Thank you for the kind reviews. I know some of you are frustrated that Klaus didn't wake Cami up. But there wouldn't be a story if it were that easy, would there :) …

Chapter 9: Twenty-nine Thousand Men

"Twenty-nine thousand, two hundred eighty-nine."

Klaus nodded an acknowledgement as he passed his assistant in the courtyard. He didn't even have to prompt the young man anymore. As soon as Jarrod spotted him, the boy was quick to check his clipboard and announce the rapidly growing total.

Twenty-nine thousand. No wonder the compound felt more like Union Passenger Terminal than a home these days. Too bad they'd only scratched the surface as far as the hundred thousand or so eligible men of New Orleans were concerned.

Freya, it seemed, was already losing her patience. Every time she passed Jarrod, she'd whisper to Klaus, "I'm one flick of the wrist away from turning that buffoon into a newt."

"Even if that were possible," he'd reply, "it would be a waste of your talents, dear sister."

But as much as he put up a brave front in the presence of his family, his own nerves were fraying quickly.

Twenty-nine thousand potential suitors had traipsed through his home, inconvenienced his family and slobbered over Camille. Unfortunately, it had taken two and a half days before it occurred to him that a kiss through the plastic of a CPR mouthguard, rather than lip to bare lip, still counted as the real thing. Twenty-nine thousand men had made contact—directly or indirectly—with Camille's luscious lips.

And not one of those men had been able to wake her up.

He let out a few choice curses on his way to her room. When he'd started on this quest, he'd felt certain it would only be a matter of time before he found her savior. After all, any man who met Camille could hardly fail to appreciate her beauty, her mind and her spirit. Any man would be truly fortunate to love her and be loved by her in return.

In fact, he'd assumed that her true love would be someone they already knew.

But truth be told, he'd held his breath as Vincent, Kinney, Lucien and even his brother all took their turn placing a chaste kiss on her cold, pale lips, and even though he told himself a thousand times he wanted to find this mystery man, with each failed attempt to awaken her, he let out a breath he didn't even know he'd been holding.

His heightened senses picked up the conversation coming from her room as he rounded the stairs, a few archaic swear words still on his lips.

"…but what if the person we're looking for is not a guy at all?" Davina was saying.

"I always assumed Cami was into dudes," Josh replied. "Big hunky dudes like Marcel. I mean, we all are, but…" Klaus could almost hear the cogs turning in the young vampire's brain. "I guess she could be bi. I'm not into the ladies myself, but if I were, Cami and some girl-on-girl action would be totally hot."

There was a long pause.

"She did say she thought a woman's mouth on her neck would be more erotic," Hayley said. There was another pause. "It was part of the plan to trap Finn."

"Guys, you're missing the point," Davina said. "Sure, Cami could be bi. But what I mean is maybe it's not about attraction or desire. Maybe it's a different kind of true love we're supposed to be looking for."

A prickling began at the back of Klaus' neck as he listened.

"Maleficent," Davina announced, and there was another pause. "Nobody else has seen the movie? Maleficent is the only one who can uncurse the princess with true love's kiss. So what if it's not about romantic love at all? What if this kind of true love is the love of family…or…or friendship? What if we've been looking in the wrong places all along?"

Klaus stopped and stood in the hallway for a minute as his mind went into overdrive. Then he retreated to his own room, doubt and self-recrimination pounding into his brain like a hammer.

What a fool he'd been. A pathetic, addlebrained idiot. He'd never even stopped to consider what the 'true love's kiss' actually meant. How could he have been so shortsighted? He'd made all kinds of assumptions about who he was looking for, and in the process he may have wasted valuable time and destroyed whatever chance he had to save her. For once, Klaus Mikaelson, the master strategist, had failed to consider all the options.

He'd failed her.

Again.

With shaking hands, he dug the heels of his palms into his eyes. He had to think. What could he do with two days until the deadline?

Her parents. He'd locate her family and bring them here. Camille hadn't talked much about her parents, although he knew they weren't close. Perhaps mending that relationship was the key to undoing the spell.

He got out his phone and called his team of private investigators, who promised they'd have a location for him within the hour. They got back to him within half that time. By then, he had a jet on standby, despite the fact he had no idea how long his journey would take and how he was going to get the O'Connells to come here if they really had disowned their daughter.

Would he have to compel them to do the right thing? And would she forgive him if he did?

It was a chance he'd probably have to take.

He had packed the barest essentials in a backpack and was on his way downstairs when he felt the first twinge of a headache. He ignored the pain at first; no doubt Davina was playing games again. He supposed he had earned her hatred, and who was he to deny someone an attempt at petty revenge as long as it didn't end up with a white oak stake through his heart?

But when it seemed as if his brain was about to force its way through his skull, he dropped to his knees. The next blast of pain was so intense it had him on all fours, and the one after that had him whimpering in the fetal position before his head exploded and everything merged into magnificent shafts of yellow and white light.

The next thing he knew he was standing in a dingy room lit by sconces, the walls lined with tapestries and smelling of lavender. He recognized the owner of this room even before he heard the trill of laughter coming from behind him.

"Hello, my precious love."