Deva woke warm in bed and the covers over her face. She could smell the deep woodsy essence of Darius' cologne and smiled. His gentle even breathing was soothing to her ears. She couldn't believe she told them about Nicholas. He was a part of her life she thought she would take to the grave. Nicholas was such an important and special person to her. He was her past. Darius was her future now and perhaps that was why it was easier to tell him. He embraced her past with understanding and comfort.

The sun was beaming in through the curtains but it wasn't as disturbing as have two tiny bodies jumping rambunctiously on top of them.

"Darry, oh Darry," the soft childlike voices chanted. "Wakey wakey Darius."

A groan escaped Darius' lips, and he threw back the covers in frustration. A little girl with light brown hair that looked to be the age of five had the biggest and brightest smile on her as she gazed at Darius' annoyed face.

"Darius please wake up. We're bored." The six year old blond haired boy begged.

"If you two little munchkins don't get off me, I'll eat you for breakfast," Darius refused to open his eyes.

Deva lay back enjoying every second of the scene unfolding in front of her.

The beautiful little girl just giggled angelically. "No you won't."

"I wouldn't be too sure about that squirt. I'm very hungry." Darius used his vampire speed to quickly yank the girl in his arm and move her towards his face, only two inches away. The little girl squealed in his arms, trying to get free.

"What are you doing in my room at this ungodly hour?"

"Uncle Marcus let us in," the girl confessed, struggling to get out of his iron grip.

"Of course he did," Darius kissed the girl's forehead before dropping her on the bed again. The little boy maneuvered his way over closer to Deva. His dark brown eyes stared at her with curiosity.

"Who is she?" He pointed in Deva's direction.

"She's pretty," the girl crawled over to sit on her lap.

Deva smiled, and Darius replied for her. "This is Deva. She's very special to me; so try to make me look good."

Deva laughed as the two little angels batted their eyes at her. "Of course we will."

"I'm Aurora but you can call me Rory. My favorite color is pink, I like skittles, and I want a pony. Will you play Barbie with me?" Aurora mumbled all this while climbing on top of Deva's stomach.

"I'm Lucas, but Luke's fine. You look like a nice person; will you play with us? Uncle Darius is being mean again."

Deva raised her brow in Darius' direction while he watched her with admiration and anticipation.

"Is he always mean to you two?"

"Not always, but lately he's been grumpy. Uncle Marcus says it's cause he lost his marbles," Lucas explained.

"Uncle Darry, if you want marbles I'll share mine with you," Aurora's eyes grew innocent and puppy like.

Darius looked pissed and annoyed by her comment; so Deva quickly picked Aurora up and carried her to the table that was prepared with wonderful breakfast treats.

"Have you both eaten yet?" Deva asked and it reminded her of something her own mother would ask her.

Aurora shook her head and Deva placed her gently on the wooden chair. "Good then you'll have to join me and tell me all the little secrets you know about Darius."

Aurora's eyes lit up and Lucas quickly rushed over just as joyous grabbing the seat next to her. They spent the next half hour gossiping about every little detail about the castle and everyone in it. Aurora was a very talkative little being with an imagination almost as wild as Deva's.

She knew right off the bat that Aurora was going to be a very good friend of hers. Lucas was a little shy at first, but eventually came out of his shell once Deva started making fun of Darius and the other brothers.

Darius watched quietly, but spoke when he needed to defend himself. In all honesty, he was happy to see Deva getting along with them and thought the distraction was exactly what she needed after her intense birthday.

The door opened and the conversation stopped as Amy entered urgently. "Excuse me Prince Darius but the Queen wishes to see you all in the sun room."

"Alright, tell my mother we will be there shortly."

Deva got up. "I guess I'll get dressed then." It only took her five minutes to find something worthy of wearing, and when she returned the kids were still at the table. Darius was hovering over them in a new outfit.

Aurora jumped up from her chair and ran to Deva; taking her hand and leading her to the door. "Come on Deva."

