Disclaimer: See previous chapter.

Chap. V

-0-

The trio arrived at the apartment building mentioned by Michael. It was actually a motel house that he had used when he first came to Budapest. It was kind of a dump, but they couldn't be picky now. Michael unlocked the door and the three entered in. There were a few chairs and a refrigerator that was most likely empty. Not that that would have mattered either. For now, they just needed shelter.

"Hm. Cozy." Ethan remarked. "Kind of like my third home, except without the rats."

As Michael closed the door, Selene suddenly whirled on Ethan; anger flashing in her eyes.

"Why did you follow us?"

Ethan stared back at her, "Questions and answers. What happened that night?"

Selene stepped forward, eyes turning to their ice blue color. However before she could do anything else, Michael stepped in between them.

"Selene. We should tell him."

Her glare turned to him, but Michael held his ground. "He deserves to know. And we owe him at least that."

If it was possible, her gaze turned from cold to arctic. But regardless of that, Selene finally backed away and moved to the window where she fumed silently. Ethan looked over at her.

"The strong silent type."

Michael looked over at her as well and then back to Ethan, "I'll tell you what I know. But it's only limited to what Lucian passed on to me. And that's still a little fuzzy too."

Ethan took one of the seats, "I understand. Go ahead."

Michael grabbed a seat as well, "Where should I start?"

Ethan glanced over at Selene again and gave a brief grin, "I'm guessing it started when you met her."

Michael nodded and Ethan's grin grew wider, "Boy meets girl. Oldest story in the book."

Michael struggled to keep himself from blushing, "It started when I was on my way to work at the local hospital. I didn't know it then, but at the time I was being stalked by lycans. Lucian sent them to bring me to him. But they met up with Selene and a group of vampires and they fought in the subway."

Ethan blinked, "In the open? They must have wanted you badly to risk that."

"Anyway, I didn't get in until a couple of hours later when I returned home. Selene had tracked me down and..." He hesitated, remembering how they met that time, "She wanted answers."

Ethan gave him a quizzical look that quickly turned to into a humorous one, "I see."

"We were attacked again by the lycans and I ran away. But as I did, I ran into Lucian, who left his mark on me. Selene caught up and got me out of there, but Lucian injured her and she passed out while driving. I managed to pull her out and help her, but I was too woozy from Lucian's bite and I passed out. When I awoke, Selene had brought me to her home, but I ran away again."

A soft chuckle came from the lycan, "You seemed to be doing that a lot."

Michael frowned, "What do you expect? My head felt like a jackhammer was pounding in it and a woman suddenly leaps to the top of the ceiling and screeches at me. I thought I was going crazy."

"Hm. I guess that could be overwhelming."

Continuing the story, "The lycans tracked me down again, but I managed to escape. I didn't know where else to go, so I returned to find Selene. She came and told me about the war between the vampires and the lycans. She wanted to keep me in place while she went to Viktor to find out what to do with me."

"Curious." he wondered aloud. "Why didn't she kill you? If you were bitten by Lucian, than you were a lycan first. Why would a Death Dealer let you live?"

"She..." Michael struggled for an answer. "She wanted to know why the lycans were after me."

Selene didn't move, but her eyes twitched. She knew he was repeating her words, but that didn't make them any truer than when she first said it. She wasn't sure why she kept him alive. She still wasn't sure even now.

"Continue." Ethan beckoned.

"She came back, the lycans tailed her. She kept them at bay, but I was captured again and sedated."

"Sedated?"

"Full moon."

"Oh."

"When I woke up, I was in Lucian's lair, with him standing before me. It was then that the images, the memories, made sense and I realized what had caused the war." Michael's eyes lowered. "Lucian wanted to end it through me, but I didn't know how. I still don't."

"He hoped that you would somehow bridge the gap between our species."

The two turned to look at Selene, who had just spoken, but she was still facing the window. However, she continued speaking.

"Half vampire. Half lycan." she replied, repeating Singe's words. "But stronger than both."

Ethan absorbed her words, "I see. But how? A bite from both vampire and lycan should be fatal to a mortal."

Selene sighed, somehow wanting to believe that she wasn't getting into this conversation.

"Michael is different. He is the direct human descendant of Corvinus."

"The first immortal?" Ethan gasped. 'But I thought..."

"We all thought that." she answered, cutting him off. "But it turns out that it is true. The three sons of Corvinus, divided species, all of it."

Ethan noticed the softer tone of pain in her voice. This must have been a tender subject for her. "I can see how that must have been troubling for you."

"No. It wasn't that."

Selene turned back to the window, quiet again for a long while. Seeing that she wasn't going to answer again any time soon, Ethan turned back to Michael.

"So somewhere along the lines, she bit you and you became...this hybrid. Then what?"

"I fought with Viktor. It was all like a rush to me at the time. But in the end, I wound up getting strangled by him. I would have died there, but Selene saved me..."

"By killing Viktor." Ethan finished, guessing the true source of her pain. "I see. So there are only two vampire elders left now."

"One." Selene said quietly. "Amelia was killed some hours before."

"One elder? Well that certainly changes much now. The vampires with one elder and the lycans without an alpha. So much in one night." His eyes lowered down to the floor. "It's just like the war. The cost has become too great once again."

He took a deep breath and looked up at Michael, "Michael, I don't know totally what my brother was thinking, but it appears that you bear a responsibility of our survival." Casing a glance at Selene, "Both lycans and vampires."

Selene cast her own glance at him, "What I don't understand is how you don't know any of this? You speak as if you weren't even there."

Ethan looked at her strangely, "I thought it was obvious. I wasn't."

Selene narrowed her eyes, "Lycans never travel alone."

Ethan nodded, "I'm a lone wolf, in a matter of speaking."

When her fierce gaze didn't change, Ethan sighed again. "You don't trust me."

"You've given me no real reason."

"Helping you, saving your life, what else do you want?"

Selene stepped forward, "I want to know why. Why did you help us?"

"Because..."

"I don't want to hear 'because it seemed like the right thing to do'." she snapped.

Ethan shifted in his seat, "What do you want to hear? That I saved you two for some reason of my own? The truth is that I saved you two for the reasons that I said. Because you needed it. It wouldn't have mattered if you were vampire, lycan, or even the Loch Ness Monster."

Selene still wasn't buying it, "No one is that kind. No one is that nice."

Ethan was beginning to get incensed, "You do not trust me simply because I'm a lycan."

Selene growled, "No. I do not trust you because you aren't like a lycan."

"What?"

"How can you be what you are and be blind to this war?" Selene demanded.

Ethan suddenly shot up from his seat, "Because I pulled myself out of it. I knew it would end up with both sides annihilating each other. I wanted no more of it. I have had enough!"

"Why? Tell me why?"

Ethan's angered face quickly drained away, revealing his true face. One of great pain and sorrow. "Because...of Kara." he whispered. "My mate...until she killed."

"Killed in this damned war."