Secrecy

Tyler followed the trail of blood with his eyes as it snaked down the woman's neck before Mia's mouth closed over the winding line, and she lapped it up with her tongue. She let out a delighted breath as she stepped away from the woman, whose glassy eyes floated around the alleyway in a daze. Mia took her time wiping the corners of her mouth and taking a quick bite of her wrist.

She'd taken to the pain and the blood portion of the diet a lot faster than Adam had.

Mia raised her wrist to the woman's mouth and commanded her to drink. She did without complaint, and Tyler watched as the bite mark on her neck stitched itself up and disappeared. Mia gave the woman a gentle push to the mouth of the alley where she wandered away as if nothing had happened.

When she was out of sight, Mia spun around to face him. "How'd I do?" she asked eagerly, though she already knew the answer after watching Tyler's demonstration last night.

"Very good," Tyler said, slipping his hands into his pockets and walking toward the street with Mia at his side. He'd eaten beforehand, just to make sure he was able to show Mia the ropes effectively without worrying about getting thirsty in the process. But the smell of fresh blood was having the same effect despite that.

"Better than Adam?" Mia said, rushing to keep up and inclining her head playfully.

Tyler gave her a look. "I'm not comparing the two of you," he said, even though he had been.

Mia made a disbelieving face. "He already told me how his went. He said it was a little...rough."

"At first," Tyler admitted. "But it was hard for me, too when I first started. You just happen to catch on quicker than us. So try not to make him feel bad."

"I'm his sister," Mia reminded him. "I never make him feel bad."

Tyler figured that was probably true since from what Adam had told him the only thing Mia had said about Adam's decision to become a hybrid was that she hoped he didn't die in the process, not a word about trying to avoid the change every month while Mia embraced hers so readily.

But the last thing they needed was Adam feeling insecure about his transformation. The change from werewolf to hybrid was jarring enough without wondering if he was bad at it.

Together Tyler and Mia walked back to the Garden District and down the neat streets until they reached the house. Inside they found Adam sprawled on the couch in front of the TV, sucking on a blood bag. Adam and Mia's presence at the house was temporary until Marcel could find them their own place which he'd assured Tyler he'd have by the time he came around to officially be introduced to them. But there was plenty of room, and it was nice not being alone in the house at least for a little while.

"How'd it go?" Adam asked.

"It was okay," Mia answered with a shrug as she joined him on the sofa. "I'll do better next time," she added as she reached for the remote.

"Yeah, you will," Adam said, not looking at all suspicious about Mia's downplaying of her success tonight.

"I'm going upstairs," Tyler told them which they didn't seem to care about.

In his bedroom Tyler pulled his shirt over his head and dropped his hands to his belt before a voice said, "Keep your clothes on."

Tyler rolled his eyes as he turned around to see Bonnie where sat on the edge of his bed in a pale blue dress, sequined from top to bottom and a pair of sky high silver heels on her pedicured feet. "Thanks for the warning," he said.

Bonnie lifted her shoulders into a light shrug. "I love a good strip tease just as much as anyone, but it's always more enjoyable if both parties are aware." She was wearing makeup too, some light silvery eyeshadow dusted across her eyelids and lipgloss on her lips.

Tyler smiled and leaned against his dresser. "You look nice."

"You sound surprised."

"I'm not. I'm just...I am surprised actually," he said. "But not because I don't think you're attractive and capable of looking nice," he added to which Bonnie nodded her head in amusement. "I just thought - I didn't think - you'd be going out with everything going on. So."

Bonnie raised her eyebrows expectantly. "Thank you? I think."

"You're welcome," Tyler said. "So where are you headed?"

"Out," Bonnie answered. "With Rebekah."

Tyler arched his eyebrows, trying to figure out in what world Bonnie and Rebekah hung out. Apparently, it was this world, but that didn't make it any more understandable. "That's...weird," he confessed, and Bonnie didn't even look offended.

