Erinna fell asleep towards sunset to Vlad's disturbing suggestions of baby names. Seriously, Vlad II, Vlado, Vladimira, Valdis? At that point, Erinna was just ready to go with Alexander.

She woke up to his pleasant kisses though, so she was not too mad. She opened her eyes and was surprised to see him dressed and standing beside their bed. He straightened up when Erinna fully awoke.

"What time is it?" She asked groggily.

"Almost midnight."

That was so late. "Why didn't you wake me up earlier?"

"You needed the rest."

"But Egypt- we need to go."

"One does not just walk into Horus' territory, angel. I've sent word, he will let me know when he can receive us."

Erinna deflated at that, she had hoped to go as soon as possible.

Vlad's lips twitched up. "I'm teasing. We can go as soon as you finish showering. Everyone else is ready."

"Alexander was right, you are terrible with jokes."

"You're laughing."

Yes, she was but who was taking score. She rolled her eyes and threw him a pillow that he caught.

"I packed the clothes, the bags are in there if there's something you need to add," she told him then went to the bathroom.

She took her nightgown off and was about to step into the shower when she felt wetness running down her inner thigh.

Erinna's head snapped down and her eyes widened at what she saw.

"Uhm, Vlad." She called out weakly, feeling woozy at the sight of the blood. Blood that was coming out of her.

"You need help with your hair?" He asked coming through the door then paused as he sniffed.

"You're bleeding?"

Erinna nodded.

"Where?" He asked, stepping into the room and put his hands on her arms, raking her form with his eyes.

"I..." Erinna's face felt warm and she could not say it so she gestured to the area between her thighs with the motions of her hand. She shifted her tightly pressed thighs so that Vlad could see for himself.

When he saw the source of the bleeding, his eyes widened infinitesimally and he gulped.

He picked her up immediately in his arms.

"Does anything hurt? The baby is coming?"

"I don't know, there's no pain."

Both the midwife and Melissa had mentioned contractions and the breaking of her amniotic fluid. Nothing that resembled something of that sort had happened unless of course their baby was actually surrounded by one big blob of blood instead of amniotic fluid like other babies.

"Last night," Vlad grimaced, closing his eyes. But not before she saw the guilt. "I should have been gentler."

"It was a decision we both made. It's done now." Never mind that she felt like a horrible mother and would not forgive herself because she had wanted Vlad so deeply inside her that she had convinced herself an amateur seal on the mouth of her womb would really protect the baby. "May you please get the midwife just so we can make sure that nothing is wrong with the baby?"

"Of course. I'll get her right now."

He took her to their bedroom but Erinna tightened her arms around his neck before he could place her on the bed.

"Shower please, Vlad. I can't have her see me like this."

Vlad leaned down and kissed her forehead.

"Everything will be fine, okay? If anything is damaged, I will heal it."

Except he had already healed her before they went to sleep. Not even a nail or hair had been hurting.

She tried a smile for Vlad so that he would not worry but inside her mind, Mara's words kept coming back to her. Was she already paying the price for choosing to keep their child despite all the warnings of her people?

Erinna barely registered it when Vlad put her on the counter as he prepared a bath laced with Epsom salts for her. He warmed it and gently lowered her into it.

"Still good?" He asked, tucking her hair behind her ear, his eyes looking into hers. She knew he had to be freaking out inside but you could not tell it from looking at him. He was trying to be strong for both of them.

Erinna nodded because there was still no pain. Just the worrying shade of colorless water turning pink.

"I have told Alexander to bring the midwife, they will be here any moment." He kissed her lips again. Erinna barely felt it, so strong was the anxiety inside her.

"Thank you."

Thank goodness the bleeding did not last for more than ten more minutes. Vlad had the midwife sit in the living room that was joined to their bedroom as he helped make Erinna decent. He dried her hair, braided it and helped her into a nightgown. She didn't say a word throughout it all, still freaked out and going crazy from the what-ifs in her head.

