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Chapter Text

A late afternoon call to Lacroix's home had set a time for him to come to the station, early in the evening as 'that is as soon as I'm available'. He seemed to take it as a necessary evil and went right back to plotting his revenge. But, since they didn't know who it was, the plans never formed up. Nick knew he was not helpful in his suggestions since all he could offer was, "Well, how are we going to find out who it is in order to kill him several times over?"

Lacroix growled at that and went to make some phone calls and Nick went to get ready for work.

Nick made himself scarce at Lacroix's appointed time, hanging out in the morgue with Natalie on the pretense of picking up some results that, normally, she would have brought to the station. He didn't want any perceived conflict of interest since everyone seemed to know he and Lacroix knew each other.

He told her about the fire and the assumed culprit. She seemed very distressed by the news, not on behalf of Lacroix, but because it meant that the mystery vampire had stopped lurking in the shadows and had started acting. Nick agreed that she must be much, much more careful.

No calls had come in by mid-shift and Nick and Tracy were just tidying up some reports and other paperwork. The fingerprint match had come back during the day and Tracy had gotten a full confession from Yamada. She said he seemed remorseful about taking a husband away from his wife but also satisfied that the man who had killed his father was dead. She had also notified Mrs. Sako of the arrest.

Nick was hoping nothing big came in since Lacroix had called after his appointment about going through the club and seeing what could be salvaged since the fire this morning. He'd promised to meet Lacroix at the Raven as soon as his shift was over. Lacroix had informed him that he'd had his employees empty the wine room and take it all to his house to be sorted. There was actual wine in about a third of the bottles but there was blood in most and he didn't want investigators to discover it.

The phone rang on his desk, and he looked at it with annoyance.

"Are you going to get that?" Tracy asked after the third ring.

Nick, reluctantly, answered. "Knight."

"Toronto General. Now!"

"Natalie, what are you talking about?"

Tracy perked up and gave Nick a questioning look.

"An anesthesiologist from Toronto General was just found, murdered. His ID is missing. Remember..."

"Got it. On our way." He hung up the phone and grabbed his gear. Tracy sensed his urgency and followed without asking questions.

Once they were in the car, he put his police light on the dash and gunned it. "Call the hospital. Ask whoever if there are any surgeries going on this late."

She retrieved her notebook from her pocket and flipped through, dialing the number once she found it. She asked whoever answered and said, "Jesus!" She turned to Nick, "The Premier, Mike Harris, is having surgery on his shoulder tonight. They just took him up."

"Tell security to get up there but don't enter. We'll be there in five minutes. It's the anesthesiologist. Try to delay the surgery with some excuse but not that one of the doctors is a fraud. No telling what he might do."

She relayed the information and closed the phone. "What was that phone call you got?"

"Natalie. She was at the scene of a dead anesthesiologist. Murdered. ID stolen. He works at Toronto General. So, we finally know what the plan was." Nick pulled into the emergency room loading area and put the car in park. "Call for backup and then join me in the surgery suites." He took off running.

==============

He held up his badge at the person behind the desk as he ran by and headed for the internal stairs. Flying up the staircase, he made it in about a minute. He flung the door open and sprinted down the hall toward the surgery suites.

As he pushed through the "authorized personnel only" doors, he saw the Premier's personal security guard and three hospital security guards pushing against each other. The hospital security was trying to prevent the private security man from entering the surgery suite.

"Stop it!" He hissed, keeping his voice down. He flashed his badge again and without another word, entered the surgery suite. The surgeon was just entering the operating room from the prep room, hands gloved and in full surgical gear. The Premier was already lightly sedated, but his eyes were still open and got wide when Nick burst through the door.

"Get out! This is a sterile..." The surgeon stepped next to the patient when the man pretending to be the anesthesiologist placed the syringe into the IV line attached to the Premier. Nick reached for his hand before he could fully push the plunger, and he dropped the syringe and picked up a scalpel.

Before Nick could stop him, he sliced the surgeon’s throat and plunged the scalpel into Nick's thigh and took off. He fought his way through hospital security before Nick could pull the scalpel from his thigh. He had to jump over all the doctors kneeling over the surgeon, trying to save his life.

When he entered the hallway, there were more people crowded around the Premier's security man who, from the quick glance down, had taken a punch to the throat and was currently writhing on the ground, trying to breath.

Nick took a right and hit the door to the stairs and flew down them. When he opened the door to the outside, he looked right and then left. The man had removed the scrubs and mask he'd been wearing in the operating room which were being blown across the parking lot. Nick no longer knew what he was wearing. He saw a man wearing black running in the distance and took off after him.

He closed the distance some and could see the man entering a construction site a block away. He sprinted faster after him, not daring to fly since there was still traffic on the street. He could hear Tracy, and further back, other police, following after him but he couldn't wait for her or them.

He got to the construction site just as the man pushed through some loose plywood hanging over a window. It appeared to be a five-story office building and, once inside, he could see that the interior didn't have drywall up yet.

Nick paused and listened, blocking out all other sounds except the man moving through the building. There, near where the back door would be. He sped toward the sound and... found a homeless man standing, surprised, a bottle of beer in his hand.

"Police. Where did he go?" Nick asked.

The homeless man waved toward the right and scurried away. Nick ran toward where the man indicated, just in time to see the man he was chasing push another plywood window cover aside and slip out the window. He could hear the other police entering the building, but he didn't want to call out and let the man know how close he was.

When he went through the window, he found himself in an alley behind the construction and between two other office buildings. He could hear the man running. He put on some speed to catch up and when he cleared a dumpster...

"Hello, Nicholas."

The vampire was standing there, holding the man he'd been chasing. The man was squirming in the vampires' grip, but the vampire had him around the throat with one arm and he wasn't getting away. The vampire held a small crossbow in the other hand; arrow pointed right at Nick.

"You can probably dodge this but not before I break his neck," the vampire said.

He was average height, brown hair and looked vaguely familiar to Nick but he couldn't place him. "You're the one who has been following us."

"Yes. Now, do I kill you or your prey?"

"Aren't you at least going to tell me your name before you kill me?" Nick was stalling.

"Holden James. Don't you remember? A little incident in a barn in Hungary? You callously threw away my Irena, covering her in horse shit with a mortal, like she was garbage!"

Nick started to shake his head no when it clicked in his head and he remembered.

===================
November 1490, Hungary

They were all three at the castle of a prominent aristocrat attending a party, still celebrating the coronation of Vladislaus II. Hunting, of course. Only Nicholas was actually interested in the politics.

