I still had a hard time wrapping my head around it. It's finally over. I got my kill. But I couldn't afford to celebrate quite yet. We still had the big bitch to take out. And I highly doubt Carmilla traveled alone. She'd be stupid to and the Carmilla I remember wasn't exactly an idiot. Hector and I skipped over Isaac's dead body and ran through the alley. We needed to get back to the square where everyone else was. And with Hector having called upon his night horde, we should be alright. At least for a while. It gives Carmilla a distraction while we destroy her.

"Where are you two off to?" a soft, gentle voice called out to us. Shit…I didn't like the sound of that.

Both Hector and I froze in our tracks. She always had that effect on people. Slowly, I turned around, "Lenore…"

"Hello, Eden," Lenore seemed strangely level headed for being in my presence. She's working an angle. She always is. She calls herself a diplomat, but what that really means to her is an absolute master of mental manipulation. And as much as I adored Hector, no one could fall victim to it easier than him. I made sure to stay in front of him, "Long time, no see. Believe it or not, I actually missed you."

"What do you want, Lenore?" I bared my teeth, just wanting to cut to the chase, "I'm in no mood for pleasantries."

"So I've noticed," she nodded, picking up the blood on my hands, "I see you finally got what you always wanted. Such a shame. You shouldn't have had to do that."

"It's not like I was going to let the forgemaster get away with it," I really wasn't feeling chatty, let alone with Lenore. The more she talked, the more she could worm her way into my head. And I wasn't having that tonight.

"Such a shame," Lenore let out a heavy sigh, "I liked Isaac. He took an absolute piece of shit off the face of the planet. I can't be upset with him for something like that."

"I can." It wasn't her kill to be pissed off over.

"But I'm impressed," she applauded, "You managed to take out an incredibly powerful forgemaster. Did you do that all by yourself?"

"I had a little help," I confessed, not only talking about Hector bringing the night hordes along. Adrian…Uncle Trevor…Sypha…They've all helped me in one way or another ever since I left Styria…or more appropriately, since I was kicked out of Styria. Not that I'm complaining. It was like coming home. To a real family. One that cared about me, not my power.

"It's still an impressive feat," Lenore went on, taking a glance at the forgemaster behind me. The dirty grin across her face was a bit unsettling, "Hello, Hector."

"Lenore…" Hector couldn't even make eye contact with her. And…Out of nowhere, his cheeks started turning a bright shade of red. I could hear it. His heartbeat spiked. I may not have been around for long, but with my enhanced senses, I've learned to pick up on a few patterns. Like when someone was suddenly feeling guilty.

"Uh…Hector?" I cranked my neck back, a tad confused, "Care to share with me?"

"Not particularly," Hector's voice cracked.

"Come now, Hector…" Lenore awed, giggling to herself, "Not the first time you've heard that, is it?"

"Hector?" I pulled him aside, "Is there something you want to tell me?"

"It was just once," Hector hung his head in shame. And I started to put the pieces together…The icky and disturbing pieces.

"Oh, Hector…" I gagged, "Really?"

"Maybe…"

"You slept with Lenore?!" I squeaked. Of all people's sloppy seconds I figured I'd be getting, Lenore was at the bottom of the list.

"There wasn't much for sleeping going on," Lenore chimed in, "Too late in the day."

"Not now, Lenore!" I snapped.

"Fine," she backed off a bit, "You know, Eden, it's amazing what makes a man so complacent. We should've taught you that power while we still had you. Carmilla can do it better than all of us, but I didn't see Hector cozying up to her any time soon."

"Oh, Hector…" I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disgusted. Or disappointed in his lack of willpower. But I had a feeling Lenore got in his head. She made him feel all warm and fuzzy inside in one way, shape, or form and that was her way to his bed. I needed a bath. A very…Very hot one.

"Our tryst aside," Lenore took a seat on a nearby set of stairs, "Why don't you and I sit and chat for a moment, Eden? It really has been a while and I did miss you."

