Title: Guardian Wanted

Author: Llaria6

Background: When Rose is denied her request to be Lissa's guardian, she accepts a job that will put her on a collision course with Dimitri - the man she was always destined to meet. Set during BP-SB - but NOT the way you remember it!

Format: One-shot. I may eventually develop this into a longer-format story - keep an eye on my profile page for updates.

Dear Guardian Hathaway,

The latest round of guardian allocations has now been finalised. I regret to inform you that you have not been assigned a moroi charge at this time. Please visit the guardian website and click on the 'employment' link to view the full range of non-guarding positions currently available, should you wish to apply.

Regards,

Cptn. Hans Croft

Rose scowled at the letter on her bed for the hundredth time. She'd complained. She'd argued. She'd bargained. She'd locked herself in her room at court for three days in protest, but she still wasn't Lissa's guardian. One week, ten pizzas, eighteen doughnuts and a broken window later, she was finally ready to face the truth. Eddie was Princess Vasilisa's sanctioned guardian, which meant Rose needed to find a job.

The only trouble was, there weren't any jobs available that Rose was willing to do. Who the hell wanted to sit at a desk in Guardian HQ pushing papers all day? Ick. Or stand for ten hours at the front gates of court waiting for a car to arrive so you could push a button and watch the boom gate go up? Bleh. Even after a week of trawling the job site, the best option she could find was a dorm matron's position at St. Vladimir's, and there was no way Kirova was ever going to give her a job. She knew she'd hit rock bottom when Janine called to say that Lord Szelsky was willing to offer Rose a six month unpaid traineeship, working side by side with her mother. Hell no! She'd rather be a blood whore.

And that is why Rose was wide awake in bed in the middle of the vampiric night, scrolling through classified ads on her phone.

For three hours she worked her way through the 'general labour' and 'security' ads on Craigslist. They were practically all the same. Exciting Opportunity for Driven Individual... Lucrative Earning Potential... Nude and Topless Waiters/Waitresses. She was seriously considering that last option - if only to annoy Janine. She took a screen-shot of the ad and kept searching. Another thirty minutes later she was ready to give up and embrace her new career as a skimpy server when something on the 'temp jobs' page caught her eye.

Guardian wanted (promised or unpromised) for unique, challenging role. Female preferred. Text a selfie of molnija to receive further details.

Intriguing. Who would be advertising for a guardian on Craigslist? Maybe it was a moroi from a non-royal family who didn't qualify for a guardian in the official allocations process? It was a pretty good way to screen for a dhampir with experience living in the human world.

Or maybe it was a scam? The advertiser was probably an internet-savvy strigoi who'd figured out a neat way of luring dhampir victims directly to his front door. Like home delivery... Maybe not such a good idea to hit reply.

But what other option did she have? It was either topless hostessing or the mystery job - possibly resulting in her being drained dry by the world's laziest strigoi. She chewed her bottom lip for a few seconds then moved her pony tail out of the way and snapped a photo of her molnija.

Nice hair.

Wow. That's not creepy at all! Rose thought, punching in a quick reply.

Hi. If you've got a job for me can you tell me what it is? If you're just a random perv then thanks. I'm flattered. But please lose my number.

Pause.

Sorry. I was just trying to break the ice. It's a real job. A one-off contract position. Immediate start. Pay negotiable depending on experience. Can you tell me how you got your molnija?

Rose frowned. It was nearly a year since Spokane but it still wasn't easy thinking about it.

When I was a novice a few of my friends went hunting for strigoi. I tried to stop them but we were captured. There was a fight and I took out two of the strigoi that were holding us prisoner.

Pause.

How did you get a stake if you were a novice?

They thought she was lying.

I didn't use a stake. I beheaded them.

Longer pause.

Is this Rose Hathaway?

Shit! How did this person know who she was? Was it actually someone from St. Vlad's playing a prank on her? Abort! Abort!

Please don't freak out. I'm not a crazy stalker or anything. I heard about what you did from my brother. Everybody at St. Basil's was talking about it. They think you're a god over here!

St. Basil's? The job was in Russia?

Thanks for the chat but whatever job you're offering I can't take it. I live in the U.S.

Pause.

That doesn't matter. The contract is all expenses paid. Have you got a passport?

Holy moly. A second ago this was just another dead end, but now her whole future was blown wide open. An all expenses paid trip to Russia? Was this even real?

Yes I've got a passport.

Rose waited nervously for the reply, still not entirely convinced it wasn't a hoax.

Great. Give me half an hour to book your flights and I will email your ticket through. You don't need to bring anything - just some warm clothes and your stakes. The job is yours if you want it. Do you want it?

