A/N: Disclaimer in Chapter 1.

I know some people don't really like Ingrid/Bertrand, but for those of you who do I hope I'm doing it justice.

Chapter 18: Fuses

The entire night was silent and still as the blanket of darkness covered them. The stars shone ad twinkled in the sky high, a dark cloud was slowly eclipsing the moon, blocking out the reflected light from the moon, plunging the night into even deeper blackness.

The manor loomed above them as they silently landed on the damp grass. The dew splashing against their leathers leaving rivulets of cold water at the bottom of the trouser legs. The three figures were silhouetted in the shadows as they gazed upon the school, no a single cape was in sight.

Baylor looked at Jorgen and Mikhail. "We need to get in and out quietly,"

Jorgen's face was full of thunder. He didn't want to be here, this was dangerous enough without them having a purpose to be here. Vlad was highly trained, they were nowhere near his level of skill. "You should have let the Hunters do this like she wanted them to."

"They wouldn't be able to resist a confrontation with him, putting getting the weapon at risk." Mikhail glanced around at them, "We need to get the weapon and get out as quickly as possible."

"The weapon won't be easy to take." Jorgen told them, the weapon wouldn't be on its own it was nearly always surrounded by one of the Draculas, it never used to be but over the last three years that had changed.

"As long as he doesn't know what we're doing and it stays that way – we'll be fine."

Baylor smirked as something happened inside the manor, "Now's our chance."

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The casing snapped shut with a click, the plastic lock turning like a screw until it was secured tightly in place.

"We're ready to switch it on." Jonno told them as he pushed himself up from the floor. His knees were stiff from crouching down at the circuit breaker. As to why Vlad's circuit breaker was on the floor no one had a clue, he'd been struggling to rewire it for hours.

As soon as he stood sparks flew and the fuses in the circuit breaker blew. Jonno let out a frustrated groan

Ingrid looked at it in complete disgust, she really didn't know much about breather technology and devices but she was sure it wasn't supposed to do that. She extended a hand, then a finger from where her arms were crossed over her chest and point at it. "Is it supposed to crackle and pop?"

The answer to that wasn't exactly polite.

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A single torchlight was the only light in the room as they entered. The light swept the room as they searched for something.

"They're somewhere over here." Vlad muttered, trying his hardest not to look at his secreted set of tools. He hid them from his father to prevent the whole 'the Chosen One doesn't do things that's what servants are for,'. Vlad had taken metal and woodwork so he knew how to mend and build things, he preferred to fix things for himself than have anyone coming into their home to sort them out.

"When was the last time you were in here?" Jonno asked, coughing as a pile of dust escaped one of the boxes as he moved it. He tried to breath in air but he only managed to breath in more and more dust, for the first time he envied their inability to breath.

"A few months ago when Erin broke the toaster." Vlad answered, moving another pile of boxes to try and find the fuses.

Jonno gave Vlad a strange look. "Is she that bad at cooking?"

Vlad gave him a strange look, he'd never even implied it. They didn't want anyone to cook for them, they had cleaners but nothing else at the moment. "She's a great cook." Erin could cook a range of foods, she enjoyed it even. Vlad was content to let her cook to her heart's delight. "The toaster burned out." He explained.

Jonno nodded before rummaging through the boxes once more.

Bertrand poked at something he assumed was a tool, but from the residue and the way it broke he wasn't entirely sure what it was. "Are you sure they're in here Vlad?"

Vlad gave him the dirtiest look he could. Bertrand smirked, usually Erin was right about where things were. He'd give him another five minutes before suggesting looking in the kitchen.

Bertrand was suddenly grabbed by the back of his collar and yanked back against the walls. In his surprise he didn't have a chance he slammed his head back against the wall, his head his one of the suits of armour Vlad had stored in this room years ago. The mace bent as he hit it hard enough that if he as still a breather his skull would have cracked.

Bertrand didn't stand a chance he slid to the floor completely unconscious.

It was up to Vlad and Jonno now.

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Mikhail spotted what they were after some time before the others, a wry smirk crossed his lips and his fangs lowered. He felt more comfortable with his fangs, in control. Vladimir Dracula wouldn't have a clue what they were up to.

His plans went completely out of the window when he saw the others enter, he didn't listen to their conversation he only watched from the shadows.

Jorgen was the one who grabbed Bertrand, and threw him backwards. He was unconscious that was one less problem for them to deal with at the moment.