In the hall, Deva leaned closer to Darius. "I didn't know you were an uncle."

He combed through his hair. "I'm not. They are my cousins but they like calling us uncles. I guess we really do look as old as we are."

In the sunroom, Deva saw the Queen sitting with a floral tea cup to her lips and she was talking to a woman who looked very similar in facial features as the Queen. The woman had a beautiful elegance about her as she turned to smile warmly at them approaching.

"Ahh so this is the girl I heard so much about," the woman walked towards Deva with open arms.

Deva's initial reaction was to open her arms too and welcome the woman. The gentle hug was nice and homely, and when they pulled apart the woman carefully stared Deva down.

"You're very beautiful," the woman said bluntly while her brown eyes praised her.

"Thank you." Deva didn't know who the woman was yet but she could always take a complement.

"How rude of me, my name is Catherine. I am Queen Emma's sister." Her grace and radiance were evident through her genuine pearly white smile.

"I'm Deva. It's nice to meet you." Now she could definitely identify the resemblance.

Aurora tugged at the woman's skirt making them lose eye contact. "Mommy, mommy can I spend the day with Deva? Please mommy, I promise to be good."

"Now Aurora I'm sure Deva has other things to do then look after you. Besides, I believe we assigned that task to Darius."

"You did?" Darius' brow meticulously went up.

"Yes we did," Marcus waltzed in and patted Darius on the back.

It was obvious Darius would rather do other things than babysit. "I don't understand why I always get stuck babysitting those two."

"Because they love you best," Marcus used a tactic of flattery and Deva wondered if it would work on Darius.

"That can't possibly be true because they can't even distinguish us apart."

Both Aurora and Lucas twisted their little heads around to face him. "That's not true," they spoke matter of factly.

Darius rolled his eyes. Deva quickly butted in. "Actually I would love to watch over them. That is if you don't mind."

Catherine surveyed the situation, but the Queen answered before she could respond. "Deva dear we were going to take the girls out on a shopping spree to find dresses for the upcoming ball. I believe you have to come with us."

Deva hated shopping. "I'm honestly not a picky person. You can choose something for me."

"Yes please let her stay with us," Lucas begged the Queen who looked like she was slowly softening up to the idea. Once Aurora snuggled closer to the Queen's legs and used her puppy eyes all was lost, and the Queen gave in.

"Alright. She can stay."

"Yay!" The children turned to hug Deva. She was grateful she wouldn't have to try on any gowns.

"Sweetheart," Darius snuck up behind her. "You really don't have to spend the next couple of hours babysitting. These two brats can really be a handful."

Aurora narrowed her eyes at him in displeasure and placed her hand on her hip with enough sass to knock him over.

"No really I want to. Besides I forgot how refreshing it was to tease you all the time."

"Oh this is going to be just wonderful," he exaggerated in a playful voice.

Catherine bent down to her children. "Now you babies need to be good to Uncle Darius and Deva. Remember your manners and to always say thank you." She started kissing their cheeks.

"Come on mom," Lucas whined wiping his cheek.

"Okay then we're off." The Queen was waiting by the door for her sister to follow.

Marcus was leaning against the wall with a devilish smirk on his face before he too took his leave. "Have fun brother taming those three at once."

Darius knew better than to say anything back.

Deva dropped her arms to pick Aurora up and place her on her hip. "What shall we do today Rory?"

Darius quickly interrupted before the little beauty could reply. "Actually I was thinking why don't we go to the carnival? The weather is nice."

"My first vampire carnival, I'm game." She wondered if there were any differences.

They securely buckled the kids up in the Cadillac Escalade. All the while Deva felt Darius' eyes watching over. It made her think she was doing it wrong.

"What?" How difficult could it be to strap a child into a dummy proof child's car seat?

"Nothing." It was no doubt a lie.

She shook it off for the kids' sake and got in the car herself. They were more excited than she was to embark to the glorious amusement park. Darius blasted music the kids happened to know and they sang along, loudly. Luckily the car ride was short.

