Hoppy Easter Everyone!

My mother's eyes darted around the room as she sipped her tea. I think she felt out of her element here. She and Dimitri were the only Guardians here, and to her, she was outnumbered. She didn't see us as threats, but I know that Jordan made her feel on edge.

"How well do you know Jordan?"

I shook my head. "Not well. He was only here for a few months after I joined. Terrifying, honestly. His powers are dangerous and amazing at the same time," I whispered as I poured myself a cup of tea. I sat up straighter when he came into the kitchen. He looked over the two of us, his eyes narrowing in on my mom. He looked better than he did last night, his skin looked healed and he didn't look like he had been sleeping outside.

"What?" I asked him. I didn't like how his eyes lingered on my mom. It was unsettling. He came around the island quickly and rested his fingers against the side of Mom's head, pressing against her temple. It was just for a moment, but I knew that it didn't take long for him to do anything. I stood up but he waved a hand at me.

"Easy. I was helping, not hurting," he said as he reached for the coffee pot on the opposite counter.

"How?" I demanded. He looked at me and then at Mom.

"You didn't tell her?" he asked.

"Tell me what?" I asked looking at her.

"I wasn't cleared to visit you because my charge gave me time off. I was offered retirement instead of being fired," she explained, "I was having migraines."

"Migraines? The Guardians don't offer someone retirement because of migraines. Or fire people for them."

"They do when they are caused by tumours," Jordan interjected and I felt my eye bug out of my head. Jordan looked up from his coffee cup and shrugged.

"Relax. I took care of it. And it won't come back," he said and I looked at my mom.

"You never said anything," I said quietly.

"I just found out myself. I wasn't sure how to tell you," she said tiredly, "I didn't want to worry you."

I sighed and sat back down, shaking my head.

"Does Abe know?"

Mom sighed and pursed her lips. "I was told by the doctor I needed someone to drive me home from the appointment," she explained and I nodded, covering my hands with my face.

"Never mind," I said quietly and picked up my phone when it buzzed it against the counter. I furrowed my brows as I looked at the unknown number. It was a Court phone number, that much I knew. But other than that, I was lost.

I wasn't sure about accepting the call either. I jumped when Dimitri spoke.

"That's the Princess's phone number," Dimitri said as he walked around me.

I sighed quietly and excused myself, picking up the call.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Rose? It's Lissa."

I walked out to the living room and sat down.

"Hi. How did you get my number?"

"Eddie. I hope you don't mind. I just…I wanted to check in on you."

I felt my brows raise. "It's been a little more than a year, Lissa. It's kind of late to 'check in' on me. Why are you really calling."

She was quiet on the other end.

"I can't say it over the phone. I don't know if anyone is listening. But I need to see you. It's important. Do you remember the summer place?"

I licked my lips as I thought it over. It was hazy, but I remembered what the place looked like.

"Vos Lake?" I asked, hoping that she would get the hint after a moment.

"Yes," she said slowly after a minute, "Meet me there in two days?"

"I'll be there. But I won't be alone," I said.

"I expected as much. I'll have to travel with my Guardian, but they can be trusted," she said, "Be careful, Rose."

Lissa hung up after that, not much more of a goodbye. I was surprised by the call, and I wasn't sure what to make of it. I went back into the kitchen and frowned at Dimitri.

"Lissa wants to meet me in Spring Lake," I said as I sat down.

"Spring Lake?" Mom asked.

"Her parents used to have a summer house in Spring Lake. It's about an hour or so from here," I explained and rubbed my fingers together.

"Is it safe to trust her?" Gabriel asked as he approached me at the island, his hand resting on my back.

I glanced at Dimitri. If anyone was to judge who was safe to interact with at Court, it would be him.

"Vasilissa is not a pawn that can be used. She's too politically visible. If anything, she'd swing for our team. She's always been for the lesser side. She's very much like her father in that way," Dimitri explained, "We can trust her."

