Every Rose Has Its Thorn

He turned his head to look at her when she laughed. Normally such a joyful sound. One that often made him smile. How different this moment was from those times. When he sensed the shift in it, when it sounded like she was hoovering on the edge of crying again he gave her hand another squeeze. Her words were true enough. Enzo had almost died. Again. It was the second time in less than a year that he'd come so close to dying. To leaving Emi. The man seemed hell bent on stepping in even if it meant getting himself injured. Which he understood of course. The love that Enzo had for her, he understood why he'd go to such length to protect her. And if he kept going, one of these days they wouldn't get so lucky. Wouldn't be able to save him in time. Looking at the pain in Emi's eyes he knew he'd do anything to stop her fear becoming a reality. That he'd do anything to save Enzo for her. Anything. Even sacrificing himself. She'd recover from that loss eventually he was sure. But he knew she'd never recover from loosing Enzo.

Eventually she did force herself to sit up in the bed, removing her hand from Erebus' in favor of hugging her knees to her chest. She was so caught up in the effort of forcing herself to breathe steadily, even if it was a needless action. She wanted to feel steady, instead of set adrift. But everything made her feel that way right now. Enzo's impending death, Andre's confoundingly painful distance, and Sage's suffering in the wake of it... the danger they were all in now. It felt like the beginning of the end, try as she may to run from it. Inevitability was a hard pill to swallow.

Sage smiled at that. He couldn’t remember specifically why he knew them. Or why they specifically touched him in such an oddly intimate way. “Music is…” he sighed a little. “Healing. Isn’t it?”

At seeing her pain, Sage tugged her against him, rubbing her arms gently. “My darling, Emilia.” He kissed her head. “You would not know the first thing about being cruel. Or hurting anyone.” He paused there. Because he actually could see her hurting someone who deserved hurting. “Well. You know what I mean. And knowing what i know of Enzo. He wouldn’t love you this much if you were not deserving of it.”

Emilia's lips tugged into a sad sort of smile as she nodded. "It can be."

She melted against Sage's chest, clinging to him as if he was the only truth she could hold onto then. Maybe he was. He knew her well, could see the soul of her even when she found herself too close to do so. His words made her lower lip tremble a bit with the threat of oncoming tears. "He loves me even when I'm hurtful," she corrected softly, at least granting Sage the credit that Enzo did find her deserving if nothing else. "I only wish I was better for him... or less complicated maybe."

Andre wanted to curl away from her. Feeling so entirely wretched. He just wanted to die. Over and over again. Until this taint went away. If it ever went away.

He caught onto her arm, the one she held around him. It was the only thing tethering him now. The memories. So many painful and awful memories. Erebus coming to him. Distraught. He hadn't wanted to believe it. He hated himself for not believing immediately. As Erebus needed him too.

"There were two..." He gasped. "Two brothers. Two torture chambers. Two...there has always been two. And...I couldn't. I only had time for one...and Erebus. He was coming for us. How could I leave Erebus there?" He fell then, into utter despair. "I'm so sorry..."

Emi's hold only tightened on Andre as he spoke, as he cried. And it pieced together slowly in her mind precisely what he was confessing. It made perfect sense in a way, that Andre should think himself a villain for making an impossible choice. But it was impossible, at least from what little she knew then. She tried to picture if it had been one of her sisters, if she'd been separated, the one chosen while they were left behind. And she couldn't help the shudder that ran through her for Sage's sake, the ache that resounded in her heart then.

But it didn't change her love for Andre. Maybe because it wasn't her, maybe because she could step away from it more in her lack of involvement. Because all that echoed in her heart in the end was how deeply she loved him. And she couldn't leave him alone, not ever. She would be here, to hold him together if she even possibly could.

Emi's question broke his heart a little more. She shouldn't have to be worrying about this. One part of him didn't want her to be unprepared for the scoop of what they were facing. The other didn't want to put weight on her shoulders or deepen her fears. He knew her though. Knew she wouldn't stay out of it. "The only way they'll ever truly be safe is if Morpheus is dead," he said eventually.

"If it were possible, I would do it myself... as it stands though, I should doubt that I'd even come close." Emi pulled her chin up a bit to look at Erebus. "I don't know enough, I'm not strong enough. And I wouldn't be let out of anyone's sight to begin with... right?" It was vaguely incased in humor, a mocking of her position in the seethe that she'd never very willingly accepted.

