A/N: Disclaimer in Chapter 1.

I'm sorry if what I'm about to type upsets people but I've reached the end of my tether.

Recently some PMs and reviews have threatened me in various ways as I'm being 'disrespectful' and 'making excuses' for 'not bothering to update'. The latest accusation came this morning.

I never once considered myself as making 'excuses' but rather letting you know why I hadn't updated as I was brought up to think that its common courtesy to explain yourself.

Two months ago I fractured my spine, last week I had to be operated on because the fracture has not healed correctly causing it to trap nerves and reduce my movement so it had to be split again and then repositioned as well as a more severe fracture being given a 'helping hand' to heal. I have been told it will be a long and painful healing process.

I'm sorry if I've been 'disrespectful' to put my health first, if I'd put my stories first and not undergone surgery there was a high chance I would end up in a wheelchair.

I'm sorry this will be considered an 'excuse' but at the moment this story *cannot* be my top priority.

I'm trying my hardest to update but sometimes it isn't possible. I want to get back to regular postings as soon as I can.

I apologise for this but it angers me that some people believe that this story is my entire life.

Sorry for the rant but you know how easily I get worked up at blind accusations.

Thank you thought to all those who have been so understanding and thank you for all your well wishes.

Chapter 34: Changing Plans.

Erin didn't bother to turn, she knew it would rile the person behind her but she wanted to show that they didn't intimidate her – at least as not as much as they used to. They could smell fear, that's how Ingrid and Bertrand always managed to sniff her out in the past.

They seemed to notice that Erin wasn't afraid of them, they knew she realised who they were.

"I always wondered where you were, something was odd about you not being around."

"You're not as gullible as Adze." They continued and Erin couldn't help but laugh at that. It wasn't exactly a fair comment, Adze hadn't been trained to be paranoid and suspicious like a slayer was or the upbringing that Vlad had. Adze would never have suspected. "That's the problem with slayers, they're so arrogant."

"I'm not arrogant." Erin answered finally turning towards him. "I just know one thing that made it clear…. If you truly loved Adze then you wouldn't let slayers part you, would you… Ramanga?"

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Ramanga shot forwards ready to grab Erin but she reacted first, calmly flicking her left hand to the side. Ramanga shot towards the wall.

His right side slammed into it with a crunch at least two foot off the ground. Erin didn't flinch – at least not physically. On a human that blow would have shattered their hip but a vampire was more sturdy than a human.

He dropped to the ground, gasping as his knees hit the floor, jolting them severely. "I was hoping the footage was wrong, that it was Adze but I can smell *him* all over you." He sniffed violently trying to show his disgust for her, theatrics were a vampire's best friend after all (next to blood that is). "I have to give you some credit; he didn't even know you were a slayer when you got under his skin. Still a half fang wouldn't have been a good match for any nobility."

Erin's lip was curled as she stared at the pitiful vampire. This was the man responsible for years of hatred, unhappiness and anger for her and Vlad. All she had to do was aim one fireball at him, one small use of her power and he'd be gone forever.

Erin froze, shaking her head quickly. She'd thought of staking Ramanga before but never using her powers on him. She shuddered at the blackness that seemed to take over her and a small flicker of panic appeared in her mind. She didn't know what had come over her.

The young slayer pushed the thoughts from her mind focusing on him once more as he pushed himself from the floor, gasping at the toll the action took on him as pain radiated throughout his body. He let out a hollow laugh, his eyes fixed on the device attached to her arm. He tipped his head looking thoughtful. "The blocker doesn't work on you but it works on your son." Even if they increased the dose her powers still wouldn't be blocked, the only thing they blocked was Vlad's link to her nothing more.

Erin stated the obvious, "Alex is half vampire, I'm not." Erin grinned devilishly at him, "What you're using on them won't work on me." Ramanga nodded slightly, there was no chance in changing her, let alone drain her. Not when she could wield powers like this. Erin wasn't sure if he'd heard her conversation with Adze but she wasn't going to supply more information than she needed to.

