Erinna pushed the heavy door that barred Vlad's office from the rest of the castle telekinetically, the way she had seen him do.

Because of her failure to calculate the force behind her actions, the door swung open too quickly and banged on the wall loudly and harshly. She winced at the sound and hoped the red blush on her skin was not too obvious.

"What has my door done to you?" Vlad asked, his eyes dancing with amusement.

He had retreated earlier in the evening to his office to sort through the reports all his provincial leaders and army commanders had sent him.

They had summarized the extent of the damage the kingdom had suffered because of the war and suggested ways to if not reverse the damage, then minimize the effects.

"Shut up," Erinna mumbled, closing the offending door.

He made it look so easy when he went around moving things and opening doors telekinetically.

"It's all about control Countess. Come here," he said, pushing his chair away from the desk and holding out his hand.

"Why?" She asked suspiciously.

"There needs to be a reason?" he asked, raising a thick dark eyebrow.

She rolled her eyes and went around the desk. He put an arm around her waist and drew her down into his lap.

"There, that's better."

She had to agree with him but getting cozy with him in his office was not the reason she had sought him out.

"Vlad," she began but he interrupted her.

"Give me your hand."

She frowned, wondering what he was going on about now but obliged him by holding out the hand he had asked for. He took it by the wrist and brought it to his lips, holding it delicately.

He kissed the area above her vein, letting his fangs graze her skin lightly. Erinna's pulse jumped and she forgot that there were more important things to discuss.

His eyes rose to look at her, the dark irises nearly swallowed by the bloodlust that had turned his eyes scarlet. She shivered, a dart of pleasurable anticipation making her heart race.

She nodded her head, giving her consent and he sank in his teeth, the twin points of his canines breaking her skin. The pain was brief and inconsequential as it was quickly pushed aside by the ecstasy.

Her toes curled and her lips parted. Sensitive parts of her responded and both her Recognition Mark and the Mating Mark Vlad had branded her with became hotspots of pleasure.

She whimpered and tried to contain the storm of massive proportions that was building up inside her. Anytime from then it was going to erupt.

Then he stopped.

"No, don't stop," she said, pushing her hand closer to his mouth but he just licked the wound to stem the blood flow.

Anger and frustration tore through her. How dare he?

"This is not a seduction Countess, it's a demonstration," he laughed.

"Demonstration?" It was her turn to raise her eyebrow, displeasure written all over her face.

"Yes, pay close attention."

His eyes dropped to the twin marks of his fangs and he squeezed the points until too fresh drops of blood oozed out.

"Ouch," Erinna cried out, not prepared for the pinching sensation.

"Sorry. Hold out your hand-please," he added when she remained stationary.

Erinna did not know what he was doing and wished he would just explain, but held out her wrist nevertheless. Suddenly, one of the droplets of blood began lifting off her skin on its own. Shock made her scoot back into Vlad's chest until it occurred to her he was the one doing it. Show off.

"Even I can do that," she rolled her eyes.

"Maybe. But how about this?"

The other droplet of blood remained still in the air, he raised the second one. He began moving them both in circles, going in different directions.

He made them spin, whirl and twirl all the while not losing control over them or letting anything spill to the ground. Erinna had to admit he had some amazing control.

"Or this," he continued and then split the blood droplets into a thousand more infitesimal droplets.

He made them whirl over their heads, collected them again and molded them into different shapes. He splattered them against a cupboard surface then coaxed each and every droplet off the wood, calling it back home.

They realigned then he separated them into two droplets. He dropped his eyes and let the droplets rest on her wrist on the exact spots they had been before. Erinna was shocked. She would never be able to do that.

"Your turn," he said.

He had to be joking.

"What's the point in that?"

"Control is the point. Otherwise your powers will always be a danger to yourself and those around you. I don't mind the latter but I'd rather you be safe so can you please can you just try?"

Erinna sighed and got rid of her attitude, he was right, she needed to practice. She took her eyes to the droplets and raised one, in direct mimicry of what Vlad had done. Again she miscalculated her force and the droplet hit the ceiling. She looked up at the ceiling and back to Vlad. He was not smiling.

"Bring it back."

"But the particles have already been absorbed."

"They you're just going to have to draw them back won't you?" he said solemnly.

Okay she got the message, he was not playing.

Erinna sighed and focused her attention on the ceiling. She didn't know why she felt so irritable that day but put her feelings aside and then tried to draw the particles out. However, getting the ceiling to give up the blood was easier said than done and she quickly got frustrated.

"Why can't you just do it?" She asked Vlad.

"It's your mess, why should I clean it up?"

"I wouldn't have made it if you hadn't forced me to take part in this ridiculous exercise."

"Me trying to save your life is ridiculous?"

"I don't need to be saved, I can take care of myself," she snapped, her anger rising.

Why couldn't he just leave her alone? This was not even the reason she had come.

"The way you do by losing control, killing everyone around you then being crippled by the guilt days later?" He asked.

"I don't have to listen to this," she said angrily and pushed off his chest and out of the chair. She marched towards the door but he was there before she could open it.