She perked up at the mention of the fae, so Enzo went ahead and told her all he knew. To help ease her worries. "Thomas did. Not to me directly. He was telling Milo. The next night? Maybe. He appeared at the front door and Thomas and Luci let him in. I don't think Stefan knows anything about it. Or him really. I certainly don't. From what I understand he's been here every night."

Enzo frowned at her explanation. "But I would never leave you, Emi love. You know that right?" The comment about being her life and soul hurt. Because that's what she was to him. So he didn't understand how or why that could be a bad thing. But he didn't question or demand further explanation from her. That was her truth. It didn't matter what he thought about any of it in the long run. He was here. No matter what. "Emilia..." He sighed into her hair. "You aren't foolish. Though I can't say you aren't cruel because I've seen your hitlist. But not cruel when it comes to me. You have all of eternity to make your choice. Even if you make one at all. I am certainly not going anywhere. So...you have me. Not matter what." He kissed her forehead. "Okay? You are my entire world. I would never want to be away from you."

She sat up further, her gaze drifting towards the door of their room with a slowly budding smile as Enzo spoke. And she laughed then. Openly and truly laughed, covering her mouth as she did, but unable to help the response. "He loves Andre. He must. Who else would come into a den of vampires and court someone even at their worst?" She spun back around to face Enzo, a giddy sort of disbelief on her face. "This is good news. Someone else can remind Andre that it's okay to feel... maybe he can bring him back from the edge."

Emi moved closer beside Enzo again so that she was partly laying on his chest. And his expression melted her own into a sad sort of smile. "My hitlist is very reasonable," she retorted softly, tracing a gentle path along Enzo's temple and jawline. "It won't be an eternity for me to decide... I promise you that." She leaned forward after his declarations, kissing him deeply. "I know that... I only hope you know that of me. I could never be parted from you."

Enzo kept his eyes trained on Cory as he listened to Emi. Fascinated that despite all the pain he'd landed on the other vampire, he didn't even seem at all bothered by it. "Maybe not a cyborg." He mused. "Zombie...maybe? What happens if we just rip the whole damn arm off?"

Cory wheezed out another laugh. "We'll all be zombies in the end."

"Ah but...you first." Enzo replied a moment before ripping the entire arm off with a satisfactory amount of ease.

Now that...got a reaction. The blood for one. Spilled out of him. Despite his attempt to laugh it off and wave his stump at Enzo. He wasn't able to actually talk another though. Every time he tried he ended up in a fit a bloody sputters. Enzo had to take a step back to keep from getting it on his shoes.

Luci could have cried at her sister’s expression then. It nearly lingered on the edge of betrayal. But in heeding her wishes, she’d be truly betraying Natalia. They both would. Surely Emilia could see that.

“You know how Natalia feels about this. And just because she’s did not make you promise your adherence does not mean you shouldn’t respect her wishes.” She loosened her hold on Emi then, her tone softening equally so with the action. “Do not fashion our sister into a martyr when she still walks among us… Please.”

Emi’s gaze remained fixed on Luciana, her expression caught between anger and sadness in a way that only amounted to pain. The sound of Enzo’s gentle voice through the silence only reinforced the grip that the moment had on her. And had she any true need for air, she’d have felt very breathless indeed. Of course Luci was right. Natalia did not settle well with violence, and particularly not on her behalf. But she wanted him dead. Oh, she wanted him to bleed and then some.

She removed herself from Luci and Nic’s grips in a swift but gentle movement, using her full speed to catch them off guard as she now settled in between the two pairs at either side of her. Luci’s expression also held pain, of that she was sure. And it welled up in her like a heavy sort of guilt.

Tearing her eyes away from her sister, Emi moved now to kneel in front of Cory. He was incoherently sputtering and she couldn’t deny herself some level of satisfaction at the state he was in. And seeing him so close only made her want to call for his death all the more so. He was a monster, and always would be in her eyes. She didn’t allow her gaze to leave his even as she spoke to Enzo. “I’m afraid so.”

