Chris calmly stood up but nothing about the rising anger in his face came off as calm. He threw the now drained bag of blood in the trash and wiped his mouth off on the sleeve of his leather jacket. Coming to the side of my bed, Chris grabbed Ghost by the bondage straps on the front of his dress.

          He yanked him over me and snarled, "You're the fucking reason Angelo is in this hospital bed. I wouldn't be pushing it with me."

          "I'm also the reason he's alive and Carmella is dead, if you'd give me a chance to explain." Ghost said, his words causing Chris to hesitantly let go of him. He readjusted his posture and straightened out his dress. "Before we discuss the present, though, I think you owe it to Angelo to tell him about the past. You can't keep ignoring all your mistakes and pretending to play house with him."

          Chris bowed his head. His hands rested on the guard rail of my bed, tightening as he spoke, "I was just trying to protect him from my mistakes."

          "Lying to him isn't protecting him." He replied.

          "I wasn't lying to him!" He snapped as his head shot up.

          "Don't play that game. Don't fucking try to say that it wasn't technically lying because you never told him." Ghost sneered, "You loved him enough to spend ten years looking for him. Not to mention you almost sold out me and your entire species to save his life. If you love him that much, you tell him the goddamn truth."

          "Chris," I softly said, "If it's this serious, I want to know."

          I gently set my hand on his, but he flicked it away. He pointed towards the door, glaring at Ghost, "Out. Now."

          He sighed, glancing at me. His expression was mostly blank but I could see the sympathy in his eyes. Ghost turned for the door and left without a word. Chris raked his hand through his hair as he calmed himself down. He grabbed my hand delicately, yet held a secure amount of strength.

          "I'm sorry, Angel. I didn't mean to hit you like that." He muttered.

          "It's okay. I'm sorry if I made you mad at me." I replied.

          "No, you didn't. I wasn't mad at you... or Ghost. I'm mad at myself... I have been for long, long time. I did plan on telling you this, someday, but I was hoping to keep you thinking I was a better person than I am for a little while longer. I do love you more than anything in this world but there are days I feel like I saved you as a way of trying to redeem myself."

          I squeezed his hand to get him to look up at me but he didn't. As sweet as I could, I told him, "I know you're not perfect but I also know you love me. I don't ever doubt that. No offense, babe, but I've never met a vampire that hadn't done something fucked up at least once."

          Chris stifled a laugh, "You're not wrong, but what Ghost wants me to tell you is... It's one of the worst things I've done in all my years of living. Go back about a hundred years. Hell was in it's prime. There was no war, just constant parties and evolution. We were all pretty well known socialites throughout the upper class. The others didn't enjoy the social part of being socialites like I did. They just enjoyed being pampered, but I actually got into meeting all kinds of people. I had some of the best connections of anyone around.

          Of course, several times, creatures were trying to set me up with powerful women to create some kind of power couple. I didn't want a woman though. Eventually someone figured it out after I turned down several beautiful women. That person was Carmella. This was way before I knew her plans for Hell. She had a brother named Vepar. Even as peaceful as things were back then, demons and vampires were still at odds with each other. She talked me into dating her brother as a way of uniting our species, since we were both such influential people.

          From the start, I knew I had no real connection to Vepar. I tried my damnedest to be the perfect boyfriend and he always treated me like a king, but there just wasn't a spark. He must've felt something that I didn't though because he was very deeply in love with me. I knew our relationship was important to the well being of my species, so I figured I would stay with him and in the process, not break his heart. We were together five years before I purposed to him.

          I felt nothing and I couldn't take being that numb anymore. Everyone knew who I was though. I had nowhere really I could go to get away. At least not on that side of the world. I took a trip to what could be considered the Hell of Hell, if that makes sense. It's where the worst of the worst go. I lied to Vepar and told him I was going for business. That's where I met Kuza. He wasn't a prostitute or anything but when I offered him the money, he was willing to sleep with me.