It had been years since I had been here. I sort of forget about it too. The heat was intense, almost too much for me to comfortably enjoy. When I checked out the summer house, I found that there were no stakes around the property. It appeared that Court officials weren't caring for the property. That was partially in my favour, but not at the same time.

"Fancy place," Gabriel mused with his hands in his pockets. I rolled my eyes.

"It was. I don't know if anyone took care of it after the Dragomirs died," I said as I walked along the sand. Dimitri was doing a sweep of the property too, neither of us leaving things to chance.

"Are you okay?" he asked, his knuckle brushing under my chin. I looked up at him and shrugged. I could see my reflection in his sunglasses. I looked exhausted but haunted at the same time. Pun unintended.

"I'm fine," I whispered as Dimitri came back. I gave him a tight smile too and he nodded at Gabriel. I didn't exactly pick them to come, they made the decision together. Not that I minded. My two best guys wanted to make sure I was safe. But if this was a trap, they were my biggest weaknesses.

"How much longer until they arrive?"

"Any minute now," I said as I shook my foot to get the sand out of my shoe. I saw the Guardian vehicle pull up to the front of the house and I gestured to the guys. We walked up to the front of the house and met them as Lissa got out of the car. The sun was still high in the sky, midday for the human world.

Lissa squinted against the sun, sliding her sunglasses on as her Guardian came around and handed her an open parasol.

"Thank you," Lissa said quietly before regarding me with a small smile, "Rose. You look good."

"Thanks," I said with a bob of my head. Lissa gestured to her Guardian to hand back as we walked back towards the beach. She was in a pair of slacks and a light button-up shirt. I knew that she did it to protect her skin from the sun, and I could smell the specialized sunscreen wafting from her skin.

"Thank you for meeting with me," she said as she walked, rubbing her brow with her thumb, "I was shocked to be honest."

"Why?"

"Cause I asked you so many times through the bond and no response," she said and it clicked.

"Liss; I was on some heavy-duty medication for a while. Between coming off them and the ghosts, I tend to tune everything out. I happen to do it while people are talking to me too. I have two little birdies on my shoulder all the time," I explained, "I wasn't ignoring you. I just didn't hear you."

"I had heard that your…gift had become stronger. Any friendly ghosts that hang out?"

"Mason," I said with a nod of my head, "Ivan Zeklos funny enough."

Lissa nodded and she bit her lip, readjusting the grip on her parasol.

"Do you…"

"I've seen them a few times. Andrea comes in from time to time. Your parents not so much, but I usually see them around the holidays. They like to check on you. Your mother likes that you kept the house the same. She said that she's proud of you," I interjected, knowing what she was asking. I would have told her even if she didn't ask. It was a normal question to ask as someone who lost everyone that she held most dear in one night.

Lissa nodded and smiled. It was an improper smile, one that showed her fangs. Moroi had perfected smiling without showing their fangs, but she used to smile while showing them when she was alone or when we were younger.

"So, what did you need to tell me?"

"The council gave me my seat on the Royal Council despite not having a forum. They've been doing a lot of talking about ambushing Project Nighthall. They've been waiting for the right time. They know that you had Guardians keep an eye on the house since you left. They think it's a few Court Guardians, but I know that your father is keeping an eye on the house. You have to be careful," she urged quietly.

"He has more Guardians than he needs," I said with a roll of my eyes, but it was necessary.

"Do you remember Robert?"

Lissa shivered. "Yes. Why?"

"He's trying to go after people who were involved with Viktor's arrest. He's already tried to take a run at me a few times."

"Oh?" she asked, her pale brows furrowing under her sunglasses, "How?"

"He can manipulate the dead too. He's been sending this thing after me. Where I live is heavily warded and protected, but when I step outside of it, it's usually waiting for me. I'm safe here because he doesn't know where I am right now," I explained and ran my fingers through my hair.

"I'm sorry. That's terrible," Lissa sympathized and glanced over her shoulder before she smiled.

