"What the fuck did you get yourself into" was the main thought I had during this car ride. Each time I glanced in the rearview mirror and caught sight of the two women in the backseat, visibly anxious, I wondered how it had happened.

Was it possible that Jill's kidnappers were going to meet at that random cafe I took Syndey to? It seemed like too fine a coincidence, however... even less likely things happened in the past. If it wasn't a trap (which I was going to find out about soon enough), we had to seize the opportunity.

Sara, a human, and Melanie, a dhampir, got into the car with me without too much trouble. Melanie, evidently Sara's personal guard, scrutinized the car before deeming it safe for their entry. The GPS was ready, so I set off using the directions on the screen. What a fun trip was ahead of us.

Melanie tried to ask me what would happen when we got there, but I silenced her by saying that I was only supposed to drive them there and mind my own business. She scuffed angrily but didn't speak again. Sara didn't say a word except a greeting. She looked out the window during the ride, clutching tightly the briefcase she had in her lap

What happened was less of a problem than what was about to happen. I tried not to overthink it too much, but I was just going to sneak into the property of Prince Drozdov, who had apparently kidnapped Jill to conduct some research on her. Pretend to be a guard hired by him, even though I knew almost nothing about his activity. And most importantly, I would have to outsmart them all to get Jill out and get her to safety.

I repeated in my head my rather limited plan of action during this hour-long journey. Hand the researchers over to these people. Discern the terrain and the number of people. Locate Jill. Call Dimitri (who probably was just cursing my ideas). Get Jill and myself out in one piece.

I also knew that in all of this, I had to pull my best acting skills so as not to give away my identity. If they discovered that Rose Hathaway had voluntarily slipped right into their headquarters they could prompt them to shoot first and question later. Well, my reputation was sometimes problematic.

The bright sun was blinding me so I put on sunglasses I found in the glove box. Melanie's eyes flickered to me and she watched vigilantly as I pulled out the glasses. One hand rested on her belt, where she no doubt had a gun. She was probably watching to see if I pulled out any weapon. She was ready to shoot me if necessary.

I wondered who Melanie was. And that guardian who came to pick them up. They were both dhampirs but had resigned from the service. This wasn't uncommon, but I had never heard of girls resigning from their guardian positions to become private bodyguards. And certainly not to humans. So why was Melanie protecting Sara? How did Sara know about vampires? Why was it a human who was supposed to do research on Jill? I'll probably find out the answers sooner than I'd like.

The ID of the guard I had defeated dangled around my neck. I knew thanks to it that I should respond to the name Vanessa Key, and I hoped that thanks to the QR code on the card, I would be able to open any door there.

With the last twenty minutes left, we drove into the woods and then onto an off-road gravel road. We were surrounded by a dark forest, without any sign of civilization - no mansions, no lamps, and of course no cameras. If I were to kidnap the princess I would choose this place myself. The sun was still lighting our way nicely despite the dense trees above us, but I hoped that before it went out me and Jill would already be on the paved road. Navigating this area without light could get us lost.

Eventually, the trees thinned out, and we entered a clearing. In the middle, at the end of the road, stood a sizable mansion that looked like an Art Nouveau monument. At once elegant and looking like a secure fort, it was perfect for the residence of one of the noble princes of Moroi.

I drove up to the gate at which the guard stood. I waved to him, praying that Adrian's spell would work. The guard nodded to me and opened the gate. It was only as I drove past him that I noticed something strange. It seemed to me that he was not a dhampir, but a human.

I parked the car in the wide driveway and signaled for the two women to exit Sara let out a trembling breath and smiled at Melanie.

"I told you everything would be fine," she said quietly. Melanie did not respond.

I went out first and took advantage of the few seconds to look around the premises. The property was surrounded by a rather high wall, but I thought that with a pull up I could manage to get over it. Four guards stood at the gate, watching us closely. Close to the walls of the residence, I saw five other guards, and in the corners, I saw cameras. Not good.

"This way," I pointed out the front door as if it wasn't obvious. I tried very hard to show them that this was not the first time I had seen this residence. We walked up the brick stairs, when fortunately the door opened and a woman who was definitely Moroi came out to us. She looked about fifty, elegantly dressed in a business skirt and shirt with nicely styled hair.

"Hello, Dr. McLean. Guardian Landers. On behalf of Prince Drozdov, I thank you most sincerely, for coming at such short notice" she shook their hands firmly.

