"You're a beautiful woman, what are you doing with this fool?" The werewolf asked, his eyes roaming over the king after Mara's efforts to apologise on the elven king's behalf since Eric staunchly refused to apologise or even acknowledge he was wrong.

Mara knew the werewolf from her vision; it was Alpha Zachary's illegitimate son, Cole. The way he was looking at her in a blatantly sexual manner was making her extremely uncomfortable and out of soughts but she fought the disgust and forced a smile.

It was the first time had looked at her with such unabashed desire. Their kind was naturally reserved and anyone overtly sexual was frowned upon, which made Colton Zahid's gaze all the more unnerving.

"Thank you, my lord," she said graciously, tactfully ignoring the last part of his sentence. Werewolf males liked to feel like they were in control so that was the part of his personality that she was going to play on, to make him feel as alpha as possible. As an illegitimate son, Cole would appreciate it.

"I only speak the truth. What brings you to our territory when you know none who enter, leave alive?"

He spoke the truth, it was no secret that werewolves revelled and prided themselves in their carnivorous nature, they were natural predators with a very large appetite and few morals to balance it.

"We seek an audience with the Master Alpha."

Their clans had banded together after Dracula had relentlessly hunted them down to near extinction. Each clan still had its alpha but there was one alpha who ruled above all: Alpha Zachary; and that was the man they were there to see.

"Join the line, sweetheart," Cole grinned wolfishly.

"What we have to propose is beneficial to both parties," she promised, batting her lashes and ignoring Eric's dissatisfied grunt.

"Does it involve you, me, a private room and very little clothes?"

Mara's eyes bulged and her bravado departed at the man's forwardness.

"I see I have scandalized you. Perhaps we can have this discussion later. Follow me, I'll take you to Zachary."

Mara noticed how he didn't call the man 'father'.

She gestured for the men to pick up their bags which contained their clothes as well as gifts for the alpha. Cole turned sharply.

"The imbecile stays," he said, glaring at Eric; a glare the elf king did not back down from.

He was there for his daughter and no misguided element vying for power which his illegitimacy guaranteed he'd never taste, would keep him way.

"It is most crucial he be there, my lord," Mara said playing the desperate-poor-little-me damsel in distress card to perfection.

Cole grunted, but let out an annoyed 'fine' nevertheless. He led them to a room where they were to stay whilst he went to consult his father.

"Why not just sell yourself to him?" Eric said to Mara when they were alone, remembering how she had shamelessly flirted with the dog. It was demeaning.

"What else could I have done Eric? You saw that he wanted to rip us into shreds right there."

There was only one of us he wanted to rip into and it certainly wasn't me or Virion, Eric thought but he suddenly clutched his chest before he could voice his disgruntlement in her conduct.

"Eric?" Mara asked worriedly, touching his arm.

He didn't answer but reached into his shirt and took out a necklace which was glowing red. In all his life, that necklace had never for once glowed and he had gone through life with the comfort of knowing that as long as it was dormant, everything was fine.

"That's Ava's pendant?" Mara's voice matched the shock on his face.

Eric nodded.

"But that means__"

"I have to go to her Mara," he said already moving towards the door but she grabbed him.

"Eric, you can't."

"I can't? Don't you understand what this means? I have to go, she needs me right now."

His fear was being channelled into anger and all at the wrong person. His wife before she had died had told him that the pendant must never glow and now it was glowing and Mara expected him to calm down?

"Eric you can't just walk into Transylvania, you know that. They will kill you before you even got past that awful Death Town."

"But I can't just sit on my hands."

"That's not what we're going to do. It's why we are here remember? To get help. The wolves will give us the manpower we need and we can finally get her home. We can do this Eric. Right now we have no chance on our own against him but once the wolves agree, we can get her home."

"I hope you're right Mara. I really hope you're right."

He hated to sit there whilst his daughter needed him but Mara was right, walking into Transylvania would be suicide. Dracula however, was a dead vampire and Eric would make sure he knew that the moment he got hands on him.

