A/N: Why hello there! This chapter is mainly from Adrian's perspective. I hope that you enjoy it. It really doesn't add to the storyline of Rose, but it will help you understand some of what is going on. If you have any questions about anything I'm happy to answer them. Sorry for the delay. Now that it's finished it may not really make sense and may be complete shit so if it's bad which I think it is, don't tell me just be like oh…and wait for the next chapter. Thanks. XOXO - Sophie

Disclaimer: I own nothing of these characters, scenes, or settings.

Chapter 16

The last of the finishing touches had been made to the house as his guests pulled into the driveway. Adrian stood guarding the front door ready for an ambush should one be waiting for him as the car made its approach. The thought of an impending ambush was pushed aside as the side door of their town car opened to a tall, fat man. Mr. Nosova emerged first, followed by his wife and their flighty daughter. Mrs. Nosova was a great deal younger than her husband, but their lifestyle had caused her to turn prematurely gray. From what his intelligence had been able to collect was that this was his only living child. His wife had given birth to a son who had died not long after his birth due to complications. Mr. Nosova was a small arms dealer, mainly in Russia but was looking to expand his operations to America, regardless of the fact that he was millions of dollars in debt. His wife loved to spend money that they didn't have, while their daughter brought in fewer and fewer dollars each year she aged.

"Mr. Ivaskov, what a pleasure it is to make your acquaintance. My name is Rupert and this is my lovely wife Carolyn and out daughter Natasha," replied Mr. Nosova as he bowed to greet Adrian.

Adrian extended a hand to the elderly man before bowing to the two women. "It's a pleasure to welcome you to my family estate. Your visit here has pleased both me and my aunt the queen."

"We were so pleased that the Queen was willing to part with your presence even for such a short period of time to spend time with us," replied Carolyn.

"Too be honest I am surprised she so casually dismissed me as well, usually she parts with me on great effort of will. You will of course come inside; it's rather cold this time of year." Adrian stood waiting as each of the guests entered into the main entrance before closing and locking the door behind them.

"It took you some time to get here didn't it? So you must be hungry? Sebastian here will show you to the dining area where you may eat and refresh yourselves. I know that dawn is soon to be approaching so I'll leave you feast before escorting you to your rooms."

Mr. Nosova thanked Adrian for his hospitality and soon followed after Sebastian to feed on the blood bags. Nikolai, one of Adrian's guardians approached him in the hallway once he was alone. "There's been no new news sir about the hit. We're fairly certain that Ms. Ozera is behind it or at least somehow involved."

"Have you heard about Rose?"

"Negative, she was seen at a pool party early last night but she's not been seen from since. She went to the party with Cooper but he left alone. He seemed slightly disoriented, but undeterred by the loss."

"Thank you Nikolai, when you know something else let me know. I want to know where she is as soon as she's found regardless of what time it is."

Nikolai nodded and left without a word. Finding an arm chair in which to rest Adrian pulled his cell phone from his pocket, still nothing from Rose. He should have heard from her today and with the news from Nikolai it disturbed him even more. Even if Rose had been sleeping she would have been awake at some point to have sent him a text and would have been found in her room. What Adrian had also not informed his guards of was that fact that he had failed to reach her in her dreams so Rose couldn't have been sleeping. Adrian grew increasingly anxious being apart from her. Sliding open his keypad he typed out a message for her:

When you get this write me back – Adrian

Adrian closed his eyes and tried to find her but with no luck, he couldn't feel her presence from this far away. After some time the Nosova's emerged from the dining room with a flush appearance on their faces. Sebastian walked alongside Adrian as he showed them upstairs. Their rooms were on the second floor of the house and were located adjoining one another, making it convenient should they need one another at any point during the day.

"If you should need anything during the day Sebastian or one of the other servants will be happy to assist you, simply call them with the bedside table by pressing 0. I hope you all have a restful sleep and I shall see you all later on this evening."

Adrian moved allowing Sebastian to lead the way. "Where will you be sleeping?" Natasha asked as she grabbed the front of Adrian's shirt, pulling him close against her body. Sebastian stopped walking and waited patiently for Adrian to continue along with him.

"I'm going to bed, but don't worry it's nowhere near your room so I wouldn't worry myself with trying to find it." Adrian replied a bit put off by her advances.

