I had learnt that there truly wasn't much important information or clues yet. This proved the coming up with theories an excruciatingly painful and difficult task which reaped no rewards. I had given up after trying to make everything add up, but with so much information missing, anything could have been possible. Not that I wasn't helping. I had booked flights back to Pennsylvania for tomorrow, and we would be back there with a few hours to survey court before nightfall. I felt poignant—and angry at the other guardians. At least one of them, if not two, should be stuck to her side at all times, not leaving unless it was to tackle a strigoi, or anything else that threatened Lissa's safety. I was also upset at the guardians monitoring the gate, but some place inside me knew better, they had most likely fallen prey of some compulsion.

"Rose, we need to get some sleep before we leave. As much as possible." Dimitri says, studying my face. I sigh and get up from my seat.

I wake up to darkness. I pick up my phone without disrupting Dimitri—who was asleep with his arms around me—to check the time. The screen displayed that it was just past two am. I readjust my position, and Dimitri wakes up. Us dhampir guardians were taught to sleep lightly, and to wake up at the slightest noise or movement.

"Roza are you okay?" He asks sleepily. It was pretty cute. However, I would have enjoyed it a whole lot more if my best friend being missing wasn't stuck on my mind.

"I am fine." I think about my word choice and clarify. "Well, as okay as I could be right now."

Dimitri wraps his arms around me protectively. I relax into his embrace. It was amazing how he could make me feel safe in the most haunting experiences. I bet if we were surrounded by strigoi and he held me like this, I would feel entirely at peace. Right now, I wanted to do things with him—anything—especially the more intimate of things.

But we couldn't. Not with what was going on, and I didn't feel right doing it at his family's home. I felt bad enough sharing his bedroom! We had to get Lissa back, and I was prepared to do anything it took to do so. Even if it meant sacrificing my life for hers. Most guardians were one of the most selfless people you would ever meet in your life, and I was one of them. We had it ingrained in us since were tiny, innocent people that the moroi came first.

"I can't get back to sleep." I whine, sitting up. Dimitri groggily heaves his tall torso up to look me in the eyes.

"Roza, it's two am." He says. "You have plenty of time to try and fall back asleep."

"Exactly. Try. I sure can try, but I know for sure I won't be able to sleep. I can't just lie there awake. I need to do something to keep my mind off Lissa." I get up and change into some ripped jeans and a t-shirt that were sitting neatly beside the bed. "I'm going for a walk. You can go back to sleep now, I won't disturb you any longer." I pick up my stake and phone, sliding both of them into their respective places on my belt.

"Rose, it is dark outside. In Siberia. Think about it for a second. Do you really think you should go out there?"

There he goes with his teacher stuff. "Last time I checked, I was a fully trained guardian. You aren't my mentor anymore Dimitri. You can't tell me what to do."

I could handle killing some strigoi. But obviously Dimitri seems to think the opposite and rolls his eyes. "I know I am not your mentor anymore. I am your boyfriend and I care about you and I want you to be safe."

I couldn't find anything to say in response, so instead I turn around and walk out. Not my best idea, to say that much, but I knew what I wanted, I had my stake, and I didn't need a man to warm me of the dangers as if I didn't know.

The air outside was cool and crisp. Not freezing, but cold enough to distract me from Lissa. I knew the area, that wasn't a problem, but I drew my stake and held it tightly in my hand. It wasn't necessary, but it was a precaution. I had it in my mind that I now had to prove Dimitri wrong somehow, and the only way now was to get back safely. Something in me also thought it would be cool if I had a strigoi dead by my hand to also prove him wrong—that I could care for myself. Yes, that would show him. He knows I am a badass, yet in light of wanting me safe in his hometown, he forgot that I could kill. Heck, he was even the one who taught me pretty much everything I know.

I continue, up the street to the corner. I was just going around the block—not too far—so I may not run into anything, or anyone. It was dark, but good enough for my dhampir eyes. I turn the corner, enjoying the quiet. Until it wasn't quiet.

There were two strigoi.

Be careful what you wish for Rose.

They were both male, and both much taller than I was. They were hiding under a tree, and from what I could make out, seemed to be having some form of argument. The distraction could be my chance to get rid of two strigoi from this world. I hide behind another tree, further back from them, while making a decision. If I crept up behind one of them, the other would see me and alert him. That was one option. The other was to go between them. The pros and cons run through my mind and I decide to stay behind the tree for a while. I study their argument, trying to determine which one was stronger—a more mature strigoi you could say—and it really didn't take very long to find out. They started to brawl, and I immediately took that as my chance. I grip my stake and go up behind the more powerful strigoi. He was about thirty—strigoi don't age from when they were turned—and had short black hair, spiked up haphazardly on the top of his head. These strigoi were almost evenly matched, so it was a huge gamble on my part, but I caught him by surprise. They obviously didn't expect a guardian to be wandering around here at two in the morning. He turns around, ready to strike. His hands stayed guarding his heart as I feigned a few jabs at him. I swing my foot out, and it contacts his leg, pulling it off the ground. He falters for a moment, regaining his balance, but not long enough for me to kill him. He pushes my arm away, causing my stake to scratch across his chest. The strigoi draws in a sharp breath at the pain, but the scratch quickly heals itself. He was truly one powerful strigoi. And old. He had to have been around for at least sixty years, if not more.

I had kept an eye on the other strigoi—a former dhampir, yet newer to strigoi life—but in my attack, had forgotten about his presence. He grabs my shoulders and pulls me back into him, but I was too quick. I spin around and managed to get my stake cleanly into his heart, as his hands were still up near my shoulders. He falls to the ground, taking my stake with him. I hastily bend down and retrieve it, but hesitate too long. The older strigoi advances on me. He reaches out to my neck, clearly in an attempt to break it. This was one of my favourite skills, and I perform it with ease. I duck and go to grab his wrists with one of my hands. I go to finish him off with my stake, but he throws me backwards, preventing me from getting to him. I land on my feet, but my right ankle twists and I wince. Despite the pain, I stride back towards the strigoi.

"A female guardian." He laughs icily. "Very rare."

I scoff. "I'm no different to a guy." I say, kicking his ankle, hoping to break it, or at least knock him over.

"No, you are. You are just like all those other blood whores. They like this..." He trails off, moving his head towards my neck. This was it, he was going to bite me. Just like Dimitri did—

No. Not the time to think about this.

I won't let him use me for blood. "I do have potential. Potential to kill you." I warn, using all my strength to push him out of my way.

"Fine, whatever you want to believe, but I am stronger. If you say you are so good, then I might just turn you. You can join me, and we can be strong together." I was almost exactly what strigoi Dimitri had said to me, and that strigoi seemed to know that it would distract me. He might have known Dimitri while he was strigoi, unless this one was new, which I doubted. Either way, I needed to distract him.

"Do you know Dimitri Belikov?" I ask, hoping for a distraction.

"Yes. He is a great strigoi." Is? I think he means was.

"Don't you mean was?" I taunt. He stops for a second, but at an angle where I couldn't reach his heart.

"I was told he went to the USA on a mission to hunt down someone."

"He did go there, and his mission was going after me. But I killed him." That was partly true. Technically Lissa killed his dark 'soul', but it was my idea. But this new revelation caught the strigoi by surprise, and I got my chance. I stuck my stake cleanly into his heart and he fell to the ground.

Word Count: 1677