Mythology states that the gods tied a red string around the little fingers of people who are meant to marry each other. It is so with Rose and Dimitri. No matter their situation, they will always end up together.

The Red String

I staked the Strigoi, watching the light fade from his eyes. I put his body behind the dumpster, and then continued on my way home from the Nightingale. I had not been successful tonight. I had tried talking to the Moroi, but their Guardians wouldn't let me.

"So you're the one who's been leaving all this work for me," a voice said.

I froze, and turned around. I had thought that someone had been following me. I now saw that it was a human.

"You can't just leave their bodies for anyone to find," she told me.

"Well, I was waiting for the sun to incinerate them," I said. "Who are you anyways?"

"I'm an Alchemist," she said.

Screams filled my ears, but the Alchemist (whatever those were) didn't seem to hear them. The screaming continued, but then I realized that the screaming was not coming from my own dream. Soon my own dream was fading, and Lissa's was becoming real.

The car was mangled, smoke rising out of the hood. Lissa looked around, scared. She saw me, laying there. I looked dead. She touched me, something weird welling up in her chest. And then, I opened my eyes. Lissa felt a wave of relief, until she looked on her other side to see Andre.

"Oh. God, Andre," she whispered. There was a giant hole in his stomach, and his blood was everywhere, including on her.

I knew then that this was definitely a dream. I needed to wake up. To free myself of Lissa.

I fought my way out of her head, and into the waking world,

I finally woke up, still tangled in Lissa's nightmare. I could still feel her terror. It was hard to shake. Even though in her dream, she was dealing with the aftermath of the crash, part of it was still playing what happened during the crash. The first curse, the screams, the resounding crunch as metal twisted around the tree, the pain in her chest from the seat belt.

I shook myself out of it again.

Lissa was mumbling in her sleep, sheets twisting around her legs.

I stumbled from the bed, my legs unsteady.

I sat down on the side of her bed.

"Lissa, it's just a dream. Just a dream, you're not there anymore."

Her eyes popped open, and she sat up. I engulfed her in a hug, rubbing soothing circles on her back. "I was back there," she cried. "It felt so real!"

"I know, I know," I said. "Do you need some water?" I asked her.

"Yeah," she said, hiccupping. "But I'll get it myself. I already woke you up."

I didn't bother arguing with her, because I could tell that she would not let me argue with her. I sighed noticing how Oscar the cat was suddenly at the window. Cats usually loved Moroi, but they hated me. Oscar seemed to only tolerate me.

I got up from the bed and looked to see what Oscar was staring at. The yard was covered in shadows. Under the tree stood a man. He was very tall, and seemed to be staring up into our window.

Wait. A man was in our yard!

I felt my heart begin to race. I pulled the shades down and rushed to put on some pants and a bra.

I ran down the stairs. "Liss, we need to go!"

I noticed our roommate, Jeremy, for the first time. In front of him was a calculus book; he was staring at it in distaste.

"Why?" she asked.

"They've found us," I told her.

"Are- are you sure?"

I nodded, "Yeah. We need to leave now."

Jeremy looked up at us, confused.

"Take his keys," I told her.

She walked over to him, and his eyes began to widen. She was using compulsion. I looked away, trying not to be affected by it. Even after two years on the run, I still felt uncomfortable when she used it.

I'd been taught all my life that using compulsion was wrong.

He handed over his car keys and we left quickly, Lissa quickly stopping to pet Oscar the cat one last time.

We ran out the door, down the street; we ran as fast as we could. We ran as if our lives depended on it- well, they sort of did, actually.

But then the man that had been standing in our yard stepped in front of us, when we were just a block away from Jeremy's beat up Honda.

I planted my foot on the ground, intent to about-face and run in a different direction. But then, I noticed that there were even more guardians behind us. They had us completely surrounded. Not even the Queen traveled with this many guardians.

I turned back to the guardian who had been peeping on us before. "Lissa, on the count of three, run," I whispered. I hoped that the guardians didn't hear me.

"One…" I whispered. I could feel her breath on my neck. "Two…" I could see the man's calculating stare. His eyes narrowed. I could tell he knew, but I had to try. "Three!"

