Leila glowered at Vlad, dumbstruck and furious at his statement. "You promised that you'd heal them!" The 'them' she was referring to were the kids who had been imprisoned on the boat with her. She could only imagine the horrors they'd already lived through despite their young age, the youngest amongst them being around Gretchen's age.
It twisted her gut to think on how much the kid's minds would be scarred from this, all because some vampires had decided they would make great snacks. Their parents must be out of their mind with worry and that's not even getting into the therapy they'd need after they made it safely home.
She'd only thought to bargain for Maximus's life during their previous exchange because she'd never thought Vlad would stupe so low as to refuse to heal dying children, especially children who'd been in such a similar situation that he himself had been forced to endure for the better part of his young life.
Her stomach lurched at the resolute gaze he leveled on her, he would do nothing other than drop them off at the nearest hospital if she refused to go with him. She glanced to the side to their cowering audience, her eyes landing on the terrified blue of a little girl who couldn't be older than six. She had clamped to Leila earlier, not wanting to leave her side in fear of the monsters.
Leila had immediately noticed that her breathing was off, potential punctured lunge or something similar. There were other injuries like that throughout the kids, all potentially deadly in their own right if they weren't given vampire blood to save them.
Forcing her eyes away from the tears now flowing from the little girl, she shot an incredulous glance to the Egyptian standing not far from them. You're allowing this!?
Disgust rolled through her when he merely shrugged, his eyes staying resolutely on the water as to not catch a glimpse of the children who would possibly die if he went along with this. Of course you won't look at them, you wouldn't want to remember their faces if they were to die while you did nothing.
He visibly stiffened, but Vlad stepped between them with a scowl. "There's no need to bring him into this-."
A fire unlike anything she'd ever felt before blazed to life as she cut him off with a tone that was sharp as a blade and cold as ice."No, he is already in this and I will hold him accountable just as I'm going to hold you accountable. You want me to go back with you so much that you're willing to sacrifice the lives of children who have been through more than enough? Fine, but since we're negotiating with my freedom then I'm damn well adding stipulations to this clusterfuck."
Vlad's eyes had narrowed at the mention of his willingness to turn a blind eye to, but he gave a kind smile that on anyone else would look charming. It just pissed her off.
Moving his hand in the 'go on' gesture, he crossed his arms and waited.
"You heal them, see them home, find their parents, and pay for the therapy they're desperately going to need after this. I'll go with you only for that."
His eyes slowly inched upward with every word until they were in his hairline. Once finished, she copied his posture before tilting her head in challenge. Those were the terms and if he didn't accept then she'd take her chances and get the kids home herself.
His eyed narrowed at her thought, but instead of addressing it he nodded in agreement. "I would have done that anyway."
A biting scoff snapped from her lungs before she could stop it, "Was that before or after leaving them at the hospital?" To potentially die, was left unsaid but he heard it loud and clear.
Mouth twisting into a scowl, he opened his mouth to dispute it but she cut him off again, the previous rage still on a low boil in the back of her mind. "No, don't you dare try to sugar coat what you're doing. You are willing to let child rape victims die, or at least have long lasting injuries, because I'm not doing what you want me to. I didn't think to bargain for them because I assumed you had just enough of a moral compass to not let them be collateral, especially with your own history with shit like this. Apparently I thought too highly of you, I won't make that mistake again."
His eyes blazed emerald as fire burst from his arms, "You will not bring that up again-."
Anger and hurt that he would go so far made her reckless, stepping right up to him while ignoring the flames that climbed higher on him, she growled right back. "Or what? You'll kill me? Go ahead, I'm not going to sit back and nod quietly while you do something that is wrong. I believed that you were a better man than this, but your actions are proving me wrong. So now I'll treat you like the scum of the earth that you've decided to act like, and assume that nothing is beyond what you're willing to do to get your way."
She could see the children cowering from the corner of her eye, the oldest trying to shield them from Vlad's wrath as he stewed in his rage. She knew it was wrong of her to bring up his past like this, especially in front of strangers, but what he was doing was horrific and she wouldn't stand by and let him do it without having a piece of her mind.
Instead of striking out, as he half looked ready to do, he let his mouth curl into a terrifying smile. "I don't need to kill you, you agreed to come with me and as you said, that is what I want. Killing you would make no sense now."
He breezed past her toward the cluster of children, all of which cowered back from him. Leila watched him hesitate briefly a few yards away, before the moment passed and he bit his wrist and clapped it to the eldest's mouth.
She struggled in the moment it took him to remove his hand, her body shaking like a leaf as she inched back from him with the other children hidden behind her. Vlad let out an exasperated growl, "I'm healing you, not harming you. Now calm down and stop shaking."
