POV Nero
I walked through the forest on the island.
According to what Monna had told me, the vampires trapped here had been incredibly bloodthirsty before they were imprisoned. Entire villages had been wiped out. Towns destroyed.
So, yeah… I could understand why someone would create a prison world for them.
Still, something didn't make sense.
From what I knew about vampires, if they hadn't had blood for over a hundred years, they should have been completely desiccated—little more than dried corpses.
Yet I could hear movement.
That meant one of two things.
Either these vampires had somehow survived…
Or I was about to run into a lot of very angry skeletons.
Either way, I wasn't worried.
I was the hybrid.
I couldn't be killed.
That thought alone made me smile.
Then—
A branch snapped.
I stopped walking immediately.
Slowly, I turned toward the sound.
"Show yourself," I said calmly. "Don't be afraid."
I tilted my head slightly and grinned.
"Although I should warn you… I have a hell of a bite."
More footsteps echoed through the forest.
One.
Three.
Seven.
Then suddenly—
Twelve vampires stepped out of the shadows, surrounding me in a circle.
I sighed.
"Well," I said, cracking my neck, "it seems like it's time to eat."
I rushed the first vampire I saw.
My hand shot into his chest—
And ripped out his heart.
Before his body even hit the ground, I grabbed his arm and tore it off, swinging it like a club at another vampire charging me.
The blow sent him flying backward.
He crashed to the ground.
I stomped on his head.
It burst under my foot in a wet explosion of blood and bone.
Another vampire lunged at me.
I dodged to the side and grabbed her by the throat.
My fangs sank deep into her neck.
I tore her throat open and threw her body aside.
Blood dripped down my chin as I licked my lips.
My eyes turned gold.
Black veins spread from them across my face.
I smiled slowly.
"Who's next?"
"Me."
The voice came from behind me.
Before I could turn—
Something slammed into me.
I flew across the forest and crashed into a tree hard enough to crack the trunk.
I stood up instantly.
Without thinking, I ripped a massive branch from the tree and hurled it like a spear.
The man caught it.
Stopped it.
Right in front of his face.
I frowned.
"What the hell is a witch doing here?"
Then he moved.
Fast.
Vampire fast.
He rushed forward and slammed me into the ground.
My eyes widened.
What the hell…?
He raised his hand—
And suddenly my head exploded with pain.
Magic.
It felt like my brain was being crushed inside my skull.
I groaned.
No…
He's not a witch.
A realization hit me.
A heretic.
A heretic was a vampire who had been born a siphoner. When they were turned into vampires, their magic never left them.
But that didn't make sense.
There were only supposed to be six original heretics—Valerie, Nora, Mary Louise, Beau, Malcolm, and Oscar.
And they were all trapped in a prison world.
So who the hell was this?
I tried to stand, but the pain intensified.
My vision blurred.
"I take it back," I groaned. "I hate heretics even more than witches."
Then everything went black.
When I woke up, I was in a clearing.
And surrounded.
Dozens of vampires stood in a wide circle around me.
Ninety.
Maybe more.
"How the hell…" I muttered.
They should have been desiccated.
There was no way they could still be functioning like this.
Then a voice spoke.
"So… what exactly are you?"
I tried to turn my head, but I couldn't move very far.
I was tied to a massive stone.
The same man who had knocked me out stepped forward.
He looked calm.
Almost curious.
"Answer me," he said.
Suddenly the headache returned.
Magic again.
I groaned through clenched teeth.
"Is that witches' favorite spell or something?"
He tilted his head.
"If you want me to be honest, my friend… yes."
I raised an eyebrow.
"Oh? We're friends now?"
He chuckled.
"Well, I don't have many friends left," he admitted. "But you're interesting."
"Funny," I said dryly. "From what I know, friends usually don't torture each other."
"You're right."
He waved his hand.
The ropes around me vanished instantly.
I stood up quickly.
My hybrid face appeared—gold eyes and dark veins spreading across my skin.
"Alright," I said coldly. "Now tell me why I shouldn't kill every single one of you right now."
The man smiled calmly.
"Well," he said, "you could do that."
Then he lifted something in his hand.
A crystal vial.
The Cure.
"But then you wouldn't be able to get this."
My eyes narrowed.
"How did you know I was here for that?"
He shrugged.
"What else would someone be doing here, mate? A vacation?"
I laughed.
The tension in the air eased slightly.
"Well," I said, "I suppose this is the part where you tell me what you want."
"It's simple," he replied.
He gestured around the clearing.
"My people and I have been trapped here for over one hundred years."
"Yeah," I said slowly. "About that… how the hell are any of you still alive?"
He smiled.
"Well, as you can see… I'm a witch-vampire hybrid."
"A heretic," I said.
"Exactly."
"So what did you do?"
He crossed his arms.
"I altered my blood and my people's using magic," he explained. "Turned it into something similar to human blood. Strong enough to sustain vampires."
