"I hope Maryse will like this bracelet. It cost me a fortune," said Ivan when we left the jeweler with a small bag. Ivan Zeklos was my best friend and the royal Moroi—a mortal vampire—that fell under my protection. We were in Portland for one of his business trips and payed at visit to the mall to get a birthday present for his girlfriend Maryse Szelsky, who was back at the Royal Court in Pennsylvania. We had moved there two months ago, after Ivan had graduated from university back in Russia, our native country.

I wanted to tell him not to worry but got distracted. My gaze had been searching the environment for possible danger, but fell on a young woman on the other side of the building instead.

She looked mature like girls do nowadays. I estimated her to be around twenty though I could be wrong. She had an exotic appearance—her hair and eyes being dark and her skin slightly tanned. She radiated fierceness while striding through the mall, making her fatally attractive, but that was not what had caught my attention.

She was a Dhampir like me. A mortal half-vampire. Dhampirs had Moroi blood that gave them special treats like strength, speed and endurance, but they did not feed on human blood. They were less fragile than Moroi and were thereby the perfect candidates to protect them against Strigoi—the undead and immortal vampires. While Moroi and Dhampirs were born, were Strigoi created. They were evil and often killed the people they fed on, unlike Moroi. Moroi—especially royal Moroi—however were Strigoi's favorite victims, which was why Dhampirs like me became their Guardians and protected them.

And on guard she was. She stood protectively near her Moroi, shielding her from the passer-by while watching her environment. She did not notice me, though—which was remarkable. Trained Guardians should immediately recognize other vampires upon entering.

My gaze then fell on the Moroi—an equally young woman. She was tall and pale like most Moroi, but with rare white hair and eyes of a regal kind of green. The two women formed such a contrast, it was remarkable. The Guardian looked like some sort of exotic desert princess while the Moroi was more like Snow White.

Then, in my head, alarm bells started to ring.

"Dimitri, you really should stop gawking at those women," Ivan interrupted my train of thoughts. He was already on the cause of my silence, though he had mistaken the reason. "Be a man. Go up there and ask for her number."

I shook my head at him. "I think we've got an emergency."

Ivan gave me a questioning look but said no more as I contacted Igor, Ivan's other Guardian, through the radio I was wearing. Guardians often wore earpieces and microphones during field trips so they could easily stay in touch while one stayed near the assignment and the other scanned the room from a distance. In this case, I was near guard and Igor was far guard.

With no more than the exchange of a few words, we changed positions so I could make a few phone calls. I would still pay attention to the area and to my charge, but it was safer for Ivan to have a near guard who had his full focus. I dialed a few numbers, meanwhile not letting the two girls out of my sight, before finally getting hold of the captain of the Guardians at St. Vladimir's—an academy in Montana where young Moroi and Dhampirs were educated. I had graduated at a similar institution in Siberia, named St. Basil's. That was where I had met Ivan.

"Guardian Petrov," a tired woman's voice sounded through the line. It was late afternoon which meant the vampires on the night schedule at the academy would yet have to wake up.

"Good afternoon, Guardian Petrov. You're speaking to Dimitri Belikov—Guardian of Ivan Zeklos."

"Ah, Dimitri," she sighed, slightly more friendly at the recognition of my name. I had only met her once before so it was probably my reputation that made her fond of me. Then her tone became all businesslike. "I hope you have a good reason for calling me this time a day?"

"I do. I found the Dragomir princess."

And with that, it all began. I made sure that Igor brought Ivan safely back to Court on a private jet while a team of ten Guardians was sent my way. Up to their arrival, I followed the girls.

I felt like a creep while chasing the two teenage girls, but it was a necessity. If I lost sight of them, I could just as well be wasting the last chance of returning the Dragomir princess. Because that was who the Moroi girl was. Vasilisa Dragomir, the last of her royal heir.

