Chapter 86

I bolted upright in bed, knocking Viktor's arm off me where it was resting against my side.

"Bad dream?" he murmured; his eyes still closed.

"No," I said laying back down. A dream about Nicholas would never be considered a bad dream. But now I wondered if he already knew that there were angels and demons in the world even back then. And if he did, then how did he find out? It took me over 200 years before I found out.

"What was it about?" he asked as he rolled over on his side and looked at me.

"Nicholas," I replied, not willing to go into too many details. Or really any, I guess. He hummed and allowed me to settle back down before giving me a kiss on my head and wrapping his arms back around me.

"Get some sleep," he advised. "Tomorrow is going to be a busy day. You are going to have to meet the rest of the Van Helsings here."

Once again, I sat bolt upright in fear. This had to be a nightmare… right I never woke up... right? Because there was no way that Viktor just said that I would have to meet with the Van Helsings tomorrow. Right?!

"Don't worry," he said, pulling me back down into his embrace. "It will be fine."

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"Famous last words," I growled to Viktor from where we sat inside one of the largest conference rooms that Knights Security had available. We had been sitting here for almost an hour, waiting for the men in front of us to calm down enough to let us speak.

I mean, these were the people of nightmares. The dreaded Van Helsings that mothers used to terrify their children into behaving, and yet, here they were, acting like children themselves.

I let out a sigh and rubbed my forehead. And here was me thinking that dealing with all the shit that Jenny dropped in my lap was horrible. At least my House wasn't so established that I had to deal with all this crap all the time. Seriously, next to Viktor, the youngest man looked to easily be in his late 40s and he was jumping on the conference room table demanding the heads of all the demons on a silver platter.

You know how they say 'Never meet your hero, you are bound to be disappointed'? I think that needed to be changed to 'Never meet your nightmares, you will wonder what you were scared of in the first place'. Another sigh and another eye roll and I had had just about enough. There was a crap tonne of stuff on my plate and dealing with this mess wasn't even in the top 100.

"Are you sure they are all Van Helsings? They seem more like toddlers than the Boogeyman," I fake whispered to Viktor, knowing full well that the monsters in the room would be able to hear me no matter what.

Silence reigned in the room as I was now the recipient of at least 50 pairs of eyes. I smirked a bit, but I knew that they could hear my elevated heartbeat, and could probably see the drop of sweat forming at my temples.

I rubbed my neck with my hand, making sure that my head was still attached to my body, and then took a deep breath. "Gentlemen," I said, not bothering to stand up. "If you would please get off of the table and take your seats, maybe we could restart this meeting in a more dignified manner. You know, displaying the composure of the centuries under your belt."

Their eyes never left me as they moved to resume their seats, straightening their suites as they did so. When a silver dagger appeared out of nowhere, almost finding its intended target between my eyes, I only raised an eyebrow. Sure, that was because Viktor had plucked the think out of thin air like the beast that he was, but I had the utmost confidence in him… I was sure…. Once my knees stopped shaking.

When I saw the Van Helsing that threw the knife smirk at me, I knew that once again, my heart rate had betrayed me. "Well, I guess that is what happens when you are dealing with monsters that no longer have their pride intact," I said as I pulled up my long hair into a high ponytail and let one of my ribbons wrap around it to keep it up.

This time the silence in the room was not the dangerous one of a predator about to pounce on its prey, but rather the silence that comes about as a surprise. I smiled as I stretched my neck from side to side. I thought that this meeting was going to be formal, a human's version of a business meeting. But then I forgot that in no way, shape, or form could a monster truly be a human.

Well, maybe form because we all were once human, but that was where the comparisons ended.

I heard a scoff at the far end of the table and turned to the elderly man sitting across the table from me. I cocked my head to the side as I studied him. To say that he was 'elderly' was not an accurate statement. He looked more like a silver fox if I had ever seen one. His hair had turned more silver than black, but combined with his neatly trimmed salt and pepper beard and the way he carried himself, you would not expect him to be over 40.

Completely lost in studying his appearance, I failed to notice Viktor beside me. When he touched my arm, I snapped out of my thoughts about how many abs the man in front of me had and turned around to face him. "My father, Vincenzo," Viktor said introducing me to the man that had scoffed. Wow, too bad Viktor would not be growing up to look like that…

I nodded my head as if I was not mesmerized by how well he filled out his suit. I heard Viktor let out a low growl beside me and I could only chuckle. "You sure you can't read my mind?" I asked with a small smirk.

"Do I need to when I can smell you?" Well, that's embarrassing. I thought only wolves had that good of a nose.

"Jealous?" I laughed softly. Viktor turned away from me and turned to glare at his father like everything was his fault. And in the most technical sense, it was his fault.

"Something to say?" Once again, there was only a scoff coming out of the other man.