Selina and Elijah sat frozen on the bed, watching the door Klaus had just exited like it was an animal that might bite.

"He wasn't the person I wanted to see this morning," Selina said finally.

"I can understand why," Elijah said. "What do you think he's going to do now? Tell Mother?"

Selina shrugged. "So what if he does? I don't know why you're so worried. Maybe Nicky seeing this is a good thing."

"How, my darling Selina, is that a good thing?" Elijah asked through his teeth, getting out of bed and putting his clothes on.

"Well, maybe now that Nicky knows how serious we are, he'll give me the divorce." Selina said.

Elijah looked at her optimistic face and shook his head. "I doubt it. He'll probably use this as an excuse to drag the two of you on even longer." He sighed, zipping his pants. "I should probably go so you can do damage control."

She groaned and reached out for him. "I wish you didn't have to."

He put his arm around her. "Relax. I'm just going to my apartment, I'm not going off to war like some of the men in your life."

She grinned. "Thank you for that."

He kissed her forehead and left, and she dressed and went to the kitchen where Klaus plunked a plateful of eggs and bacon in front of her. "Good morning. I thought you might be hungry since you were such a busy woman last night and everything."

Selina looked down at the plate. "This is what you used to make me after we...hey! That didn't happen."

"But you wanted it to have," Klaus said. "Go on, you can say it."

She shoveled some eggs in her mouth and swallowed, glaring at him. "You really are an ass, you know that, right?"

He ruffled her hair and grinned. "You really shouldn't bite the hand that's feeding you," he said. She scoffed. "You'd love me to bite you, wouldn't you?"

He whispered close to her ear. "Like you don't want the same thing..." She breathed in sharply as she felt moistness from his mouth on her neck, but then he pulled away. "Would you like to know about my night?" He asked her.

"I don't need to," she said. "In case you don't remember, I've been through several of them."

"But that's just good manners, Selina." Klaus said. "I ask you about your night and then you ask me about mine. It's how people have conversations and show they care about each other's feelings."

"But you don't care about my feelings," Selina said. "And I would have been perfectly happy if you hadn't asked me about my night."

"So how did it happen?" Klaus asked her. "Did Elijah come over with a bottle of wine, then the two of you put a little Mozart on the stereo and read a book?"

"No," Selina said. "I didn't even know he was in my bed until I woke up this morning."

"Ah," Klaus grinned and nodded. "So you must have drunk the entire bottle of wine by yourself. Didn't your mother ever tell you about the importance of sharing?"

Selina looked up at him and scoffed. "Your mother obviously never told you," she said. "Otherwise we wouldn't be in this situation."

"I refuse to share my women," Klaus said.

Selina frowned. "See, that sentence right there is everything that's wrong with us. You're talking like I'm some sort of property. Maybe if you didn't think of me that way, I wouldn't feel the need to be interested in other men."

"So basically," Klaus said, ignoring her, "you woke up this morning, Elijah was in your bed, and you have no memory of him being there before."

"Nope," Selina shook her head. "Definitely not. He said he'd been having trouble sleeping so he came over last night to borrow one of my shirts to sleep with, but then he got distracted and one thing led to another, and...Why am I even telling you this? It's none of your damn business!"

"I believe my wife sleeping with my brother certainly is my business," Klaus said.

"Well, what are you going to do about it?" Selina asked. "Are you going to tell your mother?"

Klaus shook his head. "Not for the moment. She's having enough trouble as it is."

Selina swallowed another spoonful of eggs. "So, besides being a thorn in my side, what are you planning to do with yourself today?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. Talk to people. Share my feelings. That's how most people deal with heinous betrayal, isn't it?"

Selina smirked. "Heinous betrayal? I think you're being a little overdramatic, aren't you? I told you that I didn't even know he was in my bed until I woke up this morning. It wasn't like I invited him to come over or anything."

"But you would have," Klaus countered. "Admit it."

Selina nodded. "Again, yes, I suppose I would have. But Elijah and I have decided to wait until you give me the divorce before we take any major steps."