"I know," she agreed. She took in a breath, like she was considering whether or not to continue. "Hayley's going to be there, too."

Tyler stared at her and ignored rage that flared in his chest. "That's even weirder than you and Rebekah."

"I know," Bonnie said again. "But I wanted to tell you because...I don't want to keep it a secret. It's not a secret."

"Okay," Tyler said, folding his arms across his chest. "Is that what you came to tell me?"

"No," she admitted. "I have a question."

"Ask away."

"Have you ever had a tarot reading?"

Tyler tried to remember if he'd ever been asked a more random question. At the moment, nothing was coming to him. "Once," he answered. "A witch on the street offered to give me one. Why?"

"What cards did you pull?" Bonnie asked.

"I can't really remember," he said. "It was awhile ago. Why?"

"Just curious."

"I have them," he said. "The cards." Without being asked Tyler dragged his duffel bag from under the bed where he unzipped it to dig through the various pockets. He'd stuffed them in there after Marian's reading and hadn't thought of them since, but when he finally found them he passed them to Bonnie.

She took them and shuffled through them eagerly as if she was looking for one in particular. She stopped on one of the cards, and Tyler stepped closer to see which one she was looking at.

"The Lovers," he said, sitting down next to her and sighing at the card.

"What does it mean?" she asked.

"I think Marian said it was something about a partnership," he said, chuckling to himself. "She said it would be divinely blessed."

"Who was she talking about?"

Tyler plucked the card from her fingers and stared at it. "I thought maybe she was talking about me and Caroline," he said, "but recent events make me think otherwise." He gave the card back to her. "What's going on?"

"Nothing," Bonnie said. "I just had a dream."

"About what?"

"Nothing," she said again, dropping the cards into his lap and standing up.

It seemed like there was something she was leaving out. He wanted to press her on it, but he didn't want to risk rubbing her the wrong way, not when they were doing so well. If she had something he needed to know, she'd tell him.

"Has Elijah said anything else about Katherine?" Tyler asked.

"I haven't seen or spoken to Elijah since I told him I couldn't find her," Bonnie said as she stood to leave, "but I don't know what he's doing now."

"So he could be finding her some other way.

Bonnie nodded. "I'll see what I can do to make sure that doesn't happen," she said, "but I can't make any promises."

"I know," Tyler said with a weak smile, "but thanks anyway." She smiled down at her square little box of a purse. "Have fun. I wish I could go out."

"When this is all over," Bonnie said, looking up to him, "I'll take you out like I did before."

"So you'll be here when this is all over?" Tyler said, surprised by how much he wanted her to confirm that she'd stick this out, fight the good fight and win with him and Marcel.

"Like I said, I can't make any promises."

Marcel was more than pleased with Adam and Mia. He was amused by Adam's hatred of lycanthropy and his dread for the change. He was even more amused by Mia's love of it and how that had compelled her to allow Tyler to turn her. They were all packed in the backseat of Marcel's massive town car, Tyler and Marcel on one side of the seats and Adam and Mia on the other. It had been Marcel's idea to meet this way, en route to the apartment he'd found for Adam and Mia and private enough for all of them to remain discreet.

"You're off to a good start," Marcel said. "But three of you won't be enough."

"They start recruiting tomorrow," Tyler said, looking to Adam and Mia who nodded their agreement. "Discreetly," he added.

Adam and Mia had more a werewolf network than Tyler had ever had so they knew where to go, who may be interested in becoming hybrids. If everything panned out, Tyler would be plenty busy turning even more werewolves.

"And the sire bond?" Marcel asked.

"It's not causing any problems yet," Tyler said. "We're not even sure if it'll take with Mia since she doesn't really have anything to be grateful for."

"But you?" Marcel said, turning his gaze on Adam.

"We don't know yet," Adam answered.

