A/N: Disclaimer in Chapter 1.

Only two chapters to go after this…

I definitely have three (four if I ever finish that one) fics in mind after this saga that I'm beginning to plan.

So if anyone wants to see anything particular, wants it to be a future fic or wants me to include a plot they've thought of please let me know and I'll see what I can do...

Chapter 28: Deal

The basement wasn't the most comfortable place to be, he hated being in here Erin even more so. It reminded him of where vampires hid and lurked in the shadows. He'd managed to bring them into the light and Olga had forced them back in.

The uneven floor nearly forced him to topple sideways once or twice as he tried to move along the corridor. The stones shifted every now and then under their respective weights, as far as Vlad was concerned these flag stones should have been fixed a long time ago, clearly someone hadn't done the job he'd paid them to.

Erin tugged on his arm as her shoes slid on one of the damp stones, being worn from use they were now smoother.

He felt Erin shudder next to him and stopped immediately.

"You okay?" He asked concerned about her, he could see her barely concealed look of disgust.

"I hate being down here." She muttered, she always hated being somewhere where she could walk into a cobweb at a moment's notice.

Vlad shook his head, giving her a small amused smile. He could never understand how she could live with them but hate the basement.

"I'll protect you from the spiders." He teased; she elbowed him in the ribs for that comment. She didn't mind spiders, they weren't a problem, she hated the sensation of their sticky cobwebs on her flesh. It made her skin crawl.

Erin shook her head, completely annoyed at her husband, her lip curled up slightly in a scolding manner. "Grow up." Her eyes narrowed as she spoke.

Vlad sobered up at her words, they needed to do what they came here to do. Teasing was for later.

YEKNODELTTILYEKNODELTTIL

Mikhail and Baylor were sitting in Vlad's glistening cells. There was plenty of light there so he could see every movement right down to the flicked of an eyelid. He wasn't going to be surprised by either of them. The pair winced at the light, it was brighter than they were used to.

"You attacked my wife." Vlad hissed angrily at them, no one attacked Erin and lived.

"If we wanted her dust you wouldn't have been able to stop us,"

"You never even stood a chance of doing that. Anyway if you'd wanted her dead then you would have thrown another weapon, one that would have killed her instantly, not stunned her."

Mikhail and Baylor looked at each other, they'd forgotten that Vlad wasn't easily intimidated if ever by them. The young vampire always stood a chance.

"Why are you here?" Erin asked them, she wanted an answer to why she'd been paralysed for the last few hours.

"We don't answer to half fangs." Baylor told her with a smirk.

Erin let out a growl, Vlad clenched his fist and Baylor cried out as he felt his legs beginning to turn to stone. They pulled at their joints as they began to change and grow heavier, he felt like they were going to be torn from his hips.

Vlad opened his fist again, revealing is palm once more as he lowered it to his side. It wasn't a power he was proud of, he hated to use it but at that moment it had been necessary.

Vlad looked at them, they trembled with fear. Unlike Olga Vlad could become incredibly clam there was no reading of his emotions. He wore a careful mask. "Answer her question."

Mikhail gulped, he could see that Vlad was serious in his demands. "We want to help you get your throne back."

YEKNODELTTILYEKNODELTTIL

Vlad and Erin looked like deer caught in headlights. They hadn't been expecting that answer, they'd expected them as some sort of warning sent by Olga to them or some form of strike force to get rid of them. They were taking a risk coming here to offer their 'help'.

Erin couldn't believe what she was hearing, if she didn't have her sensitive vampire hearing she would have assumed she'd heard wrong. "You took the throne off Vlad!" She shook her head trying to get it around this new development, "Now you want to help him get it back? You must be…"

"Olga broke the Council up didn't she." Vlad interrupted his wife. His eyebrow was raised in complete amusement at the comment.

"How?"

"You called me the Vampire King; Olga's a woman so she's a Vampire Queen." Erin ducked her head in memory of Vlad's smug correction. "Being a Queen lets her disband the Council."

Mikhail and Baylor looked down, Vlad was enjoying this more than he should have. They'd ousted him because he was making Erin Queen only for them to appoint a Queen themselves. There was a delicious sense of irony there.

"If I accept your help what do you want out of it?" Vlad wasn't going to beat around the bush. They were vampires and clearly they expected something.

"We want to do a deal." Mikhail forced through his lips, he looked as if he was about to retch on every word. A vampire never compromised on anything.

"What. Deal?" Vlad forced out the words between clenched teeth, He could do this on his own if he had to but he was willing to hear them out.

"That the punishment for this will be changed." If by 'this' they meant treason…

"For what and ?" Vlad wanted to play ignorant. He wanted them to admit what they'd done to him.

"If we help you get your throne back we want to have our punishment changed." There was only one punishment that treason carried – slaying.

Erin looked at Vlad, Vlad wasn't entirely sure. "Tell me what you know and I'll consider it." He answered as a compromise.

"It doesn't work like that."

"Either that or I slay you right here and now. I slew Jorgen, I'll slay you without losing any sleep over it." Vlad wasn't bluffing, he didn't have the patience if they were going to waste any more of his time. "Your choice."

Baylor ad Mikhail looked at him fear blazing for all to see. Erin watched as they realised Vlad would slay them if he had to. They nodded to each other. Vlad felt a faint smile cross his face at his victory. "Where's Bertrand?" Vlad demanded looking at the Council, he wanted to know. There was no fussing around the issue.

"Olga has him." Was the answer Mikhail gave him, he didn't once meet Vlad's eyes.

"We worked that out." Erin muttered sarcastically. "Why did she take him?" This was their chance to get Vlad to consider their deal. They needed to make it convincing.

Baylor looked at him, complete honesty in his eyes. Neither of the young couple had ever seen him looking so honest. "He's her weapon to use against you."

Vlad's brow furrowed in complete confusion. "How is Bertrand a weapon?" He closed his eyes for the briefest of moments and prayed that they didn't know about the connection to the bone.

"He made your bride the most powerful female and he trained you, Olga wants the same."

"She wants him to train her."

Silence reigned around the room. It made sense. Bertrand had become well known as the vampire who'd taught Vlad to control his powers. If Olga trained with him she'd match Erin's skill and be able to predict Vlad's own techniques. He'd be more susceptible to surprise and that would give her the edge.

"Bertrand will never train her." Ingrid answered barely leaving a pause at the end of Baylor's sentence. Ingrid knew Bertrand would never do that, he valued his loyalty to Vlad too much to ever train his enemy.

Baylor shook his head, "He might not want to but he might not have a choice." Olga being trained wasn't the best idea anyone had ever come up with. They'd agreed thinking their power was secure but she would only concern herself with herself no she'd disbanded them.

"What does that mean?"

Mikhail looked at him, fear lacing his voice. "You don't know what she'd capable of, she'd getting worse by the day." Her anger spells were getting worse and the smugness was growing as well.

"She's a lunatic." The power had gone to Olga's head, that's why Vlad made such a brilliant leader, he'd never wanted the power in the first place so it had ever gone to his head.

"Where is Olga?" Vlad demanded angrily he needed to get in and out of there before Bertrand could be used against him. They hadn't had a starting point before (and Ryan had been too stubborn to talk) but now they did.

Mikhail let out a deep sigh, he looked across at Baylor who nodded in agreement. "Hiding in plain sight…"

TBC

A/N: What do you think?

Remember if you'd like to see anything in a future fic after this saga, please let me know so I can start to work around them.

Thanks for reading.