RPOV

"I've given up on you." His quiet voice reached me. "Love fades. Mine has."

Devastation flew through me.

I could handle anything life threw at me, but Dimitri telling me that he didn't love me anymore was the only thing that could kill me. It was his love that had kept me going the past few months. His love had fed my soul, igniting my life, and he had just extinguished it with four words. As if I were trivial and couldn't be bothered with.

I could feel the tears well in the corners of my eyes, but my vision was still sharply focused on the man in front of me. His face was hard and guarded. His eyes were locked steel cages that I no longer had a key to. As much as I wanted to believe Dimitri was lying to me, I couldn't find anything that told me otherwise.

I nodded, accepting his words.

"I understand. Goodbye, Dimitri." I whispered as I rose from the pew and turned to leave. The tears that had built in my eyes had retreated and a numb feeling spread through my being. I pushed my way through the church doors into the night. It was still warm, but my body felt cold.

I went back to my room and started packing without a second thought. I was leaving. I couldn't be here anymore. I needed a fresh start, with new people, away from Court. I tried to feel optimistic. I tried to feel nervous. I tried to feel any emotion, but I felt nothing.

There was a knock on my door, which I promptly ignored until the knocking turned into banging. I opened the door to find Adrian standing there, his eyes wide and hair rumpled, more than usual.

"Thank God! Lissa said that something was wrong with the bond." He said looking me over. "Are you okay?" He asked finding nothing physically wrong with me, I'm assuming he checked my aura. He glanced over my shoulder and took in the state of my room. I'd just finished packing when he showed up, so all of my stuff was either in a box or in a suitcase.

"What do you want, Adrian?" He looked back at me with concern written on his face.

"What's wrong, Rose? Where are you going?" His face fell.

"I'm leaving. I can't be here anymore." I stated simply.

"Where are you going to go?" I shrugged in response. To be fair, I hadn't actually thought about where I was going, only that I needed to leave as soon as possible. I guess I could just call my dad, Abe Mazur, and figure out a plan once I was out of Court.

"I'm going to call Dad, and with his help, I'm leaving." His face fell further.

"You're leaving. Are you just going to leave? Are you going to leave Lissa? Your life here? You're going to leave me?"

"You and I both know that it wasn't going to work out between us, Adrian. Please don't act surprised." I answered monotonously. I should have been more gentle. There was no emotion in my voice because there was no emotion in me. "So, if you don't mind, I've got a few calls to make."

I didn't wait for a response before I quickly shut the door in his face. I moved back into my room, finding my phone and dialing my father.

"Hey, Dad," I said when he picked up, trying to put what I thought was emotion in my voice. "I need to get out of Court. Could you help me out?"

"Leave it to me, Kiz. Meet me at the airstrip in thirty minutes." I nodded, knowing he couldn't see me and hung up. That was something I liked about Abe, he didn't ask too many questions, especially when it came to me. If I was asking him to do something for myself, it had to be important, otherwise, I wouldn't ask.

With the time I had left, I dialed the number to Guardian Headquarters to talk to Hans. I was put on hold for a few minutes before Hans' deep voice was transmitted through the receiver.

"Hathaway. What can I do for you?" He asked in a formal tone, though I detected a trace of friendliness.

"I'm taking a leave of absence. I'm calling to inform you. I don't know when I'll be back, or if I'll ever be back, so you'll need to find a suitable replacement for Princess Dragomir. When he gets his Guardian title back, I suggest Belikov, until then you might want more than one person guarding her at all times." I finished speaking waiting for a response.

"Rose. What's going on?" The concern was evident in his voice. Hans and I hadn't always gotten along, but he knew I wouldn't just leave Lissa, not without a reason.

"I'm leaving Court, and I don't know when I'll be back. I'm due to leave in less than twenty minutes. When I'm settled, I'll send over the official paperwork, but until then, know that I'll not be here." He stayed silent for a minute longer.

