One Hundred and Eight

Seeing Tyler there in Bram’s arms was hard enough.

Walking into the room where Dracula sat looking very displeased, was *very* uncomfortable. Every vampire heard those horror stories. He slipped in and out of shadows. He could overcome any master binding and take control of your mind at any time. He was the equivalent of the Boogeyman for them.

Bram didn’t complain when Gavin dropped down in front of him. Handing Tyler over, he apologized. “We should have been more prepared. I will be next time. I’m so sorry.”

That wasn’t what mattered. All Gavin wanted to do was see and hold him again, and the emotional rush was too much. “Oh, love, I didn’t think I’d ever see you again.” He sobbed over and over. “Tell me you’re okay. I need to hear your voice.”

Bram got up, “Hey, Vlad. We need to go. Devon, you need to come with us.”

“Why?” Devon asked.

“Because, we’ll kill each other if we’re left alone.” Vlad was clearly not happy with this turn of events, yet he seemed to be playing along.

“No.” Bram glared at him. “Because they need a minute alone. Should I also point out that your wife is here?”

“She’s your mother.” He growled back. “If you son spoke to his mother that way—”

“He would never need to…” Bram grabbed Vlad’s arm and stormed out. Gavin could still hear them arguing in beyond the cell but ignored them.

“Gavin.” Tyler’s eyes opened, looking up at him. “I’m so happy you’re here.” His hand came up, but there were cuts and large bruises all over his body. He’d been beaten terribly. Enough to kill a human, but not a vampire. Problem was, Tyler was half and half, so it would take him longer to heal on his own. The blood around his mouth meant Bram had let him feed, despite his own wounds. Gavin was glad, that was the best thing for him at this point.

“I told you I was coming for you.” Gavin wiped his tears off Tyler’s cheeks as they fell. Leaning over, he kissed Tyler gently. “How could I not?”

“I thought you were dead.”

“I did too.” Gavin chuckled, running his fingers through his hair, “I’m probably the only vampire who can say they survived a steak to the heart.”

Tyler nuzzled into Gavin’s chest. “I’m so tired.”

“I know. We have a new friend who can get you to Izabella though. She’ll take care of you. Bram and I still have work to do here. I’ll come get you after. You have missed a hell-of-a-lot over the last few days. You took a toll here, but none of your wounds look too bad. I bet you’ll be up and going in a few days.” Gavin caressed Tyler, but it didn’t take long for him to fall asleep. “Bram?” Gavin called. He could sit here all day just holding his lover, but the prison was cold and Tyler would feel better once he was put in a real bed.

“Yeah?” Bram called, coming back. “You guys ready?” He knelt in front of Gavin.

“He fell asleep. No point in wasting anymore time.” Gavin sighed, standing up. “Eudom? You can help get him to Izabella, right?”

“Yes, Eudom will help.” He stepped out of the shadow holding out his arms. “This is Gavin’s Izabella?” He cocked his head to the side.

Gavin chuckled, gently placing Tyler in Eudom’s arms. “Yeah, his name’s Tyler.” He leaned over, pressing a kiss to Tyler’s forehead.

“Izabella will take good care of Gavin’s Tyler.” Eudom nodded, pulling him into the shadows. “Devon should come with Eudom also.”

“That’s right buddy. Time go back with mom.” Bram said, mussing Devon’s hair.

“Awe, do I have to?” He grumbled, pushing his dad’s hand away.

“Yep. Eudom will keep any eye on us just like before, right Eudom?”

Eudom nodded, his head elongating toward Bram and he whispered, “I don’t trust the witch. Or the fake shadow vampire.”

Bram smirked, leaning in. “I don’t either. Come on though, we’re burning the night away and we all have people we want to get home to. Devon, tell mom I love her and will be home soon.”

“’Kay!” Devon said, jumping into the shadows as Eudom disappeared.

Bram swept out of the prison and started toward the exit. “What are you doing now?” Scarlet snapped at him. “I thought you would just leave like the others with the shadow man since he doesn’t seem to have an issue moving you all around now.”

Bram looked back at her, pausing. “You’re right. You were the one he refuses to allow in his shadows. I don’t blame him for that at all. You killed some like him to give us the power we have. But at the moment, I’m going to go take down the elders. Then I’m going to send a message to all those who run the regions that we’re having an emergence meeting and making them come here to meet me. From there, we’re going to lay out the new law of the land, as I see fit to make it. I’ll hold the meeting in one month’s time. If anyone decides they want to try to oppose us, I’ll replace them too.”

“I thought you didn’t want to take over.” Vlad was clearly confused by this choice.

“I don’t, but I’m not going to have the elders after me for an eternity because I’ve decided to take a mate. And for fucks sake, if I want to have another child, I have every fucking right to. For now, I will take the responsibility for the vampire world. It’s the best way I can protect my family. In the end though, I do plan on finding someone else.”

And that was exactly what they did. Scarlet and Vlad left. They didn’t want any part of replacing the elders that had only done exactly as they’d said. But Bram wasn’t going to accept that as their excuse anymore. Anyone who was going to act against him like this, from here on out, would be killed. Regardless of the sword having lost some strength during his fight with Vlad, it was still an incredibly impressive weapon. Between him and Gavin, the elders felt like nothing compared to what happened with his father earlier. None of them were half as fast as Vlad. Gavin seemed lighter on his feet now too. As if knowing that Tyler was in safe hands had lifted the world off his shoulders.

It wasn’t all simple, it took them two days in the catacombs to sniff out every one of the elders, which was substantially longer than either of them had wanted. But neither of them was willing to take more time to hunt them later. One actually escaped into the city of Paris, but they were successful in hunting her down too. The more of the elders they killed though, the few vampires they had to kill. Most of those who were in the catacombs belong to the elders, so Bram and Gavin each gained a number of new followers.

When the demand for the regional officers across the globe to meet up came, a scream went out among the vampire world, and shackles were raised. No one knew what to do with this information, and some were just nervous that Bram had finally made a move. It would be one of the largest gatherings of vampires this century. Once everything was wrapped up and all the plans were made, Bram and Gavin went off to feed before calling for Eudom to bring them back to where Izabella and Tyler waited for them.

Twittering when he dropped them off, both Bram and Gavin looked around. “Wait? Are we in an attic?” Bram asked, looking around. Sheets covered a ton of things up here, and there was a covering over what looked like a window at one end. Boxes were piled high and there were two sewing dummies dressed in crazy clothing.

“Our Izzy has a special surprise!” He opened his arms wide, his grin larger than normal.