Hello everyone!
Thank you, thank you, thank you each and every one of my loyal readers, those who follow, favorite, and review my story. It makes my whole day.
Again thank you to my fabulous betas, StarJade101, and, xAlltheDevilsAreHerex , along with my good friend eternal-kol on tumblr.
The poll for names is now up on my profile, so you can vote of the name for baby Mikaelson. If you think of a name or have any ideas about the current ones I have, you can leave it in a review or PM me.
In addition, feel free to PM me with any questions, or follow me on tumblr at swingklaroline or louoftherings. I promise I'm not scary.
Thank you all so much and enjoy!
-xoxo Katarhyne
Bound By Blood
Chapter XXIX: Bleeding Rome
17 weeks left
There is a wolf in me . . . fangs pointed for tearing gashes . . . a red tongue for raw meat . . . and the hot lapping of blood—I keep this wolf because the wilderness gave it to me and the wilderness will not let it go.
There is a fox in me . . . a silver-gray fox . . . I sniff and guess . . . I pick things out of the wind and air . . . I nose in the dark night and take sleepers and eat them and hide the feathers . . . I circle and loop and double-cross.
There is a hog in me . . . a snout and a belly . . . a machinery for eating and grunting . . . a machinery for sleeping satisfied in the sun—I got this too from the wilderness and the wilderness will not let it go.
There is a fish in me . . . I know I came from salt-blue water-gates . . . I scurried with shoals of herring . . . I blew waterspouts with porpoises . . . before land was . . . before the water went down . . . before Noah . . . before the first chapter of Genesis.
There is a baboon in me . . . clambering-clawed . . . dog-faced . . . yawping a galoot's hunger . . . hairy under the armpits . . . here are the hawk-eyed hankering men . . . here are the blonde and blue-eyed women . . . here they hide curled asleep waiting . . . ready to snarl and kill . . . ready to sing and give milk . . . waiting—I keep the baboon because the wilderness says so.
There is an eagle in me and a mockingbird . . . and the eagle flies among the Rocky Mountains of my dreams and fights among the Sierra crags of what I want . . . and the mockingbird warbles in the early forenoon before the dew is gone, warbles in the underbrush of my Chattanoogas of hope, gushes over the blue Ozark foothills of my wishes—And I got the eagle and the mockingbird from the wilderness.
O, I got a zoo, I got a menagerie, inside my ribs, under my bony head, under my red-valve heart—and I got something else: it is a man-child heart, a woman-child heart: it is a father and mother and lover: it came from God-Knows-Where: it is going to God-Knows-Where—For I am the keeper of the zoo: I say yes and no: I sing and kill and work: I am a pal of the world: I came from the wilderness.
-Carl Sandburg, Wilderness
Caroline POV
Rest was boring.
The entire week, I just stayed cooped up in the house, visited by the few people in the house I counted among my friends.
Rebekah and I must have gone through hundreds of catalogues and websites, looking at furniture and clothes, and basically everything.
It was sort of ridiculous given we didn't even know where we would be living when I had the baby, but Rebekah is… Rebekah. And she throws her heart and soul into every little thing.
Klaus had visited me too, sometimes taking me downstairs to 'help' with tracking Mikael. Apparently, only a small percentage of us could actually use a computer.
According to Klaus's 'agents' across the United States and security cameras, Mikael had only been active since around twelve hours after Kol and Bonnie had resurrected the rest of our group, starting in Baton Rouge.
And the killings only increased from there.
Mikael kept popping up around the States, traveling steadily towards Mystic Falls, leaving a trail of blood in his wake.
Ester had said that Silas had already told him about everything, in his own twisted light, probably making Mikael set on one path, to kill his family.
Well, it was my family too, now. And there is no way in hell he was coming near us.
At night, Klaus would lie with me and look through those insanely long baby name books, his hand draped over my stomach, and the other arm around my shoulders. It made me feel safe, like I had a family.
During the day I wasn't sure what he did, sometimes he would spend hours at a time holed up in that art studio of his, the one across the corner of the house with the best view of the Eiffel Tower. Other times, he would just be… gone.
I had called my mom, when Mikael was getting close to Mystic Falls, just ordering her to leave. Though she had put up an elegant fight, eventually, she went to go stay with her parents, my grandparents.
It made me sad, that I could never see them again. I would stay this age forever, eventually leading to me completely leaving the family I had once known.
Tyler completely fell off the radar, somehow completely and utterly vanished from the earth.
As soon as Bonnie cleared me to travel, this morning in fact, everyone was packing. Silas was most certainly on our trail and most likely Mikael as well. Packing for God knows where.
Ester, Bonnie, and Kol spent nearly all week together, either working on Mikael's location or in his room, doing God knows what, for better or for worse. This forced alliance had resulted in 4 explosions, 3 shouting matches, 2 physical smack downs, and 1 accidental, though temporary, and murder of 1 Original Witch.
At least fruit was born from the forced partnership. A spell, well according to Bonnie more of a proliferation of their wills, to take away Silas's magic, paired with the Cure, could kill him, without completely dropping the veil.
The last thing anyone wanted was more enemies crossing over.
Of course, no magic could go off without a hitch. Katherine, the scavenger, had also taken the tombstone that had passed through so many of our hands. Professor Shane had had no idea how valuable the rock truly was. Though it was Silas's tombstone, the witch who had loved, and chained, him had left her blood there, to bind him.
At least the doppel-bitch had good taste in hiding places. She was certainly helping Klaus complete his list of places to take me.
Rome here we come, for better or for worse.
Those circumstances brought me here, staring out the window and listening to Bonnie yell at me.
"Caroline we have to go!" Bonnie yelled through the door for the billionth time, banging on the door. I ignored her, saying nothing, just staring out the window, getting one last good look at Paris. I heard her exasperatedly sigh and stomp away.
I sat on one of my trunks, sipping on a cup of some vile tea that Ester had forced on me. Though I had been suspicious at first, Bonnie had cleared it.
The house cleared out, one by one the occupants left, slamming car doors, and yelling to each other. Soon the house was quiet, with only the faint scuffing footsteps coming up the stairs and towards my room to fill the empty silence.