"Sure," I rolled my eyes, "Let's talk just long enough for Carmilla and probably Striga and Morana to tear our allies apart. Nice distraction tactic, Lenore. Try again."

"No," she played innocent, "Really and truly. No distraction intended. Merely conversation. You know…Before you go off to fight Carmilla. Why do you want to go after Carmilla, Eden? She gave you everything you could've wanted. The name of your father's killer. A roof over your head. Blood in your stomach. A home to call your own. She even offered you a seat on her court. That doesn't happen often. And yet, you threw it away because you wouldn't tell her what kind of a dynasty you come from."

"And now, she knows," I smirked, "I'm a Belmont with pride."

"That's right," Lenore confirmed, "So, why would you throw all the love and safety in the world away for the sake of being a disgraced Belmont? What's so great about it? The Belmont family was nothing but black magic dealers and killers of our kind. Not to mention, some of them were…Let's just say they were more brawn than brains."

"You should see our library," I sat back, "I wouldn't go writing off their intelligence quite yet."

"I'm sure it's extensive," she assumed, "But it's also the collective knowledge of how to take us out. Why would you want to indulge in such a thing? It's certainly no place for a delicate young lady such as yourself. You know it as well as I do. They'll never truly accept you as one of their own. You're half vampire, darling. That's what they really don't like. Humanity doesn't want you."

"That doesn't mean they're not worth saving," I wasn't letting Lenore get to me. I couldn't. In my training with Adrian, he made sure my mind was a steel trap. T was good. Find one guiding principle and stick to it. No deviations, "That's why we can't let Carmilla have them."

"We just want to survive, Eden," Lenore argued, Same as you. Now, are you sure you're standing on the right side here?"

"Couldn't be more sure," I stood my ground.

"But Eden," she cradled my cheek in the palm of her hand, "You don't understand what we truly want."

"And what's that, Lenore?" I sighed out, "Enlighten me."

"We want more of you," Lenore pulled me into her shoulder, "More dhampirs in this world wouldn't be so bad, would it? I like to think of dhampirs as the next step in human evolution. Why would you want to move backwards? Don't you want more of your kind?"

"I like what I got," I shrugged her off, "Adrian and I are rather close. He's my big brother. Always has been and always will be. I know I'm not the only dhampir in the world, but the way we come into the world? That might not have been the right move for you, Lenore. You know how I happened. You know that I would do anything to keep that from happening. With the exception of Adrian, dhampirs are the product of force and conquest, not love. We don't get made willingly. Why would you think that would be the next evolution? Why would you take love out the equation? Why would you make someone suffer the same way my mother did? Why would anyone ever want that? I'm not making sure humanity goes backwards. I'm making sure it moves forward. That it learns from its dreaded past."

"But," Lenore pointed out, "You're not human."

"I'm more human than monster." I was ready. I wanted nothing more than to rip her heart out. To shove her hedonistic tongue down her throat. And the toe of my boot in her ass. To think, Hector slept with this…

"Well then," Lenore rose to her feet, getting in a quick, cheap shot on me. A blast of energy came from her, pushing me away from her, "It looks like this is where we make our stand. Because I'm not letting you get to Carmilla, Eden. I'm sorry, but…That's not happening."

I was going to make that bitch eat her words. If it wasn't for the sake of my pride or for my family name, it'd be for the fact that she got to Hector first. He and I will have words about that later, but for now, I needed to beat the shit out of Lenore. It's a shame. When I first arrived in Styria, Lenore was my first true friend outside of Carmilla. She wanted nothing but for me to be comfortable there, too. That was until I met Hector. I wanted him out of there almost since the first time I saw him. I knew Carmilla would have plans for him and they wouldn't end pretty. However, I had plans for him, too.

And so, I started to fight Lenore in the alley. This wasn't like when I fought Isaac. This was more like when I would go toe to toe with Adrian. Only…He'd kill me for saying this, but only Lenore was more powerful. And to make matters worse, Hector couldn't get near us. Nor could any of the night hordes. No matter which way Lenore was facing, she had a barrier up. I have no doubt that was because of her own pride. If anyone was going to take me out, it'd be her. And with her last good hit, she managed to get me on the ground. My scream could only get me so far.

