The days had passed and nothing had changed, including the clothes that Lucian was wearing. His old friend had caused some serious problems, relapsing into his benders would cause his mother and the heads of council to have words with him. They had been rather specific in regards to the heavy binges that had consumed much of Lucian's adult years.

It was mid-morning on the seventh day after the bands departure, Theodore heard the gate open and hurried out to greet the guest. His spirits were lifted slightly when Phabel walked out although he didn't know what part of the castle his master was in and didn't know what to tell him if he were to ask.

'Good afternoon your highness.' Theodore bowed.

'Good afternoon Theodore, is Lucian around?'

'He is but I am sorry, I do not know where he is.'

Phabel looked at his concerned expression. The last time he was here Phabel knew that Lucian had turned a corner in his life just by the looks on the faces of his staff. But the look on Theodore's face was the look of his staff from the days of old. Something was amiss.

'Ok, what's going on?'

'Miss Randall has returned to her tour. I was on holidays at the time and Rosa had advised me of the events in my absence. They had a fight because his highness has taken over as king.'

'Yes I heard that.'

Theodore nodded rather sadly.

'Well she wanted him to go with her as she would be gone for a year.'

'And Lucian can't leave.'

'Exactly your highness. Prior to her departure all narcotics and alcohol had been cleaned out of the castle but we keep finding empty bottles around the place.'

'Drugs?'

'Not that we can find.'

'Well that's something I suppose.' he muttered.

'We know he is here somewhere, we search for him but he manages to escape us. If it is intentional or not, we don't know. We also don't know if he is feeding. The blood stock remains the same and we fear that he might be rather deprived.'

'Is he live feeding?'

'It is possible however the town is quite some distance.'

Phabel sighed as he thought about the nightmare that was Lucian.

'Please your highness, I do not wish to ask things of you but we worry for our master. We cannot find him.'

'It's alright Theodore, I will search for him.'

Lucian's problems with alcohol were the least of his problems, Phabel had some rather disturbing news and needed to find Lucian quickly. Phabel turned into a tracking dog and searched him out, finding him in one of the towers, completely drunk.

'Phabel my man, how's it hangin?'

'Great.' he muttered. 'Time to sober up, I need coherent Lucian urgently.'

'Nah, drunk Lucian is much more fun. I know you like him, you like to party with drunk Lucian.'

'Not today buddy, time to sober up, this is important.'

'She lied Phabe.' his head rolled as he watched the empty bottle roll from his hand 'Did she ever love me?'

'I don't know.'

Phabel sat down beside him and leaned on the brick wall.

'Did you know she's blonde? Another lie.'

'Does it really matter what colour her hair colour is?'

'No. She lied, she doesn't love me. Maybe she's payback for all of them.' his head rolled again 'Maybe Ariella paid her.'

'Somehow I doubt it Lucian, I think Ariella's got enough on her plate.'

Phabel sighed lowly as Lucian slurred out that she'd lied over and over again.

'What did she lie about Lucian? I seriously doubt that she would lie about her love for you.'

'She doesn't love me, she picked her career over me.'

'So did you.' he snapped at him 'How do you think she feels right about now? Do you think that she might be skipping through a field of flowers shouting out her happiness?'

'But I can't do this without her, look at me. I can't even keep my promise. The shadows are back.'

'Ok Lucian, I'm sorry, I really want to be the sympathetic ear but I can't do that for you today. You need to stop this shit and man up. Yes, she picked her career over your relationship but so did you. What would she say to you if she saw you like this? The Danika I know would kick your sorry arse into next week, telling you what a fool you are being. Now it's time to snap out of it, we've got a big problem. Larcon has escaped his bonds.'

'Who is Larcon?'

'What?' Phabel scoffed 'Lucian, he's your mother's cousin. Larcon is Gavril's son, he was bound to the shifter realm by Terrance. Somehow he has escaped and we know that he has left the shifter realm.'