"Caroline?" Klaus asked, his accent thick. The door creaked open and his heavy feet clunked towards me. His hand delicately placed on my shoulder, I looked up at him. "Time to go, love."
I shook my head, turning back to the window. I just didn't have a good feeling about this.
"You'll love Rome, I promise." He said, offering me his hand.
"It's… It's… Not that I don't think that I'll hate Rome. I just feel…" I stated carefully, taking his hand and steadily coming to my feet despite the ever growing girth.
"What?" He asked.
"I feel like Rome is a mistake." I spat out. He looked at me confused, and then squeezed my hand. I looked down at the intertwined pair. His other hand went under my chin, making me look up at him.
"Hey. I promised one thing. To you, to your mother, to myself. I will always protect you." I smiled at him, still not fully believing everything was going to be "alright", but feeling a little bit safer knowing I had some attack dog—no wolf looking out for me.
"Come on." He said, grabbing the trunk like it's a feather and walking out the door. I snatch my purse from the bed and follow him.
The car parked outside is a plain black Lincoln town car, with an elderly driver who couldn't hear and asked us seven or eight times how long we had been married, on the way to the airport. At the same landing strip which we had arrived on, the now familiar private stood, erect against the noon-day sun. As Klaus thanked the driver, handing him a wad of Euros, Damon poked his head out of the door.
"We've been waiting for an hour for you Blondie. Having some fun with your husband?" He yelled, taking one sip out of a bottle of beer. I glare at him as I stalked up the stairs.
"He's not my husband." I spat, stalking past him. Klaus followed me and almost in sync with Damon both of them saying "yet." I whirled back around, glaring at both of them, before heading the rest of the way down the aisle. I pulled out a couple of parenting magazines as Klaus sat down next to me in the light tan leather seat.
The flight was only two hours, most of which was spent in silence. Klaus drew. I read. The only thing that broke the tension was the occasional passing of people getting up to refill their alcohol.
The entire time, Jeremy just sat there, glaring at Kol and Bonnie, who were busying themselves with that ancient book they had recovered. Kol tapped a pencil on the table and they read the pages together, both bent over in concentration. Occasionally, his signature colored sparks came out of the fingers around the pencil.
I still couldn't shake the ominous feeling about Rome as we touched down in the historic city. It was supposed to be just like Paris all over again, Klaus dealing with customs just on the tarmac and then us driving off. Sadly, we got a little more of Rome than expected.
"Niklaus Mikaelson." More than a dozen men stood on the pavement in a purely defensive gesture. The man that addressed Klaus spoke with a thick Italian accent and carried himself with the same aura I had felt around Klaus, around Mason, around Tyler.
"Giuseppe de Lupo." Klaus drawled, his eyes flashing dangerously as he walked down the stairs, his loafers making a clang against the metal as he went. "I don't remember asking for a welcome party."
The man mimics Klaus in his defensive posture, crossing his arms over his chest. The parallel each other, Klaus dressed in a fine Italian suit and the alpha in a rough leather jacket and jeans.
"I don't remember allowing you to intrude in our territory." He snarled. From my spot at the door, I peeked at the exchange, while listening to the others rushing to do something. Kol and Bonnie flipped through the pages of a grimorie, while Damon and Stefan tried frantically to open the emergency exit.
Esther was the only one not frantic in this situation. She just looked out the window, her pointer fingers pressed to her lips.
"Are you so quick to forget our agreement Praetor? Once a year." Klaus leaned against the railing. Inside Kol started chanting as his brothers tore down bags from the overhead compartments, ripping them open and pulling out a variety of guns, knives, and even a sword or two. Damon took one look at the arsenal and gave the Mikaelson siblings a grin, taking one of the guns and sliding it into his vintage leather jacket. He pushed me out of the way of the door and walked down the steps.
"Who's that?" Giuseppe said suspiciously.
"Un amico. Che diavolo sta succedendo?" Damon said, surprising us all with his Italian. Stefan rolled his eyes, muttering "show off."
"Un cambio di programma." The man responded, his eyes showing a bit more leniency now speaking in his native language.
"Perché?" Klaus replied, him too in perfect Italian.
"Un conoscente di tuo ci ha fatto visita. Le vostre azioni hanno fatto non è più il benvenuto qui, mostruosità." He growled. Motioning to his army, they turned and left the leader still in his authoritarian position.
Damon rolled his eyes, mouthing "I told you so" at Klaus.
"Lascia ibrida. Mai tornare a Roma." Giuseppe turned and somehow he was gone too.
Klaus immediately started swearing as a car pulled up to the runway.
"Would you like to explain? Who in the hell were those guys?" Damon asked angrily. Klaus ignored him angrily kicking the rocks on the pavement.
I stomped down the stairs and straight up to Klaus, who has his back to us. I put my hand on his shoulder and pull him around.
"Hey. What the fuck? Answer the question." I demand from him. He rolled his eyes.
"That's Praetor Giuseppe de Lupo, the leader of the werewolf clans of Rome."
"And what exactly did you do to piss him off?" I tossed my hair, crossing my arms just above my baby bump.
"Someone told him about the hybrids." He said. I glared at him, repeating Damon's words.
"So what now?" Kol asked, climbing down the stairs. Bonnie followed him. "We need that tombstone and now your little fucked up project has ruined that."
Klaus opened the black door of the car and with a grandiose bow swept his arm in the "after you" princely gesture.
"You're not serious. Last time we were in Rome, how many werewolf packs were there?" Rebekah reasoned, nearly smacking Klaus on the side of the head as she got in the car.
"12, if memory serves. A whole legion, been here since the days when Rome was young." Elijah replied, sliding into the car next along with Katherine.
"And you're still going to disobey their warning." I lectured, putting my hand in his face. How could he be so stupid?
"I don't obey. They should obey me." He snarled sliding into the car. I rolled my eyes towards the deep blue Italian sky and slid into the car. I guess we were heading straight into the wolves' path.
*Bound By Blood*
"At least we are outside Rome." I quietly remarked as the car pulled up to a pair of imposing black metal gates, breaking the monotony of a pale, roughly cut stone wall that seemed to stretch on for ages. A pair of elegantly carved wolves guarded the tops of the gates.