That's what Isaac was for. Nice move, Carmilla. She sent me Isaac, so I'd get good and tired before I could fight her. He was dangled in front of me like catnip. And sure as shit, I took the fucking bait. It needed to be done. I knew it needed to be done. Deep in the pit of my soul. If I even have one. Still, I was flat on my back, out of breath, in serious need of my injuries healed. And Lenore had me right where she wanted me.

"Well, Eden," Lenore sighed, "It's a shame things had to come to this. But Carmilla did say to bring you to her feet. She never said it had to be alive."

"Eden!" Thank God. Rescue. A blast of focused ice went straight to Lenore's hands.

"What the hell…?" Lenore stared at the newly formed ice blocks at the end of her arms. Which gave me just enough time to hop back up and give Lenore the bottom of my boot to her face.

"Thank you, Sypha," I caught my breath, "I greatly appreciate it."

"My pleasure," Sypha gave me a nod as Lenore's barrier fell.

"Interesting," Lenore got back up.

"What?" I scoffed.

"I'm not talking about you," Lenore shot a glance to my left, "I'm talking about the human. The full-blooded human. Are you sure you want to be fighting so hard? A woman in your condition?"

I could see it all over Sypha's face. Lenore knew something she shouldn't. But it would take a lot more than having something on Sypha to break her. Slowly, the ice from Lenore's hands crept up the rest of her body, "My condition isn't any of your concern."

And once Lenore was solid ice, Sypha nearly collapsed. Fortunately, I caught her before she could hit the ground, "Are you ok, Sypha?"

"I'm fine," she assured me, "We need to get to the square. Trevor and Alucard are doing their best against what night creatures Carmilla brought with her. Not to mention, there are two other vampires with her."

"Striga and Morana," I figured, "Alright. Hector?"

"Yes?" Hector perked up, "What is it?"

"How are our numbers looking?" I wondered, hoping we still had plenty.

"We're about a third of the way through what we came here with," he reported, "Will that be enough?"

"God, I hope so," I kept my fingers crossed.

"Come on," Sypha insisted, "We should go."

"Got it," Hector started running off to the square with our army of night creatures behind him.

However, I stopped Sypha for a brief moment, "Eden? Is everything alright?"

I shut my eyes and listened closely, following up on a theory. And sure enough…I was right, "How long have you known?"

"Known what?" Sypha jumped on the defensive, "We don't have time for…"

"Sypha," I cut her off, "You seem to forget what I am. And that I have superhuman senses. Particularly my hearing."

"What about it?"

"I don't hear two heartbeats here," I held back a little smile, "I hear three. And that third one has four beats to every one beat of your own. So…I'll ask you again. How long have you known?"

"About a week," Sypha came clean, her hand going to her stomach, "Maybe two."

"Congratulations," I threw my arms around her, "Have you told Trevor yet?"

"Not yet," she winced, "I need to find a good way to tell him. Hopefully, I'll be able to tell him after this mess is over."

"Stick around for the end then," I demanded.

"That was the plan," Sypha smiled, "Come on. Things are getting worse in the square and you know how Trevor and Alucard get when we leave them alone for too long."

"Yeah," I giggled. I wasn't going to argue with her on that one. Trevor and Adrian, when they're left alone at the castle, will end up covered in the other's blood in one way or another by the time one of us comes back with no explanation as to how it happened. There couldn't have been any better preparation for Sypha than them.

Just like that, the two of us headed toward the square. The last time I was in Braila, the city was on the verge of collapse. Fortunately, they managed to defend themselves against the night hordes. When we came back, they were already rebuilding. Things looked like they were starting to turn around for them. But now…The square was on fire. And floating above it all was her. Carmilla looked over at me and I stared that bitch right in her bright red eyes.

"There you are."