👊⚰👊⚰👊⚰👊⚰

When he regained consciousness, The Count was in Miya's cottage. Two things became clear as soon as he opened his eyes. The first one was that his body wasn't healing and the second was that he was in great pain, more pain than he had ever had to experience ever since becoming a vampire.

His skin was a scalded, mangled mess that looked like overcooked lobster. Some areas were open in wide harsh gashes that oozed blood and other questionable bodily fluids. His hair was matted to his head, his ears completely melted. Only a fraction of his nose and eyelids remained to complement his new fried zombie look.

All in all, his face looked like a completely unattractive canvas of blood, pus, festering wounds and glued on hair. If you had heard this was the same Count Dracula who had driven ladies to insanity with his looks back in the day, you would have never believed it. He did not even look like a shadow of himself.

But his pain or his looks were the least of his concerns when he woke up. His hand immediately went around Miya's throat. He hated having people hover over him on a good day add uncertainty about Erinna's health and he really was in a foul mood.

"Where is she?" He growled, his fangs dropping threateningly.

There was no need to specify who he was talking about.

"V-Vlad," Miya gasped, clawing at his hand to release her.

"What did you do to her?"

She dug her hand into one of his wounds, pressing until the pain forced him to let go.

"She's fine damn it," she snapped, furiously wiping her neck, "Manhandle me again and I'll throw a hex on you so bad that you'll wish Diana had finished you off."

He ignored the antics because that was all they were. Miya would not hurt a fly. She was abrasive on the outside but was a big puffy cotton ball on the inside.

"I saw what you did to her."

"I merely knocked her out. That was possum breath. I had to severe the connection before she killed you. You do know she was going to do that, right?"

Vlad did not want to acknowledge it but there was no use in denying it. He had seen her eyes and it had felt like looking in a mirror. The blood lust that he was so used to feeling in his own veins had been written clear as day in her eyes.

But he had also seen the struggle, the fight she had fought and lost anyway. If there was one thing he knew about Erinna, it was that she did not possess one cruel bone in her body. Granted, he had hurt her but she was not the revenge seeking type.

Whatever had happened and tipped her balance towards the darker side Vlad had always wanted to shelter her from, had been against her will. Which was why he had to find her.

He moved to stand up but Miya pushed him back on the bed.

"Where do you think you're going with your insides leaking out like that?"

"To defeather a chicken. What do think, I'm going to see, Erinna."

The thought of her sitting alone, feeling guilty and confused for everything that had happened when all the fault lay at his door, made him feel like scum.

"Don't be stupid. The last thing she needs right now is to see you, let her rest. It was a lot of power she used today."

He sighed, not knowing if he had the patience for this. Erinna needed him and he had to go, she probably was scared and alone because he definitely knew no one would want to be around her after what had happened. He still did not even know what had happened himself.

"Mimi?" A quiet voice came from Vlad's left before he could take out his frustrations on Miya.

His nostrils flared at the smell of foreign witch blood. He turned and saw Vera's daughter who it seemed, Miya had gone on a quest to turn into a real life doll.

She was dressed in beads, frills and so much pink that it hurt his eyes. He cringed and was glad he could not have children. Imagine his child caught between both Miya and Erinna's attentions. They'd turn him into a clown.

Ivana's eyes were large and frightful as she watched Vlad with a thumb stuck firmly into her trembling mouth. Vlad felt stripped in her penetrating gaze. Something about her older than dirt eyes unnerved him.

"You're the bad man," she pointed an accusing finger at him.

"Excuse me?" Vlad frowned in irritation.

His reputation preceded him and he usually didn't mind it but the squat of a girl knew nothing about him to be making any judgments.

"You took mommy away."

'And I can send you the same way if you continue staring at me like I murdered your cat', was at the tip of his tongue but Miya interrupted before the situation escalated. He was looking for a victim and she knew it.

"Ivana honey, why don't you go draw me a picture whilst I finish talking to the Count?"

"I'm hungry," she pouted.

"You are, aren't you? Well tell you what, draw me the nicest picture you can and we can make your favorite pancakes as soon as I'm done here," Miya shamelessly bribed the child.

