Despite his valiant efforts to come to her, Vlad was still a vampire and like all his brethren, bound by his curse. With the sun already peeking from the mountains, he failed to teleport and had to be content with her reassurances that she was fine.

She wished he had not gone away in the first place but no matter how annoying, the trips were necessary. No empire could exist alone and Vlad needed to show his gratitude to all the people who had come to their aide in the war. It was how alliances were built and maintained.

'At least get Alexander to stay with you tonight. Where is he, I haven't heard from him all night and strangely that makes me more nervous than him popping into my head every other second to annoy me.'

Erinna hesitated.

'Alexander and I had a... misunderstanding.'

She sensed the immediate shift in his mind as he instantly got more alert.

'What did he do?'

'It was me actually. I read his thoughts without meaning to.'

'You can read thoughts now?'

It had also surprised her. The most she had ever done was pick up people's names from their minds or read Vlad's thoughts by deliberating wandering into his mind. But she had always thought that was because they were mates and it had never happened without physical contact.

'It wasn't a conscious decision, it just happened.'

'Well he can get over it. I want him to stay with you until I come back.'

'Alex is with me,' she told him, looking at the lion laying on Vlad's side of the bed and probably leaving hair on his pillow. Her mate was going to have a feat when he came back.

'Not good enough.'

'He needs space, Vlad.'

'You treat him like a little girl. He is a three thousand year old vampire who swore to protect you. If he can't get over his feelings enough to do that then he needs to find another ruler.'

Erinna sighed but was glad he had not asked her what she had seen in his right hand man's mind.

'What about if you send Chase?'

'Chase is not allowed in our chambers, you know that.'

It was true, Alexander was the only one who ever got into their chambers aside from Leila and the girls who cleaned.

'He can stay outside?'

He was reluctant but Erinna was finally able to get him to agree. She made a mental note to fix things with Alexander as soon as the sun set.

Vlad withdrew from her mind temporarily to ask Chase to come to stand guard outside their bedroom.

'Are your talks done with the trolls?'

'There is no much talking, angel. Trust me,' he said, making Erinna laugh.

The trolls unlike other races, had been unfortunately skipped by evolution. Where other races had evolved and developed complex languages, they still relied on grunts and growls to communicate. They had less than twenty words in their vocabulary. She was amazed at Vlad's capacity to actually engage them in any meaningful conversation.

'For someone who was given the most beautiful girl in the kingdom, you're terribly ungrateful.'

'There is only one girl I want in this world. I'm coming to see you as soon as the sun sets, Countess.'

'I told you there's no need to hurry. My back is fine. Finish what you went there for then you can come back when everything's finished.'

He had left with plans to visit the trolls and all the other creatures that had assisted him in the war against werewolves. If he came as soon as the sun set, he wouldn't be done and would just have to go back again and Erinna didn't want that.

'I'm almost done. I should be home before midnight.'

They talked for hours until Erinna eventually fell asleep.

She was awakened by Alex who was eager and panting for his trip to the beach, at sunset. Erinna was still sleepy and her eyes heavy from staying up too late talking to Vlad but a promise was a promise, she had told Alex they would go.

Erinna quickly dressed in a white dress with billowy material. As she put it on, she was reminded of Miya and tears pricked her eyes.

"Oh, Miya."

She hoped with everything in her that Miya had found her happiness, that after all the hard years she had spent taking care of Vlad, she had found her own rest. Aurora had found her peace after death and she wanted the same for Mimi.

They walked out of the room and Erinna greeted Lloyd and Chase who were the ones guarding their bedroom. Alex roared at Lloyd but the young vampire stood his ground. If only Alexander did the same, although Alex was probably admittedly harder on her best friend.

"Do you want to come to the beach with us?" She asked because she knew one of them would have to come along. She had quit trying to fight against Vlad's over-protectiveness.

"Yeah, I'll come," Lloyd replied but Chase passed since he had to go help the head castle guard with something.

As they got to the end of the wing, Erinna was surprised to see Terrence sitting on the floor. He immediately stood up as he saw her approach.