Klaus scoffed. "Well isn't that sweet? You're being both moral and immoral at the same time. When were you planning on telling me about the two of you? Or were you just going to sneak around behind my back forever?"

"But you knew!" Selina said. "The day the bathroom flooded, you came back and you saw us! This shouldn't be a big surprise! We weren't sneaking around behind your back!"

"Oh, really?" Klaus said. "Then how come you never told me that the two of you were together?"

"Because we aren't yet!" Selina said. "And even if we had told you, you would have fussed about it, so you can understand why we would want to keep it quiet. But I don't see why I can't have a relationship if you have one."

"Because it's Elijah," Klaus said. "If it were anyone other than Elijah..."

"Technically, it's his brother-in-law David that I'm dating, not him," Selina said.

"And does David know that you and Elijah want to be involved?" Klaus asked.

"Well, he knows I'm still married to you and he's going out with me anyway," Selina said. "What does that tell you?"

"That I need to go out and get a drink, that's what," Klaus said. "You have a good day."

"I'm so glad you called me," Aleksandr said as he sat down next to Klaus at the bar. "It's been awhile since we've had a chance to talk. What's the problem?"

"You'll never believe what I saw this morning," Klaus said.

"He saw Selina and Elijah in bed together!" Anna crowed, appearing behind Aleksandr.

"What?" Aleksandr asked, eyes wide. "You have got to be kidding me! Why would she be attracted to him?"

Anna sat down on Klaus' other side. "Well, she was married to you for how many years?" Anna asked, leaning across the table to Aleksander.

"Ten," Aleksandr said. He glowered at Klaus. "You know, brother, I've never properly thanked you for destroying my chance with her. How is it that she's given you so many?"

"Because she has a specific reason for being with me," Klaus said. "We both have the werewolf gene. That brought us together and it's what's keeping us together."

"Well obviously not if Elijah's been spending time in her bed," Anna said. "Maybe the werewolf bond isn't as permanent as you believe."

"No, no." Klaus shook his head. "It is. I've read her uncle's notes several times and there's nothing in them about werewolves ever being able to break their mate bonds."

"Well, just because it's not in her uncle's notes doesn't mean it can't happen," Anna said.

"Whose side are you on anyway?" Klaus snapped.

"Selina's," Anna said primly.

"Why?" Aleksandr asked. "What does she have to do with any of this?"

Anna looked up at him. "Well, it's her love life. You'd think she would have something to do with it."

Klaus and Aleksandr just looked at one another, shook their heads and chuckled. Anna rolled her eyes and got off her barstool. "I think I'll have a talk with her," she said. "That way, I'll have some intelligent conversation."

Once she was gone, Aleksandr cleared his throat. "So I assume that Selina's not too happy about you living under the same roof as her?"

"No," Klaus shook his head. "And I don't understand why that is. It's not like I don't have a good reason."

"And what is that?" Aleksandr asked.

"Lucy," Klaus said. "If I didn't live with Selina, I'd never see her. Selina's so territorial that way."

Aleksandr was still processing the news about Selina's relationship with Elijah. "But how could they have gotten together?" He said. "I thought Elijah would only be attracted to women like Susan."

"Obviously not," Klaus said.

"Well, if you hadn't killed Susan, we wouldn't have had to find that out," Aleksandr said.

"That wasn't my fault!" Klaus exclaimed. "I only did what I had to do. She wouldn't let me or Selina see our child!"

"And why was that?" Aleksandr asked him. "Susan was a very practical sort. If she didn't want you seeing Lucy, it was probably because you were a danger to her or something."

Klaus shook his head. "She was exaggerating. It was just a little fun Selina and I were having, that's all. See, I learned a fun trick where if I give Selina a bunch of my blood all at once, she becomes completely hedonistic! All she wants to do is kill things and sleep with me. It's wonderful!"

Aleksandr's eyebrow went up. "How interesting. Are you serious?"

Klaus nodded, his eyes shining. "Completely. I don't see why that would make Susan think we would harm Lucy, though. Of course we wouldn't. Even when we're hunting, we can tell the difference between prey and our children."