"I wish you luck, Guardian Hathaway. Know that when you return, your position will be restored." I thanked him and hung up. I wondered if I should leave something for Lissa, but I couldn't find it within me to put words to my lack of emotions. Adrian had said that Lissa felt something wrong through the bond, but I didn't wait to hear what it was. Perhaps the bond was starting to work the other way.

I took a marker out of my purse and labeled the top of my two boxes that held my belongings with my father's address in Turkey. I didn't know if that was where I was going to be going, in fact, I hoped it wasn't. If I left his address, someone I knew would probably show up there. Shipping the boxes there would give me the chance to get them to their final destination, on which I was still deciding.

I grabbed my duffle bag and slung it over my shoulder. With my phone, purse, and suitcase in hand, I left my room being sure to leave it unlocked behind me. I started my walk to the airstrip where my father would be waiting.

I received some odd looks from a few Moroi I passed on the way there. I didn't see any Guardians until I reached the airstrip. I saw my father waiting at the base of a set of stairs that led up to his awaiting plane. When he saw me, he stepped forward, wordlessly, giving me a quick hug before taking my suitcase from me and motioning toward the stairs.

I entered the plane wordlessly, seating myself in one of the plush chairs and turned to look out at Court. With the efficiency only Abe Mazur could manage, we were cleared for takeoff. I'd buckled in and was still staring out the window when we started taxiing.

Off in the distance, I could see people running toward the airstrip, but they were quickly stopped by the Guardians waiting there. Upon closer inspection, I could see it was Lissa, Christian, Adrian, and Eddie. Lissa had tears running down her face while she clung to Christian who was barely able to hold her up. Adrian looked like he was barely holding it together, while Christian and Eddie were looking just as distraught but without the tears.

Adrian and Eddie were still trying to fight off the Guardians holding them back when Dimitri burst through all of them. He was running at a full sprint like he could catch up to the plane that was already rushing down the runway. Guardians were chasing after him, both the ones stationed at the airport and those that were still assigned to him.

I turned away from them when I saw Dimitri fall to his knees. I stared at the seat in front of me, willing myself to feel something, anything. But nothing came. I was numb to the world.

I dug deep, hoping to find something that still made me me, but all I found was Lissa's Darkness. I clung to it like it was the only thing keeping me alive. To tell you the truth, it probably was. The Darkness was the only thing that remained intact from who I used to be. Everything else had changed, only the Darkness remained the same.

As I embraced the familiarity, I felt at peace. A calmness spread throughout my body, and I let out a sigh of relief.

"So, where to, Kiz?" My father asked from across the aisle where he'd seated himself.

"I'm not sure. I'm having the rest of my belongings shipped to Turkey, but I don't want to go there in case someone comes looking." I stated. "I have a few things that I want to learn before I'm ready to do what I know I want to do."

"What's that?"

"I want to go hunting," I said plainly.

"Hunting?" He repeated in a question. "For Strigoi?" I nodded.

"I want to learn different ways to fight. I want to learn how to use a sword." I told him, his expression was unreadable so I continued. "I was thinking if I could get in touch with Sydney again, that she could help with the bodies, but also knowing what kinds of weapons work better than a stake."

"This is what you want?" Abe asked after thinking a little bit. I only nodded in response. "Then we're going to New York. I've got a house out in one of the suburbs and you can either take a bus or the subway into the city when you're ready to hunt. If I'm feeling generous I'll even get you a vehicle."

"Thanks, Dad," I responded with a small smile on my face.

"Anything for you, Rose."

"Oh, also, please don't tell anyone else, at least other than those that need to know. Mom will probably call in a tizzy, wanting to know where I am. She'll probably be disappointed that I just left my responsibilities, but I couldn't be there anymore."

"I understand. I won't tell anyone where you are, and my Guardians are sworn to secrecy." As if on cue, Pavel came out from wherever he had been hiding and sat next to me, directly across the aisle from my father.

"Don't worry, Rose. You'll be safe with us." He said pulling me into a hug, making me feel considerably better.

"I'm not worried. I've got you two, what more could I need?" With the Darkness swirling inside me, my emotions had returned, though nothing too powerful.