The carnival grounds were similar to the ones she was used to. The only difference she saw was it looked cleaner; no trash on the grass or nasty odor in the air.

"I want to ride that one first," Aurora said pointing towards a kiddy rollercoaster.

"I want to ride that one too," Lucas followed his sister's lead.

He was tugging on Darius' arm with no hope. Instead Darius picked him up to stop his useless attempts and turned to Deva.

"Shall we?"

Deva nodded, and they spent the next hour riding little rollercoasters over and over. The kids never tired, and eventually Deva and Darius gave up and let the kids ride the rest of them on their own while they supervised from afar.

Deva took the cotton candy Darius offered her and savored the blue sugar to boost her energy.

"I haven't been to the carnival in forever."

"Yeah me either." Darius draped his arm around her as they sat on the table and watched the kids having fun. Deva picked at the blue cotton and placed it in front of Darius' lips were he opened and ate it with a laugh.

"I didn't know vampires could have kids," Deva whispered.

Darius' hand gently squeezed her side. "We can."

"Are they vampires then?" The kid looked completely human to her.

"Not yet. When a vampire gives birth she gives birth to the purest form of life, human. They stay human until they hit puberty; that is when the fangs come out and the thirst for blood develops."

"Wow," It kind of made sense in her head, but still the idea of vampires having babies did seem odd.

Deva stood up and settled herself between Darius' legs.

The devious smile on her face grew as she placed the sticky candy above his lips. Deva curled the ends of the candy whiskers and couldn't stop laughing. The blue mustache occupying his face was a total priceless moment; if only she had a camera.

"Now that's attractive," she giggled out.

"I feel like one of those evil guys from the 1920's that place innocent girls on train tracks," Darius confessed wiggling his nose.

"Yeah, you definitely look like a pedophile to me."

Darius twisted his brows in an evil magician kind of way. "Well I might actually be. I am hundreds of years older than you."

Deva scrunched her face in a disgusted fashion. "Gross. I'm dating a guy as old as dust. That is so wrong." Deva kept her serious tone as she turned her body to walk away, but as soon as she felt Darius' massive arms yank her up in the air, her laughter couldn't be contained.

"Oh sweetheart, don't act like my age doesn't turn you on. My experience will be your most extraordinary gain." His wicked accusation made her stomach twist.

"Right," she turned and found a man at a booth staring at them. His crooked smile was really creeping her out, but the dozens of stuffed animals surrounding him was also distracting her attention.

"Shall I win you a prize?" Darius was already carrying her to the booth.

A purple unicorn the size of real pony caught her eye and she pointed towards it. "Daddy I want that one."

The pedophile joke was still cracking her up, and by the look of strange confusion on the carnie's face it was a success. Darius mentally rolled his eyes and handed the man some money to play.

"To win, all you have to do is tell me where the ball is at the end."

The man began swirling and lifting cups in such a fast speed there was no way Deva could keep up. Darius didn't even look like he was trying to keep up.

The man stopped all three cups on the table and lifted one hand in the air and the other was behind his back. "So my lord where is the ball?"

"Behind your back inside your right hand," Darius said with such confidence even the carnie was shocked.

"You are correct my prince."

Deva figured that Darius no doubt used his ability to locate the ball. Darius reached for the purple unicorn and handed it to Deva.

She exaggerated a squeal and jumped in his arms. "Thank you sugar daddy."

Darius laughed, but Deva covered his mouth with her lips. They were lost in the kiss until two tiny hands tugged at her legs. They pulled apart and Aurora glanced at the two of them with ultimate disdain.

"Uncle Darry what were you doing to Deva's face?"

Deva did everything she could to keep a straight face as she leveled herself down to Aurora's height.

"Darius was trying to eat me. He actually does it often. He thinks my tongue is made out of twizzlers."

"Ewwwww Uncle Darius." Aurora was pensively horrified.

Darius grabbed Lucas' hand and changed the subject. "Are you guys hungry yet?"

