A wave of guilt rushed through Victoria as she awoke later that day. She didn't know how long she had been asleep, but she suspected it had been a while. Laying under the covers in only her underclothes, she could hear him beside her. He was a light breather, the noise even and slow. His arm was wrapped around her waist, holding her to him, her back pressed flush against his chest. Her hand was on top of his as she closed her eyes and her mind wandered back to the past. This was all she had longed for at some time. Smiling at the memory, she felt his fingers move into hers, startling her and causing her to open her eyes again.

"I can hear you breathing," he mumbled into her ear.

"Humans breathe, Vlad."

"I am aware," he responded to her. "However your breathing has changed its pattern."

"You do know how creepy that sounds, don't you?" she asked from him with a soft laugh and he moved with haste, rolling her onto her back as she shrieked with laughter and felt him pin her there, his forehead pressing against hers as he held onto her wrists.

Her underclothes crumpled around her body as she laughed loudly and Vlad smiled at the intoxicating sound before he moved a hand down her arm and along to her shoulder, his fingers dancing over her collarbone and towards her cheek, cupping it tenderly. She stopped her laughter, peering up to him through her eyes and Vlad moved slowly, trying not to scare her as he bent down and kissed her tenderly, his lips moulding against hers. There was a brief moment of hesitation before she let herself relax, her lips moving against his as he hovered over her, his weight supported by his elbow.

Slowly, he moved his hand to push her hair behind her ear, his fingers staying there and tangling into her gentle curls. He felt her hands move over him, one wrapped into his hair while the other held onto his shoulder. He kept his eyes set on her, wondering exactly what he should be doing before he closed his lids, letting the moment take hold of him.

The only noise in the room was her heavy breathing as he varied the pressure of his lips. It was another moment before she pulled back, pressing her head further into the pillows so that she could look at him, a sad smile on her face as he continued to stroke her hair with the back of his hand.

"This is all I ever wanted," he whispered, his tone truthful and honest. "You are all I have ever wanted."

Her lips remained curved as she stretched her neck to kiss him chastely. "And you were all I ever wanted," Victoria said to him, her voice full of honesty. "Why did he take you from me?"

"Gabriel," Vlad hissed his name. "You know he is back?"

"He does not remember who he is," Victoria responded with a shake of her head. "I told him of what he did, but he claims not to remember. He…I cannot look at him without feeling some form of hatred towards him. He took you from me. He is the one to blame yet I cannot blame him for he does not remember. He cannot feel guilt for something he does not recall."

"I suspect he does feel guilt," Vlad responded to her. "Why else would he have no recollection? He asked for his memories to take them because of his guilt."

Victoria scoffed. "Well, I can only hope that he gets them back," she responded to him. "Vlad, I have never been so angry with someone in my life."

"He saw to it that you were ripped from me, Victoria," Vlad said as he moved closer to her once again, his nose brushing hers. "I will not let him do the same again. I do not know if I can cope with the thought."

Kissing her once more, his lips lingered over hers as she closed her eyes tightly, her mind on nothing but the man hovering above her. Perhaps he was right. Perhaps it was possible to think about nothing but them while they were locked away. Perhaps this was fine. Perhaps this was what fate intended. They were constantly being thrust together and Victoria knew that, deep down, she wanted that. She wanted to be with him. She just didn't know how to be with him without ruining Velkan.

Velkan. There he was in her mind again. Vlad knew it too for she stilled while his lips pressed to hers. He pulled back and looked to her, some kind of sadness in his eyes that she had not seen in a lot of years. It took a moment before he looked away and Victoria felt guilt overcome her. Moving her hands to his cheeks, she forced him to look back at her.

"I am sorry," she informed him. "Vlad, I am so sorry."

"No," Vlad said with a shake of his head. "I do not want you to apologise, Victoria. I want it just to be how it was for a short time."

"Hiding from reality," Victoria mused.

"We can hide from reality forever if you so wish," Vlad told her. "We can go to my summer palace. We can be just us."

"You forget the fact that I am carrying a child."

"I do not," Vlad said to her.

