Prologue

It all started the night he took me and Lissa back to St. Vladimir's Academy. We had ran away two years ago, but now the guardians had found us and were dragging us back to school. Returning was one of the worst experiences of my life, being paraded through the school knowing that everyone thought I was a failure for being caught. I don't know how the hell we had been caught. We were always so careful and then BOOM! They had us trapped in a van before we could say "Get the fuck off me." And now here I was. In hell. And about to meet the devil himself.

Kirova, the headmistress, had a terrible punishment lined up for me. I had to catch up on all the training I had missed with extra lessons before and after school with Guardian Belikov. Even though looking at him made me think that I was in for a good time. He looked like some sort of god with his dark eyes and dark hair. Part of me felt like I'd died and gone to heaven. No dhampir could be that good looking.

I was pulled back from my fantasy by Kirova saying, "You will spend the rest of the day training with Guardian Belikov. That will be all." She waved a hand at us to tell us to leave. How dare she try and waft me away like I'm some sort of bad smell. Doesn't she know that I'm the badass Rose Hathaway? It would only take me a few seconds to jump over the desk and snap her neck. But after I'd done it, Belikov would have to tackle me to the floor… Ah. I'd like that. His body pressed against mine in a strong embrace. "Err… Rose?" said Kirova, bringing me back to reality. There I was stood in her office with a big grin on my face. What an idiot. How stupid did I look?

"Sorry. I was miles away." I followed Belikov out of the room. I couldn't take my eyes off his arse. It was magnificent. Perfectly rounded. I just wanted to reach out and grab it. Before I knew it my arm started lift towards his derriere. I quickly snatched it back before he noticed, but I still couldn't pull my eyes away from that well sculpted posterior. That's when I felt it. My skin was on fire. My eyes looked up to see his burning deep into the very core of me as I about walked into him. I felt the heat rising in my cheeks as my skin began to blush. He turned and carried on walking. So much for not getting caught. I was going to be an amazing guardian… not. I couldn't even check someone out without getting caught. He took me to the gym in complete silence.

"So.." I said trying to get some words out of him. He lifted one eyebrow looking perplexed. "Ah. I see you're not much of a talker. Which I think is really bad because I love to talk."

"So I've been told," he said as he pushed the gym door open for me. He had a light Russian accent that seemed to make love to the words as he said them.

"You've been told about me? What have you heard?" I wondered, hoping that it was nothing bad.

"Well all I can say is your reputation proceeds you." he smiled, and what a heavenly smile it was.

"What is that supposed to mean?" I was getting worried now.

"I'll tell you some other time when we are not busy."

"Tell me else I'll have to beat it out of you." I smiled at him. Without any warning he had closed the gap between us and was launching an attack. Within a few seconds he was lying on top of me pinning me to the floor. "What the fuck, Comrade?" he laughed. This was just like my vision. Keep calm, Rose. Act natural. Don't blow it.

"Don't make a threat unless you can carry it through. I was rather disappointed. I was told that you were a hell of a fighter, but I see you're all mouth and no trousers." I smiled at him. No, Rose! Don't do it!

"Well if you keep on lying on me, I expect I'll soon be wearing no trousers." he didn't look too pleased at my comment and rolled off me before jumping to his feet. You've gone and done it now haven't you, Rose? "Sorry about that, Comrade. It just sort of slipped out." He looked at me as if he was trying to figure something out.

"I heard about that too."

"Well don't listen to gossip. It's always wrong. Especially about me. It went round that I was a blood whore. I don't see how that's possible seeing as I'm a vir-" his eyes widened. "Err… like I said. Don't listen to the gossip around here, its always wrong." How the hell did I just nearly tell him that I'm a virgin? What is wrong with me?

"I never listen to gossip, Rose. However when I was told about you, I listened and wanted to see for myself whether it was true." He seemed deep in thought.

"And is it?" I looked at him pleadingly. He smiled.

"I'll let you know."