"Yes," all three of them answered.

The sun was beginning to set, but there was still plenty of light to see.

"Okay Lucas and I will grab a few things. Why don't you two get a table?"

Deva hugged the purple unicorn to her body and maneuvered around to a table that looked decent enough.

"Deva, can I go on one more ride before we eat?" Aurora was jumping with excitement staring at the dragon kiddy ride in front of her.

"Sure sweetie." She was off in a blink of an eye, leaving Deva all alone.

Deva felt another presence behind her. It wasn't warm and inviting like Darius'. This crude stranger was covering her in cautious chills.

"Such a beautiful thing you are," a raspy voice echoed in her ear.

"I bet you taste just as good as you look," another voice spoke just as barbaric.

Deva bit her tongue, debating whether to gamble her life over an insulting comment. They were two sharp vampires, circling around her holding her hostage in their invisible cage.

"Is that supposed to be a complement?"

The blond gave her a cricked grin. "Oh yes. You're very lovely."

"I'm sorry I can't say the same about you." She was hoping the troublemakers were harmless.

The man with black hair retracted his fangs and hissed. It didn't scare her like it was supposed to do. She found it amusing how touchy he was about her opinion.

"You shouldn't speak in such a manner to vampires, you little human." His ghostly white eyes were the most haunting sight she had ever seen.

"You wouldn't have to mind my manners if you hadn't approached me in the first place vampire."

He moved too fast for her to track and panicked when she felt him behind her. He yanked her hair back and she forced herself to endure the pain so she wouldn't scream.

"You know creatures like us love a challenge; therefore, Stan and I would love to cool down that fire of yours."

"I'd just end up burning you instead."

He jerked her hair again and she winced.

"Such a sharp tongue," he leaned in and took a whiff of her body fragrance. She couldn't escape, getting out of a vampire's grip was the most useless action in the world for a human.

Before she could deem herself defenseless both men dropped to their knees. Their hands flew up to their heads and they yelled out in agony.

Deva searched for her savior and saw Darius blazed with vengeance. She had never seen his eyes so dark and concentrated on one thing, pain. He smirked as he praised his work of having both men crying out for their lives.

"My prince, please." They both begged.

"Was that any way to treat a potential queen to the throne?" Darius' heated voice rang with fiery.

"No, no my prince. We had no idea."

Their petty pleading made no difference. Darius possessed no sympathy. He was blinded to any justification for their cruel intentions towards Deva. Watching Darius torture the defenseless vampires frightened her; not for her own safety. She truly believed with all her heart Darius would never purposely hurt her ever again. She could sense his sick enjoyment of their misery and that was a side of him she had never witnessed before.

"Darius stop," she warned him as Aurora and Lucas approached them. "Dar, please."

Darius' facial features relaxed and the haunting male cries stopped. Two security cops came forward from the crowd that had gathered around due to curiosity. Most were struck with fear and disbursed as quickly as the shock wore off.

The car ride back to the castle was cold and quiet. For once Deva's tongue was caught. There was nothing she could say with the kids present. She felt him wondrously glancing at her from time to time but she didn't dare look back. How would she react? She couldn't connect all the emotions running inside her head.

Amy was at the entrance to greet them. Deva couldn't be more pleased to see her.

"Can you get them ready for bed? The kids are exhausted."

Amy bowed and pushed the two little bodies towards the stairs. "Of course my lady."

Deva watched their tired little bodies drag their feet upon the stairs. Even after they were gone, she had nothing to say to him. Deva causally took her leave but even her maneuvered light steps were laced with controlled anger. She was upset with him, therefore; he closely followed her into the study room. Darius slid the wooden French door shut and awaited her wrath but she remained silent. Never in his life had he yearned to hear her voice than in that moment.

"You're mad at me." He stated, hoping to dissolve the tension. "Deva I'm sorry if I scared you. I didn't mean to-"

"That's not it," she finally turned to look at him.

