Vincent woke up in the bed with his arm outstretched. The faint sensation of flames against his skin. He thought he'd been over this. He took a deep breath in and sat up, cupping his face in his hands. 

"What's wrong?" Adrian asked, sitting up as well. He wrapped his arms around Vincent and pushed him into his chest. 

"I'm not sure you would believe me if I told you at the moment, so let's leave that for another time, shall we?" Vincent nuzzled his face into Adrian's chest and inhaled his scent. Nothing quite like the smell of cold dead body and old castle. Very nice combination on a loved one. 

"Wouldn't believe you?" Adrian frowned, a bit offended. 

"You don't entirely believe that I'm really me, do you? Don't try to hide it..." Vincent sighed. "A lot of time has passed and you have your doubts even though you made me your mate." 

"That's not..." 

"You wouldn't have made it this far if you hadn't been a cautious and doubting individual," Vincent chuckled. "Don't worry about it for now, you have other things to focus on." 

"But..." 

"Please," Vincent clutched the thin fabric of Adrian's clothing. "Just leave it alone for now." 

"Will you at least tell me about your dream?" 

"I was being burned and..." Vincent's mind trailed off, thinking about it. 

"And?" 

"And the face in the flames haunts me," Vincent admitted. Adrian hugged Vincent tighter. He didn't ask any further questions but that didn't mean he didn't want to. 

"You're right," Adrian began. "I am cautious. I don't know who I can trust right now but there is one thing you are wrong about," Adrian kissed Vincent's head. "You are the only one I can trust. For some reason, it has always been like that. When you're in the room I trust you as naturally as breathing." 

Vincent smiled slightly. "I'm honored." 

...

"Lord Dracula!" Angel ran through the hallways searching. Adrian turned the corner and Angel nearly bumped into him. 

"Angel? Why do you look so terrified?" Adrian asked, clutching Angel's shoulders to keep him steady. 

"There is a human warrior. Unlike anything we've ever seen before. He is nearly a night away!" 

"A human?" Adrian suppressed the urge to chuckle. "What about him is a threat?" 

"He grew up studying in the Belmont's library, Dracula!" Angel snapped, not enjoying the fact he was being taken lightly. "He knows everything there is to know about the art of killing our kind!" 

"Belmont? That's just-" 

"Forgive me for speaking out of turn, my lord," Angel gritted his teeth. "But please don't take the rumors of our kind to be mere myths. There is a reason we continue to keep those rumors around. Don't get conceited." And with that, Angel turned on his heel and left. 

"A vampire hunter?" Vincent poked his head out from behind Adrian's back. "That could be very interesting." 

"Why do you sound so excited?" 

"Because!" Vincent clapped his hands together. "Perhaps we finally have the perfect excuse to end this whole rampage empire business, hm?" he smiled up at Adrian. "No need for formalities if you just get defeated fair and square." 

"You want my death?" Adrian's eyebrows furrowed. 

"No, no, but if the humans think you're dead you'll have the perfect reason not to fight anymore," Vincent chuckled. 

"That can't be the only reason you're excited about this." 

"Oh? How'd you know?" 

"You've got that gleam in your eyes again," Adrian poked the bridge of Vincent's nose. Vincent smiled and grabbed his hand in both of his. 

"Well, if there is a human that knows everything there is to know about vampires, maybe he knows what I've become? Because, even though you are a delightful vampire," Vincent laughed. "You don't seem to know the ins and outs of your own kind very well. Especially not how to associate with them." 

"Othello's hypothesis wasn't enough for you? You're actually interested in talking to this human?" Adrian sighed and rubbed his temple with his hand. "You're quite the handful, you know." 

"Of course," Vincent clung to Adrian's arm. "I've always been that though, haven't I?" Vincent stopped for a moment and looked around. Sebastian still wasn't back yet. He would've sensed him in some way. What type of mission did Adrian send him on. He opened his mouth to ask but then tightly closed it. 

"You want to ask, don't you?" Adrian grabbed Vincent's arm and dragged him into the nearest room, slamming him up against the door after he closed it. 

"To what are you referring to, exactly?" Vincent looked up underneath the fringe into those beautiful eyes. 

"You want to know, don't you?" Adrian brought his mouth close to Vincent's ear and nibbled on it slightly. 

"That's not..." Vincent squirmed a bit. "Very fair of you," he squeaked. 

"Trust goes two ways," Adrian picked Vincent up and wrapped his legs around him as he leaned him up against the door. 

"This doesn't exactly seem like a conversation about trust..." Vincent glanced down. Adrian moved his lips to Vincent's neck and licked his skin. 

"The thing you don't want to tell me..." 

"Are you saying I have to tell you in order to learn about your secret Sebastian mission?" Vincent laughed lightly. "Do you always interrogate people like this?" Adrian bit down on Vincent's neck, causing him to gasp. His teeth didn't sink in very far, nor did he drink that much blood, but Vincent couldn't stop the noise from escaping him. It was a strange feeling. 

"Sebastian..." Vincent muttered. 

Adrian's fangs dripped with Vincent's blood. He looked at his face, examing everything he could about it, but not revealing anything on his own. He'd gotten good at that over the years, apparently. 

"Sebastian was the one who tried to kill me..." Vincent said, realizing Adrian would only keep pestering him about it unless he said something. 

There was nothing and then there wasn't just nothing anymore. Adrian's face seemed to become three shades paler. He dropped Vincent and covered his mouth in his hands, trying to keep down something that was threatening to come up. Images flashed through his mind throughout the years. All of the signs that he had ignored. Vincent hugged his knees on the ground, watching Adrian's reaction. He wasn't sure what to do and he certainly couldn't tell what Adrian would do next. Rage? Sadness? Those seemed too simple compared to whatever it was that he was experiencing. 

"Ah, so that's it," Adrian laughed lightly and held the sides of his head. "That's what's been bothering me this entire time..." 

"Adrian?" 

"It didn't make sense. None of it did. Him being there and supporting me when just a few days prior he was trying to attack me. But, I couldn't see it because I wanted to be mad. I wanted to force my rage somewhere and...all those humans..." Adrian stared at Vincent as tears escaped his eyes. "Are you sure you're not lying?" he sobbed. 

"Adrian..." Vincent scooted over and hugged him. He ran his hands through his hair and attempted to soothe him. "It's a very nice performance you're putting on for my sake but that's all this is, isn't it? You've figured this out along the way..." 

"Performance?" Adrian nuzzled Vincent's chest. "You don't believe me?" 

"I believe that you most likely acted in this way when you found out but that was a very long time ago, wasn't it?" 

Adrian rested his ear against Vincent's chest, listening to his soft heartbeat that was way slower than the average human's. "You don't need to hide things from me even if you think it's for my sake. I don't want to lose you again and I would certainly never hurt you."  

Vincent chuckled, "Certainly never kill me, you mean, but the nature of a vampire relationship is to bite and bite back, isn't it?" 

"You know what I mean," Adrian puffed out his cheeks and looked up at Vincent. 

"So, what is this mission you sent the traitor on?" 

"I sent him away, expecting him to do what he is so good at." 

"And that is?" 

"Creating an army and failing a fight miserably. Except, we'll lose." 

"We are not losing to him," Vincent frowned. 

"No, he is going to die," Adrian spoke coldly. "But we will lose to the human just like you said." 

"So we have had the same idea then?" 

"I wonder if it's a trait of mates?" Adrian chuckled.