I'm baaaaack! I'm not at College yet, so I thought I'd write an epilogue to Last Sacrifice. I already have 11 chapters done, but I feel like taking it slooow. xD. Hope you guys like it. XOXO ~HouseofNight321

Dimitri and I were on vacation and damn, it felt so good. Lissa came to accept that we were together and so did everyone else. Well… Abe and my mom were still having a hard time. Dimitri told me about the hunting trip and said it wasn't that bad compared to what he went through when he was a Strigoi. He never let me down and I wouldn't have minded running off to Russia. Russia… I missed Russia. I missed Viktoria, I missed Olena, I even missed crazy old Yeva. I sighed. I wondered if Viktoria would ever forgive me… or should it be the other way around. I suddenly wondered if the Belikovs knew that their son was alive. A plan coalesced in my mind. A plan so awesome… so incredible that he would be speechless. Naturally, I kept these thoughts to myself.

"You have one of those looks on your face." Dimitri said. I laughed. He could see right through me.

"I do… don't I? Well, you're not going to find out until later." I pecked him on the lips. "I need to go see Abe. I need a favor from him." Dimitri raised an eyebrow.

"What do you need from Abe?" He asked, putting a hand on my hip. I just held my grin.

"You'll find out later. I promise." I kissed him again and it became… intense. This was love. What Dimitri and I had was love. We could see and read each other's souls. He pulled me back to bed, but I laughed and shook my head. "I'll be back." And I just went out the door and called Abe.

"Are you calling to pay your bill? 'Cause you still owe me from the jailbreak." Abe said in a smug tone. I rolled my eyes.

"No, Abe. I need a favor. Dimitri's family doesn't know he's no longer a Strigoi and I want to surprise him bringing him to Baia, but I think Adrian would be pissed if I used the money he gave me for my OTHER Russia trip." I thought about it for a moment. "I don't owe you crap."

"Of course, and you're looking to me for money?" He asked.

"Abe, please," I started. "Dimitri's family thinks he's still a Strigoi… or well, dead. They don't have an in-between state." I heard a sigh over the phone.

"I can get you a jet at the closest airport… I'll have to look up the name." It didn't matter, I knew the name. "What about Lissa? Didn't she want to meet Oksana?" SHIT! She DID want to meet Oksana. How could I get the Queen of all Moroi out of the country… especially when her sister is in California hiding from danger until Lissa could get the law changed?

"It's not safe. Believe me, I would bring her if I could, but we don't need the bond being forged again." I said and I felt like there was a nod over the phone.

"You're right. Until Lissa can get the law changed and Jill is back, it's not safe for her to leave. Alright… you leave tomorrow at noon."

"Thanks, Abe. Now I owe you a bill." There was a laugh over the phone.

"I know, and keep your word on that." He hung up and I dialed a new number.

"Allo?" A voice asked.

"Viktoria? It's Rose." I said hesitantly.

"ROSE! I am so, so, so, sorry! You were right about Rolan. You were right about Sonya, I am so sorry! If our fight never happened you might have still been here and…" I stopped her.

"Viktoria, please stop. I forgive you. You were in love with the idea of love. I get that. Anyway," I started walking so Dimitri wouldn't hear me. "I'm coming to visit tomorrow with a surprise guest." A gasp was heard over the phone.

"We heard about the attack at your Royal Court and then a Strigoi was turned back into their original state." There was hope in her voice.

"Viktoria?" I asked.

"Yes?" She asked with a small voice.

"It was him." She screamed.

"SHH! SHH! Viktoria, SH! We're coming tomorrow and I want it to be a surprise. Please don't say anything. Promise me… Promise me you won't say anything." I pleaded.

"I promise… can I talk to him?" I bit my lip and looked back to my room. I was only a couple feet away. Oh well.

"Fine… but you owe me. Believe me. You don't know the crap I went through to get him back." I said fiercely.

"Okay, okay." I went back in our room and pounced on our bed. Dimitri looked at me with a confused look.

"Someone wants to talk to you." I said and handed him the phone. He frowned and took the phone. There was a frantic voice over the phone and his mouth dropped open. He started talking rapidly in Russian. He started tearing up and I noticed the words, "I love you." He hung up my phone and looked at me with caring eyes.

"Thank you." He whispered and I hugged him.

"I told you: I'll always be there for you and I won't let anything happen to you. Did you not believe me?" I asked.

