David stared up at the unfamiliar ceiling. The room around him was cold and unfamiliar. He looked out the little window. It would be daylight soon. He loved and hated the room. It meant that he hadn't dreamed up what had happened which was good and yet bad. So many vampires and lycans had died, and every one of them had been burned. It was a precaution more for the lycans than the others. They didn't know how many of the lycans were hybrids or not and didn't want anyone, human, vampire or lycan, to come across the hybrids.

It was hard to see the vampire bodies burn up so quickly. He knew every person who had died. They weren't dumped together like the lycans. They were laid with great reverence side by side. He recalled each face and name. And then her body entered his mind, so pale, and her red hair framing her face nearly perfectly…

David shivered at the thought and sat up, looking around. The room was probably cold, but he couldn't feel it despite having no shirt on. He was a vampire after all. The door opened and Claire quietly stepped back inside. Within a second he was in front of her. She smiled up at him as he brushed his fingers against her face. "Where have you been?" he asked, searching her face for answers.

She sighed. "If I haven't told you before I'll tell you know. I won't leave you without a goodbye if I have to. You don't have to be afraid of me running off," she said softly.

He shook his head. "I wasn't. I was thinking about your sister," he said. "I was afraid that I had imagined her and it was you who was burned."

She kissed him and he wrapped his hands around her waist, pulling her closer to him. "I'm still here," she said after letting him go.

He lightly traced the scar that the lycan leader had left on her face. It was healing and she had assured him that it would soon disappear like the other scars. He believed her. After all, the scratches she had received from previous attacks were long gone. And even this had been far worse four days ago.

David looked down at her quizzically. "Why did you leave?" he asked her.

"Come," she said, as she grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the room. She led him down the empty halls of the castle they were in. Most of the vampires had retired to their rooms, but he knew that a handful of them were in the security room.

They had barely finished burning the bodies before it was decided that they needed to leave. The thought of finding another stinking, underground, depressing little cave or sewer to live in angered David. There was no telling if the lycans would attack again and it was clear that it was the vampires who were in the most danger of being killed. But before he could voice his dislike Claire had offered the location of one of her safe houses. There were only two rules that she had before taking them. Don't kill the people in the surrounding towns. And there were six rooms that she would personally assign to people. She assured them that there was enough space for everyone, but she didn't want just anyone sleeping in those rooms. They had agreed.

It was an old castle located only a day's drive away. The castle was surrounded by a large fence with security that was top of the line when Alexander was still alive. It had fallen into a little bit of disarray, but not something they couldn't handle. For once, they were able to live in comfort.

It had barely been a day since they moved into the castle and already there was a change in mood among everyone, including Thomas. Thomas' immediate action was to take control of their new situation, despite the fact he was still healing from his injuries, and Claire let him. They had arrived at the castle the night before and Claire had left most of the day, bringing Andrea, Jared's mother, back with her when she returned close to sunset. Although David had wanted to join her he could tell that her mind was somewhere else.

He had felt useless as the day wore on with nothing to do. The normal vampires were all sleeping. Jared, Eve, and Michael stayed at the library, amazingly finding old books with history about the Corvinus family. Meanwhile, Selene searched and memorized every corner of their new home. David didn't have the patience for doing either of those which made him feel even more useless. After Claire returned she was too exhausted to do much. She ended up crawling into bed and was instantly asleep.

Claire squeezed David's hand and he sighed as he focused on the present. They entered a small room that held cleaning supplies. She expertly moved past the various obstacles and reached the back wall.

"I had to make sure it was still here before I showed you," she said, reaching up and pushing hard on a rock. He heard the faint sound of a click and she pushed a small portion of the wall back. The two had to bend as they entered the little stairway. A single torch lit the way. "I'll show you all the secrets," she said as he closed the door behind them. "But this is only for the family." She picked up the torch and he followed her.

They didn't have to go down to far before they came across a door. She undid the bolts and locks then pushed it open revealing a large room. The torch did little to light the entire room, but it didn't matter. He stared in awe at the painting of the rather large tree that was in front of him. It looked exactly like the one that had been in the book. Only, this one was easier to read the names and took up one entire wall.

David crouched. The trunk was small and had the names Alexander and Helena Corvinus. Around them were five branches. David blinked in surprise at the realization that four of the five branches had names after them. William's branch only had two names on it before it ended. Marcus' continued for a short while, but eventually ended as well.

"I'm sorry," David found himself saying.

"For what?" she asked as she leaned in closer to him.

"You just… you don't have descendants," he said before cringing. He didn't want her to get mad at him for making her remember.

She let out a loud sigh. "It wasn't your fault. And who knows. We probably would have never met if I did."

