Welcome to my new story! Four years ago, Dimitri left Rose after telling her that his love had faded, leaving her completely broken. Now, Rose and Lissa have graduated from Lehigh and are living at Court. Tatiana is preparing for Lissa to be queen, and with wedding bells ringing and looming threats outside the wards, things won't stay normal for long.

Almost four years ago...

"I've given up on you. Love fades, mine has." The words hurt me far worse than any physical blow ever could. I couldn't get any air into my lungs. I had to get out of this God-damn church. I blinked once, then twice. My mind felt like it was caving in on itself, I felt nothing and everything all at once. My body moved on its own. I stood up and walked out. I didn't say a word to the Russian that had just broken my heart; I didn't even look back at him.

I made it back to my bedroom at Court before I let myself feel anything. I let out what was supposed to be a sigh, but came out as a loud sob. Next thing I know, my fist is through a wall and my hand is covered in blood. I looked down at it but didn't feel a thing.

I stayed locked in my bedroom for three days after that. I heard several people knocking on my door at different points in the day, but I couldn't bring myself to stand up and open the door. Lissa sent me message after message through the bond, but they became less frequent as time went by. I tried my best to stay out of her head during those three days, I knew she would be around Dimitri, and I just couldn't bear to see his face.

It was on the third day when I finally decided to get up, have a shower and get dressed.

I caught my reflection in the mirror as I stepped out of the shower, I barely recognised myself, and yet I looked too familiar. My hair fell down in dull waves over my shoulders and down my waist. I thought of all the times Dimitri had brushed a lock of the brown curls behind my ear and suddenly couldn't stand looking at it anymore.

I grabbed the pair of scissors that were in a drawer in my bedroom, and before I could think about it for too long, I cut and snipped at the hair until it just brushed the tops of my shoulders rather than flowing down my back like before.

Looking at myself now, I felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders, almost like I could breathe again for the first time in days.

I walked out of the door and headed over to Lissa and Christians apartment in guest housing, we didn't have a place of our own yet as we would be leaving for Lehigh college soon enough. I had forgotten about that, I didn't even know what day of the week it was.

After checking the bond I saw that Lissa, Christian, Eddie and Adrian were all in the apartment, Dimitri was nowhere in sight.

I knocked on the front door, for some reason it didn't feel right to just walk in like I normally would.

Christian answered the door, the smile on his face vanished as he took in my appearance. "Oh my God Rose, are you okay? Where the hell have you been?" He said as he grabbed my arms and pulled me into a tight embrace.

I stood in his arms frozen for a moment, before I hesitantly wrapped my arms around his waist. I think that was the first time I had heard Christian call me by my real name.

He carefully broke away from the hug, almost as if he was scared that I would break, but kept one of his arms around my shoulders as he guided me into the apartment.

"Who was at the door, Chris?" I heard Lissa call from the living room. He didn't reply, he simply walked us into the room so they could see me.

Lissa gasped and I could see tears shine in her eyes as she leapt towards me and pulled me into a bone-crushing hug. "I'm so sorry Rose, are you okay?" She asked as she finally let me out of the embrace.

Adrian and Eddie both hugged me next, the former embracing me a bit more intimately; I had almost forgotten that Adrian and I were somewhat of an item.

Lissa handed me a hot chocolate as we all sat down around the living room. Adrian was the first to break the silence. "Little Dhampir, you don't look so great, are you okay?" Asshole, I knew I looked like shit but he didn't have to tell me that.

"I'm fine." I lied. "Just needed a little time to myself."

I didn't hang around for much longer after that, I really didn't feel like socialising. Adrian kept on giving me funny looks, almost like he was analysing me, judging the colours in my aura no doubt.

Lissa walked me to the door when I left, and stopped me before I walked out. "I have to tell you something Rose." I gave her a questioning look.

"I know what happened, he didn't say much, but he didn't have to. I'm sorry Rose, but Dimitri left with Tasha, he's going to live with her and be her guardian, he didn't say anything about coming back."

Present Day...

Lissa and I had finally graduated from Lehigh and had finally moved into our own houses at Court, they were right next to each other which was great, I would never have been able to afford a house like that on my own, but Abe insisted on paying for most of it as a graduation present, I think he's still making the most of having his daughter back in his life, even if we were in completely different counties.

We had been back at Court for a week now, and I had finally settled into life here, Lissa and Christian had been making the most of their time in the privacy of their own home when she wasn't in meetings with the Queen and her royal followers. While I had thrown myself completely into my guardian duties, I rarely had time off, and when I did I spent that time either asleep, with Lissa, Christian, Eddie and Adrian, or in the gym.

I was nearing the end of my shift guarding the main gate when I was pulled into Lissa's head. I had put up walls around my mind to block her out while she was alone with Christian, but the emotions she was feeling were so strong, she smashed those walls into pieces.

I almost expected her to be in danger when I blinked and was seeing through her eyes, but what I saw was the exact opposite.

Christian was kneeling down before her, with a beautiful engagement ring presented before her in a small velvet box.

"Vasilisa Sabina Rhea Dragomir, would you do me the incredible honour of becoming my wife?" His voice was rough with emotion. I felt like I was intruding on an incredibly intimate moment, I shouldn't be watching this. I stayed just long enough for her to say yes and throw herself into his awaiting arms before I pulled out of her head and into my own.

"Hathaway, your shift is over; you can go if you want." Guardian Hanes said walking towards me as my eyes focused back to reality.

"Thanks, it's been pretty quiet; you should have an easy shift on your hands." I said as I passed him.

I wanted nothing more to run to my best friend's house and congratulate her on her engagement, but I knew they should enjoy this moment by themselves. And so I headed over to the gym, and let out all of my built up energy on the punch bags.

I checked my cell phone as I walked home; I had a text from Adrian checking up on me, he had been great these past few years. Although we weren't officially an item anymore, we still had our passionate moments, and had had more than a few fun-filled nights over the years.

My friends and I had an unspoken rule that we were to never ever bring up conversation about a certain Russian. They all saw how broken I was after he left, and so no one spoke about him in fear that it would break me all over again, not that I was completely fixed yet.

Things were finally starting to look up; we were finally out of college, and rumour has it Queen Tatiana is going to start coaching Lissa to be Queen sooner or later.

I found myself feeling hopeful that things were actually going to be okay, I hadn't felt that way in a very long time. Maybe things would be alright, if I keep telling myself that, then maybe it'll be true.

I should have known that nothing good ever lasts very long in my life.

There we have Chapter 1! I've been so excited to start this story, and I have a lot of great idea's for what's going to happen, I can't wait to really get into the swing of things! I really hope I set the scene well in this story, I found it a bit difficult to explain everything properly without being too obvious about it. Most of the original characters from 'Last Sacrifice' will be making an appearance in this story, as well as some of the original plot, but I'll be adding my own twist to most of it!

I really hope you enjoyed the first chapter, please let me know what you think! I know not a lot happened in this chapter; I really just wanted to set the scene so you know what's going on. If you have any questions then please make sure that you are signed in to review so that I can reply! Thanks so much for reading, please follow, favourite and let me know what you think if you liked it!