"Hello Terrence, why are you sitting on the floor?" She asked in surprise.

"I uh- was waiting for you."

"By why didn't you just come and knock?"

He gave a nervous glance to Lloyd then looked aside. It was then Erinna noticed that Terrence's collar was a little frayed. She sighed.

"Lloyd, if Terrence wants to see me, you call me. Alright?"

His jaw clenched but he nodded.

She turned to Terrence and asked him what he had wanted to see her about. He held out the Prisoner's Journal.

"The Count asked me to release Ingrid. I just wanted to know if that was uhm- alright with you? You said I shouldn't do anything with anyone until I told you."

His nervousness was endearing. Terrence was clearly not a social creature. But Erinna was happy that he was working with her to reform Vlad's prison system.

"Thank you, Terrence. He discussed it with me. Have you documented the request?"

He nodded so she stamped the page with Vlad's signet ring to give him approval to release Ingrid. Her heart told her that releasing her was the right thing so Erinna hoped she did not live to regret her actions.

"It's not my business, Countess but why are you so kind to them? Ingrid and Terrence? There's no one here who would rather not see them dead," Lloyd said as they walked out of the castle.

"Because no one is truly evil. People do bad things for a reason. Sometimes they just need someone to show them there is another way."

He didn't look convinced but he nodded his head.

When they stepped out of the castle, Erinna spotted two people to the right. One of them was so familiar to her she could have recognised him in the dark and another was a castle maid she had seen in passing.

"Lloyd, may you please wait for me for a while? You too Alex."

She walked towards the pair but the maid left just as she arrived. The man looked up to meet her eyes, brown hair flopping messily in his face and honey gold intelligent eyes gazing at her with a frown.

"Erinna."

"Alexander, about yesterday..." Erinna began, not quite sure how to broach the subject that was very much awkward.

She wished she had never seen inside his head. Some things were better left unknown.

"Let's forget about it, tiger. Yes?"

This was not what she had hoped for but it was Alexander's choice and until he was ready to discuss it, there was nothing she could do. Her only hope was the information did not get to Vlad because she knew he was not yet in the right place to be able to deal with it. He would not be as understanding as her.

"If that's what you want."

"It is."

"We are still friends?" She asked, biting her lip.

She knew she would not have appreciated it either if someone had eavesdropped into her most private thoughts. But before everything else, Alexander was her friend and she didn't want that to ever change.

"Of course. You're not getting rid of me that easily," he smiled and opened his arms.

Erinna grinned and hugged him, glad that things were alright again.

"Alright, that's enough, I've already had my gonads threatened more times than I care for by your husband in the last forty-eight hours."

Erinna laughed but let him go. She knew Vlad would not hurt him but spending a long time touching someone who was not her mate made her uncomfortable and her Recognition Mark was already complaining.

"Come with me," she said, remembering something she had been meaning to do. Alex hated waiting and was going to be annoyed with her, but she had to fix her relationship with Alexander first and this was a good a peace offering as any.

She took his hand and led him out to the stables but let it go when her Recognition Mark became too insistent.

"Not that I'm adverse to sneaking into dark isolated places with you whilst your husband is out of town but what are we doing here?"

Erinna laughed.

"Don't be silly. I want to show you something. Or rather someone."

Erinna took him to the stables where Astaldo had been given a stall. She was surprised to find it broken and Shadow inside getting too friendly with the white mare than what Deacon would probably prefer.

"Whose horse is this?" Alexander asked.

"It's Deacon's. Oh Shadow what have you done?" Erinna cried in distress.

Deacon would have a seizure if he heard that his horse was getting friendly with vampire boy-horses.

"Wow, who would have thought. You and your owner both have a thing for girls out of your league don't you?" Alexander asked, a smile splitting his face.

"Alexander!" Erinna admonished, fighting hard to keep her own smile back.

"But I guess I can't blame a fellow. At the very least, he's braver than me. Looks like you won, you ugly bastard. My man!" He cheered Shadow on as if he had won a national race.

