Rose's POV

I was glad when it wasn't Christian that opened the door but Viktoria. Nevertheless, I knew Christian was somewhere in the room behind her, and we were seconds away from total chaos. At least I assumed it was going to be chaos. After all, Christian was about to meet his daughter, who he believed to have died before she was even born.

Both Dimitri and I received a hug from his sister before she turned her attention to the third visitor. She eyed Sunshine carefully, tilting her head in confusion. She looked at Dimitri questioningly. "A child? When you said you were bringing someone, I expected another guardian."

Before either of us could explain, Christian appeared behind Viktoria. Unlike her, though, he immediately noticed Sunshine. There was confusion at first, too, and then something else. Recognition, I supposed, when he looked into her eyes. And shock.

"This is Sunshine," I said, though I knew that wouldn't mean much to either of them. "Sunshine Dragomir."

Christian's head snapped up, and he was looking at me with wide eyes. "That's impossible."

"It's not. This is your daughter," Dimitri confirmed.

I expected outrage at the fact we'd kept this from him, but Christian's attention was already back on Sunny. They were both looking at each other but neither of them spoke. I couldn't imagine how strange this must have been for both of them.

Of course, Sunshine had always known that her parents were out there somewhere, but the only parent she had ever known was me. She turned towards me for help now, too, but I had no idea how to give it.

"I think we should maybe go inside," I said instead.

Everyone agreed. Once inside the room, Viktoria went to make some coffee for all of us. Dimitri joined her while Christian, Sunshine and I were standing in the middle of the room awkwardly. It was clear everyone somehow expected me to mediate but I had no clue how to handle any of this.

"Okay. This is weird," I expressed eventually. "Shouldn't you guys be, like, hugging and crying tears of joy or something?"

Christian looked at me. "Oh, I'm sorry that I need a second to get over the fact that I have an eight-year-old daughter that no one bothered to tell me about."

Ah, there it was. But this was something to be discussed later, among the adults, which became even more clear when I looked at Sunshine. Her bottom lip was quivering and I was certain she was going to cry if I didn't do something about it.

"Maybe you should pay some attention to her, then, and we can talk about all the other stuff later," I suggested, trying my best not to sound too harsh for Sunshine's sake rather than Christian's.

To his credit, he did just that. He turned to Sunny, addressing her for the first time. "Sunshine, right?"

Sunshine nodded, then asked, "You're... my father?"

"It appears so," Christian said and it was clear he found it strange to even say that. "I have to admit, I am a bit overwhelmed by all this, and I don't know how to react."

Sunshine contemplated that for a moment, but she already looked a lot less sad. Eventually, she gave him a hesitant smile. "That's all right. I don't really know what to say, either. Auntie Rose never told me much about you... or anyone else."

Christian looked at me again, and I shrugged. "Necessity."

He accepted that as an answer, then turned to Sunny again. "Do you want to sit? I could make you some tea and we could... I don't know... talk?"

Sunshine declined the offer of tea but did follow him to the small table in the corner of the room. I took this as my cue to join Viktoria and Dimitri. I could, of course, still hear them, and it was hard for me not to listen in and instead focus on my conversation with Dimitri and his sister.

He had given her a quick rundown of what had happened so far but, of course, Viktoria still had questions. I did my best to explain the whole Spirit dream situation to her while also listening to Sunshine tell Christian about life at St Vladimir's. She was becoming more and more at ease with every minute, which I tried hard to see as a good sign. Some selfish part of me almost wished she needed me to mediate, but I knew I had no right to think that way. Christian, on the other hand, was still somewhat reserved and tense – as if this was a dream he could wake up from any minute now.

Eventually, Dimitri and Viktoria seemed to realise that there was no way I could focus on a real conversation with them right now, and so we postponed the planning and scheming to a later point. It was better if Christian was a part of that conversation, in any case.

I had really hoped we would make it back before first period. As much as I didn't want to leave Sunshine, I had to trust that she was in good hands with Christian – who I was confident now, after a while of observation, was definitely getting better – and Viktoria, and I knew it wasn't a good look if I disappeared the same day Sunshine did.