"How about that one?" Lacroix sidled up next to Nicholas and nodded his head toward a well-dressed woman of about 30. "She looks tasty." He had a predatory smile. "In more ways than one."

"You take her, I have my eye on...." Nicholas' attention was diverted as he caught a glimpse of Janette on the arm of a very pretty man. They were exiting the main room, heading for parts unknown. "It seems Janette has already chosen."

"Yes. And that would be trouble." Lacroix answered with a frown. "See that woman over there?" He indicated a lovely woman who was nearly stomping after Janette. "She had been working him and Janette stole him while she was getting him a drink."

"How did you...."

"I make it a point to keep track of other vampires in the room. After all, this is quite a buffet." His eyes followed the woman as she exited after Janette and the man. "Her man is currently in the corner behind us, feeding on a fat shopkeeper's wife."

Nicholas glanced behind him and saw the man Lacroix mentioned. Pretty daring to be feeding around all these people but the corner was dark and most were already drunk. "Should we follow them?"

"Janette can take care of herself." Lacroix turned his attention back to his prey.

"I'm going to go make sure of that." Nicholas started toward the door, but Lacroix placed his hand on his arm to stop him.

"She's been hunting for nearly 400 years, she's fine."

Nicholas shrugged off the hand and continued toward the door. He heard Lacroix sigh behind him and follow. When he cleared the door, he was faced with a hallway heading left and right. He stood there, not knowing which way to go.

"She's in the stable," Lacroix said and turned right down the hallway.

"How do you know?" Nicholas followed him down the hall and through another, smaller, wooden door. They were outside and Nicholas looked around to find the stable.

"Must we go over this again?" Lacroix started across the courtyard.

"Yes, you have a connection with us. I get that. But how does it work?"

"You ask too many questions to which you already know the answers."

Lacroix opened the door of the stable and found Janette in a fight for her life. The other female vampire had Janette on the ground, standing on her dress while she raised a wooden pitchfork above her head, ready to bring it down through Janette's chest.

"NO!" Nicholas yelled and ran toward the two women. The other vampire was distracted by his shout long enough for Janette to push her over. The other vampire got tangled in Janette's dress, and her own, and dropped the pitchfork. Janette sprang up from the ground and grabbed it up, pushing the other vampire against the wall with it. The tines came out her back and buried themselves in the wall of the barn.

The other vampire struggled for a few seconds and then went limp. The pitchfork had gone through her heart. Janette hissed at Nicholas and batted him away when he reached for her to make sure she was okay. She went over to the man she'd been feeding on and picked him up. Then he dropped him back to the ground.

"Dead and not empty." Janette fumed. "Now I'll need another." She turned around and walked out of the stable, flying away once she cleared the door.

"I told you she was fine, Nicholas." Lacroix went to the woman pinned to the wall and looked at her. "Shame, she would have made a good day's entertainment."

Nicholas shook his head and joined Lacroix in looking at the pinned vampire. "I wonder who she was?"

"What does that matter? You concern yourself with the strangest things." Lacroix turned away. "Get her down and bury her in the hay next to the dead man. We must leave this place before this is discovered."

=============

He'd only gotten a glimpse of this man at the time and that was in a dark corner but that was the only incident he could recall in a barn in Hungary.

Nick heard Tracy approaching and, not far behind, at least three more cops. He needed to end this, fast. "What do you want?"

"To ruin your life like you ruined mine," Holden said with some anger. "So, what will it be? His life or yours?"

"I didn't kil..." he began when Tracy came around the corner just then and stopped. Holden looked behind Nick and made an irritated sound. He aimed the crossbow at Tracy and released the bolt. He dropped the crossbow and broke the hospital killer's neck, dropping him to the ground. "Another time." He took to the sky.

Nick stepped in front of the bolt, and it pierced his shoulder, knocking him back a few steps. He reached up and pulled the bolt out and threw it up onto the fire escape stairs. Hopefully, nobody would notice it. He rushed over to the killer and checked for a pulse-there was none- picking up the crossbow and similarly chucking it up the fire escape.

Tracy fully entered the alley and gave him the WTF look. He couldn't answer her right then since the other police were entering the alley. The cops had their guns drawn and were looking around. He didn't know how he was going to explain only him in the alley and a dead suspect.

Chapter Text

"I pushed him against the dumpster, and he just dropped," Nick repeated for the third time. He was seated in the interrogation room, facing the men from the Services Board.

There had been no way to let Tracy and Natalie know what the story was, so he chose the only scenario that would protect them. Hopefully. Natalie wouldn't need to completely falsify the autopsy. She'd been known to fudge a little here and there, but this was such a high-profile case that he couldn't expect her to do it on this one. And Tracy, hopefully, was saying she didn't see what happened. A broken neck being the only injury, 'I don't know what happened' seemed the only course to take.

"So, you ran into the dead-end alley, caught up with him, went to affect the arrest, and he just dropped dead?" Hawkins clearly didn't believe him.

"Yes." He tried to sound calm and confident in his answers. "Maybe he hit wrong when I pushed him against the dumpster? I don't know, I'm not a doctor."

Hawkins and Stevens looked at one another and then closed their notebooks. Stevens shook his head, still clearly skeptical. "We'll see what the autopsy says. I'm going to recommend you be suspended, with pay, until our investigation is complete."

Hawkins and Stevens stood up and were leaving the room. Hawkins paused by the door. "This isn't the first time we've had to investigate you. You're walking a dangerous path. Maybe it happened like you said or maybe not. But you're a good cop, I'd hate to think that us letting you get away with things in the past has led you to believe that's always going to be the case."

Nick remained silent until Hawkins felt he'd made his point, and he let the door close behind him. Nick could feel Captain Reese behind the one way glass and so he rubbed his face with his hands and stood, taking a few seconds to mimic how he'd seen Schanke act when he was bone tired; stretching his back with his hands on his hips, turning his head to stretch his neck, and, once again, scrubbing his face with his hands.

When he left the room, he was met by Reese in the hallway. "Captain."

"Hawkins was right, Nick. You are a good cop, but it seems there's often something kinda iffy going on with you."

"Just trying to do my job," Nick said.

"Yes, well, I'm taking their advice and suspending you, with pay, until further notice. Go home, get some sleep, and I'll call you when they come to a decision."

"Got it, Cap. The Premier is okay?"

"Yeah, not enough anesthesia went in to do him harm. The surgeon is dead though, they couldn't save him, even with it being in the hospital. The security man will recover although his voice will probably be affected forever."