"But what if I get lonely and want to play?"

Adrian pulled her hands off of him and stepped away from her slim frame, "that's why God gave you two hands, use them well."

She looked confused, at which point Adrian excused himself again. Rose would have understood his joke and thought it was funny, or rude one, but she would have understood it.

Sebastian escorted Adrian to his room and helped him undress. "Do I really have to attend to them? You would have been appalled to see the way they treated the ladies earlier. I nearly threw up, and I'd like to think that I'd gotten a little used to the lifestyle this family leads."

"No, send Mia she likes visitors doesn't she?"

"She does indeed sir," replied Sebastian with an audible tone of relief.

"Then send her, she'll have fun. But if what you say is true, if any of them lay a hand on any of the staff tell me immediately. I will have no guest of mine eating my staff."

"Will do sir, do you need help dressing?"

Adrian shook his head, "You've all done very well today getting the house cleaned, I think I can dress myself tonight. Thank you for your hard work and dedication to the family Sebastian."

"It truly is a pleasure sir."

Sebastian left leaving Adrian alone again. Dreading the thought of hosting these people for the next few days Adrian dressed and crawled into bed. He had to see Rose tonight in her dreams, his sanity was dependent on it.

Another day and a half had gone by and still no word about Rose. The thought of something happening to her occupied his every waking minute, but his guests just wouldn't leave. "You don't fear that your daughter's involvement into the human world might make her susceptible to attack?" Adrian asked, finding himself talking about their daughter for the hundredth time that day.

"Why heaven's no! Clearly they wouldn't want to kill her she's too beautiful," replied her half intoxicated mother.

"That's an interesting theory…" Adrian replied pensively over his glass of lemon water. "I do hope you're enjoying your stay here?"

"Most definitely, we've been very well taken care of since our arrival and I do hope that I might," his wife tapped him on the shoulder, "that we might have a word with you sometime this evening after dinner."

"After dinner then," he stood. "I was wondering if I might escort your daughter around the grounds, our gardener keeps a rather full hot house, she's always had a bit of a green thumb and I'm sure Ms. Natasha might enjoy them."

The light that filled Mrs. Novosa's face nearly gave her intentions away as Adrian watched the older woman nearly jump from her seat. "She would be delighted to go! You two go have some fun, there was a movie that Rupert and I were interested in watching so don't worry about coming back anytime soon. "

Adrian waited for Natasha to stand before escorting her outside of the room and onto the grounds. Natasha was pretty enough, he thought to himself and if he wasn't in love with Rose she might have been his type. There was something odd about their visit though, minus the fact that they were trying to marry their daughter off to him. He knew Natasha was in on whatever her parents were planning and he felt that if he could get anyone to tell him about it would be her. It was difficult to engage her in conversation around her parents but alone, she would be easy enough to crack.

They walked in silence till they entered the green house. "This is my mother's pride and joy besides me of course," Adrian smiled watching her expression as she took in the sight. "I would speculate that she actually liked her gardens more than he liked me."

"They're beautiful, I'm surprised no one has ever come in and done a spread in here. I think an underwear shoot would look great in here don't you?"

He shrugged his shoulders, "I was never one to be a voyeur. I have a question I'd like to ask you if you don't mind?" Adrian pressed his will against her and watched as her eyes began glazing over. "Why are your parents here?"

"I don't know, love."

"Don't call me love, you know better than to do that." He grabbed her and pressed her into the thorns of his mother's roses. "Tell me what you know Natasha."

She looked up at him, pleased with her eyes the best she could under his influence. "If I tell you they'll kill me."

"If you don't tell me they'll kill you anyways and not just you, but your mother and your father. It won't be pretty. Have you seen what they can do?" He asked her knowing full well that she hadn't or she'd go ahead and tell him.

"No, but it's important that you agree and agree quickly to what my parents want. It won't be bad for you. They want you to marry me that way my father can pay off his debt and we can be safe."

"I've told you before Natasha there is no we. I am already spoken for, and as for your father and his debt he should have thought about that in the first place. I understand that your family is going through a downward spiral but they should never have included my family into your mess."

"But it wasn't just you that they wanted. They wanted a Rose too? I don't know Rose, but they said once we got you that she'd come willingly. So what I was thinking and what my parents agreed was that you would just be bait, so if it's Rose that they really want, who are we to stop them from letting them have her."