I sprung up as hard as possible. I balanced my body like I had been taught in the self-defense class that I had taken at the Y. I tried to roundhouse kick him, remembering to use the ball of my foot to impact him.

He grabbed me, and in an instant I knew that it was going to hurt when he dropped me. I would probably be bleeding all over the asphalt.

I also knew, however, that Lissa had managed to get passed him. He noticed this, too. He seemed to think for a moment before deciding to set me down nicely.

He then casually walked away from me, only needing to walk to catch up with Lissa. Big mistake, Mr. Guardian.

I got up, and ran at his back. I tried to jump on him before he grabbed her. When I managed to attach myself to his lower back, I cried out "Lissa, keep running!"

She looked at me, her jade green eyes wide. She seemed to be considering something. And then she said, "Rose, just give it up." Her fear was palpable, thrumming through me like a constant buzz. I was dizzy from her fear.

"What?" I screamed, letting go of the Guardian in the my shock.

The Guardian looked at me and smiled just a little. "Hello. My name is Dimitri Belikov, and I have come to take you both back to St. Vladimir's Academy."

I gritted my teeth. "You aren't going to get us!"

The Guardian picked me up. "It would seem this one isn't willing to go as quietly," he said. Was that a Russian accent?

I kicked and punched him, trying to get out of his arms. Each punch and kick seemed to hurt me worse than him, but I continued, urging Lissa to try to run.

She didn't listen. Of all the times she chose not to listen to me, why did she choose now?

We boarded a plane, and finally I gave up. I was exhausted. More so than when we had escaped the academy. How long had it been since I last fed?

As much as I didn't like him, I had to admit that Dimitri Bel- whatever was pretty smart.

He took one look at Lissa and I and ordered for us to be sat on separate sides of the plane. "Five minutes together, and they'll be plotting an escape," he told the other guardians.

I threw him a haughty look, even though we had been plotting an escape.

The Giant Russian sat next to me throughout the plane ride, and at one point, he leaned forward. His hair fell into his face, and six Molnija marks were exposed. Six? He'd killed six Strigoi?

He didn't talk at all, just staring blankly ahead in a way that only guardians seemed to be able to do. It had always amazed me when I had been growing up.

When we got to the airport, we were shoved into a black Chevy Equinox. Lissa got put in the passenger seat and I was placed in the back seat with Mr. Guardian.

I tried not to stare at him, because in a different situation, I would have said he was hot. He had brown hair that was tied back in a hair tie and a nice tan. For someone who spent his life in the night, he sure got a lot of sun.

I also noticed that he had brown eyes. They were warm. And chocolaty.

Snap out of it, Rose! I told myself.

I forced myself to stare straight ahead, feeling the nervous hum of Lissa's emotions. I sent a glare at her, hoping she'd feel it burning. I'd worked so hard to bust us out of that school, for her, and she'd given herself up!

I remembered Ms. Karp's panicked voice. She had told me that they would try to take Lissa away, too. They had said that people were following her. That the more she used it- whatever it was- the worse it would get.

I couldn't let Lissa stay here for long. I had to help her.

As we drove towards the school, I realized that I hadn't fed in a few days. If I had fed even just yesterday, I could have used my magic to fight. Why hadn't I even attempted it?

I wanted to slap myself in the face!

I showed an unusual amount of self-restraint and kept staring forward.

We finally arrived at the school, and I braced myself for a famous Kirova-style lecture.

We weren't going the usual way to Kirova's office. I looked up at the Mr. Guardian. "Hey, Comrade," I panted, trying to keep up. "Are you taking us to Kirova?"

"Headmistress Kirova," he corrected.

I realized where they were taking us. Straight through the commons at breakfast time. Lovely. I wondered if they were doing it purposefully. Probably.

"Is this supposed to be part of our punishment?" I whined at him.

He just glanced down and then kept walking. He sure was a delight.

People were staring at us as we walked through the commons. I mostly made eye contact with the royal Moroi, because they were the people that Lissa and I had always hung around with.

