A/N: Whelp! I'm back! It's been a rough few months, but I think I'm finally at a place where I can continue cranking out this story and be proud of what I've written again. It's short, and perhaps more of a filler than anything else, but I promise we're finally going to get to the good parts soon.

Thank you so much for all of your support thus far. Your support is what gives me the confidence and encouragement I need to continue with this story so thank you, truly.

Disclaimer: Vampire Academy and all related works belong to Richelle Mead. No profit is being made from this publication. No copyright infringement is intended.

Chapter 18

Hearing Abe say those three words confirmed my worst fears without a doubt. There'd been a part of me that was desperately hoping – even wishing – that this weren't true. I'd wanted to be wrong more than anything because this news challenged everything we'd ever known about Strigoi.

I sighed as I whipped out my phone, texting Eddie, Vicki, and Dimitri to come in my room as soon as possible.

"Whatever you do Rose, you have to do it as discreetly as possible," Abe warned, "You don't know who you can trust and who you can't."

A knock at the door prevented me from asking Abe any more questions for the time being. "Come in," I called, my eyes set on Abe knowing he could read the question in my eyes.

"Rose, you told me to meet you here…?" Dimitri's hesitant voice called out from the door.

"Yeah. I need to talk to the three of you. Where are Eddie and Vicki?"

"They went on a walk after dinner and haven't returned yet." he replied still hovering by the door.

"Well, come in then. I promise I won't bite," Abe said, smiling in amusement. "Or poison you with my venom," he added as an afterthought.

I shot him a look but was met with a toothy grin. The distrust in Dimitri's eyes was obvious as he made his way towards me. Not once taking his eyes off of Abe, he took up a position against the wall by the headboard. "Alan and Minya are in bed. Christian's reading to them." I nodded to let him know I'd heard.

"I'll pick them up tomorrow. Don't want to neglect my grandchildren, you know."

"Neglect? You spoil them," I muttered.

"Well," Abe replied smartly, "What else do you expect me to do to my favorite grandchildren."

"They're your only grandchildren. Unless…" I trailed off horrified, "unless there's something you and mom aren't telling me."

Abe laughed. "We know how to use protection you know."

"Oh my god." I covered my face to hide my mortified expression. "I did not need those images in my head."

"Right. So I'll take that as a yes then. After all, they are my only grandchildren."

"I can't believe this," I muttered. I was saved from saying anything more with Eddie and Vicki's entrance.

"What'd we miss?" Eddie asked, "We ran back as fast as we could."

"Not much," Abe replied casting a sideways glance at Dimitri who was trying very hard – and failing – to control his amusement. "Now that everyone's here, we can finally start this party. Rose, I think you have something you need to tell everyone before I begin telling them what I need to tell you all."

And so I began, telling them all about my suspicions and how I'd asked Abe to check for confirmation before I said anything. Without proof – conclusive evidence – I'd just be written off as some crazy guardian on a death mission. For what it was worth, they were surprisingly composed through my whole explanation – almost as if they were expecting something like this from me. Dimitri listened intently, his attention solely focused on what I was saying. Eddie looked scandalized with every word I said – with every revelation of some detail I'd left out the first time we'd talked about this, and Vicki… well let's just say she was as calm as she could be under the circumstances. Actually, she looked just short of turning red and launching into a string of Russian curses.

"I've already talked to Lissa about this. She gave us permission to use the Royal Guards so we don't have to take this to the Guardian Council."

"You never thought to tell us about this from the beginning, Roza?" Vicki asked visibly upset. "We could have helped you!"

"If I was wrong we would have wasted all our time on nothing. I didn't say anything until I was sure."

"I can't believe you gave me some half assed story," Eddie complained.

"Eddie, you knew and you didn't tell me?" Vicki asked, her eyes flashing dangerously as she regarded Eddie. "What happened to no more secrets?"

"Vicki, I–" Eddie began but Vicki interrupted him.

"Don't Eddie. Not now." I didn't need to be a spirit user to see that her anger was beginning to flare.

"So what'd I miss?"

