okay so yes twas much more than 24 hours (three months oops ahaha sorry D:) BUT ALAS THE CHAPTER IS HERE

I wanted to make it longer, but you've all been waiting long enough - so this I shall give you is the penultimate chapter. Thank you to everyone who has waited all these years for this update, it honestly means so much to me that you all care about my stories xxx

Chapter 6

I sat, once again at a computer screen. This time, however, I was not watching Rose's every move.

The red headed Strigoi named Sergei had sparked my curiosity. Rose seemed to think he was different from the other Strigoi, like Dimitri, so I thought I'd gather evidence.

Sergei was pacing furiously across the room, disappearing for a few seconds, and then charging right back the other way. His room must have been extremely large, for all I could see was his king sized bed, where a young girl sat on the edge, staring wide-eyed at the Strigoi in front of her.

From what I could make out, Sergei was given her as a reward. He'd pleased someone high up in the Strigoi hierarchy, and another Strigoi had dragged her in and given her over to him. He'd pushed her onto the bed and began pacing almost immediately. That was an hour ago.

"What are you going to do to me?" she asked in Russian, her voice shaking. She didn't sound – or look – any older then twelve. I felt a little nauseous, remembering Dimitri and Rose's conversation about the attack on St Basil's.

Sergei spun around. "Be quiet." He snapped at her. She flinched and shuffled back until she hit the bed's headboard. It was confronting to see her so terrified; although I'd been watching these girls for a while, and believed myself to be immune to the horrors they dealt with, the girls had all obviously been with their strigoi for a while. They were jaded; this girl was fresh.

A guardian beside me—Dennis, I think his name was—made a noise of disgust. I tore my gaze away from my screen.

On his computer a Strigoi had pushed an older Moroi, about twenty-seven-ish years old, into a wall. Her head slammed against the wall, and she slid down, leaving a trail of blood. It was obvious she'd been trying to defend a younger girl – a dhampir who looked to be maybe fifteen – and that had aggravated him. The girl flinched when he stepped closer, then she lunged at him.

She was fast and skilled for her age, but she was no match for him. He had her pinned to the ground within seconds, and although she put up a fight, it didn't last long. I turned away when he bit into her neck.

Back on my screen, Sergei had joined the girl on the bed. He was still scowling at the floor, as though it alone was at fault for everything bad in the world. He looked at the girl, who was flinching away from him. She was almost as pale as Sergei, but she was definitely a Moroi.

He ran a hand along her arm cautiously, as though worried about her reaction. She didn't flinch away, but she was shaking in fear; her eyes stared forward, refusing (or unable) to look towards him. He pulled her closer, wrapping his arms around her waist as though he was experimenting, and kissed her slowly. The girl stiffened, her whole body going rigid. I felt sick; my stomach clenched and my throat began to feel very uncomfortable. Maybe Rose was wrong about him…

Then he shot up off the bed away from her, a look of revulsion on his face. "I can't do this shit." He muttered and stood perfectly still in the middle of the room. The girl had tears streaming down her face, and she curled up into a ball.

There was a knock, and Sergei disappeared off screen. When he came back Dimitri was with him.

"I see all your sucking up to Galina finally paid off." Dimitri said coldly.

Sergei glared at him. "What do you want?" he growled.

Dimitri crossed his arms. "I know you don't want anything to do with that kid." He nodded to the Moroi girl. She hugged one of the red pillows that were piled on top of the bed as she shrunk away from Dimitri's gaze.

Sergei said nothing. Dimitri continued. "I can help you get rid of her."

I listened intently to the rest of their conversation.

Over the course of the next few days, it was like my whole view of the world, one that I had grown up with, had been altered.

I'd stopped obsessing over Rose and Dimitri and the idea that maybe there was some good left in Strigoi. Instead, I'd attempted to make my colleagues understand this, and we had tracked a pattern of events within the estate.

It started at the very top of the building. In the entire estate, there were 112 rooms, 100 of them occupied by the Strigoi. 7 rooms housed children of various ages, 3 were used to hold the girls they captured, and two were large ballroom-like areas the Strigoi used for meetings and other social events. It still amazed me how something so unnatural could still act so normal.

The pattern began with the first floor of 10 rooms being completely cleared of dhampir, Moroi and any babies and toddlers that lived with them. The guardians had figured out that Molly and Tania were a test for Rose and Dimitri to see if they could get people out. When this had succeeded, the daring duo had wasted no time in clearing the entire level. The lack of Strigoi during this escape had indicated they were either in one of the ballrooms, or staging another attack; most likely the former, since there had been no attack recently other than the one on St Basil's.

This meant Rose and Dimitri had a mission, and they did it fast.

We'd deduced that the oldest Strigoi were on the top floor. I wondered briefly why Rose and Dimitri had chosen their victims to be the first released, but my answer came to me shortly after.

"They're starting at the top, and working their way down." Alberta had announced to people in the Hacking Room.

Yet another group of girls had been flown into the court, all of them the residents of the second floor. There were only half as many this time, but that was still seven girl's whose traumatic experiences were over, and four innocent babies who had the chance at living a better life.

We'd also located the estate. It was about 25 kilometres from Novosibirsk, and that was where the problem came in.

"We can't just walk right on up to a Strigoi building and demand they give our people back." A guardian whose name I did not know argued after someone suggested we get on a plane right now and get there. "They'd kill us instantly. It's a suicide mission."

It took three days of debating, and we eventually had to get permission from the Queen and the head of the Guardians to take 25 guardians into Novosibirsk.