He tipped his head; he wasn't used to dealing with someone in Erin's situation. He was used to breaking friendship loyalties rather than blood loyalties. "You won't use your powers to leave, not if your son isn't with you. You'll do anything to be with him." And that was what made his plan so successful.

He was telling her something all parents should do for their children, but clearly it didn't apply to him. "That's what you should be doing, fighting to be with Adze." Erin spoke angrily, he was failing as a father, "I would never let Alex be taken from me willingly and the Count wouldn't let Vlad be taken from him." Nor Ingrid, Erin thought privately. The Count might deny it but he was proud of his daughter, it shone through the way he criticised her actions. If he didn't care he wouldn't even notice what she was up to. "Why did you let the slayers take her? Why are you even working with them?"

"I care for my daughter." He protested trying to ignore her comments. He had his reason for what he was doing. It didn't escape Erin's notice that he didn't say the 'l' word.

Erin shook her head, he might love her but something else came first. "You love power more." She took a breath, "You're working with the slayers, what have you promised them?"

He seemed amused that she addressed them as 'the slayers' and not 'the others', after all they were all cut from the same mould weren't they? "You're a slayer too."

"Different allegiance." She answered short and sharp. She knew there were various factions of slayers within the Guild, just like there were various factions in the vampire world. There would always be those who opposed the way things were currently done, it had been like that for centuries. "What did you promise them?"

"What I promised isn't important." He smiled at her and Erin felt herself grow colder. "But *you'll* find out… in time." She didn't like the way he stressed 'you'll' it made her feel uncomfortable. Whatever he had planned was directed at her and her only, after all she had ruined his daughter's chances of being Vlad's equal.

"Why are you doing this?"

Ramanga took a step towards her but she lifted her hand in warning and he stepped back instead. Erin's powers couldn't be stopped – at least not without further study. "Because you took away her chances of happiness…"

"I took them away?" Erin laughed, she couldn't believe she was actually standing up to Ramanga, but she had five years of anger on her side. "Adze is just about as happy as Vlad is at this union. It's a little pointless now though." He would only have a family connection nothing more, anyway Vlad had been given the go ahead to try and get out of this marriage by the Count.

"You're right." He smiled at her, a little too enthusiastically. Erin felt a shudder race through her, he was up to something else, she didn't like that. There was a reason he had her and Adze together, he could have just got her and Alex out of the way but he'd brought Adze into this and she didn't know what her own father was up to.

Erin couldn't help the words that slipped out of her mouth, "What do you get by having me and Alex here? And why kidnap your own daughter..."

Ramanga smiled slowly, the grin widening, Erin couldn't help but squirm. Arrogance wasn't just a slayer trait after all. "I've changed my plans." Ramanga grinned at her, it wouldn't harm to give her a little bit of information after all she would have a front row seat this time when the time came. "I don't need Adze to have all of Vlad's power." He'd thought quickly about this and eh was proud of himself. "Not when there's another way I can have it."

A way he knew they had never considered.

That meant they'd never be able to stop him.

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The black and white slayers and vampires were milling about on the screen, walking back and forth. It wasn't exactly the most exciting thing he'd ever seen. Vlad pinched the bridge of his nose; he hated looking at CCTV footage and screens. He looked out of the corner of his eye seeing Bertrand and Christopher standing smugly behind him, their arms folded over his chest. He turned his head to look at Jonno who matched his expression of complete bewilderment. Jonno gave the smallest of shrugs and Vlad's hopes that he knew what was going on flew through the window.

Vlad dropped his head down, he was tired now. He could feel how sluggish he was. His head was still burning through the loss of connection to his son and he just wanted them back. "What am I supposed to be looking at?"

A blur made his head jerk backwards, "What are you looking at?" Ingrid asked as she squinted at the screen. Vlad growled lowly at his sister he didn't want her involved. There was no telling what she'd do; she'd already sold her soul to Ramanga so there was nothing she wouldn't do to drop him in it.

