Rhia pulled up the long drive of an old mansion that was as extravagant and luxurious as the Royal Palace of Versailles a few miles away. Stepping out of the car and looking around, she couldn't help but wonder if Bastian had made a mistake. This couldn't be Nolan's property. So much unnecessary extravagance was Constantine's style.

Lavish was the only word that came to mind. Hedges grown in pristine patters and maintained to sharp edges and corners to line the paths and create a natural barrier to keep walkers from stepping on the perfectly maintained lawn and hundreds of flowers and other plants grown in strictly defined areas. A pond at the center of the drive was lined with white marble, creating an easy U-turn for cars. Just under the surface were several fountain nozzles turned on low to keep the water flowing, but could easily be turned up for an impressive display. She could only imagine what it would look like in the daylight.

This was the address he sent her, right?

She walked up the double staircase, seriously wondering if she'd taken a wrong turn somewhere, and pressed the doorbell. The chimes echoed beyond the door in a beautiful chords and patterns. A few minutes later, Bastian opened the door, his skin pale and blue eyes wide in shock. "How in control are you right now?" he asked.

"I am uncomfortably sober, so I think that's going to depend on what you have to tell me. Are you going to invite me in?"

"Just... try not to light anything on fire, please."

He turned and started down the hall, leaving Rhia standing at the open door, torn between running the fuck away and following him in. Taking a breath, she took a careful step forward into the mansion. She quickly forgot about the hallowed look on his face, and her jaw dropped. "What the hell...?" she muttered.

The house was as beautiful and grand on the inside as it was outside. Everything was painted white with gold trim. An enormous, antique chandelier hung low over her, casting crystalline reflections over every surface. "He never told you about this place, did he?" Bastian called from the end of the foyer.

"No," she breathed, doing a slow circle and trying to take it all in. "Never. He didn't even mention it. Neither did Constantine when he was trying to torment me. Why?"

"I'll show you."

He nodded for her to follow him into what could only be described as a ballroom. High arched ceilings with a renaissance mural taking up most of the open space. Portraits lined the walls between decorative burgundy curtains. At the far end of the hall, right in the middle, Bastian drew back a set of curtains that had been closed.

Rhia stared up and enormous oil portrait. Instantly, she recognized Nolan dressed in a tuxedo that would have been at the height of fashion in the nineteen-thirties. As always, he was pristine. Not a single hair out of place, and the artist perfectly captured the intense, yet kind look in his bright blue eyes.

The woman next to him was just as beautiful. Tall, slender, blonde haired with porcelain skin, and eyes as red as fire. In her arms, was a boy no older than a year old with his father's eyes. "Who is she?" Rhia's breathed in awe.

"Valentina Catrinel Lisandra Dracula," Bastian whispered.

"Nolan's wife." All at once, her lungs felt heavy and tight.

"And Cameron's mother. She was a powerful, proud woman." Bastian smiled up at the painted woman. "You would have liked her. She had one hell of a wild streak. The only thing that ever scared her was motherhood. You never got the chance to meet the Dracula's, but 'parent material' would be the last thing that came to mind in describing them. Her father was an absolute nut-bag, and I think it's fair to say she had one or two screws loose herself. But she loved Cam and Nolan more than anything in this world. It really broke him when she was killed. I don't think he ever came back here."

"What about Cameron?"

"We tried. I wanted him to have some kind of connection to his mother's side of the family. But the Ancients weren't particularly popular in Europe after the war, given the Counsel's limited response to a world-wide conflict until it affected them directly. It was worse for night stalkers. It was the witch hunts all over again. I thought a fresh start in a relatively magic-neutral country like Canada would be good for him."

"How did he end up in Los Angeles?"

"Young love," Bastian smiled, and his eyes shimmered with amusement. "There were only two things he wanted back then. He wanted to be a lawyer, and he wanted to start a family, in that order. The local university hadn't developed its law program yet, but his high school girlfriend's father's cousin was a professor at UCLA. He got them interviews, but they had to do the rest.

"Of course, Cameron could have gone to any damn school he wanted if he told them he was related to vampiric royalty. But he was never one to pull rank over people. He waited until he got accepted on a full scholarship before quietly informing the administration and paying out of pocket. I don't think he even told that girlfriend or her family.

"Anyway, they broke up after the first two years when she realized that he wanted to establish his career before starting a family. She went on to be a mediocre television star, and he graduated at the top of his class."

"Of course, he did," Rhia chuckled, looking at the little baby Cameron. He looked just like Ethan. Or, rather, Ethan looked just like him. Then her eyes slid up to Cameron's mother. The woman Nolan proclaimed as his favorite wife. She'd never taken it personally, but in that moment, there was the slightest pang of jealousy, quickly followed by guilt. She was a gorgeous, elegant vampire. It was no wonder Nolan fell for her. "Nolan was so proud of you guys. All of you."

"Yeah, I know," Bastian's voice cooled noticeably, and he turned away. "Honestly, I'm just glad you got to know the best parts of him."