The drive was especially long, a winding road through well-manicured, though somehow still wild grounds. Romanesque statues dotted the groves. In the distance, I spied a long reflecting pool hidden behind some topiary.
And the house. All I could murmur was "wow" at the impressive structure. Compared to this, the Mystic Falls home was a hovel. Turrets soared, walls expanded for ages, elaborate carvings of beast, both mythical and real, decorated the stone interludes.
"You all can stop staring. Gothic architecture is impressive, we have work to do." Klaus said, clearly showing off.
He exited the car, offering his hand to me and helping me out of the car. Unsteadily, I rose to me feet on the tan gravel and mount the steps, still escorted. Before Klaus opened the door he reached down to place his hand in the mouth of the silvery wolf guarding the left hand side of the massive oak door. A slight clink came from it.
"What was that?" I asked.
"A disarmament. For the traps." He answered with an evil smirk. I rolled my eyes.
"When did you install those?" Elijah asked, as the rest of our group slowly came up the steps. Klaus threw open the door with a flourish.
The room was no less grand than the home. Antiques from every period and painting from every age adorned the front room. A bejeweled chandelier hung from the ceiling, which looked like the Sistine Chapel.
"After you tried to loot the place. With Katarina." Klaus answered bitterly. Katherine laughed harshly.
"Didn't get more than some Medieval art and a few da Vinci sketches." Elijah said, blowing off the priceless works. "Surely you didn't miss those?"
Klaus glared at him, pouring himself a glass of bourbon from a decanter that looked about as old as the Originals themselves.
"I did. Now don't you have an errand to run?" He said, not really phrasing the question as a question, but as a highly suggestive order. Elijah glared at Klaus, and then motioned to Katherine, walking deeper into the house.
"Wait." Kol yelled after him, taking Bonnie's hand and pulling her in the same direction that Elijah and Katherine went. "We're coming too."
I heard Elijah breathily sigh, annoyed, as Kol caught up to him. Their footsteps echoed through the house.
"Why exactly do you want to come?" He asked, exasperated as they delved deeper into the house, their voices still resounding off of the remarkable high ceiling.
"Authenticity." Kol says, as another door creaked opens. "Only a witch or warlock can tell you if it's real and I trust your little doppelganger about as far as I can throw her."
I could hear Elijah and Katherine's eye roll as they slammed the door.
The moment they left, Klaus pulled me along. We walked over to a large Middle Aged tapestry and pulled it aside to reveal a stone staircase. Leading me up it, I noticed the various switchbacks, the crumbling mortar, the moldy tapestries, alluding to the age of this passage. As we neared the top, a hole is cut in the walls, like a door. Beyond laid another set of stairs, smaller and steeper, twisting and twirling up and up. I craned my neck to look inside, but Klaus took my hand tugging me along.
"Our bedroom." Klaus said dismissively. "Keep going." Curiously, I kept climbing eventually coming to a trap door. Tentatively, I regarded it. Klaus pushed past me, pressing against the slightly rotting wood. Sunlight flooded the passageway.
The roof has a stucco platform, covered in greenery. Vines stretch the walls, with exotic blushing flowers blooming at every turn. A pair of wicker chairs with white cushions looked out over the grounds, and beyond into the spring green hills.
"This is…" I was at a total loss for words. Carefully, I sat in the right hand chair still stunned.
"Amazing, priceless, beautiful? All words I've heard to describe Rome…" Klaus said cockily, reaching over to a metal stand full of ice to pull out a bottle of wine and a bottle of sparkling water. A table sat between us with two glasses. As he poured the water for me, sitting down next to me in the chair, he looked at me mischievously. "They also describe you, love."
"You know for an evil villain who pisses off just about anybody and everybody, you're a hopeless romantic." I giggled. His face turned serious.
"Protecting myself. Now how is that my fault?" He sipped the wine and grinned.
"You can't stay away from trouble. It's always your fault."
"So," He came closer snaking his arms around my waist and up to wrap around my torso. "you," He began to plant kisses down my neck, I gasped. "Don't, Like," He nips at my skin. "This?"
I laughed, for the first time in a long time. My voice rang through the hills.
"Klaus! Stop it." I giggled, pushing him off of me. His lips poked out in a childish pout, his eyes shining in the same puppy dog look that made me smile. A flutter came from my stomach.
He backed off, though his arms stay encasing me. Wordlessly, I took his hand pressing it to my abdomen. The baby kicked harder, causing me to slightly gasp as if he knew.
"Ouch." I gasped, as again he kicked spiritedly. "You're pretty strong."
"Of course." Klaus says nonchalantly, moving his hands to match the baby's carefully placed kicks. "He's an alpha male."
I rolled my eyes. Was my son going to be the exact same way?
Probably—no surely.
"Do you worry he's going to rise up and be stronger than you?"
Klaus gives me an incredulous look, taking another sip of wine.
"Wolves pay deference to their elders." He stated. We sat there listening to the natural silence of the Roman hills. Klaus kept his hand to my stomach and I knited my hand in his curls.
And the birdsong and the wind are broken by the wailing of AC/DC.
I'm on the highway to hell! The music had to be coming from Klaus's pocket, as he fumbles through the Armani suit jacket.
"What Kol?" He snarled, stabbing the phone. From the other end I heard sounds of breaking glass, the sickening connection of fist to cheek, and the yells of both men and women.
"Brother!" He said, the playful cynicism in his voice offsetting the fighting sounds surrounding him. "We sort of have a situation."
Klaus rolled his eyes, getting up and leaning against the stucco wall that was low enough to serve as a railing.
"I can tell." He responded drily. "What would you like me to do about it?"
Kol laughed gallantly and a splatter echoed through the other line.
"Get us a boat." Kol ordered.
"Why?" Klaus spat. "And to where?"
I could hear Elijah yelling in the background and a car down slammed. An engine reeved.
"Greece." Kol shouted through the phone. "No Elijah, just ram them!" He ordered. I shuddered to think of the scene. "We need to talk to Quetsiah."