She only snapped out of it when Corinne, the midwife, entered the room. She was a robust human woman who looked to be in her fifties but was actually in her seventies. She was beautiful in an earthy way that made her easy to like and warm up to. It certainly made it less awkward when she probed inside Erinna with her fingers during her examinations.

"May I please see the patient alone," Corinne said to Vlad.

A look of instant displeasure came over Vlad's face and she knew he was about to threaten Corinne's children, friends, family and whoever else she had ever met in her life.

"It's alright, Vlad. I'll call you if I need you."

She took his hand and tugged so that he would lean down for a kiss. He kissed her intensely, letting her taste his fear since this all had started.

"Be alright, please." He rubbed his cheek against her face and left the room.

Erinna really hoped Corinne was wise enough not to comment on what she had just seen. Vlad hated it when strangers witnessed his moments of weakness and for an outsider like Corinne to have seen his vulnerability like that...

"Good evening, mom-to-be! I hear we had a little incident tonight." The woman said chirpily after Vlad had left, saying nothing about what some might not have shied away from exploiting. Erinna was relieved and liked the woman even more.

"Yes, I....I was bleeding. That has never happened before."

"How much was the blood? More than you see for your cycle?"

Erinna nodded, her nails digging into her palm the closer they got to the verdict.

"More than half of that teacup there?" The woman gestured at the white cup in a saucer.

Erinna shook her head, glad the blood had not been that much.

"It's not uncommon to bleed some during pregnancy though it does not often come this late. May you please tell me about your evening prior to the bleeding? Any horse riding, rigorous activities?"

Erinna's cheeks colored pink, the first color to her ever since she had seen the blood oozing out of her.

"I uh...spent the evening with The Count."

Corinne surprised her by not making a big issue out of Erinna's admission and not putting her on the spot. "Young love." The woman smiled as if she was remembering her own young days. "It is alright to share intimacies with your husband during your pregnancy as I already told him but you might want to avoid deep penetration and positions that cause you pain."

"Okay," Erinna squeaked out, wishing the bed would open up and swallow her to save her from this disaster of a conversation.

But truthfully, she was a bit relieved. If the bleeding was from what they had done, it meant that it was explainable and that it could be avoided.

"Is it alright if I examine you?"

Erinna nodded, knowing what was coming. She hated this part of the examinations and it was why she usually had Corinne come to check her out when Vlad was away from the castle. He had gone berserk the first time Tracy had approached Erinna with two fingers that she had obviously been intending to put inside her.

Corinne had ended up on the other side of the room with a broken shoulder and from then on, they had both decided it was better if Vlad did not know the true nature of the physical examinations. The ones he did attend, Corinne just felt and poked at Erinna's stomach to make him think she was doing something.

Corinned lifted the blanket away and Erinna pulled her legs up, lifting her dress. Her face was even redder than before. Think of Vlad, Alex, Alexander...anything except the disturbing nature of what was happening then. She did not like to be touched by anyone who was not Vlad, hated it, hated it more than anything else.

But for her baby she would endure a thousand Corinnes so she closed her eyes and bore it. Tracy began by pressing her hands at specific positions of Erinna's stomach, pressing and watching her reactions. After that, she had her fingers inside Erinna. Erinna tensed, hissing at the foreign hands that left her feeling soiled and violated. How did other women do this?

"Does anything hurt when I do this?" The woman asked, checking for abrasions inside Erinna.

"No," she shook her head, silent tears falling from the corner of her eyes into the pillows. "It's just really rough."

"I'm sorry, I will bring a lubricant next time. Lord Alexander hauled me out of my house and I did not get time to put all my kit together."

Her heart warmed at the mention of Alexander, he must have been so worried.

Thankfully, the examination did not last long.

"There seems to be nothing physically wrong. The baby is in good shape. He or she is alive and growing well. The heart beat is still strong."

Erinna sighed in relief. "Thank you."

"Don't worry yourself too much. This is all part and parcel of pregnancy. We women have to go through it but the end result is worth all the bother, I would say."

