Hope. 

That was the only thing I could hold onto. That, and Calvin's newfound strength. It was like seeing the Calvin from five years ago back and in action. He spoke with determination and purpose as he recorded his broadcasts for our people, and I watched in admiration. This whole time I've been here it felt like he was holding himself back, or like he was afraid his intensity my scare me away, but here he was, the strong, smart, undaunted man I love. The news about Rose had really lit a fire beneath him to get control back in his life.

Just thinking of her makes me have to hold myself tighter. Everyone else was rushing around the room, gathering what few supplies were available here, and shoving them into various bags. I wanted to be of help, but I couldn't stop seeing my little angel's face every time I'd blink. I needed to be with her. I never should have let her leave my side to begin with. Especially if I'd known we'd all end up here anyway.

The sick twisting nauseas feeling hit my stomach again and I leaned forward where I was sitting on the bed to lay my head on my knees.

"Look at me." I heard Calvin whisper close to my ear and then I felt the bed dip where he sat beside me. I swallowed hard and sat up, turning to look him in the eyes. "She's going to be fine." He told me. "They won't hurt her, not when they think they need her so badly. You and I, and all of the other people who love Rose are going to save her, Rachel. We're getting her back."

I held onto his words, playing them over and over in my head until I started to believe it was true. I could almost feel the warmth of her little hand in mine if I tried hard enough. His eyes looked into mine seriously, and I nodded my head to let him know I was hearing him. "You'll get to meet her." I whispered, but I noticed Logan looked over like he'd heard before he went back to talking to Octavia and Patrick.

Calvin's face still had strained worry wrinkles in his forehead, but his answering smile slid across his face with ease as he bit his lip. "All the more reason to hurry up and get out of here." He said lightly. "I've been thinking about it, and I think I'm actually nervous."

"She'll love you." I assured him, but he frowned slightly.

"I love her," He nodded. "But I hope she does come to like me."

I held his cold hand in mine. "I said she'll love you." I repeated. "And she will."

"Ready?" Pedro asked and Calvin and I both hopped up quickly.

Calvin walked over to Patrick and clapped him on the shoulder. "You sure you don't mind staying back?" He asked him.

Patrick glanced over at Pedro and smiled at him, then nodded to Calvin. "I'm sure." He promised. "I'll stay here and make sure you all stay in the clear."

"Thank you so much for this." Calvin told him, and I walked over to hug his neck.

"Yes, thank you." I told him too.

Octavia came over and hugged him as well and kissed his cheek. "Just stay here and I showed you how to play the broadcasts." She said as she backed up. "One a day around four o'clock." She reminded him and he nodded.

"Good luck." He smiled at us all. "Bring our princess back."

I followed Calvin, Logan, Cromley, Renard, and Octavia outside while we let Pedro and Patrick have a private goodbye.

Pedro appeared on the porch after a few minutes, tears in his eyes, and Prince under his arm.

"We're bringing the dog?" Renard asked, sending his thick eyebrows up his forehead.

Pedro narrowed his eyes at him, then rolled them as he walked by. "Of course the dog comes." He muttered. "You think I'd dare go get my girl without her puppy?"

I had to smile at him. Pedro was and forever will be my best friend. He tapped me on the nose as he walked out in front of me, catching up to Cromley as we walked quietly through the wooded path to the little town where a van was waiting for us. We all piled in, Calvin and I sitting on the last row, Logan and Octavia on the second row, and Renard and Pedro on the first while Cromley drove us away.

I turned around in my seat to watch the city grow smaller and smaller behind us.

"I've never seen it like this before." I muttered.

Calvin reached around to put his arm across the back of my seat. "What do you mean?" He asked and I sighed.

"Driving away." I explained. "I've never seen what it looks like to leave Castrum de Petra."

Calvin used his other hand to cup my face, kissing me softly, a silent apology, and then I leaned my head down on his shoulder and let the moving car lull me into a dreamless sleep.

When I woke up again we were pulling into the airport.

"Come on, beautiful." Calvin whispered, rubbing my arm.

I stretched my arms over my head and yawned. My exhaustion had been stronger than I had realized. I felt like I'd been asleep for days, but I knew it had hardly been over an hour and the moon was still positioned high in the night sky. Turning to look out of my window at the parking lot full of other cars and people meandering around, then back over at Calvin made me laugh a little.

"Are you delirious?" Calvin asked, sounding amused as I continued to look at him and then out the window again.

I shook my head and shrugged. "I've just never seen you anywhere other than at Castrum." I told him. "It's weird seeing you in the real world." I smiled.

"Weird?" He repeated. "Does that mean you don't like it?" He asked as he unbuckled my seat belt and waited for everyone else to file out of the van for us.

"No." I shook my head quickly. "I like it a lot." I explained. "But it's the first time you really seem real if that makes any sense." I laughed at how silly I was sounding. "It's like you only existed in this crazy world in my head and so now seeing you here, with other normal people around, and in such a normal place..." I was at a loss, my sleep deprivation and the stressors on me making my mind a foggy place. "I like it is all."