"Oh, of course," Aleksandr said earnestly. "I understand completely."

"Well at least somebody does," Klaus said, and ordered another drink.

"They said what?" Selina asked. She and Anna were sitting at the kitchen table and Anna had Sam in her lap.

"They seriously said you had no say in your own love life," Anna said. "Isn't that just so..." she growled.

Selina sighed. "So what was Nicky griping about this time? What rationale was he using for stopping me from being happy?"

"He said that your werewolf mate bond was unbreakable and that if he let you go, he'd always be miserable."

Selina burst out laughing. "What could possibly lead him to believe that werewolf mate bonds are unbreakable? They are. Werewolf males have been breaking them for years and mating with human women when their female mates have become too much to handle, such as when the women get jealous of a daughter being born and try to kill her. That's probably the most common reason for the separation of a mating pair. It happened with one of Roxie's friends, Charlotte. But I guess I'm one of the few females willing to break the bond. Nicky must have skipped that part of Uncle Jake's notes." She sighed. "Don't I feel special."

"So you've stopped feeling anything for Nick at all?" Anna asked.

"I still feel things for him physically," Selina said. "Because of the bond, that'll never stop, but I'm learning to repress the feelings so that I can be in a relationship that's better for me and not just purely based on sex."

Anna patted Selina on the shoulder. "I hate to break it to you, but I don't think Nick's going to be willing to repress anything any time soon."

Selina groaned. "I know. That's why it's such a pain. He's trying to tempt me and I'm trying to stay away and it's just driving me crazy! And the really irritating thing is, we weren't always like this! Before he got his werewolf gene activated, we were reasonably stable. But once it got activtivated, he became a total pig. He knows how to love well. I watch him with Lucy and it gives me lumps in my throat. I just can't understand why I don't get that too."

"It's the sex," Anna said. "I think it's the sex."

Selina gave her a look. "Well, duh. And who knows how to simmer that down."

Anna cleared her throat. "Well onto a completely different topic, are you going to be able to come to Stefan's and my Halloween party? Would you be interested?"

Selina sighed. "Is Damon coming?"

"Why?" Anna asked. "Would it be too awkward for you if he was?"

Selina shook her head. "No, of course not. I'm a big girl and I can handle being at the same party as my ex, but if he's at the party, who's going to watch Sam? 'Cause I will. I could take him and Lucy trick or treating. That'll be fun."

"Aren't they a little young to eat candy?" Anna asked.

"Yeah," Selina grinned. "But I'm not! And the people who give the candy out seem to think it's creepy when you're my age and still asking for treats without kids."

"Ah," Anna nodded. "So having Lucy and Sam would be a good cover for you."

"Yep," Selina nodded. "I have it all planned out."

"Can't you please come?" Anna begged. "The French maid character would fit you perfectly!"

Selina's eyes widened. "Anna! Please tell me you're kidding."

Anna shook her head. "I'm not. So will you do it? You shouldn't have to babysit kids on your birthday. You should be out having fun."

"But what about Sam and Lucy?" Selina asked. "If I don't watch them, and Damon's at a party you're hosting, who will? I've kind of exhausted all my baby-sitter options here."

"Don't worry," Anna said. "We'll figure something out."

Aleksandr strode into Myna's apartment and found only Hanz, who looked at him in annoyance. "What do you want?" he snapped. "Can't you knock?"

"Where's your sister?" he asked. "I have something to tell her."

"What is it, Alek?" Myna asked him, coming into the living room from the hallway that had the bedrooms on either side. "Please tell me you were able to get something useful out of your brother."

Aleksandr grinned. "As a matter of fact, I was."

"What?" Myna asked eagerly. "Who will it help us kill?"

"Well, we might be able to kill multiple birds with one stone with what I heard," Aleksandr told her, leaning in close. "Niklaus told me that he and Selina used to play a sexual game where she would consume large amounts of his blood at one time. Then it would make her very sexually active and murderous."

"Is that so?" Myna asked, looking intrigued. "Do you think you could get them to play that game again?"

