Everyone was jumpy after the attack on the school and subsequent rescue mission. Every time I closed my eyes, I could see the blond Strigoi pulling Dimitri back into the caves, and me head butting Stan Alto to escape his grasp and run back to save my mentor.

I'd got there just in time to stake the surprised Strigoi, earning myself another molnija, before helping Dimitri out into the last of the sunlight. We were some distance from the wards, and light was fading fast. I could hear the Strigoi gathering at the opening to the cave, waiting for the sun's last rays to fade before following us. With so many Strigoi gathered in one place, anyone outside the wards would be a sitting duck once night fell. Dimitri was exhausted, and wounded, but had the presence of mind to move as quickly as he could. But still, it would not be fast enough. We could see the line of trees that demarcated the ward line, and were stumbling towards it, when I heard the running start behind us. The gleeful howls that jubilantly announced our destruction. It looked like we had survived the battle, only to be killed in our retreat.

The Strigoi were almost upon us, and I was about to turn to make a last stand when bright floodlights lit up the grass we were running across. So bright it was almost blinding, I ran toward it anyway, pulling Dimitri along with me. Light was no friend to the undead, but it could be our savior. Using every last bit of energy we had, we ran until I felt arms close around me. My mother. We'd made it back behind the wards. Both of us.

"What the hell do you think you were doing?" my mother, renowned Guardian Janine Hathaway shouted at the top of her lungs, while hugging me tightly. "You could have been killed! You could have been turned!" Her Scottish accent was getting more pronounced by the second; a surefire way to tell she was incensed.

Over my mother's shoulder, I could see Dimitri being eased onto a stretcher, four Guardians struggling to lift him. It wasn't that he was fat—far from it. He was six foot seven, and a wall of muscle. I caught his weary, thankful smile as they carted him off toward the infirmary.

"I'm sorry, Mom," I said, happy to be as apologetic as she wanted, now I knew my love was safe. "I just knew I could get him out, you know?"

"No! I don't know! If Ms. Carmack hadn't had the forethought to set up the lights, things could have ended very differently," my mother was growling, although her voice was now softening significantly. "You scared the shit out of me!" she finally whispered, stroking my hair in a gesture that surprised both of us.

After that she walked me up to the infirmary, personally handing me over to Dr. Olendzki before heading to the Guardian Lounge for the official debriefing. The doctor gave me a quick once over before declaring me uninjured and dismissing me. Her skills were needed elsewhere. Once she'd released me, I checked the infirmary bay by bay until I found the one containing my Comrade. Someone had gotten him out of his uniform and into a hospital gown. Lying on the bed beneath a cotton blanket, his eyes were closed, and there was an IV pole with a drip suspended feeding him a clear liquid drip by drip. But he was alive, and honestly, he looked better than I'd feared.

Drawing the curtain closed behind me, I slipped into his cubicle, pulling the single chair across to his bedside. I was reaching to grasp his hand when his eyelids fluttered open.

"Roza," he whispered, his voice hoarse, one of his hands reaching out to grasp mine.

"Comrade," I said with a smile, yet with tears welling in my eyes. "I thought I was going to lose you!"

"You shouldn't have come back for me," he admonished, his voice raspy, echoing my mother's words as she'd brought me to the infirmary. She'd been livid I'd risked myself to save Dimitri.

"Well I did, so deal with it," I said with more spirit than I'd intended. I softened my tone before I continued. "I couldn't watch you die, Dimitri." I looked around carefully before I whispered, "I love you. I couldn't leave you there!"

"Thank you," he said with a sweet smile. "I love you too, Roza."

It had been less than forty-eight hours since we'd made love in the cabin, but it was a relief to hear him say those words again. To know that he still cared. It was a new sensation, being loved. But I adored it! I leaned forward and quickly brushed my lips across his. It was a lot less than either of us wanted, but he was injured, and we could be interrupted at any moment, so we needed to be careful.