She glanced around her tiny dorm room, littered with empty pizza boxes and piles of dirty laundry. There was nothing for her here. Lissa was the only incentive Rose could think of to remain at court, but the bond had practically disappeared since Dr Olendzki prescribed the latest course of meds so it wasn't necessary for her to stay. Between Liss studying at Lehigh and Tatiana grooming her to become the next queen, they'd hardly get the chance to see one another anyway. It wasn't like Lissa would be alone. She had Eddie now - and Christian. And Adrian? He'd dated plenty of girls before he met Rose and he would probably date plenty more after she was gone. Adrian would be fine.

Rose took a deep breath and typed her reply, pressing send before she could change her mind.

Yes I want it.

Short pause.

Excellent! Send through your contact details and I'll be in touch soon. My name's Vika by the way.

Rose sent through the rest of her personal details then flopped back on the pillow, slightly numb with shock. She had a job! She was going to Russia - soon - maybe tomorrow. She was going to... Oh crap. Her eyes sprang open. She had no idea what the job actually was!

Thirty-six hours later Rose found herself disembarking from a plane at the Novosibirsk Tolmachevo Airport, six thousand miles from home. This was it - her first real job as a guardian! Now she just had to find her ride.

'Guardian Hathaway?' the woman waiting for her in the arrivals lounge was a dhampir - about the same age as Rose but a little taller - and even though she wasn't dressed in uniform she had all the mannerisms of a guardian.

'Zdrastvuyte, Vika,' Rose had been practicing the greeting all the way from her stop-over in Moscow, but her pronunciation was still horrible.

The Russian's serious expression faltered then cracked, her lips tweaking up in amusement. 'How about we stick to English - if that's alright with you?'

'Thank God for that!' Rose grinned, following her new acquaintance out of the airport to a black SUV in the carpark. 'So are you my employer or will I be working with a moroi charge?'

'A bit of both,' Vika answered cryptically. 'You'll have a chance to ask questions soon. The place we're staying is a few hours' drive away. Why don't you sleep while we're on the road then I can fill you in on the job details when we meet the others.'

'Others?' Rose's heartrate accelerated a fraction. It was just dawning on her that she was in a country where she couldn't speak the language, getting into a car with a dhampir she met two days ago on a questionable website, on her way to meet a bunch of strangers to do a job she knew nothing about. This probably wasn't the smartest decision she'd ever made.

'Don't worry. They're good people,' Vika glanced across at her from the driver's seat and handed her a brown paper bag. 'Here. Eat these if you're hungry, then have a sleep. I'll wake you up when we get there.'

A stranger-danger alarm went off in Rose's head as she accepted the bag, but her eyes lit up when she found it was filled with something that looked a lot like sugar-coated doughnut balls. It only took one bite and Rose had decided that moving to Russia on a whim was a good idea after all.

'Rise and shine. We're here.'

Blinking awake, Rose saw that they had pulled up outside a large, ultra-modern house - its wrought iron security gate gliding silently closed behind them.

'It's warded too,' Vika explained as they got out of the car. 'Lord Zeklos takes his security very seriously.'

Zeklos? Why would a moroi royal need to advertise online for a guardian? Something didn't feel right.

'Come on! Ivan is eager to meet you,' the Russian girl urged, but it was the deep, clear voice coming from the front doorway that captured Rose's attention.

'Indeed I am, Guardian Hathaway.'

Ivan Zeklos was a beautiful man. Not handsome. Beautiful. Light brown hair, blue-grey eyes, cheekbones like arrows and lips made for kissing. If he'd smiled, Rose was certain she would have been blinded by the dazzle, but he didn't smile. He only nodded in greeting then beckoned the women inside, leading the way into a huge open-plan living space where a further two people were awaiting them.

The others, Rose thought as she entered the room, sizing up the pair - a middle-aged female moroi seated in a leather armchair by the marble coffee table, and an older dhampir male who was standing behind her, arms folded across his barrely chest. As soon as the man spotted the newcomers, he repositioned his body to shield the moroi - clearly he was her guardian.

'It's alright, Mark,' the woman stood gracefully and stepped out from behind his protective stance. 'Her aura is dark but she doesn't mean to hurt us.'

Aura... a spirit user! Rose was immediately on guard. She knew better than most what spirit users were capable of, and how that power could affect them. This sweet-looking moroi lady was the most dangerous person in the room.

'Relax, dear,' the older woman leant in to kiss her on both cheeks, grave but welcoming. 'My name is Okasna. I see there are some matters we should discuss together when this is all over, but right now Ivan's business is more pressing. Come. Sit down,' she gestured to the armchair next to hers.

Rose didn't feel any more at ease but she conceded to sit, alert to the movements of everybody else in the room as Vika and Ivan took their places on the sofa opposite her; Mark electing to remain standing behind Oksana's chair - silent and watchful. When everyone was settled, Lord Zeklos leaned forward and fixed his guest with a probing gaze.

