"What the hell are you doing here?" I ordered, wiping the tears from my eyes.

Lissa smoothed down her pale blonde hair that now had twigs and leaves sticking out of it.

"I couldn't just let you go, Rose, you're supposed to be my guardian and my best friend." Lissa said in a tone that made me feel like I should have known.

I moaned. "Lissa you need to get back to the academy now."

"No." She said stubbornly. "I'm staying with you."

I felt the hurt and betrayal that came off of our bond. She missed me. And she was worried about me.

Then it hit me that maybe the reason Andre wouldn't lead me to Strigoi was that he knew that is baby sister was following me. I groaned again.

The nausea came back to my attention.

Lissa must have seen the look on my face because she shuffled over to my side.

"What is it?" There was a hint of fear in her voice.

"Strigoi," I whispered, pretty sure my voice held the same fear.

I searched around me, Strigoi were impossibly fast and almost silent.

A movement from my right caught my attention. Just as I turned around a Strigoi leaped out.

His face looked so familiar. He had shaggy, blonde hair that was messed up from the wind.

"Why, hello little ones." He purred. Then he turned his attention to me. "It's nice to see you again." He said with a sly smile.

I froze. I had fought with him back when Strigoi had invaded the academy. He had promised that he would kill Lissa.

And I had promised that that wouldn't happen.

"Ben?" Lissa whispered in disbelief.

"Ben?" I asked. "You know this son of a bitch?"

Ben smiled and said, "Of course Lissa knows me, now come over here and give me a hug." Ben took a step forward toward Lissa. Too close.

I threw Lissa behind me and snarled.

Ben's smile grew and he crouched in a fighting position.

I lunged forward with my stake. He dodged me easily, still smiling that creepy smile. He landed a blow on the left side of my head. I staggered back. Man, he's got strength! I thought back to when Dimitri had been my mentor. An unwanted tear sneaked down my cheek.

"Why so sad, little dhampir?" Ben asked in a taunting voice.

Getting me pissed was a stupid move on his side. I was smaller than him, but I could still kill him. I started anticipating his moves. I dodged his punches with a half second to spare.

He grunted. I decided to throw a couple of punches in there too. I hit him square in the nose but he barely flinched. Instead his smile disappeared and he threw me aside, making his way towards Lissa who was lying on the ground.

I jumped to my feet, wiping the blood from my mouth and the tears from my cheek. He was closing in on her. Lissa's feelings were pounding in my head. Scared. But even with a Strigoi right in front of her, she was still scared for me.

I leaped out on his back, my stake grazing the back of his neck. I noticed that he had 4 tiny tattoos on his neck. Meaning that he was probably a dhampir before he was turned. The tattoos meant that he had killed 4 Strigoi. I had 2 of my own, and a star meaning I had killed a bunch in a battle.

The stake hadn't killed him, the only way to kill Strigoi was to decapitate them, set them on fire, or drive a stake through their hearts. But the power of the stake had made him scream. Good. He deserved pain.

But it hadn't slowed his attack. It seemed to only make him angrier. He grabbed Lissa, slammed me aside, and took off.

I think hit my head on a tree stump when I went down. I tried to get up but my head swayed and my vision was blurred. Yep, definitely hit my head hard. Black splotches filled my vision and soon it took over. I tried getting up again but this time I fell and completely blacked out.