A/N: It's been a while since my last update because the only time I've had to work on this lately is in the middle of the night. My schedule will free up a bit in May, so the wait won't be as long for the last three chapters. I hope you're all still enjoying the story. Thanks for reading!

"Hello, Robin."

Those two words instantly turned the blood in Robin's veins to ice. He had expected Lucy to answer with her usual reluctance, but instead he was greeted by the very last voice he wanted to hear. It took a moment for him to recover enough from the shock to ask, "Vlad?"

The smug voice replied, "That's right."

"Where's Lucy?" Robin tried to sound forceful, but he couldn't stop his voice from shaking.

"I'll give you one guess," Vlad replied, and with that the phone went dead.

Vlad stood alone in his crypt as he fastened a long cape around his shoulders. He adjusted the cape, straightening and smoothing it until it was the way he wanted. Years of practice meant he no longer needed servants to help him with his clothes and hair. He knew exactly how he looked even without a reflection.

He opened one of the trunks he brought with him from Transylvania and reached inside with both hands to remove a metal box. Vlad set it on the closed lid of his coffin and took a step back. "Open," Vlad commanded, his voice deep and echoing. The box immediately opened to reveal the crown of power nestled within a crimson velvet lining.

When Vlad touched the bones he felt a familiar sensation, almost like an electric current passing from the crown to his hand as the crown recognized him as its master. It was one of the reasons he disliked wearing the crown… the reminder that he was chosen. He had not worn the crown since the night he returned Stokely, but this night would be special and he wanted to dress for the occasion. He carefully placed the crown on his head, closing his eyes for a few seconds as he readjusted to the feeling of wearing it again.

"Well look at you all dressed up." Ingrid's voice at the door made him turn around.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, seeing her leaning against the doorframe with her arms casually folded in front of her.

"I woke up a few minutes ago and noticed the door to Dad's old crypt is locked," she said conversationally. "It sounds like there's a girl crying in there... a breather by my guess. You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?"

"It's Robin's daughter," Vlad replied calmly.

Ingrid appeared momentarily taken aback. "Robin's daughter?" she repeated, briefly turning her head as though to look back towards the crypt in question. "You've always had an unhealthy obsession with Branagh, but this is a bit much don't you think?"

"Let's just say I have a score to settle with him, and I want you and Will to keep out of it. Can you do that?"

Ingrid scoffed. "As if I want to get involved in your squabble with Branagh."

"Good. Prove it by staying out of the way. He'll be here soon."

Robin banged on the castle door with his fist. "Let me in!" he shouted, striking the door as hard as he could. When Renfield opened the door he appeared unsurprised to see Robin standing there, his face flushed red with anger as he asked, "Where's Vlad?"

"The Grand High Vampire is expecting you," Renfield answered with uncharacteristic poise. He gestured to the great hall as he stepped aside to let Robin enter.

"I'll bet he is," Robin growled, crossing the threshold and marching towards the great hall.

As Renfield had said, Vlad was waiting for Robin. The Grand High Vampire sat on the Count's former throne at the far side of the room while his bodyguards stood on either side of him. He wore a crown of human bones which Robin had last seen resting in the dust of the Vlad's predecessor. The elaborate display of vampire authority did not faze Robin as he stopped in front of the throne and demanded, "Give me my daughter."

The corners of Vlad's mouth curled upward ever so slightly, but the gaze he fixed Robin with was cold. "What makes you think I have her?"

"You have her phone! She's been here all along, hasn't she?"

Vlad broke into a broad smile this time, though something about the expression sounded a warning in the back of Robin's mind. A note of taunting amusement entered Vlad's voice as he said, "That's what I've always liked about you. You catch on quick."

"Too bad I can't say the same for you," he retorted. "I told you to leave my family alone."

The smile vanished. "And I did, but your daughter came to me. Dmitri caught her trespassing."

"Then where is she?"

"She's in the crypts."

The color drained from Robin's face until he was almost as pale as Vlad. Robin had to fight against a sudden faintness that made the ground under his feet feel as if it were moving. "What have you done?" The words came out as little more than a whisper, his voice quieted by dread.

"I haven't done anything to her… yet." The look Vlad gave him carried an unspoken threat which Robin understood all too clearly.

What he couldn't understand was why Vlad would suddenly decide to kidnap Lucy. The last time Robin saw Vlad he was apologetic and trying to convince Robin that he was harmless. Vlad was not this cruel vampire he now faced. Something had changed, though Robin didn't know what. Could Vlad actually hurt Lucy? "She's just a child, for God's sake. She's not a threat to you."

"That makes no difference to me."