My eyebrows rose.
"And then?"
"We feed each other."
I blinked.
"…Wow."
He smiled faintly.
"That's actually kind of noble," I admitted.
He extended his hand.
"Dante," he said. "Dante Moreau."
My eyes widened slightly.
Moreau.
"Well, that's interesting," I muttered.
"Do you know the name?" he asked.
"Oh yes," I said calmly. "Let's just say the Moreau family of the Gemini Coven is… mostly gone."
Dante froze.
For a moment he just stared at me.
Then he burst out laughing.
Not just laughing.
Howling.
He laughed so hard tears formed in his eyes.
When he finally calmed down, he wiped his face.
"Oh… thank you," he said with an exhausted smile. "I needed that."
"You hated them that much?"
"Oh, you have no idea."
"Well of course we hated them!"
A female voice shouted from behind him.
I turned.
A blonde girl walked toward us.
She looked almost identical to Dante.
though he had brown hair
"Calm down, sister," Dante said.
I studied her closely.
Blonde hair.
Blue eyes.
Sharp features.
They looked like twins despite the slight age difference, and hair color.
"Allow me to introduce my sister," Dante said. "Mekesa."
She crossed her arms and looked at me curiously.
"And who exactly are you?" she asked.
"Well that's right, I haven't properly introduced myself"
I bowed slightly.
"My name is Nero Tone"
"And to answer your question from earlier Dante"
I smiled.
"I'm a hybrid," I said.
"Wait your a heretic Mekesa asked"
"Not quite."
I stepped closer.
"I'm half werewolf… and half vampire."
Both of them froze.
Dante's eyes widened.
"I've only ever heard of one creature like that."
"Niklaus Mikaelson," Mekesa whispered.
I smiled.
"That's right."
"I didn't think that him being a hybrid was actually true." Dante said
"Well his werewolf side is sealed," I added.
"And how I came to exist… well…"
I rubbed my hands together.
"That's a story for another time."
Dante nodded slowly.
"So," I said, "what exactly do you want in exchange for the Cure?"
"Freedom" they both said
I raised an eyebrow.
"You realize your group has quite the reputation in the real world."
Dante laughed.
"Oh, I'm sure they exaggerated it."
"They always do."
Mekesa stepped forward.
"Look, Nero," she said. "We weren't monsters."
"We didn't kill for sport."
She paused.
"Well… I might have a few times."
She grinned.
"But we weren't the demons they made us out to be."
"People fear what they don't understand," Dante added.
"And vampires who can use magic?" Mekesa said.
"Witches hated that."
I nodded slowly.
Then I said something that surprised even me.
"I'll free you."
They both looked at me sharply.
"But I have an offer."
Suspicion appeared in their eyes.
"I want you two to join me," I said.
Dante tilted his head.
"Join you… how?"
"I'm trying to become something unstoppable," I said.
"And Im coming to the realization that I not going to be able to do this alone"
Mekesa studied me for a long moment.
"Before you ask what's in it for us—"
"Deal," Dante said suddenly.
I blinked.
"Wait… really?"
Mekesa shrugged.
"You're the one freeing us,
"and plus" she said while moving her arms around, gesturing to all of the other vampires around us
"Our people are tired of being of being trapped" she said
Dante nodded.
"But let's make one thing clear."
"We're not your slaves."
"Agreed," Mekesa said.
I smiled.
"I wouldn't want slaves."
"I want family."
They both froze.
"I know you probably don't want the name Moreau anymore," I continued.
"So become part of mine."
I extended my hand.
"Dante Tone."
"Mekesa Tone."
"We'll be brother and sister."
They looked at each other.
Then stepped forward.
Dante grabbed my hand.
"Deal."
Mekesa smirked.
"Welcome to the chaos", she said
I laughed.
"Welcome to the family."
Soon everything was ready.
I stored the Cure in my infinite storage.
Using Gemini blood from the twins, some of Monna's blood, and the full moon overhead, Dante and Mekesa performed the spell.
The world twisted.
Light exploded around us.
Then—
We were back.
My vampires immediately surrounded us.
And were ready for whatever
"Calm down, calm down," I said. "They're with me."
Monna ran forward.
Then punched me in the arm.
"Ow!" I snapped. "What was that for?!"
"Because you're dumb as shit !" she shouted.
"That hurt, you know," I grumbled.
Dante stepped forward and bowed politely.
"And this must be the famous Bennett witch."
He took her hand and kissed it.
"My name is Dante."
He glanced at me briefly.
"…Dante Tone."
Monna looked at me with pure confusion.
I sighed.
"It's a long story."
And eventually…
I told her everything.
–
50 Years Later
POV Dante
It had been fifty years since we were freed from that hellhole.
Fifty years since Nero had pulled us out of that prison world and given us something we had never truly had before.
A family.
