'Are we sure about this?' Varga asked. Doubt was building up inside him and he'd rather get it out in front of Connar than in front of Selene and Michael.

'Yes, we are. We read all the journals and did our research. The vampires he experimented on didn't have the strength an average vampire has nowadays, let along Selene's strength. The only thing we have to be careful about is Selene not crushing her own skull.'

'Well, that's a relief.' Varga said.

Just when they were finishing up, David walked in the room and sat down with a grunt.

'You need any help?' David sounded pissed.

'Are you ok?' Connar dared to ask.

'No, but who cares.' David grunted. 'Do you need my help?'

'We are all set here and are planning on going upstairs.'

'I would wait if I were you. Eve might change Selene's mind. Eve's probably the only one she still listens too.'

'Don't count on it. Once Selene makes up her mind, she becomes an unstoppable force of nature.' Varga replied.

'About that. Why the hell did you propose this?' David turned his anger towards Varga.

'Do you have a better plan?' Varga exclaimed. 'The last few weeks the only thing you do is tearing down other people's ideas. You try and come up with something.'

It was out before he realized. He had spoken the truth but regretted it immediately. Varga had always been closer to the Elders than anyone in the coven and could more easily speak his mind, but he just knew he overstepped this time. He looked over at David and he looked furious. Varga snapped into attention as subordinate.

'My apologies for speaking freely, My Lord.' Varga even bowed.

David stood right in front of Varga and he could feel the anger radiating from him.

'Know your place, Varga!' David hissed. 'Tell Selene I have council business to attend to.'

David walked out the room, but Varga stood motionless for a couple more minutes to make sure David wasn't returning. Connar had discreetly left the room when Varga had his blow out. He put his head around the door and looked at Varga.

'Is it safe to come in?'

Varga nodded, not sure if his voice had already returned.

'Do you have a death wish?' Connar asked. 'You know he is an Elder and he is not Selene. What were you thinking?'

Varga relaxed his stand and shook his head. 'Frustration? He is so good at tearing down people and their plans and never comes up with anything. I know he is the boss of me, but he's not the boss of me. You know what I mean?'

'Yeah. I never said this, but he likes himself a bit much. But he is an Elder, so watch what you say when Selene is not in the room. She might be ok with all this, but he is definitely not.' Connar suggested.

'Let's wait another five minutes before we go back and give them a bit more time as a family.'

Varga sat in a chair and regained his calm. After all this was over, he needed to find someone to fight and blow off some steam.

Connar had left him alone until it was time to go. They went upstairs and Connar walked right into the room. Varga was a bit surprised he didn't knock like he usually did. Maybe some nerves going on as well.

'Will you at least be in the room?' Varga heard Selene asked when they entered the room.

'No, he will not.' Connar answered her. 'No family allowed this time. And yes Eve, that also means you.'

'But…' Eve started.

Connar held up his hand to silence her. Poor Eve. Varga knew she hated it when she couldn't be included in matters concerning her mother.

'No discussions and no family this time. Please follow me.' Connar

'Yes sir.' Selene replied with a subtle edge of sarcasm.

Connar was already in the bedroom, but Varga sensed Selene still needed a minute.

'We will set up in your chambers, see you in a minute.' He offered.

'No David?' Selene asked before he could go.

'I think he felt dismissed.' Varga smirked. 'He told me to say he had council meetings to attend to.'

Varga wasn't planning on telling the whole truth and made sure he was gone before she could ask more. Apparently Connar didn't handle the stress very well and walked up to the door. He leaned against the doorway with his arms crossed. It worked as Selene entered the room shortly after.

'You can wait here if you want.' And with that, Connar shut the door.

'You're in a mood.' Varga said. At least with Connar and Selene in the room, he could speak his mind.

'I just want to get this over with before I change my mind. It's not every day you try and inject an Elder with poison.' Connar sighed.

'That's the spirit.' Varga said sarcastically. Varga agreed but tried not to let his own doubt shine through, Connar on the other side probably reached the end.

'As much as I love to listen to the two of you bickering, I too, would like to get this over with.' Selene intervened. 'Is there something I need to know before we do this?'

'As a matter of fact, there is. Please sit.' Connar instructed. 'In the journals, the physician described one very bad side effect in all surviving vampires. They get an extreme headache.'

'Well, I have dealt with those during multiple council meetings. I'll live.' Selene replied.

Varga felt like he needed to take over from Connar. He knew the guy well enough to know he was about to cancel the whole thing if he needed to explain the side effects.