"Let's not," Victoria urged from him, moving to cradle his face softly again, kidding herself that they could be how they were for longer than that day. It would be impossible. How could she be with him? "Let's not talk about anything for a while."

"As you wish," he humoured her and she moved to kiss him once again.

Slowly, he deepened the kiss, daring to become more intimate with her. He remember everything about her, from the way she liked to be touched to the way she moaned. Moving his hand down her cheek towards her shoulder, his fingers slipped under the sleeve of her underclothes, pulling it down her arm slowly. His fingers danced along her arm until it was at her elbow and he moved his lips down her neck, kissing her tenderly as his other hand went to pull at the other sleeve.

"Vlad…should we…really…" Victoria stammered as she felt his fingers rest on the material against her chest before slowly pulling it down her body. She kept still as Vlad looked up to her and moved quickly to kiss her again.

"I need you," he spoke with desire. "Just one more time, Victoria."

"I do love you," she told him, "but I don't know if this is the right time. I don't know if I can."

"I would never pressure you into anything," he informed her. "I just want you to know that I need you. I will always need you and I will always love you."

"I know," Victoria smiled and kissed him once more.

Before they could continue, there was a knock on the door. Victoria rolled her eyes, knowing full well that they should be used to interruptions. Victoria sat up as Vlad moved from the bed. She adjusted her smallclothes before tugging the cover up to her chest. She sat up and watched as Vlad opened the door wide and she saw the dark haired bride there.

"We have found them," she spoke to him in a cold tone and Victoria knew that she was less than impressed with Victoria being there. "They have the creature we need too. The werewolf is chasing them."

Victoria moved from the bed then, standing up and letting her underclothes fall down her body as she moved towards the door, standing over Vlad's shoulder.

"The creature?" Victoria asked from him. "What creature?"

"The creature we need to bring our children to life," she spoke, looking down to Victoria's stomach and Victoria instinctively went to cradle her small bump as the woman moved her eyes back to her face. "We are not all as fortunate to give birth to children naturally."

"Children?" Victoria enquired. "How many children?"

"Hundreds," the woman said and Vlad glowered at her.

"Be silent," he demanded.

"Vlad…children…I thought…I don't understand," Victoria said and Vlad turned to look to her before grabbing hold of her by the upper arms, holding them tightly.

"Children we have longed for," Vlad said to her. "Before I knew-"

"-Children that could kill?" Victoria asked from him. "As in children like you?"

Victoria thought back to what Velkan had told her earlier. His children had died and the experiment had failed. She knew that he had been trying for children with his wives, but she never expected to be told that there would be hundreds. Were they breeding an army of vampires? Victoria looked to him as he remained mute, refusing to answer her question. Gulping loudly, she shook her head and backed away, reaching for her gown as Vlad glowered to his bride and slammed the door shut.

"What are you doing?" he demanded of her.

"I need to get away," Victoria said as she felt a sense of sickness worm through her stomach. She was unsure whether it was because of the babe inside of her or her current predicament.

"Victoria, listen to me," Vlad demanded as she shrugged into her gown and he watched her complete the movement. "Our children are like us, yes, but you need to understand that they have never had a chance at life."

"What the hell does that mean?" Victoria asked.

"We need a particular creature to give them life…a creature that Van Helsing has found," Vlad said.

"And then what?" Victoria wondered. "I imagine that baby vampires are not good news for the people in the town? You would let them drain everyone there?"

Vlad confessed himself irate. Why could Verona not have come to him later when Victoria was not with him? Why did she have to ruin everything that Vlad had worked for? He should have known that the information would come out sooner rather than later, but he had hoped that he would be able to keep it a secret. It turned out he was wrong. There was no chance to keep secrets from Victoria.

"Naturally, they are younglings, they need to know how to feed."

"And you want to bring them to life?" Victoria demanded from him, disgust in her voice as she finished dressing herself and pulled her hair out from the material, allowing it to tumble down her back. "Just when I think that you are the same man I fell in love with, I discover something new to ruin everything. Why do you keep doing this, Vlad? Why do you keep these secrets?"

"Because it is my past!" he yelled at her.

