Take over Nicolai

The door if the small conference room burst open and Marie entered with scorn in her eyes "Who dared upset Belladonna!?" She hissed but saw the headless corpse lying in a pool of blood "What the fuck is going in here!?"

"Well..." Deno wanted to say but Tony held his hand up.

"My honeybun, please step in and close the door"

She obeyed with a wicked glare then folded her arms "Now?"

Tony looked at Deno "I don't hide anything from her..."

Deno nodded "Very well then, enlighten this woman, but she has to keep it secret"

Tony gestured to a chair "Please sit Marie"

She came over and sat but the anger still in her like fire "You don't call me Marie so easily Tony, this better be good"

"Well, you see honeybun, Deno is Bella's lecturer, but, not in the way we first told you"

"I'm listening"

Tony held a hand to the man "I'd like to formally introduce you, to Lord Deno Christosemau, and he is a vampire"

She glared at the man behind Tony's gesture, then snorted "What kind of a name is Deno for a vampire? I thought for sure it would be Dracula or Vlad the impaler"

Deno threw his head back laughing "Oh-ho! Good show my dear!" He said applauding.

"Wait you're not angry?" Nicolas asked.

"Why should I be!? It was an honest question and most certainly a good one..." He said taking a breath then walked over to her, an extending hand had her automatically reach up and he lifted her to her feet.

"My dear Marie, you are absolutely brilliant, not a single beat of fear in your heart, and for that I am very impressed" he said kissing her hand.

Her leer doused and she held her lips with the free hand "Wait, you really are a vampire?"

"I am, Vlad the impaler was a titan in his own right, but he was no vampire, merely a commander of a fearsome army, so much of a tyrant that people, as damned human as they are started their own little fairytale about him, and one of those was he drinks the blood of his enemies to become stronger" Deno said stepping back.

"So... He wasn't a vampire?"

"Not at all, the nickname impaler came from his gruesome way of striking fear into his opposition by impaling corpses on poles after every battle, it was indeed a very effective strategy, but that didn't mean he drank blood"

"Then what of Dracula?" Tony asked.

"That's a fairytale humans dreamt up, he didn't exist"

Marie stood back, the reality finally sank in "So, what are you here for then? What do you want with Bella?"

"To teach her, how to kill someone like me"

Marie frowned "Kill you?"

"Yes, there are four of us, vampire lords, you could consider us the first, and we cannot just die as vampires are normally said to die, no, only Bella can kill us, her venom the select poison placed on earth so if we step out of line, our end can in fact be given to us"

Marie swallowed then looked at Tony "So you lied to me?"

"Uh! Honeybun!"

"What about you!? Are you really her fiancee?"

Nicolas held his hands up "I want to be!" He said quickly.

"Want to be?"

"Truth is I just started liking her, I might even call it love, but I haven't asked the question yet"

Marie finally smiled "That's good to hear, my offer is still on, we have a magnificent back yard for a wedding"

Nicolas smiled "That would be fantastic"

Deno blinked when she slapped her hands together "Right, so let me put one plus one together, you want to train her to kill you, but its not you that needs killing, its those other ones?"

He smiled "A smart woman indeed, you are correct, they want to overthrow man kind out of greed, and I intend to stop them..." Deno explained and kicked the corpse "They sent me to kill Bella but I decided instead to help her, this was her first test, and she failed I'm afraid"

"Failed?"

"In order for her to be all she can be, she has to strip herself from the shackles of fear and realize she is quite capable of being an unstoppable force, just like your husband tried to shoot me but failed, so Bella has the ability to be such a being that little to nothing on this planet can pose a threat to her... But now all this running from humanity made her a scared pup, and I need her fangs sharpened"

Marie nodded and held her chin "So? If she failed her first test, what will you do to work on her so she doesn't next time?"

Deno drew his fingers over his head and grunted "To tell you the honest truth I suppose we need to break her in subtly, I tried pushing her into the damnation of anger thinking that wolf side of her will start growling and snarling, but it seems anger for now needs to be delayed..." He said and looked at Nicolas "I suggest you and her go on a date"

"A date!? Why!?"

"There are loads of other factors she needs to work on, and one of those is her confidence, she embraced you right? Wasn't afraid to have a quick fling?"

"Well, yeah but, a date?"

"She feels a little calmer around you Nicolai, I saw how she stepped in and took your hand, so you are to take over from here" Deno looked at Tony "Be so kind as to set a nice table for the two, and you must have a good cook, prepare a meal for them"

Tony looked at his wife who took over "I'll handle that" she said and walked out.

Nicolas tucked at his collar "Right"

"Don't worry my friend, let's get her mind off the anger and start working on other factors that will eventually boost her courage"

"So just being confident is a possible step right?"

"Yeah..." Deno said with a smirk and looked at the roof.

"What?" Nicolas asked.

"I employ you to bare with me dear Nicolai, but its in line with motivation..."

"Motivation for what?"

Deno's wicked stare came to him from the roof "If she loves you enough I think she'll do anything to keep you safe... Am I right?"

Nicolas frowned, then looked at Tony.

"Keep him safe?" The big man asked "She's the one being hunted"

"Yes! But... Wouldn't you like to know how she will respond if her beloved Nicolai was suddenly attacked by say... A vampire?"

Nicolas shook his head "No! I won't let you do that!"

"Not me you idiot! I'll turn some random scum in the streets then command him to do it or die!"

"But! What if she's not ready!"

"She will be! We just give it a few days so you and her can become well aquented, then another candlelight dinner and I'll send in the puppet"

Nicolas grabbed his lips, but let go and spoke behind his hand "What if she freezes?"

"She won't..." Deno said "I told you, werewolves are picky lovers, and if she falls in love with you, my dear friend, Hell have no fury, its perfect"