"No, Roza. I'll always believe you. So… we're going to Russia?" He grinned one of those rare full grins that I loved.

"Damn it, Viktoria! I told her not to tell you." I pouted.

"I told her to tell me." He had a sly grin on. I kissed that sly grin right off of his face.

"I have to go to Lissa and tell her I'm going out of town. Come with me?" I asked and he nodded.

"Always." He said. We both got dressed and I could finally give myself a good makeup job. Whenever I was guarding Lissa, I never had the time to do any blush or eye shadow or even lip gloss. This actually made me feel pretty. I started to put my hair in a ponytail, but Dimitri smiled and pulled it down.

"Wear your hair down today. It looks sexy with the makeup job you just did." I mustered up a smile and held my hand out for him. Our fingers entwined with each other and we walked out of our room aiming for the throne room first. I felt at a loss without the bond. I could always sense where Lissa was and I always depended on that to find her. Now I had to find her blindly. Guardians who I knew and trusted stared at us. I didn't care though. I was with my other half and I could face anything with him. I opened the door to the throne room and I saw Lissa reading a book, but she grinned when she saw us. I went and hugged her and she held me tightly.

"How have you been since the whole, uh, Jill issue?" I asked.

"Fine, scared, but fine." She averted my eyes. "I just hope Jill's okay." I frowned and looked to Dimitri. Lissa wasn't telling me the whole truth again. I bit my lip.

"Can you give us a minute?" I looked to Dimitri and he frowned and nodded. Dimitri walked out of the throne room, but I had no doubt he would be listening in case we got into a shouting match.

"Tell me the truth and I want the complete truth, because even without the bond, I can still function and be attune to your actions." Lissa's eyes widened. "What do you really think of Jill?"

"I want nothing to do with her." Lissa said bluntly and my eyes widened.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"Rose… I'm still the Lissa you know. It's just that every single time I look at her, I see my Dad having sex with another woman. Do you know how that makes me feel?"

"Yeah. That's gotta make you feel crappy. No wonder you sent her away… just like Victor said." I said, words I didn't mean to say slipping out of my mouth.

"What are you talking about?" Lissa demanded.

"Nothing… doesn't matter since Jill's already gone. Your own sister, Lissa… you sent your own sister away. I would kill to have a sibling, but you just throw them away like trash." I threw those words at her.

"Tell me." She said, ignoring my slams against her. I felt a ting of compulsion and my eyes widened.

"You dare try to compel me? I'm your best friend!" I thought about it for a minute and bit my lip. Fine. She wanted to know? She can know. "Victor said, 'If Vasilisa has any sense, she will send Jillian away.'" Lissa's eyes widened. "Shows how much he really knew about you, right?" I shot at her.

"Shut up, Rose. How the hell did I know that Victor would say that?" I stalked away from her.

"You didn't because it was when I was going through Hell while on a jailbreak all over the country!" I shouted. "I couldn't call… how the Hell could I explain that to Adrian?" She stayed pointedly silent. "I hate fighting with you… but I think what you just did was completely crazy and you did it for your own personal gain."

"Rose…" Lissa said with tears in her eyes.

"Don't, Liss. The only reason I came here was to tell you that Dimitri and I are going to Russia." Her eyes widened. Again.

"You're going to Russia… without me?" She asked in a small voice.

"I know you want to go, but it's 'not safe.'" I said in total quote marks.

"Wait… you think I set up the attack!" She yelled at me. I stayed silent. "Holy Shit, Rose, are you stupid? I may not like Jill, but I don't want her Shadow-Kissed or bonded to Adrian!"

"No one does! I even joked about that with him when we were together!" I shouted back at her and she cringed.

"Don't yell at me." Lissa said.

"Don't yell at me." I retorted. I took a deep breath. "I'm still on vacation so Dimitri and I are going to Russia. You can't stop me." I said, starting to walk out of the room.

"I hate you!" She screamed, tears streaming down her face. I stopped in my tracks and Dimitri walked in and saw that we were both in tears.

"What happened? All I heard was shouting and then I hear 'I hate you!'" Dimitri said. I ran to him and just hugged him. He welcomed me in his embrace and brushed the hair out of my face. I turned around.

"Well… that's too bad because I don't hate you. I'll never hate you." She just stared at me and wiped her tears.

"Let's go, Dimitri." I said urgently.

"Roza…" He said sighing.