"Who's the tall one?" she asked. I knew she knew who Dimitri was and rolled my eyes again. They were about ten feet back from us, walking with Lissa's Guardian.

"Gabriel, and he can hear you, by the way."

"How?"

"Werewolf," I grinned, "I'm his mate. Which is why the Royals think they can use me as leverage against the members of Nighthall. Pack mentality and me being his mate puts his instincts into overdrive."

Lissa smiled. "So…mate?"

"Our relationship is very much like yours and mine was. It's platonic, but we hold each other in high regard. He means everything to me, and thankfully, he is very accepting of the man in my life. In fact, he and Dimitri I think will be thick as thieves as time goes on," I said with a grin, glancing over my shoulder too, winking at the men behind us.

Lissa grinned. "So you and Dimitri?"

"We're testing the waters again," I said as we walked, the sand kicking up as we did.

"I'm doing what I can to collect information, but a lot of people have been disappearing or dying at Court. You need to be careful. They aren't playing around. They will do what they can to control you."

I nodded and looked at her with a tight smile.

"I will, I promise. And thank you. But you need to be careful too. You're the last Dragomir, but they're dangerous. They will dispose of you if they find out that you're involved. They killed Alto," I explained, stopping and pulling her to a stop with me.

She sighed and lifted her sunglasses, her green eyes filled with worry.

"It's terrible. They ruled it off as an accidental overdose. But anyone that knew Alto knew that he was ten years sober and happily that," Lissa said. I gaped at her but cleared my expression. I had no idea, but that was his business and I was proud of his dedication.

"He visited me after he died. He seemed oddly at peace with it," I said as we started walking again.

"How have you been?" I asked her.

She shrugged. "I've been alright. Had a lot of things I had to make up for in the last year. I just finished my first year at Lehigh, and started to rekindle my relationship with Christian. It's been slow, but it's been nice," she said as she looked up towards the sky, a sigh leaving her lips.

"I haven't thought about this place in such a long time," she said with a shake of her head, "Remember when we were stupid and got sunburnt that one year? The year we tried to switch to day time schedule so we could experience more while on vacation?"

"I remember you looking like a second-degree burn victim while I walked away with a golden tan," I pointed out and she laughed, adjusting her parasol again.

"I miss when our lives were simple like that, just about hanging out with friends and talking about boys and ripping posters out of J14 magazine," she said nostalgically, a soft smile on her lips.

"Oh man, those Twilight posters and Taylor Lautner. He was definitely the hotter one," I laughed and tied my hair up so it was off my neck.

"Those were the days," she laughed and brushed her hair away from her face. "Look. Guardian Marshall said he was going to sweep the house. Let's go back to the house and catch up. We can save the really heavy conversation for over a bottle of wine?"

I smiled and nodded. "I'd like that. And we did a sweep of the house when we got here too," I said as I steered her back towards the house.

Watching the sunset from the living room window was beautiful and I felt like I could breathe for the first time in a while. I had grown close with Emily, but there was something about being in Lissa's presence that was comforting. Maybe it was because there was nothing to hide there. She already knew everything.

Sure our relationship didn't end well when I left Court, but Lissa had talked about it when we got back to the house. She made amends for her actions and I did the same.

"Where did your friend go? He went outside a while ago," Lissa mused as she filled our wine glasses. It was the second bottle we'd had. Large bottle.

I shrugged. "He's probably doing a sweep. He's as obsessed about safety as a Guardian," I said as I clicked my glass against hers.

"He's very handsome," she pointed out.

"Eddie thinks so too," I laughed and Lissa sputtered on her glass.

"I'm not surprised. He's not as tact as he thinks he is," she laughed, "But then again, most Guardians don't know others well. I'm just lucky enough to know him before he was a Guardian."

I giggled. "He has the best of both worlds," I teased. I had teased Eddie with that line many times, and he always laughed. He knew that I accepted him for who he was, and we had spent time together at a club picking out dates for the night.