"No, it isn't," she retorted in a quieter, yet aggressive, tone. "It is your present. You are still talking about bringing them to life now. Hundreds of people could die…I…I have seen you kill before…I know you did things in the past…horrible things…but I…for some God forsaken reason, I looked past that and I still wound up here. But no more. I have a babe to think of."

"I told you that no harm would befall your or the babe."

"And other mothers out there?" she asked, pointing to the window. "Other women have children who may be snatched from them if these children of yours are brought to life. I cannot stand by and watch that while I hide away."

Storming towards the door, Vlad grabbed hold of her arm, stopping her from going.

"Do not leave," he demanded from her as he saw the tears pooling in her eyes.

"Or what?" she asked from him. "Or you will keep me prisoner here against my will? You told me you never wanted to do that."

Vlad inhaled sharply. "And I never will," he said, releasing her. "I want you to be here because you want to be here."

Victoria nodded at him. "And right now, I would rather be anywhere but here."

He watched her sweep through the door and he let her go, bowing his head and looking to the floor, realising that he might have just lost her for good that night.

…

Victoria knew that she had to find Van Helsing and Anna, but she had no idea where they would be. She had followed the tracks in the mud that Velkan had left behind as a werewolf, but they disappeared the further she travelled. It was misty and Victoria sat atop of her horse, holding on for dear life as she wondered if she could find her way home should she be unable to locate Anna or Van Helsing.

It was only as she travelled did she hear shrieking above her and she looked up, the sight of two vampires flying overhead enough to make her realise she should follow them. She had no doubt they were Vlad's brides as she urged her horse to travel as fast as possible. She lost them from her sight after a few minutes after realising they were much too fast for her. Cursing, she crossed a wooden bridge before she heard a loud gunshot.

She almost shrieked in fear but kept silent, her breathing uneven as she looked around in wonder. She heard a roar of 'no' enter her ears and she moved forwards slowly on her horse, climbing down as she realised the voice had sounded like Anna's. Climbing from her horse as she came off the dirt track. She led the creature through the trees until she saw the back of a man in black. Letting her horse go, she stumbled forwards until she spotted Anna on the floor, cradling a man close to her. Victoria's hands covered her mouth as she stumbled forwards, pushing past Van Helsing and alerting him to her presence.

Collapsing on the floor the other side of Anna, Victoria moved her hands to the man's forearm and he turned his head to face her, a smile on his face as she saw her look down to him, her eyes wide and pooling with tears. Moving his hand up, he cupped her cheek tenderly, holding it in his fingertips as he watched her.

"You're here."

"It's me," she responded through short gasps. "I'm here…I've got you…"

He kept the smile on his face as his sister continued to cradle him, her own silent tears falling down her cheek. Victoria felt his hand move from her cheek, to weak to stay there. She took his wrist and kissed the palm of his hand before he left his hand fall down her body and rest on her stomach. She placed both hands over his one as she held his fingers in hers tightly.

"Tell…tell the babe about me," he whispered and Victoria nodded hastily. "That I loved…I loved him…her…always…"

"Of course," Victoria said as his eyes met hers.

"And that I loved their mother terribly," he whispered and Victoria closed her eyes as she bowed her head and moved to kiss him with haste. He gave as much as he could back to her as she pulled back and looked him in the eye.

"I love you too," she managed to whisper to him, unsure whether or not she did love him or simply adored him. But he deserved to hear those words. He always did deserve better than her.

"Keep safe…my love…" he managed to speak as his breathing grew shallow and his chest stopped moving. Victoria shook her head as she kept hold of his hand, squeezing it tightly.

"Velkan," she whispered his name as Anna looked to the sky, tears rolling down her cheeks. "Velkan, please…wake up…please…"

Victoria continued to squeeze his hand, but nothing happened. His eyes were closed and his lips parted, but no breath came from them. Victoria shook her head as Anna kept hold of her brother, his body bruised and battered.

"No!" Victoria yelled. "No…not you…no…please…"

Anna listened to her continue to yell before she moved her hand over her brother's body and took hold of Victoria's arm, drawing her gaze to her and seeing her stained cheeks as the two women looked to each other and mourned the one person who had loved them both equally in different ways.

…

A/N: Do let me know what you think!