"Sorry I couldn't prevent the surgeon from being killed." He meant it. "Do we know who he was? The suspect."

"No match on fingerprints yet and no ID on him." Reese looked at Nick for a few seconds and then shook his head. "Sorry, Nick, I can't share anything more right now since you're on suspension."

"I understand, Captain." He motioned to the bullpen. "I'll get my stuff." He pulled his badge and gun out and unloaded the gun. Handing everything over to the Captain. "I really didn't kill him on purpose, but I understand."

"Maybe the adrenaline was pumping a little too hard and you got carried away, I don't know. I'm pretty sure you didn't murder him but that doesn't mean they won't find fault with your handling of it." Reese twitched his head. "Go on, get home and get some rest and, if needed, see the shrink."

He nodded and went down the hall. When he entered the bullpen, he was greeted with covert looks but nobody said anything. Tracy was not at her desk, and he wondered if they already pulled her to talk to her or if she was still dealing with the attempted murder of the Premier.

He gathered his things and exited the building.

==========

Before he drove to the Raven, he called the morgue. Hopefully, Natalie was there, and he could tell her what really happened and what he'd told the investigators. However, she was not. He left a message with Grace to have her call him on his mobile when she got a chance. He didn't dare go see her in person.

He pulled up outside the Raven a few hours before sunrise. He used his key on the front door since the back door was boarded up.

"What happened?" Lacroix was standing at the bottom of the stairs, clearly having felt Nick's arrival.

"Holden James happened." Nick and Lacroix walked over to the bar where an open, lone bottle sat on the countertop. He picked it up and chugged some down. Now that he wasn't around mortals, his anger came to the surface. He explained the events of the evening and what he remembered from Hungary.

"Ah, yes. I remember now." Lacroix frowned. "I don't remember that name though. It's a place to start." He headed for the door. "Coming?"

===========
Lacroix spent the morning calling every vampire he knew. Nick started calling hotels, asking for Holden James' room. Lacroix found a few vampires who knew the name but didn't actually know him. Nick had called about twenty hotels but nobody by that name was registered.

"He must be using another name." Lacroix finally gave up working the phone and poured them two, tall, glasses of blood. "Back to the problem of how to find him."

"I can't believe I'm going to be the one to say this but...." Nick took a few gulps of his blood and set the glass down on the end table. "We know he has it out for us so why don't we just wait for him to come to us." He dropped his head. "Or someone we care about."

"For me, that's only you so..."

Nick sighed. "That leaves Natalie and Tracy. Or my loft. He's already got your club and my job."

"Yes." Lacroix looked hard at Nick. "Are you willing..."

"No." Nick shook his head and sighed again. "Yes. Maybe. If there was some way to limit..."

"If they change their routine, he will know and will change tactics."

Nick sat back and took a sip of his blood, thinking. Lacroix also relaxed back in his chair, sipping his blood and thinking. After a bit, Lacroix said, "I'm sure he can feel us if we're close enough to actually see the bait."

"Don't call them bait." Nick said, sharply. He shook his head, got up and started pacing. "I guess the only thing we can do is be nearby, within hearing distance at least. Natalie spends the nights in the morgue and neither of us can just go hang out there. And now that I'm suspended, Tracy is out and about every night. No way to watch her, even from a distance."

"You said he tried to shoot her?"

"Yeah, more out annoyance, I think." He continued pacing and thinking out loud. "Maybe I can talk her into taking off the next week or so to move. She was planning on doing that week after next but since I'm suspended and she'll probably not be able to stay on the case, maybe..."

"Will you tell her about the danger?"

"I should but..." He sat back down with a huff. "I'll tell her something but if she knows everything..."

Lacroix nodded. "She'll change her routine too much." He sipped his blood and then shrugged. "It's up to you. We can be nearby but, if he is determined to kill them, we may be too late. If we sequester them away someplace, he will change tactics, and they will have to stay hidden forever and we will be looking over our shoulders for eternity."

"No good solution." Nick slouched in his chair and rubbed his face in resignation. He picked up his glass of blood and emptied it. "Why don't you go up to bed? I'm going to call them both and tell them something and we can be on watch tonight."

Lacroix rose from his chair. "Very well."

"Hey," Nick called when Lacroix's foot hit the bottom stair. "Can you get your hands on a couple of tranq guns?"

Lacroix returned to the living room. "I still have the ones from..."

"Good. I'll stop by my loft tonight and get some of the drug and..."

"Oh, yes. Good thought. I do want to torture him first."

============

Just as Nick was getting ready to go to bed, his phone rang. Hopefully, Natalie.

"Nick, what the hell happened?"

"Are you still at work?"

"No, I waited until I got home to call you so there would be no appearance of conflict of interest. Now, what the hell happened? I haven't started the autopsy on our mystery guest yet; they are trying to ID him first."

"Basically, the vampire that has been following me made an appearance. Broke his neck when he heard the cops coming. I told everyone I pushed him against the dumpster to arrest him, and he dropped dead. I didn't know what else to say."

So, probably bruising around the neck. I don't know if I can spin that unless someone else..."

"I don't know what happened in the hallway outside the surgery suite with the hospital security and the bodyguard so maybe..."

"Okay, I'll see what I find." She sighed. "Should I be personally worried about this vampire? And tell me the truth for once."

"I really don't know." A small lie she'd hopefully forgive him for. "But please be careful. Don't be alone at night, not even at work, not in the car, nowhere." He felt he had to at least tell her that and hope she didn't change things too much.

"That's going to be tough, but I'll take precautions."

They spoke a few more minutes, speculating about who the mystery man was and then hung up. Nick felt the conversation had, overall, gone well. Now he just had to hope he didn't just get her killed.

Next, he dialed Tracy. He caught her right after she'd gone to bed, so she was not very pleased to hear from him.

He told her what he'd told Natalie about the 'arrest'. She told him that she'd told the investigators that the man was already on the ground when she'd come around the corner, so she hadn't seen what had happened.

She'd taken her week off early since Nick was suspended and she couldn't work on the case anymore. Plus, it seemed the RCMP was taking over the case due to the almost victim and the probable hit man sent to kill him.

"A paid killer? Why do they think that?" Nick asked.

"The lack of anything on him with ID, his prints are not in the system anywhere in Canada and the trial run. They sent the prints to the US and will send them to Interpol next if they don't get a hit."

"I wonder what the Premier did to piss someone off so bad they hired a hit man?"

"Not my problem anymore. Listen, who the hell was the vampire in the alley?

"Long story but he's the vampire that's been following me. I told Natalie not to be alone anywhere at night and that should go for you, too. Really. Be careful and aware."