Calvin chuckled and helped me out of the van, wrapping me under his arm as the breeze kicked up and we made our way into the airport. "I understand." He told me. "I love to see you anywhere I can." He grinned.

I rolled my eyes at his cheesiness as we made our way through the terminals and out to the waiting jet. Everyone we passed stopped to turn and look at us. Men at Octavia and a few at me I guess, and the women all couldn't keep their eyes away from Calvin. I tightened my arm around his waist and he smiled down at me before kissing the side of my head.

Flying with Calvin was weirdly great. I haven't ever been the biggest fan of flying, but with Calvin in the seat beside me, his hand in mine, it seemed ok. I looked out the window into the eternal darkness and I allowed myself to believe that soon our luck would have to look up. I don't care how badly the universes tries to tear us down, we'll keep fighting for each other, and in the end, the universe is just going to have to suck it, because my family is finally going to be full again.

The flight went by quickly as I listened to the chatter of my friends. I could tell we were all nervous, not knowing what we might be walking into and probably knowing in the back of our minds that we might all die trying to save Rose, but we were also very determined. It was a fire burning in our eyes, and deep within my belly. I wasn't leaving England again. Not without my daughter.

We made it to our hotel in Milton, just outside of Cambridge with less than an hour to spare before sunrise. Mine and Calvin's room was sparsely decorated, hardly fitting for a king, but Calvin didn't seem bothered by the pealing wallpaper or the creaking bed. I made sure that the blinds and curtains were pulled tightly while we waited for the others to join us, and Calvin began his pacing in front of the old box TV.

I rushed to open the door when I heard a knock and Renard was the first to enter. I extended my hand to him and smiled. "We haven't officially met, but I'm Rachel." I told him and he bowed his head to me. "I really appreciate you helping us."

"Please, Majesty, don't thank me." He said shaking his head as he walked in and sat in the desk chair. "I'm happy to do anything I can to protect you and the princess." It was weird hearing people keep calling my little Rose a princess, but I knew I'd probably end up having to get my mind wrapped around it sooner or later.

Calvin tilted his chin to Renard, then continued with his pacing.

There was another knock on the door and I pulled the door open again and let in Cromley, Octavia, Logan, and Pedro. I laughed when Pedro tapped my nose on his way over to sit on the foot of the bed and I went to sit beside him, taking Prince from him and petting him in my lap.

"Calvin, would you stop?" Octavia said to him and he stopped in his tracks and turned to face us all.

"My apologies." He smiled. "Renard, have you and Cromley discussed a plan of action?"

Both men nodded their head. "Sir, with respect, I lied when I said I heard the rebels mention Cambridge." Renard told us. "They mentioned a place near here, but I told you all Cambridge because I was afraid of the possibility that we were either being bugged back at Castrum, or that there is a traitor among us."

"My hopes being that it was a bug planted to stay in on what our plans were." Cromley added.

I furrowed my brows and shook my head. "Wait, so she isn't even here?" I asked, my heart picking up speed.

Cromley shook his head and Pedro put his hand on my back, patting gently. "She's close," Renard assured me. "But we didn't want to risk saying where we think she really is, because if we really were being watched, then we didn't want anyone to get spooked and move her someplace else."

"How close?" Pedro and I both asked.

Logan ran his hand through his hair and groaned. "I just want her back."

"I understand." Renard said quickly. "I have an idea."

Calvin looked very tempted to fall back into his pacing. I know it helps him steady his mind, but it makes everyone else feel on edge to see him digging a track into the faded carpet. "The plan?" Calvin prompted him.

"Well," Renard said, pulling his thick brows together and forming a thick wrinkle between them. "As I'm sure you know, there is a settlement here in Cambridge," He nodded to himself. "Mostly lower classed vampires, but they have a decent sized holding here, which is why I said Cambridge, but if you'll remember, the old settlement was about twenty miles from here years ago before they moved it to be closer to a populated city center for feeding purposes." Renard turned to look at me, pursing his lips. "Before the feeding schools, the vampire settlements used to need to be near bigger populations so that they could come above ground at night to feed." He explained to me, then turned back to Calvin. "The old settlement has been assumed abandoned for hundreds of years, so what better place would there be to hide a girl you don't want the rest of the world to know about?" He prompted. "When they mentioned England and a hidden place, it was the first thing I thought of."

My heart sank a little, and Logan echoed my thoughts. "So we're going off of a hunch?" He asked. "There are plenty of places in England that they could be keeping her."

Calvin glared at him for a minute, then gathered himself, taking a deep breath. "No." He said. "It's perfect." He agreed. "If they're staying there, they would be positioned just close enough to Britain, and the settlement in Cambridge to move around without being overly suspicious, and they would have had an easy time switching out the blood supply we got from here with the tainted ones." He nodded. "It's a perfect place."

Hope crept up again. "You really think she's here?" I asked him and he smiled at me, making my heart skip a beat.

