Author's note: My muse is very addicted to writing this story, because I am dishing out chapters like crazy!! I very rarely get to write like this, with updates coming so quickly. I'm positive all the reviews are helping!! Thanks for all the feedback, so glad ya'll like it. Now for replies to question in the reviews.

Astrik: A LOT of cookies. ;)

IceQueenK8: I hope to write and upload the last two chapters of Prices to Pay as soon as I finish this story. Sorry about taking so long on it, but this story has taken all my attention!

Livingdeadgirl: I must say again how much I appreciate the pimpage you give me in your story!! (oh, and for Freddy Krueger fans, Samara fans, or horror movie fan fiction fans, go read her story called Nightmare Ring) I'm honored you think so highly of it!

And speaking of pimpage, everyone should go and read NightSlash's stories, they are incredibly good. And they have Lucian/Sonja too! Well, that's it for now, hope ya'll enjoy and I love reviews!!!

Disclaimer: I don't own Trinity or the Matrix, they both get mentioned. I don't own any of the characters mentioned in Underworld or anything to do with it. Those names that do not appear in the novelization, comic, script, or movie are mine. Savvy?

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CHAPTER 16: WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH

Adam stared at Lucian as the other man sat back in his chair, finished explaining what was going on. The young doctor took a deep breath and looked around for a moment before facing Lucian again.

"You were right," he finally stated. "I think you're crazy." He then quickly got out of his chair and tried to make a run for it, but somehow, Lucian was able to get to the door and block it off without Adam even seeing him pass.

"You can't leave, Adam. You know far too much," Lucian said and his eyes became sympathetic. "But, it looks like I will need to prove it to you, show you everything is indeed true." Suddenly, his eyes changed again, like at the hospital, this time turning completely black, and his teeth began to grow as he opened his mouth. A mixture between a roar and a howl came from him and Adam backed away in horror.

"I take it back, you're not crazy, I'm the one with the delusions!" he said nervously, scared as hell now. He started to turn and run away, far away as he could even though he was trapped with no way out now, but instinct and fear said run.

Abruptly, Lucian lunged and grabbed Adam from behind and pulled him back. Adam cried out when he felt a sharp pain in his neck. He was being bitten. That's when he knew, it was all real. Everything Michael had said, it had all been true.

"Lucian don't!"

***

Marcus smiled down at Erika as she slept peacefully beside him. The sun was rising now, and he knew he should go and see if Brian had seen anything suspicious. Carefully slipping away, he walked silently around the room, gathering his clothes. He grinned when he untangled Erika's bra from his shirt. Quickly and quietly dressing, he left the room and strode towards the security room. He met up with Kahn on the way there.

"Have you checked in with Brian?" Marcus asked after Kahn had bowed his head.

"Yes, he said nothing happened, everyone has been acting normal, nothing out of the ordinary," Kahn informed the Elder.

Marcus sighed. "I thought as much. Whoever it is, they're old most likely. They obviously know they're way around the mansion well, and can overpower a Death Dealer with ease. I want all the Dealers to keep a close eye on everyone, and I want you to get five of you best, most trusted and have them keep an eye on the other Death Dealers. I don't want to take any chances," Marcus instructed the weapons master.

Kahn bowed again and walked off to carry out his orders. As the Death Dealer walked away, Marcus stood and thought about the danger that was present. He turned and waked away in the opposite direction, eager to rejoin Erika for a little while.

***

Lucian let go of Adam when he heard Michael's shout, and the doctor fell to the floor, his neck bleeding and his body beginning to twitch. Wiping the blood from his mouth, he turned and faced Michael and Selene as they stood in the doorway, staring at the bloody scene in front of them. Michael was upset and he rushed to Adam's side, while Selene's face remained blank.

"He's turning," Michael stated softly, and he back away from Adam's shaking form. The three watched as Adam began to transform, his skin turning black, his mouth elongating into a snout, his fingers growing in length. Then his ribs began to rip his shirt as they enlarged, and he growled low in his throat from the pain. Then his snout went to almost normal, his teeth fangs still, his skin becoming a silvery blue, his fingernails becoming claws. The American lie still on the floor, breathing rapidly as black eyes stared up at the ceiling. He began to turn back, his skin returning to the normal light tan and his eyes again white with dark irises.