'I assume you heard about the strigoi attack on St. Basil's Academy last March?'

She nodded grimly. 'Our teachers at St. Vladimir's tried to hush up all the details, but my mother told me what happened. As soon as the moroi council received word of the attack in Russia, they sent fifty guardians from court to reinforce the school guard at St. Vlad's. They did a sweep of the area and discovered a strigoi nest in a cave system only a few miles from the ward lines. There was a battle. Our side had the element of surprise, but several lives were lost,' she was quiet for a moment, thinking of Yuri and Celeste - guardians she'd known since she was a child, suddenly gone. 'It was bad, but not as bad as it would have been if we didn't have the advance warning. I heard St. Basil's lost over sixty teachers and students.'

'Sixty-eight,' Vika corrected.

Rose finally saw the truth. 'You were there, weren't you,' she studied the girl closely. 'That's what this is all about. You lost someone you care for. They got turned. You're planning to go after them.'

Vika looked away to hide the tears that were forming in her eyes.

'We both lost someone,' Ivan explained quietly. 'Dimitri Belikov - my guardian, Vika's brother.'

Rose had never heard the name before, but the hairs prickled on the back of her neck and an unknown fear squirmed in the pit of her stomach.

'It was the last day of term before the Easter break,' the young lord continued. 'Dimitri and I were at St. Basil's to drive Vika home for the holidays when the strigoi attacked. It was chaos. Guardians, teachers, students, parents running in every direction, fighting and dying all around us. We found Vika with a group of other novices and guardians; trying to slow down the stream of strigoi that were pouring in through a break in the wards. She didn't want to leave her friends but Dimitri forced her to come with us - cutting down a path of strigoi to get us safely to the exit. We were nearly at the car when another wave attacked. Dimitri yelled for Vika to get me out of there, and then the monsters were on top of us. He held back three of them single-handedly - just long enough for us to make it into the car - but he was already wounded and tiring quickly. My best friend went down fighting while I ran away like a coward.'

The stillness in the room was only broken by the shift of Vika's hand sliding across the sofa to brush against Ivan's. A gesture of shared grief, and shared guilt.

'We found out later that the tide of the battle turned when a few moroi staff joined in the fighting, using fire magic to distract the strigoi while the guardians and novices finished them off. That was the worst part for me. Fire is my specialization. I could have been helping Dimitri all along.'

'We didn't know that then,' Vika reprimand him sternly, then turned her attention to Rose. 'With so many missing after the attack, we thought the moroi council would mount a search party, but Queen Tatiana sent a royal order expressly forbidding any attempts at rescue or retrieval. That's when I dropped out of school and Ivan took me on as his private guardian. We've been preparing to go after Dimitri for four months. Finding you was the final step before we can put our plan into action.'

No wonder they'd advertised for a guardian on Craigslist instead of going through the proper channels. This mission was illegal. Possibly even treasonous. Not that that bothered Rose exactly - breaking the rules was pretty normal for her - but she needed to be certain this 'plan' was sound. She wasn't keen for her first mission as a promised guardian to be a suicide mission.

'Okay... So I get why you're doing what you're doing, but how is this going to work?' Rose directed the question to Ivan. 'Are you asking me to break into a strigoi nest and kill Dimitri by myself, or are we doing this as a group?' she glanced around the circle dubiously. Vika might be an asset in a fight, but the others? A dhampir well past his prime, a royal with limited experience using offensive magic, and a spirit user who could lose her shit at any moment. They might manage to kill the strigoi that used to be Vika's brother, but there was no way they were all getting out of this unscathed.

'Kill Dimitri?' Oksana tilted her head as though Rose had just said something absurd. 'No, dear. I can see why you might be mistaken, but our mission isn't to kill him. We're going to save him. We're going to turn him back.'

Rosemarie Hathaway wasn't an idiot. Everybody knew it was impossible to restore a strigoi to its original state. These people were crazy. Insane. Delusional.

'I know you don't believe it yet,' the older woman pressed on, calm and determined, 'but I have proof it is possible.'

'What proof?' Rose's voice was hard. She wasn't going to fall for any of their bullshit. Once a strigoi, always a strigoi. Fact.

'Me.' Mark had been silent until now, but he stepped forwards, coming around to stand beside Oksana's chair and weaving his fingers through hers. 'Six years ago, my wife and I were attacked by two strigoi while visiting relatives in Novosibirsk. I killed one of them but I couldn't fight off the other one. I was strigoi for just over a year. Oksana brought me back - using spirit.'

Rose felt her cheeks flood with heat and she gripped the arms of her chair tightly. These people had just taken one of her core beliefs about the world and turned it upside-down and inside-out, and then jumped on it a few times. Not possible! her mind was screaming. But if it is? another part whispered.