Lucian sobered instantly, knowing this wasn't good. If he had escaped his bonds it meant, he was after something and the sudden change of management for Rostonin might have something to do with it.

'How do you not know who he is?'

Lucian shrugged as he frowned.

'Bad blood, you know what mother is like. Anything to do with them is like swearing at her. I think she would slap me to the ground if I dared to mention Gavril's name. Is Larcon in Elm'nyth?'

'We don't know but we can assume yes.'

'Do you think he would know of tomorrow, today...' Lucian frowned 'What day is it?'

'The ceremony is tomorrow and yes; it is highly likely that he knows about it. You're part shifter, to us it's a total boon. Dad's declared tomorrow a public holiday to honour your crowning ceremony.'

'You think he might try something tomorrow?'

'Highly likely. He is his father.'

Lucian struggled to his feet, scampering down the stairs, in hot pursuit by Phabel.

'Where are you going?'

'To the garden.'

'Of course, that makes perfect sense.' Phabel muttered as he followed Lucian through the paths.

It made no sense to Phabel until they reached a derelict garden. He would have said something more, but he was pretty sure Lucian wasn't listening. When he reached a stone wall with a gate, Lucian sat down. Phabel didn't know if he was of sound mind or if he was still drunk.

'Grandfather.'

'Ok Lucian...' Phabel paused as a ghost came through the brick wall.

'Your highness.' he dropped with a bow.

'Hello Phabel, good to see you again.'

The elder Lucian turned to his grandson.

'What is bothering you grandson?'

'Phabel has advised me that Larcon has broken bonds and left the shifter realm. They believe he might be here, I fear he is after the throne, the ceremony is tomorrow.'

'It certainly seems plausible. He always was like his father and his mother was no better either.'

He paused with his thoughts for a moment and then resumed speaking.

'I think it best to not discuss our options in the open, is there somewhere safe to speak without fear of being listened to?'

'Mid jump, the council meeting room, but you can't leave, can you?'

'I will speak with Godfrey about the situation, in the meantime organise with your mother for an urgent meeting.'

*********************************

'Lucian, you need to change, shower or something. Jeez.'

Phabel turned his nose up at him, Lucian took a whiff and screwed his face up.

'Yeah ok. In a sec.'

Lucian rushed off to the head guard, informing him of the news. They both agreed to a sweep of the grounds and permanent watch put on the castle, the staff and Lucian. A guard stood outside the bathroom door as Lucian readied for the meeting. As he dressed he realised that there wasn't anything safer about mid jump than here. If Larcon disappeared, they would never know he was in the room. In fact, he could be in any room. Going to mid-jump was pointless and he quickly set about having everyone meet at the castle. Half an hour later the heads of council had arrived, his grandparents, great grandparents and Phabel were in the boardroom. Eris had arrived too, most unimpressed that Larcon had escaped his bonds and fled his realm.

'He was under constant surveillance.' Eris muttered. 'I have ordered a secret investigation; I fear dirty guards.'

'Yes, that is a very distinct possibility. When was the last time he was seen by a trustworthy source?'

Terrance paced the floor, stopping by the fire place as he waited for Eris to respond.

'That would be by a close associate, one that I would trust my life with, he saw him in the town centre.'

Eris frowned and rubbed his brow.

'Speaking with a witch. Damn it. Not a dirty guard then. Why did that not occur to me?'

'Do not fret about it Eris, you cannot help who he associates with, the witch should have known better. Bonds are placed for a reason.'

Lucian could hear Theodore moving to the door, a minor conversation and then the door shutting. He rose from his seat to see what was going on.

'Theodore?'

'Sire, there has been a delivery for you.'

In his hands was a small cardboard box, square in shape, white in colour.

'Thank you Theodore.'

Lucian looked at the tiny parcel, on it was written for the urgent attention of Lucian Eliade Leonte. He opened the box, finding a tiny media disc.

