Erik whirled around to see Nadir standing behind him, a serious expression set into his features. Erik muttered several curses under his breath at the sight of the Persian, the last person he wished to see at the moment. He knew that the Persian knew all to well what Erik wanted to do at that moment and he was fuming that the man seemed to know so much. Erik was sure that the look on his face showed that he did not want any company at the moment but Nadir refused to move.
"You know nothing," Erik hissed. Nadir's face became angry and he pointed an angry finger down the hall to where Christine was sleeping.
"I know that a young girl is in pain for a past she had nothing to do with!" Nadir said furiously.
"The ones who touched her will pay for their crimes, that much I can guarantee you," Erik murmured. Nadir had to keep in his sigh. He had noticed that Erik had begun to change his dark and foreboding ways because of Christine but this incident had brought him back to a place he should not be.
"Are you doing this for Christine or Emma?" Nadir demanded. Erik froze at the man's words.
"I know that it still haunts you how they treated her, Erik, but she is gone, Christine is not. Who are you doing this for?"
Erik said nothing, choosing instead to turn and walk away. Nadir, however, was not done. He grabbed Erik's arm and the masked man turned around furiously to meet the other mans gaze.
"Remember your place, Khan, or I will be forced to remind you," Erik growled.
"If you go the Delauney home you might not ever come back! You must take Christine away from here! You know they want you both dead, Desslar, and they will not stop until that is accomplished!" Nadir said, wanting the man to see reason. Nadir still cared about this man, even after everything that had happened years prior, and he would not see him hurt. Erik pulled away from the man's grasp and on long, agitated strides disappeared from sight.
xXx
Erik smiled to himself when he felt the rain that began to fall as the carriage slowly brought him to his destination.
The Delauney Manor.
Nadir's words were still fresh in his mind. Was he doing this because of what they had done to Christine or because of the years of torment they had inflicted upon Emma? Emma was gone and the only person he had was Christine. If he were to lose her he would once again be alone. He did not want that. He had been alone too long. He was doing this because of Christine. Everything he did from this moment on would be for Christine. If he were to die tonight at least he would know that she was free from the hunt on his head. As long as she was safe. That was why he climbed out of the carriage and faced the dark manor in front of him, preparing to walk through hell for what had been done to Christine.
xXx
Christine woke up several times from a drug induced sleep, her shoulder throbbing and her body as heavy as lead. She called out Erik's name several times, not wanting to be alone when she hurt so badly. But he was not there. She called him several times more to no avail and she felt several tears slip from her eyes no matter what she did to stop them. Where was he? Several maids came in as did her brother and Sienna but she wanted Erik. What had happened that he was not there when she needed him?
xXx
Erik embraced the shadows that clung to him as he silently made his way through the manor house. It had been ridiculously easy for him to get inside and now he was in search of the two men whom he wanted dead.
Knowing Michael as he did he thought that perhaps the man would be in his study, which was where he had always spent a great deal of his time. Erik dodged several guards as he made his way there and silently slipped into the room. As he had suspected both Michael and Leroy were inside. Leroy was pacing back and forth and he was dressed in the black domino suit that he had worn to kill Natasha.
"Why did you shoot Natasha?" Michael demanded of his son. Neither of them noticed Erik for he was well concealed in the shadows.
"She let her emotions win over her duty...can you believe that she fell in love with Desslar?" Leroy demanded, obviously very annoyed that Natasha could have such feelings toward another man.
"I do not care! We could have disposed of her later! She had her gun pointed at Christine! You could have killed Erik at the same moment she pulled the trigger and slipped away!" Michael hissed. Leroy said nothing, realizing that his father was correct. How could he have been so foolish?
He had been so caught up in the idea of Natasha's feelings for Desslar that he himself had forgotten what he was there for. But Natasha had been his; he had made love to her countless times and had thought for a long time that the stunning beauty felt something for him. They were a match, really, both cold and calculating and their time together in bed had been well spent. But somehow she had fallen for the masked man and it was making Leroy very angry.
"Christine is only injured as well, nothing was accomplished tonight!" Michael said angrily. Nothing had gone as he had planned. They had not expected Erik and Christine to disappear for a few hours to 'make love' and they had been unable to find where they had gone or when they were coming back. Natasha had found them and had had them right where they wanted them! How could they have failed.
"We will come up with another plan, Father, they will die, and soon," Leroy promised. His father said nothing for a long moment and Erik was ready to attack when Michael said something that stopped him in his tracks.
"I found this diary earlier, I was quite surprised," he said. Leroy was agitated that he father was talking about a ridiculous diary at a time like this.
"A diary? What do I need with a diary?" he demanded. Michael took the mentioned diary out of a desk drawer and set it down on the desk. Erik froze.
"It is Emma's."