Two years ago, the news had been spread across Guardians that two students had escaped from St. Vladimir's. Though that was quite an achievement seeing how highly guarded such institution was, a couple of subordinate teenagers would not have raised my head. A pair like them though, a princess and a Dhampir with both very recognizable features, did.

They briefly visited a few stores before heading off to an Italian restaurant to get dinner. I was glad with the change of environment since it was easier spying on them from a dinner table than following them into some Forever 21 store. So while they grabbed a table in the middle of the restaurant, I seated at one in a far corner, hanging my brown leather duster over the back of my seat.

They ordered a meal and I decided to grab some dinner too, for I was not sure when this day was going to end or when the chance of a meal would occur again. Not to mention that it would look weird if I spent an hour at a restaurant without eating.

While waiting for my order and watching the two girls from the corner of my eyes, I amused myself with the western I had been carrying in the pocket of my duster. I had read it twice by now—just like every other western existing—but had yet to get tired of it.

I noticed their food arriving, just two minutes before mine did. Every now and then I glanced over to them and became almost fascinated by the quantity of food they consumed. The Dragomir princess finished her whole plate of pasta—which would have been normal for a human, but not for a Moroi like her. Since blood played a huge part in their diet, they normally did not have much of an appetite left for an entire meal, though they also needed normal food.

However, her companion did live entirely on normal food—and damn, it showed. She devoured her entire large pepperoni pizza by herself, licking her fingers after she had finished it.

Once they were done eating and had paid the bill, they headed out of the restaurant. I tossed some cash on the table before going after them, having no time to properly pay the bill. When they left the mall with the sun hanging low in the sky, I knew that the hardest part of my persecution was still awaiting. Outside from the mall there were less spots to hide behind and no mass to blend into.

I followed them as they went back to their residence on a college campus. From behind a trash can I watched them going inside one of the many old houses that were build alongside the street. I could not help but feel a sense of melancholy while being amidst of the student-like mess, being reminded of my days at university with Ivan. Getting a degree had not been a life goal for a Guardian like me, but I felt blessed having the good memories that came with the college life.

I had already notified the team of Academy Guardians of my whereabouts when I saw a green Honda parking down east and a lean college boy stepping out of it. I watched him make his way down the street, entering the same house as my targets were located. He was probably a housemate of theirs, which could complicate things. We could not just bust into their house when there were human witnesses attending.

The team arrived around one AM. We cabled up and came up with a strategy. I would watch the front of the house together with a guardian named Yuri while Alberta and the others would raid the back and the ends of the street. We could not capture them immediately, though. We still had to wait a couple of hours until the campus would quiet down. We wanted to avoid the presence of witnesses as much as possible and unfortunately it was common for students to stay awake until long after midnight.

The girl's bedroom had been dark for hours—it was three AM by then—when suddenly a small lamp was lit. The light it produced was dim and I was barely able to recognize the contours of the girls. They sat on one bed, holding each other in an embrace. It was hard for me to see what exactly was going on, but it seemed so intimate that I averted my eyes.

A moment later, when I looked back again, I saw the princess leaving the room and Rose lying down on her bed. She looked dazed, as if she were on drugs.

She could not be that reckless, right? To take numbing goods while having a Moroi to watch during Strigoi-hour?

Unconsciously I took a step forward, closer to her and further away from my hiding spot, to see if she was all right. I was not afraid she would notice me. I had followed her all day without being caught and right now she seemed so sucked up in her own world that she would not notice me now.

I was wrong.

Suddenly, she sat up and leaned out of the window. Her eyes scanned her surroundings before falling on me. I saw her jerk back with the same surprise that I felt going through my body. I mirrored her, taking a step back into the shadows of the tree.

Feeling frozen on the spot, I watched her lazy gaze going from the cat near the window and then back to me, trying to comprehend what was going on. I could almost see it click inside her head.

It looked like getting them out of the house would be the least of our problems now.

"I'm spotted," I spoke through the microphone, averting my eyes from the girl while she got dressed. "Expect them to leave the house in one minute."