"I do." He whispered, then he closed his eyes. "I can feel it in my bones, Rachel."

When I closed my eyes too, I almost felt like he was right; like I could feel her presence so close to me, just out of my reach.

"What's the plan?" Pedro asked. "I want to be a part of it." He added. "I've seen two of their faces, and I can't wait to rip them limb from limb." He spat.

Cromley and Renard exchanged a glance, then Renard sighed. "We can't just bust in not knowing what we're looking at." He said. "We need to find out how many people we're against here, and to do that, someone will have to go and spend time at the Cambridge settlement to try to get some information and an idea of who our enemies are." He told us. "They've seen me, and they've seen Pedro, and of course they know the king and queen." He sighed, then looked over at Octavia.

"Me?" She asked, bringing a hand to her chest, then she looked around. "Of course I'll go." She nodded. "Just let me know what I need to do and be looking for."

"You haven't been on any broadcasts or anything, right?" Cromley asked. "I'd go myself, but they'll be more inclined to not find a new woman as strange as if I showed up."

It didn't take more than a glance at Cromley to know that the man was obviously a guard of some type. He's huge, and it is in the way he carries himself. He'd definitely be suspicious.

"No, I'm usually behind the scenes." Octavia nodded.

They went back and forth for a few more minutes on what she would need to do tomorrow night, and Pedro and Renard described to her what the men they'd seen looked like.

"So tomorrow?" I asked when they finally finished going over everything.

Calvin smiled over at me, then yawned. "Tomorrow." He nodded. "She'll get some intel and we'll have a better idea of what we're working against, then we go get our girl."

I sighed around a smile, conflicting feelings pooling in me. On one hand I was terrified of what was going to happen, and then on the other hand I was sad that I still had a whole day to wait to find out anything else about Rose and her captors. A thought popped into my overcrowded mind. I wished I could rip apart the men who stole my daughter myself, but getting her back at all would just be enough for me.

I stood and hugged everyone as they left for their rooms.

"Try to get some sleep and not worry." Octavia said as she brushed my loose hair over my shoulder.

Logan leaned around her to hug me too. "She's right, Rach." He said. "We all need to be resting up." He nodded to himself and I stopped him as he went to walk away, catching his hand and he turned back to look at me.

"We're getting her back." I told him. "She's going to be so excited to see you." His smile was strained, but he was trying to put on a brave front. "I'm scared too." I whispered and he squeezed my hand before he and Octavia disappeared into the hallway on their way to their room.

When I closed the door and turned around I found Calvin already sprawled out on his stomach on the bed. I shook my head at him and his annoyingly perfectness, and went to the bed, pulling his shoes off of both of his feet for him and letting them fall on the floor with loud thuds, then I nudged him to roll over. "I love you." He whispered as he rolled onto his back on watched me crawl up onto the bed. I undid his belt and slid it off the bed, then did the same with his pants. He chuckled as I grabbed his hands and pulled him as hard as I could to sit him up and the bed creaked and groaned beneath us while I unbuttoned his shirt for him and pushed it off of his body and he dropped it on the floor beside the bed on his side before he rolled towards me, taking the hem of my dress and pulled it up my body and dropped it down onto his shirt before he pulled me into his chest and leaned back on the bed.

"I love you too, Calvin." I whispered before I pressed my lips to his carefully.

The headboard knocked against the thin wall as we got fixed and I cuddled up to him beneath our threadbare blanket and he brushed my hair back. "Thank you." He whispered after he reached over to turn off the lamp on the bedside table and the room was bathed in almost total darkness, a little light managing to creep out from behind the curtains as the sun rose outside.

"For what?" I asked him, his profile slowly coming into view as my eyes adjusted to the dark.

He rubbed his cold foot up and down against mine and I sighed as I leaned further into him. "For not forcing me to feed." He said. "I know how badly you wanted to, but I just..."

"It's ok." I told him. "I understand why."

He nodded to himself, then leaned his head against mine. "I couldn't risk damaging what we have here because, Rachel, I'd never been happy before you, and there'd be no happiness without you." He whispered. "I know I tell you I love you all the time, but I only wish there were words that felt stronger than that." He laughed. "What I feel for you...I can't fathom any other being ever feeling for someone else the way I feel about you, and about Rose too. I know I haven't met her yet, but I don't have to to know that she's my world too." He explained quietly, still playing with my hair softly. "Look how all of our friends have dropped everything and put their lives on the line to help her." He said. "She's a special little girl, which makes perfect sense because she's got you as her mother."

I felt tears in my eyes as he rolled slowly towards me, hovering over me and caressing my face before he leaned down to kiss me, his lips parting with mine. "I can't wait until you meet her, Calvin." I whispered when he pulled away. "She's the luckiest girl in the world to have so many people who love her."

Calvin smiled, his perfect white teeth shining even in the dark. "We'll be with her soon."

"Soon." I nodded.

"I love you." He sighed. "And so much more."