Bertrand leaned over, resting his left arm on the counter while using his right to manipulate the mouse. "That." Bertrand answered, bringing up the screen and increasing the magnification to see a blurry figure in the background. He pointes specifically to the figure using his right index finger. Vlad had no idea who it was – even if he was able to see the features clearly. It was a male figure, that was obvious but that was where the distinguishing features ended.

Vlad rubbed his hands across his eyes mentally counting to ten before answering. "How is this going to help us find Erin and Alex?" He didn't give them chance to answer, "You can't even see who they are…" He trailed off as he watched the figure disappear around the corner, "And how does that help now?"

"Watch." Christopher grinned pulling up another CCTV camera, the one in the adjoining corridor at exactly the same time frame. The figure they were watching rounded the corner on Bertrand's monitor so they switched their gazes to Christopher's to follow the journey. Bertrand looked at Vlad with a grin.

"See?" There was one major difference between the figures. "How can a male slayer suddenly turn into a female vampire?"

Christopher freeze framed the shot, it was clear that the figure that had rounded the corner was a man on Bertrand's but a woman on Chris'. The curves and breasts gave them away not to mention the gothic clothing that was unique to vampires.

Jonno was the one who spoke the obvious, "The tapes have been switched."

Bertrand nodded, "Exactly." He pushed himself from his leaning position, "I know how to operate these machines, so does Christopher. We were both with you when it happened, the other vampires haven't been trained so…"

"It was the slayers." Vlad growled out angrily. Only the slayers would know how to wipe the systems, to vampires this technology was out of the ordinary. Vlad and Ingrid didn't really have any technology at the school besides Ingrid's laptop and their phones.

"They can't be on their own." Jonno immediately defended.

Christopher looked at Jonno as if he'd gone mad. "They don't exactly like the Truce."

Jonno shook his head; there was one clear thing they were forgetting. "The slayers don't know how to block your link…"

Bertrand snapped to attention, he reached out to touch Vlad's shoulder but thought better of it. "If you're being blocked from Alex and Erin there's only one thing that can explain it…"

"Argentum." Vlad whispered, shuddering at the thought. A vampire would do anything to get out the range of the stuff.

"What?" Christopher asked looking confused at Vlad.

Jonno looked at Vlad, he'd never heard of this. "What's 'argentum'?"

Vlad shared a look with Bertrand; he nodded for Bertrand to explain. "A weapon that the knowledge to create was supposed to have been lost centuries ago." He paused considering whether or not to divulge more details; he looked to Vlad who slumped with a defeated look on his face. "Argentum is the refined form of argentalium. Argentalium is a compound; it was purified to create argenite. It's a liquid at room temperature." Argentum was a secret they'd kept as long as they could from the slayers; it was at least ten times more powerful than argentalium. Very few vampires knew the process to make it.

"If argentalium drains vampire's powers…"

"Argentum will drain them quicker and block them, that's why you can't sense them. It's more effective with contact with the skin or injected or both, but it can be used at a distance. The effect doesn't stop the moment they're removed either. It lingers for a few hours." He paused, "And it's extremely painful for the victim unless diluted, even then it's still stronger than argentalium." Bertrand finished, he wasn't going to go into specifics as to how it reacted with the skin.

"So like vampire version of kryptonite?"

Vlad looked at Jonno as if he'd gone mad, "What's kryptonite?"

Jonno shook his head, mirth in his gaze as he looked at the clueless Vlad. "Erin really didn't teach you anything did she?" It surprised him that Vlad hadn't absorbed popular culture references with Erin but perhaps it was something that had only developed after she'd given birth to Alex as she'd tried to make him fit in with the human world. "Will it affect Erin? Will it block her powers?"

Bertrand took over again; he knew more the specific of weaponry. It was his specialism after all. "It only works on vampire DNA. My mind link with her comes from me so it will block that but it shouldn't stop her powers no matter the dose." He hoped she hadn't used them yet, he needed her to have the element of surprise.