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," Tyler assured them. Hopefully they wouldn't need to. Even more than he hated the idea of Adam feeling so indebted to him that he and a supernatural compulsion to obey him, he hated the idea of Adam needing to break his body again and again to be free of it. Hopefully Mia was right in her assumption that the sire bond would be a nonissue for her. Tyler felt responsible for them enough without the added complication of them doing whatever he said. For the most part, he tried not to give them orders, just in case. But all of his suggestions sounded commanding to his ears so he tried not to tell them anything they may disagree with.

So far neither Adam nor Mia had expressed any discontent, or any disagreement with anything he'd said, and Tyler distinctly recalled being very vocal about not wanting to do certain things Klaus asked of him. Then again, he'd done those things anyway. At least he'd know what to look for, if Adam and Mia started doing the very things they told him they specifically didn't want to do.

When the town car came to a stop in front of a three story apartment building, they got out together, Marcel carrying with him a shiny, silver briefcase. He approached the front doors and unlocked them, shoving them open to expose the interior. It was stripped down and bare bones, but it was nice enough. The furniture was in various shades of brown leather, a tiny kitchen was in the corner and a round table in the room's center. An entertainment center was against the wall alongside the spiral staircase that disappeared to the next level.

"This is where you'll stay," Marcel said. "The next two floors are bedrooms and bathrooms. Once more people get in here you may need to double up."

Mia stepped further inside to examine the furniture, running a hand along the table and nodding her approval. "And our money?"

Marcel gestured with the briefcase he held and stepped forward to place it on the table. "For this month and the next," he said. "A showing of good faith. For both of you. All cash. If you need anything else, I'll do my best to provide it."

Mia opened it to examine the neatly lined rows of cash, and Adam's eyes widened at the sight. "Okay," Mia said, satisfied. I must admit, I didn't think you'd be so straightforward about the whole thing."

Tyler hadn't either, but Marcel seemed like he was on a mission to do things differently after Tyler's chat with him the other day.

"I take my city very seriously," Marcel said, "and if you two can help me keep it as my own, then I'm going to be very straightforward." He withdrew two phones from his pockets and handed one to each of them. "This is how Tyler and I will reach you. You're welcome to walk the city freely, but don't advertise what you are to anyone. I need the element of surprise."

"Got it," Adam said.

"Good," Marcel said. "Then enjoy your night. Tyler?"

After waving his hand in a wave to Adam and Mia, Tyler followed Marcel back outside to where the car was waiting.

The drive back to the house was quiet until they stopped, and Marcel got out first. He told the driver to go on without him, following Tyler inside. "You've done well," he said, closing the door behind them. "Better than I thought you would. To be honest, I didn't think it would work."

"You and me both," Tyler agreed.

"I'm sorry I've neglected our lessons," Marcel said. "I don't think you've been learning as much as you should from me."

"I don't-"

"I promised to make you a king," Marcel said, holding up a hand to silence Tyler, "and I will. By now you know that I have at least a few rules. Just because there aren't many doesn't mean they're not important. Keep that in mind, always. It's not the number of rules you have, but how well you follow them."

"Should I be taking notes?"

Marcel smiled but kept going. "When you find people who are on your side, you have to trust that they're on your side. That doesn't mean being stupid about it. Only trust people who are worthy of that trust, but when you find those people don't alienate them. The only reason I'm still here is because there are people who help me stay here. I couldn't do this alone, and you couldn't either."

Tyler nodded. "I understand."

"And those people who are at your side don't have to be," Marcel went on. "All of the people in my family? They could go anywhere else. They don't need to be here. I don't force them to stay, but they do because they want to. They help me because they care about me, and they want to see me win even though this could easily go sideways and get us all killed. So always thank people, Tyler. When they do something for you that they don't need to do, when they do something that could hurt them, you need to thank them. So." He rocked back and forth on his heels, took in a deep breath and clapped his hands together. "Thank you. You didn't have to make hybrids, and they're here for you not for me. They followed you here so I appreciate you vouching for me and getting them to help."

Tyler tried not to look too surprised, but he must have failed because Marcel laughed.