'What's that son?'

'An urgent delivery... a disc.'

'Are you going to play it or are you worried of what it might contain?'

'Should I be worried?'

'Well its timing is rather dubious.' Terrance mused. 'Put it in, if your bare arse appears on the screen, we will look away, we promise.'

'Gee thanks.'

Lucian put the disc into the player and took a deep breath, now worried. The screen flickered with the image of a man and then settled, playing the image. He was a young man with thick brown hair, his skin pale with two big blue eyes that looked directly into the camera. A sly smile slicked across his face as he adjusted the picture. The light around him was dark making it difficult to see everything. It appeared to be in what looked like a tiny warehouse, dark and wet. A few candles flickered in a low breeze.

'Hey, hey old friend.'

Lucian frowned at the man on the screen who seemed to know him, but he didn't know who he was.

'Shit.' Eris scowled. 'That's Larcon.'

Everyone gasped as they watched.

'I have something of yours.' his words were dark and sinister sounding.

The camera turned to a sight that made the blood drain from Lucian's face. Danika was tied to a chair, struggling under her restraints, her mouth taped shut.

'So, I'm thinking we could do a trade, you have something that I want, I have something you want.'

A knife played in his fingers, the blade catching the limited light. He moved behind Danika and held the knife to her skin on her neck.

'So pretty, do you think she will like the afterlife?'

Larcon chuckled darkly as he moved back to the camera.

'I want the crown Lucian. You have until three o'clock, if I do not hear from you, I will have my answer. If you are prepared to do the trade, call the number on the box.'

Lucian grabbed the box, finding the number on one of the sides.

'We do not give in to the demands of criminals Lucian.' Terrance watched as he searched for his phone.

'He has her, I don't care what he asks for, I have to save her, she's my mate.'

'Yes a mate that chose her career over you. Are you willing to give up your kingdom for her?'

'I am, I realise that now, I should never have let her walk away. I have spent the past week drunk because I did and now she is in trouble, I have to help her.'

'You cannot allow him to take the throne, we cannot permit it.'

'Then take the throne back from me, I can't give it if I don't have it.'

'We cannot just go passing it back and forth like a plate of food. This is an entire vampiric kingdom you are talking about, lives depend on the decisions that are made and I for one will not let him anywhere near this throne.' Terrance was pissed as he pointed to Larcon on the paused screen.

'Fine, if you won't help me, I will do it on my own.'

Lucian stormed out of the meeting room, quickly followed by Phabel. The sunlight was nearly blinding for Lucian, having spent the past week hiding in various parts of the castle, he hadn't seen much of the sun. He was halfway down the gravel driveway when Phabel caught up with him.

'Seriously Lucian you aren't going to take him on by yourself, are you?'

'I've taken on thousands of humans, rogues and the occasional vamp gone bad in my life Phabel, one more won't make any difference.'

'Well, I'm coming with you then.'

'Me too.'

The two men turned to see Josie standing behind them.

'I do like a good fight.' she purred as she sauntered closer 'And of course it always helps to have someone like a phoenix on your side. I can track him with my inner wolf, I can fight him with my spells. I am your hidden secret.'

'How true, he wouldn't know of the second phoenix, would he?'

'It's possible he won't. We don't speak of her, you know us shifters, we like secrets.'

Josie sniffed the box, the passed it to Phabel. Once they had caught a scent on the wind, they set out to find them. Lucian thought that he would be tracking half way across the country side. But strangely enough when they got to the end of the driveway, the scent took a path to the left, alongside the property. The wall was high and Lucian had never been on this side of the exterior of the castle grounds. By the look of the land, it appeared that the gardener hadn't either. Then it struck him as to where they were, they were near the overgrown garden. Among the dense bushes was a bicycle, one that was barely visible. Lucian was about to dismiss it as the local kids leaving their things lying around but noticed it had rocks in between the tread. Little tiny gravel stones, exactly the same as what lay on his driveway.