"Dimitri… please," I said, pleadingly. He looked at me and nodded. I looked at her and shook my head. She just stood there as we left.

"Do you want to tell me what that's about?" He asked me.

"Later. I need to call Sydney." I said walking to our room.

"Roza, you know that's not a good idea." I sighed in frustration.

"I don't care, Dimitri! Shit just hit the fan and I need to talk to Jill." He stepped in front of me and I skidded to a stop.

"Rose… what happened with you and Lissa?" Dimitri asked. He doesn't need to know right now, I need to talk to Jill. Jill has a right to know how her sister really feels about her.

I averted my eyes from Dimitri. "It doesn't matter."

"Lissa was crying. You think that doesn't matter?" Shit. He had a point. I still shook my head and tried to walk past him. He grabbed my wrist, but not tightly. "Rose," He said in a pained voice. "Please tell me."

"Lissa wants nothing to do with Jill and remember what Victor said? 'If Vasilisa has any sense, she will send Jillian away,' It came true, Dimitri. Lissa sent Jill away… maybe not because she didn't want her or that could be the reason. It's not like Lissa's lied before. So I am going to call Jill and tell her what her sister what she really thinks of her." I said.

"No, you're not." A voice came behind me. A voice I would know anywhere. A voice I fought with less than five minutes ago.

I turned around. "Why not? So you can keep on pretending like you like her and leading her on?"

Lissa glared. "You're not telling her. It will ruin everything. She'll want to come home and that can't happen."

I glared right back at her. "Watch me." I started to walk away, but Dimitri grabbed me. I glared at him. "Seriously?"

"Roza, don't. It's not a good idea. Take a deep breath. Please, you were told not to make contact with Sydney or Adrian or Jill. Please just listen to her." Dimitri said in a calm voice. I just took a deep breath and walked to my room and slammed the door. I started packing my bags for Russia, but I didn't call Jill. The door clicked shut and I briefly looked to see that Lissa was there.

"What do you want?" I asked. "Do you want to brag about how much you hate Jill?" I asked while folding clothes into my suitcase.

Lissa shook her head in exasperation. "No, I'm not. I'm here to apologize. Look, what I said was wrong, but it doesn't mean it's not true. I may not like my… sister, but I do have to deal with it. I was just mad and angry and frustrated, but I didn't set up the attack."

"Fine." I said. "You can go now." I said a little harshly. She looked hurt.

"I just said…" She started, but I finished for her.

"I heard what you said. It doesn't mean it's not right. You should be thankful for her. She is the only thing keeping your crown. If anything happens to her, you lose the throne. Have you ever thought of that?" I asked while grabbing Dimitri's clothes to put in his suitcase.

"Of course I thought of that! I'm trying to get the law changed! Not every Royal is forthcoming." She said, sounding irritated.

"Yeah. You'll get the law changed and then throw Jill away like trash." I said staring at her and she looked at me guiltily.

"No! I won't. You know I'm not like that. I'll give Jill a shot." I nodded at her. "Are you even going to say anything?" I shrugged. "Damn it, Rose! Say something."

"What do you want me to say? Yay for you that you'll give her a shot? How am I supposed to believe you? You said you hated me. How am I supposed to believe you after that?"

"I was angry, like I said. I didn't mean it." I could see in her eyes that she meant it. I sighed and ruffled my hair.

"It's Spirit, Liss. How much of it have you been using?" I asked seriously.

"Not a lot…" She averted my eyes.

"Lissa! This is serious. You don't want to end up like St. Vlad, do you?" I asked and she shook her head.

"No! Of course not. Look, I have to go to a council meeting, but I'll talk to you later." She hugged me and I accepted her hug. "I really am sorry."

"I know." I said and I squeezed her hand and she squeezed it back. She then left and Dimitri came in.

"Everything's all fixed, comrade. No need to worry." He laughed as I zipped up our suitcases. He picked me up and brought me to bed.

"ACK! Why are we in bed so early?" I asked, looking at him skeptically.

"Because A. Our flight is at noon tomorrow and it's midnight now and B. I just like being in bed with you." Dimitri said and I cuddled into him. I looked up to him and saw his brown eyes, god those eyes. I was locked in the moment and he pulled me into a kiss breaking my gaze. He pulled my shirt off and unbuttoned my pants.

"You… you said you liked that outfit." I said in-between kisses.