Dimitri was sitting at the island with Guardian Marshall. Lissa said she had a secondary who was female, but she didn't trust her the way she trusted Marshall. Lissa stood up when the stove dinged, signalling whatever snack she was making us was ready. As she passed the backdoor, it rattled before swinging open. Lissa shrieked, dropping her glass as she jumped and all of us were on our feet. I was the first to get to her but realized the reason for her fear.

"Gabe!" I exclaimed but then something else dawned on me.

"Oh my God! You phased on command!" I exclaimed, kneeling down and throwing my arms around his neck. He whined and grunted in my ear, his snout rubbing against my cheek.

"He's never done that?" Marshall asked.

"No, and usually Rose knows if he needs to phase," Dimitri said, scratching behind Gabriel's ear. Most would assume it would be insulting, but Gabriel let on that most times, he felt itchy after a phase because of the intense change, and it always felt good to be scratched after.

"That's great. And he clearly knows how to open doorknobs," Lissa laughed as she bent down to pick up the large shards, "Be careful not to step on the glass. I don't know how to take splinters out of a wolf's paw."

Gabriel snorted and moved towards the couch, sniffing the air before climbing onto the couch I was sitting on. Lissa smiled but went into the kitchen, pulling something out of the oven and setting it on the stove.

I grabbed the paper towel and cleaned up the wine and the remaining shards before sitting on the couch, rubbing Gabriel's face. He whined and panted, putting the full weight of his face into my hand.

"Has Gabriel never been able to phase on command?" Lissa asked as she brought something to the table, it looked like a white circle with honey on it.

"Never. Gabriel is part of the program because of what appears to be a genetic mutation that affected his lycanthropy. His phases are painful and long. He wasn't able to complete a phase until a few months ago."

Lissa frowned as she sat down. "That's terrible."

"That is that?" I asked pointing at the plate on the table.

"Brie," I heard multiple voices say, Dimitri grinning at me from the island. I rolled my eyes and looked at him before looking back at the plate in front of me. I picked up one of the crackers and dipped it into the cheese, scooping up the gooey cheese and some of the fruit preserve and put it into my mouth. I had to admit it was delicious and I nodded as I chewed. Gabriel pawed at my leg, his ears twitching as he looked at me and then pointedly to the plate.

I scoffed and put some of the cheese onto a cracker and fed it to him, laughing as he smacked his lips together.

"If you phase back, you can have more," I teased and kissed his snout. He grunted and jumped off the couch, pawing at the door. Apparently, he wasn't going to be able to operate the interior door, just the outside.

"He knows everything we're saying, right?" Lissa asked as she sat down, pouring herself a new glass of wine.

"Oh yes. Very smart. Too smart for his own good," I mused as I glanced at my watch. I wanted to see how long it took for him to phase. If he could phase on command, now we just needed to work on how long it took to do it.

Lissa and I kept up with our chitchat when there was a knock on the door about a half hour later. The door opened and Gabriel smiled at us as he came in, a sheen of sweat on his forehead.

"That was fast," I said, thinking about how far he would have travelled away from the house. Mostly because Lissa was here and he didn't want the presence of Moroi blood to interact with the phase. He had great control, but even the Moroi would still set his genes on edge. He would recognize the threat even if they truly weren't.

"I think I've made some real progress," Gabriel said with a grin, going into the hall to wash his face and then came back out. I could tell from here he didn't go through the usual issues when he phases. He wasn't sweaty like he would usually get, and didn't seem drained.

"Good."

Gabriel gestured to the spot beside me and I nodded, sitting down beside me. Lissa pushed the plate towards us and I stood up to grab a plate for Dimitri and Marshall, but saw that Lissa had also made a baked brie for them too.

I sat back down and got comfortable on the couch.

"So, where did you learn to make this?"

"Christian. I can barely cook," Lissa laughed as she dug into the cheese.

I snorted a laugh. I always knew I wasn't the only one.