"Then what is it? Something is definitely upsetting you." He took a step closer because all he wanted to do was hold her and tell her he would never hurt her.

"You...you enjoyed that didn't you? You enjoyed torturing those men." She crossed her arms over her chest for leverage.

Darius exhaled his willpower. He could never win with her.

"What was I supposed to do? Let them get to you. I stopped them the only way I saw fit. They are extremely lucky. The pain I caused them was a fraction of what I could have done."

"Wow!" Even his tone was insincere. There was no indication of remorse. "Do you hear yourself?"

He finally saw it in her eyes: disgust. She was the only one to cause him to hate himself and almost his very existence. Nothing ever felt good enough.

"Deva they were going to kill you," his heightened rage grew louder.

"I understand that Darius, but my problem is not them. Yes I am very grateful you showed up when you did, but my problem is you. You thrive off their pain."

It wasn't right. She wouldn't let him convince her otherwise. Darius' darkness was powerful. He couldn't deny it.

"You are complaining about my method of punishment?"

How could he make her feel so foolish? He was justifying his actions by procuring her safety. He did it for her.

"No. The way you find pleasure in others' misery is what I have a problem with."

"Oh Deva, will you ever be satisfied?" Protecting her was going to be the death of him; he already knew it. "You always have to find something about everyone and make it into something completely out of line."

"This isn't about me," she fumed. Darius' menacing look was starting to make her question if she should challenge him.

"No it's about me and my flaws. Yes Deva I have a past. I have tortured and killed more men than you could count. Is that what you wanted to hear?"

She knew all this. Why was she constantly reminding him of what he was?

"Is that what you want me to do? Do you want me to scare you off because trust me any sequence of my past will have you running for the hills? I never claimed to be a saint Deva. I have done so many gut wrenching things in my life I'm not proud of but that is not who I am anymore."

"Then who were you when you were torturing those men?" She spat viciously, and it honestly tugged at his heart.

He wanted so badly to please her, but how could he give her the answer she wanted. "Yes I enjoyed it," he shamelessly yelled. "You want to know why because for a split second I thought about what if I haven't been there in time. What would have happened to you then? I was afraid." Afraid he'd never see her again.

"Afraid?"

He groaned. Darius believed no amount of torment he had endured in his life amounted to the torture she was forcing him into now. "I did it because I love you. I'm afraid of losing you."

His conflicted confess rendered her speechless. Perhaps she hadn't heard him correctly.

His eyes melted to pools of compassion. "You make me feel alive again Deva. You drive me crazy, but I love every second of it." He crept closer to her. Her shallow breathing was scaring him, but he figured she was just overwhelmed. "I love your every form of crazy even the one that wants to kill me."

He chuckled, and Deva still couldn't concentrate on anything but breathing and the sound of his voice.

"I have never loved or cared for someone so much in my life."

The silent seconds after his proclamation felt like lifetimes.

Deva's eyes began to water as she whispered, "Say it."

Darius knew instantly what she wanted to hear. "I love you."

She strutted with determination. "Once more."

"I love you." The words effortlessly flowed off his tongue.

Deva crushed her lips against his with so much bent up passion she rocked him back. Her arms closed in around his neck and he lifted her up off the floor.

"Again," she brushed against his lips.

"I love you Deva Nevaeh Eragon."

She claimed his lips one more time, not wanting to let go of the piercing feeling running through every fiber of her body. He parted from her luscious demanding lips and rested his forehead against hers.

"You mean every word don't you?"

He nodded. "Yes sweetheart. I mean every word. I love you and only you."

Her heart was beating so incredibly fast she thought it might burst out of her chest. Then the sound of the door opening forced them out of their paradise.

Aurora walked in carrying a teddy bear between her tiny hands. "Deva will read us a bedtime story?"

"Sure baby just give us one more minute."

Aurora rested her hand on her hip. "Is Darius trying to eat you again?"

Deva laughed and shook her head. "Nope. I'm the one eating him this time."

