faced the Hellhounds together, we might have had a chance!
But then, the second I had been told that she was still alive, I couldn't have been happier, bursting into tears of relief. A relief that was soon short lived for I was robbed of the feeling when it was soon followed by what came next. Finding out that my own words spoken to Nero had potentially caused Lucius to kill his own brother. Well, naturally that would put a downer on any happy moment.
“She's my friend. When we were locked up together, Gods Vern, I don't think I could have done it without her, and then she started talking about you and telling me how you both met and…”
“Wait, she did?” At this I smirked and gave him a knowing look.
“Of course, she did, who do you think she was most worried about not ever seeing again?” At this Vern released a deep sigh.
“It matters not now, for it is too late I am afraid.” I frowned when he said this and crossed my arms, clearly affronted by this.
“Why? Because she's a vampire? I know you don't like them but…” I had been about to say more when he interrupted me and when he did, let’s just say I dropped my attitude pretty quickly.
“They slaughtered my family, my entire clan,” he blurted out and I gasped in shock.
“Oh Gods, Vern, I didn't know… I am… I am so sorry.” I reached out and was now the one to hold his hand, squeezing it in comfort. But then the question that I didn't ask, yet was dying to, was that if he hated all vampires then how did he and his brothers end up with their souls being owned by the king of them all?
“I know what you're thinking,” he said as if reading my thoughts. That, or he had already figured out my curious nature.
“You do?”
“You're currently asking yourself how is it that my brothers and I could be blood bound to a vampire King, when it was his kind that wiped out our clan,” he said hitting the fang shaped nail on the head.
“Yeah, something like that.”
“I do not wish to get into our sordid tale of woe, for alas it is not my place to, but I can tell you that the vampires that killed my people were rogues.”
“They were?” I asked thinking at least this made some sense, as who better to deal with rogues than the King.
“But in exchange for revenge against his kind and the enemies against our clan, a deal was made and forged in Hell with the Devil,” he told me, making me ask,
“Your enemies? As in Human?”
“They had been the ones to enlist the help of Vampires to eradicate us.”
“Wait a minute, but if you made a deal with Lucifer, then how is it that Lucius owns your souls?” I asked, only now picking up on that important piece of information.
“It is simple, the King is the son of the Devil, and it is in his power to do as he pleases with the souls he collects.” I looked away, shocked at this.
“Besides, the Devil also has a sick and twisted humour, for this much is true,” Vern added taking a sip of his wine.
“What do you mean?” I asked frowning.
“Lucifer wanted to see just how far his little creations could turn and although it is still unclear as to how he accomplished it, the fact remains that when we became too powerful to be contained, he needed a solution.” I frowned, wondering just where I had heard a story similar to this, as it seemed to be a common theme with the Devil and his ‘creations gone wrong’, my Uncle Adam included in that list.
“But I always thought it was Lucius who…”
“It was indeed Lucius who was charged with dealing with the rogues, as, unbeknown to the simple human warriors we were at the time, it was his responsibility to do so regardless, but it was always the Devil who our souls were sold to.”
“Oh Gods, Vern, I had no idea, I always thought…”
“Yes, I know, and no doubt that’s what my brother had you believe for a reason,” Vern said making me realise it was true, Trice wanted me to believe that Lucius was the bad guy in all this.
“The truth is that the Devil entrusted our souls to his son, giving us away like gifts. It was a sick twist of fate, to now find our souls in the