"Are you very hurt?" I whispered, trying to sneak a look at his neck, but his hair was covering most of it.

"Not very," he reassured me. "A bit of blood loss, badly bruised ribs and a sprained ankle."

"That's why you couldn't run back so fast," I commented.

He shrugged. "I made it, thanks to you."

He looked at me with such love and devotion, and I knew the same feelings were on my face for him to see. All his lessons had been intended to help me save myself—but they'd ended up saving him, too. I was terrified by the what ifs; by just how close I'd come to losing him. But I hadn't lost him, and for that I'd be forever grateful.

I was still sitting holding Dimitri's hand when I heard approaching footsteps. By the time we heard the rasp of the curtain being pulled back, Dimitri was lying peacefully doing a credible impersonation of being asleep, and I was leaning back in my chair looking like I was dozing.

"Rose? What are you still doing here?" Dr. Olendzki quizzed, looking at me in surprise.

"Just waiting for Belikov to wake up," I lied quickly. "Thought I'd check if he needed anything."

Dimitri feigned waking, looking at the doctor and then me.

"Rose? Is everything ok?" he asked.

"All good. Just checking you're still alive. Do you need anything? How long are you in for?"

My love turned to Dr. Olendzki questioningly.

"You'll need to rest for a few days, but all going well you'll be ready to be released tomorrow," she said with a kindly expression.

The next day, my Russian God was indeed released. It was humbling to see him using a cane and navigating the many stairs to his room so slowly. He wouldn't admit it, but he'd been more injured in the raid than he'd let on.

He refused to let me help him, so I trailed behind carrying the small bag one of the Guardians had brought down with a spare set of clothes and his toiletries. Getting his text that he'd been released, I'd run to the infirmary, then slowly trailed him up to his dorm room, keeping up chatter the whole way and pretending not to notice just how incapacitated my beloved was.

Because of the attack, every available Guardian had been pressed into service, so we were unobserved as we climbed the stairs and walked the hallways to his room. Once there, I set up the bed ready for him while he moved into the bathroom to shave and shower. While I was more than willing to help him with those tasks, too, he closed the door firmly, leaving me to plump his pillows while muttering dispiritedly.

Emerging clean, shaven, and smelling delicious, Dimitri was wearing a loose T-shirt and a pair of flannelette pajama bottoms. I had thought nothing could look sexier than his Guardian uniform. Oh, boy, had I been wrong! His wet hair was untied, concealing the bandage covering the bite mark on his neck, but the loose hair made him look younger and, if possible, even more handsome. Shyly climbing into bed and spreading the bedcovers over his hips and legs, he leaned up against the headboard and pillows I'd placed for him, noticing I'd placed his laptop, phone and charger, a glass of water and several books within easy reach.

"Shouldn't you be in class?" he asked softly, giving me a tender, loving look.

"Afraid not, Comrade. Classes are canceled until further notice. A lot of parents are recalling their children home, so the Guardians are busy organizing that. Mom, Alberta, and the other senior Guardians are trying to work out how to ensure the safety of the school, and everyone else has been confined to their dorm buildings except to attend meals. Alberta worried about you getting up and down the stairs for food, so she's asked me to look after you for the next few days as she can't spare a Guardian."

Dimitri lifted an eyebrow dubiously.

"It's true!" I swore crossly. I would have suggested it if Alberta hadn't, but I hadn't needed to. While she might not appreciate just how close Dimitri and I had become, she knew she could rely on me to bring him food and keep an eye on him while he was incapacitated. Which is exactly what I intended on doing.

"Now sit back," I ordered, carefully climbing onto the bed beside him. The Strigoi bite and bruising were on his right-hand side, so I sat on his left and shimmied over until I was pressed hard up against his left-hand side. Fetching his laptop from the bedside, I switched it on and showed him two DVD titles.

"I thought we could watch both," I explained, putting the DVDs in front of him. "But you get to choose which first," I finished gleefully.