          There was no love between us. Just lust, but it was something. I finally felt something for the first time in five fucking years. I made a deal with him. He would come back home with me, get to sleep in my house, eat my food, all for free. All he had to do was pose as my security guard and let me fuck him when I needed it.

          This went on for thirty years. In that time, there were a few issues between vampires and demons, but nothing that lead to war. It's the longest Hell had gone without a war. The entire time I was nothing but a pawn to Carmella. She had strung us all along with plans of using us to eradicate all vampires. She needed two things from us; Ghost's abilities, and for me to be her puppet that would say whatever she wanted me to say.

          The only thing standing in her way was Ricky. She knew he would protect Ghost and I both at all costs. She needed a way to turn him against both of us. When Tokyo and London were born, it was a perfect opportunity for her. I still remember that night so fucking clearly..." Chris squeezed my hand as the anger met his memories. He didn't even notice though, continuing, "We were having dinner to celebrate the twins sixteenth birthday. Carmella stood up and claimed she had some big announcement. She told the entire table that Ghost and I had been sleeping together for the past two decades and that I was their true father.

          This was someone we had trusted for a long time. We had no idea she was plotting against us for nearly a fifty years. Of course Ricky believed her and it started a massive fight between the two of us. He leapt across that table at me and we ripped each other to shreds. Imagine that fight you saw Kuza and I have, but twenty times worse. We both ended up putting each other in the hospital. While we were out, Ghost talked with Vepar and got him to believe the truth, that it never happened. He eventually convinced the others and Ricky of the truth but the damage had been done.

          No one wanted to trust anyone anymore. She may not have torn us apart as bad as she wanted to, but she still managed to make us lose the brotherly bond we had had for years. Of course, Vepar's trust in me was frayed too. It was about a year later that he walked in on Mike and I. Honestly," He snit, "I couldn't believe we got away with it as long as we did. That was the first time I actually felt anything where Vepar was concerned. I did actually feel bad for hurting him.

          I begged for his forgiveness. I don't know why... I just did. He told me he would think about it while I was away. I had to leave the next day for a political conference. That's where I met Deacon for the first time. He took me out to dinner and told me the truth about Carmella. She knew that Deacon was her biggest competition, so she hired a hitman to kill his wife. Anyone else would back down but he took it as a sign that he had to stop her from coming into office.

          When I returned home, Vepar told me he would forgive me. He thought it was a one time thing between Kuza and I. I doubt he would've forgiven me if he knew it had been going on almost every night for fifty years. We continued to do this little dance of fakery for a few more years, except things were different. I started to sneak around in Carmella's shit when she wasn't around. Anytime I found information Deacon could use, I sent it to him.

          Eventually, something had to give. One night, I was laying awake in bed. I just couldn't sleep no matter what. Something was wrong and I felt it in the pit of my stomach. Within a week, I couldn't move from that bed. Vepar wasn't much better. A doctor came to the house and told us we both had Hallow Hex. One of us caught it from the other. I knew immediately there was foul play. I told Josh to sneak down to Carmella's quarters of the house and look around. He found an empty vile of a live strand of it. She had infected her own brother in order to make me sick.

          The treatment I took then, and I still take now, for Hallow Hex doesn't work for demons. It left Vepar incredibly sick and I couldn't let him suffer anymore. I spent months watching him in pain. The whole thing didn't pan out how Carmella wanted it to. I sent Ryan and Josh to scout out a place for us to hide because I knew it was time we ran from her grasps. While everyone was asleep one night, we decided to finally leave.

          I... I knew I couldn't leave Vepar with both a body that was ill and a broken heart. Though there never was a true spark between us, if you're around anyone that long, you learn to love them. I..." Chris turned his head away from me as his voice shook. I took his face in my hand and wiped away a stray tear with my thumb. "I killed him in his sleep." He admitted, "I didn't want him to suffer any longer but... I will never be able to forget the way his body looked, covered in blood stained sheets... The others tried... Tried to tell me I did the right thing... I still don't know if that's true..."

          "I believe you did." I said very softly. This was a lot to process, but I knew it was harder on him to tell me. I tried my best to just be there for him as he relived it.