Nero was unlike any man I had ever known. He had freed us from the prison world and, since then, he had treated us like family—exactly as he had promised.
We were siblings now.
Dante, Mekesa, and Nero Tone.
Technically, my sister and I were older than him, but Nero still acted like the older sibling. Strangely enough, neither of us minded.
Having an older brother was… new.
And refreshing.
The year was 1543.
At the moment, Mekesa and I were tracking down one of the seven original werewolf clans.
The Malraux.
I calmly drank from a glass of blood while my sister fed on some poor lad who had made the unfortunate mistake of falling for her charm.
We were inside a massive ballroom in Spain.
Music had been playing earlier.
Now there was only silence.
Everyone in the room stood perfectly still.
Frozen.
A spell I had cast held them all in place.
Nobles.
Merchants.
Servants.
All of them staring at us in pure terror.
Mekesa finally finished feeding and tossed the drained body aside.
I sighed.
"Alright, little sister. That's enough."
She wiped the blood from her lips and smirked.
"You always ruin my fun."
"Someone has to," I replied. "You're messy."
The people in the ballroom looked absolutely horrified.
I hadn't compelled them not to speak, so their silence was entirely their own doing.
Then again… who would speak in this situation?
I slowly walked to the center of the ballroom.
"Ladies and gentlemen," I said calmly, spreading my arms slightly, "I'm looking for a man named Marcus Malraux."
My eyes scanned the room.
"If anyone knows who that is… I would greatly appreciate it if you spoke up."
Nobody moved.
Nobody spoke.
Mekesa sighed dramatically.
"Maybe this is the wrong place, Dante."
"Shh," I said quietly.
Then I smiled.
"Listen."
I focused.
Heartbeats filled my ears.
Dozens of them.
But two stood out.
Fast, and panicked
I turned.
A woman stood near the back of the room, wearing a beautiful emerald dress.
Beside her was a tall man with sharp features and cold blue eyes.
Their hearts were racing faster than anyone else's.
I walked toward them slowly.
The man tried to remain calm.
He Failed.
I looked directly into his eyes, and started compelling him
"Kill her."
His body froze.
I released the spell holding him in place.
He didn't move.
"I'll say it again," I said calmly.
"Kill her."
He clenched his teeth.
"My love…" he whispered weakly.
I handed him a knife.
"Do it."
His hand trembled as he turned toward the woman.
She began crying.
But just as he raised the blade—
He suddenly spun and lunged at me with surprising speed.
The knife shot toward my chest.
I caught his wrist effortlessly.
The blade stopped inches from my heart.
I smiled.
"Well," I said softly.
"I think we found our werewolf."
I chopped him across the neck.
He collapsed instantly.
I threw him over my shoulder and looked back at Mekesa.
"Compel everyone here to forget what happened."
She rolled her eyes.
"Of course I have to clean up after you."
"And Mekesa," I added, glancing at the drained corpse on the floor, "clean up your mess too."
She looked down at the body.
"Oh relax," she said. "He died happy."
"I highly doubt that."
I brought Marcus to a small house we had secured earlier.
Ten vampires stood guard outside.
All loyal to Nero.
When Nero freed the vampires from the prison world, he welcomed them all into his growing family.
He made sure they were fed.
Protected.
And if any of them wanted to live normal lives, he allowed it.
Because of that… they were fiercely loyal to him.
And honestly?
He had earned that loyalty.
"My sister will be here shortly, Cal," I told one of the guards.
"She's cleaning up her little mess."
Cal chuckled.
"Understood."
"When she arrives, tell her I'll be in the basement interrogating our guest."
"Got it, Dante."
I walked down into the basement.
Marcus hung from chains attached to the ceiling.
I grabbed a bucket and splashed water across his face.
He gasped awake immediately and began struggling against the restraints.
"You're only going to make it worse, lad," I said calmly.
"Stop struggling."
Eventually he did.
"Good," I said.
"Now we can talk."
I pulled up a chair and sat down in front of him.
"You're from the Malraux clan, correct?"
He glared at me.
"I know what you are", he said
"Vampire cunt"
"That wasn't my question, I said"
He spit on the floor.
I sighed.
"So we're doing this the hard way."
Hours later…
The house was filled with the sound of screaming.
When Mekesa finally returned, I was on the couch reading a book
She walked into the room and stared at me.
"You're a dick."
I raised an eyebrow.
"What kind of brother leaves his sister to clean up a ballroom full of terrified humans and a dead body?"
I shrugged.
"What kind of sister kills people and expects me to deal with it?"
She rolled her eyes and dropped onto the couch.
"Whatever."
"So," she said, stretching, "where's our furry friend?"
"In the basement."
"Did you get what you needed?"
I grabbed my coat.
"Of course, little sister."
She leaned forward.
"Well?"
"Where's the clan?"
I smiled.
"What do you think about taking a trip… to Egypt?"