Aaron, Lissa's ex-boyfriend, was still at St. Vladimir's, it seemed. On his arm was a doll-like Moroi who looked like she was ten. Unless Aaron had become a pedophile in our two-year absence, she must have been older than that.

Aaron had the same golden looks as Lissa. They complemented hers so well, but she'd never seemed to really like him. They'd even had sex once, but she'd said that it was "not anything special" and had teased me about thinking that the planets would align during sex.

Speaking of sex, I made eye-contact with Jesse Zeklos as we passed him, shooting him a wink. He grinned at me. I'd forgotten about Jesse. He was as sexy as ever.

We passed by my Dhampir friend Eddie, who grinned and waved. I have him a saucy look as we passed.

We finally arrived in Kirova's office.

"Princess Dragomir," Kirova said, standing up in a show of silly respect. Lissa hated that.

"Vasilisa," a voice sounded from the corner. I turned, and saw Victor Dashkov standing in the corner. He was holding onto a cane. I tried not to gasp, but still cringed when I saw him.

Victor had developed Sandovsky's Syndrome right before we had left. It had been in it's beginning stages then. I had heard it was bad, but I hadn't realized it would get this bad.

His face was chapped and wrinkled, his hair greyed and thin. Victor was only about forty, but his disease made him look about eighty.

"Uncle!" she said, both excitement and revulsion coursing through the bond.

Victor wasn't really her uncle, but the Dashkov's were the closest family to the Dragomir's. They even shared the same jade green eyes.

She hugged him, worried she might break him if she squeezed him too hard.

She let go and Kirova began her lecture.

Her lecture was even better than I remembered them being. I hadn't thought they could be improved upon, but this was even better than the ones I had gotten all my life.

For a long time, she lectured Lissa. Then she turned to me and unleashed her fury.

"Rosemarie Hathaway, you should have known better than to take a Royal Moroi off campus! And to accompany her! She is the last of her line! Strigoi would love to see the end of the Dragomir's. Would you like to have answered to the Queen if Princess Vasilisa had been killed?"

I couldn't get a word in edgewise, and she continued on in the same manner for quite a while until she said, "If I had my way, you would be expelled, Miss Hathaway. Luckily for you, someone has paid for you to stay on campus."

Someone had bribed for my place in St. Vladimir's? Why would anyone do that? Who would do that? Only Royals who screwed up generally had to do so.

"So, to make up for your little stunt before fleeing St. Vladimir's, you will have to spend an hour after every school day with your Guardian-"

Before I could stop myself, the words tumbled out. "Since when do I have a Guardian?"

Kirova shot me a withering look, telling me exactly what she thought of my interruption. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. When she opened them, she had a calm look in them.

"Since you decided to run away! Someone had to be assigned, and the same person who has paid for your spot to stay here requested Guardian Belikov as your Guardian."

"Who paid for me to be here?"

"I am not at liberty to say," Kirova told me tightly.

"Now both of you go to the counselors and get your schedules. You'll go straight to class after."

I got an old counselor who I thought would have been retired by now. Or dead. He asked me what classes I'd taken in Portland and Chicago, what element I'd specialized in, and what classes I'd taken before I'd left.

When I was sent to class, I looked at my schedule.

Period 1: Russian I

Period 2: American Colonial Literature

Period 3: Specialized Elemental Control

Period 4: Ancient Poetry

-Lunch-

Period 5: Animal Behavior and Physiology

Period 6: Pre-Calculus

Period 7: Moroi Culture 4

Period 8: Slavic Art

I was certain I would have most of my classes with Lissa. We had always tried to take almost all the same classes, though I couldn't control the elemental class.

She still hadn't specialized, and I never brought it up. It was a spot of embarrassment for her. I had specialized early, in my freshman year. I had never particularly liked any of my classmates, however. Especially not Ralf Sarcozy.

I walked to my first class. Russian I. I had never taken Russian before, but Lissa had taken it our freshman year. I hoped she was in it again.

I got to the classroom and opened the door. Everyone looked up from their conversation, and all noise stopped.

I looked at the teacher, Ms. Maslova. She stared at me, open-mouthed.

"Rosemarie Hathaway," she said. I grimaced.

