All the Ethereals and Rhys were arriving and rushing over to the scene.

Gabe was clinging onto Rose in complete fear and Rhys was trying to calm both of them down. However it only freaked Gabe out further when Leah approached the group and she saw the green rings in Leah's eyes.

Audrey and Jamie came over to admire my handiwork. By handiwork I mean Alex, who was currently chained up with both of his arms AND his legs pointing straight up. I'd broken a lot more bones to achieve this effect, but if Alex decided not to be talkative then this would only be the beginning.

"What are you? No vampire, Original or not, is that strong or fast." Alex asked with fear permeating his glowing violet eyes.

"Simply put, I'm your death Alex." He went white at that. "But before we get to that, there are a few things I'm going to need you to tell me. If you don't then I'm going to keep breaking and cutting off body parts every time they heal."

If possible Alex went even whiter at that. "What do you need to know?"

"Lots of things my dear angel." I turned his favorite taunt against him. "But for now we'll start with what have you put Gabe through since you turned her brother into a drone and where do I find more Royals like you."

"You sound like a vampire hunter, not a Royal, you traitor." Alex still somehow managed to spit these words at me despite his current predicament.

I drew out my fangs so he could see them to emphasize my next statement. "That's because I'm not a Royal you self obsessed egotistical maniac. But yes, I'm 100% Original vampire."

Alex looked at me in confusion. He may have thought that the pain was getting to him at this point.

"But back to what I asked earlier, what have you done to Gabe?" When Alex didn't answer I casually broke his pinky finger.

"OWWWWWW! Ok, ok. My parents haven't allowed me to make more than the single drone I have so I've been using him as leverage over Gabriel to get her to bring me fresh blood. Be it hers or someone else's."

Once again, I struggled not to kill the Royal there and then as I saw red flash before my eyes.

"Just how long has this been going on and how many times have you sunk you're filthy fangs into her." It was a loaded question, but Alex was too close to passing out to realize this.

"Years, did you know that Gabe's blood was delicious because I made her eat a special diet? Until you ruined it by feeding her all that crap." Alex was almost talking in a dreamy state now.

It was Jamie that stopped the interrogation at this point by applying a swift blow to the Royals temples.

I turned on him. "Why did you do that." I didn't demand so much as growled at him.

"Because there are police coming and if we want to be able to keep questioning him then we need to hide him in the dungeon under our house." He answer me calmly.

I was still angry, but I could see his point. "We also have to see if Leah's theory works and who better to test it on than this unfortunate boy." Jamie said gesturing to Timothy.

After the very first time I bit Leah and her wounds closed almost instantly she theorized that there was something coating my fangs that allowed for the rapid healing. Whatever it was, Royals didn't have it because the wounds they inflict from bites heal like any other wound.

Being the biology buff that she was, Leah took some samples of the fluids surrounding my fangs and found them to contain a virus that didn't survive for long outside of my fang sacks.

She theorised that this virus was the source of the incredible healing ability after my bites and she hoped to be able to use it to free drones from their servitude to their masters. The only other solution we currently had was to use my blood and I didn't want hundreds of Ethereal children. I guess only time would tell if it would work.

I re-chained Alex into a more normal position with with arms bound behind his back and his legs bound normally instead of the ridiculous pose I had him in before. Jamie and Audrey then proceeded to help me stuff the Royal in the trunk of Audrey's Mazda 3. Not before gagging him really well in case he regained consciousness of course.

Rhys was over with Rose and a very freaked out Gabe, Leah had attempted to get close to the trio before but must have let the rings in her eyes show which only freaked Gabe out more. So instead Leah had gone to retrieve the unresponsive Timothy and secure him in one of the cars.

I approached the three people on the ground, Rhys was obviously ok but both Rose and Gabe were sporting bruises from their ordeal.

"Hey." I said softly, still keeping my distance as Gabe tried to shrink even further back from me. "We need to get out of here, the cops will be here any second and this is the site of a massacre."

I looked at Gabe before asking her directly. "I know that you're not ok and you're very scared, but are you willing to come back home with us? It's still your home if you'd like and no one is going to hurt you there. I also promise you answers to as many questions as you like."

Gabe just looked at me with a face full of fear. I must admit, it really hurt to have someone so close to you look at you like that.

Both Rose and Gabe were still on the ground from where I'd put them down after unchaining them, so Rose lent over and started talking quietly into Gabe's ear.

Gabe eventually nodded at her. "She's coming back with us." Rose informed me. "But can Audrey, Leah, Jamie and yourself give her some space? I promise I'll explain what's actually going on to her."

"Of course, take as much time as you need. No one is going to force Gabe to stay with us if she can't handle it or do anything she doesn't want to." I said before making sure that Rhys bought their SUV with them so the three non Ethereals could head off first.

"Well you sure screwed things up with your girlfriend." Audrey teased as I got back to her car, Leah already in the shotgun seat.