Neither Dad nor Pavel asked me what had taken place at Court, for which I was grateful. It didn't hurt to think about, but something told me that I didn't want to voice any of my thoughts.

We hadn't been in the air very long, just over an hour, before the pilot informed us that we would be landing soon.

"We're going to be landing at a private terminal at JFK and meet with a driver who will take us out to the house," Pavel explained.

"Where is the house? You said in a suburb of New York City, but which one?"

"The Hamptons."

"You own a house in The Hamptons?" I asked shocked, though when I thought about it, I really shouldn't have been.

"Yep!" He responded proudly. "I hope you'll enjoy it."

"I'm sure I will." We didn't speak again on the flight. We landed with little fuss and exited the plane. Used to the openness of Montana and the secluded location of Court, the air around me was stifling. I felt like I was being suffocated. I tried not to feel panicked, but the air was so thick that I couldn't help but feel trapped. Abe gently placed his hand on the small of my back, pushing me forward toward the waiting car. In the distance, I could see the busy hub of the main airport terminals, but out here, it was more or less peaceful allowing me to calm down a little.

I climbed into the back of the awaiting SUV where Abe placed himself beside me. Pavel took the seat next to the driver and without a word of instruction, we were off, working our way out of the airport traffic and into the normal, everyday New York traffic. The further we drove, the less traffic there was. Eventually, it became rare to see another car passing us.

Two and a half hours after we left the airport, we were pulling up to a very large house. The house's walls were practically all glass, allowing the light of the day to filter through the house. There wasn't another house around so it was completely private.

Even from the front, I could see the beach in the back. I felt a smile forming on my face as I stepped out of the car.

"This is amazing, Dad."

"I'm glad you like it." He said, looking pleased with himself. He started moving to the door.

"The glass filters out most of the UV rays so it's completely safe for your father during the day," Pavel explained as he walked beside me, a few paces behind Dad. "It's easier to defend than it looks. We have the occasional Strigoi but most don't travel this far down the beach. We'll be running on human-time here."

I nodded and followed along as Abe gave a quick tour of the whole house. While it looked huge from the outside, and it was huge, most of the interior was open space, so there wasn't too much to show. The upper two floors were all bedrooms, each equipped with a set of blinds that could be lowered to block out the light.

Abe let me choose my bedroom.

"I'm not attached to any of them. I don't use this house often." I nodded and chose a room toward the center of the house that had a fantastic view of the beach in the backyard. The room was large, as was every room in this house. The bed was king-sized, with a black duvet. The wood of the bed frame was a dry brushed white. Around the room, the accessories that were scattered where various shades of black and white. It had a very modern feel to it.

There were a walk-in closet and an en-suite bathroom, both were about half the size of the main room. The bed was facing the wall of windows off to the left while there was a small seating area centered around an electric fireplace off to the right. The dresser was on the other side of the bed with the door that led to the closet on one side, and the door that led to the bathroom on the other. I sat my suitcase down beside the bed and went to stand in front of the windows.

Off in the distance, I could see small sailboats bobbing on the open water, seagulls circling overhead. The faint sound of waves filtered into the room. I closed my eyes, letting my other senses take over. This place was peaceful. The entirety of it all matching my new demeanor.

I felt the Darkness take away any uneasy feelings I had about leaving Lissa. There was nothing for me there, now. Dimitri cut the last thread that had been holding me. This is where I needed to be. I needed to be in the action. I wasn't one to sit back and wait for the threat to come to me.

But I wasn't ready for the threat, yet. I needed to train. I could train often and intensely here, and not bother or be bothered by anyone. Abe had told me that other Guardians would arrive tomorrow in order to keep him protected. He said that he was going to operate his businesses out of this house until I was comfortable enough to live here by myself. This would be my home.

I decided to check on the bond. Earlier, I had momentarily felt Lissa trying to push her way through so she could talk to me, but I'd built my barriers too high and too thick, my mind was impenetrable. I laid back on the plush bed, sinking in.