*Bound By Blood*
Kol POV
The Banca d'Italia reminded me of a palace I had once known in Bohemia. Vaulted ceilings with a glass top, covered in marble,and people scurrying about silently.
The doppelganger walked with purpose towards the desk in the front of the room, her dark brown stilettos clinking against the floor. My puppy of a brother followed her, a dreamy look in his eyes, coldly regarding each of the passing human, who were quick to move from our wake.
Bonnie walked a bit slower than the rest of us, her steps a little bit quieter, hinted at her unease in the room. Reassuringly, I gave her a smirk and motioned to the pair, rolling my eyes. She giggled.
Katherine walked up to the young man at the desk. He didn't look up, still focused on his laptop. She began tapping her foot, to the same beat as the boy's heart. Slowly he looked up, peering over his glasses.
"Ho un appuntamento con il signor di Angelo" She said, in flawless Italian. I only had a basic understanding of this new-fangled version of the language, but still could translate. Apparently, the doppelganger had called ahead getting an appointment with a Mr. di Angelo.
"Nome?" He asked.
"Katarina Petrova." She said. I'm surprised. Using her real name was a tad dangerous, though the man typed something into his computer. With a nod of his head, he stood up.
"Da questa parte." He said, motioning for us to follow him. Leading us up a staircase and opening a door, he left us in an ante-chamber where a trim young secretary was typing on a computer. She gave us one look, and then motioned for us to enter the grand set of double doors.
"Signorina Petrova" An old man greeted us standing up from behind a gold trimmed desk. Benignly he hugged her, which she greeted with a mask of sweetness. They chatted in Italian, with those wide gestures towards us. Even I couldn't follow the conversation. Bonnie looked up at me confused.
"Ummmm Katarina." Elijah broke in. "We sort of need to hurry."
She glared at him, instead sitting in a chair across from the desk, switching to English.
"Do you have my box?" She asked.
"Of course, Signorina, of course." He said in excellent, though slightly accented English. Reaching into a drawer on the left of his desk, he pulled out a stainless steel 1 foot squared box. From a chain around her neck, Katherine took a silver key as my brother took the box from the banker. He then handed her the box. She opened it, checking the contents.
The stone was nothing special, a jagged hunk of rock. The doppelganger tossed it to me and I caught it, turning it over in my hands. The instant I touched it, I knew it was real. Bonnie, who sat next to me, reached out her small delicate hand to touch the headstone. A spark came to her eyes the moment contact was made.
In a whisper, that only I could hear, she said, "Greece."
I nodded to Katherine as Bonnie slipped her ancestral right into the leather bag she brought.
"Thank you." Katherine said business like, getting up. Elijah mimicked her. As they turned to go, I saw a slight movement from the old man. I turn back around. He's sweating and… stabbing? Something under his desk.
"Wait!" He yelled. Katherine, Elijah, and Bonnie whirled around. As he scrambled for words, my suspicion multiplied tenfold.
"Come let's go." I muttered, sensing a trap. I took Bonnie's hand and started to hustle her out of the room.
Once outside, I whirled her around.
"Greece? Why Greece?" I demanded.
"Because it's a link." She argued, starting down the second set of stairs. I grabbed her arm, pulling her back up.
"Excuse me? A little explanation is in order sweetheart." Elijah and Katherine hurry down the stairs behind us.
"Listen, the moment I touched that rock, I just… I just knew ok? I just knew that we need to go there."
"And is this mysterious feeling giving any hints what awaits us there?"
Her eyes brightened again.
"A way."
"A way to what?"
"To talk to Quetsiah."
Before the fact that we would be communicating with one of the most powerful witches in history could sink in, Elijah grabbed my arm.
"Brother, we need to go. Now."
I nodded my head, pulling Bonnie along after me, we finally descended the stairs and without a thought I opened the door.
A stake against my chest greeted me.
"We warned you… vampiro."
I grinned, looking back at my brother to share a look. Elijah was not amused.
"Warned me about what?" I said, pushing a bit into the door. The man with the stake moved with me keeping it pressed to my heart.
"Praetor gave you a chance to run. You didn't. Now you pay the price."
The werewolf came at me, driving the stake into my heart. Though it stung, surprising to the mass of furry troops positioned in the entry way, I didn't burn up in a fiery inferno. He looked at me astonished as I slowly pulled the wood out of my chest and threw it to the floor.
With my hearing, I heard my brother silently arguing with Katherine and then the clink of him taking something from a bowl. Mints, by the scent. The hall was silent as he followed me out into the room, his perfectly polished designer shoes making ominous steps.
"Now." He said, stopping and standing beside me. "Was that polite?"
In a second, he let the mints fly from his hand, deadly pistols. Perfectly placed, one by one, the dozen hit their targets' heads.
The leader, a tall brutal looking man with a scar taking up half his face twirled his stake, fear evident in his eyes as the scar rippled.
"Who are you?" He growled.
"My name is Elijah. Perhaps you've heard of me?" Clearly the name struck a chord with the alpha, making him take a hasty step back.
"Then you know." He said, picking up one of the dead body's stakes. "I don't like being ordered around."
Elijah whipped the stake at the alpha though he managed to dodge. Instead it hit a drone. However, the control the alpha had on the attack is lost. A few start moving towards us and then…
And then it all went to hell.
I was in auto pilot. Punch abdomen, kick crotch, rip throat. Elijah had a bit more calm, refinement in his fighting, walking calmly through the attacking mob and just casually ripping their hearts out one at a time. In the ante-chamber, I heard Bonnie chanting. I see a flash of brunette curls as Katherine tried to make a break for the door, being ever so self-preserving, but she's blocked by a hulking giant of a wolf. After a moment of thought, she stabbed him with her stiletto.
Bonnie's chanting grew louder, making the glass shake precariously. I glanced up at the ceiling worriedly. I recognized the spell. And it wasn't good.
As the first pieces of glass began to fall, I vampire sped away back into the ante-chamber with Bonnie. She held herself next to the window, blood flowing from her nose, as scarlet as the blood staining my hands and clothes, still chanting. Elijah and Katherine barely made it into the room before the ceiling fell on the pack.