'How?' she managed to croak out the question.

Oksana nodded to Mark and he moved away from the group, returning promptly with a small wooden case and setting it down on the coffee table in front of Rose. Inside was a charmed silver stake nestled upon black velvet; beautiful and deadly.

If Rose was feeling overwhelmed before, her mind was absolutely reeling by the time Oksana was done explaining the restorative effects of spirit. Lissa and Adrian had healing abilities, but this was way beyond anything they'd ever dreamed possible.

She wasn't sure she'd truly believe it was possible to restore a strigoi until she'd seen it with her own eyes, but - according to Vika - they would all be getting that opportunity soon enough. The plans were already in place. In less than twenty-four hours she'd be face to face with Dimitri Belikov - for better or for worse.

'So if Oksana is the one that has to stake Dimitri, what do the rest of us need to do?' Rose asked, trying to nail down the details so they had a strategy with the highest chance of success.

'One of our contacts in Novosibirsk has sighted Dimitri frequenting a human nightclub near the river,' Ivan was scribbling the scenario down on a notepad like they were planning out an offensive play for a football match. 'The plan is to lure him into one of these alleys near the club. I will cover the exit and keep Dimitri distracted with a bit of this,' he flicked his wrist in demonstration, a stream of flame dancing above his index finger.

'From a distance,' Vika chided like an old maid. 'I might not have a promise mark, but there is no way I'm going to let you put your royal neck in danger - not even to save my brother.'

Ivan rolled his eyes. He had always been the one who called the shots when Dimitri was his guardian, but Vika was surprisingly bossy for a girl who hadn't even graduated from school yet. Not that Ivan really minded her taking charge - he found it kind of hot, actually.

'Mark's job is to protect Oksana against close range attacks,' Vika continued, 'and I will be targeting Dimitri's arms and shoulders so he can't defend himself when the stake comes out. I've been practicing my aerial kicks to get some extra height but if I need to get in closer, I'll climb him.'

'And me?' Rose wasn't sure what was left to do, but judging by the look on Vika's face, it probably wasn't good.

The Russian girl glanced down guiltily for a fraction of a second then stared straight into Rose's questioning gaze. 'You're the bait.'

Rose sucked in a slow breath as Ivan drew a little stick-figure in a dress walking from the back door of the nightclub and down a narrow street, being stalked by a much bigger stick-man who eventually trapped her in one of the adjacent alleyways.

'Fantastic,' she deadpanned. 'This is exactly what I hoped I'd be doing when I answered your ad.'

Nobody laughed, but when she looked around again the mood in the room was different. It wasn't like everyone was going to jump up and have a group hug, but there was something new in each of their expressions that wasn't there an hour ago. It was hope.

The five of them remained together for another hour or so refining 'the plan', and afterwards Ivan brought out a bottle of vodka and a set of shot glasses to seal their alliance.

'To friends - old and new,' he announced, nodding to Rose before downing his first shot.

Everybody else followed suit, and Rose knocked back her drink bravely, scrunching up her face as the sour, icy liquid set her throat on fire. Her reward was a brief but magnificent smile from Ivan - the first hint of the carefree young moroi he used to be when Dimitri was still alive - and Rose beamed right back at him, enjoying the comforting warmth that was beginning to spread through her chest.

When the second round was poured, it was Rose's turn to make the toast. 'To breaking the law on two continents!' she declared, actually winning herself a chuckle from Mark.

The warm feeling was now tendrilling out into her arms and legs, and Rose sat in a contented bubble; half-listening as Oksana shared a story about Vika's family back in Baia - always referring to Dimitri as though he was still among the living and not the dead.

As Ivan charged their glasses for a third time, Rose noted curiously that his left hand had found Vika's again (though whether it was out of comfort or romantic intimacy she couldn't be certain).

'To Dimitri,' Vika's tone set a strange ache in Rose's chest, and even though she'd never heard of the man until tonight she desperately wished she could have met him - before any of this had happened.

The evening wound up fairly quickly after that. Oksana and Mark were the first to retire to their room, and Rose was glad when Vika offered to show her to her quarters. It had been a crazy forty-eight hours, and she needed time to rest and think.

'Is there anything else you need before I go?' Vika asked when her guest was settled into her room.

Rose sat on the end of the bed, pausing half-way through unpacking her toothbrush and pyjamas. 'Oksana mentioned something earlier - about your grandmother. Is Yeva really a...?'

'A Vrăjitoare? Yes. You'd probably call her a witch in America, but she's more like a... a wise woman, I guess. She's been around a long time. She knows things other people don't. Sometimes she knows things before they happen.'

'Yeva can read the future?' Rose looked doubtful. She'd just come to grips with the possibility that spirit could restore strigoi back to their original state, and now Vika wanted her to believe in clairvoyant witches too?