Gasping in slight pain, he blinked rapidly and stared around in confusion. "What the hell happened? I feel like I've been run over by a dump truck," he stated and sat up, looking at his recently ripped shirt. "What happened to me?"

Michael came over and helped his friend up, the newly turned hybrid slightly shaky on his feet. "I think you and I need to talk," he said and glared slightly at Lucian.

But the older hybrid merely stared back with hard, gray eyes, and Michael knew this was not the time to question the alpha. Leaving Lucian and Selene, Michael led Adam outside. He decided the roof would be the best place to talk.

***

Sonja stared at Kraven as he dialed a number on his cell phone. Her wrists were bound behind her back, with her ankles tied tightly as well, plus a gag around her mouth. She was laying on the bed furthest from the door, as Kraven decided better safe than sorry.

Apparently and unfortunately, he and developed something of a brain since her death six centuries ago.

Closing her eyes, she tried to shut out her last memory of Lucian, trying to think of one of their stolen moments together instead. She tried to shut out the sounds of Kraven pacing by the bed, thinking of the growls Lucian would often emit as he made love to her. She remembered the feel of his hands as they stroked her skin, his lips as they claimed her mouth, his teeth against her neck, never breaking the skin.

"Hello, Lucian," she suddenly heard Kraven say smugly and she looked over at him. He had called Lucian.

***

Selene and Lucian started when they heard the ring of a phone. The hybrid felt the vibration in his pocket. Lucian pulled out his cell phone - he had actual forgotten about it - and looked at the number that was calling.

Kraven.

"Where is she, you bastard?!" Lucian shouted at the small phone. "What have you done to her?!"

"Hello, Lucian," came the smug reply from the probably smugly sneering vampire. "Now, is that any way to treat the one taking care of your beloved? After all, if I get careless, my hunger might overtake my senses," Kraven taunted cruelly.

Lucian closed his eyes, forcing himself to calm down. He could picture here, probably bound and gagged. He tried not to imagine what Kraven might do to her, tried not to let his blood boil or his rage make him lash out and get her hurt.

"What do you want?" Lucian asked through gritted teeth.

Kraven chuckled on the other end. "Now that's more like it, dog," he spat. Lucian clenched his fists at the title, but kept silent. "Here's what I want you to do, and it really shouldn't be that hard for you to follow, since you yourself probably want to see this happen."

Lucian growled. He doubted he actually wanted something Kraven desired as well.

"I'd watch it if I were you," Kraven warned, and suddenly Lucian heard a female yelp. "Or something might happen to your now human lover. Remember how fragile her life was in Viktor's hands, she's even more delicate now, in mine," the vampire hissed.

Lucian beat his fist against the wall near him, and Selene jumped slightly the first time. She backed away from Lucian, fearing what he might do in his anger at the moment. The hybrid ignored her through, instead trying to keep from cursing the treacherous leech out loud. He didn't know what Kraven had done, but it had brought Sonja pain and that was enough to make Lucian hate Kraven more. He was amazed that Kraven was able to make himself seem even worse, but he was hating the leech more and more by the second.

"Fine, just don't hurt her," he pleaded, though his voice was more demanding than he had meant for it to be. "What is it you want?

"Better, though you could really use some humbling I think," Kraven jeered. "I want you to kill Lord Marcus. Just kill him, and you can have your beloved back, after I'm far from the country. I'll call you and tell you where to find her," Kraven explained.

But experience with Kraven kept Lucian from believing that. "How do I know that's all you want? How do I know you won't kill her before then?"

"You'll just have to trust me, Lucian. You have no other choice."

Lucian sighed and gave in reluctantly. "Fine. I'll do it." He ignored the glare Selene sent him, and went on. He wasn't about to leave it at that. "But first, let me speak to her," he demanded. "I want to know she's alive."

"I'm giving the orders around here, dog. But," Kraven continued, "I'll allow it. After all, it might give you incentive to hurry and complete the deed."

Lucian waited for a few moments, and then heard heavy breathing on the other end. "Sonja?" he asked quietly.