"Who is the they that you keep referring to?"

"I don't know really," she replied sheepishly.

He tightened his hold on her hair, pressing her palm harder into the rose thorns. "Don't be shy now Natasha you've come so far."

"But I don't know honestly. My mother does since she was the one who initiated the agreement with them."

Adrian relaxed the pressure only minimally as he continued his questioning, "Have you heard the name Tasha Ozera mentioned in any of your parents conversations?"

"A time or two why?"

"Just wondering, now when we go back in here if you so much as mentioned what has happened here before I confront your parents I will have you killed. Do you understand what I just told you?"

Tears filled her eyes as she nodded and wiped the blood off of her hand with the towel that he handed her. "If you're able to leave on your own accord you should probably get that cleaned out, they fertilize the roses with manure."

They walked back in the same silence that they had left in; only this time there was the occasional sniffle from Natasha as she tried to play the innocent victim. Her parents had ended up snooping around the house from the news that Adrian would receive later that evening from Sebastian and was happy to interrupt them by asking them into the drawing room for a before dinner drink.

"What shall we toast to?" Rupert asked as he raised his glass in the air?

Adrian smiled, "you're master plan?"

"Come again?" asked Mrs. Nosova.

"The plan where you were going to offer me as bait to the strigoi, that must have taken you ages to think up."

"But Mr. Ivashkov I don't know what you're on about?" She pleased, looking desperately at her husband.

"Just shut up mom, he knows already."

"Why you ungrateful little bitch."

"Please shut up. I'm all for a good family quarrel but I really don't feel like I have the time to mess with yours anymore."

That's when they started, begging him to marry her. It was their only chance of clearing their good name, the same broken record he'd heard earlier. Natasha Nosova sat idly by as her parents continued throwing themselves at Adrian. Adrian had finally taken all that he could. It was pathetic to watch as they threw themselves at him, a family long bereft of the past glories their name would have brought.

"You must understand the importance of our visit, we desperately desire that you wed Natasha and make her your companion in this life. It's crucial for both our families to form an alliance."

Adrian was calm outwardly, yet on the inside however his blood boiled with the anger he kept down. "I cannot and will not marry your daughter, no matter how much you threaten me with your words." Adrian went to stand to make his exit but Carolyn physically threw herself in front of him, "You don't understand our circumstances. We promised to bring you to them at any cost. If you agree to marry her we can leave before they have a chance to get here."

"And just who did you promise to bring me to?" He asked coldly.

"Some strigoi, they wanted us to lure you here for a couple days while they gathered a few things before collecting you as well. They haven't been successful in their other endeavors apparently and are on their way here, they should be here sometime tomorrow night."

"Carolyn, shut the fuck up!" shouted her husband who had been attempting to shut her up throughout the entire conversation but with no success. Adrian's guardian pulled him back into his chair, placing the cold side of his blade against his neck.

"Did my Aunt know about your plan?"

Carolyn shook her head violently, "No she had no idea. If they don't kill us, I'm sure that the queen will after putting you in such a situation."

Adrian reach into his coat pocket where he often left his pack of smokes and gripped the small handgun he'd replaced the small box with earlier that evening. "You'll have to excuse my manners," he replied as he let out six rounds, two for each guest placed quickly in their foreheads, "when I say I have no intentions of going anywhere with you, or allowing you to leave here without some form of repercussion for your actions."

Adrian's guardian walked over to him and pulled on his arm to take the hand gun away from him. Motioning to the other guardian who entered the room he instructed him to take care of the bodies and to finish them off before anyone noticed they were missing. "I need out of here don't I?" Adrian asked casually, still shocked over what he'd done. Sebastian who had been in the room with him the entire time quickly helped Adrian gather his things before alerting the staff that it was time to leave the family manner in search for a safe house.

"I've already got a car waiting outside, and I called the pilot for the private jet that the family lawyer was using that we couldn't get for the ride over gassed and ready on the landing strip. While you were finishing up here I had your stuff packed it should all be in the car."

Adrian chuckled, "You've out done yourself." He could feel the excitement of a long awaited kill on the air but he had no intentions to die any time soon so he'd have to leave it as it were. "Have we heard anything from Rose?"

