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Helene tilted her head back and moaned, her hands instinctively grabbing the sheets. Her eyes were closed, letting her mind to think that she was with Elijah. It was easier now when she didn't smell the alcohol. After one more thrust, he groaned in pleasure, reaching his climax.

"Well, well…" he muttered and reached down to kiss her. "Where have you been hiding all this passion?"

She opened her eyes and managed to smile, hoping that he wouldn't really expect an answer. His blue eyes were observing her curiously, his hand wiped hair out of her face.

"I must admit that I missed you, Helene," he said before rolling beside her.

She was confused, but she managed to hide it.

"Thank you, my lord."

He smiled and turned her on her side so they were face to face.

"Klaus. For now on I want you to call me Klaus."

She was even more confused and this time he must have noticed that.

"My sweet Helene… You did not really miss me, did you?"

"I did, my lord," she said quickly.

He huffed and shook his head.

"No, you did not, why would you?" He paused and sighed. "The last months have been…difficult for me and…I had some time to think when I was away and I realized something."

She expected him to continue, but he didn't.

"What did you realize, my lord?" she asked cautiously.

He smiled and touched her cheek.

"First of all, I was letting that little doppelganger whore to get the best of me; that ends right now. I already feel like my old self again."

She swallowed.

"That is…nice, my lord."

He frowned.

"Klaus. Anyway, the second thing what I realized was that there is a one person who have helped me through these last months."

She tried her best to stay calm, although she was getting more and more nervous.

"I know that I have treated you badly," he continued. "But I promise that things will be different for now on."

He stood up and walked to a desk, taking something from a drawer. It was an emerald necklace, which must have cost a fortune. He motioned her to get up and turn around. After a brief hesitation she obeyed. Her body flinched instinctively when he touched her neck from behind before placing the necklace on her. His lips touched her shoulder before he turned her around in order to let her see her reflection in the mirror. She was wearing nothing except the necklace and he wrapped his arms around her from behind, fondling with her breasts.

"Perfect."

"Thank you, my lor…Klaus. It is beautiful," she muttered.

"Just jewelry," he huffed. "You are beautiful."

She startled when he turned her around and lifted her up, wrapping her legs around his waist.

"Now," he purred and pushed her against the wall. "I want to see some more of that passion."

Romania, 1709

Helene closed her eyes and danced, hearing nothing except the beat of the drums. Almost the whole tribe had gathered around the big campfire. Other women were dancing as well when the men clapped their hands with the rhythm. These gypsies had seemed like strange people when Helene had first arrived here, seeking for some guidance, but now they were like a family to her. Violca, one of the tribe's eldest had taken her in; she had said that she had known that Helene was coming. She did have her cards and her crystal ball, but Helene wasn't really sure if she believed in that, the whole thing was mostly a way to get money from peasants.

"Phoenix!"

Helene opened her eyes and noticed her friend Milosh; he was standing next to his horse, motioning her to come to him. Suddenly she was very nervous; she wasn't sure what to hope.

"It is him," Milosh said after Helene was in front of him. "He is staying at the tavern."

Helene's heart started to pound faster, could this be real?

"Are you sure?" she asked.

He nodded.

"Brother of lord Niklaus, dark hair, dark eyes, strong jaw line, yes?"

Helene gasped, it was really Elijah, he was here. For a moment she hesitated, she definitely shouldn't do this, not if she cared about his safety… But he was here, so close, how could she not see him?

"Could you take me there?" she asked before she would have second thoughts.

"If you are sure…"

"I am," she said quickly. "I…I need to see him."

Milosh nodded and mounted, helping her sitting in front of him. Helene had never been so nervous and excited at the same time, what could she say to him? Or should she say anything, if she would be selfless, she would just look that he was alright and leave… Thankfully the village wasn't far; otherwise she might have changed her mind. Milosh dismounted in front of the tavern and helped her down.

"Do you want me to go with you?" he asked tensely.

She shook her head.

"No, I…must do this alone."

He sighed and handed her a dark cloak.

"Wear this; I think you are drawing too much attention right now."

She was dressed as the other women of the tribe, a colorful skirt, a shirt with short sleeves, a wide belt and a scarf.

"Yes, I suppose you are right," she muttered and wore the cloak.

The tavern was full of people; no one seemed to pay much attention to her when she walked in. She scanned the room, but Elijah wasn't there. Maybe he was in his room. Helene wasn't sure what to do when she suddenly heard the innkeeper talking to a maid.

"Take this to the foreign lord's room, quickly."

He handed the girl a wine bottle and a goblet, she headed upstairs. Before Helene really knew what she was doing, she followed her. The girl knocked before opening one of the doors and went in. Helene hid behind the corner and waited until the girl came out and headed downstairs. This was it; she would have to make her decision. How could she walk away when the man who she loved was right behind that door?

She took a deep breath and marched to the door, opening it as silently as possible. The room was quite dark, despite of the candles, but it wasn't difficult to see that it was probably the biggest one in the tavern, there was a wide bed, a sofa, a small table and a chair and a bathtub behind a folding screen. She heard a quiet splash, he was taking a bath. Suddenly she couldn't control herself anymore; she took the cloak off and almost ran behind the folding screen. The first thing she saw was the back of his head; she wrapped her arms around him from behind and kissed his neck.

"I have missed you so much."

He grabbed her arm and yanked her in the bathtub; the next thing she noticed was that she was sitting on his lap in the water. When she looked up her eyes widened in terror, this man wasn't Elijah. They had some similar features, but he was younger and his smirk was almost identical with Klaus'.

"Well, well," he purred. "What have we here?"

Helene tried to stop herself from panicking, she had to stay calm if she wanted get herself out of this. How could she have been so stupid…

"I-I…I apologize," she managed to say. "I thought you are someone else."

His smirk grew wider when his eyes scanned her body.

"Oh, there was no harm done, darling. This was a very pleasant surprise."

She tried to get up, but his grip kept her in place.

"Please let me go, sir," she muttered tensely. "I must go…"

"Come on now, what's the hurry?" he purred. "Join me for a drink."

She was truly scared now, but before she could do anything, he pulled her close to him and sank his fangs into her neck. She panicked, trying to desperately push him away, but that was useless. Fortunately he stopped before draining her.

"Hmm," he muttered licking his lips. "What is this special taste…?"

She was even more terrified when she felt his body reacting, she used all the strength she had left in order to free herself.

"Please don't…"

Then she finally remembered the small object hidden on her belt. Gypsies really didn't like vampires and they knew how to defend themselves. Quickly she picked it up and sank the small dagger in his side; she didn't dare to try any higher knowing how fast vampires were. The special vervain in the dagger was even stronger than the normal one because of the gypsy spell, he certainly screamed. She managed to get out of the bathtub and ran towards the door, but he caught her before that. She felt the pain in her neck and fell on the floor, but that didn't stop her from crawling towards the door. If she wouldn't have been in panic, she would have realized that he had snapped her neck and pretended to be dead, but unfortunately she didn't realized that before it was too late.

"What…" he muttered and grabbed her arm, yanking her to her feet. "I just killed you."

She glared at him angrily, suddenly losing her self-control.

"That hurt, you bastard," she snapped and kicked his leg.

His eyes widened, he was staring at her disbelievingly.

"Well, aren't you something… What might that something be?"

She pressed her lips together and glared at him, she wasn't going to say a word to him. He smiled and touched her hair.

"Not feeling like talking, are we? Well, that's alright, darling; I have all the time in the world."