There was only one vampire it could be, and since I knew we were heading straight for the torture chamber, I was more than a little worried. It was a relief to find Serana unharmed, though she looked slightly uncomfortable around all the blood. How the blood had gotten there was a mystery I wasn't even going to begin to attempt to solve.

"The vampire showed up while you were away," Isran said darkly. "I'm guessing it's the one you found in Dimhollow crypt. Says it's got something really important to say to you." He sat. "So, let's hear it."

Serana lowered her hood, looking almost.. guilty? "You probably weren't expecting to see me again."

"What are you doing here?" I demanded.

"I'd rather not be here either, but I needed to talk to you." I opened my mouth to refute the "either", but she continued. "It's important, so please listen before your friend here loses his patience. It's..." She sighed. "Well, it's about me. And the Elder Scroll that was buried with me."

"What about you?"

"The reason I was down there," she said. "And why I had the Elder Scroll. It all comes back to my father."

I waited, saying nothing.

"I'm guessing you figured this part out already, but my father isn't exactly a good person. Even by vampire standards."

I snorted, and she glared at me. "What?" I asked. "It's true."

"He wasn't always like that though," she said, almost urgently. "There was a turn. He stumbled onto this obscure prophecy and just kind of... lost himself in it."

I frowned. "What do you mean he 'lost himself'?"

She shrugged. "He just became absorbed... obsessed. It was kind of sick, actually. The prophecy said that vampires wouldn't have to fear the sun anymore. For someone who considers himself vampire royalty, that's pretty interesting. My mother and I didn't feel like inviting a war with all of Tamriel, so we tried to stop him. That's why I was sealed away with the scroll."

"What does this have to do with the Dawnguard?" Isran interrupted.

She scowled at him. "I'm sorry, I heard there were vampire hunters here. I thought they might want to know about a vampire plot to enslave the rest of the world."

I crossed my arms, brow creased in concern more than anything ."You took a big risk coming here."

She nodded. "I did. But something about you makes me think I can trust you. I hope I'm not wrong."

I smiled, a small one. "I'm happy to help, but we'll need to convince the others that you're on our side."

"Let's go, then, I'm nothing if not persuasive."

I snorted, and turned to Isran, who was staring at Serana like she was something extremely confusing. She probably was. "You want us to help you?"

"That was the plan, yes, assuming the rest of them can trust a vampire."

"They will," I said, voice hard. "I don't care if you're a vampire or not, they can't turn tail for this one."

Isran stood with a growl. "It can stay for now, but if it so much as lays a finger on anyone here, I'm holding you responsible, got it?" He turned to Serana before I could snap at him. "You hear me? You're not a guest, you're a resource; an asset. In the meantime, don't make me regret my sudden outburst of tolerance and generosity, because if you do, your friend here is going to pay for it."

That crossed a line. I growled, a real growl that started from the pit of my chest and bubbled into my throat. The kind of noise you hear outside your shack at night and wet yourself with fear. "Threaten me or her again, and vampire threat or not, you'll be the one to pay for it," I said, the growl still apparent in my voice.

He cast a look my way that threatened death. I met his gaze steadily, until it dropped, and he walked away.

Serana was staring at me when I turned back to her. "What?" I asked, dropping my arms to my sides.

"Nothing." She reached behind her back to touch the Elder Scroll. "Whatever this says, it has to be something that can help us. The problem is that neither of us can read it."

I had heard that about the scrolls. "Who can?"

"Well..." She paused. "The Moth Priests are the only ones I've heard of that can do it. They spend years preparing before they start reading. I suppose that doesn't help us, anyway, because they're half a continent away in Cyrodiil."

"There's one in Skyrim," someone said from around the corner. Out of the shadows stepped Agmaer, glancing warily at Serana. "I was on patrol when I saw him go by. I talked to the guards with him; he's your Moth Priest."

"Do you know where he's staying now?" I asked excitedly.

The boy shook his head. "You might try asking the innkeepers and carriage drivers in the cities. I'm sorry, but I have to get back to training."

Serana watched him scurry off with a thoughtful look. "That boy is entirely smitten with you."

I grunted. "Not so loud. The walls have eyes, and ears, and occasionally a hand with a crossbow in it. I'll go get packed, and we can check Riften for any sign of the Priest." As I passed, I whispered in her ear, "Wolves rarely run with whelps like him."

We waited until nightfall to leave, and set off toward Riften. There was a carriage driver, his cart the kind with a roof, talking to a woman from the city who had been walking up the path. I cleared my throat as I got close, and she scurried off. At the sight of me or Serana, I did not know.

"Yeah?" the man asked gruffly.

"We're looking for a Moth Priest," I told him. "Have you seen one?"

"That's one of them Imperial scholars, right? Old man with a grey robe?"

I nodded. "You seen him?"

The driver smiled slyly. "I might have, but I can't quite remember. I've got enough troubles on my mind just trying to scrape by here."

I grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, moving faster than he expected and hefted him off the ground with a snarl. "Tell me, now, and maybe I'll let you go."

The man scrabbled at my hand, face turning purple. "I-I saw him, just a few days ago. He tried to hire me for a trip to Dragon Bridge, but I told him that wasn't one of my stops."

I smiled, showing fangs, and set him down gently. "It's one of your stops now. Fifty gold now, and more when we get there. That's four times your usual rate to Solitude, isn't it?"

"Very kind, ma'am," he said, panting and clutching his neck. "We'll leave as soon as you're ready."

I inclined my head to Serana, and jumped into the back of the carriage. I sprawled on the floor, leaning against the back, and leaned my head back. She joined me a moment later, closing the gate with a click. The carriage started moving, and it was quiet.

I opened one eye to see her staring at me again. "What?" I demanded, slightly irritable from the lack of sleep.

"That's twice you've threatened someone like that," she said quietly. "Is that normal for you?"

"The man was being a weasel!" I protested- quietly, so he didn't hear and take offense. "Maybe he'll learn from this experience."

"And Isran?"

I gritted my teeth and looked away, focusing on the corner of the bench across from her. "He shouldn't have threatened you," I said after a moment. "You didn't deserve that."

"A vampire in the middle of a fortress of vampire hunters?" she asked, smile evident in her voice.

I exhaled slowly and looked back up at her. "A killer is a killer, that much I know. It's practically etched into my bones. But none of us, not even him, have the right to claim superiority because we don't kill everything in sight." My gaze dropped again, and I picked at a knot in the wood. "Vampire clans, werewolf packs, vampire hunter groups, it's all the same. People die, and I do include the non-humans in that."

My voice got quiet, and harsh. "Vampires killed a great deal of my pack. And when they were weak, humans finished them off. Either I let go of my hatred, or I let it fester until, like any infection, it destroys a part of me. Isran holds his hate like a torch to keep him warm in the snow, but that torch is going to burn him if he isn't careful."

I let out a growl and looked up, remembering the way he spoke to her. "I don't care what happens to him, as long as we stop your father, and as long as he isn't stupid enough to hurt someone I actually give a damn about."

I looked at her again when she didn't respond. She definitely wasn't looking at me. "Just forget it," I muttered, rolling over and resting my head on my arm. "Wake me up when we reach Dragonbridge."