"With many sugar?"

"Yes, with lots of sugar," Miya smiled indulgently.

"Ok, I'll draw Mimi and mummy!"

"Alright darling, you do that."

The girl ran off and Vlad was glad. Little children made him uncomfortable in the same way priests, churches and Erinna on occassions, did.

"I thought sugar was bad for the teeth," he commented.

"I'm getting parenting advice from you now?" She scoffed.

"The only advice I have is for you to lock her in a room with Alex. Why are you still keeping her, Miya? I thought I told you to get rid of her?"

When he cut off an enemy, Vlad had a take-no-prisoners policy. He preferred to eliminate the whole line, from the first generation to the last to eliminate whatever chance of a blow back. A part of him felt annoyed that Miya and Alexander had conspired against him and allowed the child of his enemy to live.

"Oh hush, Ivana is a child. All she needs is guidance."

"Until she ends up like her mother."

"She will not. I'll mentor her. Besides, you need Morena blood to break your curse. This is Diana's last living relative."

Since the topic they were now on was one he did not want to discuss, Vlad redirected the conversation.

"Why did you bring me here?"

He wanted to be with Erinna, to see she was alright and assure her everything was and would be alright. His bride was a strong empath, not as much as Alexander but guilt would be plaguing her over the events at the ball.

"Because I know you and I know you love that girl. You wouldn't hurt her on purpose so tell me what happened with Ingrid."

"You mean you aren't going to assume that emotionless bastard that I am, I went and ruined the only good thing in my life for one night of sin with a woman I'm not even attracted to?" His suppressed anger pushed though, fuelled by all his feelings of guilt, helplessness and despair.

"You're a sadist not a masochist. You wouldn't do that to yourself," Miya laughed, somehow finding humor in his despair.

But she was right, the thought of even touching Ingrid was a torture that felt like physical pain. It was only exceeded by the pain of Erinna knowing that everyone had been right about him. He was a monster and it had nothing with killing or torturing people.

"I'm glad you find me entertaining," he said dryly.

"Oh don't pout, you got yourself into this mess. I'm just asking for your side of the story so we can see if there's a way of undoing this. I've never actually understood why you liked Ingrid. Why did you go to see her?"

He shrugged.

"Vlad."

"I don't want to talk about Ingrid."

Doing so would force him to acknowledge his gullibility and weakness. What had he really thought would happen when he went to see a Liderc a month before a blood moon?

Nothing. The answer was nothing.

He had been so sure in his bond with Erinna and their mutual love that he had not even thought it possible for anything to sway him, let alone Ingrid who he had given up seventeen years back.

"Then I'll go help Erinna pack her bags because if this is your best explanation, she will leave you."

"Whose side are you on?" He flared up.

She raised her eyebrow and he sighed.

"She was in her Pre-Blood Moon Phase."

"Ah," Miya said.

"What?" he snapped.

"Nothing. Continue please."

Vlad was unamused but he continued nevertheless.

"Well, we have already lost a lot of vampires to the wolves and I didn't want to risk her killing the ones who are left whilst looking for me so I went down there to tell her to take a mate, someone who could get her through the night but when I got there..."

He shrugged, shame clogging his throat.

"You're stronger than Ingrid Vlad, couldn't you have deflected her attacks? Or was she that irresistible?"

"Don't be stupid, Miya. I wasn't interested. She tried taking off her clothes, everything but you know ever since Erinna I can't actually look at another woman that way. I offered to sit with her for half an hour to help her manage the pain since it's my fault anyway that she's like that."

If he had not forced Ingrid out of her disguise, she would have no need to shut her pain with physical coupling. The one time he had decided to have a conscience and it was coming back to bite him, the irony was not lost on the Count.

Miya frowned.

"I warned you not to get entangled with her four thousand years ago."

His exact reply had been, "Mind your business, you're not my goddamn mother."

Now he wished he had been a little more circumspect before discarding the witch's advice.

"I know, alright?"

He did not need any more I-told-you-so's when he was already in a sink pool of regret.

