Lucas gently laid his elder brother on the floor and turned to Alexandra, who pushed him away from Mike with such force as to slam his back on the wall.
She cradled Nik's head in her hands and simply stared at his face, that had turned pale gray as a corpse.
Alexandra, to be honest, should not have felt or reacted as she had, especially not to a man who she'd only met hours ago.
Yet she fought for him, and cared for him.... slightly.
Her body also seemed to subtly act in favor of preserving her sire's life.
Lucas sighed and said to her, "I don't like this any more than you do, young lady."
She glared at him in response.
The sound of men rushing to the warehouse entered their ears, and Lucas said hurriedly, "Leave now before they see you, lest you die. And unlike my brother, you will not revive."
She replied with more than a tinge of rage, "You did this to your own brother, so why bother caring about my wellbeing now?"
Lucas grabbed her by the scruff of her shirt and tossed her to the back door.
"You play a greater part in this game alive, child! Now run!"
He stared her straight in the eyes as he instructed, the power of compulsion brimming in the depths of his own blue eyes.
Alexandra left in a blur, and a few moments later, six men entered to see Lucas on the floor, cradling Nik's head.
He looked up at the new arrivals and said, "It is done. Where is she?"
"Madame Render will be here shortly, vampire," one of the men replied with venom on his tongue, "and you would do us all a favor by remaining silent till then."
Lucas stared at him and said with a pleasant tone, "Of course. I would love the silence equally much. I reckon I could ensure the continuity of that silence by tearing out your tongue and sending it down your throat." He smiled, and the man looked away with a slight shiver none but the Asgeirsson brother noticed.
"And mind your tone with me, boy." Lucas' voice turned cold.
The place went silent as they waited.
Lucas cursed under his breath. 'It won't work.'
He had not been cradling his brother's head for purely affectionate reasons, but also to attempt communication with Nik's receded consciousness. And it had proven impossible.
Claire arrived at last, and commented, "That was an impressive fight, Lord Prince. I most enjoyed it."
Lucas nodded and asked, "Have you brought them?" to which Claire opened her left hand to reveal three daylight rings, each crafted from silver, with the face bearing a depression fitted with obsidian, and a sapphire gemstone embedded in the center, carved in the likeness of a snowflake.
The sound of birds chirping echoed in the vast expanse of the warehouse, and a few rays of light entered from the door and windows.
Lucas stretched out his hand to receive them, and Claire smiled.
"Thank you for your help in restraining the wild one of your kind. As we agreed, I have brought your daylight rings."
"But I never said I would hand them over."
Lucas was dumbfounded, and his shock was quickly replaced by a cold fury.
Before he could slaughter them all, Claire laughed and threw them into the air, and he caught them.
"I am a woman of my word, Prince Lucas," she said, and the men retreived Nikolas' corpse.
"What is to happen to my brother?" He inquired.
"He is going to die."
The remaining men who had not taken part in carrying the Fallen Prince's body began to chant, and fire burst out in front of Lucas as they escaped. It died as soon as they were out of sight.
The sun rose higher, and its rays fell upon the bewildered Lucas, who placed the rings on the floor and gritted his teeth as he let himself go on fire.
Mikael and Ariel were more than distraught as they sat in the study, where the sun could not reach.
"How did he escape?" Ariel wondered, gulping down another glass of Irish whiskey.
Mikael shrugged and drank straight from the bottle.
"Hey! You intend to make me drink your saliva, filthy as it is from the woman who it attended to last night as our brother ran from home?"
Mikael was just about to 'attend' to his brother with his fists when both of them caught the scent of smoke and charred flesh.
Within seconds, they were at the balcony overlooking the courtyard, where Lucas sipped whiskey from a glass, downing it, and proceeding to shatter it in his grip.
"How is it possible?" Mikael asked his younger brother, as they beheld their sibling stand in the sun unscathed.
Lucas looked up at them, then offered a weak smile and raise his left hand, where his daylight ring reflected the morning light.
The younger Asgeirssons stared in shock, and he tossed their rings at them.
Shortly after, both of them whooshed down and joined Lucas, basking in the light of the sun that they had been deprived of for years.
"This...I had missed," Ariel said, mirth in his voice.
Mikael shared the same sentiment.
"Indeed, it had been too long. Thank you, brother."
Lucas did not share their enthusiasm. And his mood dampened even further when Ariel asked, "Have you given Nik his ring already? Or will you do so when he returns?"
He didn't reply, and it was then that the siblings noticed his downcast expression.
"Brother, what is the matter?" Mikael asked.
Lucas let tears fall, and he said, "I have sinned, and no doubt he will kill me."
"What have you done?" The brothers asked in unison, and Lucas told them everything.
When he finished, neither of his brothers said a word.
Then Ariel said, "So she was telling the truth."
Lucas looked at him. "You knew?"
"Oh, yes. Alexandra came by to tell us of your betrayal, brother. In fact, we will be joining her on her current quest shortly. We were just waiting for you to bring the rings," Mikael said just before throwing Lucas onto the wall.
Ariel got to him first and struck Lucas with a boundless fury, each strike shattering bone.
Yet Lucas did not retaliate, for he knew he deserved it.
Mikael joined the fray, and Lucas took it all willingly.
When their anger had subsided at the sight of his broken, mangled body, Ariel took off the ring from Lucas' finger.
"I should hate you for what you did to Nik," he said. "But you are my brother, and I somewhat understand your intentions, however flawed they are. But I trust you no longer, especially for what we are about to do."
Mikael dragged Lucas to the center of the courtyard.
"You didn't burn enough, brother. Now, you shall burn till either we return, or till the sun goes down."
The both of them vanished as Lucas screamed, engulfed in flame once again.