Valentina threw the phone across the room.
She wordlessly went out of the room leaving Semi and Fauna confused.

'What are you doing?' Semi grabbed her but she simply brushed her arm aside.
'I'm going to Niko. Alone. And I'll blast anyone who dares follow me into a pile of ash.'
'You're not doing that. We should wait for Nicholae.' Fauna suggested.

'He's alone! And he's asking for me!'
All she could think of was losing another child and the heartache it would cause her. She wouldn't survive another one like that.

'We're not letting you go alone.'
They really wouldn't let her go. Semi was too stubborn and so was Fauna.

That revelation made her decision easier to make. She knew where Lily wanted to meet with her. They didn't know.

'Jazeri apparetiz.' She spoke the spell before either of them could react or have the mind to follow her.

The dirty water made sloshing sounds as she trudged out of it onto dry land.
She was shivering and cold and wasn't so glad that she'd had to pull such a poorly planned move. The problem was even though she knew this, her heart bled when she heard Niko's cries for her.

The memory refueled her resolution. The retreating sun still provided her with the light she needed to make it through the canopy of thick elfin oak trees.
It wasn't long before she found a beautiful yellow house beyond the elfin oak trees.

'I knew you'd make the right choice.'
The feminine voice seemed to come from all around her.
And then like a ghost she was right in front of her.
Blond hair, blue eyes, and an innocent smile.
At first glance, Valentina would have never guessed this girl would be the witch wreaking this chaos.

'Two seconds, where is he?'
Valentina didn't just barge in there without a plan. She had one. She would not play their games.
'I'll do the talking please.' She said flying a burst of flame at her face.
Valentina didn't blink. This wasn't her first rodeo. Poor fools didn't know who exactly they'd chosen to pick a fight with.
Lily's two seconds were up.
With a handy spell on the tip of her tongue, she extinguished the flames and liquified the ground Lily stood on.
Edgar appeared attempting a counterspell. Fortunately, he couldn't do two things at once.
Valentina called an exposed root and wrapped it around his neck.
The girl was sinking and her accomplice was choking but she would only bask in the pleasure once Niko was safely in her arms.

'Niko!' She calked for him.
She went down into the basement where she felt signs of life.
There he was. Sleeping.
'Baby, wake up. I'm getting you out of here.'
She undid whatever spell Lily cast on him
'Mama?' His groggy voice calling to her.
'Yes. I'm here.'

Another presence stepped into the room.
'Mama!'
She tried to react quickly but whoever it was slammed her against the cage.
She gasped at the sharp pain of the needle stabbed into her neck.

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

'My Lord, you have the wrong person in your custody.' Hilda sighed in a pitiful manner. And it would have worked if Nicholae didn't know better.
Nicholae deepened his claws in her shoulder blades.

'I'm taking my aunt for a little drive.' He told the receptionist.

'Osei, can you take care of any resistance?'
Hopefully, Osei heard him.

Osei burst inside the doors.
'Loki and Mal have us covered.'

A number of patients stood up to block their exit.
No doubt some of her minions Nicholae thought.
Fortunately, Osei was in his indestructible moods.

'You must not have heard of me.'
Osei smiled at them.
'Please sit down and none of you will end up like your friends.'

That threat seemed to work.
Apparently, they'd heard about the murders of their friends.

'What did you do to the-one-who-Can't-be compelled?'
Osei blew rasberies.
'The damn man was actually tougher than he looked. I manage to knock him out would have done much more.'
He helped Nicholae lift the witch into the back seat.

'But the security officers were already in me before I could do anything more.'

Nicholae force-fed the witch a tonic Fauna has generously lent him to keep the witches magic at pay. Hopefully, that would work.

'Where are you two pages taking me?' Nicholae was happy he could detect fear in her voice.
It was her turn to be afraid.

'Somewhere.' Osei answered.

'You're making a huge mistake.'
When she didn't expound, Nicholae said, 'Go on, we're listening. Why are we?'

She didn't say anything else.
Nicholae pulled into the conveniently abandoned plant Loki and his brother had sniffed out.

Osei took no caution as he dragged the older woman out of the car by the back of her dress.
She writhed and clawed uselessly at him until he unceremoniously threw her against a brick wall.

'Start talking, crone.'
Instead, she laughed. 'I knew your vultures were closing on me. But you see I took certain precautions.'

'Your demons won't be stepping their damned feet here. This land used to be hallowed ground. The factory was blessed once upon a time so lose hope in your Calvary.'

They both drew comfort in her sour expression.

'Well then. You seem to have actually thought this through. Well, how is that wound of yours sweet pea?'

Osei shuddered at the sickly sweetness dripping in her voice.
'You should have gotten the job done yourself.'

'Like I did your father?'
Nicholae shook his head at Osei. They needed her alive but the witch made it difficult because she continued speaking.

'How is your latest whore? I hear she's expecting.' She grinned with her crooked teeth.

'You work fast my boy, just when I thought I'd gotten rid of the one looked like you had another one in the oven.' 

'What?' Osei growled his mind bucking at the news Hilda just shared. He lifted her by the front of her dress.

' I wasn't counting on the slut of a witch to remove the cancer when she did. The bitch should have died and so should you.'

Nicholae leaped before the witch before Osei unleashed his claws to rip out her throat.

'She's trying to get to you. Don't let her win.'
She was, Osei wasn't daft, but she was admitting to doing something and Osei was trying hard to understand it. Then Nicholae only moved when Osei visibly cooled off.

'What do you mean by cancer? What did you do to Dani?'

'You might want to ask your lifeline.' She was finished with Osei obviously because now she redirected her attention to Nicholae.