"This is a mess, Vlad. Did you have intercourse with her?"

"Maybe. Probably. I don't know. I have hazy images of the night."

He knew he had been naked at one point and he had a distinct image of her breasts bouncing in his face as she sat astride him, the rest was too disgusting to try and analyze.

Miya frowned.

"What did Ingrid say? Did you talk to her about it?"

His decision to leave before Ingrid saw him so he could pretend that nothing happened in hopes that Erinna wouldn't find out, now seemed naive.

"I left before she woke up," he said and left it at that because there was no way he was confessing his embarrassing ostrich moment.

Perhaps if he saw the oversized African bird, he would inform it that burying your head in the sand did not take away your problems.

"The memory loss is a bit concerning and perhaps the key of all this. Did she offer you a drink of any sort?" Miya continued with her interrogation. Vlad could see where she was going with this but it was impossible. They both knew that.

"I'm not having memory loss, I just don't remember everything clearly. Besides, there is little that can make me drunk."

Certainly not drunk enough to make such a stupid decision.

"Alright, you don't remember clearly but what is your gut feeling? Do you think you'd sleep with her?"

Was she stupid?

"No, I wouldn't touch her if she was the last woman on earth."

Miya narrowed her eyes at him, a reminder of how he had been ok with Ingrid warming his bed in the past.

He had the grace to look aside.

But Miya didn't understand what Erinna did to him. Everyone had faded into nonexistence ever since she had waltzed into his life. She was all he thought about and that was not something any amount of alcohol could alter.

"I would never cheat on Erinna." He felt the need to repeat his words.

"Yet you woke up beside your mistress of four thousand years."

"Are you going to actually help me or you're going to continue taking jabs at me?"

"I'm on your side Vlad, always. Why do you have to keep assuming everyone is against you?"

"It's a conclusion I have found to be mostly accurate over the years," he said grimly, remembering Alexander's eyes when he had come to tell him about the party Erinna had been planning.

His own right hand man had not been able to look at him without disgust and condemnation.

"I have never given you reason to doubt my loyalty."

He turned his eyes away from her, knowing she was right but unwilling to admit it. He raked his hands through his shoulder length hair, stress marking every move.

"What should I do?"

"You can't decide that when you don't even know what happened yet. Is it possible Ingrid might possess another power we might not even be aware of?" Miya asked.

"She's a fire Fae, the most powerful I've ever seen. But that's all there is to it, unless her Liderc heritage comes with other powers. But even if she had mind control there is no way she could have compelled me."

The idea was absurd on its own.

"Unless she had help," Miya fitted in, "I have been thinking..."

"I'm not going to drag it out of you Miya."

"Ingrid has friends in dark places."

Impatience clawed at his throat and drew on his turbulent emotions but he swallowed them down.

"She has access to ancient magical tools Vlad, ones even I don't know about. It wouldn't be out of the realm of imagination to imagine she would get her hands on something that could compel supernatural beings, even one as powerful as yourself."

Vlad did not miss Miya's attempts to exonerate him. The kind thing would be to tell her she was wasting her time. He felt the guilt in a skin deep, soul deep kind of way.

"That sounds far-fetched but it won't hurt to explore the theory," he accomodated. "I'll get Alexander to look into it, if I can get him to actually come near me without vomiting that is."

Alexander had been avoiding him like the plague. The few times they had been forced to come into contact, his right hand man's eyes had remained on the floor throughout the conversation.

When Vlad had mentioned Alexander's odd behavior, the younger vampire had raised his eyes and glared at him, his whole body trembling with rage. The little swine had had the nerve to stand there and judge him like some errant child.

"Don't be like that; this has been hard on you but especially on him. You know how much he looks up to you, not to mention he can feel Erinna's emotions. I don't think that's making it easy for him."

"He could have asked me. You'd think he was bonded to Erinna and not me for all the loyalty he's showing."

"He's hurting on her behalf because he's bonded to you. His love for Erinna is born out of love for you and right now he is blaming himself. Give him some time to accept that his hero is not as infallible as he thought."