Victoria didn't want to leave Velkan. She didn't feel as though she could. She remained perched by his side, holding his hand as she looked to his body. Anna was sat besides her, one arm around her waist and the other on her brother's arm. He had stopped breathing minutes ago, but both of them didn't want it to be true.

"He's gone," Van Helsing said, his voice softer than usual as he realised the need to be tender with the two women. "He wasn't the man you once knew."

"He was going to change him," Victoria said in a soft voice. "Vlad was going to give him the cure for me. He was going to save him, for me…and this…why…"

"He was going to save him?" Anna queried and Victoria moved to her feet as she looked to Van Helsing, noticing that he was wincing in pain as she turned her glare onto him, a sense of anger taking hold of her.

"Did you do this to him?" she demanded, her voice high pitched and full of rage as she looked to the man and he remained mute, unable to say anything as Victoria rushed forwards and pushed at him. "Did you shoot him?"

"Not before he bit me," Van Helsing said and Victoria recoiled from the sight of the bite mark marring his skin. Placing her hands over her mouth, she stumbled backwards as Anna moved to her feet, tears still streaming down her face. "He wasn't the man you both once knew and, deep down, you know that. You know that he would have killed you, Anna. I did what I had to do."

"No," Anna said with a shake of her head, struggling to comprehend what she was seeing and whether or not she could believe it. Van Helsing remained mute as he watched the two women for a moment, seeing a sense of anguish in both of them.

"Why did you come here?" Victoria demanded from Van Helsing as she glowered at him. "Why have you come back? Is it to ruin me? Is that what you truly want? You took away the first man I loved and now you have taken the other?"

"You blame me for what has happened, but have you ever considered blaming Dracula?" he demanded from her. "He is the one who saw Velkan turn into a werewolf. He did this to him. I did not want to shoot him, but he would have killed-"

Before Van Helsing could continue his argument with Victoria, a sudden noise from above drew them from the discussion they had been having. Victoria shrieked loudly as she looked up, the sight of a vampire moving towards them enough to make them roar in fear. Van Helsing reached for his bow and arrow, but he struggled to be quick enough. The winged creature had already dropped down and grabbed hold of Anna by the arm, hauling her into the air.

Victoria moved towards her, but she wasn't quick enough. Aleera had already grabbed Anna was flying with her into the air, laughing manically as she went. It was then when Victoria realised that there would be no stopping her. They couldn't fly, nor were they fast enough to catch up with her. Van Helsing yelled in anger while Victoria shook her head.

"Where will she take her?" he demanded from Victoria.

"I don't know," she responded. "I would assume back to Castle Frankenstein, but that…what if we are too late…he said something about a summer palace too."

"Then we need to move quickly," Van Helsing said. "We need to take Velkan's body back home and find Carl."

"Who is Carl?" Victoria demanded.

"He's working with me," Gabriel said. "As soon as we are back in the village, you are staying there. You are not getting involved in the rest of this. I will find Anna and I will bring her home. You have proven that you cannot bargain with Dracula. He cannot be reasoned with."

"Stop talking," Victoria demanded from him as she glowered at him. "I will do as I please and I will not listen to you. We never should have listened to you."

…

Victoria felt herself tire as they laid Velkan's body down on the bed in his chamber. Gabriel had left, but Victoria had been unable to move. She had covered Velkan's body with a duvet, her hands moving to push his hair from his face as she sat on the edge of the bed. Gabriel had gone to talk with Carl while Victoria remained away from them, wondering exactly what Vlad was doing.

She had been too late to save Velkan. She couldn't be too late to save Anna. She was the last of the Valerious's, except for the babe inside of Victoria. Placing a hand on her stomach, she let her other hand rest on Velkan's cheek, stroking it softly as she watched him.

"I'm going to keep her safe," Victoria said to him in a whisper. "I couldn't save you, but I can save her. I can save her and I can make all of this go away. I know…I know that he needs to die to save you from purgatory. There is no other way. I see that. I just don't know if I have the strength to do it."

Closing her eyes, she felt a small tear slip down her cheek. She managed to peel her eyes open and bent down to kiss him on the cheek, her lips lingering against his cheek. Standing up, she removed her hand from his cheek and moved towards the window, gulping loudly before waiting, whispering for him to come and get her. He would know what she was doing. He always knew.

….

Victoria wandered through the grand ballroom, looking around at the intricately decorated space. There ornaments, grand paintings and chandeliers lining every wall. There was a great fireplace at the other hand, a fire roaring and two chairs either side of it. Tables had been set up along the edge of the room, covered in tablecloths and adorned with fine cutlery.

"You like my summer palace?"

His voice echoed through her as Victoria closed her eyes and took a deep breath, preparing to turn around and face him as she nodded her head once.

"Where is she?" she asked, ignoring his question. "And why did you send Aleera for me?"

"Because she is the only bride I have left and I was busy."

"Too busy for me?" Victoria arched a brow. "I see how it is."

"Do not play coy with me, Victoria, you left me alone yesterday. You made your choice when you went for Velkan Valerious."