Aleksandr shook his head slowly. "I don't think so. They're growing apart, my brother and Selina. And apparently the last thing she wants to do these days is play sexual games with him. That upset him greatly."

"Well, we could cheer him up," Myna said. "It probably wouldn't be any trouble to give him what he wants. But how can we get to her? Any suggestions?"

"Well, my sister Anna is having a party that Selina will be attending. It's a costume party, so she wouldn't know it was you if you decided to take her aside for a little while and get the blood down her throat," Aleksandr said. "And since you and Niklaus are so close, procuring his blood wouldn't be difficult."

"You're talking like it will be easy to get us invited to your sister Anna's party," Myna said. "Are you sure she'll let us come?"

Aleksandr nodded. "She and I are close. Of course she'll let me come. And bring a date."

Adrian arrived at Astrid's house and knocked on the door repeatedly. "Can I come in?" He called. "Please?"

Helene opened one of the doors and stared at him from behind the other one. "Why should I let you come in?" She asked. "Unless you've come to apologize."

"I want to ask you a question, or a favor, or I don't know what you want to call it." He said.

Helene frowned. "I don't think I'm in the mood to grant you any favors. You're just lucky I haven't turned you into something gross."

"I would like you to be my date to a party on Halloween," Adrian said. "But if you don't want to come, I guess I can just stay home."

That made Helene cautiously open the door and stick her head out just a bit. "Why wouldn't you take Tessa?" She asked.

"Because I don't want to take Tessa," he said. "I want to take you. I remember how we used to have such fun on Halloween when we were kids. Tessa's not even that in to Halloween. Can you believe that?"

"And don't forget, it's your mother's birthday," Helene said. "You need to get her a present."

Adrian grinned. "Thanks for reminding me. I did almost forget."

Helene smiled back. "You always do."

He paused. "So will you come to the party with me?"

Helene nodded. "I suppose. It's either go with you or spend the evening at some Circle meeting with my mom."

Adrian's lip quirked. "Thanks for the enthusiasm. You mean you and Hanz aren't doing anything?"

She shook her head. "He seems to think that Halloween is stupid."

"Really?" Adrian asked. "What a couple of people we paired ourselves up with, huh?"

Helene nodded. "I guess. Do you want to come in?"

"Sure," Adrian said and followed her inside. He passed an oval shape on the wall that was covered with a black curtain. "What's that?" he asked, pointing.

Helene shrugged. " It's a mirror, but I don't know why it's covered up." She saw her mother coming toward them, and asked, "Mom, why's this mirror covered up?"

Astrid looked up and took a deep breath. "This is where your father likes to hang out," she said. "It's how I've been communicating with him ever since I found out how to reach him."

Helene's eyes widened. "You found out how to reach Dad? Are you even allowed to do that? Won't it get you in trouble?"

Astrid nodded. "Possibly. But I don't care. I miss him."

Helene nodded and gave her mother a hug. "I miss him too. Can I talk to him?"

"I have some things I'd like to say really quick too," Adrian said.

"Adrian!" Astrid said, "Hello! It's been awhile since we've seen you!"

"Adrian invited me to a Halloween party at his Aunt Anna's," Helene said.

Astrid grinned. "Well, how fortunate for you. But we'll really miss you at the Circle meeting. It'll be a really good time!"

"Please, no," Helene said. "Everybody who's my age doesn't come anymore. Plus I think they all hate me for the 'coming-back-from-the-dead' thing."

"So do you want to talk to your father?" Astrid asked her. "I suppose a few minutes wouldn't hurt." She removed the curtain. Adrian looked at the large mirror and ran his fingers lightly over the glass. "So you can just call him up whenever you want and talk to him? I thought he was supposed to be in punishment or something."

"Yes," Astrid said. "For being so proud as to usurp the leader of his tribe five-hundred years ago and take over himself. I think they trapped him in the mirror as a symbol of the pride and vanity that act took. And now someone else is using his body."

"Who is it? Do you know?" Helene asked. "Are they a bad person?"