"I'm not trying to judge you but you have to accept you are not someone who can live with the knowledge of killing someone and the only way you can avoid that is learning how to control your powers."

She could not read him but she could sense his sincerity and what he said made sense. She sighed and put down her hackles.

"I'm sorry; I don't know why I'm on edge today."

"Your cycle?" He asked.

"Vlad you're not supposed to ask that," she groaned, her face blushing profusely.

"Well?" He insisted.

"No, it's not," she shook her head.

It was too early. She had another month before the onslaught of unstable emotions caused by an hormonal imbalance during her womanly troubles.

"Relax then. Negative emotions are just negative energy, they can be released."

Heeding his words, Erinna closed her eyes and willed herself to get rid of the negative energy that was blackening her day. She gathered all of it and then released it effusively, effectively cleansing her system. The results were immediate and well appreciated. Her shoulders lightened and she felt better finally.

"Better now?" Vlad asked.

"Better," she grinned.

Her spirits already felt revived.

"Does that mean I can go now?" She asked hopefully.

"No, that means we continue with our lesson, Countess."

Well, it had been worth a try. He drew her back into the room then stood behind her, with his arms around her waist and his head resting on her shoulder. The intimate gesture sent butterflies to her stomach and inappropriate thoughts to her mind.

"I love you," she said all of a sudden.

"I know."

He placed a kiss on her shoulder and held her tighter and for a moment, everything in their world seemed normal. It was just him and her and all their dreams. No curses, no kingdoms and no clashing cultures. But she would be a fool to believe the peace was anything but an illusion.

With a sigh, Erinna raised her eyes to the ceiling and concentrated on the blood splatter. Slowly and surely, she began drawing the blood until finally it all joined together and left the ceiling to come bob above them.

"Well done, angel." Vlad congratulated her and kissed her cheek. The praise warmed her. She felt rather proud of herself at the small achievement too.

"Now what?" She asked.

"Now you can go practice on your own. Some of us have kingdoms to run," he smacked her behind.

"Vlad," she scolded.

"What? It's mine right?" he asked, referring to her body.

She rolled her eyes and set out to tell him the real reason she had come, "I came to ask you something."

"Fire away."

She disentangled herself from his arms; thinking clearly was hard when she was that close to him. She walked to the desk and sat on the edge, looking at him.

"I've been thinking about the war, what I did at Silvercrest," she began but he interrupted her.

"Erinna..."

"I know it can't be reversed but after what happened with your brothers, I was thinking there has to be something I could do to reverse the damage."

"No," Vlad said immediately.

"What?"

"You're not going to bring back everyone on that mountain."

She frowned, "That's not what I intend to do."

Not after what happened with the people she had back to life. Miya had survived but who knew for how much longer? Erinna had leant her lesson about bringing back people to life.

Clearly her ancestors had known what they were talking about when they restricted the breath of life to elves. She probably should have listened but how could she just have let Miya die without giving her a chance? She had had to at least try.

But she had leant her lesson and was going to be more careful in the future, to not let herself be led by her heart and emotions. In that way Vlad and her were the same.

They were both led by emotions; her the positive ones and him the negative ones. She would control the desire to right everything wrong in the world however because as Mara liked to tell her, there were always consequences.

Vlad looked doubtful at her answer.

"I'm not. Even if I wanted to, I couldn't. I don't think even I am that powerful. The breath of life requires some form of interaction with the dead person and for that, I'd need to be right next to their face so we could connect."

He seemed satisfied by that answer.

"Then what do you want to do? War is part and parcel of life, you know. We lose, we win, we move on."

"There has to be something I can do."

She couldn't help the feeling. It was as convictional as it was instinctive.

Vlad looked at her for a moment and sighed, probably realizing this wasn't a war he would win.

"Alright, what do you want me to do?"

🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎

Vlad teleported them to the edge of the werewolf territory on Shadow.

In the distance, they could see the dark mountain that had been Silvercrest. Black smoke surrounded it and the sky above. Even from a distance, she had felt the violence and aggression that lay ahead of her.

"You're ready?" he asked her.

Erinna would never be ready but she forced herself to nod. She needed to do this.

"Don't stop, even if I tell you to," she asked him.

He must have seen the desperation and determination in her expression because he didn't argue with her.

With no further delay, he drew the reigns back and Shadow started galloping to an area neither of them wanted to go. It had seen so much death and carnage that history would forever be marked by the violence that had occurred there.

The closer they got to the city the colder Erinna felt. Chills broke over her skin and heart and a tangible fear settled in her stomach with the force of lead.

"Hang on," Vlad said to her but she could not. It did not matter that she had been the one to drag them there in the first place.

All she could see and feel was death. The very air breathed of doom and gloom. The screams of agony of the fallen soldiers rang in her ears anew and the stench of charred flesh burned in her unprepared nostrils. She now wondered what it was that had made her embark on so perilous a journey. Stupidity, that's what it was.

