A/N: Disclaimer in Chapter 1.

As with my saga I'd like to ask if there is anything people would like to see in this fic?

Chapter 2: Answer

Vlad folded his arms across his chest. He knew his answer to Jonno's question but he wanted something made clear to him. "If I give her to you, what would you do to her?"

Jonno gave a small shrug. "Put her in front of the Guild board, give her a trial." It had never been done before for treason but there was always a first time.

"A rigged one because she's a vampire." Ingrid muttered sarcastically, forcing everyone to give her an irritated frown. She moved away from them, sitting down beside Bertrand after seeing one of the slayers nervously edge towards the older vampire.

She sent a small smirk towards the slayer who rapidly moved back towards his leaders. Bertrand raised an eyebrow and she shrugged, it was probably the closest she would get to actually scaring the slayers.

"She'll have a fair trial." Jonno told them sternly. None of the vampires believed him, he could have at least tried to sound convincing like putting emphasis on the word fair. They were just hollow words.

"If she's guilty?" Vlad asked continuing the conversation.

"She'll be punished." Jonno didn't want to go further.

Vlad was perceptive, "If she were a slayer you'd lock her up but as she's a half fang you'll kill her."

Jonno wasn't used to this Vlad who was deliberately confrontational, he was used to the boy who avoided trouble at every turn. He thought Vlad needed to continue to grow and develop until he became the leader of the vampire kind but he was mistaken – Vlad already was that leader.

Erin couldn't understand why she'd been accused of treason against them, "I wasn't a member of the Guild." She'd never been given a Guild badge or even a membership card. Her parents always told her she had a choice to join the Guild or go solo. Ryan wasn't even a member of the Guild.

Jonno gave her a sceptical look, "Every trained slayer automatically becomes a member of the Guild. As Guild member you betrayed your fellow slayers, and you betrayed the oath you took when you joined the Slayers' Academy."

"I didn't take an oath." Erin told him firmly. Jonno really didn't have a clue what happened at Slayers' Academy, he'd never been to one he was home schooled to be a slayer.

Mina gave her a small smile, trying to show her she saw through her 'act'. "But you graduated."

"Who said I graduated? I'm a month younger than Vlad. I don't graduate until I'm 18." Erin smiled this time at unnerving the slayers. "I was a slayer but I didn't hold allegiance to anyone and I wasn't an official one."

Jonno gave Mina a slightly worried glance, they'd assumed that she had completed her training and graduated, regardless they'd already started to use the only law upheld by both of their kinds to take her, they'd have to continue to do so. "Calling yourself one still makes you one." Their voices were hesitant. "You still have a slayer file, as it hasn't been declared 'inactive' then your still one as far as we're concerned."

That was the problem with the world today everything was backed up in a database. Her file would always exist in various forms, if she tried to destroy it, it would always rear its ugly head, of that she was certain.

"I stopped being a slayer before I was bitten. I stopped after knowing Vlad for a few weeks."

Vlad could tell Erin was getting worked up over this; he could feel the tenseness in her muscles. He pressed a quick kiss to her neck, the slayers didn't see it but Erin felt it. It gave her the confidence she needed.

She closed her eyes for a second, allowing the confidence to flood through her before her gaze snapped open and she stared at the slayers. "I didn't do anything, I wouldn't do again."

YEKNODELTTILYEKNODELTTIL

What exactly had the Slayers done to defeat Sethius the second time? The only reason they knew about Sethius was because they came there to slay them when they'd found some drained bodies, they hadn't even asked questions to learn the truth.

They hadn't fought him personally. Vlad wasn't sure exactly how many minions they'd slain; he didn't think they'd have made much of a difference fighting them.

Yes, they needed their help to identify Sethius' clan but if they hadn't looted the homes/castles of the vampires they'd slain they wouldn't have needed their help at all.

In the end Vlad had pieced it all together and Erin had defeated Sethius for the final time.

This made Vlad's mind up for him. He wasn't going to be bullied into a treaty and it certainly wasn't worth losing Erin for it. His own kind needed sorting out and he needed Erin to help him do that.

He put Erin and his clan before any treaty with the slayers. He knew he slayers could never be fully trusted, he was glad he hadn't dropped his guard the way they seemed to think he had.

"Get out." Vlad told them quietly, trying to keep his voice calm and level.

"No Erin, no treaty." Jonno reminded him.

Vlad's eyes burned and Jonno saw the first glimmer of emotion in them. Fierce determination and love. "Erin is under my protection."

"Your father is your ruler, at least he is for another month. I want an answer before then." Jonno told Vlad firmly.

"I'll give it now…NO." He emphasised his answer, drawing it out and speaking loudly.

Jonno raised an eyebrow, looking at the Count. Vlad couldn't have the final say yet. Jonno folded his arms over his chest. "And the Count? How does he feel about a former slayer under his roof?"

Vlad didn't like people going over his head, if he was going to why not directly address the regent rather than going through this whole charade?

The Count squinted slightly at the slayers. "Until Vladimir comes of age, Erin is under my protection." The Count spoke sternly, Jonno's face dropped as if he'd been relying on the Count to hand Erin over. "As my son has made his mating decision she's protected as my daughter as well."

Erin looked up at him as did Vlad, they didn't expect the Count to acknowledge Erin at all, let alone offer her his protection.

"'Mating decision'?" Jonno laughed, "He can't until he's 18, by then it'll change anyway. Vampires don't stick to their choices."