"Do you think he'll try for me? Like in the alley?"

Again, a small lie he hoped would not get her killed. "I don't know. Which is why you really need to be on your guard."

"Got it." She paused and then said, "I don't like the way things have been going these last few months. I'm not saying I don't want to be your partner anymore but...."

"I know. Something has to change."

"Right." She cleared her throat. "Now, I need to get some sleep."

"Bye, Tracy."

He sat for a few minutes, trying to think of another way to find Holden but nothing was coming to him. Nick hated that he was knowingly using his friends as bait. Really hated it. If something went wrong, he knew he'd never be able to forgive himself. He stared into the fireplace, mind wandering for a while. Then he gave up and went upstairs to bed.

Chapter Text

In the two nights since Nick's suspension, Natalie had talked to him on the phone a few times, but he had no information about the vampire hunting him. She thought, maybe, all this being on high alert every night was starting to give her an ulcer.

She wondered how long this would go on for since taking a taxi was getting expensive but, she made sure she stayed late at the morgue, only going home once the sun was rising. This morning, she was very tired, her stomach was churning, and she was contemplating leaving early.

The night before, Natalie had completed the autopsy on the suspected hit man-which they still had not identified-and submitted her report. Sticking strictly to the facts, she had stated his cause of death was a broken neck. There was slight bruising on the neck but not deep enough to indicate a prolonged choke hold which would be what was needed if the killer was a mortal. His carotid artery was also torn inside the skin which highlighted just how violently his head had been twisted. When she'd first unzipped the bag, she'd thought, for a moment, the techs had put him in upside down. She left the manner of death as 'undetermined' until she got the tox screen back and could read the statements of the other people that had contact with him.

She'd done three autopsies this night and just had some paperwork to finish up. The sun wouldn't be up for at least four more hours but, as she mentally debated leaving... the door swung open, and Natalie turned from the sink where she was washing her hands to see who had entered. A stranger. Maybe lost?

Handsome, brown hair grown a little long, dark brown eyes ringed by long, luscious lashes and the most perfect cheekbones she'd ever seen on a man.

"Hello. May I help you?" Wary since Nick had given her the warning, she shoved her hand in her white coat pocket and gripped what was inside.

The man sauntered in, walking around the autopsy table, smiling pleasantly. He stopped about four feet away, still smiling. He cocked his head and put his hands behind his back, still silent. Weird.

"Can I help you with something?" she repeated. "You're not really supposed to be in here."

He walked close to Natalie, his smile widening. She was getting weird vibes from the guy, and he was a bit pale. "You're pretty good friends with Detective Knight." A statement, not a question. "I have something I need to tell you."

The man crowded Natalie against the sink and then she knew for sure. Vampire. Her heart kicked into overdrive, and she pushed the immediate panic down. Despite Nick's warning, she thought she'd be safe at work. The man must have been waiting for her to be alone. Grace was on a break and the attendants were doing something in another part of the morgue. Not that any of them would be a match for a vampire so it was probably good that she was alone. "What do you want?"

"To hurt Nicholas. And to hurt Nicholas, I must hurt those he loves, nothing personal. Although..." He lifted his hand and pushed some of her hair behind her ear as his eyes changed and his fangs appeared. "He does seem to have excellent taste in women."

"You can kill me if you want. It won't change anything." She heard her voice shake. She swallowed and looked him in the eyes and smiled. "It may even cause him to torture you harder when he catches you. And he will."

"So feisty! I love it." He smiled and shook his head. "Too bad I don't have the time to really enjoy this."

Natalie slowly withdrew the cross she'd stashed in her pocket. She needed him to back off so she could get to the door. He continued playing with her hair and smiling as she eased the cross between their bodies and pressed it to his chest. The effect was immediate, even when he couldn't see the cross, he hissed and jumped back. She raised the cross in her outstretched hand and backed toward the door.

And then Nick was there, pushing the vampire away toward the back of the room and away from Natalie. He was fully vamped and the two began fighting. Loudly. Natalie took that opportunity to flee the room.
============

"I think you should go stay with Selwyn for a few days." Nick nervously paced the autopsy room. He put a hand up to his face, feeling the healing cut on his cheek where Holden's ring had caught him when he'd punched Nick. The fight hadn't been long, and it was clear that Holden only wanted to get away, not truly trying to kill Nick. For some reason.

"I don't know, Nick. Are we really going to let him control our lives?" Natalie was still shaken but her stubborn streak was re-appearing. "Why can't I stay with you?"

Nick shook his head, "It's me he's after and that would put you directly in his sights."

"Well, Selwyn and I aren't really that close." She grabbed Nick's arms to still him. "Look, he's already tried, maybe he's done with me."

Holden had gotten away. Nick hadn't even had time to use the tranq gun before Holden had punched Nick hard enough to cause him to fall to the ground before running out of the morgue.

Again, Nick shook his head, "He struck out once, but he'll try something else, maybe more direct next time since he now knows you won't be taken easily. A vacation then. Out of town. Just for a few days until I can catch this asshole."

"No, Nick, I'm not running. But I can see that I can't just be business as usual." She pushed her hair off her forehead and sighed. "How did you get here so fast?"

Her analytical mind was starting to take over. "Well...uh... I was across the street."

She raised her eyebrows at him and scowled. "And?"

"I isolated your heartbeat and listened and well..."

Natalie sighed and shook her head. "Once again, you're keeping things from me. Not good, Nick. If I was going to be bait, I would have appreciated a heads up." She became a little agitated. "What if I didn't have the cross in my pocket? What if you were two seconds later? He could have disarmed me and..."

"I know. I know." Nick knew better than to approach her. "Once again, all I can say is 'sorry' but your reactions had to be genuine, or I never would have been able to tell when you were in trouble."

"We'll talk about it later." She sighed heavily again, went to her desk and sat down, the adrenaline finally wearing off. "Why is he doing this, anyway?"

"He thinks I killed his wife, five hundred years ago."

"I guess that's a good reason. Did you?"

He focused on Natalie, "No, that is one crime I'm not guilty of." He shook his head. "It was Janette. He must have come on the scene afterwards since all I did was hide her body so we could get away."

"I see." She held the edge of the desk, trying to steady herself. Then she took a deep breath and let it out. "What now?"

"I don't know, Natalie." He stepped behind her and started rubbing her shoulders. He needed to touch her. He found that she was still shaking a little. "If anything happened to you..."

"I guess it goes with the vampire territory." She tried to make light of the situation.