"It's not a problem, me and the prince have been talking about this for a long time," replied Sara, "Although I admit, I did not expect to have the princess with us so soon."

"We had to act faster, but everything is under control now. I will escort you to a room where you can freshen up after your journey." The prince is at another estate, but he says he can come at any time. Do you wish to wait for him before seeing the princess?"

"I don't have to wait, I can start my research in the absence of the prince," Sara straightened up, her face lighting up with a desire to act. It was as if she had really waited a long time for this moment. I felt a tightness in my stomach. I had to find Jill before this woman could put her hands on her.

"In that case, we can start soon," the elegant woman smiled and clasped her hands. She directed her attention to me and nodded her head. "You did a good job, Ms. Key. Guardian Mayer is waiting for the report in his office," she pointed to the stairs leading upstairs, behind her back.

"Yes, ma'am" I replied and followed the women inside.

The hall of the mansion gave a regal impression. Marble floor, crystal chandelier, statues and columns as if from ancient Greece, and that sort of thing. It led to three rooms, and the stairs on either side of the wall converged on a balustrade on the second floor. Two guards stood motionless like statues at the front door, and three more were at each exit of the hall. I also noticed cameras recording all entrances. Holy shit, the level of security was reminiscent of Lissa's royal wing.

The woman led Sara and Melanie to the wing to the right of the entrance, and I wondered what chances I had of winning the fight with all of them, finding Jill, and getting us both out alive. None. I started to climb the stairs, hoping I had interpreted the women's movements correctly. On the first floor, I noticed two guards against the walls and five doors. I looked around for some clue as to the purpose of these rooms but had no luck.

"Are you looking for Mayer's room?" One of the guards asked me. I nodded, and he mumbled in displeasure. "You should familiarize yourself with the layout of the mansion, the first day is no excuse."

"I will," I replied. Before I had time to ask for details, I got distracted by observing the guard up close. I had no doubt that he was human. He rolled his eyes and pointed to the door for me

"Thanks," I muttered on my way out. Why the hell did the prince employ so many humans? These human guards literally swarmed around every corner, there were probably about thirty of them. With the vigilance, cameras and security, I doubted we had much chance of getting Jill out. If Dimitri had come here with all of the guardians we had available they probably would have been killed on the spot. Our only chance was to sneak out of here. I had to call Dimitri as soon as possible. Knowing him, he was already gathering armed forces to go here.

I knocked on the indicated door and when a male voice invited me inside, I went in. The office was disproportionately large and decorated for a command post. A massive wooden desk stood in the middle, and on the other side of it sat a man who looked like an experienced guardian. He nodded for me to approach but didn't offer a seat.

"Key. How did the trip go? Any complications?"

"No complications at all. I met them at the agreed cafe and immediately led them to the car. We didn't have any stops along the way."

"Did anyone follow you? Did anyone watch you when you left the cafe?"

"I didn't notice anything suspicious," I said briefly. He looked at my face with a stern gaze.

"I want to know if you are sure."

"I know that I didn't have a tail. I also know that I didn't see anyone suspicious in the parking lot or in the cafe, but they could always follow me from a distance, right? So as far as I know, yes, I'm sure, but I don't know if that's enough."

He gave a slight smile and nodded.

"And what did you tell them?"

"That I don't know the details, and my job is to get them here."

Satisfied, he stretched in his chair.

"Great. All indications are that we will no longer have to travel to this cursed city swarming with guardians. Thanks for agreeing to pick them up. I couldn't send a human, and all the other dhampirs are busy hiding their tracks from the guardians."

"No problem. I'm glad I could help," The words were sticking in my throat, but these guards seemed to accept them without any suspicion.

"You need to complete your training in defending the property. I think that you need to cover guarding the gate and monitoring."

Both options were tempting, but the answer was obvious.

"Monitoring seems more interesting."

"That's because you haven't done it yet," he winked at me, and I forced my lips to form a smile. He got up from his chair and led me to the door. We went downstairs where he opened a room full of monitors and computers. Inside sat one guy eating something that looked like Chinese soup, who smiled at me in a friendly way. Poor sucker.

"Is it my turn to do a tour of our humble abode?" He asked, spinning on a swivel chair and standing up. "My name is Mark, by the way," he said, shaking my hand.

"Vanessa," I replied, also smiling. Mayer left us alone, and Mark began his training, taking the trouble to ask if I wanted to rest. However, I wanted to learn as much as possible about the residence, the monitoring, and the communication system. I didn't have much time.