Tentatively, we reemerged from the room. They all were dead. All except one. Their alpha, the leader, wasn't fully gone yet, still coughing up blood. A huge piece of the roof was embedded in his chest. Lightly, I stepped over him, pulling out my cell phone. Elijah didn't step over him, rather crushing the dead man's fingers. His girlfriend seemed to be using her heels as weapons.
I tap the contact labeled "Nik" and a highly unattractive photo of my brother drop dead drunk appeared on the screen as the phone rang. I brought it to my ear and threw open the bank's door.
Of course, they had brought back up.
Keeping the phone pressed to my ear, I dodged pieces of broken glass hurled like projectiles at my head, forcing my hand into a woman's throat, and taking the vital organ with me as I briskly walked down the steps. The wolves attacked with shrieks, easily silenced by my brother's smooth hand. Oddly enough, some carried weapons: Roman flat swords, medieval maces, even guns. Easily, I procured a mace from one of the dead oned. Once, when I was human, it had been my weapon of choice. Besides, magic of course.
In a calculated move, I swung the mace against a man's skull. A pleasant crack filled the air and I swung again, this time adding a little bit of magical "juice" to the weapon. Electrocution by magic was fascinating. Surprisingly, I started to laugh as I fought. Bonnie stared at me as though I was insane, though she cast spell after spell, drawing them back.
Finally, Klaus answered his phone. I grinned, thinking of what I had probably just interrupted given his tone.
"What Kol?" My brother pleasantly greeted me.
"Brother!" I said jovially, smashing the hammer against another poor bastard's skull. "We sort of have a situation."
"I can tell." He responded drily. "What would you like me to do about it?"
I laughed as I decided to change my style up a bit, using the bit of magic in the mace to sever a man's arm. Spatters of blood hit everything on me, my phone, my clothes, and my face. Gross.
"Get us a boat." I ordered. Bonne gave me a look, grabbing my hand pulling me through the path Elijah and Katherine had created to our car, a cherry red Ferrari that Nik had loaned us.
"Why?" Klaus spat. "And to where?"
Elijah yelled at me to come on as I slammed aside another wolf to get to the car door. I pushed Bonnie inside, quite rudely, and then slid her over slamming the door. My brother pumped the gas pedal.
"Greece." I shouted into the phone over the reeving of the engine. I leaned over the black leather seat to see why we weren't moving. Three men stood in the street, in fighting stance. And my pussy of a brother was politely waiting for them to move out of the way.
"No Elijah, just ram them!" I ordered.
I turned my attention back to the ever impatient Klaus. "We need to talk to Quetsiah." I told him then hung up. Elijah smoothly drove the Ferrari over the three men, the sound of their bones crunching under the black tires no more than a memory in the dust as we drove away.
*Bound By Blood*
Klaus POV
The group from the bank came through the door bloody, though Kol was a bit too joyous for my taste.
Caroline had fallen asleep on the roof, so I left her there as the slightly battered Ferrari pulled into the drive. I rushed down the stairs to confront them.
"What the hell did you do to my car?" I asked, as they enter the foyer. Everyone is covered in blood.
"Just had a bit of fun Nik." Kol said in high spirits, rushing up the stairs pulling the witch's hand. "Did you get our boat?"
I sighed, looking exhaustedly at him. Tiresomely, I followed him.
"The Hades will be ready to depart tomorrow. From a small port about 2 hours away from here." Kol gave me a look.
"Seriously, Nik? The Hades? Can you be original? Where are we staying in Greece anyways?"
"The home on Santorini. How exactly do you plan on talking to a two thousand year old dead witch?"
"There are a couple of locations we can try. All those old temples, they have a strong magical presence." Kol started, but Bonnie cut in.
"They work as magical cell phone towers boosting the signal. Where's Caroline?" She looked around, as though we are attached at the hip.
"On the roof." I shouted behind me, keeping tramping up the stairs. By the scuffing sounds, I assumed they followed me.
Caroline's hair glinted in the late afternoon sun, the white of her dress making her look like a goddess. Her body curved against my absent form, her hands under her head. Her eyelashes fluttered as I stepped towards her.
"Klaus?" She yawned, her arms reaching over her head and then pulling herself up to a sitting position, fixing her clothes and smoothing her hair as she noticed Bonnie and Kol. He makes a beeline for the bar. "How long was I asleep?"
"Two, maybe three hours. You are quite clingy." I teased, draining the rest of my wine glass and refilling it with the remnants of the bottle. Kol glared at me, and then rolled his eyes, beginning to search for another one.
"Am not!" She shrieked, regarding the state of my brother and her friend. "And why are both of you soaked in blood?"
"Three of those werewolf packs ambushed us at the bank." Kol answered. I was stunned.
"There's a war coming." I stated. Everyone looked at me, alarmed, so I elaborated. "Usually those packs would rather tear each other's throats out than work together. If the packs of Rome were working together, united, for the first time since World War Two, then there is a war coming. A war against us and the entire vampire race."
"So what do you want to do? Make a break for it? We destroyed at least a full pack and a good portion of the other two."
I glared at him. What? Did he think that taking out that little of the legion would do us any good?
"I'm going to call some of our old friends, Medici in Florence, Sforza in Milan, Contarini in Venice. They have formidable nests." I said, pulling out my phone. Every time we blew through a major city, I had found it handy to turn a noble. They would then create their own vampire courts, similar to Marcel's in New Orleans. Handy, loyal, and most of all, fighters. "Go tell the others. Tell them to call every vampire they know. I don't care where they are, who they are, or how old they are. This won't be a contained incident. And for god's sake take a bath"
I stormed down the stairs with my phone in my hand, with Caroline following me. I turned, walking up the stairs that lead to the bedroom in the tower. Somehow our luggage had already been transported up the stone steps as I walked into the familiar bedroom. Tapestries hung from the walls and a large scene by Raphael hung above the canopied bed. As Caroline collapsed on the bed, I walk through the room and into the alcove that doubled as an office and an art studio. Tapping the first contact, I sighed. Tonight was going to be a long night.
