I sat on the bed, chewing my fingernails. Or what was left of them. I was under lockdown in my room. Three guardians in the room and about five outside. Maybe more. But I wouldn't know because I wasn't allowed out. Rose had been accused of murdering Queen Tatiana, and they'd taken her away. I'd tried to stop them; how could they take my Roza? She'd never do such a thing! But now they're all convinced I'm half Strigoi, so I'm on best behaviour. Abe Mazur managed to get into me somehow, and told me that Rose's trial date had been moved to two weeks later, which just made me even more anxious. Two weeks! I had two weeks to save the one I love. Under his arm was a thick book. I caught a glimpse of the cover and realised I'd read it. The Count of Monte Cristo. It was a good book. I wondered if Rose would like it. There I went again. I knew I couldn't love her. She shouldn't love me back, not after all the innocents I killed. Not after trying to kill her too. I couldn't love her, but she couldn't seem to grasp that. And, yes, I was grateful for all her hard work in saving me, but my allegiance was with Lissa. Because she did the deed. She used up so much spirit power in that moment. I wondered then if it had been similar bringing Rose back from the dead. I quickly chased away the dead Rose thoughts before they could haunt me. I was Dimitri Belikov. Nothing sacred me. Except that. I wondered what her cell was like. Mine had been pretty drab, with nothing but a bed. I enjoyed the solitary confinement. It gave me time to think. But I bet Rose was going crazy with boredom and claustrophobia. I wished I could help her. I sighed and my three guardians eyed me carefully. Flopping back onto the bed, I decided to take a little nap. I'd been so stressed out recently, and I wanted to get away from it all. However, that's not quite as easy as it looks.

My dreams were usually just random colours or memories which I would forget when I woke up in the morning. This particular dream, however, was crystal clear. It materialized into one of the court rooms and I found myself facing Adrian Ivashkov. He had his arms crossed and was wearing a knitted jumper and jeans. He was actually Rose's boyfriend, and I had to chase away a stupid pang of jealousy.

"Hey, Belikov." His tone made it clear that he didn't like talking to me.

"Hello, Adrian."

"So. I've go some important stuff to tell you."

"What exactly would I want to know about your life."

"Well, we both share one goal: get Rose out of prison and find the real murderer." I laughed.

"The way you put it makes it sound easy."

"Yeah, well. Abe visited me today with Lissa and Christian. Said he had a plan but wouldn't say what."

"Why not?"

"We think Rose is watching, and he wants Lissa to put up a mental shield." I didn't need to ask why. If Rose knew about this plan, she'd be so eager to jump in. And I was sure that she'd get hyped up and the guardians would notice something.

"Ok. Where do I come into this?"

"We're gonna bust you out on the morning of the funeral. Abe'll probably try and visit you tomorrow, and, if not, I'll visit your dreams." I could almost taste the disgust rolling off of him.

"Fine. Good night Adrian." He left me then, and the room dissolved back into my sleep.

When I awoke, however, I found myself bored. I had nothing really to do. No contact of any type. No nothing. Adrian, Christian and Lissa were going shopping for funeral clothes today and I wondered what they'd do. I reached for my battered Western novel on the bedside table and delved into the world of the cowboys, which was far more interesting than the anticipation of something that would probably not work.