I allowed myself half an hour to familiarize myself with the area, including all entrances and the positions of the guards. Mark taught me how to communicate with everyone, how to switch cameras, and where the most important rooms were located.

He showed me Jill's room and my heart started beating faster at the sight of her. I forced all my strength not to show anything. Jill looked anxious, but there was no sign of any wounds or harm. Already in her room were Sara, Melanie, and the Moroi woman, who greeted us earlier.. For a moment I wanted to ask Mark who she was, but I was too afraid that maybe the answer was so obvious that it would arouse suspicion.

"Mark, I need to call my sister. How long will this training take?" I asked, fearing that I was wasting more and more precious time. He waved his hand.

"Probably only in an hour or two someone will take you over from here, but as for me, you can call right now. I won't turn you in," he winked at me and reached for his Chinese soup.

"Thanks," I whispered with exaggerated relief, reaching into my jacket and getting up. Only, once I was behind his back, I didn't take out my phone but a gun. I hit him very hard in the occipital area so that he banged his forehead against the desk and his Chinese soup spilled on the floor. I made sure he was unconscious, then locked the door and tied Mark up with his own pants belt. I felt cruel making a makeshift gag out of his socks, but I couldn't risk him screaming for help when he woke up.

I sat down at Mark's desk and dialed Dimitri's number. He picked up after about a second ring as if he had been waiting for this call.

"Rose, finally! Are you all right? Where are you?" The frantic tone of his voice betrayed how worried he was. I heard that he was driving.

"Everything is fine. I'm in this property, no one recognized me, and I'm now in the surveillance room. I know where Jill is and I'll get her out of here. There are too many guards here for us to get her out safely, don't come here."

"How many?"

"More than forty. Including human forces, I'm guessing they are some private security guards. Forcing our way in is not an option."

"So how are you going to get her out?" I heard him say through clenched teeth. I knew he wanted to get to us as soon as possible and personally take care of our safety.

"I want to direct them all to the front of the mansion and to the road leading here. And while everyone is concentrated there, I'll get to Jill and we'll leave through the backdoor. We will jump over the fence on the back and run through the woods, and you will pick us up at the nearest road. Do you have a map?"

I heard horns as he undoubtedly made some dangerous maneuvers to get on the side of the road. When he took out the map we discussed our options for some more time. He didn't like the plan. However, we both knew that I couldn't escape in the car because the road and gate were too tightly controlled. So we could resort to getting Jill out by the backdoor or attacking the mansion at the front. In my opinion, we didn't have enough people, not to mention the fact that we weren't supplied - no vests, no helmets. Dimitri knew this too, but he feared for us.

"In the woods, you don't know the terrain, you can get lost or run into them once they start looking for you. And we have to capture them anyway," he tried to convince me.

"I agree, but only when we are prepared for it. When we'll have men and equipment, and Jill will not be in this building. Pull a team to attack right now, while I evacuate Jill. The only downside is that then we might lose the element of surprise and me on the inside.

"It looks like the element of surprise is not that important, since they have every square meter manned," I heard him sigh and could almost imagine him dragging his hand across his face, "We can do as you say. I will set up patrols on the road and we will wait for you. And when we have both of you, we will attack the headquarters. But I beg you, watch out for yourself and Jill."

"Don't worry comrade, have a little faith in me," I said looking at the list of positions of all the guardians and already thinking where to send them. "Anyway, see you soon."

"Be careful. I love you. Bye."

He hung up, and I didn't wait a moment longer. I switched on the mic for the earpieces worn by the guards, I informed them that court guardians' cars were spotted on the road to the residence. I ordered a lineup at the entrance gate, in the lobby, and front of the door. I noticed a commotion on the cameras when Mark's phone rang. I answered it.

"What's going on, Mark?" growled Mayer.

"Mark left the phone and ran to Roger at the gate." I looked at the list of guards and their positions. "He told me to repeat all this and wait for your orders."

"How many cars are there? Is Mark sure they are guardians?"

"We are sure. There were five of them," I lied and heard Mayer cursing.

"Have the number of guards in the princess room increased. Let this researcher and her bodyguard wait in her bedroom."

"Yes sir," I said and hung up. I connected with the guard outside Jill's room.

"Mayer ordered to escort Dr. McLean her guardian to their bedroom and watch over them there."