*Bound By Blood*
Caroline POV
It was odd. I was tired all the time, though I had just stayed in bed for a whole week. Klaus was up all night, chattering in a hundred different dialects, that I couldn't understand. I floated in and out of sleep, only waking when the baby kicked too hard. Yet, at around three o'clock, I just got up.
Klaus was yelling at someone in Japanese, I think, two empty bottles of bourbon sitting on the African Blackwood desk and a third in his hands. I walked up behind him, and wrapped my arms around him, rocking back and forth as I waited for him to get off the damn phone. When he does, after a large crescendo of shouts, he looked at me, mildly annoyed.
"Yes?" He said, raising one eyebrow.
"Do we have ice cream?" I asked. "Oh and O negative?"
He puts his hand over his eyes, draining the rest of the bottle in one drink, and sat down at the desk, putting his feet up.
"I stockpiled B positive for you." He said, tiredly. I stood behind him, my hands on his shoulders.
"But I want O negative. And ice cream. Mint chocolate chip." I pouted, sticking my lip out and crossing my arms. He looked up at me. For a second, we silently war, him resolute and me pleading with my best puppy eyes. Eventually, he threw down the phone and stomped off down the stairs for the kitchen, grumbling to himself. I returned to the bed, smiling. I took one of the books off the bookshelf as I pass, a well-worn copy of Wuthering Heights, that honestly surprised me at its placement here.
Klaus stomped back up the stairs, a blood bag stuck in his mouth, one in his hand, and a stack of two bowls and two spoons balanced in the other. The carton was balanced precariously on top. His scowl was a dark cloud.
"Thank you." I said merrily, snatching a bowl and spoon from his hands. He threw the rest of the stuff down and collapsed next to me, undressing as he went. I scooped out a large portion of the green comfort food, and dug in, taking sips of my blood bag as I went. They tasted good together. Klaus took a bowl as well, making me smile at him for doing something so human as eating ice cream in bed.
"Why did you want ice cream and blood at three AM?" He asked his mouth full of ice cream.
"The baby has odd tastes." I giggled, handing him a napkin. He looks at me incredulously and I laughed, taking it in my own hand and wiping his face. He laughed, snatching the napkin from me and doing it himself.
"You can't mother me." He said, tossing the napkin on the bedside table. He put his bowl there too, and took mine as well, shutting off the lights while he's there.
Klaus pulled me into him, his arms wrapped around my frame. I sighed, once again my eyelids falling shut, Klaus as my pillow.
*Bound By Blood*
Bonnie POV
"What the hell?" I thought throughout the day as I literally was dragged along behind Kol. It was like compulsion, though the pendent that I wore around my neck made it impossible. I didn't really notice it that much until… Until I tried to shower.
When I walked into the bathroom and started stripping off, I could feel as though there was a metal cuff on my arm. I shook my arm as though it was nothing. However, Kol thought different.
"WHAT THE FUCK?" He yelled, literally ramming into the door. Clumsily, he opened the door still being pulled. I am stunned, taking a few steps back. And Kol was dragged forward a couple inches as well.
I pressed my hand to my wrist, now feeling cold iron that wasn't there. Kol ran his hand down an invisible chain.
"Come on." He said darkly, tugging the chain again to cause me to stumble forward.
"Where are we going?" I said angrily, stepping out soaking wet. I dragged him towards the closet, slipping on a satin nighty and then stubbornly stand there, as he attempted to drag me somewhere.
"My mother." He spat, and frustratingly I consented.
*Bound By Blood*
"Esther!" Kol yelled through the door, banging on it. 2 AM and honestly, he expected her to be awake? "Esther? Mother? Esther!"
"What do you want?" She spat, throwing open the door. She had a black facemask on her forehead and a yellow robe wrapped around her which she kept playing with angrily.
Kol held up his wrist, forcing me to hold mine up as well. Esther smiled slightly, and opened the door. I dragged Kol inside.
"I wondered when the two of you would catch on…." She said mildly shutting the door and sitting down on the bed. Esther gestured to a pair of chairs in the corners. Again, I had to force Kol to sit, and be polite.
"Catch on? Catch on! Did you do this to us?" I screeched, shaking the imaginary cuffs as I spoke. Kol grumbled, his hand moving as well.
"Me?" Esther laughed. "You did this to yourselves." When Kol raised his expressive eyebrows, she elaborated. "Do you know why witches and warlocks don't work together that often? Unless in a coven."
I, and surprisingly, Kol shook our heads.
"You two work together correct? And have done a lot of dealing? Maybe finally got around to some fun in bed?" She hinted. I looked at Kol, wide-eyed. Oh shit.
"Indebted to each other. He did you a favor, so you did him a favor. Congratulations on the magical forever hand cuffs. Only reason you can feel them is the… consummation of your bond." Did sarcasm run in the family? She had to be kidding. She smiled, as Kol started getting angrier and angrier. Seriously? I lost my virginity and got this?
"How do we get them off?" He yelled, through clenched teeth.
"Why would you?" She says tiresomely, placing her hand over her eyes. I look at her confused. "What you two have… It's incredible. Your powers are amplified by the thousands."
I glanced down, running through my memories. I had been less tired. And Kol… I could classify him as a wizard.
"The only way I could think of to get them off would be using up that much magical energy. A spell that would usually kill a witch." She said pensively, then dismissively flicking her hand at the door. It swung open. "Now, goodnight."
I gave her a non-appreciative smile and dragged Kol out into the hallway, beginning the walk back towards the bedroom.
"This is going to be interesting." He muttered, walking through the door. I sat down on the bed as he, the chain still stretching, grabbed a blood bag from the mini fridge.
He slumped next to me.
"Have you ever heard of anything like this before?" I asked him, taking a half full bottle of bourbon from his side of the bedside table. He glared at me, shaking his head, and snatched the bottle away, taking a swig, then passed it back to me. I copy the action.
"I guess we can at least work now." I turned back to the stone I had been meticulously examining. He began to whine, but I pulled him along never the less to the desk. I tapped the coffee maker. This was going to be an all-nighter.
*Bound By Blood*
Caroline POV
The incessant ringing was what woke me. That and the hybrid franticly scouring the room for the source. Through the window, the sky was stained the pale pink of dawn. Yawning, I straightened out my hair as Klaus found the phone amid a clan of empty alcohol bottles. Victoriously, he answered it.