"Exactly what I've always feared; my evil is infecting your life. And now Tracy's life too. I should have left. Should have..."

"It hasn't all been bad, Nick." She leaned back into his hands and closed her eyes. "You're not... evil. We'll get through this. Just catch him and everything goes back to normal."

Nick thought that wasn't likely but didn't say that out loud. "You're going to book off tomorrow night and spend it with Myra, okay? Holden doesn't know about her so go over before dark." He moved to look her in the eyes. "No argument. If we don't get him tomorrow night, we'll figure something else out."

She started to say something but then pressed her lips together and just nodded.
==================

Nick accompanied Natalie home and left just before sunrise. She promised to call Myra when the hour was decent and promised to go stay the night with her. Nick believed her since she was still a little freaked out by what had almost happened.

When he arrived back at his loft, Lacroix was waiting. "Anything happen with Tracy?" He immediately went to the fridge and pulled out a bottle, not bothering with a glass, and took a deep drink.

"No, her and her man were packing from what I could tell." Lacroix took the bottle from Nick, got some glasses out of the cabinet and poured them both some blood. He then went to sit on the couch and handed Nick the glass when he joined him. "Now, tell me what happened."

Nick related what had happened and Lacroix made a 'hmm' sound and sat back on the couch, thinking. Nick sipped his blood and let Lacroix process. What he was processing, Nick didn't know. He thought it was straightforward.

"I'll have to be faster. He now knows that, somehow, we're watching and standing around and yammering on like a Bond villain instead of just going straight for kill..." Lacroix shook his head. "I'll have to be very fast."

"Why do you think he didn't stick around to try to kill me? I mean, I am his target."

"He wants you to suffer first. It's what I'd do." Lacroix's lips curled into a smile. "Do you remember Munich?"

"Sure." Nick winced at the memory of what they'd done to the shopkeeper who had cheated Lacroix. Now it seemed like an extreme reaction to such a small slight. At the time, he'd gleefully participated in dismantling the shopkeeper’s world until, finally, Lacroix had him drawn and quartered. "What are you going to do to Holden once we catch him?"

"I haven't decided but, since he's a vampire, there are only a few things that will have any effect. I may just kill him quick. Or maybe...." He drifted off, eyes clearly far away. Then he blinked. "I have an idea."
=========

"I don't care what it costs, it will be ready by tonight or..." Lacroix smirked as he listened. "And, Winston, you don't want to know what the 'or' is, I can guarantee you that." He listened again and then ended the call.

"They'll do it?"

"Of course they will. It's simple enough; a little welding and a little cutting, it shouldn't take more than a few hours if they get enough men on it."

"He'll go after Tracy since Natalie will be unavailable." Nick voice was flat as he said it. "Or your townhome or my loft." He blinked a few times as what his life had become, the mess he'd made of it all, hit home.

"Is it worth me repeating..." Lacroix didn't need to finish the sentence for Nick to know what he was going to say.

"This is the price I pay for getting involved with mortals."

"Oui, exactement." Lacroix sat down in one of the armchairs and put the phone back on the cradle. He was studying Nick for quite some time before he said, "Anything else you'd like to talk about?"

Nick looked at him, surprised. "Like what?"

Lacroix shrugged. "Whatever you'd like."

Nick was confused but was then too tired to try and work out Lacroix's motives. He decided to take the older vampire's words at face value. "Do you ever wonder why we've lived so long when others haven't?"

"Other vampires?"

"Yes."

"They didn't have the strength for immortality. They didn't find something worth living for. Or they did something unwise which led to their death." The last clearly referencing Irena. "What made you think of that?"

Nick shook his head and leaned back in the chair. "I don't know. Maybe I'm just tired."

A strange look flashed across Lacroix's face. "Tired of immortality?"

Nick's mouth quirked up on one side. "Tired as in it's been an exhausting few days. Few weeks, really. I'm not mentally unstable. I don't know why you always go there first."

"Experience," Lacroix mumbled, then louder, said, "The last few weeks have been trying." Almost as an afterthought, he added, "And not as entertaining as I'd have wished."

Nick actually laughed at that because it was so in line with Lacroix's personality that he sounded aggrieved by not being entertained. "Is that why you're always pushing my buttons? It's entertaining?"

"Sometimes." The corners of Lacroix's mouth turned up at the edges in his version of a smile. "Sometimes it's for your own good and, sometimes, there is no button pushing, it's your own defensiveness."

"Ah, yes, that old chestnut." Nick said it casually and with some humor. He stood and motioned upstairs. "I'm going to bed."

Lacroix nodded and said, "I'll be up soon. I need to think."

Chapter Text

"Hello, Tracy."

Tracy whirled around to face her apartment door. She didn't have her gun as she was just packing up a few last things to take to the new place before the movers came the next day. Joseph had already loaded a few boxes into his car and was on his way to the new place. "What do you want?"

The man smiled pleasantly. "To kill you."

This was the vampire who had killed the man in the alley. She'd only caught the barest glimpse of him at the time but Nick's warning and the way her skin crawled told her she was right. She glanced at the cross she'd left lying on the coffee table and cursed herself for not keeping it on her. Then, he was right in her face, fangs out, hand around the back of her neck.

Tracy struggled, trying to get his hands to release her but she knew it was pointless. If she could just get to the cross... he was strong, too strong, and she felt real panic set in. This was it. Why didn't she...

"You won't struggle." Holden ordered her but it had no effect. "Another resistor. Ah well, I guess it will hurt then." He moved to strike....

"Holden." Lacroix appeared in the doorway with some type of rifle. When Holden turned toward Lacroix, he shot him three times and Holden went down like a sack of potatoes.

"Mr. Lacroix!" she said in relief. She stumbled and sat down on the floor, hard. Relief was never an emotion she'd have thought she'd feel seeing Mr. Creepy appear in her apartment. Wait.... "You were using me as bait!"

"Of course." He looked down at the vampire on the floor. "You are unharmed?"

Tracy was gulping air through her mouth and nose, on the verge of hyperventilating. She held up her hand, meaning 'just a minute' and concentrated on getting her breathing and heart rate down. She took a final deep breath and got up from the floor. She pointed at the gun. "From the Zhèngyì?"

"Yes." Lacroix slung the tranq gun over his shoulder. "Are you unharmed?" he repeated.

"Yes, the bait is unharmed," she said sarcastically. "What are you going to do with him?"

"Kill him, obviously. You don't need to worry anymore." Lacroix glanced again at Holden.