Vlad looked behind them at Bertrand lying prone on the floor, he'd never seen his mentor so helpless before even before him Bertrand had never been unconscious although he had nearly knocked him out twice before during training sessions.

He took a chance, Vlad threw a fireball, clipping Jorgen and turning him to glittering dust before his very eyes. He'd killed another vampire, something he hated doing above anything else but it had been in self-defence. Mikhail and Baylor looked at the angry vampire, he wasn't being merciful now.

Vlad was thankful that Erin and Ingrid weren't in here. The room was far to small to hold a decent fight in.

Mikhail and Baylor saw they had no other choice, they either needed to act now or be turned to dust. They hadn't bargained on Vlad's sharp eyesight in the dark, they expected him to have some form of vision damaged thanks to the bright light streaming in through the windows but they couldn't have been more wrong and that mistake had cost them one of their associates their unlife.

Before Vlad could reach them again they'd grabbed something before vanishing into the sky like the hounds of hell were after them.

Vlad let out a frustrated growl, kicking at the boxes as they vanished into the night, he only had eyes for where they'd vanished from.

He looked down at the pile of ash in front of him. At least he had one less Council member to deal with now.

They'd taken something the only thing he didn't understand was why they would risk their unlives to take this?

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Mina held out her hand for the fuse she held, Erin handed it to her taking care not to drop the fragile thing on the floor. Mina clutched at it fiercely before snapping it into the fuse box. Vlad hadn't listened when Erin said exactly where the fuses were, at least the ones she kept down here. Erin kept them in the safest downstairs room, inside one of the kitchen drawers.

"INGRID!" Mina snapped as the torchlight moved away from the fuse box once more, she didn't have the vision of a vampire so the torchlight was essential for her.

"Have you actually told your parents about all of this?" Mina asked her, "Vlad losing the throne I mean?"

"Not really, they left before the coronation." Erin shrugged; they hadn't thought it was a good idea for them to be around so many vampires.

"What about Ryan?" Mina dropped in casually.

Erin resisted the urge to drop her fangs, "Don't go there Mina." Erin warned viciously, after what he's said after their second Betrothal Ball Erin didn't want anything to do with her once beloved brother. She wasn't sure it was something she could forgive easily.

To accuse Vlad of… that, he was out of his mind. Even his master (or using the term correctly mistress) hadn't been able to knock sense in him, she hadn't wanted to talk to her brother after that. An apology might help but after everything she went through for him she didn't deserve what he'd said and neither did Vlad.

"Sorry." Mina asked but she had been curious for two years Erin hadn't said anything more about it. Erin had a long memory almost as long as Vlad when it came to betrayal.

Mina took another fuse from Erin's extended hand before snapping it into place. This should be the final fuse. The fuses in the box had almost completely corroded; it was no wonder they'd blown. She lifted up the lid once more and began to seal it closed once more.

Mina looked around the room, not seeing much in the room with the blackness but it was more a case of what she couldn't hear in the room. "Where are they?"

"They should have been back by now." Erin agreed, looking down at her watch.

Ingrid and Erin looked at each other before facing Mina.

It was a valid point where were the men?

Mina flicked the switch, immediately all the electrics turned back on the lights included, then the blaring of an alarm sounded.

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Olga tapped her fingers along the armrest of her throne, everyone in the room winced at the sound – even the Hunters. No one dared confront her on it though. Her 'throne' was nothing more than an ordinary dining chair. She couldn't have a real throne until she was crowned which she couldn't be unless she was more powerful than Vlad. Only Vlad had the power to challenge her and demand she wear the real crown, she would have to wear a copy if she wanted the full power.

The youngest Dracula wanted to be crowned before Vlad challenged her, if she had to fight him she preferred to do that on equal terms.

Olga grinned as she looked at the Council. "Did you do it?" She only wanted good news.

"We've got it." Baylor grinned at her, mentally breathing a sigh of relief. "It was easy enough to do, he didn't even know why we were there."

Then something was pushed into the room, something large. Something that was definitely sure to be missed before too long even if Vlad didn't know its true purpose.

Olga finally had everything she needed

"Good." She smiled, her grin turning manic. The Council shifted nervously, they had never seen this kind of manic, toothy grin on her face. "Now I have Vlad's weapon, I don't need you anymore."

TBC

A/N: Please let me know what you think.

Thanks for reading.