'Not like these. One of the test subjects died because of the headache. He crushed his skull with his own hands to stop the pain.' Varga explained. 'Apparently, the only way to stop the pain was to push at the side of his skull, but he went too far. His bones cracked and he pushed them into his brain. He died a couple of seconds later.'

Varga could continue, but by the look on Selene's face, her thoughts were somewhere else.

'Selene?' Varga tried, but still no response.

'Selene?!' He tried a bit more forceful.

She shook her head in response. 'Sorry.'

'Did you hear what I said?'

'Yes.'

Varga knew she was lying, but she already faced Connar.

'I know you have new rules for Michael, but can you promise me you will get him if you cannot pin me down? Both of you might not have the needed strength.'

'I promise.' Connar stated. 'If you are ready, lay down and please roll up your sleeve.'

Varga heard her taking a deep breath, but she laid down anyway. Varga smiled at her and stepped back to give Connar some space. Connar stepped up and put the syringe on her nightstand. He had prepared some other items Varga couldn't place. Varga wasn't even sure why he was in the room, but he wasn't planning on leaving any time soon.

'I will be injecting the Black Dusk in a vein in your arm. After a few seconds you will feel its effect and pass out. If you can, try to describe what you are feeling.' Connar said.

'Let's do this.' Selene replied.

Selene watched as Connar injected the Black Dusk into her arm. Connar and Varga looked at Selene as nothing seemed to happen for the first second.

'It's cold.' Selene suddenly said, but her voice was different. Varga noticed her speech had slowed.

Barely second later, her heart and breathing slowed to the bare minimum and she passed out. Connar started the clock to measure how long the Black Dusk would last. Only thing they could do now was to wait.

'Keep an ear out for her heart rate and breathing. First sign of trouble we need to perform CPR to get her heart going.' Connar said. 'It will take approximately two minutes for her to come out of this coma-like state.'

The next two minutes crawled by and Varga got anxious. Selene looked very much at peace, but there was a lot of tension in the room. Varga could only imagine what Connar must be feeling. It was Vargas' plan, but he didn't have to poison an Elder himself. Connar kept looking back and forth between the clock and Selene.

'Are you ok?' Varga whispered.

'I will be when she wakes up.' Connar replied.

And as if Selene had heard him, her heart rate and breathing increased to an almost normal level. She stirred and moaned. Selene's eye fluttered as she was regaining consciousness. Her moaning turned into a cry of pain.

'Watch her hands and prepare to step in.' Connar ordered.

Selene's hand curled into a fist and shot towards her head. Varga moved next to her and grabbed her hand. Her strength was reduced, but he still needed all of his to get her hand away from her head.

She fought him and Varga eventually had to put his weight in as well. He put his knees on her arm to make sure she couldn't reach her head. Her cries and strength started to diminish and after a few minutes, she was unconscious again. Varga fell back on the bed, panting. It took quite a lot of energy fighting with such a strong vampire.

'What's next?' Varga asked.

'Now we wait.' Connar said. 'She might wake up a few times before she fully regains consciousness. According to the journals it will take about an hour.'

'How are you not drained?' Varga asked.

'I noticed the arm I injected was not moving. Since the cells in her arms were the first ones to get a dose of Black Dusk, they might be affected more severely. Causing her arm to be paralyzed. I didn't actually have to sit on her.' Connar raised an eyebrow.

'Despite the Black Dusk, she still had a lot of strength in her. It worked, just don't tell her I sat on her.' Varga pleaded. 'Will her arm work afterwards?'

'I hope so.' Connar responded.

'Can Michael and Eve come in now? You know they will be listening at the door.'

'No, they can't. We are not finished yet.' Connar said a bit louder for Michael and Eve to hear. 'It will still be about an hour.'

During that hour, Varga had to sit on Selene's arm a few times. Connar noticed that light and sounds made her worse. He had closed the blinds and made the room completely dark. Their vampire vision made sure they could still see, so Varga and Connar were communicating without sounds as well.

It helped a lot getting Selene to settle down faster, but Varga was drained in the end. After the last struggle he felt back into Michaels' pillow. Before they started this, he wanted to fight to get some access energy released, but he didn't need that anymore.

'Please get Michael in here to get the next one.' Varga got out between gasps.

'When she's not awake next time, I will call him.' Connar said.

Varga nodded, unable to speak. He figured Selene always held back when she was fighting, he never had to deal with her full force before. And even now, he didn't have to fight her full strength. She could literally crush anyone if she wanted to.