"That's the thing though..." He mused. "Andre has always willed himself to death. He's just very good at pretending otherwise. Makes...vampire after vampire after vampire. Hoping one of us would ease his loneliness. It's a sad sort of existence. Sometimes I wonder...are we doing him a favor at all?" He fell silent then for a moment. "Though...did you know? Some fae showed up at the door asking after him. No idea who he is. But...maybe the tides are changing."

At the feathery touch of her lips on his skin he shivered a bit. That ebbing sadness had yet to ease. Despite knowing logically that Emi loved him...it just wasn't enough. Maybe that was the issue in the end. No amount of love would be enough. "I was impulsive." He said softly. "I forgot that despite my love for you, which has been for always, that you have only just realized your own feelings. So...I will wait. Forever if I must. Just...please don't send me away from you. I won't survive it."

Perhaps she had never allowed herself to see Andre as lonely in her years of knowing him, at least not truly. He was surrounded by love and devotion, and yet she did know that something lingered beneath it. It left every moment tainted, in a sense. Maybe she thought she’d been doing him a favor in her avoidance of prying, but now? Now she couldn’t help but ponder it through Enzo’s words. Maybe they ought to let him go… but she wasn’t certain she could. The mention of the fae snapped her out of her sadness though and she tilted her chin up to glance at Enzo. “Who told you that? And when? Did they let him in?”

Emi whimpered a bit at the implication that she would ever send him away. “Enzo… I could never be parted from you,” she soothed, imbuing the words with only the most genuine truth. “If it were a question of whether or not I loved you, of if I wanted to be with you and only you for the rest of my eternity, then there would be no question in it… but I can’t lose you.” She brought her hand up to enclose around her locket and the ring. “And you being my husband would make you my very life, my very soul. I don’t know how I could lose you.” It was confusing even to her own ears, and yet she couldn’t quite bring herself to say yes yet. And she hated herself for it. She ducked her head back against Enzo’s chest as she wrapped her arms around his neck to pull him closer. “I’m being foolish and cruel… I know it makes no sense.”

"My own choices..." He repeated. "Ah...of course. Like you do..." He didn't mean it in any sort of mean way. Just a mere realization of why they were so different. Not wanting to argue, he settled on a soft smile for her instead.

At her statement about protecting him, he choked up a bit. Because that was so Emi. Swallowing hard, he could only nod his thanks. He wished he could look at the world so simply. To be able to be so certain of yourself. So certain of the things you could do, or even think for that matter. He knew then that he would fight to give Emi a world where that was true for her. He would never allow her world to be tarnished as his was. She deserved that. That and more.

"Ah yes..." He whispered with a nod. "Those songs..." Pressing his lips together, he dropped his eyes. "Very sentimental it seems." When she spoke of Enzo, in that fondness she did, he could merely shrug. "Well...his love for you transcends self-preservation. One of his endearing qualities." It felt good to joke about such things. Only because he knew Enzo enough to know he'd take no defense to that. He'd die for Emi, he'd never lead anyone to believe anything else. "I should think I don't have to warn you about that sort of devotion. You aren't the type to take it for granted. Never have been."

Emi frowned at that. Whenever Sage was more caught in his mind or emotions he tended to wound in subtle ways with his wording. But she couldn’t really fault him for it either. He’d been through so much, and she knew well enough that he wasn’t meaning to hurt her. Things just weren’t simple anymore… not that they ever really had been, if she was being honest with herself. But the fleeting instances where they had forgotten any complications and troubles now played on her mind in a bittersweet melody.

“I couldn’t think of how else to get through to you… and you heard me. So, silly as it may have been I suppose it helped.” Although ‘help’ seemed to be far from the truth when it meant him being more cognizant of Andre’s painful words. Emi hugged her arms around herself as Sage spoke of Enzo. It was one of the topics she’d found herself dwelling on all the more since his proposal. Did she take him for granted? His devotion? His loyalty? Or did she merely fear the weight of such a love? “I worry that I am… more than anyone would credit me for. I left him waiting, didn’t I? And even now… I worry about being worthy of that.”