She followed him silently after one last look up at the painting. A part of her burned to ask him what he meant. Nolan had always called Bastian an honest-to-the-gods genius. Of all his wives, children, grandchildren, and further descendants who had known him, Bastian was the only one who found out the truth of Nolan's origins. Bastian was also the oldest of his living children, and probably had the most to tell. But with that came a lot of pain and resentment. It didn't matter how much she loved Nolan, she didn't have the right to bring up that kind of pain.

They walked through the halls with Rhia unable to stop looking at everything. The house was so old and beautiful, something that would have only been depicted in movies or television. Nolan had never hidden his wealth from her, but his house in LA was humble compared to some of the Hollywood mansions she'd been called to for work. This place, though... this wasn't just wealth. This was the kind of thing people lost their heads over in the French Revolution... literally.

Outside a door that blended in so well with the rest of the walls, Bastian paused. That fear and worry in his expression was back as he looked at Rhia. "Please, don't panic. It's not going to hurt us... probably."

"Probably?" she tensed. "That does not fill me with confidence."

He lifted one shoulder in a shrug and pushed through the door. Rhia followed, and looked around nervously, waiting for whatever she was supposed to be so afraid of. The room was a kitchen. A beautiful one, though far from what she would consider modern. There was a fireplace under the stove and oven, and she latched her magic onto it. Hopefully, if she did go into panic mode, the only thing that lit on fire would be the old logs piled up instead of the rest of the house.

It was lucky she did that so quickly, as when she looked up to ask Bastian what was going on, she saw it and froze. It came out of the shadows cast over the floor. It rose higher and higher until all nine feet of the heavily armored creature towered over them. The armour seemed to shiver to life, looking more like chitin than metal. The temperature in the room dropped until Rhia could see her own breath.

Two dark yellow eyes, almost golden in color, flickered like fire in the spaces in the helm. As it raised its hand, grey-black smoke billowed around it and formed a massive spear as black and deadly as the rest of it. When the pommel hit the stone floor, it made a heavy thunk sound that echoed through the room.

In that second, Rhia forgot how to breathe. The hellfire in her chest flickered out in her fear, making her feel even colder. She knew that kind of magic. A far-away, yowling scream filled her ears, and the places where she'd been bitten by changelings started to throb in a phantom pain. The heavy smoke continued to pour out of its back, filling the room and curling around them both.

It was a demon. One that was a hell of a lot stronger than an entire hoard of changelings.

"Rhia," Bastian's voice, though shaky, was slow and careful. "Calm down. Take a deep breath."

"What the hell is that thing?"

"It's called an archangel. It's a guardian of the demons. It will not attack unless you do. "

They stood completely still in utter silence for what could have been years for all Rhia could tell. She stared up at the monstrous creature made of shadow and death. Hellfire could kill demons permanently. One touch of her flames and it would perish. But was she faster than a trained warrior? Probably not. "What... does it want with me?" she whispered.

At that second, the archangel made a dark, rattling, hissing sound. The doors to the cellar burst open, making Rhia jump. Only then did she realize that the hissing sounds were actually words. "The dragon will follow..."

"No fucking way," she snapped and took a hasty step back. "The last time I was in a black hole with demons, it nearly killed me."

"The masters call..."

To that, Bastian's eyes widened. "Holy shit," he breathed. "They're back?"

The archangel said nothing. It only melted into the blackness of the cellar until only its eyes could be seen below. Bastian followed immediately, but Rhia hesitated. "Where is it taking us?" she asked. "Where does this lead?"

Visible discomfort crossed his features. "This house and many others were built before there was widespread knowledge of vampires, and before modern methods of blood preservation. The cellars lead to a series of tunnels through Paris and connect with the Catacombs which, I assume, is where we're going." He glanced at the glowing gold eyes, but the demon didn't respond.

"Why?" Rhia shifted her weight from one foot to the other. "Why don't they come here?"

"They won't expose themselves. You'll be fine, I promise. I'll explain on the way."

After another long hesitation, Rhia finally followed Bastian and the demon down the steep set of stairs into the dark cellar. The tunnels were narrow, forcing them to walk in a line with the archangel maintaining a safe distance ahead of them.

They walked for what felt like hours, and in that time, Bastian filled Rhia in on the details of the events that happened simultaneously to Nolan and Constantine's deaths. The "incident" in Ireland that Nova brought up the other night was an all-out battle between the demonic gods over someone they claimed had some kind of connection to the very Organization that had kidnapped Rhia twenty-seven years ago.

The "good" demons—in the words of the Seelie King—were allowed to return to France in order to bring the person into the protected custody of the Counsel and to tell their story. But they never did, which, according to Bastian, was entirely predictable. The remaining five of the Seven Deadly Sins vanished almost immediately upon returning to Paris and hadn't been seen or heard from since.