Trying to reason with Vlad, he said, "Look, it's me you want, isn't it? I'm here, so let her go."

"The girl stays where she is."

"If you hurt her, I swear I will kill you."

Though Robin was virtually shaking with rage, Vlad sat as still as a carved statue, taking in the sight before him with an unreadable expression. His lips barely moved, but his words were clearly audible as he asked, "Will you?" In one fluid movement he stood and glided towards Robin with unnatural grace. He approached slowly, as though daring Robin to act.

Robin couldn't hold back his anger any longer. As soon as the vampire was close enough, he swung his fist at Vlad's face as hard as he could. Before Robin's fist reached its target, Vlad caught it and used it as leverage to spin him around, pinning his arm behind his back. "Too slow."

"You'll regret this!" Robin spat, trying to throw Vlad off him. Despite Robin's best efforts to free himself, Vlad kept him nearly immobilized with one hand.

"So you would try to kill me, your best friend, is that it?"

"I'm not your friend and you're not mine. Vampires don't have friends. Monsters don't have friends."

"You even talk like a slayer. And to think I doubted you were capable of setting slayer's traps. I didn't know you were such a traitorous coward."

"What are you talking about?" Robin asked indignantly. "I haven't done anything of the sort."

"Don't play stupid with me. I know you're the one who set the crossbow in my crypt." Vlad traced the faint scars on Robin's neck with his fingertips and hissed in his ear, "Somehow I always knew you'd betray me eventually. I should have killed you twenty years ago."

Robin tried to pull away from Vlad's touch, but Vlad twisted his arm harder, making Robin wince. "Vlad, don't..." Something in Vlad's voice made Robin sincerely believe Vlad was ready to kill him. It wasn't Vlad doing this. It couldn't be.

"Losing your nerve?" Vlad scoffed at Robin's plea. "I ought to drain you dry and leave your corpse to the ravens. It would be a fitting punishment for an assassin."

"Listen to me; I never set any traps. It wasn't me."

"Liar!" Vlad snarled, increasing the pressure on Robin's arm.

The pain threatened to bring tears to Robin's eyes. "It's the truth!"

"Give me one reason to believe you."

Robin's mind raced, trying to find an answer before Vlad decided to sink his fangs into his neck. "Jonathan Van Helsing. He's in Stokely."

Vlad released Robin's arm and shoved him away. Robin caught his balance and turned to face Vlad while clutching his injured arm to his chest. He was breathing hard.

"Van Helsing." The words were a barely audible hiss under Vlad's breath, uttered with the disgust of a curse.

A twisted sense of satisfaction filled Robin at seeing the way the unexpected news finally cracked Vlad's sense of absolute control. "That's right," Robin snapped at him. "He's back, and he's after your dust." Vlad caught Robin's gaze with a fierce glare, and Robin held it with equal intensity. "He even tried to convince me to help him, but I refused. I told him I wouldn't betray a friend," he said with a short humorless laugh.

The bitterness in Robin's voice must have convinced Vlad it was the truth. He relaxed his stance, but the interrogation wasn't over. "What did he want you to do?"

"I didn't stay to find out, did I? It doesn't matter. He knows the secret entrances and passageways of the castle better than I do, and he wants you dead. He won't give up. He's determined to slay you or die trying."

"I think we can arrange that," Vlad chuckled as a mirthless smile played across his features. Robin noticed Vlad's bodyguards exchange knowing smirks as well. "Fine. You want your daughter back? I want Van Helsing," Vlad said to him. "I'll make you a deal. You bring the slayer to me, and in return I will give you the girl."

"Why should I believe you?"

"You don't have much of a choice, do you?"

This time it was Robin's turn to break from Vlad's gaze while he thought about his options. He didn't know of any other way to get Lucy back safely. He also didn't know if he could deliver another human being to what would surely be his death at the hands of a vampire. Could he become an accomplice to murder?

With a swish of his cape Vlad turned and began to walk away, apparently interpreting Robin's silence as refusal. "It's too bad," he said with a mock-sigh, "I was going to promise to keep Lucy safe until you brought me the slayer, but now I guess I have no reason to make such a promise."

Vlad's comment touched a nerve in Robin, and he immediately knew what he had to do. His conscience would have to find a way to live with the guilt. "Wait. I'll do it," he replied, his voice heavy with defeat.

Vlad stopped short of the door and turned to face Robin again. "Sorry, what was that?" he asked, pretending not to have heard Robin clearly the first time.

"I said I'll do it. I'll bring Van Helsing to the castle."

"I spy… something beginning with 'B'."