"I made my choice when I realised you were spawning demons to kill," Victoria contradicted him. "If you remember before then I was sharing your bed. But now I see, Vlad. Now I see that there is no hope for us. You want to give those monsters life and I want nothing to do with that."

Vlad said nothing for a moment as Victoria wandered around the ballroom and he followed her, keeping his distance as his hands remained behind his back. He saw her hand move along the surface of a table, her fingers trailing the tablecloths as she ambled around slowly.

"I have offered to trade Anna for the creature I require to give them life," Vlad said. "She is locked away safely. She will live so long as Van Helsing does as I ask of him."

Victoria turned to look at Vlad for a moment, unsure whether or not she believed him. She remained mute, choosing to keep her thoughts to herself as she perched on the edge of one of the tables, her skirts bunching up around her legs as she completed the motion. Dracula kept his distance from her, standing a couple of feet away, drumming his hands against his back as he arched a brow in her direction.

"You do not trust me?"

"I do not know if I can," Victoria said in response. "Velkan is dead, but I take it you knew that."

"I did," he nodded.

"Was it all a lie?" Victoria wondered, shrugging her shoulders towards him. "Would you have given him the cure? Would you have let him live?"

"Yes," he said, his eyes not once leaving hers as he spoke. "I would have cured him for you, but we both know this fate was inevitable, Victoria. One of us would have died. He was the one to suffer that fate."

"What is going to happen now?" Victoria wondered and Vlad knew that he was lying to her. He was telling her what she wanted to hear, but he wondered if it was the only way he could keep her with him.

"There is a Halloween Ball tomorrow evening," he said. "I have invited Gabriel to complete the trade."

"And there is no persuading you not to do this?" Victoria wondered from him. "Will you not stop this? Stop this plan and leave everything be?"

"No," he said with a shake of his head. "I am going through with this, Victoria. There is no stopping me. What I feel for you still exists inside of me, but as you enjoy reminding me, there is no longer an us, is there? There is no hope for us. There never had been. You carry his child and you cannot return to me unconditionally."

"So what now?" Victoria wondered, her emotions still all over as she shrugged at him.

"For once in my life, I do not know," he said to her truthfully. "I do not know what I can do. Perhaps our feelings for each other are not enough now, Victoria. Perhaps too much has truly happened."

Victoria remained mute as she watched him step forwards, his hand stretching out to rest on her cheek. She kept still, not daring to move as she inhaled a sharp breath and swallowed harshly. It was another moment before he bent forwards, his lips pressing against hers for a brief moment. Closing her eyes, she let herself give in to his touch before pulling back after a second.

"Don't do this," Victoria urged from him. "Don't give those creatures life."

"I have spent years…decades…working towards this," Dracula informed her. "I will not stop now, Victoria."

Shaking her head slowly, Victoria moved from the table, her hand moving to his chest as she let it rest there and he bent down, his lips pressing to the crown of her head as she did her best to comprehend what this now meant.

"I want to see Anna," Victoria said to him. "She is my sister in law and I want to spend time with her."

"There is no escaping, Victoria," he said in a warning voice.

"I have no intention of escaping. I just want to be with her."

"So be it."

…

Victoria had never been affectionate when it came to Anna. She couldn't stop herself from hugging her as soon as she saw her thought. She rushed forwards and took her into her arms as Anna returned the embrace. She held her sister in law and closed her eyes before pulling back.

"Van Helsing has been made an offer," Victoria said, pulling back from Anna and both of them took a seat on the edge of the four-poster bed, settling down for a couple of moments. "He is to swap the monster for you."

"I cannot let him do that," Anna said with a shake of her head, her curls bouncing around her face. "If Dracula even gets near the monster then that would mean destruction. If those children live…then what hope do we have?"

"None, I fear," Victoria said with a nod of her head. "We need to find a way to stop him. I just do not know how we can do it."

Anna seemed to agree with her on that matter. "But how?"

"I am trying to think of something," Victoria said. "I used to think that I could stop this…stop him…but I do not think I have any control over what he does. I do not think he will listen to me. It is leaving me with little options. I don't know what more I can do."

Anna shrugged. "Perhaps there is only one way to stop this, Victoria," Anna whispered at her. "Perhaps there is only one way we can stop him and it isn't the way you want."

"I…" Victoria trailed off. "I think I know that, I just don't want to accept it."

"Perhaps it is time you do," Anna said. "Velkan is gone, Victoria. He…he took him from us…and we need to make sure nothing takes his child away either. We need to protect the babe more than ever before."

"I know," Victoria concurred with her. "I just don't know if I am strong enough, Anna."

Taking hold of Victoria by the hand, she held onto it tightly before looking her in the eye. "You don't have to do this alone, Victoria. I know we have had our differences, but I want us to put them aside and move on."

Victoria nodded and felt the overwhelming need to sob again as Anna held onto her again. Closing her eyes, Victoria considered the thought that she could lose both the men she had loved in the space of a week.

…

A/N: Do let me know what you think!