Ok, here's chapter 4.

***

Where Immortals Fear to Tread

***

Lucian closed his eyes, letting the hot water pour down on his body. A few minutes after the group had left the room, he had gotten in the shower, suddenly disgusted with himself since he had allowed the Merovingian's wife to deceive him like that. He was trying to wash himself of her smell. He leaned against the shower wall, letting the water wash over him.

He opened his eyes, and a few tears built up before sliding down. He had actually thought that what had happened in that room before he found out the truth wasn't some cruel dream, and in a way it hadn't been.

But it still hurt like hell.

"Sonja, I'm sorry," he whispered to himself before closing his eyes again, as more tears slid down his face. It may not have been a cruel dream in a way, but in a way it had been much worse, because he actually saw her beautiful face, heard her loving voice, kissed her lips and felt her smooth skin. And it had just been some kind of twisted joke.

He just stood there, letting the water wash away Persephone's scent, but not his pain.

***

The Merovingian stared at his wife, whose back was to him as she looked out their window. She had come back into his room with a bruise on her face. Cain and Abel had brought her, and when questioned by the Merovingian, the two shrugged innocently before running out of the room. He walked up to Persephone.

"Ma chérie, what happened," he asked, reaching up a hand to touch her shoulder.

She turned around and looked at him, hesitating before responding. "It was Lucian." Instantly the Merovingian's face darkened and he started to walk towards the exit, but Persephone held up a hand to stop him. "Wait, it was my fault," she explained, as he stopped and looked at her. "I…I made myself look like his lover, Sonja."

The Merovingian let out a sigh before walking over to his wife. "Why did you do that," he asked as he reached her and ran his hand across the bruise.

"You know why," she responded with a rather tight voice, and the Merovingian sighed again.

"Of course," he said after a moment.

"He loves her more than anything," Persephone murmured. "He'd do anything for her. He'd kill for her; he'd give up everything for her." For a moment she didn't speak after that. Then, she walked closer to her husband and rested her head on his shoulder, surprising the Merovingian, but he shook it off after a moment and wrapped his arms around her. "What happened to us," she asked.

The Merovingian wished he had an answer, but he simply shrugged and simply said, "I don't know." Persephone looked up at his face and for a moment she did nothing. Then, she leaned up and gently kissed his lips. After a moment she pulled away and walked out of their room. He watched as she left.

He smirked to himself. "She's going to be the end of me one day, and I don't care."

***

"Well, look who decided to join us," Vlad stated as Lucian, his hair still wet, entered the room he, Gabriel, and the twins were now in. Lucian just sat in one of the chairs near the group of four. He had a rather haunted look on his face, but he gave off a half smile and nodded.

Vlad and Gabriel were playing poker again, while the twins were just sitting there casually, twirling their razors around in their hands. "Oh, by the way," Gabriel began. "Sorry about what Persephone did."

Lucian nodded again. "Was there any particular reason why she did that, besides enjoying my pain," he asked bitterly, and Vlad smirked in response.

"I already told you that the Merovingian cheats on her a lot, and every once in a while she fools around with some guy. You see, she no longer feels love for him, we don't really know why though, but she doesn't, and when she kisses someone, she asks them to kiss her as if they were kissing someone they love, which is why she most likely asked you to kiss her like you were kissing Sonja. She also can shape-shift, which she most likely did since you're probably the first person to reject her," Vlad explained. The other three nodded.

"So how did she know what Sonja looked like, and what she sounded like," Lucian asked, that part the only thing that he didn't entirely understand.

Gabriel and Vlad shrugged. "She probably read your mind or something," Gabriel replied.

Lucian nodded. Then, he felt a presence behind him and turned around. Persephone was staring in the doorway, looking at the group with a nervous expression. The twins glanced at each other, and quickly became transparent and sunk down into the floor. Vlad walked out of the room also. Lucian looked at Gabriel, expecting him to get up and leave also.

But the half-demon shook his head. "Someone's got to stay and make sure you don't kill her," he stated. Lucian raised an eyebrow before standing up and walking over to Persephone.

She sighed, and opened her mouth to speak, but he cut her off, surprising her and Gabriel with what he said. "Look," he began. "I am aware that you do this because your husband isn't faithful to you, and for that I'm sorry." Persephone opened her mouth to speak again, but suddenly Lucian lunged and pinned her against the wall, his blade popping out of his coat sleeve as he held it to her throat. Gabriel quickly stood up as he unsheathed his katana, but Lucian held up a hand, stopping him. "But if you ever, EVER, do that again, by the time I'm done with you, you'll be begging me to allow you to die," Lucian snarled as his eyes changed pitch black for a moment. With that he backed off and stormed out of the room, leaving Persephone and Gabriel alone in the room.

Lucian walked out of the mansion. After that, he felt like he needed a walk. Besides, he hadn't seen much of the city lately, and felt like he should take a look.

***

Thaddeus looked over at Eve's sleeping form as she lay next to him. He smiled, and ran a hand down her body, stopping and gently caressing one of her silk-skinned thighs. Almost instantly she stirred and let out a tiny moan, her eyes slightly opening as she smiled. "Thaddeus," she whispered.

Thaddeus moved his hand away. "Sorry I woke you up," he replied with an almost sheepish grin.