"It wouldn't have the same effect on Alex as Adze." Vlad added, "Alex isn't fully grown so it wouldn't affect him the same way."

Bertrand murmured softly, "There is no way the slayers could have known about it, only very few vampires know about it."

Ingrid chipped in, "The ones on the Council." The Council had never changed, there were no such things as general elections to regularly replace the Council, elections only existed to replace Council members that had died and that was an election within the Council itself.

Vlad winced, "Unfortunately. I can only think of two vampires that would want Erin and Alex out of the way and one happens to be on the Council." His eyes began to darken as he spoke, his original suspicions confirmed.

Christopher bristled, jumping up from his chair and rounding on the Grand High Vampire, not once caring about rank. "Adze wouldn't let herself be involved in this…"

Vlad let out a chilling laugh, it bounced off the cold concrete walls filling the space uncomfortably making the vampires actually shudder. Ingrid took a step backwards, hiding slightly behind Bertrand. "Adze will do anything to get power. She's already threatened Erin more than enough times to ensure our marriage."

"Her father is a manipulative bastard!" Christopher yelled at him, "He pretends to love her, maybe he does deep down, but he'd not above manipulating her to get what he wants."

Vlad shook his head. "He loves her."

"He took away her happiness…."

"It's a vampire thing!" Vlad shouted back at him, "My father did the same thing to me and Ingrid." Ingrid looked at Vlad, she hadn't thought he'd ever cared to notice it. "If its taught me anything it's that my son will have a choice and so will mine and Erin's other children." Bertrand and Ingrid blinked at that, turning in sync to look at the youngest vampire amongst them. "If Adze was so unhappy about it then she would have fought him the whole way."

Christopher folded his arms across his chest in a defensive manner before speaking seemingly casually, "Maybe there's a reason she didn't fight it like your slayer mate."

Vlad let out a barking laugh before sobering as he saw the determination in Christopher's eyes. Vlad's eyes narrowed, "You seem to know a lot about Adze." He advanced on Christopher, his footsteps booming around the room.

"I've been around longer than you." Christopher answered. "I thought the Grand High Vampire did his homework about his fiancée or did you leave that all up to Bertrand?" He paused his voice turning reminiscent, "You were bedding a slayer back then though so I guess you didn't have the time."

Thunder rumbled from above, echoing around the entire complex. Jonno winced, that was one sound that always sent a chill down his neck, it was something from when he was a child and the memory of being told about a vampire's powers, lightening seemed the fiercest at four. He pushed the sound to the back of his mind, trying valiantly to block it out and focus on the conversation in front of him.

"Christopher." Bertrand snapped short and sharply. He advanced but Vlad held his arm out. Stopping him from passing Vlad, Bertrand chanced a glance at Vlad but from the position he was in he couldn't see Vlad's face. Ingrid glanced nervously at Jonno, even though they'd known the youngest of them the longest they couldn't decipher what he was thinking.

Ingrid caught a flicker of movement out of the corner of her eye, looking down she saw Vlad's hands slowly clench. She swiped out her hand quickly hitting Jonno squarely in the chest with deliberate force. Jonno gasped as he felt her hit him, he turned to snap at her but caught her eyes which were frantically gesturing towards Vlad's hand.

He let out a choked gasp as he tried to speak but the wind was still knocked out of him so he tried again, "Vlad control." Jonno warned, placing a hand on Vlad's shoulder.

"To fog with my control!" Vlad growled at Jonno his eyes burning red with fury and his whole body crackling with raw power. To demonstrate his point he pushed Jonno away from him, breaking his hold and causing the slayer to hit the monitor wall with a thud. Jonno slid down it with a gasp. He shook his head trying to ignore the blackness that took over his eyesight. At least the monitors hadn't been damaged, it was at least something.

After a moments astonishment, the slayers shot forwards at Vlad's actions, their stakes raised. "Wait!"