Erinna took a step forward to separate the two horses but Shadow straightened, his posture becoming defensive. A menacing look reminiscent of his owner passed through his eyes, letting Erinna know blood would be spilled if she came any closer.

In the end she sighed, deciding she couldn't control everything. She just had to accept Deacon was going to strip her flesh for letting his pretty mare be seduced by Vlad's psycho horse.

"So why are we here, aside from this lewd adult show?"

Erinna ignored his suggestive tone because if she entertained him, Alexander would never stop. She set her face into serious lines and straightened her shoulders.

"I came to introduce you. Alexander this is Astaldo. She once belonged to one of the most honorable men I've ever met. He gave her to me and now I'm giving him to you."

She loved Astaldo but keeping her as her own was just cruel. She didn't have the time to devote to her and keeping her would just be cruel. She needed someone who would spare time for her, love her, ride her, exercise her and take care of her.

There were stable hands sure but she couldn't entrust Astaldo to just anyone. Alexander was kind and honorable and she couldn't think of someone more appropriate to take Astaldo.

"As if I need more reasons to be on your mate's hate list," he mumbled.

"Oh Vlad loves you, you know that. And he doesn't mind Astaldo, he likes animals."

"Okay," he sighed dragging the word out, "But I'm not fighting Satan's bum over there for her."

"Stop insulting Shadow," Erinna said, then added, "You're embarrassing him in front of his lady friend."

"Like he needs my help. What is that grin he is making?"

The said grin was also weirding Erinna out but she supposed it was the stallion version of a charming smile. Astaldo at least looked to be responding to it.

*****

Alexander was walking down the hallway to his chambers after his time with Astaldo and Erinna when he heard soft wounded cries. He shared his wing with one person and the emotions coming from behind the closed doors did not match the owner of the rooms. It was a combination of regret, loneliness, heartache and heartbreak.

He stopped walking and opened the door. Inside was Ingrid standing in front of a full length, gold-lined mirror.

Her long, lithe body was exposed. It was the body of a warrior-- toned and lean. Her muscles were not bulky but beautifully feminine. They complimented her distracting curves and perky breasts. But in the place of what had been smooth, milky and flawless skin were perennial wounds that were never going to run out of blood or pus. Parts of her skin were mangled together, others completely burnt off and the rest raw and festering. It was like looking at a giant blister.

Her face was unrecognizable. Only the grey turbulent eyes remained unchanged on what was left of Ingrid. Her hair was pasted to her scalp and majority of it had been singed. Her ear lobes, eye lids and part of her nose had been disfigured by flames.

"Peeping Tom, Alexander? Since when?" A low voice that could seduce the dead from their graves asked.

Ingrid and the Count were too alike for his comfort. Except of course the woman standing before him cared for no one but herself. Or that's what he had thought at first anyway.

He expected Ingrid to launch a fireball at him or throw him out of the window for the intrusion but instead, she faced him in all her charred nude glory.

His eyes looked around the room to avoid disrespecting her but then he saw the bags on the bed.

"You're leaving?" His voice came out a little sharper than he had intended.

Ingrid just shrugged, clearly unaffected by his outburst.

"There's nothing for me here anymore."

Annoyance flashed through Alexander.

"He's just a man, Ingrid, a goddamn man. You're going to uproot your whole life because of him?"

"He's not just a man!" She screamed at him, anger flashing in her eyes. "He's not just a man," she repeated softly, sorrow dripping from her eyes. "He's the only person who has ever liked me, my whole life. To him I wasn't just a body. If I was then the bond would never have happened. He saw me, he saw Ingrid. The real me."

Alexander rolled his eyes.

"Because you allowed him to. Have you ever opened yourself to anyone else?"

She looked aside.

He knew why she felt the way she did. In Dracula, Ingrid had found a kindred soul. He was someone who had been rejected by his own just the way she had been rejected by her own. He had been used repeatedly by those who had been supposed to protect him. It was not a shock that they had found comfort in each other or that Ingrid would feel the void of where Dracula had used to be in her life but she was taking it too far.