"Roza..." he said, exasperated. "How can you even compare these two movies?"

"I'm not," I growled. "Now shut up and choose, or it will be Twilight!"

"Twilight?" he asked in confusion.

"Trust me; you don't want that," I laughed.

"I've seen Twilight," he said in that infuriatingly calm voice of his.

"Really?" I asked in surprise.

"Sisters," he said by way of explanation with a smirk. "My sister Sonya thinks the lead actor is hot. I didn't think that would be your sort of movie?"

I snorted. "It isn't! Lissa thinks it's romantic!" I said the last word in a tone of voice that left no doubt what I thought about the movie. "She's watched it at least a dozen times."

"So it's The Good, the Bad and the Ugly or The Hunger Games?" Dimitri asked, looking at the two titles, one fondly the other with suspicion.

"It is. Choose which one you want to start with," I said firmly. "If we get too bored watching, we could always make out," I tempted.

Dimitri made a sexy growl before taking The Hunger Games out of its case and sliding it into the DVD drive on his laptop. Balancing the computer on his lap, he lifted his arm to me, and I cuddled against his chest as the opening credits rolled. A few minutes in, Dimitri was looking interested despite himself.

"So do you like?" I asked in an opportune moment between dialogue.

"I do," he said in surprise. "I like the lead. Her hair reminds me of yours, but you're much prettier."

I smiled and leaned up to place a gentle kiss along his freshly shaved jaw line.

"You're much more handsome," I replied, gesturing to the young man hunting game on the screen. "Can you use a bow and arrow?"

"I've never tried," he admitted with a chuckle. "But I'm deadly with a slingshot!"

"Really?" I asked a little breathlessly. The thought of Dimitri with a slingshot was strangely sexy.

"Yes," he laughed, enjoying my admiration. "I'll teach you sometime," he promised, dropping a tender kiss into my hair before snuggling me closer to him and returning his attention to the movie.

It was late afternoon by the time we'd finished both films. I'd done a run to the kitchens procuring lunch for each of us, but now Dimitri was looking tired.

"Do you want to rest?" I asked, noticing his drooping eyelids.

"A few minutes lie down would be nice," he conceded.

"Do you want me to go?" I asked, hopeful he'd say no.

"Stay until dinner," he suggested, repositioning the pillows so we could lie down comfortably together. He lay on his back, and I cuddled against him, my head resting on his shoulder, almost over his heart.

"Shit, Roza—wake up!" Dimitri hissed, sitting up in bed and wincing as his ribs twinged.

I woke up instantly, rubbing my eyes and noticing the red-tinged sunlight peeping around the edge of his blinds. Like mine, his window faced west, so I recognized a sunset when I saw one. We must have slept through the Moroi night together. We looked at one another in shock. I'd just spent the night in my Guardian boyfriend's dorm room!

"Crap," I grumbled. "I've got to get out of here!"

Springing out of bed, I quickly fixed my hair as best I was able, trying to smooth my rumpled clothing. It was just past 6:00 pm. Early, but with the campus on alert, every Guardian would be up already or getting up by now.

"If anyone spots me, you texted to ask me to bring you a book from your locker in the gym, ok?" I blurted, kneeling on the bed to give my love a quick kiss. "I'll go downstairs, be seen at breakfast, then I'll change and bring you up some food."

"Shouldn't you be spending time with your friends?" Dimitri asked. "They must be missing you?"

A quick peek into Lissa's head showed me I wasn't the only one who'd slept next to their love last night. Hauling myself out of her mind before I saw anything I didn't want to, I returned my focus to Dimitri. "Not at all," I laughed. "Lissa and Christian are down with this new arrangement," I said flashing him a meaningful grin. "And Adrian was bundled onto the first flight to Court after the attack. What do you want for breakfast?" I asked curiously. He usually ate at one of the Guardian tables, so I didn't get to see his selections.