'Well, I can't say that for sure,' Vika arched an eyebrow, 'but if the visions aren't true, then I've witnessed a lot of freaky co-incidences in my time. Take right now for example. When Yeva taught Oksana how to use spirit to bring Mark back, she said that one day Oksana would need to return the favour. Here we are, five years later, going out to save my brother in the same way - just as Yeva predicted. It's up to you whether you believe it or not.'

That was too much for Rose's tired, vodka-addled brain, and she flopped back onto the mattress with her hands covering her face.

Taking that as her signal to leave, Vika was nearly out the door when another question stopped her in her tracks.

'What was he like?'

Vika turned slowly and leant her weight against the doorframe, a wistful smile on her lips. 'Dimitri was perfect. Strong, brave, smart, gentle. Quiet most of the time, but so funny when he was relaxing with friends. I couldn't have wished for a better brother. Why do you ask?'

Rose pulled herself up to a seated position and hugged her knees, trying to think of a way to say what was on her mind without sounding completely insensitive. 'I've never thought much about my own death, but I suppose I always assumed I'd be killed in battle, protecting my best friend Lissa - not fighting to save somebody I haven't even met before,' she glanced up at the girl in the doorway, hoping the words were coming out right. 'I know the risks of this mission and I'm willing to do whatever it takes to save Dimitri, but I guess... I just wanted to know if... if he's worth dying for?'

Their eyes met and held.

'He's worth it,' Vika answered softly, then she left the other dhampir to her own thoughts.

Too tired to bother with a shower, Rose was dragging her pyjamas on when her cell phone buzzed. She nearly ignored it - telling herself that whoever it was could wait till morning - but when she opened the message just to double check it wasn't from Lissa, she was very glad she did. It was a photo of a gorgeous man in his early twenties, his arm thrown lazily over the shoulders of a slightly younger Vika. She was grinning up at her big brother and he was looking directly into the camera; lips turned up at the corners, shoulder-length hair perfectly framing a strong, masculine jawline, his chocolate gaze warm and relaxed. 'Hi Dimitri,' Rose whispered to the photo, 'I have a feeling Vika was right about you.'

She crawled across the bed to lie back against her pillows and was still studying the picture when another message came through. She opened it eagerly and her face nearly split from smiling so hard. Sixteen year old Dimitri was lying on a couch, the book he'd been reading lowered to show the camera what could only be the work of an evil sister. His hair was tied up in pig tails, there were two dark circles of rouge on his cheeks and a smattering of drawn-on freckles completed the transformation. Dimitri's long-suffering expression said he wasn't impressed with his make-over, but would put up with just about anything if it made his favourite sister happy. Rose thought he looked adorable.

After half a minute of silent, body-shaking laughter, she flicked back to the first photo and her mood sobered again. 'See you tomorrow, comrade,' she traced his face with her eyes one last time and fell asleep with her phone next to her heart.

'I look like a blood whore.'

Rose tugged at the hemline of the spangly black dress, trying to stop it from riding even further up her thighs as she sat sandwiched between Ivan and Vika in the back of their SUV. When she'd first put the dress on she was secretly proud of the way it showed off her assets, but now she was about to go into a nightclub filled with drunk, horny, sweaty humans - and at least one strigoi - the fuck me heels, cherry red lipstick and smoky eyeshadow seemed like a really stupid idea.

'That's the look we are going for,' Vika grimaced in apology.

'Are you ready for this?' Ivan asked carefully.

Hell no! Rose thought. 'Yes,' she said aloud, stifling a moan of protest and pleasure as the Zeklos lord pushed her hair back and sank his fangs into her neck.

He barely punctured the skin, but that was still enough. Rose's heart-rate skyrocketed, heat flooded through her body and - to her embarrassment - pooled between her legs, and she clutched weakly at Ivan's shirt as her eyes glazed over with that familiar soul-exploding bliss of a moroi bite.

It wasn't her first time. She'd allowed Lissa to feed off her (out of necessity) when they ran away to Portland. They hadn't planned on going back to The Academy but then Prince Victor Daskov passed away from the terminal illness he'd been battling with for years, and Lissa insisted that they return to pay their respects. The arrangement only lasted a few weeks. Rose told herself it wasn't the same as being a blood whore junkie, but going from one bite every couple of days to nothing - cold turkey - the withdrawals were a bitch.

And there was that one time with Adrian. It was the night Rose passed her guardian trials with flying colours, and her boyfriend decided they should celebrate by getting very, very drunk. They never talked about it afterwards. Rose wondered if Adrian even remembered that it happened, or if he was just too embarrassed to talk about it.