"I wouldn't exactly call him a 'bad' person, per se, but he didn't take over your father's body just so he could give it a pat on the back and three tickets to the Caribbean, that's for sure," Astrid said. "He's one of the oldest warlocks there is. He and his daughters are some of several spirits worshipped by a tribe in England, around Norfolk. The members of the tribe showed their devotion to nature by performing human sacrifices. This guy and his daughters supposedly brought magic to this tribe, so they were worshipped more than the rest, and sometimes they would assume human forms and walk on Earth. Well, things really started to get interesting after the Romans got it in their heads to overtake this tribe. But the leader, Brighid, decided to start an uprising because she'd been humiliated and her daughters had been raped by the Roman soldiers."

Helene's eyes widened. "Wow. Was it successful?"

"Actually, not as successful as they hoped," Astrid said. "They were defeated. But after Brighid's defeat, their gods decided to take human form and walk among them. The father, whose name was Conal, decided that since he'd failed the tribe, he'd pass leadership over to one of his three daughters. After a young man was drowned in a nearby river as a sacrifice to Conal, he told the tribe of his decision, and that in order to decide which of his three daughters, Hazel, Ena, and Enid would be most worthy to succeed him..."

"Wait!" Helene said. "They sacrificed a guy to Conal by drowning him in a river?"

"Yeah," Astrid nodded. "Not unlike how you were drowned. Conal drowned you to make up for your father's transgression, but since you chose to live again, we're right back where we started and your father's being punished."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Helene said. "I didn't know..."

"Your father's tribe were descendants of the tribe that was led by Brighid," Astrid said. "And they kept the same gods over the years."

"And two of Conal's daughters created werewolves and vampires, right?" Adrian asked.

"Yep," Astrid nodded. "Enid and Ena were twins and fiercely competitive. One day after being forsaken by a human man, Enid lost her temper and after noticing the majestic wolves that stalked the moors at night, she decided that they would be better companions for her than men would and proceeded to curse every man who broke her heart with being a wolf. Then we all know what Ena, later Vanessa, did to try and surpass what Enid had done."

"But what about the third daughter?" Helene asked.

"Hazel?" Astrid said. "She was the oldest and the wisest and the one that Conal figured would be the best to watch over the tribe, but he didn't want to give his daughters any reasons to fight amongst themselves by just automatically picking her over the others."

"And yet werewolves and vampires continue to duke it out to this day. Good thinking, Conal," Adrian said dryly.

"Be careful what you say, Adrian." Suddenly an outline formed in the mirror and shifted and twisted until it became Alistair. "They could be listening at any time."

"Daddy!" Helene said. "I'm so sorry. I had no idea that my wanting to come back after I died would make things worse for you."

"It's all right," Alistair said. "It's just an eternity of solitude, being bereft of everyone I love and some people I tolerate. Nothing big. What could I possibly be missing out on?"

"That's what I want to talk about," Adrian said. "Mom and Dad have broken up, and I think she and Uncle Elijah are trying their best to become a couple even though Dad's not having any of it."

Alistair's jaw dropped. "Your mother and your uncle? What? How? When?"

Adrian shrugged. "I don't know exactly. You'll have to ask Mom. And yeah, I kind of think it's weird too, but if Mom's happy, I guess it's okay."

Alistair was looking at Astrid. "Break this mirror right now. Then I can get out."

Astrid looked at him in surprise. "But-"

"Please, Astrid. Listen to what Adrian is saying. I can't miss out on this!"

"What about Conal and the punishment?" Helene asked. "He still has your body."

"That's okay," Alistair said. "I can manage without a body, at least for awhile. Now break the glass."

Adrian, Astrid, and Helene looked at one another. "I might as well do it," Helene said at last. "I'm as good as dead anyway, so what's one more transgression?" She found an old iron candlestick in one of the cupboards and smashed the mirror with it. A few seconds later, Alistair's essence was freed. He manifested himself and stood in front of his former prison, grinning.

"Isn't it great?" Helene said to Adrian. "Daddy's back!"

"I'll take your word for it," he said. "I can't see anything."

