LbN: Alright, here we go again :). Surprises of all sorts coming up!

The New Coven

Selene lay gasping on the top of the car. Hazy images swam in and out of her vision as she reached down with a shaky hand and pulled the bullet from her leg. Hands, whose she didn't know, lifted her gently from the truck and she heard Erika's voice as she lost consciousness.

When she woke up she was slightly surprised. Two little bodies were cuddled next to her, sleeping. Quietly, she slid out from Isabella and Zephyr's arms and walked out of her room. The house was buzzing faintly; which meant that there was gossip in the kitchen and whatever was going down was taking place in the dungeons or the infirmary. She chose the infirmary first and found Erika walking out with Marcus and William.

"Selene!" the blonde ran to her. "What are you doing up? You should be resting."

"I could tell you the same thing," Selene smiled at her.

"I'm fine," Erika ran a hand down her stomach. "So's Adonis, if you wanted to know."

"Good," the Death Dealer sighed.

"We're just on our way to the dungeons," Marcus explained. "Care to join? I think you'll be interested in the investigation."

They walked down to the wine cellar and past all of the barrels to the far wall. Marcus uncovered a panel and put his hand up to the scanner. The wall slid back, revealing stairs. When they got to the bottom, Selene gasped; Michael was chained up.

"Our friend learned a hard lesson today," William said. "Unfortunately, those united under rebellion do not take any authority well. Michael has worn out his welcome with the Renegades. Where is Desmond?"

"Dead," Michael gasped. "He was trying to get back to warn you of the attack on the school."

"And why was the attack on the school and not the coven?" Marcus asked.

"The Renegades…are interested in young minds. Minds that can be convinced of anything, with a little guidance. We were after the little ones; fourth grade and under, because they would be great to win to our side—easily won. Plus, we counted on attacking a bit earlier; we thought there'd be panic."

"Tell me, son," William said, picking up a syringe. "Do you know the easiest way to kill a Hybrid?"

Erika covered her eyes and even Selene winced.

"No, but if I'm to die can I at least see my little girl?"

"No."

William plunged the syringe into Michael's neck and flipped a switch on the wall. Sunlight poured in. Michael's system, already fighting an overdose of silver, couldn't battle the sunlight as well. He was being burned inside and out.

"Come, children," Marcus said to the girls. They walked up the steps and left William to watch his son die…

TNC

"Are you alright?" Selene asked Erika before they entered their room.

"Fine," she mumbled, hugging her wife.

"Let's go check on Zephyr and Isabella."

They walked quietly inside the room, only to find the children awake already.

"I know what sire means," Isabella said quietly, without preamble.

"What?" Erika asked. She had worded her response to Isabella's questions about immortality very well; just in case the girl had ended up staying with Michael after all.

"Sire is the person who made you immortal. That man, Michael, killed my mommy and daddy. And Zephyr's daddy too."

The room was still for a second. Both women looked at each other and walked over to the bed.

"How did you know that, sweetie?" Erika asked. "We only just found out ourselves."

"I've been having bad dreams," Isabella said quietly. "I saw it happen."

"He won't bother you again," Selene said. "Don't worry."

"I need—" Zephyr choked up a little. "I need to go tell Mum…"

"I'll go with you, Zephyr," Selene put a hand on his shoulder.

It was heartbreaking, really; watching this five year old boy try to be brave. Erika closed her eyes for a moment and counted to ten. When she opened them, Isabella was still sitting on the bed, holding her Pooh bear.

"What's the baby's name going to be?" she asked, catching Erika completely off guard.

"Er…we don't know yet. We're still looking."

"I hope it's a girl. We need more girls in the coven. There's only two others in my year and they're mean."

"Why are they mean?" Erika sat back against the pillows next to Isabella. The little brunette shrugged.

"They won't play with me, so I play with the boys."

"You sound like Selene," Erika smiled. "Have you asked why they won't play with you?"

"They say I'm a bastard, cuz I don't know who my sire is."

"WHAT?"

"And I don't want to tell them now that I know…"

"That's awful! I'm going to talk to their parents…"

"Master William said he was going to adopt me," Isabella brightened a bit. "So maybe then they'll stop."

Erika doubted it.

"I wanna go see Zephyr."

"No sweetie. He needs to be with his mum right now. Come on, we'll go watch the Lycans train in the arena."

"We're not 'pose to leave the house's grounds; 'member?"

"Oh yeah…well, let's go downstairs to the library then."

"Okay."

TNC

"You've been stressing," Roswell stated.

"Can you blame me?"

"No," he chuckled. "But knock it off; it's not good for the babies. Do you want to know the sexes?"

"No!" she and Selene said at the same time. Then they thought about what he said.

"Wait…" Selene said.

"Well, the pair of you were adamant that you wanted to know nothing about the baby last time…so I let it go. But Erika's going to be getting huge in the next few weeks, and I didn't want you to panic…"

"I'm panicking now!" Erika laughed. "We're having twins??"

"Triplets, actually."

"Wait a second. We got pictures last time! There was only one—"

"But how many pictures did I give you," the elderly doctor smiled.

"Tricky…" Selene smiled.

"I know, but I really didn't want to tell you last time what with the…atmosphere in the house. Sometimes ladies stress out more when they're trying not to stress out. That would've been triple with you. And with what happened…"

"Thank you," Erika said with relief. He was right, of course, she would've been freaking out if she'd known. Especially with the whole Michael-Isabella situation.

"Alright," Roswell said. "I'm going to give you some vitamins- don't worry, not the ones that make you sick- for you to take at night. Drink them with a full glass of blood or plasma, okay?"

"Okay," Erika nodded.

"One other thing," the doctor added. "The whole nine months thing? You know how it's seven with vampires?"

"Yeah."

"You've got three more months at the most, having triplets…"

"So what you're saying is now would be a good time to fix up the nursery and start arguing over names?"

"That's the gist of it, yes. Sure you don't want to know the sexes?"

"Positive. This means we get to pick a variety of names…"

"Alright. Have a good day then. And don't forget to take your vitamins, Erika."

"Thank you Roswell."

LbN: Hope you liked it! The last part was going to be its own short chapter, but I tacked it onto this one at the last second. I thought I'd put in some happy news to counterbalance the chapter and a half of sadness...Shoot me a review, mmmkay? And don't forget to vote on my profile!