"What part of the relationship I have with Gabe would even hint at anything romantic?" I asked Audrey before I had to correct myself. "I mean the relationship I had. I'm pretty sure she's never going to talk to any of us again."

"Well for starters the way Gabe looked at you, just give her time. Remember I hated you because of what you were and I ended up coming around eventually. You're not a bad person, just trust yourself and wait." Audrey tried to comfort me.

"Thank you, but I'm not sure how much of that is the Ethereal bond talking. I know I forced it on you to save your life but it makes me wonder if you'd still have the same opinion if you never became my child." I admitted.

"My opinion of you wouldn't change." Audrey seemed really sure of that. "As I said before, you are a good person and Gabe will eventually see that."

"This is sweet and all, but we need to leave right now." Jamie said urgently as a few seconds later sirens could be heard approaching.

I jumped into my Audi with Jamie in the passenger seat as we followed Audrey and Leah out of the area. They had to be a little more careful with their driving because they had Timothy in the back seat and an unconscious Alex tied up in the boot.

"Do we even have somewhere to restrain Alex at home?" I asked Jamie, attempting to make idle banter to relieve some of the strong emotions flowing in me. It had been a big night after all.

"We do, I don't think I've shown you yet but when you were still at the hunters camp and I bought the place, I had a dungeon installed. It should be strong enough to hold a Royal."

I looked at Jamie in a new light and with a slightly open mouth. "You know that makes you sound like a complete pervert right? Whoever built that was probably thinking you were building a sex dungeon or something."

He shrugged, "They can think what they like. It's not like they'll be the ones tied up in there."

When we got home we found that Gabe, Rose and Rhys had already disappeared in the room Rose and Rhys shared. It was probably best to leave them there for now.

So all the Ethereals had the job of moving Alex down through the door that looked like a hallway cupboard but was actually a set of stairs into a room that looked like a prison instead of the torture chamber I'd imaged when Jamie used the word 'dungeon'.

When we were sure Alex was firmly secured in shackles and a cell he couldn't break out of, we left him there to wake up in his own time.

The next problem to deal with was Gabe's brother Timothy. He was literally a blank slate without orders from his master. I thought that this in itself was unusual as most drones seemed to be able to do basic things like eat and sleep on their own until Jamie explained that he was like this because he was probably Alex's first drone and therefore Alex was still learning how to control him.

"I'll make sure he's fed, washed and I'll inject him with something to make him sleep." Jamie offered. I was honestly thankful that I didn't have to deal with the human zombie of a drone as well.

It was now 3:30 am, I seemed to be having to stay up late a lot these days. A girl needs her beauty sleep after all, but I had to make sure that Gabe was ok before I retired for the night.

I knew it probably wasn't the best idea to present myself in front of Gabe at the moment, but I was worried about her and couldn't help myself.

So I made a peace offering in the form of coffee for Rose and Rhys and a hot chocolate for Gabe I approached the room they were in.

I heard Rose and Gabe talking before I got to the door. I knew it was wrong but I had to listen for a while.

"I don't care what you say, all Original vampires are blood sucking, narcissistic, slave driving monsters. How the hell are you even related to a monster like that?" Gabe was definitely agitated.

"Well we're related because her diploid genome underwent a chromosomal rearrangement caused by the tiny bit of Original vampire DNA in us all. Basically she was very unlucky." Rose said. "As for the monsters that Original vampires are, I promise you that Violet is not one of them."

"Unlike the Royal vampires that make up almost the entire population of Originals that currently exist and are true monsters, Violet is what's known as an Ethereal. You'll have to ask Violet about it in more detail later, but what I do know is that her blood does not create drones, it makes the person into something called an Ethereal child. But they definitely possess their own minds and opinions." Rose explained.

"The other important thing you should know about Ethereal vampires is unlike their Royal counter parts, they're extremely loyal. Not just to their children but also to those close to them. I can promise you that you are safe here if you wish to stay. We're also going to do everything we can to get your brother back. But know that no one is going to force you to stay either." Rose finished.

"Can everyone here really be trusted?" It seemed like a stupid question Gabe asked to me, but I was also eavesdropping on this entire conversation.

"Well I've been living with Violet my entire life and I've known Leah for years and years. All I can say is that she will protect everyone here with her life if needed." I can feel the love and pride for my sister swelling in my chest.

I chose this moment to interrupt their conversation by knocking on the door. Rhys opened it revealing the two girls sitting on the bed.

"I just wanted to you know that Jamie is taking care of Timothy and the rest of us will be retiring. I've also made you guys coffees and a hot chocolate." I told them, giving Rhys his coffee and leaving the other two drinks on a table near the entrance.

Gabe still looked fearful of me so I tried to keep my distance.

"If you need me for any reason at all I'll be in my room." I said before closing the door behind me and allowing their talk to continue.

I just hope that one day Gabe and I can get to the point of being friends again.