A/N Here's another chapter! I know that it's kind of short, and I'm sorry, but the next one will be longer XD If you guys have any suggestions or requests, go ahead and leave 'em in a review or a PM! I love getting your feedback on this.

But enough jabbering! On with the show!

"You bit him?!" Frederick asked angrily.

"Just a taste," Gregory answered nonchalantly.

"Was it worth betraying your family?"

Gregory turned to his father. "Well, you're the traitor. For ever denying the truth of us. We are dark gods! You've turned us into cowards. Skulking round our holes like worms!"

"What would you have us do?" Frederick asked.

"Fight back! Make these mortals' blood run cold!"

"And you could do it, Gregory. You're young, strong, ruthless, and willing to risk a stake through the heart to prove it."

"Better a stake than this prison,"

My ears pricked up as I heard footsteps above us. Anna noticed and whispered to me, "What? What is it?"

"You think me oblivious?" Frederick asked, unaware of whatever was going on in the cemetery above.

"What does it matter to you what I think? If I think?"

I heard a chain being lowered and rose to my feet. It was something of Rookery's, no doubt. I barked. They ignored me and continued talking. I barked again, louder. Still, they ignored me.

"You are Frederick the Great!" Gregory said in the background. "You feel nothing!"

I finally howled at them, just as a bright light flooded the cavern. They screamed and hissed as they burned, chaotically managing to gather behind Frederick as he shielded them from it. The fool! He was just as vulnerable, and yet he was risking himself for them?

And at that moment, I did something so incredibly stupid that I think I'll always wonder why it even occurred to me in the first place. Standing on my back legs, I was easily taller than Frederick, and my torso was twice as wide as he. As he shouted and burned, I stood in front of him, my back to the light.

He stared up at me in confusion. I barked and wagged my tail.

Behind me, I heard the little human from the previous night. He picked up a rock and threw it, busting the light.

Just like that, he got all the credit.

"My hero!" Anna exclaimed.

I growled and sat back down. I didn't even get any recognition. It wasn't of any use to me to listen as he talked about the McAshton coat of arms, whatever that was. The next thing I knew, I was being dragged along on a leash by Rudolph and the little human, whose name I learned was Tony, through the countryside to a dairy farm. I then sat outside the barn as they fed, and was reminded why I hated vampires so much. There were so many conflicted feelings running around in my head.

"I must find a place to hide you children," Frederick said as they finished.

"You can stay at my house," Tony offered.

"We need darkness, dampness, and decay," he continued.

"Then you need my cellar!"

What the hell was with this kid? Was he crazy? Inviting a family of lethal, blood-sucking undead was on the top of the list of things not to do while in Scotland.

"The werewolf can come too," he said.

I groaned and rolled my eyes. I really didn't want to join them in a basement.

"I told you, her name is Maud, Empress of-"

"Anna, don't name it." Gregory said, eyes narrowed behind his muzzle. "You'll only get attached to it."

"You're not going to sell her!" Anna protested, hugging me. I sniffed her hair and she giggled.

"Anna, it—she—tried to do away with you," Freda said gently.

"But look at her, mother! She's good!"

Freda sighed. "Anna, sometimes we must do things-"

"The mongrel saved my life," Frederick spoke up.

My social status seemed to be frequently changing, as I went from Empress Maud to mongrel in less than thirty seconds. At least someone was arguing for me.

"So much for Frederick the Great," Gregory muttered.

I stood up and snarled at him. The less he insulted his father, the greater my chances of survival.

"No, Maud!" Anna said, grabbing my collar. "Down!"

I wished I could tell her my real name. Maud wasn't really that bad, but it was far from the manly Aksel.

"I thought at first that it worked for Rookery, but its recent act of valor has seemed to prove otherwise," Frederick said.

"Then it wasn't bound to him," Freda put a hand on her husband's shoulder. "But come. We must reach Tony's cellar before daybreak."

Anna, Tony, and Rudolph took turns riding on my back as we made our way across the fields. They stopped and I was allowed to go out ahead on my own for a while, a strange gesture of gratitude from Frederick. The run gave me a nice chance to stretch my legs after being stuck chained to a wall for so long, and I was actually beginning to enjoy things until we reached Tony's home and everyone walked right through the front door and down into the cellar.

As they all found places to sleep for the day, I sniffed around, trying to find myself a comfortable spot. Everything was too small, too musty, or too…decayed. After surveying the room several times, I finally opted for simply chilling on the floor.

"Get away from me, dog." Gregory's voice sounded from inside the box next to me.

I growled in response and stayed where I was, kicking his hiding place as I turned to put my back to it.

He sat up and glared at me. "Must you act like this?"

I wrinkled my nose in response and then buried my face in my tail.

"Fine." He sneered and went back to bed.

A few minutes later, Anna came and knelt before me. "Good night, Maud," she crooned, scratching my ears. I hate to admit it, but she was a very nice girl, and she pampered me more than I had ever been pampered before. Perhaps she was just turning me soft.