"Do you want us to capture them immediately?" Alberta's voice sounded through the radio.

"Let them run a little. I know exactly where they're going," I replied, recalling their housemate's vehicle. Since I had seen them leave the mall by cab, it was safe to assume that they had no escape vehicle themselves. Yuri joined the rest of the team while I positioned myself in the shadows of the tree next to the green Honda.

"You were right, Dimitri," I heard Alberta speak. "They're leaving towards east."

In the distance, I could see Alberta's words being confirmed. The two girls were heading my direction with a pace that was almost uncomfortable to look at. The Dragomir princess was keeping the Dhampir on her feet—or made an attempt to do so—and dragged her with her to the car that was only a few feet away from me.

How was it even possible that the Rose-girl was so slow on her feet? Dhampirs were fast and strong by nature, so what she was showing was downright bad—even for a normal human. I could not understand how she wanted to protect the princess in this kind of state—if she even wanted to protect her at all.

They neared the vehicle which was their last hope for escape and I crushed it. It took me nothing more than a few steps, placing me in front of the car and thereby blocking their way.

Two gazes fell on me. One was fearful, the other one annoyed. Behind them I saw the team nearing and I knew they were aware of it, too. The pressure of the group lit Rose's primal Guardian instincts. She protectively placed herself in front of the princess, removing her from my reach. She clearly saw me as a threat.

"Leave her alone," she growled, her dark eyes spitting fire. "Don't touch her."

Even though I was coping with two runaways, I was surprised by her reaction. She was protective over the princess like a lioness over her cub and I was the enemy.

I held my arms out, trying to calm her down and show the girls that I meant no harm while taking a step forward. "I'm not going to—"

She did not buy it. She leapt out at me with a basic maneuver, the kind that you learned at the beginning of Guardian training. I was no beginner though. I was a fully trained and promised Guardian. I was used to having opponents like deadly Strigoi or other Guardians—a weak teenage girl was nothing against my skills.

I countered her attack—which was even sloppy to begin with—using a simple block, accidentally using a bit more force than necessary. I was used to fighting graduated Guardians and deadly Strigoi—not a weakened teenage girl. My defense almost sent her off her feet and I caught hold of her arm before she could fall, her hair falling behind her shoulders and exposing her neck.

Whatever words I had wanted to say disappeared from my mind as I stared at the wound at the side of her throat. I had seen something similar before on my sister. We had argued about it and I had gotten mad at her for lowering herself to such standards. In any other situation, knowing that Rose gave blood would have been repelling and evoke the same reaction in me. But instead, I found myself admiring her.

She had fed the princess to keep her alive. She put her own reputation at risk and literally gave her own blood to protect her Moroi. She was not weakened because of selfish reasons, but because of her sense of duty.

The girl noticed my staring and touched the wound. She regarded her blood-fouled fingers as if she had forgotten about her act until now. It caused her cheeks to turn red before she shook her hair over her shoulders, covering the bite mark.

I looked up and met her fury-filled eyes as she released herself from my hold. Maybe I was supposed to restrain her, but I could not. Not that I was incapable—I could hold her down all night if I had to—but I simply refused to restrain such a protector like her. A girl with so much potential.

She placed herself in front of the princess again and braced herself for another attack—one she would never win. I was not sure if she was aware of that, but the Moroi was.

"Rose," she spoke gently to her protector, grabbing hold of her hand. "Don't."

It took Rose a moment to come to her senses and sign her defeat. There was no point in fighting a battle she had already lost.

I stepped forward, turning toward the princess who had been eying me with fearing eyes and bowed for her. "My name is Dimitri Belikov. I've come to take you back to St. Vladimir's Academy, Princess."

With a heartbeat, I awoke in my own bed.

Author's note

Thanks for reading!

I hope you like my version of the famous encounter. From now on the plot will differ from the books, though I owe my inspiration and most of the characters to the amazing Richelle Mead.

Please review! I would love to know your thoughts on it.