"Go." He says curtly.
"Niklaus." A hardly accented Italian man said on the other end. Klaus shook off his sleepiness in a second, his eyes going very bright. "We have the Praetor. Would you rather us dispose of him or would you like to do the honors?" Klaus smiled evilly, the grin monstrously blood thirsty.
"No." He said in a quiet, though powerful voice. His eyes flashing the harsh ice of winter. "Bring him to me."
The man laughed.
"I thought as much. We're bringing him to you now."
"And the other alphas? The other packs?" Klaus asked.
"Scattered into the wind. I doubt they will be able to reform the full legion for a good fifty years. We fared well in the fight. Very few causalities. On our side." There was a sort of companionship in the malevolency of the two men. Though the one on the phone seemed tamer, each were chatting about kills as though they were fine wines.
I crept into the bathroom, remembering what the mysterious man on the phone had said. Apparently, some pretty important people were about to grace the home and I was not going to be meeting anyone in maternity pajamas.
Pausing only to vomit, I strolled into the walk in closet. From what I could hear, Klaus was off the phone, and somewhere in the house, noisily waking the occupants. My three trunks were stacked in an orderly fashion at the center of the room, while the cabinets and such were bare wood. The only contents were some jewels on display next to a barren vanity.
Immediately, a belt made out of diamond shaped sapphire caught my eye. I take it in my hand, running my fingers over the smooth stones. I then remembered one of the dresses I bought in Paris. Digging around in the clutter, I pull out a silver toga dress, the skirt water falling down. In the mirror I smiled to myself as I held it up. Perfect.
With the dress on, my bump wasn't that noticeable, though the belt did attract attention to my midsection. I fix my hair in a long trail of curls down my back and a dash of bright red lipstick on my lips; I look like an old black and white film star. I admire myself in the mirror, before slipping on a pair of silver gladiator sandals and walk back out into the room. Klaus was just fixing his suit, looking rather dashing in my opinion. Evilly dashing that is.
"How do I look?" He asked, spreading his arm. With a frown, I motherly pushed his hair away from his face and straightened his tie.
"Ready for a ball." I told him. "Didn't know you needed to dress up for an execution."
He rolled his eyes and started to climb down the stairs. I followed, going much slower and clutching the railing. Lately I was so unbalanced. When we got downstairs, I instantly went to the kitchen and grabbed two blood bags, downing them unceremoniously.
Kol and Bonnie were the first people down the stairs. He wore a dark suit, without a tie, and his hair messily slicked back, while Bonnie, who dragged him down the stairs, somehow, wore a cute little green sleeveless dress that conformed to her curves.
"Why do we have to do this?" She asked, as Kol walked down the last steps, and she did too. Bonnie tried to dig her heels in to stop, but failed. I looked quizzically at the pair.
"Because I want to." Kol said gleefully, pouring himself a drink from the sideboard.
"And why are you dragging your girlfriend around?" Klaus asked sarcastically, snatching the bottle away from his brother and taking a swig. I had given up on getting him to quit that particularly unsavory habit.
"I'm not his girlfriend." Bonnie corrected automatically. Kol smirked.
"Oh I'm sorry… Fuck buddy?" Klaus taunted. I hiss "shut up" at him. Bonnie turns red as Kol's grin widened. "So why are you dragging your lover around?"
"Ask your mother. I don't even understand." Bonnie said, sullenly sitting on the plush couch. "We're magically chained together."
Klaus and I couldn't help but laugh, though Kol and Bonnie don't find the situation funny at all, wearing scowls. We couldn't see the "handcuffs" though by their positioning, it was clear they were there.
"This isn't funny." Bonnie said her eyes agates of ice.
"Alright, alright I'm sorry!" I laughed, half-heartedly attempting to stop. Klaus doesn't, giving his younger brother a smirking look and mouthing "congratulations."
Katherine stomped down the stair next, irritably bringing her black heels down with force as she went down the stairs. Her black jacket hung off her shoulder, and her red dress clung to her doll like form. Elijah ran after her, his hair a mess and suit half done.
"Katarina!" He shouted. "Wait!" He vamp-sped to her, roughly placing a hand on her shoulder and turning her around. "I didn't mean it…"
"Really? You didn't mean to say I'm a coward?!" She shrieked, moving away from him. We watched amused, as more and more of the occupants of the house, crept down the stairs to watch the blow out.
"Stop being over dramatic!" He yelled tiresomely. "You know I didn't mean it."
"Then why did you say it?!" she carried on. The fight had spilled out into the front room, allowing the other to creep down the stairs and into the section where we were sitting.
Damon lay back with a smug expression on her face. To Stefan, he said "finally, someone else learned how to fight with her."
"Because I wasn't thinking!" Elijah whined.
Kol laughed. The pair glared at him.
"What? The only thing Elijah can think about is doppelgangers and his hair so…."
"Shut up Kol." They say simultaneously.
"Why am I even still here?" Katherine said, walking out the door.
"Katarina!" Elijah yelled, running after her. He slammed the door after himself. "Katarina! Don't leave! Katarina."
Klaus opened the window and stuck his head out.
"You're coming off desperate!" He yelled out at the retreating form of his brother running after his lover. Klaus shut the window with a satisfied smirk.
"Don't torture your brother, Niklaus." Esther said, striding into the room. Klaus rolled his eyes, defiantly flicking Kol on the ear.
"Hey!" Kol whined, hitting Klaus back in the arm. He responded my punching him again. Pretty soon, the siblings were engaged in a miniature brawl. I didn't even care anymore, walking into the kitchen and taking another blood bag out of the fridge. As I sipped it, I noticed the collection of cars driving up to the gate. Oh dear.
Trashing the blood bag and rushing back into the room, I fixed my hair in the mirror, calling out "they're here" to the others in the next room. I added another swipe of lipstick as the front door creaked open. The clanking of chains echoed and the clicking of shoes as Klaus, Rebekah, and Kol loudly greeted the people in Italian. Somewhere there had to have been introductions because Damon and Stefan's voices joined the mix, both in Italian, though Damon's seemed more free flowing than Stefan's.