The guard listened and escorted them. I called the guards in Jill's hallway and had them join the protection outside. Finally, I took out the main computer and destroyed it, kicking it and smashing it to pieces just like I did in Tarasov. All the screens showed a white-black crackling image. I wasn't going to leave them the surveillance footage.

I went out into the empty hallway, locked the door, and took a circuitous route, knowing how to avoid the guards. I reached Jill's room and discovered that one of the guards was inside. The one who had shown me the way to Mayer's office. Jill was sitting hunched over on the bed, looking at me with concerned eyes. For a moment I wanted to run up to her and hug her, but we didn't have time. Instead, I turned to the man.

"Sorry, this must be a mistake. I was sent to watch over the princess. Others were told to protect the residency."

"Meyer personally asked me to protect the princess," the guard replied to me in a grave voice. He looked at me distrustfully, and I decided I'd had enough. Adrenaline was coursing through my veins and I was ready to fight with an entire army, let alone with this sucker.

"Ah, in that case, no problem," I said and launched myself at him. The element of surprise was mine, and although he recovered relatively quickly, he had no chance to defend himself from the second blow that followed the first. I heard Jill's stifled cry as my fist hit his face, and as he fell I brought my knee down on his head. He fell unconscious, and I looked at Jill.

"Don't say you feel sorry for him, Jill," I said, ripping the spell necklace from my neck. I don't need it anymore anyway.

"Rose!" Jill jumped to her feet and in a blink of an eye, she was already in my embrace. I allowed myself a second to hug her and relish the fact that she was healthy, unhurt, and alive, despite her pale and weakened appearance.

"I hope you didn't think we would leave you. But come on, we have to hurry!" I pulled her by the arm and led her out into the empty hallway. I led her through the door outside, looking around. There were no guards anywhere to be seen.

"We need to run to that fence," I pointed at the high wall and pushed her to run after me. We rushed as fast as we could and when we got there, I indicated to Jill to stand on my hands, which I presented to her. I hoisted her up and she helped herself with her hands and found herself on the other side of the wall. I sped up and jumped, catching myself on the wall. Under my breath, I praised every cruel arm-strengthening exercise Dimitri required of me. I pulled myself up and climbed to the top of the wall. In a second I was already landing gracefully on the ground. Jill was lying on her side as if her fall was less elaborate.

"Are you okay?" I asked while helping her up.

"Yeah, just…"

"Hey!" shouted someone to our left. Suddenly a single guard emerged from behind a corner, running towards us. He pulled out a gun. I pushed Jill toward the trees.

"Hide and run if I die!"

The guard fired, and although I didn't hear the gunshot, I felt the bullet tear the skin on my arm. I stifled a scream rising in my throat. It hurt like hell, but I hoped the bullet only grazed my skin. When the guard aimed at me once again, he was close enough for me to throw myself at him. The gun fired again with a quiet, stifled sound, but missed me. I knocked the guard to the ground and punched him in the face. He kicked me trying to break free, however, my second blow rendered him unconscious. I took the gun from him and ran toward Jill, who had emerged from behind a tree.

Without a word, I grabbed her by the arm and started running as fast as I could. I checked beforehand that the road on which we were supposed to find Dimitri was south of the mansion, so we had to run towards the setting sun. How romantic. I didn't comment on this, however, because I was too busy running as hard as I could, keeping Jill close to me. I looked at the wound on my arm. Just as I had hoped it was superficial - the bullet had only scraped my skin. It hurt, but the bleeding wasn't serious enough to worry about.

"Rose… how… much… longer… - breathed out Jill behind me. I knew she must have been in worse shape than I was, but I was hoping she would run a little longer. Probably the combination of sleep deprivation and blood deficit had weakened her. I didn't slow down though.

"Just a little longer, Jill," I said. "We need to run as fast as possible. Put some distance between them and us. Then we'll slow down."

Running through the woods is harder than it sounds. There was no path so we had to run through the sharp branches and bushes smearing us. Jill constantly tripped over tree roots and various holes. It wasn't long before we both had numerous wounds from the sharp branches that cut our cheeks, foreheads, and hands.

By the time I received the very alarmed news through the earpieces, dusk was already falling. The guards discovered that they could not get into the monitoring room. After running for half an hour, Jill could barely walk, so we switched to a fast march. With no signs of the road I started to worry, we weren't heading south after all. My greatest fear was that we would turn a circle and immediately return to the property, where I would be shot and Jill would be kidnapped.