"Lucian," he heard her familiar voice whisper, and he had to lean against he wall.

It had been so long, so long since he had heard her voice. Not in a memory, not in a dream, in actuality, in reality, her voice. He sighed and closed his eyes.

"Beloved," he whispered back hoarsely, "are you all right? Has he hurt you badly?" he asked her, trying to remain calm.

"No, I'm fine," she replied, but he heard a strain in her voice. "Just, be careful, please," she told him. "I don't want to lose you again, not before I even get to have you."

Lucian smiled wanly. "Don't worry about me, my love. I'll get us out of this, I promise. I won't let anyone keep us apart this time around," he reassured her, clutching the pendant. "I have something I have to give you. And tell you."

"I have something I have to tell you as well," she said. "But I don't want to wait."

"Wait, just wait," he instructed. "This isn't the last time we talk, don't act like it is," he told her fiercely. "You will tell me in person, I promise you. Trust me. I won't fail you this time."

"You never failed me, Lucian," Sonja replied, but then her breathing pattern was gone, replaced by the calm and cocky voice of her captor.

"All right, enough of that. There, she's alive, well, now go and kill Marcus and you two can be reunited and live happily ever after unless I am lucky and the Death Dealers somehow manage to kill you both," Kraven mocked.

"Fine. I'll kill Marcus," Lucian said and when the line went dead, he turned the cell back off.

Selene came and stood in front of him, her arms crossed. "Why does he want you to kill Marcus?" she questioned.

Lucian stared at her indifferently. "I don't know, he never said. All I know is, I'm going to, and I'm going to tonight."

***

Erika woke to find the bed strangely absent of a familiar presence. She sat up, holding the sheet over her, and looked around. She saw Marcus sitting in a chair near the bed, reading something. He didn't seem to notice that she was awake, though she knew he was probably well aware.

She moved her legs over the edge of the mattress and got off the bed, wrapping the sheet around her. She walked up to his chair and grabbed the book, closing it and laying it on a nearby desk. She sat down on his lap, and smiled playfully at his annoyed glare.

"You know, love, I was reading that, and it was quite interesting," he said, somewhat exasperated. He sighed as she shrugged. "You are quite demanding aren't you?" he asked her and his annoyance was quickly fading as she leaned down and nibbled in his lower lip.

"Yes, I am," she concurred. Wrapping her arms around him, the sheet slipping down some, she kissed him, and Marcus quickly forgot about his book.

But before they could get very far in their foreplay, a knock interrupted them. They both sighed in irritation, and Marcus growled slightly at the end of his. They locked eyes for a moment, both thinking the same thing.

Like clockwork.

"What is it?" Marcus shouted impatiently, waiting for whoever it was to tell him what was wrong and see if it needed his immediate attention more than his consort.

Erika nearly froze when she heard the response, but she tried to act normal. She was not about to let Marcus know.

"Kahn wanted to speak with you, he said he has an idea of who the traitor is, my Lord," a familiar voice said outside the door.

"Thank you, Brian," Marcus replied. "Tell Kahn I'll be there in a moment." Marcus closed his eyes and laid his head back for a moment before letting out another sigh, reluctantly accepting his duty. He opened his eyes, and noticed that Erika seemed oddly tense. "What is it?"

Erika shook her head, startled. "What? Oh, it's nothing," she told him. But her eyes still looked worried, and Marcus knew she was hiding something.

"What is it, Erika?" he asked again, more forcefully this time. "Don't lie to me, love," he told her gently. "Please, what troubles you so?"

Erika turned away and got up, walking towards some of her clothes. "It's nothing, really. You shouldn't concern yourself with it, just go on," she told him, waving at the door. "You have much more important things to do."

In a flash Marcus was behind her, his arms wrapping tightly and comfortingly around her. "Erika, nothing is more important, now tell me, what troubles you?"

Staring up at the ceiling, Erika gave in reluctantly. "That Death Dealer that just came, he, well, he approached me in the library," she began to explain, but Marcus turned her around and met her gaze. She saw his icy eyes become black, then return to the pale blue of a vampire yet again.

"What did he do to you?" he questioned, and Erika cursed herself for being so pathetic at hiding something from him.