I whirled around and came face to face with Seth. "You have got to stop doing that. How does anyone walk so quietly?"

He smirked, amusement dancing in his eyes. "How does a badass guardian such as yourself not hear me coming?" he joked, his eyes flitting to Dimitri's who watched our exchange in amusement. He then turned to Eddie and Vicki. "You two lovebirds bickering again? Can I pause this movie so I can make some popcorn?"

"Oh shut up," Vicki muttered before Abe cleared his throat.

"Seth do you have what I told you to get?"

"Of course, Sir," Seth replied respectfully as he walked over to my computer and began typing away furiously.

"Wait," I said. "You dragged Seth into this whole plan? Are you crazy Old Man?!" Few could question Abe the way I was right now, but being Zemy's daughter did have its perks every once in a while.

"If you know anyone else with his hacking skills at court that you could trust with your life, then please let me know, but he was the best I could do for something so urgent. After all," he smiled at me ruefully, "how else could the Hunter get into all those warehouses."

I looked down, trying – and failing miserably – to hide my face behind my hair. It was difficult because, let's face it: my hair wasn't as long as it used to be, and clearly, whatever he had just said wasn't a speculation. It was the cold hard fact, and he knew more about my past than he'd let on. Just great.

As for Seth… well, Abe was definitely right. Seth had a way with computers, and his skills had definitely come in handy more than once. Maybe it was just me being biased, but Seth really was the best person for whatever job Abe had for him because I knew his skills and I trusted him irrevocably.

"What a minute," a low voice interrupted my thoughts. "You were the Hunter?" Dimitri's eyes had widened in surprise, which was rare for him since few things ever really surprised him. "I guess if anyone could do it, it would be you," he said shaking his head.

I didn't give an answer, but I think my silence was enough of a confirmation for him. Hearing his compliment surprised me. Dimitri never gave out compliments freely and I definitely hadn't received them freely at the academy.

"Ok then," Abe said, calling everyone to attention. "This is what we're going to do."

Seth motioned for us all to get closer, and we moved to surround the computer screen. Somehow, I found myself wedged between Vicki and Dimitri.

Seth punched in a few things and pulled up what looked like blueprints and security camera footage.

"There are entrances here, here, and here," Seth said, pointing to the screen. "According to the security footage, these two," he said, pointing at two entrances on opposite sides, "are more heavily guarded than the last one."

"If those two doors are the ones that are heavily guarded, then whoever they're trying to protect is probably right in the middle somewhere, right?" I asked.

"That's exactly what I was thinking," Seth replied punching in a few more things. "Both of those entrances lead directly to this place," he said, switching the view to a security camera. "It seems like a room where things get processed. The images from inside the building are unclear, and whoever they are… well they're an expert at avoiding the cameras."

"The best day for any sort of attack is when they least expect it." Abe looked at me, "I'm sure you've thought about this at least once right?"

I nodded hesitantly. I knew what this meant – I knew how much of a threat this was because this warehouse was so close to court that if we didn't get to it first, they would surely attack the court.

"How many Strigoi do you think there are? Give me an estimate," I said to Seth.

"I'd say at least thirty. They're using Dhampir turned Strigoi to guard the entrances though, and there's at least twenty different ones."

Vicki gasped. "How are they all even working together?"

"We saw this a lot in Russia," Seth replied not looking away from the computer screen. "If they can rise to the top of a pecking order, then they can create enough fear in others to make them submit."

"And we're sure they're all working under the same person?" Dimitri asked as he intently watched the security footage.

"We're not sure about anything Guardian Belikov," Seth replied, "But it wouldn't be surprising if they were."

"Ok. The best time to attack will be during the council meeting. They won't get to the voting the day of the meeting. Trust me. But it'll give us the excuse we need to leave the court without being too missed. I'll go with a few guardians. Seth will let us know what's going on from here," I decided.

"Rose, you're not going," Abe said sternly, "the Council will know as soon as you don't show up as one of Lissa's guardians for the council meeting. On top of that, you taking a few guardians means you're not planning this as a scouting mission at all. You're planning on fighting all some thirty-some strigoi by yourself."

