I TRIED ALL EVENING to reach Ric with no response. I wanted to talk to him about Isobel but he wasn't returning any of my calls or texts. When I woke the next morning and still hadn't heard from him, I headed to his apartment. It was possible he was avoiding me because Nik killed Isobel but knowing Ric it was just as possible the battery ran out on his phone and he didn't even realize it.

I jogged up the stairs to Ric's apartment. As I lifted my hand to knock, the door swung open. Ric stood there with a startled expression. "Hey." I slipped my hands into my pockets. "I tried to call."

"Oh. Sorry, I misplaced my phone." He stepped out into the hall with me and shut the door behind him. "I was just on my way out. Minds to mold, classes to teach."

"Do you have a minute? I wanted to talk to you about Isobel."

"Uh, no, actually. I need to go." I narrowed my eyes as he walked past me and started down the stairs. Something was off. "I'll call you later, Cassie."

I sucked in a breath. "Niklaus Mikaelson. Get your ass back here right this second."

He stopped and looked back to me, his eyes wide. When I just continued to glare at him he smirked. It was an expression I'd never seen on my uncle's face. He sauntered up the stairs until he stood in front of me once more. "Hello, sweetheart. What gave me away?"

"The only people that call me Cassie are you and your brother." He leaned forward to give me a kiss. I pushed back on his chest as I scrunched my nose. "I am not kissing my uncle, Nik. Not like that."

He chuckled and opened the door to the apartment and walked back in. I followed behind, pausing only for a second when I saw Katherine sitting in a chair stabbing herself in the leg. I blinked. "That looks like fun."

She glowered and looked like she wanted to say something but was for once smart enough to keep her mouth shut.

"Really, Nik. Couldn't you pick anyone else? He's family."

"I did ask, sweetheart."

"And he just said, sure invade my body, it will be great?"

Ric/Nik shrugged. "Well, he was unconscious at the time, but I'm sure he wouldn't have minded."

I rolled my eyes and shook my head. I took a seat with my back to Katherine. "Why even do this?"

He came up behind me and rubbed my shoulders. "Because Stefan Salvatore saw me, love. I won't be able to get close to them without changing my face."

"And why do you…" I trailed off. Some things I was better not knowing. "You should get to school. Try not to eat any of the students."

He laughed and kissed the top of my head. I followed him out of the apartment.

I spent the day in Nik's study organizing the shelves. He had given me all of the grimoires he had attained over his many years. Eventually I would need to transfer the spells I wanted to use the most often into my own volumes. There were dozens of books here and way too many to shift through every time I wanted a spell.

My phone buzzed and I pulled it out to find a text from Nik: Chaperone the 60s dance with me.

Before I could respond another text came in. This one was from Maddox: Need help with Klaus. Meet us at the teacher's apartment.

So glad everyone asks me instead of bossing me around. I sighed and grabbed my spell bag and headed back to my uncle's apartment. Ric/Nik opened the door. "Cassie. So good to see you, love."

"This is so creepy." I walked in and set my bag on the counter. "What are we doing?"

He pursed his lips. "Your friends have decided amongst themselves that you have been compelled and therefore anything you told them is unreliable. They intend to kill me this evening to save their precious Elena."

"What? How?"

Maddox stepped over from the corner where he'd been hiding. "Their witch is channeling an incredible amount of power."

"Her powers must have returned when they killed Jonas. But I've met her, she's not that strong. If she's got that much power, it's not all hers. And if she channels enough to kill Nik, she'll die." Was everyone in that group suicidal? Maybe I should pay for them all to go to a good therapist. I shook my head. "Okay, I'll play chaperone. Though I think it's you I'm chaperoning, not the kids. Maddox, put a protection spell on him. I'll worry about keeping him alive at the dance."

"That's my girl." Nik hugged me from behind.

"I'll need something to wear, Nik. The sixties aren't exactly thriving in my closet." I wandered into Ric's room to look at his things. Finally, I found a pendant that had been Isobel's. I was hoping I could draw some of the power from Bonnie and store it in the pendant. Unlike the untrained witch, I wasn't willing to take that much power into myself. Too dangerous and too much temptation.

Ric was expected to be at the school early since he was a teacher. I went with him dressed in a short, flowered dress that had been delivered to Ric's apartment after a couple of texts from Nik. I'd left my hair down but put on a wide hairband. Heeled 60s boot completed my ensemble. At least I blended with the crowd.

I stayed to the side while Nik danced through the crowd in Ric's body. We were both watching for Elena and company. I was astounded at the number of kids dancing. All of my high school dances had involved groups of kids hanging around the perimeter of the gym drinking soda and talking. About an hour after the dance started, I saw them enter. One of the girls got up on stage and announced a dedication to Elena from Klaus.

I rolled my eyes. He was such a drama king. Elena and her friends stood in the middle of the dance floor looking around. Stefan shook his head. They were obviously depending on him to find Nik since he was the only one that had seen him. Bonnie dragged Jeremy away and Damon headed for Ric while Elena and Stefan started to dance. I was summoned by a jerk of Ric/Nik's head.

"I'm not impressed," I heard Damon say as I stepped up behind him.