'Sorry,' Ivan wiped his mouth hurriedly, (though it was unclear whether his apology was to Rose for biting her, or to Vika for having to witness the illicit act). 'It has to look real or he's not going to buy it. If Dimitri thinks you're a guardian he'll know it's a trap and we'll lose the element of surprise.'

'That's okay,' Rose blinked woozily, her hand still groping at the beautiful man's chest. 'I can't wait to tell my mom about this later. She'll totally flip.'

Vika sighed and pulled the other girl around to face her. 'Concentrate, Rose. Remember. Buy a drink at the bar first, then try to get Dimitri's attention on the dancefloor. We'll be out the back when you're ready.'

Ivan's bite was still singing through her veins but Rose forced herself to focus on the dhampir's final instructions.

'I've hidden a tracker in your bra so we'll know where you are at all times. Just... don't start taking your clothes off or we won't be able to find you if something goes wrong.'

A salacious grin spread over Guardian Hathaway's face. 'Don't worry. I'm a professional,' she slurred, casting her eyes down to her chest as she rearranged her breasts to sit higher in the confines of their lycra cage. 'Drink. Dancefloor. Lure the strigoi into an alley. Got it. How do I look?'

Vika squeezed her arm in encouragement. 'You look gorgeous, Rose. Just focus on the mission, and don't get yourself into trouble. Now let's go and get my brother back.'

The club was everything Rose had expected. Dark. Smoky. Throbbing music. Barely enough space to move without some random guy's hand 'accidentally' touching your ass. Something about the dingy surroundings brought out Rose's guardian instincts and by the time she reached the bar she was more alert than she had been only minutes ago in the car.

'I'll have that one,' she pointed to a glass of something pink and bubbly on the drinks menu, unable to read the Cyrillic letters written underneath, then turned quickly at the warm press of a human body against her back.

'Let me get that for you, baby,' a tall, fit-looking guy in his late twenties leaned over the bar to pay for the drink before Rose could fumble for her purse, taking the opportunity to sneak a look down the front of her dress while he reached for his change. 'American? I can always tell,' he congratulated himself, resting his hand possessively on her lower back.

If she wasn't here on a job, Rose would have elbowed him in the balls. 'How did you know?' she fluttered her eyelashes at him. 'Because I didn't order a vodka?'

The guy smirked, dropping his face to her ear. 'Hey, it's a little crowded here. Why don't we both finish our drinks then I'll show you how we dance in Siberia.' He ground his hips suggestively against hers.

Fuck off, jerk. 'That sounds great,' she giggled, mirroring his movement to distract him while she made a careful visual sweep of the club. A feeling of nausea was building in her stomach, and it wasn't just because of this handsy slime-bag and his pathetic pick up lines. He was here. But where?

The guy was oblivious. 'Drink up, honey. I can see a spot on the dancefloor with our names on it.'

Rose downed her drink then followed him into the seething mass of bodies. She was already high on moroi venom. One glass of alcohol wasn't going to do much damage after that, and with her dhampir metabolism the effects would wear off in no time. And besides, her orders were to catch Dimitri's attention, so that was exactly what she planned to do.

Impatient hands squeezed her hips as Mr Sleazy got to work, whispering dirty words in her ear while he showed her ass exactly how guys danced in Siberia. If this was a moroi club back home and she'd had a few more drinks, Rose might have been turned on by all the attention, but while her body appeared to be having the time of its life, her eyes continued to scan the shadows at along the edges of the dance floor. She couldn't kick the feeling that she was being watched, but wherever the strigoi was hiding, he wasn't taking the bait. Time to turn up the heat.

Lifting her arms to pulse in time to the music, Rose felt one of Mr Sleazy's hands creep up her waist and along her ribcage, playing with the fullness at the side of her breast, while the other hand had her jammed firmly against his hips. She put on a good show - moaning in approval and flicking her hair aside so his eager mouth could make contact with the bare skin on her neck.

And that's when she saw him.

The strigoi was big. Really big. And hot. He was dancing with some other woman - a blonde supermodel-type who was grinding her ass against him like she wanted him to fuck her right there on the dancefloor - but his eyes weren't on his partner. They were trained on the only dhampir in the room.

Rose's breath hitched in revulsion under Dimitri's crimson gaze but a stab of desire shocked right to her core as the strigoi began to mirror the movements of the man behind her; cupping his partner's breast in one hand and holding her hips to his.

Mr Sleazy's lips were wandering over Rose's neck by now, but it was Dimitri's hair she felt tickling at her bare shoulder as she watched him nibble his way up the human woman's throat. Rose moaned involuntarily - never breaking eye-contact with the gorgeous, terrifying creature across the room - and the guy she was dancing with took that as permission to slip a hand down the top of her dress.

The strigoi cocked an eyebrow, mimicking the action and sinking his teeth gently into the blonde woman's neck. An invitation.