His comments were a mixture of scorn and trying to convince Erin that remaining with a vampire wasn't a good idea at all, all but suggesting it was better if she came with him.

Vlad felt a wave of disgust at Jonno's suggestion that he'd change his mind, he also hated the fact his family had already set in stone that Erin was going to be his mate. Erin had said she was his mate in the heat of the moment but nothing had definitely been decided. Erin had as much a right to change her mind as he did, he wasn't going to pressure her into anything they weren't even of age yet.

"She's under my protection as regent." The Count spoke slowly and calmly, waiting for Jonno to challenge it again. The young slayer wisely didn't.

"You have your answer." Vlad told Jonno sternly. "I'll give you peace," He knew Jonno did otherwise he wouldn't have put his offer on the table, "But without Erin as part of the bargain."

"It doesn't work like that." Jonno corrected, regretting it immediately as he saw the raw power in Vlad's eyes. Vlad focussed on the light bulbs to the right of Jonno, they immediately exploded sending a small shower of glass and sparks towards the slayers.

The slayers ducked the violent explosions, looking up at the future vampire leader. Erin gave Vlad a curious glance, she hadn't expected him to provide a power display for the slayers.

The slayers looked up at him, startled by his display.

"I gave you a chance. I still want peace." Vlad told them once again, his face showing how true his words were. "We'll stop biting." He told Jonno, he was going to stick to his end of the bargain.

"We won't stop slaying." Jonno warned him, there was no doubt of that in Vlad's mind.

Vlad nodded slowly. "We'll be ready." Vlad answered without hesitation. He lifted his arm. "Now GET OUT!" He roared.

Jonno gave him an indignant little sniff before leaving with his 'gang' of slayers. The family remained tense until they could no longer smell the slayers and the cars had started their engines and disappeared completely from their hearing range.

YEKNODELTTILYEKNODELTTIL

Vlad opened his arms for her and Erin stepped into his arms without hesitation. He closed them around her sealing her to him. Erin lay her head against his chest as he pressed his cheek to her hair.

"I'm not giving you to them." He whispered violently to her, she nodded accepting his word. The whole 'treason' idea was just a way to get them to hand her over to the Guild. "They want Erin for a reason, and I don't think it's for treason." Vlad told them over Erin's head.

Erin was valuable for information and priceless in the terms they could control Vlad if they took her from him.

"You just let them go?" Ingrid couldn't understand her brother's actions. "You could have drained them here and now."

"I could," He agreed, "But its not my way."

He wasn't going to fall in line with what the slayers wanted.

Erin pulled back from Vlad, putting a little distance between them. "Maybe it would've been better if I was still a breather." Erin whispered softly, she didn't want to be a burden on the Draculas. That's all she was now, a burden.

"If you were still a breather, they'd have the right to take you away whether you were under Vlad and Dad's protection or not." Ingrid told her, "It's better that you're a vampire now. They can't touch you." It was the only law upheld by both cultures: the right to discipline their own kind. Erin status as a half fang made her the jurisdiction of the future Grand High Vampire and the Regent.

Erin looked up at Vlad wanting the truth; it wasn't unusual for Ingrid to lure them into a false sense of security. "It true." He answered, he actually felt thankful that she was a half fang. "You're safer as a vampire."

"I never thought I'd hear you say that." She muttered softly with a small smile. He shrugged slightly before leaning down and pressing his forehead against hers.

Vlad lifted his head up to share a look with Bertrand. Bertrand seemed to know what his student was asking as he nodded agreeing completely, "You need to master your powers. You can't keep hoping they'll work when you need them." She was slow to master the offensive aspects of her powers, the useful things had been easy the rest had been difficult.

Bertrand made a move to stand up but Ingrid pushed him back down firmly. Bertrand made a move to stand up but Ingrid pushed him back down firmly with a snarl that told him to obey her or else.

Vlad half expected Bertrand to cross his arms and start sulking but was surprised when he simply nodded.

"What are you going to do?" Erin asked him, not everything relied on her mastering her powers.

Vlad let out a small groan as he answered, he wasn't looking forward to this, "Start sorting out our kind."

Getting their world in order now was a top priority.

YEKNODELTTILYEKNODELTTIL

The car journey was quiet, Mina gripped the wheel she knew Vlad wouldn't agree to their terms. It was a gamble they'd taken and it hadn't worked. They'd appealed to the vampiric side to discard everyone and anyone on a whim but he'd proved he wasn't from the same mould as the rest of his kind.

Mina had to agree with the young vampires on this matter, she was beginning to suspect Jonno was going this far because Erin had simply wounded his pride. Another reason was that his father's death had made him bitter, it had made them both bitter.

"Vlad lets his emotions rule him." Jonno muttered to his mother, "Erin's his strength, without her his world will be chaos, he won't be a threat."

Mina wasn't so sure, she got the impression that Erin wasn't the source of strength in the way they thought she was. "I don't know Jonno…"

Jonno ignored his mother's worries. "Vlad's never bitten anyone intentionally, he hasn't got the strength."

"You think Erin will give him that strength?"

"You saw what he was like just, you take her away he won't be dangerous." Jonno paused, his next words were filled it hatred, anger and bitterness. "It's about time he lost someone he loves."

Jonno had no idea how wrong he was.

TBC

A/N: Please let me know what you think.

Thanks for reading.