Jonno held up a hand to stop them, if Vlad had meant to hurt him he would be more severely injured than just having the wind knocked out of him… again.

The slayers froze but didn't put their stakes away; instead they fixed Vlad with a more watchful gaze. Although having heard what set the vampire off they weren't entirely sure that slaying him would be justified if it came to it. He certainly didn't seem a threat to their kind only to the vampire in front of him and anyone who tried to stop him – as Jonno had unintentionally demonstrated.

"What did you say?" Vlad asked dangerously calm.

Christopher wasn't going to back down; he'd gotten in this deep so he might as well just carry on. "You heard me. Adze deserved the respect…"

"I'm Grand High Vampire, aren't I supposed to have mistresses?" Vlad asked him dangerously, trying not to gag himself at the thought of having a mistress.

Christopher lunged for Vlad but he quickly sidestepped the vampire, sending Christopher nearly careening into Ingrid if it wasn't for Bertrand smoothly sliding Ingrid out of the way and behind him in a protective gesture. She squeezed his left bicep lightly in a gesture of thanks and he couldn't help the fleeting smile that crossed his lips at the gesture.

Vlad briefly considered throwing a fireball but he decided it would be over too quickly if he did that. Vlad spun sharply on his heel and grabbed Christopher's right upper arm in a vice like grip before effortlessly throwing him backwards and against the concrete wall, sending a large crack along it. Dust fell from it, landing on the sterile floor from where Christopher had landed.

Jonno bit his bottom lip, trying his hardest not to scold Vlad for nearly demolishing one of the walls – one of the brand new walls.

Before Vlad could advance on him, Christopher had recovered and launched himself back at him. He managed to land a blow at Vlad's stomach, knocking him back a few feet. He knew he couldn't resort to using his powers, Vlad would have to respond in kind and he had no idea what powers Vlad held. There was a rumour that he could zone but that had never been proven. He'd be severely mismatched against him.

Vlad recovered quickly pushing him back but making sure to grab his left wrist and painfully twist it just short of breaking. Christopher's knees buckled under the pain but he just had enough sense about him to kick his legs out blindly and with some luck just managed to kick Vlad in the knee. Vlad broke his grip on him.

Christopher tried to land blows on Vlad but the younger vampire quickly deflected them, using his forearms and the palms of his hands to do so. The half fang's face scrunched in concentration. Vlad used this to his advantage, ducking down and deliberately letting one of the blows land on him. He stretched out and grabbed Christopher's throat with his hand, pulling him down so he landed on the floor with a bang. Denting the floor, Jonno let out a growl this time. Christopher tried to pry Vlad's hand from his throat but the vampire increased his grip, his lips curling in the process.

A fireball shot between them, narrowly missing Vlad's nose and the pair immediately looked at Ingrid whose hand was outstretched. She'd never been that accurate before. It gave them the distraction they needed to stop this fight.

Bertrand grabbed Christopher, pulling him from Vlad and making sure he couldn't strike Vlad again but no one seemed to want to risk grabbing Vlad. Bertrand twisted his hand tighter around the cuff of Christopher's collar making him look at him. The younger vampire hunched over at the unrelenting force Bertrand was using. Bertrand's eyes stared into Christopher's daring him to break his glare, "Maybe it's time you told Vlad everything."

That certainly caught Vlad's attention; he fixed the pair of them with a dark look. "Told me what?"

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Alex gulped as he looked at the adult in the cell with him. He backed slowly towards the wall, taking care not to slip on the damp floor as he moved.

Adze's fangs lowered as she looked at her almost step son. He was a clear mixture of Vlad and Erin, something that disgusted her. A mix of vampire and slayer was disgusting, it oozed off him.

A vile smirk covered her lips making the boy tremble; she was going to enjoy this.

Now was her chance.

No one was there to stop her.

But Alex did.

With just five words.

TBC

A/N: What do you think?

Did people want to see Ingrid pregnant? If so with who's child?

Thanks for reading.