But she did not want to wait until the guilt that Mara had suppressed come back to haunt her before she started paying her penance. Of course it could not help and one day she would be able to see everything that had happened at Silvercrest with searing clarity, to hear the creatures that had screamed as she took their lives.

Their pleas as they begged for their lives would ring in her ears. No time or magic would ever be able to remove the tortured sounds from her head.

There was no taking back what she had done but she wanted to do something, anything to make things better. Poor Zayne, he might never have befriended her if he had known the havoc any association with her and her tainted powers would bring upon his kingdom.

She had felt Cole's death when she had killed him but not Zane's. He had to have survived and one day she would make amends.

As for Zachary, she would never weep for his death. That he had planned to kill her mate was unforgivable and she resisted the instinctive urge in her to let go and let be.

Naturally she could not hold a grudge even over those who had wronged her but it brought anger to her every time she thought about how they had all planned to kill Vlad, how they had almost succeeded.

However wrong Zachary had been though, the werewolves he had used as pawns to fight his own battles had not been at fault. They did not deserve being killed for something out of their hands when they had already been victims. They had only been following orders.

The guilt of her actions plagued her and all she wanted to do was weep but she did not even deserve that. What she had to do was make things right.

As if called by her desire, the purple phantom threads that had been appearing with increasing frequency appeared and Erinna knew she was on the right path.

Her physical discomfit more pronounced the closer they got to Silvercrest. Death, death, death...it was all around her. It was all she could feel, hear and smell.

Her heart pounded faster and more harshly. Her skin became clammy with sweat and her lips began trembling. She could not do this, lord she couldn't. She felt like she was going through a slow death.

She had not wanted to trouble Vlad with the sickened feelings that all elves got in the proximity of death and had therefore kept her mental barriers up to exclude him but her mental grip loosened and any control she had had was lost and she knew Vlad could now feel every emotion she was feeling.

There was no controlling the bond when she could not control her own emotions. All her barriers came tumbling down and she silently apologized to Vlad for the emotional attack he was going to be subjected to. She would have to make it up to him for this.

"I'm s-sorry," she gasped through her physical pain.

"Don't try to talk," he said from behind her.

Right. She had to save her energy. But she couldn't hold on for any longer.

'Vlad stop please, just a moment,' she begged, feeling like she was on the verge of heaving out her insides.

"Are you turning weak on me Countess?" he asked and that statement alone inflamed her and made her dig an elbow into his guts.

'Ouch, didn't they tell you violence is not the answer in Ellingsdale?' he said even though she knew he had not felt a thing.

'That's rich coming from you,' she said mentally since she did not have the physical strength.

'Me? Terrence is complaining you have turned me into St Alexander.'

'Who is Terrence?'

'It's probably best if you remained unaware of his identity,' Vlad said cryptically.

She was about to tell him she could lift the information from her head but her stomach began churning more violently. She felt her own skin become green and more distressed.

Cold beads of sweat knotted on her forehead and slid down her face. Her body was on retreat mode and her mind was recoiling at the amount of horror they were headed towards. They had to go back, she couldn't do this.

'What did you think of the feast last night?' Vlad asked her.

She didn't care about the blasted feast.

'Vlad if you don't stop this horse right now,' she threatened.

'You'll do what, angel? You know violence turns me on.'

She knew he'd be winking if she could see his face. The aggravating vampire, couldn't he see she was dying? It was her fault for telling him not to stop but did this have to be the one time he respected her opinions?

'Vlad please,' she begged weakly.

"The feast," he pressed.

She mentally rolled her eyes; maybe if she talked about the blasted feast he would stop to give her a rest.

'I liked it,' she admitted.

'It didn't shock your elven sensibilities?' He teased.

'Father would probably have had a heart attack,' she thought with a weak smile.

The feast had been more lewd than she had ever imagined. In her wildest imaginations, she had never thought people would be intimate in public, enjoy it and even made it look beautiful. She would never confess it of course but the weird display had more than intrigued her.

'They were disappointed we didn't give them a show,' Vlad said.

'Who?'

'My people. They are very fascinated by you and wanted to witness you in the throes of pleasure.'

This shocked Erinna and distracted her from the discomfit she felt as they travelled towards the mountain.

'That's absurd. I could never--"

'You were not that repulsed last night. You were disappointed when I took you away.'

'That's not true,' she denied.

'Face it Countess, there is something rebellious even in your frigid elven mind,' he laughed.

'I'm not frigid.'

'No you're not,' he agreed.

'Is that what you used to do before I came here? Give your people a show?' she asked.

She felt him shrug, 'Sex for me then was a way of survival not an act of intimacy.'

'So you did give them a show,' she said realizing just how many women in the kingdom knew what Vlad looked like naked. It was not a comforting thought.

'It is expected from leaders. Sex is a sign of vigor. Amongst my people, that is celebrated, not shamed.'

'But in public Vlad,' she began but did not get to finish as the urge to throw up hit her again. They were getting much much closer to the city.

'Disconnect,' Vlad instructed, feeling her pain and nausea.