"He kissed me," she said, and suddenly Marcus was out of the room, leaving her alone and quite naked as the sheet had fallen to the floor after he let her go.

"Oh, bugger!" she exclaimed and quickly dressed. She knew he was going to try and kill the Death Dealer, she just hoped she could find him before it happened.

***

Marcus slowed down, striding at a normal speed for a vampire, and made his way through the halls of the mansion, searching for one person: Brian. He was going to rip that treacherous Dealer apart with his bare claws, and he was going to enjoy it immensely.

But as he turned a corner, he saw Anya and some of her sired followers standing in his way. They turned and bowed when they saw him, but he cared little about them, disgusted at their lusting looks. All he cared about was finding the bastard that had dared to touch Erika. HIS consort, the woman he loved, he had publicly stated as his lover and no other's.

There was going to be hell to pay.

Unfortunately, Anya wanted to get under Marcus' skin yet again.

"So, are you keeping that little tramp of yours, even though she's let herself be sullied by another?" the viper asked him, saddling up towards him. She smiled slyly.

Marcus stared at her in understanding. It had been Anya all along.

"You bitch!" he shouted, and he felt the lycan in him grip his senses, taking control. He saw flashes of Lucian, a group of lycans, Viktor pulling back his fist, glaring at Singe. He felt the change begin, and a part of him told him to stop it, take back control before he was discovered and exiled, or worse. But the change was to tempting, he had been wanting it so long. It brought a sort of release, and Erika was the only thing that ever rivaled it. But she had been threatened, insulted, and he wanted that freedom the change gave him.

Consequences be damned.

"Halt!" he heard the familiar voice of Kahn shout, and he heard Death Dealers approach from the right. He looked over at him, and saw the Death Dealer back off, recognizing who it was that was now the same creature as the Michael Corvin, Selene and Lucian's companion.

"No," a whisper came from behind, and he turned to see Erika standing several feet away, her eyes shining and her limbs sank in defeat almost. She noticed Kahn and the Death Dealers coming up behind their leader, and she ran in front of Marcus. "Don't!" she shouted. "It's not his fault," she tried to explain, but Brian came up, and stood next to Kahn.

"It appears the Elder Marcus has become some sort of creature, something close to lycan. He reeks of lycan blood now," the Death Dealer said with loathing.

Marcus glared, and would have swiped at Brian's throat, but he refused to let Erika get in any kind of danger.

"He's right, we can't be led by this, thing!" Anya exclaimed in disdain. "He has to be killed, you know this, Kahn," she said warningly. As the oldest female, she held power, and she knew it. "At least banish him. Just because he is an Elder, the last even, does not mean he can be excluded by the very rules he and his fellow Elders made."

Marcus growled at her, but remained still, holding Erika tightly with one arm. She stubbornly stood in front of him, no matter how hard he tried to move her behind him.

The others around nodded, and Kahn reluctantly nodded. They all knew she was indeed right.

"Lord Marcus, you are hereby stripped of your title and status as an Elder and coven leader," Kahn declared. "You and any other who wish to remain loyal to you yourself are to immediately leave the premises, do not take anything with you. Anyone who goes with you is t be considered a traitor and will be marked for death as well as you, should you or a follower be spotted near here or attacking another vampire."

Marcus changed back into his normal form, his face blank as he listened to his sentence.

"Mason," Kahn called out, and the other Death Dealer came to attention. "You are to assume command of the Death Dealers, as I will be leaving with Lord Marcus," Kahn stated and several gaps were heard.

"There's a problem, sir," Mason said. "I'm going with you."

"As am I," Alexis stated and they came to stand next to Kahn. Alexis sent Brian an almost pleading look that turned into a glare, then moved her gaze away. A few other Dealers joined the small party, and Kahn turned to Brian.

"Then it looks like I will be leaving you in command now," he said, and Brian nodded grimly.

"I accept," he said, though he sounded oddly upset about it. His expression was dark, and he looked like he wanted to kill someone. But he simply stood silent as Marcus and Erika turned away and walked towards the stairs that would lead to the front doors of Ordoghaz. The loyal Dealers followed.

Behind them, Anya sneered in triumph.