"Fruit salad, bacon, eggs, toast, mushrooms, and orange juice. I'll make coffee here," he said, gesturing to a coffee machine on the counter in his hotel room style kitchenette.

"Got it. Anything else you want while I'm downstairs?" I asked, getting slightly distracted by Dimitri's disheveled bed hair, and how sexy he looked sitting there in his pajama bottoms and T-shirt.

"No, I'm good," he said with a smile.

Returning his smile, I stood close to the door, listening for sounds of movement in the hallway. Hearing nothing, I slipped outside, closing the door soundlessly behind me. I'd made it halfway to the stairs when a door opened just in front of me, someone stepping out into the otherwise empty corridor.

"Rosemarie? What are you doing here? Were you looking for me?"

"I was, actually," I lied. "I thought you might like to have breakfast with me?"

"Oh. Um, yes that would be fine," my mother replied. Since the events of Spokane, Mom and I had been making a bigger effort, but we still didn't have the easy, natural mother/daughter relationship other people seemed to enjoy. My mother was always Guardian Hathaway first, a mother second. Still, she was here, so I might as well spend time with her.

"I hope you're using the time off classes profitably?" she asked as we were standing in line for our food.

"I am," I said, suspecting her idea of 'profitably' varied dramatically from mine. "Alberta's got me running errands for her while she's busy, and she wants me to write up my kill reports for the battle and the rescue. I know you and Dimitri did mine for Spokane."

My mother nodded in acknowledgment.

"It's good to get the experience," she said brusquely, never one to dwell on the sentimental. "You should check with Guardian Belikov to make sure your reports line up for the rescue. I find it easier to write my own recollections first, then discuss the particulars," she advised.

"I'll do that," I promised, pleased to have one more reason to hang out with Dimitri.

We were at the head of the queue, so loaded our trays with food. Mom trudged off toward the Guardian eating section, and since we were breakfasting together, I followed. We sat opposite one another at the vacant end of a table, only looking a little awkward as we started our meals.

"It was foolish running back after Belikov," Janine said between mouthfuls of toast. "If you hadn't taken that Strigoi by surprise, you could be dead now."

"If I hadn't gone back Dimitri would be dead now. I knew I could do it, Mom."

"You were lucky," she snapped, causing a few heads to turn curiously.

"Yes, I was. And one day I won't be. But this time I was," I admitted. "Soon this will be my job, Mom. I've already made kills. Rightly or wrongly, it's my call."

"It can all happen so fast, Rosemarie. One moment a colleague is there. A friend. And then they're gone. Gone in an instant." Her eyes were open, but they weren't looking at me. My mother was lost in her own thoughts, remembering people I'd never known.

"I know that too, Mom" I whispered, my thoughts drifting to the friend I'd lost in an instant at Spokane. Mason.

"Yes. Yes, of course you do," my mother said sadly, her eyes returning to meet mine.

"Are you going to be around for long this time?" I asked, trying to change the course of the conversation.

"I'm not sure," she said, her eyes dipping away from mine as she cut up her food. "The School Council is still trying to work out how to respond to the threat." Something about the way Mom wouldn't meet my eyes, and the tone of her voice, alerted me she wasn't telling the truth, or at least not the entire truth. It wasn't surprising; as a senior Guardian my mother was privy to the sort of information Novices weren't.

We finished our breakfast in silence, if not exactly comfortable in one another's presence, at least not uncomfortable. And from where we'd been in the past, that was a vast improvement.
"Have a bit of rest over the next few days too, Rosemarie. Spend some time with your friends. Relax a little." She looked like she wanted to say more, but didn't.

"Sure thing," I smiled, curious about what my mother wasn't telling me.

"I'll see you later," she said, standing up and walking to the exit, discarding her rubbish and neatly stacking her dishes in the washing trays.

Following her example, I stood up and did likewise, walking towards my dorm to shower and change before coming back to get Dimitri his breakfast.