Chapter One

Several years had passed since Adrian and I finally got together at Getty Villa. We had managed to maintain a relationship, at first secretly, despite Jill, our differing races, the presence of my sister and the Alchemists. That didn't, however, mean that everything had suddenly gotten simple. Believe me, it hadn't. We still faced a lot of prejudice, mostly because I was human. I knew that there had been some rumours when Adrian was dating Rose, she was a dhampir, but this was a whole new ball park; I wasn't even the same species.

The whole species thing wasn't something that bothered me anymore, in fact I forgot about it most of the time. When I quit my job and my life with the Alchemists, I had left most of their beliefs behind. The tattoo had been broken for a while before I quit, and whilst it still remained on my cheek it served as nothing more than a reminder of my past. It wasn't a past that I particularly wanted to remember but it was my only link to my family now that my father had disowned me. Jared Sage had even sunk low enough to forbid my mother and sisters from seeing me, simply because he was so disgusted with me for being a "vamp lover."

Jill no longer needed to hide in Palm Springs as the law had finally been changed meaning that her existence wasn't quite so important to Queen Vasilisa's reign. She had, however, stayed in Palm Springs to finish her education at Amberwood Prep simply because she had so many friends and it meant that she had more time before she was forced to return to the world where she was a Moroi princess. Adrian and I had stuck around for several reasons, he was bonded to Jill and so they didn't especially like being apart but also because it was the place where we had fallen in love. I think it's always going to have a special place in our hearts. The bond was still an awkward thing that I didn't especially like to think about and made me wary about some things that Adrian and I did. Jill might have been older now but I still felt weird knowing that whatever happened between Adrian and me didn't stay between us.

Even after Jill had finished school, Adrian and I had stayed on there a little longer than the others, who had already returned to Court. Adrian had no particular desire to see his parents but I knew that he wanted to see Jill again, and I was nervous to go with him. I was fully aware that we would probably end up living there, no matter what Adrian tried to tell me about going where I was comfortable, but that didn't mean I wasn't anxious about it. The Moroi Royal Court was filled with vampires, and whilst I was fine with Adrian, I still held onto to a few of my reservations about spending time with the creatures. I had been brought up on the belief that they were evil, that I should always keep my distance; a lifelong belief was hard to shake but I was getting there.

I could no longer hide from it though, not when Adrian and I sat in the Ivaskinator, almost at the remote Pennsylvania location. I had been here only once before, and I had been a prisoner then so I wasn't entirely sure where I was going without Adrian's directions. When we finally arrived and were let in past the guardians, I really began to panic. I was surrounded by vampires now, there were no humans there apart from me (aside from the feeders but they weren't exactly with it enough to provide moral support). Adrian had always been aware of my great dislike of vampires, their magic and such, so he looked across at me.

"You're probably best parking here." Adrian gestured to a car park a little way up ahead. I pulled in and parked the Mustang before letting an uneven sigh.

"Sage, you okay?" He asked, placing a hand on my knee and squeezing gently.

"Uh, sure," I replied unsurely. "Being here, like this; it just kind of goes against everything I was taught."

"And being in a relationship with me doesn't?" He grinned, that grin always made everything better.

"It's totally worth it. And anyway, it's only you. I think it's more that there are so many Moroi and dhampirs here; I'm kind of outnumbered."

"I won't let anything happen to you. We're harmless, aside from the blood drinking and the fact that the dhampirs are all pretty badass."

"That makes me feel so much better, Adrian, thanks." He grinned and I shook my head in despair.

We got out of the car and I really saw the beauty of the buildings around me. Many of them closely resembled the buildings that I had seen in Saint Petersburg but there were also some slightly more modern structures mixed in. On my last visit, I hadn't really had the chance to admire the place, but it really was beautiful. Adrian took my hand and led me off into the heart of the Royal Court. The place had many restaurants, shops and residential areas; it was more like a small town than a Royal Court. My boyfriend just happened to be good friends with the Moroi Queen and so we had somehow secured a place, for a short while at least, in Palace Housing. This only made me more nervous though; I might consider Rose a good friend but I had no such attachments to Vasilisa. I was also fully aware that tonight, Adrian would visit his parents and he intended to take me with him.

"Are you sure you're going to be okay here? It's not too late to find a hotel outside of Court." Adrian turned to me as we approached the Palace.

"I'm just nervous," I leant against his chest and his arms immediately wrapped around me. "Not only are the people in there vampires, that's the Queen."

Adrian chuckled. "Don't worry; it's not going to be some kind of formal audience with her. Just a friendly reunion."

"A friendly reunion?" I arched one eyebrow. "Aren't Rose and Dimitri going to be there? I can hardly imagine that being friendly."

Adrian shrugged but didn't respond. I knew that he wasn't still into Rose, wasn't I proof of that? However, she had still broken his heart, he wasn't going to forget that in a hurry, and I was pretty sure that his feelings towards Dimitri hadn't changed. Adrian lifted my head from his chest and pressed his lips to mine. I hadn't gotten past the way that his kisses made me feel. I felt a thrill go through my whole body and leaned closer into him.

"Come on, Sage, time to face the music." Adrian took my hand and led me inside.