Seb watched as Anna stood guard as Serena got in and watched his soon-to-be wife struggle with the ghosts he couldn't help with. As she slid into the back seat he kissed her brow, "You did great... I'll get us out of here."

However, when he looked up Anna was cursing... Gunner was gone and of the few strigoi left behind, Abigail wasn't one of them.

Seb pulled up to her and rolled down the window, "Anna get in... He isn't here and there are too many Strigoi."

He watched her aura fluctuate and raised his voice, "Get in the damn car Ross, NOW! We aren't leaving without you."

That seemed to snap her out of it and she got into the vehicle. Seb slid to the back with Serena and Anna took over driving. As she tore out of the parking lot, leaving the Strigoi behind, she shook her head.

"They weren't attacking, after Gunner was gone they just... they stood there like they were waiting..."

She gritted her teeth, Abigail had obviously expected Anna to go after Gunner and Vlad knew she wanted to but her training won out... the lives of the two others in her care won out. She parked, slid out of the vehicle, and slammed the door shut behind her. Seb watched her go and let out a tense breath before kissing Serena again, "We'll let the Queen know what happened... They won't send anyone after Gunner but the group of Strigoi was large enough... maybe it'll get the attention of the Elites. Anna is in no shape to talk to them... How are you feeling?"

~*~

Anna had screwed up, she'd been too busy over protecting Serena to pay attention to Gunner and Abigail... The Strigoi back at the Strip had made it clear what Abigail planned to do to him and Anna felt ill. She couldn't kill Gunner but there was no doubt in her mind that he'd be too strong as a Strigoi for Sebastian to even get close enough to him to bring him back... She swallowed the bile rising in her throat and headed to her room. There was no way in hell she was leaving him out there though, she'd left him once already and she wasn't doing it again.

She knew this probably wouldn't end well, she wasn't Rose Hathaway and some speculated that Gunner was just as good, if not better than Guardian Belikov. In the end she'd probably end up dead herself or a Strigoi but she had to do SOMETHING. Anna strapped two stakes to each hip and pulled on her jacket before exiting her room again. She had no idea where Abigail might have taken Gunner and sunrise was still hours away... giving her plenty of time to get far away from here. Anna would follow whatever lead she had, she couldn't just leave Gunner out there...

As she was walking down the stairs of the dorm and rounding the corner she almost ran face first into Jace. The moroi frowned, "I hate being right... Premonitions in dreams suck by the way."

Anna rolled her eyes, "Move."

Jace caught her arm until she yanked it away and drew her stake threateningly, he held his hands up and sighed. "Calm down Ross... I'm here to help. You can't just go off on your own half cocked, it won't do Guardian Robot a damn bit of good... Not to mention you'll get yourself killed."

Anna gritted her teeth, "I can't just leave him."

Jace shook his head, "You're not, you're making a plan... a coherent one and then you're going after him. Give yourself time to think Ross."

"And in that time Gunner could be a Strigoi in the making, I can't-"

Jace caught her by the shoulders and kissed her deeply, Anna yanked away and slapped him hard. "What the fuck?!"

He smiled crookedly, "You were hysterical, I helped."

She punched him, hard, but put the stake away and watched him cup his now bloody nose with a grimace. "Dammit, I think you hit harder than Marks..."

She shoved a hand through her hair, "You were looking for me... you said something about your dream?"

He shook the blood off his hand and she took off her jacket and offered it to him. He cleaned himself up with it and then answered, "Yeah... a blonde lady, lots of fighting, Marks as a strigoi, you dead, fun stuff really."

She glared, "Get to the point."

"The point is if you'd taken off just now, you'd be dead. I saved your life, you're welcome... As for Marks... I saw something... Caves."

She frowned, "In your dream you saw caves?"

"And a town, a shabby one... all burned up. It wasn't a pretty picture."

Anna shook her head, "You're coming with me and we're going to the Queen... Now."