"You are going to be so glad I convinced you to do this!" Anna said to Selina as she ushered her into the bathroom in her bedroom so Selina could try on her costume for the party on Halloween night.

"I'm not sure," Selina said. "It might make me look cheap."

"No, it won't!" Anna said, rolling her eyes. "It will make you look sexy and gorgeous, all right?"

Selina scrunched up her face.

"What's wrong?" Anna said. "Why are you being so difficult about this?"

"Because," Selina said, stamping her foot, "there's only one guy on this planet that I want to see me looking sexy and gorgeous and David, although I love him, isn't it!"

"I've taken care of that too," Anna said, grinning and handing her the bag with the costume in it. "Elijah said he'd babysit Sam and Lucy 'cause apparently he's got nothing better to do on Halloween."

"Fine!" Selina said. "But you really shouldn't be ordering me around on my birthday."

Anna looked her over. "I like those diamond earrings you're wearing," she said. "Where did you get them?"

Selina looked at herself in the bathroom mirror. "David stopped by this morning and gave them to me. Isn't he considerate?"

"That's not what you wanted, was it?"

Selina shook her head. "No, but at least he remembered, so I give him points for that." She put maid costume on and winced at the plunging neckline and short skirt. "No," she shook her head. "I'm not going to wear this! I'm changing right now and tonight, I'm staying home!"

"Seriously?" Anna asked. "Fine. If that's what you want."

Just then, the doorbell rang. "You might not want to change just yet, though. I think that's Elijah."

Rolling her eyes, Selina decided to humor Anna and followed her out to the front door of the apartment and opened it, jumping backwards and squealing when it was revealed to be David on the other side and not Elijah.

He put his hand over his eyes. I'm not looking," he said. "You can go put on a coat."

Anna rolled her eyes again. "You all are such prudes. David, you have to look at her sometime. Your characters are with each other a lot and you can't keep your eyes averted the whole night."

"I can try," David said and sat on the sofa while Selina headed toward the bedrooms just as the doorbell rang again. Anna went to answer it, snapping at Selina to stay put in the living room. She opened the door and Elijah came in.

"Want to see Selina's costume for the party?" Anna asked him.

She pulled Selina right in front of him and his eyes widened. "Well..." He cleared his throat. "That certainly leaves little to the imagination, doesn't it? And happy birthday, by the way."

"Thank you," Selina said to him and then turned away. "See?" She whispered angrily to Anna. "I told you this made me look like a slut!" She looked at Elijah. "I'm not going to the party," she said. "In fact, I was just about to change into my other costume so I can take Sam and Lucy trick-or-treating. Want to come?"

He shook his head. "I would love to, but if I did, I wouldn't be able to prepare someone's birthday present," he grinned. "Unless of course you don't want it."

Selina burst out giggling. "That depends on what it is. Can you tell me?"

He grinned. "Then it wouldn't be a surprise."

Anna made a noise in her throat. "Ugh. Gag me. You two are absolutely sickening." She sighed and turned toward David. "Looks like we'll be going to the party without our maid after all."

David stood up. "All right then. Happy birthday, Selina!" He called as he made his way out the door.

"Are they gone?" Selina asked Elijah as she came out of the bedrooms twenty minutes later. She wore a knee-length, long-sleeved whie dress and had a halo attached to a headband in her hair.

"You're an angel," Elijah whispered. He couldn't take his eyes off her. The fact that she held Lucy dressed as a bumblebee in one arm and Sam dressed in some sort of bat costume in the other just completed the picture.

"Need some help?" he asked after a moment, reaching out for the little bumblebee, who was already reaching out for him. "And who is Sam supposed to be?"

"Thanks," Selina said. "Are you sure you don't want to come with us? And Sam is Batman. He's a cartoon, you wouldn't know him."

Elijah grinned and held Lucy to himself. "Is that code for 'Elijah, I can't handle two children by myself and I want help'?"

"Okay, it is," Selina nodded. "You got me."

"All right, I'll come with you," Elijah told her. "But no eating any candy until we get back here."