Eve shook her head. "No, don't be; it felt good." Thaddeus smiled before moving his hand down again and gently tapping his fingers across her leg, and Eve sighed and nestled up against him, shuddering at his touch, which felt like coldfire.

After a moment he stopped and pulled away and she suddenly pouted. Thaddeus grinned at that. "Look at that lip," he murmured before leaning over and passionately kissing her. He pulled away again after a moment and got out of bed. Eve knew where he was going. He was going to feed.

"I'll be back in a while," Thaddeus said before reaching over and kissing her again. Then, throwing a coat on, he walked out of their room and shut the door.

***

Lucian walked down one of the streets, passing the fourth fight he had seen. L.A was a rather violent city, which seemed to his liking, most of the time anyway. As he passed an alleyway he suddenly stopped. He heard the sounds of struggling, and a muffled scream from a woman. He decided to investigate.

Walking into the alley he heard the all-too familiar sound of a vampire feeding off a human. Rounding the corner he found the two. "HEY!" he yelled, catching the vampire's attention.

The vampire raised his head, and to Lucian's surprise, the eyes were pitch-black. And that was when he caught the scent of the 'vampire' for the first time. It didn't smell entirely like a vampire, but only half, and it was also something else.

Thaddeus growled in annoyance and being interrupted at feeding. He slowly moved foreword, as the girl slipped out of his grasp and ran out of the alley, sobbing and clutching her bleeding neck. Lucian ignored her as she ran past him and focused on the creature before him.

"Who are you," Lucian asked, saying the first words.

"That is none of your concern," Thaddeus shot back. He then tilted his head to the side and got a better look at him, and his eyes widened in recognition. "You're Lucian, the leader of the lycan clan. But, if it makes you feel better, my name is Thaddeus."

Lucian raised an eyebrow. "Thaddeus? I've heard of you. Half-vampire, half-demon," he replied.

Thaddeus nodded. "Our reputations are well known, aren't they?" Lucian nodded in response.

"Well, I haven't had a good evening, so don't take this the wrong way, but I'm thinking that killing you might cheer me up," Lucian stated before charging and slashed at Thaddeus with his claws. Thaddeus leapt up, twisting his body in mid air as his own claws sprouted, longer claws, and they appeared to be barbed. He hit his mark, tearing a deep gash across Lucian's chest, causing the hybrid to yell in pain before he kicked Thaddeus in the head as the half-breed landed.

For a moment neither did anything, they just circled each other, claws flexed, ready to strike at a given notice. Then, Lucian's eyes changed to black as he threw off his coat, transforming into his full hybrid form. Thaddeus raised an eyebrow as he stared at the creature before him. Silver skin, long claws, pitch black eyes, fangs, and a large ribcage were the features that stood out most. Thaddeus then smirked.

"Hmm, scary," he began, before throwing his own shirt and coat off. He tensed, and then he also began to transform, in a similar way to Lucian. His ribcage grew as his skin changed to a dark silver color, and his eyes changed pitch black as claws and fangs grew. But the transformation continued, as his hair receded into his skull as a small curved horn sprouted. Finally, two large blade-like appendages sprouted from his elbows.

He looked at Lucian with a smirk before charging. He slashed at the hybrid with both his claws and his elbow blades, the hybrid moved backwards dodging the attacks before catching one arm and twisting it, causing Thaddeus to growl in pain before Lucian kicked him in the face again, stunning him long enough for the hybrid to throw him into a wall, bricks falling as Thaddeus hit the ground hard. Thaddeus quickly charged and the two went into a slashing frenzy, tearing large cuts across each other's bodies.

Then the two backed off and circled each other again, snarling and flexing their claws and baring their fangs, blood dripping from several wounds.

And then the sounds of sirens filled the air, and Thaddeus rolled his eyes in disbelief. "Of course, our fight is the only one that gets reported," he practically yelled before snatching up his coat and shirt and leaping skyward, disappearing over one of the rooftops. Lucian looked at the end of the alley, where a police car was starting to pull up, and grabbed his own coat and shirt before jumping to a different rooftop. Once there he looked around, but there was no sign of Thaddeus. He sighed.

Well, beating him up made me feel a little better, he thought with a smirk before turning around and heading back to where the mansion was.

***

Eve was surprised as Thaddeus walked into their room holding his coat and shirt and bleeding in almost a dozen spots. Instantly she got up and walked over to him, a worried expression on her face. "You're hurt," she whispered, reaching up and looking at the wounds.

Thaddeus smiled, actually touched by her concern. "These will heal by tomorrow. But thanks for being concerned," Thaddeus whispered in response before leaning down and capturing her lips in his. When he pulled away he noticed he got blood on her, and he gave her an apologetic look.

Eve smiled. "Nothing a shower will fix," she murmured in response. Then, after a moment, she asked. "So, what happened?"

Thaddeus sighed as he got undressed and the two moved into the bathroom. "I was feeding and it got interrupted, by a lycan named Lucian. He's different now, he's become something else."

"So what are you going to do," she asked, and then Thaddeus let out a small laugh.

"Well, I already have a little idea to make sure he doesn't intervene like the way he did tonight." Eve opened her mouth to speak but he cut her off with a quick kiss. "You'll see soon enough, and so will he."