I could tell by her tone that she hadn't missed me.

I was sure none of the teachers had, however. I had been quite the wild-child the last time I had been here.

"Ms. Maslova," I said I had to keep myself from calling her by her first name, Yelena. Mostly, Ms. Maslova had been a pain when I had been here.

"Gospodin Maslova," she corrected. I nearly ground my teeth.

"Where do you want me to sit, then?" I asked.

She pointed in the back next to doll-girl. "Next to Ms. Rinaldi," she said.

I bit back a retort and nodded.

Doll-girl glared at me, her face red.

I glared back.

I managed to survive the class without getting murdered by or murdering Doll-Girl.

Ms. Maslova gave me more homework than everyone else, plus a huge text book.

If I had known taking Russian would be this much work, I wouldn't have done it.

My next class was American Colonial Literature, and it was as boring as I had expected. At least Lissa was in this class with me, I reasoned.

But she was across the room, sat next to some other royals. Was the teacher that prejudiced against normal Moroi? I knew that she was royal, but I hadn't realized.

I hugged Lissa after the bell rang. "What class do you have fourth period?" I asked.

"Ancient Poetry," she said.

"Good! We have that class together, too!"

I smiled at her as I took a different hallway to my class.

I was looking forward to my next class. I hadn't had a class to help control my element in so long. I was probably hopelessly behind, because I hardly ever used it while we had been out in the human world.

I walked into the class and saw all the people who had specialized in fire since I had left. Ralf Sarcozy, Jacob, Jesse Zeklos, and Christian Ozera.

I smiled at Jesse. He should have had a Warning: Flammable sign attached.

He smiled back.

I wasn't surprised by that. Guys always smiled back at me. I didn't think they could help it; considering I was Moroi, I had a great body.

I had been told that I looked more like a Dhampir. While Moroi girls usually had very slim builds and tall frames, I had a very curvy body. I was pretty short, too. At least, short by Moroi standards. It was hardly surprising, however. My mother, Janine, was only five-foot-one. I must have gotten my height (and hair) from my father.

I had heard he was Turkish, but I had never met him. I hardly knew Janine, either. Mostly because she was dedicated to her job at Court. As soon as I turned four, she had dropped me off at the Academy and had never really looked back.

"Ms. Hathaway," Mr. Ibanescue said. "What brings you back to St. Vladimir's?"

I couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic or not. I shrugged at him. "Just thought we should finish our education," I said.

"Very well," he sighed. "Take a seat next to Mr. Ozera."

I had to sit next to Christian?

It wasn't that I didn't like Christian. It was just that being seen near him wouldn't be good for my fledgling reputation.

"Today, class we will be working on keeping little flames under control."

I sighed in disgust. I had almost forgotten that the Moroi didn't use their magic for anything useful. Just to play with it.

Christian had the same facial expression. I took it he wasn't a fan of this type of magic, either.

I suffered through the class that I had looked forward to the most.

I debated whether I should bolt as soon as the bell rang, or try to talk to Jesse.

I decided to just leave as soon as possible.

I could hopefully sit next to Lissa in my next class.

The bell rang and I practically ran out of the classroom.

I sat down in the back of the Ancient Poetry classroom and put my new books in the seat next to me.

I could feel Lissa approaching. She smiled at me as she walked in and I moved my books out of her seat. "Thanks for saving it," she told me.

"No problem. How has your day been?" I asked her.

Worry and stress hummed through the bond, but I could tell she was trying to hide it from her face.

"Has anyone been giving you trouble?" I asked.

"No. No one has."

She was lying. "You can tell me who it was, Liss."

"I hate it when you do that, Rose." She looked at me, her green eyes slightly watery.

"I can't help it," I told her. "I can just feel it. Who's been giving you trouble?"

She opened her mouth, but the bell rang.

Relief sung out of her, and I sighed. She had been saved by the bell.

This class was boring, too. I took out the syllabus from Russian and wrote on the back of it.

Who's been bothering you?

I pushed the note towards her, but she just ignored it. I pushed it into her arm, but merely stared at the board. I could feel her determination to not tell me. That, and she was a nerd. She really loved poetry.