"Fine," Selina said. "I guess I can wait."

He grinned at her and took the arm that wasn't holding Lucy and placed it gently but firmly on her back. She reached around with her free hand, moved it, and grasped it instead. Then she smiled. "There. That's better."

Meanwhile, the party was going as planned. "You have some blood on your lip," Anna said to Stefan as they stood in front of the mirror, rinsing out their mouths. "That last man was a real struggler, wasn't he?"

Stefan nodded. "I never understood why, though. It hurts less when they don't struggle." He shrugged. "Oh, well. Ready to go in the fray again?"

"You bet!" Anna said, grinning.

"Now, why is it Selina didn't come?" Stefan asked as they made their way back to the ballroom.

Anna rolled her eyes. "She said the dressed made her look too slutty, but I think she just wanted to stay with Elijah. That's what I get for asking him to babysit Sam and Lucy tonight."

"Wait!" Aleksandr said, appearing as if out of nowhere. "Selina's not here? Where is she?"

"At home," Anna said. "Why are you so worked up about it?"

"No particular reason," he said, trying to sound nonchalant. "I just wanted to see her."

"Uh-huh," Anna said.

After she and Stefan left, Aleksandr went in search of Myna. "She's not here," he said when he found her in the kitchen. "We have to go to her house!"

Myna rolled her eyes and pulled up the skirt of her dress. "Fine. But I hate it when things aren't easy!" They snuck out of the house and into Aleksandr's car, driving to Selina's apartment building, having gotten the address from Klaus. When they reached it, they sat outside and watched for a bit. "This better work," Myna said. "Will it?"

"Oh, yes," Aleksandr told her. "Just be patient and wait."

After Selina tucked Sam and Lucy into bed, she left their room and started when she found Elijah standing outside the door.

"Oh, you scared me," she said, giggling uneasily and taking a deep breath.

He smiled. "Sorry. I didn't mean to. But this would be the night for it, wouldn't it?"

She nodded. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Well, Sam and Lucy are asleep. So what do you want to do now? Put on a scary movie?"

Elijah nodded. "We could do that. Or I could give you your present. Whichever you'd like."

Selina picked up one of the bags of candy and began walking toward her room. "I'd like my present, please," she said, throwing a grin over her shoulder.

"I was hoping you'd say that," he said, following her into her pastel-purple painted bedroom and watching her closely as she sat down on her bed and unwrapped a package of red licorice, pulling one out and chewing on it.

"What's that?" He asked her, getting down on his knees on the floor beside the bed.

She swallowed and pulled out another. "It's licorice," she said. "You've never had any?"

He shook his head. "No. Is it good?"

She nodded. "The red kind, anyway. The black kind is gross. Thanks for helping me with Sam and Lucy tonight. I appreciate it."

He gave her a look. "Anything I can do to facilite you getting your hands on a ridiculously large amound of sugar," he said. She bit down on one end of a long strand of licorice and said through her teeth, "Bite on the other side. You'll like it. I promise."

She winked at him and he bit down on the other end of the licorice and they kept eating it until their lips met, but instead of pulling away, Elijah put his arms around Selina and kissed her deeply. Then, still holding on to her, he stood up and climbed into bed beside her. He kissed down her neck and then when he reached the collar of her dress and couldn't kiss any more, she put up her arms and they peeled the dress off her.

"When am I going to get my present?" She asked, grinning.

He grinned. "This isn't good enough for you?"

"Well, yeah," she conceded. "But couldn't you at least take off your shirt? I could help you."

"No need," he said, pulling it off and throwing it beside the bed and laughing at Selina's happy face. "Now, where were we?"

She grinned and pointed at her collarbone. "Right about here."

He continued kissing her, but when he reached her belly button, she squrmed a little, looking uncomfortable. "What's the matter?" He asked her. "Is everything okay?"

She nodded. "Mostly. I'm just a little sore from you know, carrying the kids and the candy and stuff."

"I can take care of that," he said. "Do you have any lotion in your bathroom?"

"Yeah, lots." She pointed. "In the cabinet under the sink. What are you going to do with it?"