"Yes, please get him out of here." She moved her hand up to push her hair out of her face and saw her hand was shaking. She stared at it and willed herself to calm down. Once she got her nerves under control, she stood up and went to the box on the dining room table, placing another item inside. "I'm going to finish and go to the new place and cuddle with Joseph and hope he doesn't ask what's wrong or notice what I'm sure will be the big bruise on the back of my neck." She knew not to show weakness around Mr. Creepy.

"Yes, well.... If you'll excuse me." Lacroix hefted Holden's body over his shoulder, then he was gone.

============

"You know we'll be stuck here all day, right?" Nick eyed Holden for any signs that he was regaining consciousness, which should be any time now. They had dosed him again in the car on the way over, hoping to keep him unconscious until after sunrise.

Holden was in the cell bolted to the floor in the warehouse in Hamilton. There was no longer anything inside the cell as the cot had been removed some time ago, so he was splayed out on the floor where Nick had dumped him. They sat outside the now reinforced cage, close enough to use the tranq gun but not close enough for Holden to reach them through the bars. Lacroix had three darts with half the dosage used to knock out Nick, they didn't want him to be completely unconscious again. Lacroix wanted him conscious but powerless. Nick had argued that it was too cruel to let him be awake for his death. Lacroix won the argument.

"A small price to pay." Lacroix glanced over his shoulder at the window newly cut in the metal building. "About another hour or two until the sun hits the cage and then..."

"If he wakes up in time." Nick shifted in his seat, nervous about the sun rising at his back. "We're going to have to move back soon."

"I want a front row seat to his demise. We'll move to the side of the cage when it gets too sunny here."

Just then, Holden opened his eyes and blinked in confusion. He obviously was having trouble focusing his eyes and was even having problems lifting his hand to rub them.

"You'll feel a little woozy for a while." Nick offered. "Don't bother trying to stand yet."

Holden rolled to his side and, after a few tries, managed to sit up. He shook his head like a dog and was finally able to focus on his surroundings. "What... where..."

"Good morning." Lacroix said pleasantly. He then motioned behind him to the window set high in the building. "Soon to be afternoon."

"Lacroix?" He was still clearly confused. He used the bars of the cell to pull himself to standing. The drug was wearing off quickly. "What did you shoot me with?"

Lacroix handed the tranq gun to Nick and rose from his seat. He approached the bars, almost daring Holden to try something. "It's not important." He smiled insincerely. "What is important is me watching you burn for what you did to my club."

"And what you've done to me." Nick added.

"Yes, that too." Lacroix ran his hand across the bars. "They did a good job with this, Nicholas. It even may be able to hold me."

Holden started trying to bend the bars, but he clearly wasn't at full strength yet. "This is ridiculous. Let me out."

Lacroix shook his head. "No. You sealed your fate by disturbing me and mine. And all for revenge against the wrong vampire."

"What do you mean?" Holden was getting stronger, but the bars were not moving. "I saw him," he nodded toward Nick, "removing my beloved from impalement and bury her with that mortal." He almost spit the word 'mortal' out.

"Ah, but you see, it was Janette and your 'beloved' who fought over the mortal. Janette prevailed. Nicholas was simply cleaning up." Lacroix walked back over towards Nick and picked up the chairs. "So, your need for revenge is misplaced."

Nick kept the gun aimed at Holden as he followed Lacroix over to an area where the sun would not touch them. Holden really started pulling at the bars now. "Keep it up and I'll shoot you up again. You won't be unconscious, just unable to move." Nick didn't know that for sure since they hadn't tested the dosage, but he thought it sounded true enough.

"And where is the lovely Janette?" Holden glared at Nick and gave one final pull on the bars and then dropped his hands in defeat.

"Gone." Lacroix said as he took his seat, glancing up at the sun that was beginning to shine through the window. "Any last words?"

"From all I've heard, this is remarkably restrained for you, Lacroix. Which leads me to believe you don't really want to do this. So, what do you say? I promise to leave town and never bother you again?"

A last-ditch effort but not a very good one. "Feel lucky he's exercising restraint. This is a fairly peaceful death compared to..."

"Enough with this! Let me out NOW!" The first rays of sunshine hit the bottom of the cell and started slowly moving across the floor and up the bars. Holden backed away from the front of the cell. "I've learned my lesson."

Lacroix shook his head and remained unmoved. Nick shifted the tranq gun on his lap but kept a close eye on Holden. Time passed and they watched as the sun slowly made its way across the floor. Soon, Holden would have no way to avoid it.

Holden saw that he wasn't getting out and had lodged himself in the corner in the back, closest to where Lacroix and Nick were sitting. Nick expected him to plead for his life, or rail against the unfairness or something, but he just leaned back against the bars, watching as the sun touched the tip of his shoe.

"Any last words?" Lacroix repeated.

"At least I will be with my beloved again."

To his credit, Lacroix did not contradict him. The older vampire simply sat up straighter in his seat, crossed his legs and sat back as he did when they went to the opera, awaiting the performance.

Nick was not sure he really wanted to see this. Then again, he did feel like he'd get a certain amount of satisfaction by watching the asshole burn.

As the sun crept up his legs, Holden began smoking and his face showed pain. "I'll be waiting for you both in Hell." Then, in a final act of defiance, he looked at Lacroix and stepped fully into the sun. It took about 30 seconds for his body to burn and then all that was left was ash.

They both sat in silence for a few minutes. Nick casting around in his head for something to say. Finally, he settled on, "I thought this place was owned by a biker gang."

Lacroix stirred, blinked and answered, "I have no idea. The cage was what I was after." He got up and went to the refrigerator that was still there, opened the door and took out a bottle of blood. He opened the cabinets but failed to find any glasses. He brought the bottle over and handed it to Nick. "I'm afraid we'll have to drink like heathens."

The bottle was not cold as there was no electricity in the building. It felt a little surreal to Nick and he suddenly was aware of how far off track he'd gotten. Detective Knight would not be in an abandoned building with a serial killer, preparing to drink blood out a bottle after just having murdered someone.

But he wasn't Detective Knight right now. He may not be Detective Knight ever again if he couldn't fix things with work. He got the feeling that it was very serious this time. He didn't know what Natalie had determined in the autopsy, he'd been too distracted the last time he'd seen her to ask.

"Are you hoping it will open itself?"

Lacroix's question pulled him out of his thoughts. He handed the bottle to Lacroix. "I'm not really hungry." Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Lacroix studying him intently. He turned his head to look at the other vampire.

"You are worried about your job now that the immediate problem is solved." It was a statement.