Emi actually winced at Sage’s words and did her best to avert her gaze again, the shame of it swelling up within her again. But then he’d taken her face into his gentle hold and she couldn’t look away from him, even as she teared up under his precise assessment. Sage knew her well. But he also knew regret, and felt it deeply. And that made her feel like even more of a villain in all of this. The silence that fell between them for a time was poignant, as if all time stood still in the wake of her being left vulnerable to the moment. But she wasn’t sure there was anything she could say. It wasn’t as if Sage meant to harm her, and he only spoke the truth—deep, painful truths about the world they lived in. And it made Emi feel like she was being awoken from a daze.

Cory continued to laugh as he crawled out of the rubble. "I forgot..." He laughed. "I forgot that the little bitch had a guard dog." He wheezed.

Enzo watched with a curled lip as Cory crawled towards him. Like a little spider or a crab. Like that bloody girl with the long black hair from that Ring movie Emi forced him to sit through. Disgusting. And frankly creepy as hell.

"I'm going to stop you there..." He snarled. Stepping on one of his hands, crunching the fingers beneath his boot. "Call her a bitch again...Imma rip out your throat. In fact...maybe I'll rip it out anyway. So I don't have to hear your revolting voice." He shrugged. "Sensitive ears."

Cory's neck cracked to the side as he bared his fangs up at Enzo. But Enzo just snarled right back at him.

"My girl...and by extension all my girls. So...really. By any bloodline you get me. The guard dog as you put it."

Cory's reddened eyes found the girl, another girl, and some beefcake. He laughed again, still wheezing. "Is this all that's left? Of the Bernardi Seethe? So it's true...your maker abandoned you."

Nic had heard of Cory, to be sure, and nothing good. But he was allowing Enzo to take the full reigns. This wasn’t his fight unless things got ugly, and he respected that. But he did go so far as to place a well-timed hand on Emi’s shoulder as the offending vampire baited her anger.

Emi was torn between some sick satisfaction and pride over Enzo and her seething rage for Cory, but her gaze seemed rather more focused on the latter. She growled a bit as he looked at her, and even further at the comments towards Andre. If it weren’t for Nic she might have actually lunged forward. Her focus honed in on Enzo’s assessment as he spoke to her though, and she found her lips tugging into a devilish sort of smirk as she took in Cory’s pinned down figure again. “Well, I suppose they are crunchy in a way, but with more of a metallic sort of clang or scrape… I suppose you’d just have to break a few more bones for me to compare the sounds properly, amore mio. His wrist, if we’re mirroring his damage to Natalia. Or his spinal column if it were up to me.”

"Happy?" He wanted to laugh but knew that would only hurt her sensibilities. "And what...do you think is going to make me happy?" He asked, genuinely curious.

"I won't be his soldier." He replied, "Not again. But I can't leave..." He trailed off because he wasn't sure he could even trust her. His Emilia. His sunshine. "What a mess." He settled on instead, running a hand over his face.

“I can’t answer that question for you. But you should find it out for yourself. You deserve to make your own choices and discoveries,” Emi replied. The words were soft, but rife with feeling and she believed them all so very deeply.

Her expression softened again at the clear pain and conflict running through Sage. There was something even deeper in his eyes, something she couldn’t quite grasp. “I won’t let anything happen to you… not if I can help it.”

Normally she would have been a bit more miffed at Sage trying to change the subject, but she decided to be happy that he was still talking, that he was here and in one piece. That would have to do for now. Emi couldn’t help but tear up a bit at his recollections though. It was all rather raw, even now. “I was there, with you. I was singing you those silly French lullabies my mother taught my sisters and I.” She offered him a watery smile, but it fell away into more of a choked out laugh. “Yes, Enzo did get hurt, but he could be just shy of death and still fight to throw himself in front of me, as we both well know. He wouldn’t stop fighting, so I left you in Erebus’ care.”

At her gentle touch he unraveled completely. He caught her hand with his, holding it to his face “He’s everywhere. I can’t get him out of my head…” He ground out. “Please.. you have to go. I can’t..I can’t let him get to you..”

He released her suddenly, a shudder going through him. He’d been fighting himself so hard. Fighting to keep control of his own mind. He couldn’t look at Emi any longer. The openness in her expression, the love. He didn’t deserve her love. None of them.

Emi was stunned into silence as Andre seemed to shatter before her. She’d expected anger, she’d expected yelling. But weeping? Begging? Apologies? No, no, this was all so wrong.