Unfortunately, though, it was getting pretty late, and there was no way we'd be back before classes started. Dimitri had called Alberta and got her to cover my class and, I assumed, take on some of his responsibilities until we got back. It was good to have her on our side and I briefly wondered if we should include her in our mission to find the Mână's secret archives, but that was a thought for another time. Right now, we had to figure out what to do about Sunshine and those dreams.

Despite the danger sleep might have posed to her, we eventually put her to bed. She was exhausted, and we couldn't well deprive her of sleep. She knew now to reveal as little as possible to her interrogators should they visit her again, and we just had to hope that she would be able to withstand them. It pained me to know that letting her sleep meant possibly sending her to be tortured, but we would find a way to keep them out of her dreams. There had to be one, right? I also gave her my nazar in hopes that it would do something to protect her. I knew well that it, unfortunately, couldn't keep Spirit users from entering one's dreams, but maybe it could keep them from hurting her.

With Sunshine fast asleep, the four of us finally had our adult talk. Well, after Christian whisper-yelled at all of us for a good five minutes about keeping Sunshine's existence from him. With that out of the way, though, it was time to get scheming.

Christian, Sunshine, and Viktoria would have to leave, that much was clear. This motel was far too close to the academy still, and though we didn't think anyone had followed us, it was better to be safe than sorry. Dimitri suggested sending them to Baia – this had been their initial plan, but Christian had been in too bad of a condition – but I immediately shot that proposal down. It was bad enough that I couldn't stay with her. I wasn't going to move her somewhere completely out of reach.

Dimitri and I discussed back and forth, with Viktoria chiming in with an idea once in a while. Christian was largely silent until he, apparently, had enough of our suggestions that went nowhere.

"Here's an idea – how about I choose where we're going?" he said.

Dimitri and I exchanged a look and, in unison, told him, "Absolutely not."

"Oh, right, because I'm just a dumb, helpless Moroi," he said, rolling his eyes. "You know, I do think it would be a good idea if you guys didn't know where we were hiding."

I was about to tell him that, no, that was a horrible idea, when Viktoria agreed with Christian.

"You'd still be able to contact us, of course, but maybe it's better that way. If the bad guys get to you, then you can't give them any information. Even if they use compulsion."

That was a decent point, but I couldn't bring myself to like the idea. When Dimitri, too, stabbed me in the back by agreeing with them, I realised I was outnumbered.

"I think this is a terrible plan," I made sure to point out, "but I guess it's not up to me anymore."

The truth of that hurt more than I wanted to admit. Sunshine had, for all intents and purposes, been my daughter for years, but she was with Christian now. Her real parent. It was entirely up to him where he was going to take her. Maybe there was an argument to be made that I was kind of Sunshine's guardian still and therefore had the authority to make decisions that would keep her safe but, officially, I wasn't anyone's guardian. I was employed by the academy now. So, no, there wasn't anything I could do other than make my opinion known.

Christian turned to me and I was surprised by the empathetic expression on his face. "I know you've kept her safe until now and, believe me, I'm grateful for that. And I know that you've been there for her, too, when I couldn't be. But you have to trust us now. I'm not some helpless Moroi, you know that, and Viktoria is a certified badass."

"But—"

"Rose. I may not have known her before today, but she's my daughter. Do you really think I wouldn't do whatever it takes to keep her safe?" Christian asked.

He was right. And it wasn't that I didn't trust them. It wasn't even about the promise I'd made to Lissa. God, why was this so hard?

"I know. I do. I just…" I didn't know what to tell them, honestly. What I did know, though, was that I would probably start crying if I kept talking.

Suddenly, I felt Dimitri's comforting hand on my shoulder. "We all know how much Sunshine means to you, Roza, but that is why you have to let her go now."

And so, despite every fibre of my being hating this whole thing, it was decided that Dimitri and I would not be told where the other three would go come morning.