Nick sighed at Lacroix almost always knowing what was on his mind. He got up and went to the cage and put his hands on the bars, looking at the pile of ash and the bits of clothing that did not burn. "I don't know what's going on with the investigation." He turned to face Lacroix. "Into me or into the assassin."

"You could very easily find out. If you really wanted to know." Lacroix opened the bottle and took a drink, frowning afterward. "However, if you insist on playing it like the mortal policeman, you are at their mercy."

"I'm not going to 'whammy' anyone, as Tracy calls it."

Lacroix shrugged and took another small drink. "I think this blood has gone off." He recorked the bottle and set it between his feet. "I may have to have a word with my supplier."

"Just when I think things can't get worse, they do." Nick began strolling around the warehouse, careful to avoid the sun. "I've had some close calls at work, in danger of being found out..."

"Like when that dead partner of yours was convinced you were a vampire." Lacroix interjected.

Nick stopped his wander and just stared at Lacroix. "What?"

Lacroix became more animated, as if he found it funny. "Yes, a few years ago. He eventually came to see me, but I was able to convince him he was wrong."

"WHAT?"

"It was quite funny. If he didn't smell so bad from his atrocious diet, I would have liked to speak with him longer. I understand why you always said he was a good detective; he put together the smallest pieces and came up with the correct answer. One that couldn't possibly be true, but he was willing to follow up."

Nick rolled his eyes and went back to exploring. "Now you tell me."

"You were saying...."

"I was saying," Nick returned to the chair next to Lacroix. "That it seems like this time, I may not get out of it. I don't want to hypnotize everyone because where would it end? And I don't really want to leave." He shook his head. "But, this time, I may not have a choice. Everything is closing in on me."

"Surely it's not as bad as all that? Nobody suspects you of being a vampire. Except the ones who already know."

"That's just it. Tracy and Natalie have been in danger more this year than ever before. Tracy is about at the end of her rope with all the vampire things and even Natalie is becoming more frightened. Then there is the investigation into the death of the hitman, which I did not do, but if there is no other plausible explanation, they'll fire me since it's such a high-profile case." Nick put his head into his hands for a moment then stood up again and began pacing in front of Lacroix. "Maybe I have stayed too long. But I was so hopeful, Tracy knew and was dealing with it, Natalie was making progress, you and I are getting along, my closure rate remains high. Everything was going okay. And now...."

"The sky is falling."

Nick nodded and sat back down. "Fast. I don't know what happened."

Lacroix patted Nick's leg in an uncommon gesture. "Everything will be resolved."

"I'm sure you're pleased." Nick forcefully removed Lacroix's hand.

"Why would I be pleased? I've come to enjoy Toronto, my work, my club, my home, our renewed... congeniality." Lacroix picked up the bottle between his feet and opened it. "Where once I would have happily left, now... I'd prefer to stay." He took a swig and made a face, placing the bottle back down between his feet.

Nick studied him and actually tried to sense if he were telling the truth. The man was a brick wall when he wanted to be. He leaned back in his chair and put his arms behind his head. "Maybe I'll leave, and you can stay."

"Maybe. Unlikely though. As I said, I'm enjoying our time together and would like it to continue." He picked up the bottle again, remembered, and quickly set it back down. "I wish I'd brought more to eat."

Nick stood and moved a little way away. "I'm going to call Natalie and Tracy and let them know it's over." He pulled out his mobile phone and dialed Natalie first.

Chapter Text

His first call was to Natalie, letting her know it was over, and she could go back to work. She asked him to come to the morgue near the end of her shift when it was quiet. She'd had to be vague because Myra was there. Nick was sure that Myra was curious about what was really happening for Natalie to suddenly request to stay the night. Nick didn't ask what she'd told Myra.

Then it was on to Tracy. She sounded annoyed when he announced himself, so he got right to the point. "It's over. You're safe."

"How?"

"He went into the sun."

There was a pause and then, "Voluntarily?"

"No, not really."

Another pause. "I see."

This should have been a happy time in her life but her association with him made it stressful and dangerous. "Right. Since Joseph is there, you can't really talk. Got it."

"Right. Nick, I really have to go. We can't talk about any cases until you're reinstated. And I know you will be reinstated. I'm sure of it."

"I'm not so sure but thanks for the vote of confidence." He had to know. "Is it too much?"

After a long pause, she answered, "It's getting there. Really fast. I have to go."

He hung up and immediately felt Lacroix's eyes on him. He was sure that Lacroix heard both sides of both conversations and would have something to say. However, the older vampire just stared at him impassively.

"What?" Nick snapped.

Raising an eyebrow, Lacroix answered, "Nothing." He ran his fingers down the crease in his pants. "I wish we would have brought the chessboard."

"Well, we didn't." Nick resumed his seat next to Lacroix but turned his chair slightly away. He knew he was being surly without reason but the more he thought about it all, the more annoyed he became.

"If you don't want to do it, I could take care of it for you. Convince everyone involved that you were not at fault."

The offer was made gently, which was not like Lacroix at all. He looked at Lacroix but couldn't find anything in his expression that was suspect. "No. Thank you for the offer but I need to just ride it out."

"Nicholas..."

"No." Nick held up his hand. "My mortal life and my vampire life have been mixing a bit too much these days. If I'm to continue here, I need to follow mortal laws. I need to sort this out myself."

They spent the rest of the day speaking occasionally but Lacroix seemed to understand that Nick needed time to think. The thing that was most prominent in his thoughts was his use of the word 'if'. Was it truly time to move on? Did he subconsciously want to?

==============

Nick let the elevator door bang closed behind him. Since he was going to go see Natalie later, he headed to the refrigerator, took out some blood and drank straight from the bottle. After the first mouthful, he realized how hungry he was and drank almost the whole thing.

Lacroix had gone back to his place as Nick had wanted to be alone. He was tired. He was frustrated. He just wanted a shower and to sleep for a few hours before visiting Natalie. He went upstairs and got into the shower, standing under the hot spray, determined to banish all thoughts of the future for the next fifteen minutes.

A little more relaxed after his shower, he towel dried his hair and got into bed, hoping for a peaceful rest.

When he woke up, he felt calmer and more optimistic. After he'd dressed, he went downstairs and called Captain Reese, hoping for an update. Of course, Reese told him there was no news yet, but he'd inform Nick if there was. He also suggested that Nick butt out and let things happen when they happened.

The captain’s tone was one that Nick had heard before, annoyance, frustration and exhaustion. Nick didn't know if it was directed at him or the situation. After all, Reese was down two detectives on the night shift and was probably having to deal with the RCMP, which was never a walk in the park.