As soon as Corrine left, Erinna sat up on the bed with her feet on the ground, afraid that if she continued to act like an invalid, she would truly become one. Vlad returned a few moments later and he crouched on the floor beside her, taking her hand in his.

"Everything good?" He asked.

"Yes, she said the baby is fine." Erinna tried to smile but it felt strained.

"I have postponed the trip. You need to rest tonight." He kissed her forehead and got up.

Panic clawed at Erinna's throat and she scrambled for Vlad's hand, holding it tight.

"Don't leave, please."

She needed him. If he left her alone with her thoughts, she would go insane.

"I'm just taking off my boots."

She reluctantly let his hand go and watched as he unlaced his boots. After shirking most of his weapons, he got in the bed, sitting with his back against the headboard. Erinna did not resist when he pulled her between his legs, wrapping her tightly inside his arms.

He buried his head in her neck, kissing his mark. "You said the baby is fine. How is my wife? How are you doing, angel?"

"Terrified." She answered honestly. She was too shaken to do anything else except give straight answers.

"I'm sorry. I was reckless last night, I'll be careful in the future." He assured her, kissing her cheek.

Vlad would rip her a new one for keeping this from him but she needed him to know, could not bear the weight of this alone.

"I don't know if it's about what we did."

"What else could it be?" He asked, massaging and rubbing her arms gently as he kissed her neck and cheek. Vlad was not this level of affectionate, it was a testament of how worried he must have been. She wished she could have enjoyed this different side of him a little while longer but it was not fair to hold onto the secret. She would not be her father and bury her head in the sand.

"You remember what Deacon said about the baby?" She had shown him the entirety of her conversation with Deacon so that Vlad would not have any harbouring doubts, but she had kept the letter from Mara to herself. Only Alexander and her knew of its existence.

"That it would be a monster? I would expect no less from a Dracula." He said with what sounded like pride, nipping the skin on her shoulder, not hard enough to break skin. Someone was feeling playful.

"Mara said the same thing. She said the baby will wipe off an entire race of people."

"I for one hope that race will be elves. Only one elf I want to survive. Well, two now." He conceded, his hands moving to span over her growing belly.

"She also said that I will get sick if I choose to keep the baby. Like never before."

Vlad froze.

"What did you say?" He asked, his voice ice and his cold breath at her neck making her shiver but no longer for pleasurable reasons.

"She said if I kept the baby I would be sick."

"When did she tell you this?"

"In the letter that she told me about the medium."

"And I'm only hearing this now? What the hell is wrong with you people?!" He teleported out of bed and went to the bookcase mounted on the wall, ripping its hinges off the wall and tearing it to the ground. The loud crash startled Erinna and made her jump. When Vlad turned back around, digging his hands into his hair and tugging viciously, his eyes were red and his fangs out. Oh he was angry alright. "Is there no one I can trust to always tell me the truth in this castle?"

"Vlad..." Calm down seemed trivial so she trailed off.

"You are my wife, Erinna. You hear that? My goddamn mate. Does that mark on your neck even mean anything?"

"Of course it does."

"Then why are we always having this same conversation every week? You thought I wouldn't want to know if your health was in danger?"

He looked so betrayed that Erinna felt guilty. She wanted to immediately apologize but then he was right, it was not good for them to keep having the same conversation. They all needed to lay their cards on the table in order to break the cycle.

"You have not been easy to talk to lately, Vlad."

The time she had finally womaned up and told him about Trevante, he had called her seven kinds of stupid. Not that she had not deserved it but it had hurt considering that all she did, she had done to save his life. When she had told him she had continued searching for a way to free him, Alexander had ended up holding his intestines inside his hands. Whenever the curse was mentioned, they had ended up in arguments or sleeping in separate rooms.

Vlad seemed to consider all this too because he pinched the bridge of his nose, as if physically forcing his temper away.

"You still should have told me," he said more calmly. "Yes, I lose my temper. But you are my wife, I need to be able to count on you. And even if I get angry, so what? Have I ever stayed angry at you for more than two days?"