"Hello, Salvatore," I said before Nik had time to get offended.

Damon spun, his eyebrows shot up into his hairline, before he scowled at me. "Grimes. I don't suppose you're responsible for that dedication? Baby bro says he doesn't see Klaus anywhere."

I shook my head. "I'm just here to make sure everyone stays alive. You can't object to that, can you?"

"You'd be surprised what I can object to."

Nik cleared Ric's throat. "I invited her, Damon. I still believe in her even if the rest of you don't."

Damon turned his scowl on his friend. "Huh," was all he said before walking away.

I leaned against Ric's side. "That was a very Ric thing to say."

He pushed my hair behind my ear. "It was a very Nik thing to say, as well. Perhaps your uncle and I will get along after all this."

It wasn't long before Nik got impatient and wanted to make his move. "You might want to check the hallway if you want to help save the young Gilbert," he said in my ear before he walked away.

Damn him. It was a distraction to keep me away from whatever else he had planned but I couldn't just abandon Jeremy. I hurried into the halls and heard the sounds of a fight. I arrived just in time to see Damon get shot with a stake. The Salvatores had beat me to Jeremy's rescue.

"Don't!" I yelled as he was about to stab the teenager that shot him.

"Why not?"

"He's compelled, Damon," Stefan answered. "This is distraction. Go find Elena."

Damon gave me a brief look before running past. I closed my eyes and recited a spell while Stefan kept the three teenagers Nik had compelled busy. I thrust my hands out once the spell was complete and all three kids fell to the ground.

"What did you do?" Stefan asked with wide eyes.

"Put them to sleep. Unfortunately, it only works on humans."

He looked between me and the teens again.

"I told Damon I'm here to keep anyone from dying. I meant that. Now go."

He flashed off and I cast my enhanced hearing spell. It wasn't long before I heard Ric yell in pain. I was glad the link was to Nik's body as I really didn't want to feel whatever made him scream like that. I jogged through the halls cursing the stupid boots I was wearing. I slid into the cafeteria to see Ric on all fours. Papers flew around the room and lights flickered. I narrowed my eyes. It was a waste of magic. I used my magic to shut and seal the doors behind me.

"Cassie," Ric/Nik groaned and Bonnie spun to face me.

She raised a hand to fling a spell at me and I grasped her wrist. I started saying the words that would siphon of her power and feed it into the amulet. "No." Her eyes were wide and she shook her head. "You can't."

"You need to quit messing with magic you don't understand, little girl."

People began pounding on the door behind us and yelling for Bonnie and myself. Over her shoulder, I saw Ric stand with a knife in his hand and start in our direction. I used my magic to fling him backward and pin him to the wall.

He struggled for a moment then glared at me. "Cassidy!"

I released Bonnie and she passed out and slumped to the floor. I looked at Nik and released him. "Go." He stared at me with furious eyes before leaving out another door. I turned and dropped the spell holding the door shut. Stefan and Elena swarmed in to kneel beside Bonnie.

"She's all right." Elena sighed in relief.

Stefan looked at me in confusion. "Why are you helping us?"

"Maybe she found a way out of her compulsion," Damon said as he walked into the room with his hands in his pockets.

"Can't be compelled, Salvatore. Even by an Original. But then I've told you that before. A couple of times."

"Won't your boyfriend be pissed you saved the witch?" he asked. "Maybe you should stay with us so we can protect you."

I laughed. "He wouldn't have tried to kill her if you weren't trying to kill him. And if Nik wanted to hurt me, nothing on this earth could save me, least of all you, Salvatore."

"He compelled Isobel to kill herself," Elena said. She still sat on the floor holding Bonnie's hand.

"Isobel had her own crimes to pay for." I started to walk out the door before stopping and turning back to them. "Bonnie won't be happy when she wakes. I took quite a bit of power from her, but it shouldn't have been hers to begin with. I protect my family. All my family."

When I got home, I changed into a t-shirt and sweats. Elijah's door was cracked and a light was on. I knocked on the door as I swung it the rest of the way open. "Hello, Cassie."

I smiled at him. "Hey." He sat in a chair with his feet propped up on the far side of his bed. I climbed onto the side closest to me and leaned against the headboard.

"Niklaus is not happy with you, to put it mildly."

"I know. He'll get over it."

He shook his head. "Only you would test him like this."

"It's his own fault. He knew I wouldn't let him just kill her. He thought he could distract me and failed. It's not that easy to get rid of me. Did you know he was going to take over Alaric?"

"I knew. Does it matter?"

"I guess not." I slid down in the bed and wrapped my arms around one of his pillows. "I'm just ready for all of this to be over, Elijah."

"It will be soon, Cassie."

"Not soon enough."

The next morning I joined Elijah for breakfast.

"As Niklaus is still otherwise engaged and tomorrow is the full moon, is there anything you would like to do today?"

"Well since the vast majority of my friends and family either hate me, believe me to be compelled or are currently possessed by my boyfriend, I can't think of much."

His lips twitched as he tried not to smile. Jerk. My phone rang and I was surprised to see Damon's name on the caller ID. "I wasn't expecting to hear from you anytime soon."

