left because of your father."

I narrowed my eyes at Dimitri. "What does that mean?"

"That day at the Academy? Abe was there. I assume Janine called him," Dimitri said. "He threatened my family. He demanded that I leave the Academy and cease all contact with you immediately or else."

"Or else?" I asked incredulously.

Dimitri's face was grim. "You may have heard stories about Abe, Rose, but you haven't seen what I've seen. They don't call him Zmey just to give him a nickname. I loved you, I still do, but I couldn't choose you over my family. I'm sorry."

I took a step back. "I wouldn't have asked you to. I just wanted to understand."

"I wish I could have explained it to you then or in the years since. But not telling you was one of the stipulations of Abe leaving my family alone."

"If you're so scared of him, why have you been talking to me and attempting to corner me since you got here?"

"The night of Lissa and Christian's wedding, he approached me after the reception and ended our deal. He said it was because you were an adult and could make your own choices, but I think it was actually him trying to do damage control before you found out."

A bitter laugh escaped my mouth. "So, for over a week now, you could have been explaining?"

Dimitri gave me a look. "When have you given me the chance? You've pushed me away every single time that I've tried to talk to you."

I crossed my arms. "The day after the wedding, instead of trying to explain, all you seemed interested in was shoving your tongue down my throat."

"And you seemed very receptive to that," Dimitri shot back. I glared, and he shook his head, rubbing a hand over his face. "Should I have led with that? No, but I don't regret it. I've waited three and a half years to kiss you again. Had I known you thought I was with Tasha because I'm her guardian, I probably would have cleared that up first."

"Were you talking to Abe at the bar last night?" I asked, changing the subject.

Dimitri nodded. "I told him that I was telling you what happened. I needed you to know the full truth now that I could talk to you. That, and I was tired of being afraid of Abe. He's a man of his word, which is the only trustworthy thing about him. He won't do anything to my family, not now."

"Then why didn't you say anything last night?"

"You were clearly waiting for someone, and I didn't know how this conversation would go. I didn't want to ruin your night," he said.

I laughed bitterly but miraculously held my tongue before I could say something I couldn't take back. "I don't even know what you want me to say."

"I just wanted you to know the truth. I know it's a lot," Dimitri said. "But I need you to know that I still love you. I never stopped. And I'd like to try again when you're ready – if you're ever ready."

I shook my head, taking another step back. "I need time. This is too much."

I saw the pain flicker in Dimitri's eyes for a moment before his guardian mask dropped into place, despite his words. "I understand. You know how to get ahold of me."

I nodded, not saying anything.

"If you take away anything from this, just remember that I never stopped loving you."

Dimitri bent over and picked up the suitcase he was carrying. Without saying anything else, he walked past me toward where Tasha had walked. I didn't say anything either as tears stung the corners of my eyes. I barely made it to my apartment inside the palace building before I collapsed against the wall, sobbing.

Lissa was waiting in the apartment, and as soon as she saw me collapse, she hurried to my side, holding me as I cried for the years that I had lost and the pain that I had gone through. I cried until my pain and sadness turned to anger, building in my body until I couldn't contain it any longer.

When my tears finally subsided, I told Lissa the short version of what Dimitri had told me. I felt her anger growing with each word that I spoke.

Lissa glanced at her watch, and I knew what she was going to say before she spoke. "We have a while before sunset. We'll be fine as long as we're back in Bethlehem before then."

She owned a small house near Lehigh's campus that had wards laid every other week and a constant guardian rotation, protecting her whenever she was outside of Court's borders. Whenever we traveled back, we always made sure to get back under the cover of the wards before sunset. It was one thing that the rest of Lissa's guardians insisted on, especially after what happened to Tatiana. They also prevented her from taking any evening classes at Lehigh to limit the amount of time that she would be outside of the wards in the dark.

"Thank you," I said. "I'll be back soon."

I pulled out my phone and texted Abe, asking him to meet. He responded in seconds, agreeing to meet me in ten minutes in a garden across Court. I left the apartment on a mission, intent on giving Abe a piece of my mind.

Abe was already in the garden when I reached it, even though it was a few minutes before our agreed upon time.

"Hello, Rose," Abe said, his voice wary.

"Old man," I said, trying to keep the anger out of my voice.

He studied me silently. "I take it you've talked to Belikov."

It wasn't a question, but that didn't stop me from answering it.

"Yes, and I have a question." I paused before fixing him with a glare. "Who the fuck do you think you are?"

Something glinted in Abe's eyes, but it didn't scare me. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me," I snapped. "Who do you think you are to interfere in my life, to think you know what's best for me?"

"I'm your father," Abe started.

"You may be my father biologically, but don't delude yourself for one minute thinking that that means you have any say in my life."

"It was for your own good."

"My own good?" I hissed. "You didn't even know me – you still don't. How dare you think you know what is best for me."

"Your mother asked me to interfere, and though you're right and I wasn't in your life at the time, I thought it was the right thing to do. You were underage, Rose."

I scoffed. "I was barely underage. And seventeen for a guardian is practically middle-aged. We both know how short dhampir lives – because we're always risking our necks for entitled Moroi like you. Do you have any idea what the past four years were like for me? You think that was the right thing to do? It absolutely destroyed me. But you wouldn't know that because you weren't there to see it."

"Rose—"

"I don't want to hear it. I want you to stay the fuck out of my life. I don't need you or anyone else thinking they know what's best for me."

I walked away without letting Abe get another word in. I was back at the palace in less than ten minutes, where Lissa was waiting for me. She looked at me expectantly, but I just shook my head.

"Let's get you back to Lehigh."