I closed my eyes and allowed myself to feel Lissa. She was back at the house that she shared with Christian. Eddie and Adrian were seated across from her while Christian had wrapped her in his arms. What surprised me the most was that Dimitri was there, seated against a wall with tears rolling down his face. He'd long since pulled his Guardian Mask on, but the pain was evident in his eyes. It was odd to see such emotion on his face.

"Do you have any idea where she could have gone?" Lissa asked looking over at Adrian. He looked like he could use a drink, but I'm assuming that he hadn't touched alcohol since I told him I was leaving almost six hours ago. He was probably trying to say sober in order to contact me when I fell asleep, but something told me he wasn't going to reach me.

"She said that she was going to call her father. She didn't explain why she was leaving, just that she couldn't be here anymore." He said with tears in his eyes. "I don't understand why she just left."

"I don't either." Lissa sobbed out. "Did she say anything to you, Dimitri?"

Dimitri didn't look up from the spot he had found on the carpet, but he shook his head, another tear rolled across his cheek.

"Have you felt anything through the bond, again, Liss?" Christian asked from beside her.

"Not since the pain I told you about earlier. After that, it's like I was shut out. I can't feel her at all. I'm not used to this feeling that I'm having, like I'm incomplete." She sniffled. "But I feel better than I ever have. It's a weird sensation, like I don't have the ability to feel complete sadness or depression anymore."

Her tears were still flowing, though. However, there wasn't any sadness in her, but she felt horrible because I was gone and she couldn't feel sad about it.

"Your aura doesn't have an ounce of Darkness in it," Adrian told her. "In fact, it's the brightest aura I've ever seen, well, almost."

"What does that mean?"

"It probably means that Rose is taking all of your Darkness, constantly if you ask me." His look turned worried as he voiced his theory. "She's taking all the Darkness. What's that going to do to her?"

"How do I stop it?" Lissa asked frantically.

"I don't think you can."

"But she can't take it all, she'll go crazy!" Dimitri's head turned toward the conversation after Adrian's revelation, and his face looked anguished. More tears threatened to spring from his eyes, but he kept them back. He looked like he wanted to say something, but instead, he got up from his spot and bowed.

"Princess Dragomir, Lord Ivashkov, Lord Ozera. If you'll excuse me, I'm tired and am going to retire for the night." Without waiting for a response, he left, closely followed by his assigned Guardians.

"What happened between them?" Lissa asked as soon as Dimitri had left. "He's the only reason she would have left. He keeps saying that he doesn't know, but I could feel his guilt."

"She went to church to see him this morning, but other than that, only he and she knows," Adrian explained looking a little angry, though he mostly looked troubled. "I'll try contacting her when I feel her sleep, but that's the best we can do. She left her stuff here to be shipped to her father's house in Turkey, but she turned her phone off."

"We're going to find her, right?" Lissa asked sniffling.

"We will, Liss." Eddie finally spoke up. He didn't look as worse for the wear as the others, but Eddie had always been good at covering his emotions. They all sat in silence, and I decided to leave.

Coming back to myself, I let my mind wander. I followed wherever it went. To my surprise, it didn't think about any of my friends or the love of my life. My mind went straight to training. I'd have to talk with Abe about acquiring a few new weapons before I really started, but until then I could still run and spar with some of his Guardians.

I hauled myself off the comfortable bed, grabbed some sleep clothes out of my suitcase, and made my way into the bathroom. I stood under the spray of hot water, allowing the events of today to be washed down the drain. I was a new me. I felt different because I was different.

Everyone was afraid for me because they thought the Darkness was dangerous. The only thing dangerous about the Darkness was when you tried to hold it back. After I'd let myself be absorbed by it, I was at peace. I could control it, not the other way around. I felt fewer emotions but more power.

Tomorrow would be a new day, a new life. I went to sleep knowing that I was putting everyone and everything from my past life behind me. All I needed was here in this home, well at least once Sydney got here.

Tomorrow I was going to become a different kind of Darkness, and this one would need to be feared.