"I wasn't expecting to be calling. Listen, Elena wants to talk to you about the ritual and what exactly will happen. Can you come over?"

While I was happy they might actually be willing to listen, I didn't trust them for a moment. "I can. But I'm bringing Elijah with me."

There was a pause. "Yeah. Okay."

"Well, this should be interesting," Elijah said as we stood.

We arrived at the boarding house and I walked in without knocking. I turned in surprise when Elijah didn't follow. He looked at me with a raised brow. "It seems I'm not invited."

"Guess we weren't the only ones with that idea." I headed to the living room where I figured everyone would have gathered. The Salvatores and Elena were all present. "Elijah needs an invitation." I gestured to the door with my thumb then walked the rest of the way into the room.

Elena started to get up but Stefan grasped her wrist and pulled her down. She rolled her eyes at me. "You may come in Elijah," she yelled.

Elijah was beside me in a second. "Elena. Salvatores"

Damon scowled. "Look, this was not my idea. I was opposed to it actually but as usual no one cares what I think. So have at it, Miss Elena."

"I need to do something first," Elena said and stood. She came over and gave me a hug. I was surprised but gratefully hugged her back. I had always liked Elena and I didn't like us being on opposite sides. "Thank you for saving Bonnie."

"Of course. She's a little impulsive, huh?"

Damon snorted. "Only when it comes to witch stuff. Otherwise you can't get her to do anything."

"I'm pretty sure that's just you, Damon." Stefan said.

My phone buzzed and I pulled it out with a frown. It was a text from Jenna asking if I wanted to meet her and Ric for lunch. Today. I dialed Nik's number only to have the call go to voicemail. Stubborn ass.

I showed the text to Elijah. We looked at each other for a moment as we debated what to do. What is he up to? Elijah's voice ran through my head.

He's pissed I interfered with his plans yesterday. I need to go over there.

Elijah nodded.

"Are we interrupting something?" Damon finally asked.

"No." I turned to face them. "I need to go take care of something. Elijah can answer most of your questions. I'll be back as soon as I can."

Elijah handed me his keys and I jogged out to the car and drove to the Gilberts. I didn't knock when I got there. "Jenna," I yelled as I walked through the door. "I need to talk to you."

Jenna came out to greet me with a hug. I looked over her shoulder to see Ric leaning on the doorframe. "Hello, Cassie."

I narrowed my eyes at him and stepped back from Jenna as I gave him a tight smile. "What are you doing here?"

He straightened with a shrug. "You mess with my plans, I mess with yours."

"What is he talking about, Cassidy?" Jenna asked.

I positioned myself so I was between the two of them.

He turned and walked into the kitchen. It looked like they were preparing some kind of meal. "So, Jenna. Tell me, what do you think of vampires?"

I laughed. This was his big plan? "Sorry, Nik. I might have forgotten to mention that we had this discussion with Jenna already."

"Why did you call him Nik? What's going on?"

"Do you remember when I told you two very old vampires were trying to break a spell? Ric has been infested by one of them."

"Infested? That's not very nice, love."

"You mean…"

"I'm not your boyfriend," Nik said to Jenna. "I'm hers."

I curled my lip. "Could you not?"

He chuckled before picking up a large knife from the counter and beginning to play with it. I didn't like the look in his eye. "Jenna, I think you should leave now."

"But I— " Nik lunged toward her with the knife and I wrapped him in magic and flung him against the wall.

"Go, Jenna!"

This time she ran. I walked over to him only to see fury burning in his eyes. "What the hell are you doing, Nik? You don't threaten my family."

"I thought I was your family, love."

"If you weren't you'd be in pieces by now." I raked both hands through my hair and stalked away from him. Anger and hurt flowed through me in equal measure. Finally, the hurt won out. I released him from my hold but kept my back to him. Tears spilled down my cheeks. The worst part about loving someone is how badly they could hurt you without even trying. And Nik was an expert at it.

"Cassie?"

"I need to go." I headed for the door.

"They need to know they can't stop me. I'll do whatever it takes to break this curse."

"I think we are all very aware of that. I'll see you later, Niklaus."

I swiped tears from my eyes all the way back to the boarding house.

Everyone stopped talking when I walked into the living room. Jenna had joined the discussion it seemed. "Don't stop on my account." I sat on an open spot at the end of the couch.

"Grimes, don't take this the wrong way, but are you okay? You look...not good." I shook my head but didn't elaborate.

"Is Ric…" Jenna trailed off.

"He'll be fine, Jenna. Don't worry." I glanced at Elijah. "So, where are we?"

"I have explained about Niklaus' curse. About the elements needed to break the spell. And the fact that you discovered that only a small amount of Elena's blood was required. Was there anything else?"

The fact that I was sacrificing myself for my boyfriend and may never come back? No they didn't need to know that. I twisted my hands together in my lap and looked down at them. "Don't try to stop this. Don't try to interfere. He…Klaus has been waiting a thousand years to undo the curse placed on him. He won't allow anyone or anything to stop him."

"Not even you?" Damon said after a moment.

"Not even me." We all sat there in silence.