Tyler laughed too, but managed a "You're welcome."

"And the last lesson of the night," Marcel said, turning and heading for the stairs, "is secrets can't be kept forever." Tyler followed him curiously, and Marcel came to a stop in front of the attic door. He opened with a quick turn of the knob, as if it had been that easy all along.

The door opened to a steep set of stairs, dimly lit by sconces on the wall. Marcel gestured inside.

When Tyler stared at him blankly, he laughed. "What?" he asked. "No longer interested?"

"You're letting me go up?" Tyler said, raising his eyebrows incredulously. With Adam and Mia, Tyler had set the attic and its mysterious contents out of his mind. There were bigger issues than whatever ghosts were banging around in Marcel's house, but now that the door was open and the stairs were looming in front of him, Tyler wanted nothing more than to go up.

Marcel was still smiling. "You wanted me to start acting like you were on my side," he said. "Well here I am. Acting like it. Go up."

Tyler stepped warily past him, mounting the stairs. They creaked beneath his feet as he moved further up into the shadowy darkness. The landing was small and cramped and led to another doorway, a slender archway that led to an empty room.

Tyler heard Marcel behind him as he stepped inside. The room was covered in a thick layer of dust and grime, with the windows up ahead adorned with yellowed, ratty curtains. The sun filtered through and lit up swirling dust motes. But there was nothing else here.

"You're kidding me, right?" Tyler said, wheeling back around to face Marcel. "This is what you wanted to share? An empty room?"

Marcel smirked and gave his head a slight shake. "Look again, Tyler."

Tyler sighed and spun around to look at the room again. It was no longer empty, no longer dusty. There was a giant bed in the corner, neatly made and adorned with ruby colored sheets. Strands of lights hung across the walls and ceiling. A desk in the corner was covered in thick, leather-backed tomes all neatly stacked and ancient looking. The floor was spotless, polished to a shine and covered with various rugs. There was a giant mirror in the corner, its sides strung with various bits of jewelry. Clothes hung on a rack up against the wall and shoes were neatly arranged beneath it.

Tyler stepped closer to the vanity in the opposite corner. It reminded him of Caroline's back home, of his mom's when she was alive. Its surface was littered with makeup, brushes and pads and colored tubes of gloss and shadow, aerosol cans of hair spray, brushes and combs.

It looked like a home.

"I don't understand," Tyler said, looking to Marcel again. "Who lives here?"

"A witch," Marcel said. "A powerful one."

"She's a...prisoner?"

Marcel laughed. "Only witches can imprison witches. I'm no witch."

"Who is she?" Tyler asked.

"Me."

Tyler turned again, finding Bonnie behind him. But not Bonnie. Bonnie 2.0, her stance just slightly different from that of the real Bonnie's, just different enough to prove they weren't the same.

"You?" Tyler said.

"Me," Bonnie 2.0 repeated as she turned away from him, going to stand alongside Marcel whose smirk had yet to be dislodged from his face. He could definitely see her and could hear her. His eyes were fixed on her, going back and forth from her to Tyler, watching.

"You've been here this whole time?" Tyler asked.

"Longer," Bonnie 2.0 corrected.

"Who are you?" Tyler asked.

"Marcel likes to call me his queen," Bonnie 2.0 said which earned her a wide smile from Marcel, "but I don't like titles. And we're hardly together. I'm way too good for him, you see."

Marcel chuckled, determined to turn this whole thing into a joke when Tyler was so far past laughing he might as well have forgotten what the whole concept was about.

"Stop," Tyler said. "Tell me what's going on. Who are you?"

Bonnie 2.0 and Marcel exchanged looks, and 2.0 straightened up, pushing back her shoulders and lifting her chin. "My name isn't Bonnie," she said. "2.0 or otherwise. If anything, I'm the first." Her lips curved upward into a smile, and Tyler had seen that smile on the real Bonnie's face more than once. "My name is Qetsiyah."

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