"Do you think this is a good idea?" I asked Alberta as we landed in an airport in a town I couldn't pronounce.

Alberta gave me a wry look. "It was your idea."

I nodded, still a little unsure of myself. Half of us were going to try and get as close to the estate as possible, namely to scope it out and consider our options should we attempt to break in. The other half—my team—were going to a place that translated into "The Love Lair" in English.

The Love Lair was owned by the Strigoi from the estate. It was some kind of twisted strip club, where Strigoi, humans, Moroi and even some dhampir were known to go. Obviously, no one actually knew it was owned by Strigoi until a few days ago, when Dimitri had suggested to Sergei that he send his girl there.

I'd been a little shocked at first, not realising until a little later that Rose and Dimitri were planning to release the dancers. Clearly, they'd planned on guardians being around to intercept any of the girls who managed to escape.

I just hoped we didn't blow their cover.

It was interesting to watch Eddie Castile preparing to enter The Love Lair. A team of Moroi wired him up with the appropriate communications equipment and explained in great detail every device they were hooking to his clothing.

"We can give you messages through here," one man explained, while putting a tiny ear-piece into Eddie's ear, "It's designed so that we will be able to hear everything you do. And this," he indicated to a black, circular camera disguised as a button, "will allow us to see everything you see."

The guardians in charge gave him instructions to try to act like a human and only focus on one thing at a time, rather than assessing the area. Hopefully years of training wouldn't interfere with his attempt to act casual.

Everyone quickly moved to their assigned areas, and I waited the ten minutes it took for Eddie to make it to the opening of The Love Lair.

"Here we go." Muttered one of the Moroi computer hackers who had spent a lot of time in the Hacking Room during the past week. I knew he was the one in charge of the technological side of the operation, and that his name was Stephen, but that was about it.

I stood behind him in the small van and observed the elaborate devices he was using to communicate with Eddie. I was to wait until he retrieved more information before joining the others in the evacuation. Alberta stood beside me, giving instructions to Eddie through the microphone that sat next to the computer, allowing her to see the screen and survey the situation.

"Try not to glare at the Strigoi or look repulsed. That's a dead giveaway." She said into the microphone.

Eddie continued to walk forward, lining up with about twenty or so enthusiastic men. Most of them, I observed, were human, but there were several Moroi talking quietly, but not unexcitedly, about the night ahead.

"First time?"

A gruff voice sounded in Eddie's ear and he turned towards a raggedly bearded man who looked to be in his mid-fourties. If it weren't for the emerald green of his eyes that commonly appeared in dhampirs with an Ivashkov ancestor, I would have thought he was human. A feeling of disapproval for the seedy looking dhampir rippled through me. A man like him should be fighting to protect Moroi, or at least training them in the academies. He should not be attending a Strigoi-owned strip club that I was certain showcased under-aged girls on a regular basis. It was men like him that put a shadow on the dhampir race. They were almost as bad as blood whores – wasting their lives and their potential.

Eddie shook his head politely. "No, I'm a regular." I'd suggested he try to divert attention from himself by appearing as though he was familiar with his surroundings. A person who was inexperienced in this field may draw attention to themselves – something we did not need.

The man's eyes narrowed. "Why haven't I seen you around before? I'm here most weekends."

"I generally stay away from others while I'm here." Eddie replied casually. I mentally awarded him some points for keeping his cool. His voice took on a slightly, for lack of a better word, cheeky edge when he spoke next. "Well, away from other guys, if you know what I mean."

The man clapped Eddie on the back, and the camera momentarily shook with the movement. "I hear ya man."

Eddie waited the six minutes it took for he and the seedy dhampir to be ushered inside. He then slinked away, unnoticed by the other man, and not without reason.

There were people everywhere. Girls; scantily clad, some holding drink trays – and wearing no shirts – and some dancing (if you could call it that) with poles. Eddie turned to face a dark corner and I knew his eyes would be assessing the way a Moroi man leaned in towards a dhampir girl's neck. The dreamy expression that swept over her face told me all I needed to know. This wasn't just strip club…

And then Rose was there.

I heard her before I – or Eddie – saw her. She sauntered up next to him and said, in a slow, deep voice, "May I assist you…" Her eyes travelled down Eddie's body, and I used the opportunity to note the startling red corset that made her usually defined bust very defined, her extremely short skirt and her black fishnet tights. She looked every part the blood-whore she'd never wanted to become. "…with anything?" she gave a seductive smirk and emphasised the anything.

She wasn't alone, I realised, and mentally berated myself for becoming distracted. On either side of her stood Viktoria, who appeared to be trying extremely hard to look dazed, and the Moroi girl who was given to Sergei. Both girls were wearing some form of coverage on their chests, which – considering the state of dress of the others – was unusual.

Eddie played a seedy dhampir well. "Any form of assistance from one of you would be wonderful."

Rose's eyes danced with humour. "Lena would be happy to serve you in any way you require." She gestured to the Moroi girl, who really did look dazed, and the girl took hold of Eddie's hand. "I need to warn you though, you can look, but you can't touch... yet."

"Please follow me," Lena said in Russian. Almost robotically she turned and led him towards a dark corner, and I realised she was being compelled.

My heart raced and my head span when they reached their destination – a tiny, red room containing only a plush couch – when I realised Rose was no longer with them...

MORE TO COME - WOULD I LIE TO YOU (yes technically but here I am, returned from the grave)

xoxoxox thanks so much for reading, I can't wait for everyone to read the ending !