"I do like it, Roza. I love it." And we had sex. Man, sex was amazing. Like I said before, I wish I had the words to describe sex but it's like flying or being free. It's something you've always wanted. And I've realized since the day I came back to St. Vladimirs after being away for two years, I wanted Dimitri just as much as he wanted me. In a way, I wanted to thank Victor for the lust charm, because then, just then, I really knew that Dimitri loved me. He even admitted it when I was admitted into the med clinic after Victors poor daughter had been coerced into turning Strigoi and throwing me around like a toy. We stopped kissing and just lay there together, fingers entwined, breathing heavily.

"That was amazing." Yep, that pretty much summed it up.

"Do you regret it?" Dimitri suddenly asked, looking down at me.

"Regret what?" I asked, looking up at him.

"The possibilities you had with Adrian, having children… having a family. I can't give you that and it makes me feel like you're giving things up for me." I shushed him softly.

"This is the life I have always wanted. You are what I have always wanted. Don't forget that." I pecked him on the nose. My phone suddenly buzzed. It was a number I didn't recognize, but from the area code, I knew it had to be from Court.

"Hello?" I asked.

"Is this Guardian Hathaway?" A gruff voice asked.

"Yes," I looked to Dimitri frowning. "And who is this?"

"This is Guardian Cameron. I work down at the prison, the one you broke out of."

"Glad to know I'm still recognized down there. Anyway, why do you need me?"

"Well… it's not me who wants to see you… It's Tasha Ozera."

I blinked and blinked. I put the phone on speaker so Dimitri could hear. "Wait… Tasha Ozera… wants to see me?" Dimitri was shaking his head no, but I kept on talking. "Why?"

"Tomorrow's her execution. She wants to confide or something like that." Dimitri spat on the ground, but I kept a neutral face on.

"I'll be down in five." I said.

"Thank you." Dimitri was staring at me.

"You're not going. She shot you!"

"She's in a maximum-security prison. She wasn't the one who was wrongfully accused, remember?" I told him as I started to get the casual Guardian outfit on.

"I'm coming with." I shook my head. That would just cause more trouble.

"No, that would just cause drama for you and Tasha."

"Roza, I am not letting you go in this alone. You can't be the superhero every time." Dimitri said and I knew he was right.

"Alright, fine. But I don't even know what she wants."

"She wants you… that's what matters." Dimitri said darkly. Dimitri and I finally got dressed and got down to the holding cells that were holding Tasha. Guardian Cameron nodded to us and we went inside. Tasha… looked like shit. She looked weak and unable to take care of herself. Just to piss her off, I held Dimitri's hand and also because I was nervous as hell. Tasha's eyes widened at the sight of Dimitri, but when she saw him with me, her gaze darkened. We walked into the interrogation room and sat down. Tasha was sitting like it's no big deal.

"Dimka." She said with affection. "Rose," She said with pure venom in her voice.

"Okay, you got Rose here, Tasha. Why? What is your reason for bringing her here?" Dimitri asked. Tasha's eyes widened.

"I've come to bare my soul and confess why it had to be Rose to be framed." We knew this already.

"We already know this and you know the sick part? You tried to shoot Lissa, a princess from a dying clan. So, listen, bitch. I hope you enjoy execution tomorrow, because you know you're going to die. It will not be numbing, it will hurt. I hope you have fun with that." I got up and slammed my chair in.

"Dimka, I didn't do it…" She said, but we both knew she was lying.

"Shut up, Tasha." Dimitri said. My eyes widened and I slowly turned around. Dimitri might go into God Mode. I grabbed his arm.

"Let's go, Dimitri." I said calmly. Dimitri was glaring at Tasha and I shook him more. "God damn it, I will smack you if you don't get up and leave with me!" Dimitri finally got up and held my hand. Then, suddenly, he pulled me into a kiss. Whoa. I mean, I'm all for making Tasha jealous, but this is a little much.

"See you later… oh wait, I won't." I giggled to myself and left with Dimitri. I briefly looked back to see that Tasha's face was fuming. We got into the hallway and this time, I stopped him.

"Are you okay?" I asked, holding his hand.

"Yes." He said, but I wasn't so sure.

"Are you sure?" I asked and I suddenly had Déjà vu of when we had the same conversation after we saw Victor in his holding cell.

"I'm fine," He brushed my cheek with his fingers. "We need to get to bed." We entered our rooms and got into our pajamas. I set our alarm for 7:00 AM so we would make it on time. We got in bed, went in each other's arms, and off to bed we went.