I sighed and took the note back and shoved it with the rest of my new papers.

The bell rang, and before I could say anything she asked me a question. "Do you want to go to the feeders?" she asked.

I nodded. "It's been a while since we fed, huh?" I asked. I could feel it, too. I was so weak. Mr. Ibanescue hadn't even needed to teach me to control a small flame today. I had been too weak to produce anything else.

All that, added in with last night's exercises, today had been wearing even though I had hardly done anything.

I despised feeling as weak as I did.

As we walked towards the feeders, I noticed Dimitri fall into step behind us. Of course, even when we were safe in the wards, my guardian would follow me everywhere.

I didn't know if he'd really be comfortable when he realized where we were going.

We walked into the feeders room and signed in. Lissa was taken back first. Probably priority, since she was the last Dragomir.

I was taken back next. My feeder was Alice. I remembered her from before I had left. She was a kooky lady. I guess that was what years of Moroi endorphins did to you. I had always kind of liked Alice, though.

"Welcome back, Rose."

"Hey, Alice."

"Have you been keeping the Princess safe?" she asked me.

"Oh yes I have, Alice," I said sitting down in the chair next to her.

"Oh good. She will need protection in the future," she said.

I smiled at her and leaned close to her neck. As I got closer, she let out a gasp of excitement. I tried not to show how disgusted I was by her addiction.

It was nice that we had people to volunteer for this. It really was. But they were still looked down upon, since they were just junkies. They were dependent on us.

I could also tell that Alice was almost maxed out for the day. I would probably be her last bite.

I bit into her neck and felt her relax in pleasure. I didn't put any mind to it. That was the normal response.

I drank her blood, feeling better and better as time went on. I realized I was almost drinking too much. It had been that long since I had fed.

I stopped drinking.

Alice still looked out of it. She probably enjoyed the bite just as much as I had.

"Thanks, Alice," I smiled at her. I was still hungry, but I decided I would content myself with real food.

"You're welcome, Rose. You keep protecting the Princess."

"I will," I promised. "Bye."

"Goodbye."

Her eyes were wide and happy, and her voice sounded far away. She was so high.

I left, and Lissa was waiting in the foyer for me.

"That took you longer than normal," she commented.

"I was hungry," I told her.

"Rose, you know you shouldn't take more than normal, still."

Lissa was worried about my well-being. I could tell. She was worried that I would have finished off my feeder and become Strigoi.

"Don't worry, Liss. I didn't drink that much. It took them a few minutes to take me back, too," I reassured. "By the way, Alice asked about you."

"Alice?" she asked.

"You remember Alice?"

"Yes, Rose," she sounded exasperated. "I'm just surprised she remembers me."

The bond told me that she was also shocked that Alice hadn't been taken away yet. They did that when feeders got too old, for their health.

I had seen an old man once. He had been vicious, ready to defend his right to vampire bites.

Except he had been too weak, too old, too dependent on his fix to do anything to the guardians that had taken him away.

"She remembered me, too," I told her. "I think we must have the best endorphins in the school," I joked. All Moroi endorphins were the same.

She grinned. "We must. You wanna go to lunch, now?"

I nodded and she stood up from her chair.

I felt so much better than I had. I felt reenergized.

I walked out of the room and saw Dimitri waiting outside the doorway.

I wondered if he had heard our conversation about over-feeding.

I heard his light footsteps following us all the way to the commons. After that, he went to sit with some of the other guardians in the room.

He didn't appear to say much to them, and they didn't say much to him, besides the introductory hello.

Lissa and I got in line for food.

She got yogurt. I got the whole lunch.

Her face looked disgusted. "I don't know how you eat all that, right after feeding," she said.

I shrugged at her. I looked around the commons, searching for somewhere to sit.

We looked at each other. "We should lay low," I told her. I began to whisper. "I'm gonna get you out of here. So it's best not to tangle with the other royals."

She nodded. I spotted someone across the room. "Why don't we sit with her?"

Lissa looked where I was.

Her gawky near-cousin, Natalie, was waving at us.