"Not me, no. But your temper usually ends with Alexander hurt."

Or whoever he chose to be Erinna's proxy.

"Let me guess, he also knows about this?"

Erinna stood up and walked towards him, taking his hand in hers. "That's not the point."

"How long do we have until the delivery?" He asked.

"It's the first vampire-elf baby. Nobody knows."

Erinna sighed in relief as he cupped her jaw, stroking her cheek with his thumb.

"What does the midwife say?"

Erinna had tried several times to make him call Corrine by her name but Vlad always returned to calling her midwife, even in the woman's presence.

"Six. Maybe more, maybe less."

Vlad nodded, resolution coming over his face. It let Erinna know that he was in decision-making mode.

"I'll have the Coronation and the Awakening cancelled."

"What? No, Vlad. I was excited about the Awakening."

After the way Alexander had described it, she really wanted to see it. And it would only take ten days.

"I can't risk anything happening to you." He tightened his hold on her jaw.

"Anything can happen to me here too. And we will have midwives with us. If it's something serious, we can teleport back home."

"You drive me insane. Why can't you just say yes sometimes?"

"I say yes to you all the time in bed," she teased him.

"Don't remind me. You saying yes to me is what landed us in this situation."

It had been a good night. Erinna did not regret anything about it, except of course the scare she had earned herself with that bleeding incident.

"Choose your struggle because I can start saying no if that's what you want." She leaned up and bit his bottom lip. Vlad growled and kissed her, the hand on her jaw going to cup the back of her head whilst the other one spanned her waist. Erinna leaned closer to him, kissing him back deeply. This was something that she would never tire of.

In his kisses she did not just find physical satisfaction but respite for her soul. He calmed down all her doubts and silenced her fears until she believed that as long as he was there, everything would be alright. Whether that would be enough in the future that waited for them, remained to be seen.

Erinna rested her cheek on his chest when he ended the kiss, just enjoying being there with him. It frustrated her that she could not get closer with her stomach in the way but Vlad made it better by wrapping his arms around her, enclosing her within their reassuring strength.

"Do you believe her?" She asked, referring to Mara. She had counted on Vlad laughing it off, calling Mara insane as he always did or even dismissing the whole issue. She needed him to tell her that the warning was nothing but nonsense.

"It doesn't matter whether I do or do not. The only way to call someone's bluff is if you're willing to lose everything should you be wrong. I'm not." He pulled back to cup her face in his hands, joining their foreheads.

"I don't care about being sick, but the baby, Vlad...they can't do anything to our baby." Her voice trembled.

"Nothing will happen to our baby or you. Not as long as I remain undead."

His conviction filled her with courage.

"I believe you."

This time there was no argument when she brought up Egypt. It made Erinna wonder why she had not used this tactic in the past. Vlad had refused to live for himself on the numerous occasions she had begged him but the moment he heard that she might be in danger of getting sick, he was eager to move things along and break his curse to ensure he would always be there to keep her safe.

"We will leave tomorrow night. But if anything feels off, you will tell me. Alright?" He drew back to fully look into her eyes.

Erinna gave him her word.

"Do you think the dark witches will agree to help us? This Oracle?" She asked.

"Every man has a price, angel. I'll figure out his."

"We, not you."

"I wish you would reconsider coming along."

Erinna frowned, not liking the sound of that. She had had one incident but it did not make her an invalid. She felt alright and wanted to be with Vlad when his curse finally got broken.

"There is clearly something that witches want from you or Trevante would not have risked provoking my wrath like that. There is no one in these lands and beyond who doesn't know what will happen to them if they touch you. But he was willing to risk it."

Erinna set aside her displeasure at the suggestion of not going because what he said made sense. Giving Trevante her blood had been foolish but him asking for it in the first place had been suicidal. What worth was her blood to him that he had been willing to risk all for it?

"Power?" She hazarded a guess. "I don't think my Purebeing powers can be syphoned out, Diana could not take them."