"Mama worked too hard to save you, Roza," Vicki pleaded. "What are Alan and Minya going to do if something happens to you?"

"I'm still alive Vicki. I'll be okay. I'll come back to them," I said, but there was a part of me that questioned whether or not I was lying to myself.

"Rose you can't go. You know that," Eddie said.

"I'm not letting the strigoi hurt anyone I care about."

"Rose." Seth said calmly, but there was an edge to his tone that made me stop arguing. "Vicki's right. You had nothing to fight for then. You have everything to fight for now."

There's a lot of weight in his words and I know he's right, but I can't let anyone else I care about go off into the Strigoi lair – not when the outcome was left up to chance.

"Seth's right, Rose. Your blood is what's protecting this place – what's protecting Lissa. You can't just walk right into their lair and expect to come out alive." Abe added.

"Rose, your place is here, beside her. I know why you want to be the one to do this, but Her Highness needs you more."

"They're right Rose. That's why I'm going," Eddie said, his face resolute. He'd fight me for this.

"That, my boy, is the smartest thing I've heard you say all day," Abe exclaimed, clapping Eddie on the back.

"Wait, what?" I exclaimed in outrage, "That is the worst idea I have ever heard."

"By now, everyone knows Dimitri is also Christian's guardian and he doesn't need more than one accompanying him to a council meeting that'll be full of guardians," Abe tried to reason. "But you know how these council meetings are. Tradition dictates Lissa be flanked by two guardians at all times during a council meeting open to the public. If you and Vicki aren't those guardians, then people will grow suspicious before we've even begun."

"Roza, they're right. You can't go. Eddie will be fine. And Seth will be there as well, right?" Vicki said looking to Seth for support.

"I will."

I rolled my eyes. "He's not invincible, Vicki. He's great but he's not invincible. I can tell you the number of times we both almost died."

"He kept you alive, didn't he? Don't think I don't remember. I was there too," Vicki said, her temper flaring.

"She's right," Eddie agreed, "He did keep you alive after all. Look, I'll be fine. I'll have Seth and the other guardians. We'll kill as many as we can now and get out if it looks like the odds are against us. We just need to know who the leader is, right? We'll go in, find out and come out. Then, you can lead the next wave of guardians before they have time to get more Strigoi."

"That sounds like a death sentence," I said bluntly.

"Rose," Dimitri said in a low voice that only I heard. It was the first time he'd spoken while the rest of us were formulating this crazy plan – he'd stayed so silent that I'd forgotten he was even there – but really, all he needed for me to remember his presence was that one word.

I might have closed my heart off to him, but I couldn't deny the power he still held over me. I looked at him, and my eyes found themselves lost in the familiarity of his gaze.

Rose. It was all he'd said, but it spoke volumes.

I sighed deeply. "Fine," I grumbled, realizing that maybe I was being too childish. I was outnumbered – five to one it seemed – and they'd go through with the plan with or without my agreement. I was fighting a battle I couldn't win, so I'd just have to trust that Eddie would succeed in his part so I could carry out mine.

Everyone but Dimitri looked at me in shock, even Seth. "What? You're not gonna fight anymore?" he asked.

I sighed in exasperation. "Do you want me to?"

Realization washed over Vicki's face as she took me in before her gaze flickered over to Dimitri. "No way," she whispered so quietly that I wondered if I had just imagined things.

There was no telling what would happen in the future, and for us guardians, the future was only now. In this moment, I was surrounded by my family: people I had sworn to fight alongside and protect. Our lives weren't guaranteed. Most of us in this room most likely wouldn't even live past fifty, but if I was fighting alongside these people who I loved and trusted with my life, then I believed we could win.

I had to.

A/N: Don't worry! The next chapter will, for sure, be coming soon to make up for the fact that you had to wait so long for this one ^^ Let me know your thoughts so far? In the meantime, I'm about halfway done with the second chapter to TLIL (Dimitri's version to TTIS) so that's coming soon as well! It feels good to be back.