Guardian Hatahway froze. This game had officially gone too far. Right now, some stranger's hand was groping around in her bra and she was fantasizing what it would be like if that hand belonged to an undead monster of the night... what it would be like to let him sink his fangs into her throat while he slid her dress up around her hips and pumped into her, slowly and roughly, from behind. Maybe she really was a blood whore?

No! She wasn't a blood whore. She was a guardian, and she had a job to do. It was like a bucket of cold water had been thrown over her, and Rose found her way through the haze of Ivan's bite and the alcohol and whatever compulsion this demon was working on her. Rosemarie Hathaway was not a blood whore. But Dimitri didn't know that. It was time to get this big, sexy, dead guy outside. With one final swirl of her hips against the bulge in Mr Sleazy's jeans, Rose pulled away from her dancing partner and tottered towards the exit.

It was cool outside. Gulping at the fresh, evening air, Guardian Hathaway wobbled as her foot found a dip in the asphalt and she narrowly avoided falling on her finely toned patootie. Stupid six inch heels! She hadn't prepared for this. Stan Alto always made them wear sneakers during training sessions at St Vlad's - barefoot for indoor sparring.

Lightbulb!

Snatching a look behind her to check if she was being followed, Rose pitched into the shadows at the side of the street and steadied herself against a wall to remove her red Jimmy Choos.

'Allow me.'

The strigoi was suddenly before her; his eyes locked on hers as his hands ran deftly over her breasts, torso, hips, buttocks and between her thighs - searching for hidden weapons. Rose shuddered in pleasure and disgust as the man that used to be Dimitri dropped to kneel before her, supporting the back of her calf with one hand while the other wandered down to release her aching foot from its satin-cased prison.

'You look like a smart girl, Miss...'

'R-Rose,' she hissed, as his thumbs rubbed deep, slow circles over her screaming ankles.

Pull yourself together, Hathaway! Even Rose's inner-voice sounded slurred as she fought off a depraved temptation to run her hands through the monster's dark, lustrous hair.

'Hmmm... Rrrr-oza,' his breath was sweet as honey and sickly as death. 'You should know better than to come to a place like this. The moroi club is on the other side of the river... but you know that already don't you... blood whore.' He stood swiftly, grabbing her by the chin and forcing her head back to expose Ivan's bite. In the next breath his tongue was sweeping over the punctured flesh; teasing her, tasting her.

Holy shit! The strigoi was going to drain her before she even got to the rendezvous point in the next alley - and she was going to enjoy every second.

Except she couldn't let that happen. Ivan and Vika were relying on her. And she wanted to see Lissa again. And Adrian. And Christian. Okay, maybe not Christian.

Rose emerged from her stupor, taking a bold step forward then nearly falling on her ass again because she forgot she was only wearing one shoe. Grabbing at the front of Dimitri's black button-down shirt for balance, she toed off the remaining shoe then let her palms splay flat against the rock-hard chest before her. 'But I don't want a moroi.'

His fingers circled her wrists, a fraction too tight for comfort. 'What do you want, dhampir?' Suspicion. Curiosity. Lust.

'More.' It wasn't a lie. Twisting her arms free, she trailed a hand down to the low-riding waistline of his jeans - fixing her eyes to his. 'What do you want?' she held his gaze for half a beat. Then she ran.

Stan always told Rose she needed to do more work on her cardio and conditioning. Now she wished she'd listened to him.

In less than ten seconds the strigoi was on top of her, hands at her waist, lips at her neck, quickening breaths behind her ear.

'Wait!' she pushed him away roughly.

Anger sharpened his features and his hand raised of its own accord to slap her for her insolence, but then he saw what she was doing.

Arms bent behind her, Rose was fumbling at the hooks on her bra. Drawing the black strapless bra out from the top of her dress, she teased backwards - one step after another - to lure him into the nearest alleyway.

The strigoi's eyes dropped to her chest, and he stalked after her with a low growl. He enjoyed playing with his food.

'Will you turn me?' Rose's heart hammered against her ribcage, and she didn't have to fake excitement or fear as the crimson-eyed monster advanced towards her.

'That depends.' His step quickened. He was almost upon her.

'On what?' Her nipples stiffened and her hand flew to her throat. Defensively. Longingly.

'Hey, Dimka!' a man's voice called out in the dark, and it took Rose nearly a full second to remember what she was really here for. 'Good to see you old friend.'

The gut of fire spurting from Ivan's hand distracted the strigoi just long enough for Rose to attack - slicing her right arm across her body and smashing the back of her fist into the top of Dimitri's jaw.

'Bitch!' he stumbled momentarily, then returned the favour, the force of his blow sending her skidding limply across the ground.