Real smooth Vlad, you should be a therapist. He shot her an icy glare over his shoulder before moving on to the next child. When the only one who was left was the little girl she'd locked eyes with before, he reached for her only to be surprised when she lunged away.
In a mad scramble she dashed for Leila, the action taking her by surprise as she was nearly knocked off her feet by the collision of the girl into her hip. Little arms wrapped around her waist, puffs of air coming too fast against her stomach as the smaller form shook from sobs.
When Leila could make out what she was saying, it broke her heart. "Don't let him hurt me. Please, I just want to go home. I don't want him to touch me like they did."
Who they were didn't need to be said, a look of discomfort briefly flashed across Vlad's face before he settled it back into the stony mask. Good, you should be uncomfortable, prick.
He shot her another scathing glance which she returned with a scowl, barely resisting the urge to flip him off, before turning her attention down to the sobbing bundle wrapped around her legs. Crouching as much as she was able, ignoring the pangs of her injuries, she stroked her fingers through the girl's hair. "I know he's scary and you have no reason to trust him but can you trust me? You need to heal and his blood is the only thing that will work."
His or Mencheres, but she doubted that the kid would want to be near him either. She saw the Egyptian vampire stiffen out of the corner of her eye but refused to react. They should feel guilty, just because they were old and powerful didn't mean they could do whatever they wanted with the innocent lives that got caught in the middle of vampire bullshit.
The girl looked up at her, blue eyes eerily similar to Leila's own bore in as if looking for something. Apparently they found it because she nodded in the next second. Turning to face Vlad, she gripped Leila's hand tighter as she inched forward, dragging Leila with her to her dismay.
Feeling the girl's nerves about being around Vlad, she internally sighed but let her keep the hold on her hand. If it made her feel better…
Vlad bit his wrist again, not saying a word as he offered it to the girl. She took one last glance at Leila before shakily gripping the outstretched hand and taking the offered blood. Immediately after she dropped the touch as if he were diseased, moving to huddle underneath Leila's legs for protection as Vlad took a step back.
For just a moment when their eyes met, Leila saw a flash of remorse in his gaze before he buried it under his typical arrogance.
"Now that part of your conditions have been met, let's be on our way."
Leila watched as the helicopter began to land, the long flight while being forced to hold Vlad's hand doing nothing good to her emotions.
Now she could finally get some gloves and put some much needed distance between them.
Once they exited she whipped her hand out of Vlad's while putting a few feet of space between them. He scowled at the action but she didn't let it move her. "Don't get huffy with me, I'm still pissed with you over using children's lives to blackmail me into coming back. You may have gotten your way but I'm not about to forget that and play nice with you all of a sudden."
"Blackmail?" "Children's lives?!"
Turning to the sound of the two voices, Leila met the eyes of Kira and Cat, with Bones not too far behind her. Leila silently noted Mencheres stiffening out of the corner of her eye, so you didn't tell your wife about this fiasco then? Not surprising, from what Leila knew of Kira she would be pissed.
Just as Leila had figured, Kira rounded on Mencheres. "What is she talking about and where were you during this?"
The ancient pharaoh grimaced, shooting a sullen look at Leila. Before he could respond, Leila let a sharp smile cover her face before doing so for him.
"He was resolutely staring at the ocean's waves a few yards away while Vlad used a dozen child rape victim's lives to make me come back with him."
Cat's eyes swung to Vlad in the same minute Kira's lit up green. "Oh was he?" The pleasant tone reminded her briefly of Vlad's 'I'm going to kill you' smile for she refocused on the present.
"Yup, before you two get into it can I use the restroom? I was held captive for the better part of a day and the helicopter didn't make pit stops." And some blood would also be nice because she was running low on energy and was only staying on her feet by pure force of will alone.
Kira nodded, stepping forward after one last glare that spoke volumes to her husband. "Absolutely, I'll show you to the bathroom, afterward I should have something that will fit you and I can give you some of my blood."
Vlad immediately made a noise of disagreement. "That won't be necessary, she can have mine."
Leila whirled, momentarily pausing when the world span a bit too quickly for her liking, before rebutting him. "No, I won't. I'm already paying for your blood from saving the others, I'm not about to add anything to it."
Before he could say anything in return Leila spun back around and took Kira's offered arm. Neither of them spared a glance back as they entered the house. "The bathtub in the guestroom is awesome if you want to try it out. You must be sore-."
Those remaining watched the women disappear into the house before Cat's low whistle cut through the air. "Wow, you two really fucked up."
Vlad ground his teeth, stopping himself from snapping at his friend with sheer force of will. "Thank you ever so for pointing that out Reaper."
Mencheres sent a forlorn glance after his wife, the knowledge that a fight was in his near future souring his mood, before he turned to Vlad. "Let us get your preparations finished, it appears that we have more time now than we assumed."