Eddie blinked and looked around at the dream I had created for him. I had let his subconscious fill in the details and I therefore found myself in a room with three bound Damphir, two bound Moroi, and a very large Strigoi. The only one moving was Eddie. I could see the fear in his face. When he saw me, he stared for a moment, then visibly relaxed.

"You create awfully real dreams, you know? Emphasis on the awful."

One corner of my mouth twitched upwards in a devious smile. "I make some pretty awesome ones too."

Eddie raised one eyebrow but said nothing.

"Alright, concentrate on what the Strigio said when he first came into the room on the visit you were telling me about, then just let the scene unfold around you."

For what seemed like an eternity, nothing happened, then suddenly, everyone in the room began to move.

As I watched, the Strigoi dropped into a crouch in front of Rose, "Please what?"

Rose and the Strigoi stared at each other for several moments before the Strigoi laughed. "I thought you were just being gallant before. But you were serious. You really have been bitten before. You crave it, though I doubt you want to. What? Is watching me bite your friend making the cravings stronger? Dehydration lowering your ability to fight it?" He leaned in and Rose made a small whimpering noise. The Strigoi chuckled. He wrapped her hair around his hand and pulled her her head back, causing her to cry out in pain.

My hands curled into fists. If the Strigoi wasn't already dead, I would have happily killed him for hurting her.

"You going to help slake her cravings, pretty boy?" the Strigoi asked Christian.

Christian growled out, "Leave her the hell alone."

The Strigoi turned back to Rose. "Is that what you want? Me to leave you alone?"

Rose shook her head.

"What do you want then, little damphir?"

My eyes narrowed. How dare he use my nickname for Rose? I had also seen Rose flinch at the name, meaning it had struck a nerve with her as well. Burying my anger, I refocused on the scene playing out in front of me.

Mason was shouting at the Strigoi to leave her the hell alone or so help him he would make the Strigoi wish he was dead.

The Strigoi, ignoring Mason entirely, scraped his teeth over her skin and Rose bit her lip, pleasure and shame warring with each other in her eyes. Then her eyelids fell closed and she stiffened as he bit down. It wasn't long, however, until the pleasure of the bite turned her expression into one of bliss. She whimpered and I noticed that everyone in the room turned their head away, probably because they knew she wouldn't want them to see her reaction. I wanted to turn away myself, but I couldn't afford to miss any detail.

The Strigoi pulled back after what seemed like an eternity. "Look at me," he whispered. Rose opened her eyes and I stepped closer. This was what I had been waiting on, I was certain.

"The longer Mr. Ozera chooses to stay away from you, the more you are going to crave him. His bite, his touch, everything, but you won't understand why because you won't remember this. It will slowly drive you insane until he gives in." He sat back and smiled. "This should be a good show," he said before standing up.

He turned to Christian and smirked. "When you are ready, I suggest you choose her. She'll want it as much as you do."

I immediately pulled out of the dream, feeling sick. The Strigoi obviously had thought he would be keeping his captives long enough to enjoy watching Rose beg, desperate to be bitten, among other things. It was depraved. As my mind spun, I still couldn't figure out how the compulsion could be holding with the Strigoi dead.

What I was sure of was that Rose was in trouble. They had to figure this out fast and it wouldn't be long before Christian would have to be clued in as well. God knows how he would react when Rose finally lost control if he was in the dark about everything. I also had to get her away from being Christian's guard.

Eddie woke up and jumped to his feet. His aura was a light storm of emotions, worry, fear, and pain being the principle ones. "If that meant what I think it did, what the hell are we going to do?"

I brought my fingers to my temples and closed my eyes. God, when was I going to get that drink?

A/N The next chapter will be back to Rose POV :-)