Next to him, Selene started stirring again and he feared he had to do a last round before Michael could take over. Varga tried to sit up, but Connar held his hand up. Selene opened her eyes and it looked like she was regaining consiousness.

'Selene?' Connar whispered. 'Can you hear me?'

Selene moaned in response. 'My… head…'

Her hand went to her head again, but Varga saw a difference. She didn't use force and moved slowly. He was ready to step in but felt like he didn't need to anymore.

'Do you know where you are?' Connar continued.

'My chambers.' Her voice sounded strained, and she spoke slowly. 'What… What happened?'

'Can you move you left arm?'

Selene didn't respond. Her eyes started fluttering again and her arm fell next to her head. Varga looked at Connar.

'She's asleep.' Connar concluded. 'She will probably wake up again in half an hour. Can you inform Eve and Michael?'

'I will.' Varga replied and got up. As soon as he stood, he noticed the drain in energy. He decided to ignore it and go to Michael and Eve in the common room.

Varga had gotten used to the dark, he immediately shielded his eyes from the light when he entered the common room. He heard Michael stop pacing the room and head toward him.

'She's alive.' Varga said before they started their interrogation.

'Are you ok?' Eve asked.

'Yeah. It's pitch-black in there and quite light over here. Give me a minute.' As his eye adjusted to the light, Michael and Eve were looking at him for answers.

'Selene was out for a bit over 2 minutes. She was in and out of consciousness until now. She just woke up for a bit and she could answer Connar's question. He says she will be awake again in about half an hour.' Varga reported.

Suddenly Eve guided him to a chair and sat him down. Michael walked up to him with a bag of blood.

'What…'

'Drink this, you need it.' Michael ordered.

He did as ordered and finished the bag. He had to admit he felt a bit better after.

'Feel better?' Michael asked.

'Yes actually, I didn't know I needed that.' Varga replied.

'You looked like a ghost!' Eve smirked.

'What happened in there?' Michael asked. 'We heard her cries.'

'Well…' Varga hesitated. He didn't know how much to tell the both of them at this point. 'A side effect of Black Dusk is a terrible headache. Connar asked me to, uhm, hold Selene's arms so she couldn't crush her, well… skull.'

He knew he should have lied by the shocked looks on their faces. Michael looked like he was ready to explode and Eve looked like she would never speak again.

'She didn't! I made sure of that!' Varga tried. 'She's completely fine! Ah never mind.'

He gave up. No matter what he would say, they would still be shocked and ready to kill him for not telling up front. And he couldn't blame them. Connar made him promise not to tell them about the headache, otherwise Michael would have stopped it.

'The only thing that keeps me from killing you right now is the fact that you can go in there and I cannot.' Michael responded as he grabbed him by the collar, stopping a few inches from his face. 'But if you ever keep things from me again, I will make sure your life is a living hell.'

'Leave him alone!' Connar saved him. 'It was my order not to tell you. I knew you would flip out like you just demonstrated. Selene is fine, although she will be a bit drained for a few hours.'

'For now, you're off the hook.' Michael grunted to Varga. 'Can we go in and see her?' He asked Connar.

'If she's fully awake you can.' Connar replied. 'Varga, follow me please.'

'Yes, sir.' Varga said.

He stood up and saw Eve. He forgot she was still in the room. She had a shocked look on her face and Varga mouthed an apology to her. She gave him half a smile before he went back into the bedroom. Connar closed the door behind him.

'It was not your place to tell them that!' Connar said. 'Next time, you shut up and let me do the talking.'

'It's really not my day.' Varga sighed.

'What's happening?' Selene interrupted them.

Connar and Varga looked at the bed and Selene leaned on her elbow while resting her other hand on her head. For someone who had been poisoned an hour before, she looked quite good.

'How are you feeling?' Connar asked. 'The truth.'

'Like my head's been hit by a truck and split in half and out of energy. But otherwise, ok.'

'How's your left arm?'

'A bit tingly. After effect of the Black Dusk?'

'I hope so. The feeling should fade the next hours, if not, let me know.' Connar handed her some blood. 'Here, drink this. If you are up to it, Michael and Eve would like to see you.'

'Let them in.' Selene said.

The door flew open and Eve came dashing in. Michael followed her but kept a bit of distance.

'Don't excite her too much.' Connar said. 'I will be back in an hour to check on you.'

'Thank you, Connar.' Michael said. 'Varga you can go too.'

Varga wanted to protest, he'd rather stay and look after Selene. Instead, he nodded and walked away.