'I'm guessing you haven't checked your phone Lord.'
Nicholae stiffened. She could be playing with him. And yet half his brain was screaming at him to check his phone. And so he did.
He took his phone and turned it back on.

He had a startling number of text messages from Fauna and a foreign number that simply read: Call me, you'll want to.
Osei Met his worried look with his concerned one.
He immediately dialed Fauna.

'Oh, Lord. Finally! Niko is in trouble. Edgar and Lily kidnapped him. And Valentina went after them alone, we couldn't stop her.'
The world was stolen from under him. He fell on the floor and sat there listening to Fauna's panic and Semi beside her. Osei could hear it all.

'She wouldn't listen to reason. She said Niko was calling for her.' Fauna wept bitterly.
'I'm sorry Lord. This is all my fault.'

Nicholae dropped the phone lunging for the old fart's throat.
'You stupid bitch! What have you done with them?'

'Me? Nothing.' she innocently blinked. 'It was all Lily's idea. You see you nobles have done too much bad to her.'
Nicholae soon took away her ability to speak by tightening his hold around her neck. He would have succeeded in crushing it had Osei not intervened.
He opted for a brutal slap which sent the old woman sprawling to the ground.

'I believe Lord, you have one more call to make. And at the end of that call, you'll let me go.'

Nicholae had never wanted to rip out someone's throat more than he did at that moment. He shook all over with anger.

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

Valentina's breathing was laborious because suddenly breathing became an arduous task.
'Valentina, Someone wants to speak to you.'
Her vision was blurry but she recognized Edgar's voice and he was holding something against her face.
'Valentina?' Her name spoken in a broken voice by a familiar voice sent her in a sobbing fit.

'Cole. Oh, Cole.'

'Shhh. It's okay. I'm coming for you. It's still not too late for our date.' He shakily Joked.
'How's the little bugger?'

Valentina looked to where Niko was peacefully sleeping. Her heart panicked until she saw his chest heave.
'He's sleeping.'

'Thank God.' She heard him breathe.

'They're alive. You know where to find us. You alone. Anyone else and you'll be having a funeral without bodies this time. We know how you like to do.'
Valentina wanted to kick him and she tried.

'He's coming. Alone.' Edgar soothingly said to Lily.

'Okay. Lily show time.' The demons said to her.

'She's not going out there. I'll do the staking.' Edgar told them.
'We discussed this.'

'The mistress has other plans for you.'

'Well, be sure to tell her that something else came up.' Edgar grabbed the other stake off the table.

'Well, if you're doing the staking, you can start with the kid.'
Valentina screamed.
'Don't touch him.'

But the demon went ahead, opened the cage and dragged Niko out by the arm. She was scared he'd dislocated it with the way he was handling him.

'Please, stop!' She tried again.
'He's innocent. He's done nothing wrong. He hasn't even hurt a fly. Please.'

Edgar pushed the demon aside.
'We aren't killing the boy.'

'But the Mistress...'

'She's not here. I'll take the heat for this. But we're not killing him.' Edgar yelled over them.

'Are you going to stand for this Lily?' The demon asked.
She shrugged.
'There's no need to antagonize the father more than we have to do. He'll be more distracted if he's alive to scream and whine.'
She moved closer to Valentina and knelt beside.

'It's this one I'm really interested in.'
She grabbed a fistful of Valentina's hair and yanked it.
'While we are waiting on your hubby, let's get to know more about her.'

'Has our back up arrived?' Edgar asked the demons.

'We'll only need back up if things go awry.'

'We've kidnapped a damn Tchkovsky, there were supposed to be here yesterday!'
He argued.
They had every reason to worry. Sonya would pull all her resources to find them and once they did that, this place would be swarming with vampires and their allies.

'She'll get us out of here.' They calmy said.

Edgar didn't buy that crap for one second but he'd play along.
'Well then, boys, go back up there and keep watch.'

'You of all people have seen first hand the tyrannical ways of these nobles. And you marry one?'
Valentina held her hand to stop her constant pulling.

'Let me guess, something bad happened and you're falsely blaming the nobles like everyone does? Poor girl.'

'They ignored my pain and protected those murderers.' Lily argued, angry at the condescending tone.
'Oh, you're just like them? Arrogant, insolent...'
Lily sent an explosion of searing pain in her side with her stake.
'It's not just the death of Blah that irked me. It's the constant humiliation those roaches but me and my family through too. What they put Edgar's family through as well. What they undoubtedly put your family through. And yet, you had the nerve to fall in love with one of them. How do you sleep at night?'

Valentina chuckled coyly.
'Well with his between my thighs honestly. Ahhhh!'
Lily presses her fingers into the cut.

'You were sold and treated like property. Still, you defend them? No human deserves that kind of treatment, and with those monsters at the top of the food chain, we're nothing but cattle.'

'Oh, is that true? And you're hoping to incite a change by kidnapping children and killing them. You truly inspire me.' She painfully contested.
Couldn't they see their plan and method was as diabolical as the system they wanted to pull down?
'You can make fun of us all you want, but soon the people will rule.'

'Who says they aren't already. The nobles are merely influencers. If you don't like their laws move. You're not prisoners here in the valley.'
The solution was so simple but they had to over complicate things.

'We are. We are the food, we are the ones that have to suffer when these immortals rampage. I heard a long time ago you rejected the offer. You chose wrongly. It'll be my honor to kill you for good this time.'

Valentina attempted to figure out what Lily meant by her words. She was never approached by a recruiter for this low-key revolution.
She would have remembered someone asking her to join the cause of overthrowing the nobles.
Never mind that, Nicholae was walking into a trap.