Nik was genuinely broken by the events of the Supernatural Revolution of 1916, but something told Lucas that his behavior was slightly off.
In the seven years that had passed, his reputation had become that of a psychopathic, ruthless killer.
But his actions during the dark morning hours of Ariel's birthday showed that behind the darkness was a sane mind.
Nikolas knew what he was doing.
Lucas sighed in resignation as he approached Claire Render's porch.
He just wished that when all this was over, his exceedingly vengeful brother would, for the sake of family, forgive him.
But deep within the depths of his immortal soul, he knew retribution was inevitable.
Claire opened the door and looked to the sky, where the Moon had begun to rise.
"Have you brought what I asked for?" she inquired.
Lucas nodded, and immediately she led him to a clearing behind her house.
He had only seen it once, from the open curtain, during one of his pleasurable visits at the young woman's house, and had intended to ask to get her to take him there.
And now, the location he had planned for their next encounter was to be the place forever etched in his mind as where he had abandoned his loyalties.
As Claire laid and arranged the ingredients for the spell she would soon cast, she asked, "What do you intend to do, and why must the Fallen Prince be incapacitated in the process?"
Lucas replied, "I want him to recover, but he resists all our efforts. He is broken beyond repair. So I will give him a gift, to give him peace."
She smiled in response, and began to chant in preparation for the spell.
A while later, she drew a knife and handed it to Lucas, who cut his palm and let the blood trickle into a little bowl.
As the Moon reached its zenith, Claire's chanting grew more forceful, and Lucas could feel the magic accumulate in the air.
Claire's hair fluttered in the wind, her lovely countenance exuding an almost unnatural seriousness for the task.
After what seemed to be hours, Claire stopped chanting, and poured the silver, sandalwood and Lucas' blood into a larger bowl, then dipped a wooden stake into it, whispering softly.
The mixture went aflame for but a brief moment, then Claire brought up the stake, which had turned silver with dark streaks running down its length.
" It's done," she said. "The silver will prevent the wooden quality of the stake from killing him."
Lucas took the weapon from her outstretched hands, then pulled her in for a kiss.
"Thank you," he whispered, and vanished.
To use the stake on his brother.
....
"You know, Lucas will be incensed when he sees what we have done," Michael noted with a carefree smile.
The other three Asgeirssons were in a brothel, and they were the only living souls left in the whole establishment.
Nik had decided to 'take them out' to relax and enjoy themselves, which meant unrestrained feeding.
"What I'm more concerned about, brother, is how we are to clear up the mess without causing a stir in the newspapers tomorrow morning," Ariel said.
But the look on his face was one of indifference.
Nik smiled, laying down a body that had started to grow cold.
He said to his brothers, "Our brother will return from his tantrum to find a brothel of cinders. He fears we'll invoke the ire of our Supernatural neighbors, so we'll save him the worry and give them a headache."
He went downstairs and entered the storage room, where barrels of oil lay untouched.
Whistling a delightful tune, he opened them and poured the oil all over the floor, proceeding to come upstairs, leaving a trail behind him.
Michael, who had caught the scent, appeared at the top of the stairs and raised a brow.
"What better way to cause trouble on both sides than to set the house on fire?" Nik explained, and Michael silently took a gas lamp from the wall, then handed it over.
"Ariel and I will go outside and make sure our hostile neighborhood isn't aware of this," he said, then went into the next room, where the youngest of the Asgeirsson brothers had occupied himself with scouting the escape route.
From the stairs, Nik waited patiently and listened as his brothers jumped down from the window, then Ariel's voice entered his ears.
"Proceed, brother."
Nik dropped the lamp, and the bottom floor went ablaze, the flames burning with a fervent ferocity.
The orchestrator jumped out the window and joined his brothers in the shadows to watch the fruit of his labor.
With flames reflecting in his blue eyes, Nik said, "Get out of here as fast as you can. We don't want you to be tied to this."
"What about you?" Michael asked.
"I will stay and ensure all loose ends are accounted for and dealt with."
The younger siblings vanished, leaving Nik, who had his eyes set on a pair of young men who had arrived to stare at the fire.
.....
In a lush cottage far from the center of the city, a beautiful young woman lay on a bed, with two holes on the side of her neck.
Her skin was deathly pale, and her body was cold to the touch.
She was dead.
Suddenly, she got up and gasped for breath, her face revealing shock and terror.
She looked around at her unfamiliar surroundings, then her hand went to her neck.
It was smooth.
The young woman jumped up and searched the house for a mirror, and upon finding it inspected the place where she was so sure had been torn into by....
There was nothing.
"I must have been dreaming," she muttered.
"I beg to disagree with you on that, madame," a voice said from behind her, and she let out a small shriek as she turned to face him.
"I will not hurt you, miss. Neither will I let you die... again," the owner of the voice continued.
He was quite tall, with a lean physique, chocolate skin, and, to her surprise, piercing blue eyes.
His charming visage made her hold her breath for a moment, but then memories began to flow back into her mind.
"You....what are you?" she asked, trembling.
He replied with a charming smile, "I am Nikolas Asgeirsson. You may have heard my name before."
"The King..." she whispered.
Nik smiled.
"Finally, someone who still recognizes me for what I am. But I haven't answered your question, have I?"
In a flash, he crossed the space between them and looked into her eyes, his eyes gaining a lighter hue.
"What I am about to tell you will not frighten you," he said, and she slowly nodded.
"I am a vampire, and if you feed before noon, you will be one too."
She was surprised by the revelation, but what truly concerned her was how easily she had accepted it.
Before she could ask, Nik replied, "It's called compulsion. Vampires can bend the minds of humans to their will. But I and my siblings are quite... special, in that regard."
Nik led her to the bed and sat her down.
"So, before I explain vampirism to you and ask you not to deny it after all the trouble I went through hurrying here, is there anything you wish to ask?"
She said, "Why me?"
"Because I like you, of course," Nik answered.
....
Lucas hurried in through the doors of Asgeirsson Manor and bumped into Michael and Ariel, who had been sampling another bottle in the youngest brother's collection when he arrived.
"Brother! Where have you been?" Michael asked, smiling.
"Away, trying not to rip your hearts out after your abandonment of control," came the reply.
"It's my birthday, for Odin's sake, Lucas," Ariel retorted, "shall we remain stuck up and starving on a day of happiness? Surely not."
Lucas ignored him and went upstairs to his room.
When the door closed, Michael asked, "Did you notice it as well?"
Ariel answered, "He's gone philandering with the witch again."
"I wonder how Nik would react if he discovered that our dear brother is sleeping with the enemy," Michael mused.
"He might be charming his way into her heart to use her for our benefit, brother. Consider that," Ariel said.
In his room, Lucas held the stake in his hands, before hiding it in a hidden compartment in his drawer.