          There was a minute of utter silence. Chris let a few tears fall before returning to the story the best he could, "We hid out in some mountains for a while... About two years, actually. She eventually found us. At the time, Tokyo and London were Ghost and Ricky's only kids that had stayed with us. That doesn't mean we didn't love the others or miss them. One morning, it was my turn to get up and get water from the spring for the day. Ghost was sweet enough to get up with me and help. When we got back to camp, Ripper's body was laying dead on the ground.

          We hadn't seen him in nearly two centuries but it didn't change the fact that we all felt like we lost a part of ourselves. I was too numb to even bother to cry but Ghost... He fell to his knees and just fucking sobbed over the body. We buried him beside the river that evening. Then we packed up everything and found somewhere else to hide. About a year later, the exact same thing happened with Knox. Just like last time, we buried the body and found somewhere else to hide.

          For about three years, we were okay. We had found a spot in the woods where no one could find us. Until they did, that is. London went missing one day. Even though we knew it was going to be a trap, we still went looking for him. Tokyo knew exactly where he was. Twin telepathy and all. He lead us directly into the center of the capital. One of Carmella's hitmen stood at the top of the steps of the capital building with his hand wrapped around London's throat. No one knew he worked for her, but everyone recognized the fact that there was a demon and a vampire standing up there.

          He proclaimed that it was time Hell rid itself of it's rodents. By rodents, he meant vampires. Then he crushed London's throat and threw his body down the capital steps. Tokyo had never been so broken before in his life. We tried to pry him away from his brother's body but a riot started. We had to get the fuck out of there. Eventually Ricky forced Ghost to open a portal and leave without him. We didn't want to but he had disappeared and we had no clue where he was. That was the start of the war. It was about a year later that our camp was attacked by a suicide bomber and I ended up in your ER."

          "Chris... I don't know why you were so scared to tell me... You did nothing wrong." I spoke gently as I looked into his beautiful eyes.

          "I killed my husband and lied to you about the fact that I had another husband before you." He muttered.

          "I mean," I shrugged, "I never asked. Besides, I knew in five hundred years you had to have had another love at some point. Just as long as I'm the one in your heart now, I'm happy. Thank you for telling me. I know it was a big deal for you to open up about it."

          Chris leaned over and kissed my forehead, "I love you. I love you so much."

          "I love you too. Please, don't ever fear telling me the truth. Nothing you could ever tell me would make me not love you." I replied.

          The door slowly creaked open. Ghost leaned against it with a smirk while he let Tokyo walk in. Then he shut the door, that smirk still remaining. "I knew he'd be okay."

          "Were you listening at the door?" Chris asked suspiciously.

          "Me? Noooo. Of course not." He joked with a wide smile.

          Chris shook his head humorously, "Right... So, I told my truth. Your turn."

          Ghost glanced back at Tokyo, then over at us. He sighed, "That's the bitch part, isn't it? Ricky said that Carmella claimed Tokyo and Felix were our only sons that were alive. That's not exactly true... Cecil is alive but his soul got kind of... disconnected from Ricky and I. I've been tracking him down for a few months now. Somehow he found out and sent a firebat to deliver a message to me. He told me Carmella had found us and a demon was on it's way for me. I was going to tell you guys but he showed quicker than I thought.

          I did open a portal, but it's not the reason why they found us. She just... Found us, like she did all the times before. I'm sorry I didn't tell you guys in time. We could've prevented a lot of this." He gestured around the room.

          "Maybe it wasn't the worst thing that's happened. Carmella is finally dead and we have Tokyo and Felix back." Chris said.

          "And from the sounds of it, the others have settled on a place. Once we're settled in, I'm going to try to help Cecil. He's caught in a soul valley right now." He said.

         Chris brushed some hair out of my face before kissing me on the side of the head. "I promise you'll finally get out of here soon too."

          "If there's one thing I've learned in a thousand years, it takes bad to have good." I replied as I grabbed his hand again.