"Blood," Damien grumbled without opening his eyes. His foot ached from spending over an hour kicking his door to be let out, and he had resigned himself to sprawling on his bed with his head buried under his pillow.

"Very good, Master Damien," Zoltan said, wagging his tail. "Now it's your turn."

Damien sat up. "I don't want to play any more games, Zoltan."

"But you've done nothing but lie there all evening. And you've barely touched your food."

"You mean this?" Damien asked, picking up the glass of blood from the tray by his bedside. "This is not food. None of this is food." He put the glass back next to the bowl of maggots that Renfield had brought in with the blood.

The sound of a key turning in the lock made Damien leap to his feet. The bolt slid aside and the door swung open to reveal Nicolai standing on the other side. "What do you want?" Damien asked sulkily.

"The Grand High Vampire requests your presence."

Damien rolled his eyes at Nicolai's announcement. "Ah, well, anything for the Grand High Vampire."

Vlad watched Damien as he stood before his throne with a sullen expression and slouched posture, and wondered if he had been too harsh with the boy. "You wished to see me?" Damien muttered.

"I want to talk with you about what happened the other night," Vlad said. He had placed the breather under hypnosis while he questioned her, but that could only guarantee that she told him what she believed to be the truth. Branaghs apparently had a tendency to get mixed up with vampires, and by some odd coincidence Damien had to go out and find one… unless it wasn't a coincidence. Vlad was not pleased, to say the least. "How did you find Lucy Branagh?"

"I wasn't looking for her if that's what you're asking. I met her in the park."

"And she didn't know who you were?"

Damien shook his head. "She didn't even know I was a vampire. You saw how surprised she was when she found out." When Vlad didn't say anything in response he added, "I'm sorry I ran away, but you shouldn't punish her for something I did."

"You were confined to your room because you ran away. What happens to Lucy has nothing to do with anything you've done."

"So why didn't you let her go home?"

"That does not concern you," Vlad said, his voice taking on a hard edge.

Damien looked away and mumbled, "Sorry."

"I realize you're upset, but I wouldn't be this strict if I didn't believe it was for your own good." Vlad's sharp eyes noted the way Damien bit his lower lip, apparently holding back a retort. There was still some fight in his nephew after all, though Damien was wise enough to restrain himself. Vlad continued, "Will you be more cooperative from now on?"

"Yes," Damien replied, slightly bowing his head.

"Then I think we are done here. You may leave."

But Damien didn't go anywhere. After a brief hesitation he asked, "Uncle Vlad?"

"What is it?"

"May I see Lucy? Please?"

Vlad noted a spark of hope in Damien's eyes as he waited for his reply. Although his initial thought was to refuse, he had just made significant progress with Damien, and it couldn't hurt to let Damien visit his breather friend if it would help keep him obedient. His nephew was still very young; he would learn the truth about breathers eventually.

Jonathan couldn't believe his luck when Robin Branagh turned up on the doorstep of his slayer's HQ, stammering something about a kidnapping.

"They've got my daughter," Robin said as soon as Jonathan opened the door. "Dracula's holding her captive. I never thought he would – that bastard!"

"Slow down," he instructed. "Take a deep breath and start at the beginning." Jonathan gestured for Robin to enter the HQ, which he did, giving the room a cursory glance as though to make sure they were alone.

"Lucy went up to the castle today and the vampires found her. Vlad's locked her in the crypts. You have to help me, please!" Robin trembled, either from nerves or anger, Jonathan couldn't tell which.

He pulled out a chair for Robin and grabbed a half-full bottle of whisky from his workbench. "Sit. Drink this," he instructed, holding the bottle out to Robin.

Robin immediately sat and took a gulp of the amber liquid, grimacing momentarily before taking another drink. Meanwhile Jonathan cleared another chair and sat opposite him. Robin slouched forward to rest his elbows on his knees as he held the bottle loosely in one hand and covered his face with the other. A minute passed in silence before he looked up at the slayer with fearful eyes. "What if they bite her? She's only fourteen."

Leaning forward, Jonathan reached out to put a hand on Robin's shoulder and looked him in the eye as he reassured him, "I promise I won't let that happen." He hoped he would be able to keep his promise. Vampires never had any regard for human life, no matter how young and vulnerable. Jonathan would have to act quickly if he was going to save the girl. "I'll tell you what I'm going to do. Tonight I'm going to go up to that castle and get your daughter back, but you're going to have to work with me."

"But the vampires outnumber us. We won't stand a chance against five of them."

"I've faced worse odds, but you'll have to follow my orders."

Robin thought for a moment, then asked, "What do you need me to do?"