Rose blinked slowly. Her ears were ringing. There was a dull, rolling feeling in her head. Her hip and elbow stung like the bejesus - her dress and skin shredded from the unexpected trip across the pavement. But the pain didn't matter. She had help the others to take down the dead guy before he killed them all. Now, if she could just figure out how to stand up...

'Hey, big brother,' Vika rushed in from Dimitri's flank, wrapping both hands around his bicep and launching herself up onto his back; delivering a shower of blows to the side of his head and neck before burying the tip of her elbow deep into the soft sinew around his right shoulder socket. 'Did you miss me?'

The strigoi made a guttural sound, using his good arm to pluck the nuisance from his body - shaking her a few times like she was a naughty puppy and sending her hurtling after Rose. There was a crunch as Vika landed hard and stilled.

'Attack me again, little sister, and I will not be so merciful.'

Guardian Hathaway was on her hands and knees - wondering why her body wasn't obeying her - when she noticed a puddle of something dark and wet beneath her. It wasn't raining. She jabbed at it disinterestedly, eyes widening when she finally registered it was her own blood. There seemed to be a hole in her forehead. That was weird. Heads shouldn't have holes in them.

'Rose! Help Ivan!' Vika's weak, angry voice jarred her back to her current surroundings, and she looked up to see the moroi lord approaching his former guardian.

'How's your new life working out for you, Dimka?' a jet of flame drew the strigoi's attention away from the women on the ground. 'I bet the parties aren't as good as the ones we used to throw together. Remember that night in Budapest?...'

Rose began to crawl away.

Vika swore at her, then closed her eyes and didn't open them again.

Ivan kept up his inane talking. An easy smile graced his lips but his heart was screaming with grief for the friend he'd lost - and fear of what this red-eyed monster in Dimka's skin would do to them all if they failed.

The strigoi looked daggers at him; more cautious since his sleeve had been disintegrated by hungry blue and purple flames, leaving a wide swathe of charred flesh on his left upper-arm. The fire was a hindrance, certainly, but not enough to really worry him. Magic wasn't inexhaustible. The longer the moroi used his powers, the weaker he would become. And that's when Dimitri would attack.

'Vitulya?' the Zeklos lord sent another stream of flame billowing towards the strigoi, using the distraction to snatch a glance across at Vika's prostrate form. 'Are you alright? Move if you can hear me.'

She didn't.

A surge of hate blossomed in Ivan's heart. If Vika was dead he would kill the creature that did it - even if it was wearing his best friend's face.

'Since when do you call my sister Vitulya, moroi?' Dimitri snarled. Warning. Loathing.

'Since I realised I loved her.' Broken. Vicious.

The strigoi who looked like Dimitri narrowed his eyes. Fire or no fire, this moroi was about to die.

'I'd say I'm sorry for this, but I'm really not,' another voice spoke up before Dimitri could act, and a split-second later the strigoi roared with pain - a red stiletto protruding from his already-injured shoulder.

'That's probably not going to hurt as much as the next bit,' Rose announced woozily, using all her weight to push against the strigoi's back as two figures materialised in front of him.

White heat pierced deep into the strigoi's chest, but it wasn't Ivan's fire magic. It was a silver stake. It burned so badly he wanted to die.

And he wanted to kill. Time slowed, and his hand came down heavily upon the moroi woman who was sliding her stake ever deeper - through skin and muscle and into the bloody depths of him - but his clumsy attack was countered by another, vaguely familiar man. A dhampir. A guardian. This man would die today too.

The stake bit deeper still. Time suspended... then exploded.

...

Whenever she looked back on the memory in years to come, Rose could never quite figure out how she went from standing behind Dimitri to lying flat on her back on the other side of the alley. All she remembered was waking up and everything being quiet and still. Except for that one, strange sound.

She opened her eyes and sat up. Slowly. Everything hurt. The wound on her temple was throbbing - sticky with congealed blood - and her thoughts felt fuzzy and laboured as she looked around at her companions.

Ivan was hovered over Vika. Touching her face. Watching desperately as Oksana tried to heal her. Mark was disappearing swiftly in the direction he'd stowed the car. And there was a big man sitting in the middle of the darkened laneway - so hunched over he almost seemed small. And he was crying.

Rose couldn't walk so she crawled. 'Dimitri?'

A dry, choked sob.

'Dimitri. My name is Rose Hathaway. I'm a friend. Can you look at me?'

She didn't think he was going to move, but then he looked up. His eyes were brown.

'Roza?'

The woman's heart broke for him, and she shuffled closer - wrapping her arms around the real Dimitri Belikov and holding him tighter with each gasping sob he buried into her shoulder. Her lips grazed his cheek as she turned her head to whisper in his ear.

'I'm here, comrade. You're okay now. It's going to be okay.'