"You'll find someone else who will love you. You and Drac had a thing, yes but that was a long time ago. He's a different person now and has a different woman."

"Rub it in, why don't you?" She said sarcastically but he could hear the hurt in her voice..

"I'm not trying to hurt you but that's the truth. You need to accept it and move on."

"That's what I was trying to do until you interrupted me!"

"You were running; that's what you were doing."

"So what if I was?" She asked defiantly, "Why do you care? A few weeks ago you couldn't wait to break my arms and cut me in half!"

Alexander winced as he remembered the details of that day in the dungeons. He liked to consider himself a civilized vampire but Ingrid was one of the few people who could bring out the animal in him.

"Because you had earned it. What you did to Erinna was uncalled for."

"I didn't have a choice! That little whelp said she would kill Vl- The Count if I didn't break them up and make the elf hate him."

Alexander paused. Could it be true?

"Why didn't you tell anyone that?"

"Because everyone would have been so eager to believe me, right? I'm over four thousand years old and she was just a child. Besides, I just remembered this a few weeks ago," she said quietly.

"It wasn't Ivana who manipulated you, it was her mother working through her under Diana's orders," Alexander explained.

"Figures. The chit terrified me."

"So you did what she told you to do."

"She would have killed him if I hadn't."

Ingrid had done what she thought she needed to to save their make but still, her devotion grated on his nerves. He could only blame Erinna for making him face his feelings. If she hadn't seen into his mind, he would have been content just ignoring his damning urges but now it was awakening all his possessiveness and jealousy.

"You're not as bad as you want everyone to believe you are."

"We can remedy that right now," she said, taking a dagger and coming to stand before him, her face in his.

He didn't move but continued staring at her. In the end, she was the one who frowned, or that's what it looked like anywhere. Her brow remained still and unmoving, only her eyes betrayed the action.

"You're the first person who hasn't flinched when they looked at me."

Alexander chose not to answer that.

"Why haven't you shifted bodies yet?" He asked instead.

"Nosy much?"

"Cagey much?"

"I don't need to explain anything to you, puppy."

"Erinna offered to heal you. Why haven't you gone to her?"

"Because I'm sick of her goddamn mercy, okay? She took my man and I can't even hate her in peace. Why can't she be like every one of us? Why does she have to be so nice?" She said the last word as if it was disgusting.

"That's just Erinna, you'd like her if you got to know her."

"Well I don't. Even right now I'm living on her mercy. Do you know that papi would have let me live my whole life being tortured by that goddamn animal if not for Saint Erinna? She pleaded my case to him and that's why I'm walking."

"Count Dracula."

"What?"

"That's his name. Stop calling him papi, it's nauseating to listen to."

"I'll call him what I want. Now get out of my goddamn room."

He walked to the door but suddenly stopped and turned around.

"You don't have to leave Ingrid. All everyone wants from you is your remorse."

"I'm not going to beg."

"You don't have to. Even if that was actually physically possible for you to."

"And I'm not going to stay in a place where everyone changes roads when they see me."

"So you're going to be a coward and run away? You are one of the best warriors in the Tepes army; you earned your place here. Now if you want to skulk away in the shadows or run away with your tail between your legs because you made one mistake, that's your business but the Ingrid I knew was not a coward."

****

When Alex had worn her out, Erinna teleported them back to the castle. She ate whilst Terrence gave her a progress report. She tried to coax him into eating with her but he refused, claiming he had to hear it from Vlad's mouth first.

"Now what are we going to do, Alex?" She asked the lion after it was just the two of them.

She had nothing on her calendar and with Miya gone, there was no one she could randomly go visit. Well, there was River but Erinna did not want to go to the human village until Vlad and her had gone to see Ruth and Margaret's families first.

Alex was restless and wanted to go out for more running but Erinna's legs were not having that. So in the end, they compromised. They did something that Erinna had always wanted to do- explore the castle.