He had about an hour before he was going to go meet Natalie and he impulsively decided to just go drive around the city until it was time. He turned on the radio even though Lacroix's broadcast was long over, turned the dial until he found a light rock station and then randomly turned on a street heading downtown.

There was beauty and horror in every city he'd ever been in but, despite the things he would see on the job, Toronto seemed, to him, to have more beauty than horror. The arts, the museums, the water, the parks, there was a lot to do, if you chose. A lot of the people were great. Everyday people, living their lives, some with families and friends, some loners, but they were normal, average, basically good people. Even the neon lights reflected on the pavement after the rain was beautiful to him.

When he'd first come to Toronto, he'd had difficulty seeing anything beautiful about it. He mostly avoided interacting with people, stuck to the shadows, watching, trying to get a sense of the place as it was now. At first, he only saw the dark side of the city where the people are not nice, the alleys were filthy, the prostitution, drug dealing, even white-collar crime. And he had despaired of finding his place between the two worlds that existed.

Then there was the pipe bomb. His life changed that night. Last year, he would have said changed for the better. Well, no, right now he'd say it had changed for the better although, right now, he couldn't judge it as better. He had a job he enjoyed, great co-workers for the most part, some friends, had some great experiences, and Natalie. Natalie who saw him for who he was and accepted him. Was curious about him. Tried to help him with his fondest wish. His impossible wish. Who took no guff from him. He loved her. As a friend and, some days, as something more. Hopeless.

Now, it was all falling apart. Quickly. Much more quickly than it had been built up. The dismantling of his life couldn't be solely laid at the feet of Holden James. He'd like it to be all Holden's fault but he knew it wasn't. He'd become too cavalier with relationships, with Tracy and Natalie especially. He had let down his guard about protecting his big secret. Yesterday, finding out that Schanke suspected... well, he was a good detective, but Nick thought he'd done a good job of hiding things. Apparently not.

Now he was infecting the lives of his friends. Put them in danger. Repeatedly. All because he'd relaxed. All because he'd decided that, because they were friends, because they had him to protect them, that nothing bad would happen. Arrogance and hubris. If he got to stick around, if he still had a job, he vowed to himself that he would pull back, not involve anyone in anything vampire related, even if it meant tying them up and stashing them somewhere.

He hit the steering wheel with his hand and cursed at the windshield. "Sure, like there'd be no negative consequences to that." But what else could he do?

"You could leave, you moron." He knew that was the only true answer. Tracy and Natalie had become so entrenched in his life that the only way to protect them was to leave. His heart actually hurt from seriously contemplating leaving.

For now, he'd stick around and see what happened with his job. Maybe he would think of a way to detach his vampire life from his "mortal" life. Maybe he could manage to make his two lives co-exist without getting anyone killed. Maybe. Possibly.

He looked at the time and headed to the morgue.

===========

He came into the Medical Examiner building the back way, listening at the door for voices or heartbeats. There were none in the immediate area. It was about an hour before the end of Natalie's shift and three hours until sunrise. He walked soundlessly down the hall but didn't encounter anyone.

He slipped into the autopsy room and found Natalie at her desk, writing on some report. "Hey."

She looked up at him and held up one finger and returned to writing. She put her pen down, "Done and hi yourself." She smiled at him but then her face became serious like she'd just remembered something. "Nick, we really need to talk about what's going on with you lately. I..."

"I know and I'm ready to tell you everything." Nick didn't really want to talk about it, mainly since he really didn't know what was going on with him. "Just not now and not here, okay? I can't stay long."

Natalie stood and came to stand in front of Nick. "Fine. But we will talk soon." She came closer and took his hand. "I wanted to tell you I couldn't fudge the autopsy report so much that it exonerated you, but I was able to say things that made the waters muddy. I don't know what they're going to decide but I did the best I could."

"I understand. Thank you for what you could do." He squeezed her hand and stepped back. "Natalie, I really do appreciate everything you do for me, even if I never say it. I know I seem ungrateful..."

Just then, the door to the autopsy room opened and Nick turned his head to see who it was. Natalie, who was facing the door, gasped and quickly retreated a few steps.

Enforcers.

Their eyes flicked over Nick, and they began heading straight for Natalie, hissing, fangs extended, eyes blazing. The man hung back as the woman stayed focused on Natalie. Reckoning for his foolish desire for mortality had finally appeared.

Nick moved in front of Natalie as the Enforcers continued hissing. "Wait. Just wait." He backed away with Natalie behind him until he reached the farthest wall. He turned her around so that her back was to the Enforcers and she could see only him. "There are two things that can happen."

"Vampire or death?" Her voice was strained, colored by terror. Her eyes were wide in panic and fear. She knew. He'd told her, warned her what would happen. At the time, very early in her experiments, he'd just wanted her to know the risks, wanted her to know it wasn't a good idea. He hadn't even been sure it was a good idea. And now... now it was too late. Maybe for both of them.

"Yes. What is your choice?" He pushed her hair behind one of her ears and half-smiled. "It will be okay. Either way, we'll be together in the end." Was that reassuring? He didn't know but it was all he had.

Lacroix was suddenly in the room and Nick glanced at him as he walked around the autopsy table to stand beside Nick. "I told you it would come to this," he hissed.

Nick didn't bother to acknowledge the 'I told you so'. "I've presented her with her options." He turned his attention back to Natalie. She had tears in her eyes but remained silent as the tears finally began falling down her face. "You have to decide quickly, I don't know how much longer they'll hold off."

"What is the meaning of this?" Lacroix approached the Enforcers, probably trying to buy time.

"You know what they've been doing. They will both die for this," the female Enforcer said through her abnormally large fangs. "They are both a danger to the whole community. The time has come to put a stop to it. You know that. You should have put a stop to it long ago."

"They belong to me! You will not touch Nicholas, no matter what you think he's done." Lacroix looked over his shoulder at Nick and then back at the Enforcers.

Nick hugged Natalie and whispered in her ear. "You must choose. Now."

Natalie shook her head against his shoulder. "I can't."

"I'm sorry. This is all my fault." He leaned down and kissed her softly on the lips. He addressed the Enforcers. "We will stop. It was a foolish whim. I see now that I was wrong." He returned his attention to Natalie and moved her hair off her neck. "She is mine and I will do what's right."

"Nicholas!"

Nick looked up at Lacroix, both of their eyes blazing gold.

"She is mine to kill or bring across. Just as you once promised."

The End
End of Season 4 (except the Epilogue)