I called Dimitri, but he couldn't help me much. He said that a large squad of guardians was waiting for us all along the road so in twos they would go into the woods looking for us. The rest, with proper equipment, just attacked the property. I warned him that we were probably being chased by a handful of guards and that my phone might soon die, so we quickly hung up.

Night had fallen, and despite pushing through the woods, there was no sign of it ending anytime soon. Jill was slowly losing energy. They wouldn't let her sleep, so after such a hard walk, she felt extremely exhausted. I tried to keep her spirits up by telling her how I had come across her trail, but I could see that she wouldn't be able to walk for long. I was beginning to sag, but the fear that we were going in circles and the guards would find us soon prevented me from stopping. Of course, I took the map, but it was completely useless. If I get out of this, I'll start carrying a mini compass with me.

At one point, Jill's legs gave way and she said she was unable to continue walking. She was too tired. I considered taking a break, but fear won out. I took her on my back, feeling every pound of her body painfully. I was weakened, and one hundred pounds of ballast pinned me to the ground, but I kept going. I couldn't let them find us.

The moon rose above the trees and I knew we were nowhere near the road. We had walked too long. My legs were shaking in the effort, and Jill's inert weight was crushing me painfully. I felt like my spine was going to break.

When I felt a burning sensation in my heart I stopped and gently slid Jill off my back, clutching at my chest. I was panting heavily, trying to fight the pain.

"Rose, what's going on?" Jill asked with concern. She knelt beside me and looked at me in horror.

"It's nothing, Jill, it's just the reminders of the gunshot," I choked out, "Come on. We need to move on," I ordered, lifting myself with effort. Jill nodded, knowing that I could no longer carry her. I looked at the sky trying to figure out the directions of the world and moved in the direction that to the best of my knowledge was east. Clutching the spot of piercing pain around my heart, I wasn't going to stop. Not now.

We continued walking for some time when I thought I heard someone's footsteps. I stopped us and determined that someone was definitely approaching us. I had Jill hide behind a bush. I crouched down with her, listening. I had a gun in my hands, though they were trembling so terribly that I didn't know if I could aim well enough at my opponents.

I saw two sheaves of light from flashlights. I prayed that they were our guards. And if not ours, that I would have the strength to defeat these two opponents. I could feel my muscles straining to fight, and blood boiling in my vessels. I was ready to fight to the death.

"Oh look! I have some trace!" said Eddie's voice in a loud whisper. Relief flooded through my mind, making me feel reckless.

"Eddie!" I called out, emerging from behind the tree. If I was wrong, I was already dead.

"Rose!" I heard Dimitri's tense voice, which I couldn't mistake for any other.

They were immediately at my and Jill's side. Without thinking what I was doing, I threw myself into Dimitri. He opened his arms invitingly and held me close to him.

"Roza, love," he murmured into my hair. His voice hid all the fear and concern for me. I began to shiver both because of the cold and descending emotions, so he covered me with his duster and hugged me tightly, pressing me close to him. His arms provided the much-needed sense of security. It seemed to me that he was hugging me as tightly as I was hugging him, we both needed the reassurance that we were by each other's side.

"God, I was so afraid we were going in circles," I murmured into his chest. I heard Eddie say something to Jill in a hushed tone.

"Shhh. It's okay, we got you. Don't worry about anything," replied Dimitri reassuringly, kissing my forehead, "I was also very scared," he said in a whisper, "But I'm here with you. And you are completely safe." It was a small lie, but I was overjoyed to hear it.

He leaned back to assess my battered face and was not happy. He stroked my cheek gently.

"I can't believe this Rose-plan worked out," he said, a little stunned, smiling as lightly as possible. This made me laugh slightly.

"I don't believe it either, but that's the peculiarity of Rose-plans."

He and Eddie inspected our wounds, called that they had us, and we started walking toward the road. It turned out that we had been walking for fourteen kilometers along the road, which was three kilometers away. We had gone too far away and the south led parallel to the road, not straight to it. When Jill and I found this out, we started laughing hysterically. We were exhausted.

Eddie carried Jill in his arms. Dimitri also offered to carry me, but I knew it was dangerous, so he supported me with one arm around my waist so that he had the other hand free. Although he tried to relieve my every step, walking those three kilometers felt like torture. Each step caused me pain, but I didn't tell Dimitri this. I had the feeling he knew anyway. Once more along the way, he offered to carry me, but I dismissed him by saying that I didn't want to look like a damsel in distress. He shook his head and muttered, "Even if you wanted to...".