"No sir, there has been no new communication. It also appears that she has not been seen out while Cooper has for the last 36 hours. Nikolai said that Cooper looked upset but was trying to come across confident as he was the night of the party. Christian Ozera has been missing as well. His guardian hasn't been able to pinpoint his location and Ms. Ozera seems rather upset about it all and has practically blamed the Queen for his disappearance. There was no video surveillance of either leaving the grounds so it's been assumed that they are both on the grounds somewhere, but not all shared this same belief."

"I see…" Adrian was puzzled over Rose's whereabouts. He had told her not to do anything stupid.

"Have you still been unsuccessful in reaching her? You know through your," Gregory asked as he tapped both sides of his temple.

"No, which only makes the situation more difficult."

"Why do you think you haven't been able to reach her?"

Adrian sighed, "Well I know she's not dead, because I can feel her still. Other than that she's either not sleeping or she's sleeping too restlessly for me to enter her dreams. I can't enter all stages of sleep just the deeper stages where dreaming occurs."

Once they were safely at the jet, Adrian's guardians checked the plane for any unwanted stowaways. Once the all clear was given they quickly boarded and was once against once his way home. He took his usual seat beside the mini bar but refrained from the automatic motion of making himself a drink. As he sat across from Gregory and Nikolai, waiting for the pilots to take off Adrian couldn't shake the feeling that he shouldn't have left Rose. "You know I worry about her more than I should." Adrian mused over his nearly empty pack of cigarettes.

"It just shows that you love her sir," Nikolai replied.

"But look at what I've done to her. She's in so much trouble because of me."

"Don't say that. If what you've told us is true, she's done a good job of getting herself into trouble without your help. Tasha Ozera would have gone after her anyways for "cock-blocking" her as you so eloquently described it."

"Maybe if I'd just got to her first, before Dimitri, she wouldn't be in such a mess and we'd be further along in this cat and mouse game?"

"HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU TO STOP LOOKING AT ME LIKE I'M A PIECE OF MEAT DICKHEAD!"

"Well it's not my fault you locked us in here and didn't have a plan on how to feed me! That's poor planning on your part guardian!"Christian barked back.

Rose sat across the room glaring at him, "yeah yeah I know. Blame it all on me because it's my fault. I'm the one that's going to get everyone killed, me me me. Blah blah blah. Can't we watch something and take your mind off of it?"

"We can try but it didn't work so well last time." Christian huffed as he stood up and got the remote from the coffee table. Sitting back down, he turned on some television show. There were teenagers, or really adult actors paid to look like teenagers singing and dancing all over the screen, as if it were normal to burst out in song on any given day. "How long have we been in here anyways?" he asked as she watched him mouth along with the words from the television show.

"I'm not sure, you'd have to check one of the news stations for the date. I mean I guess it's been longer than a couple days, I feel like it's been three-ish. Can't you tell with your super human powers Batman?"

"I told you that in confidence!"

Rose couldn't help but laugh, "It's not my fault Bruce. It's the power of the force it just comes out automatically."

"Whatever, I bet you wanted to be cat woman or something? Or maybe you liked to pretend being Lois Lane so Superman came swooping down to save you."

"Only in like your wildest wet dreams would I ever be cat woman. I don't wear that much leather at a time, it's not appealing on anyone outside of comic books. I feel like full body leather outfits like that are nothing more than giant leather condoms."

"Are you implying something?" Christian asked, changing the tone of the conversation within an instant.

"Oh my God no! Stop being a pervert," she threw back at him. It was hard being locked up with Christian for so long, and expect him to behave himself when she knew what his feelings were for her. Rose was upset that Christian hadn't come home yet and she worried relentlessly that there was something hindering him coming back to her.

"I can't help myself," Christian pleaded.

"So I've been told."

"But no really Rose, I've got to eat sometime. Isn't there a way we could sneak out and get something quick? I mean we snuck in here, I'm sure that they aren't watching this place 24/7 or you for that matter."

"I can't take any chances of being caught Christian. We're safe here and that is what's most important. Can you really not wait any longer?"

He thought about it for a while, "I could but it'd be at your own risk. If I drank a little now, I'd be ok for a while. I wouldn't need much, and then I wouldn't be down your neck so much."

"How much is a little bit?" Rose asked curiously.

"Like a meal, so like a pint or maybe just half a pint?"