"Gross," Aurora scrunched her nose and ran out like she had been contaminated.

Deva captured his lips and savored the sweet sensation. "We should go."

"Yeah, but you go ahead. I have a few things I need to take care of."

Deva nodded and dropped her feet to the ground. Before she could go, Darius pulled on her arm making her face him once again. He waited till he had her full attention.

"I love you Deva." Her beautiful smile was all he needed to see to live happily for the rest of his life.

"It gets better and better each time you say it."

It was a relief to finally admit his deepest secret. He was scared to tell her. Scared she wouldn't accept his love. Deva had always been the unpredictable type. He even believed she'd reject his love and that she'd pull away, guarding her heart from him. Luckily that wasn't the case.

He was also a patient man, willing to wait decades to hear her say those words in return.

Darius wondered the dark halls to reach Lucian's room. He could feel the frustration his brother was feeling like it was his own. The smell of blood was fresh in the air when Darius turned and spotted one of the servant girls lying still and almost lifeless on the ground.

Lucian was standing next to his window gazing out to the moon as if nothing was amiss.

"You know how mother feels about feeding on the help." Darius crossed the room in a few strides.

"What mother doesn't know won't hurt her." Lucian took a large gulp of the dark liquid in his glass.

"She always finds out," Darius ranted on.

"Oh don't act like the perfect son now," Lucian snapped back in a mock tone.

"I couldn't even if I tried Lucian. That role is taken by you, the most favored obedient son."

Lucian's cold stare was ominous. "Then that must make you the perfect boyfriend."

"Perhaps."

Darius had no time to react before his body was tackled and pushed down with so much force he heard a rib crack. Lucian was on top of him, and Darius noticed they were now in the deep dark outskirts of the woods.

Lucian's fist rammed hard against Darius' jaw. "You have no right to speak. Everyone you love runs away from you once they see your true form."

Darius used his knees to hit Lucian's chest and push him back flying in the air. "My true form? Have you forgotten about your own form? At least I don't hide who I really am."

Lucian dusted off the dirt that accumulated on his jeans. "And who you really are is a huge disappointment."

Darius kept his face as emotionless as possible, not wanting his brother to know how much his comment hurt. Darius knew the only reason his brother was picking a fight was because he was in some kind of emotional pain of rejection.

"Lucian I beg you to stop."

Lucian's menacing laugh echoed throughout the eerie woods. "What? Can't take the truth?"

"No. I don't think you can."

"Aww Darius, you will never be good enough. Father knows it, I know it, and soon Deva will know it." Lucian stalked towards his own brother like a predator.

"Good enough?" Darius spitefully laughed in his face. "I don't believe you know the meaning of that word either. Do you remember Lidia?"

Lucian accusingly narrowed his eyes. "Yes I remember very distinctly how she left you because you weren't good enough and came running to me."

Lidia was one woman Darius had the highest respect for. "I let her go. She didn't run away."

"She wanted me Darius. Do you remember that?" Lucian tried rubbing it in his brother's face.

"I also remember how she died. By your hands if I recall."

The two brothers began circling each other as if stuck on an endless carousel ride. Lucian tried so many times over the years to forget how she died.

"I never did find out why you killed her. Were you thirsty? Was it an act of passion?"

Lucian felt like he was being stabbed repeatedly so. "Do you want to know why, brother? After a while she wanted you. She began to miss you, and I could tell each time I looked into her pale brown eyes. I couldn't take it anymore."

The piercing pain was something they shared. Darius blamed himself almost as much as Lucian did.

"So you killed her. Like the monster you say you are not."

Lucian slammed Darius hard against a tree. "I am not like you."

Darius could see the sad desperate need in Lucian's eyes. "No brother you are not like me. I did not kill the woman I professed to love. I let her go...into your arms."

Darius shoved him off. Deva was his, and no matter what his brother did, he could not change that. Deva picked him.

"I don't hide my secrets," Darius continued. "Eventually they will all come out."