His eyes wandered through the branches that slowly reached into the other wall, then widened in surprise. A large family portrait was on the wall. Elizabeth was right. Claire did look a lot like their mother. Helena sat on a chair with Alexander standing directly behind her. Beside him were his two eldest boys. To her right was Elizabeth, and her left Claire while at her feet was the youngest boy, probably a few years old.

"Amazing," he said. Next to that portrait was one of the children. They were older, probably painted just before they became immortal.

"And rare," she responded, knowing which picture he was looking at. "My father personally painted that shortly after our mother died. It was the last time we were all together."

He reached out and pulled her toward him. "Thank you," he said.

"For what?"

He smiled and kissed her cheek. "For bringing me here."

She nodded. "There is so much to tell you and so much time. I just couldn't figure out where to start. Do I start from my birth? Before you met me? When I became immortal? But then I realized I had to start from here. This is my family, David," she motioned at the tree. "My immediate family may be gone, but their descendants still live. No one, outside of The Family, has seen this room."

She walked toward a glass case that held a mannequin wearing an old wedding dress. Beside the case was another mannequin wearing decorated armor. Weapons were on the walls and in glass cases as well as books. He realized that these were all items from her past. He could picture Helena wearing the wedding dress. And Alexander the armor as he went into battle. This was her home.

The realization stunned him and he didn't move as he processed everything. She had brought them not to just any safe house, but the one place that she had grown up in, possibly born in. Why else would these items be in the room?

He couldn't imagine how difficult and strange it must have been for her to step foot in the place again. There must have been other places, but she chose this one. For him?

He looked over at her. He could see the pain in her eyes as she stared at a ring that was in a case. Slowly, he reached out and grabbed her hand. She smiled up at him, and he nodded toward the door. Neither said a word as they made their way out and back toward her room.

Once again, David couldn't stop his mind from thinking. She was extremely difficult to read, and it was clear to him that she was trying to open up. But after hundreds of years having to keep secrets he couldn't blame her for struggling. It wasn't fair to force her to stay in the castle. She had told him that she wanted to move forward. She didn't want to use her old name. Which meant that eventually she would leave the castle. He stopped in his tracks and she turned to look at him.

"Are you alright?" she asked him.

He didn't answer as he pulled her toward him and hugged her. The time would come when he would have to choose between her or his father and the coven. He pushed her away a little bit so that he could look at her face. She looked puzzled. "I-" he said, fully intending on explaining to her his dilemma. He didn't want to keep secrets from her.

"It appears that the old ways are no longer of use to us," Thomas said, interrupting his son. The two looked at the older vampire in surprise. They hadn't heard or expected him to be near them. He limped toward them. His healing was slow, but he pretended not to notice. "I have been hearing mumbling among the others. It appears that they will slowly leave into the world. Maybe it is for the best. Having all of us in one area has proven disastrous." He looked at Claire. "But I do believe that this is a perfect haven for all of us. If we are need of each other's company or in danger. Some of us may stay behind and manage the place," he paused for a moment and looked around. David realized what his father was doing. Hinting that he would stay to keep the castle in shape while letting everyone else explore the world. His father was setting him free. "But we can discuss the details at a later date." He gave them a small smile, nodding his head, before he continued his stroll down the hall.

"Father," David called out. Thomas paused and glanced back. "Thank you."

The old vampire shrugged his shoulders and disappeared into the other hall.

David smiled as he looked down at Claire. His father had freed him. He knew that he would have been miserable one way or the other. Yes, he would have loved being with Claire and helping her in whatever she did. But in the back of his mind he would always chastise himself for leaving his father and the other vampires. On the other hand, if he had stayed then he would have wondered about Claire. They would have kept in touch, but for how long? She wouldn't be able to stay near him and leave her charges without protection.

"Claire," he said, holding tightly to her hands. "Will you let me help you protect your family? I want to follow you wherever you go. Till death."

"Hmm," she said softly as she pretended to think. "You do realize that I'm immortal. There may be no death. I'm also very stubborn, having lived for a while, and kind of set in my ways. We will fight. Till death may be forever."

He smiled and pulled her close to him. "Good. An immortal life would start to lose interest if there was no conflict," he said before kissing her.

She laughed.

"Also, if make-up sex is amazing for humans, it has to be out of this world for us," he whispered in her ear.

She yelped as he picked her up, carrying her toward their room. She reached up and kissed him. Whatever the future had in store for them, he would face it with Claire by his side. Until the day they died.

A/N: Thanks so much for your reviews and enjoying this story. I had a lot of fun writing it. Hope you enjoyed the end.