In fact, demons all over the world had disappeared. The demonic representative for the Counsel had been killed in one of the skirmishes, and no one stepped forward to take the seat. There had been no demonic activity in over four months, and it was assumed that they had followed their gods into hiding.

Rhia felt like she did back when Nolan dropped several atom-bombs worth of information on her lap when they first met. Like her head was about to explode.

She had to hunt her brain through her extensive medical education for anything about demons. Nothing but a blank. Demons were one of those mysterious breeds that refused to share their anatomy and physiology with humans. She had never met one before the attack in California, and, if she was honest with herself, she didn't even know they were sentient. She thought they were just... monsters.

So, to say that she was terrified of this meeting would be putting it lightly, and she was extremely thankful that Bastian was with her.

Eventually, the tunnels widened. Then the floor slanted downwards, and bones appeared in the walls. Deeper and deeper, they went, further than what was ever allowed for tourists. Then they went further, until they found a sign that stopped Rhia dead in her tracks. "Private property?" she translated the French words off the old, rusted metal. "That can't be right."

"It is, actually," Bastian shrugged. "If you go back far enough, it was the demons that founded the original settlement that turned into Paris. They have always had exclusive rights to the natural caverns underground. If you ask me, they let the various breeds turn them into their burial grounds to ward off any society that has a cultural respect and fear for the dead, which is most of them."

He continued forward, and Rhia followed while her shoulders started to shiver. "They don't actually... live down there, do they?"

"No idea. There were only two ways to get in contact with demons before they vanished. Their counsellor is dead, and now that night stalker club is burned down. Without one or the other, we don't really know anything about where they live, how they live or... anything. They don't trust anyone, and not without reason."

They continued until the tunnel opened into a chamber. The walls were covered, top to bottom, in a mosaic of bones of wildly varying sizes. The skulls ranged from ordinary human shapes and sizes, to another one half-imbedded in a wall that would have come up to Rhia's waist.

And then, the archangel vanished in a puff of grey smoke and the dirt swirled for a moment in the spot it had been. Darkness descended on them, so thick even their enhanced eyes had a hard time making out their surroundings.

Rhia couldn't help it. Her nerves were fried, at the end of her emotional leash, and her typical coping mechanism came tumbling out of her mouth. "Another one bites the dust," she sang shakily under her breath. "And another one gone, and another one gone, and another one bites the dust."

Bastian chuckled and started tapping his finger against the side of his leg in time to her objectively terrible singing.

The wall in front of them suddenly shimmered in a mix of magic and light. Two archangels materialized first. The one with golden eyes emerged first, quickly followed by another that was identical to the smallest detail except one. Its eyes weren't gold. They were black and nearly imperceptible compared to the rest of it.

Instinctively, both Rhia and Bastian stepped back from the silent warriors, and watched the wall as a short, slight woman stepped through. She raised her hand and snapped her fingers. A dull blue light rippled to life on the ceiling above them, and Rhia was finally able to get a good look at her.

She looked younger than Rhia, though she still had a hard time with Ancients. She had a slight, ethereal look to her with black hair and pale skin, similar to that of pure blood fae. But this girl was no faerie. Her eyes were completely taken over by the same gold color of the first archangel, and there was a distinctly demonic feel to her magic.

That golden gaze first landed on Rhia, and then flicked to Bastian. Her shoulders came up defensively and her foot shifted back as if ready to retreat again. "Who the fuck are you?" she snapped at him. "She was supposed to come alone!"

Rhia looked nervously to Bastian. His face had gone diplomatically blank, and he glared down at the girl. "I am Bastian Wes," he said in an icy tone. "Your archangel came to my home to find Rhia. Either I stay, or we both leave."

They stared at each other for a few seconds. Each one that passed, the girl slowly relaxed and her eyes narrowed in suspicion. "No," she breathed, and the sickly demonic power around them grew stronger and colder. "What is your true name?"

Rhia's knees buckled under the overwhelming swell of power, and she staggered into the wall for support. Except for his eyes flaring red, Bastian didn't seem to notice, his expression remaining blank and empty. "That is as true a name as you're going to get from me. Unless you're willing to give me yours first."

A shiver rippled through the archangels, and the girl looked up at them with shock flickering in her expression. The black-eyed one turned slightly, and they looked at each other silently. Rhia had been around the dragons long enough to know when creatures were communicating telepathically and edged closer to Bastian.

Finally, the girl let out a strained sigh, and glanced back at the spot where she'd materialized. Then she whipped her head around and focused on Rhia and only Rhia. "I'm only going to warn you once," she said sharply. "There are archangels in the walls. If you try to use hellfire in here, they will attack. I will go home, and you will never hear from me again."

Rhia tried to swallow the growing lump in her throat, but still couldn't make herself speak, so she just nodded.

"You can stay," she aimed the statement at Bastian. "If only to keep her in control."

"Wh-who are you?" Rhia managed in a hoarse whisper.

The demon let out a heavy, world-weary sigh. "My name is Kate. I am an entity of the Organization."

~