"Please pipe down," Caius mumbled, "I’m going as fast as I can."

As he worked hard to shove insistent thoughts of Athenodora aside again, Caius wasn’t even sure why he was going through the trouble to help. Yes, Athenodora had ordered him to come to her aid, but he didn’t feel like he was doing anything he didn’t want to, and that was the mystery.

He hadn’t even needed to be ordered because the moment Athenodora had told him she was hurt and in need of help, he was ready to offer. Why? He wasn’t sure.

Caius liked to think it wasn’t because of what had happened between them in Anton Orlock’s Manor after she slaughtered Hundreds of Vampires, including Anton and his consorts. When they lay down on the floor, and she worked her way down to his groin...

The truth was, Caius had never actually hated Athenodora. Not even when he read the original story did he think she was the villain the narrative painted her as... Or at least, she was a villain he grew fond of.

And now, in this world, he clearly still had a soft spot for her, even if she had put him in danger once. To be fair, though, that incident where he had been captured by Anton Orlock had ended with him becoming a Vampire Noble with the Rite of Ascension performed by Athenodora herself. So they were square.

With a sigh, Caius eventually rose out of the water. He had been hoping for some relaxation but hadn’t gotten any because of the thoughts in his head now, so there was no point trying. He might as well go to bed and be awake early in the morning to get back on the road. There was still a long journey ahead of him.

A journey that was keeping him away from his partners.

A journey that was keeping him away from potentially pressing issues.

According to the schedule of the Trials in the original story, there should still be months before another Demon rose from Hell to battle Aurelius. But that schedule could have changed, and Caius wouldn’t be able to do anything about it. Not unless he could take care of Athenodora’s issue before that.

And then there were matters such as the Task Force. Caius could only imagine the sort of havoc they could have wreaked in the Capital by now. He wasn’t relieved and didn’t think it was for the best that he was away from it because he still had an entire coven of vampires who couldn’t be away from it.

And why should they?

The Capital should be theirs.

Caius paused now on his way back to his room as his mind went into another tangent;

He had stopped the Leopolds from progressing their plans to try to overthrow the Acheron Empire because he knew the massacre and the destruction that would follow. He also knew they weren’t going to succeed, and even though, at the time, he didn’t care for them either way, he still had use for them and thought their deaths would really inconvenience those plans.

But what if Kerwin Leopold had the right idea?

An empire controlled by Vampires would have nothing to worry about from an Anti-Vampiric Task Force. Or at least, it would be something they could squash early on or face in public without hiding away.

And really, was a Task Force the best thing for the Empire? A Task Force, as Leonce Duval was handling it, killing hundreds to thousands of humans under the guise of vampire hunting?

Caius shook his head then and shook off thoughts of a Vampire empire.

It wasn’t that, in the current climate, he couldn’t see the merit of it. However, now was also not the time. He wasn’t ready to lead a Vampire rule, and the Leopolds were not ready to uphold it.

While Caius wasn’t particularly a virtuous person or even a good person by the purest definitions of the term, he still wasn’t delighted with the idea of having humans reared like cattle to be fed on by their Vampire Overlords.

Before he could sanction a vampire rule, their appetite for Blood had to be curbed.

But to rid a vampire of its love and need for blood... that seemed like a ridiculous concept. They were created to be parasites by the Goddess of Primordial Darkness. To overturn that would require some insane ingenuity and penchant for cheating Divine Ordinances; the only person Caius could think of who was capable of that was Allegra.

Could there be something in her undeciphered notes and manuscripts that could allow Caius to do the impossible?

Caius let out another sigh.

Yes, there was a lot on his mind that didn’t involve Athenodora, and as much of a bully as she was, being—shoving herself into his head to occupy him with thoughts of only her—he couldn’t help but dwell on other things.

Caius walked out of his bedroom, then, dressed in a comfortable bathrobe, he headed for his bed and then stopped when he noticed someone was sitting there. He had been so preoccupied with his thoughts that he hadn’t heard someone enter his room.

"Hey," Roxanne said with a smile that showed off her rows of human teeth.

Roxanne was in her human form. It was a form Caius hadn’t seen her in a lot, but she had chosen it to not attract too much attention when she walked into the inn. She, of course, still attracted attention even then. It was inevitable. She was a statuesque woman with an alluring and seductive beauty, with lips a blood red color, breasts standing tall atop her chest, skin that was a creamy white, and a long sheet of platinum blond hair falling from her head.

She didn’t really look all that different now than she did in her vampire form. Just instead of claws, she had nails. Instead of fangs, she had normal-sized canines. And instead of vivid red vampire eyes, she had light gold orbs.

"You should be resting," Caius told her.

They had arrived in the County at nighttime, which was almost kismet for how low profile they wanted their arrival and departure early the next morning to be.

"I can go without sleep for a while," Roxanne said.

At the Eighth Circle, that was true. It could be days before she actually grew weary, especially since she had also allowed herself some naps in the carriage, seeing as there had been nothing else to do. So now, she was still feeling well rested. It was the same for the others, actually, and their bit of clamoring for a break from the Carriage was just to see and be inside somewhere—anywhere—besides it.

"Well, I still need my sleep," Caius told her with a little smile.

Caius had found himself capable of staving off sleep during his recent marathon with Anne, Lea, and Arlette. He didn’t seem capable of tiring until he had worked them all to unconsciousness. But with them basically taking turns with him, that almost never happened. And yet, his mind had been clear, his muscles had been alert, and sleep didn’t seem to exist as a concept.

Hell, even when it ended, and he did go to sleep for the first time in days, he only needed a night’s sleep to be completely well rested.

However, Caius hadn’t had that luxury during the drive, so he had taken some breaks to nap. And now, he was feeling a little sleepy.

Roxanne’s smile slipped a little when she heard that. It was like Caius was dismissing her.

"I- I wanted to talk to you," she said with a delicate clearing of her throat.

"What about?" Caius asked lightly.

"About Lorton," Roxanne said carefully.

"Oh," Caius said then, "What about him?"

"There’s nothing," Roxanne blurted out, then quickly added when Caius seemed confused, "Between me and him, I mean. There’s nothing. Not anymore."

"Okay," Caius said at first with a strange look on his eyes as though his mind was working out why he needed to know this, and then he realized,

"Oh, was it because of what happened between us?"

"Well, yes," Roxanne said slowly, "But not entirely. I guess I just realized I wanted... more and wasn’t going to get in that relationship."

"Good for you," Caius said.

He was still searching Roxanne’s eyes, though, because she still had a strange expression, like she wasn’t done and wasn’t sure how to say the rest.

"It’s just," Roxanne started with a sigh,

"Lorton and I have been together for a long time. Even though marriage between Leopolds isn’t frowned upon in the family, we were both betrothed to marry outside the family. We also got married before we began to... entertain any feelings for one another.

It was only after we became Vampires that we left our human partners behind to be together.

I guess Lorton expected we would be together forever..."

"And you didn’t?" Caius asked, listening attentively to her.

Roxanne averted her eyes from Caius.

"I loved Lorton. I did. I just hadn’t felt anything with him that gave me the sense that it could last for eternity. I always felt there would be an end eventually... that emotions would eventually wane.

And they did, so I ended it. He didn’t take it very well, and that’s what led to the... ugliness at the Council meeting before we left the Capital."