He paused by the bathroom door and gave her a wicked grin. "You'll see."

He came out a few minutes later, clutching a container of chocolate hazelnut lotion. He looked up and saw Selina lying on the bed, watching him. She'd changed while he was in the bathroom. Now she wore the black lace panties he liked so much, but nothing else.

"Thought I'd make it easy for you," she said when he reached the bed. She turned over. "Let's start with my back," she said. "That hurts the worst."

"Okay," he said, squeezing some of the lotion onto his hand and rubbing it on her back. She shut her eyes and moaned. He ran his hands up and down her back and then rubbed her back and shoulders, turning it into a massage.

"Oh, that's good!" Selina mumbled. "Do it harder!"

He put some more lotion on his hands and rubbed it on her back, pressing harder. When she squealed with delight, he put his hand over her mouth and flipped her over onto her back, looming over her.

"Relax," he said. "We don't want to wake up the kids!"

She looked at him, wide-eyed. "No, we sure don't. That would ruin everything."

He gently rubbed lotion on her thighs, legs and feet, then her stomach, arms and neck. Then he leaned toward her and inhaled. She smelled like a chocolate shop, one of the high end ones in Switzerland. He groaned and shut his eyes, kissing her breasts and her stomach, but just as he reached her panty line, the doorbell rang.

"What now?" Selina groaned. "Who can that be? They're ruining the best present I could possibly get! Well, the second best present." She rolled her eyes. "Won't be getting the first for awhile, but I suppose it'll be worth it." She put a shirt and robe on over her panties and went to answer the door. Elijah sat in silence and waited.

Then, a scream rang out. He jumped off the bed and ran to the front door, but by then, the apartment was empty and Selina was gone. Elijah sighed and punched the wall, running his hands through his hair. He wanted to go and look for her, but he couldn't leave the kids by themselves. He put his shirt back on and checked on them. They were both still sound asleep, so whoever had come had only been interested in Selina. He sat down next to Lucy's crib and shut his eyes. He had no choice but to wait until morning to start looking for her. But who knew what could happen before then?

Selina opened her eyes and looked down at herself. She was fully dressed now and sitting in a chair in a white and sterile room. A woman with dark hair wearing a red dress stood leaning against a sink. "What did you want with me?" Selina asked her. "What did I ever do to you?"

The woman came toward her holding a syringe in one hand. "Don't be afraid," she said. "I don't want to hurt you. I only want to help you."

Selina noticed that the syringe had red liquid in it. "Is that blood?" She asked.

"Yes," the woman nodded. She pulled up the sleeve of the navy blue jacket Selina was wearing and plunged the needle into her exposed skin. Selina squealed, but found herself strangely unable to move until the entire contents of the syringe had emptied into her body.

"Why did you do that, Myna?" Selina asked. "I'm perfectly capable of hunting for myself. I don't need to be injected in order to get blood."

"You do with this kind," a male voice said. Selina looked up. "Aleksandr!" She glared. "What do you mean?"

"You need to be injected with this kind of blood," he repeated. "Because you won't take it yourself anymore. It's Niklaus' blood." He grinned slowly.

"But-but there was so much in there!" Selina said, springing up out of the chair, grabbing Aleksandr by the collar and pushing him up against the wall. "Do you know what happens to me if I have that much of Niklaus' blood in my system? It makes me crazy!"

Aleksandr nodded and detached her hands from his collar, gently pushing her away. "I can see that," he said. "It also makes you attached to my brother. He's been missing you a lot lately, and we figured he was due for some good news. That and Mother is having a rough time. That Enid woman, the one who made werewolves, has been stalking her relentlessly, threatening revenge for some wrong that Mother committed against her in the past. If you added the fact that you and Niklaus had split up to that, it would just be too much for her to handle. You're really doing us a favor."

Selina glared. "I hate you," she said. "I can't believe you did this to me. But Elijah was with me tonight. He knows that you took me. This plan of yours won't be able to go on forever."

"Maybe not, my beautful darling," Aleksandr said to her. "But it will go on long enough."