'The delivery guy?' Phabel whispered.

Lucian nodded as they all changed form. Lucian preferred his bugs, he thought that no one ever noticed a bug. Phabel turned into a bird and flew up to the tree to see what was on the other side of the brick wall and Josie slithered her snake form through the bushes, looking for anything else of use. Phabel tweeted from the branch, getting the bug and snake's attention. Lucian flew up and rested on the brickwork, seeing a few bricks missing. There was enough for someone to fit through if they wanted. Lucian flew down and entered into the tomb, finding the very heart sinking scene. Larcon and Danika. She was still tied to the chair and still alive, Larcon was dressed as the delivery guy. It was dark in the room, candles flickered around creating creepy shadows that danced on the walls. Lucian saw the two snakes slither into the room, Larcon never seeing a thing. Knowing that Phabel and Josie were hidden, Lucian took form and stood tall in the poor light.

'Well, hello there.' Larcon chuckled. 'So good to finally meet you dear cousin.'

'You and I are not cousins. You are not related to me, at all.'

'Oh, how wrong you are. But it makes no difference anyway, what is your decision? The crown or your love?'

Lucian cast his eyes to Danika, she was scared, he could see it in her eyes.

'My love.'

She cried as she tried to beg him from under the tape, shaking her head, trying to free herself from the ropes. Larcon pulled a piece of paper from his jacket and slapped it onto the stone wall.

'Aww, how sweet. Love truly is blind. Sign away.'

Lucian looked at the form in the flickering light. He could see so many mistakes on the form but said nothing, the wall was up in his mind so he knew that Larcon would never find out. He signed the form and passed it back.

'It's been a pleasure doing business with you, however, I do have something else for you. Of course you know of my father's death, such tragic circumstances really. To be murdered by a kings guard in order to protect your mother, someone who should never have been placed on the throne. That was my father's place, not hers.'

'You're delusional.'

'Maybe, at any rate, now I have something that is a mild form of atonement for not getting the crown, it's not the world, but Rostonin will do, for now.'

He chuckled as he stepped backwards, closer to Danika.

'But as revenge for my father's death, I have a much greater plan. Welcome to hell, Lucian.'

In a blur of movement, Larcon pulled a knife from his pocket and slammed it into Danika's stomach. The hit was so hard, the chair fell back to the ground, the knife still sitting in her stomach, blood pouring out. Lucian rushed to her as Larcon turned to leave.

Something took over Lucian, even though the tears that were flowing fast and freely and the blood that was pooling around his knees, he knew what to do. He ripped off the tape from her mouth, apologising. Not that it would have mattered, the pain in her stomach was far worse. He pulled the knife from her stomach and tore open a vein, putting it to her mouth, then he took one of Danika's wrists. Lucian knew timing was important for an emergency turn. Danika didn't struggle, she knew what he was doing, she knew he was trying to save her life. She could feel the burning through her body as her life began to fade. Tears rolled past her temples as she looked up at Lucian. He had given up his kingdom for her and now it was for nothing. She was dying and he couldn't save her.

'I'm sorry.' she whispered.

Her voice was watery, she coughed and could feel the warmth of the blood, the coppery taste in her mouth. Darkness surrounded them slowly sucking the light from the room. The pain was ripping through her body; it was too much for her to handle. She watched as the last remnants of the world around her slipped away, taking her lost love from her.

Lucian ran his fingers over her face, her skin was cold. Her eyes closed, pushing the last of the tears from her eyes. Blood was everywhere, she had lost far too much blood for her body to handle, she had also coughed up the blood he had tried to give her. His fingers trailed down the delicate skin of her neck to her sternum, hoping to hear that thump. Lucian waited. He held her in his arms, the cold, limp body of his love. He waited as his hand pressed harder against her chest. Tears fell freely as he prayed for a beat.

Something he begged.

Anything he pleaded.