I put a smile on, as I always did in uncomfortable situation, and walked into the room. There were three men and two women. They looked very 'Italian,' dark hair, luminous eyes, easy smiles, and radiated luxury and wealth from their clothing and the off-handed way the women wore jewels. Two of the men, had mustaches, one Hitler-ized and the other bushy and out of control. The unshaven one's hair was peppered with gray.
"Caroline." Klaus said surprisingly warmly, so different from his usual homicidal tendencies. I kept the smile on my face, a little stiff. Every move counted. I couldn't make any notice to my stomach. I just hoped the amount of people in the room would disguise the beating of my baby's heart. Confidently, I walk to Klaus's side.
"So this is the little blonde you kept going on and on about the last time you were in Italy." The older man said benevolently, taking my hand and placing a delicate kiss on it. I blushed. Damon snorted behind all of us and Elena threw him a look. "Welcome to Italia, signorina."
Klaus glared at him.
"Where is the prisoner, Sforza? Emilio, I hope you didn't just make this trip to flirt with my wife." Klaus said, his impatience growing.
"Sorry," I apologized, placing an arm on his shoulder, "He gets a little grumpy if doesn't have a murder before noon."
The men in the party laugh jovially, walking towards the door, while the women look slightly alarmed. I'm the last one out the door, mouthing to my friends, "Stay." Stefan rolled his eyes, Rebekah, who had somehow avoided all the noise and fighting and had just arrived, mouthed "are you sure?" I nodded my head.
The stone paths made it easy for us to walk in heels. Klaus walked ahead of me, talking with the male vampires. In silence, the women walked with me.
"How did you meet Niklaus?" The one with the emerald earrings asked me.
"He saved my life." I answered. "And you two are?"
"Petronilla Contarini" the one who spoke first said, offering me her hand. I took it with a grin.
"Lucrezia Medici" introduced the other.
"I didn't know vampires got married." I said awkwardly, looking for some way to make conversation.
"They don't for quite a while." Lucrezia says. "Until you break him from various habits of… sleeping around."
"Klaus doesn't do that… He's got an issue with hurting my friends." I said hesitantly. Near the reflecting pool, the Praetor was forced to his knees, his hands cuffed behind his back. His dark head was bent in defeat.
"But, he's a lot better than when my husband met him all those years ago. He compelled the Vatican. You've tamed the beast."
"There's no way in hell he's tame. Look." I laughed, as we stand a bit further off from the confrontation.
"Keys, Medici." He ordered, holding his hand out and standing in front of the bent man. De Lupo looks up now, his face bruised and bloody.
"Leo." He snarled, as the man handed Klaus the keys. He reached behind the man and unlocked the cuffs. He fell forward on his hands and knees. "Didn't know you were at the beck and call of the Originals."
"Giuseppe de Lupo." Klaus said, pacing in front of the man, his eyes turning a harsh navy. "You stand accused of treachery, conspiring with the enemy, and attempted murder. In addition, you have forfeited your right as Praetor of Rome by breaking the laws set in place by your forefathers nine hundred years ago. Your packs are dead, your legions scattered. Your city now lies in the hands of the vampire lords of the North. The only thing you have to do," Klaus stopped in front of him and bent down forcing him to look in his eyes. So much hatred is in the former leader of Rome's eyes. "is die."
"I believe you should die by your own hand though." Klaus finished. "The sword, Fiero." The last unnamed man hands Klaus a flat golden blade, that look ancient though well cared for.
"Brachium Romae" Giuseppe whispered.
"So glad you recognized it. The Arm of Rome passed down from Praetor to Praetor since the days of Romulus and Remus. Your ancestors, correct?" Klaus taunted. The man spat on his feet.
"Enough games." Klaus roughly grabs the back of the man's shirt and pushes him so that his head hung over the lip of the pool. "Any last words?"
"An abomination like you," He spat, still defiantly holding his head up high, "will never win." And with that the man's head fell into the pool with one smooth sword swing from Klaus. The scarlet liquid burst from the severed neck and started draining into the pool, turning the azure water red. Blood had splattered all the men, Klaus's suit being the most 'red.'
I scared myself in how I merely observed the scene. I didn't feel horror, or remorse, or anything. I was cold and unfeeling. What was happening to me?
Klaus took out a linen handkerchief and calmly wiped his face of the beads of blood, then starts to walk away still clutching the sword.
"Come along Caroline." He told me, earning him a nasty look. "We have a yacht to catch."
"Wait!" called one of the men, Leo. "What are we supposed to do now?"
Klaus turns around and with a cynical grin.
"Do what you do best. Rule." He says, and then wrinkled his nose at the body. "And get someone to clean up this mess."
I followed him back through the paths, completely and utterly ignoring the "secluded" area where Katherine and Elijah were minutes away from passionate make-up sex.
"Caroline" Klaus said, stopping in the middle of a crossroaded path. "Are you alright? You're never this quiet."
I nodded my head and forced a grin.
"I'm fine." Though I really wasn't.
"Are you upset about me killing de Lupo? He deserved it." He said, grabbing my hand.
"I'm… I'm not upset about that. I'm upset because…" My lip quivered. "Because I just passively stood there and watched you behead someone!"
Stupid hormones. For absolutely no reason, I was crying.
"I'm turning into a monster." I sobbed. Klaus awkwardly pulled me into a hug, running his hand through my hair in a soothing gesture. I wiped my snotty, gross nose on his bloody white dress shirt. The baby kicked as the bump lightly touched him. He pressed his lips to my forehead in a teasing comforting way, then began to move down my face, kissing the frown and worry lines between my eyes, the thin band of sandy freckles on my nose, and finally stopping at my lips. It was a sweet kiss, his mouth soft against mine. No tongue either, just compression. Funnily enough, only with Klaus did I ever do this. I didn't feel the hunger for more, or horniness. All I felt was peace when we kissed. He pulls away and stares right through me, his dark blue eyes penetrating and seeing into my soul. I stare at the tan gravel path.
"Never say that." He said, seriously, and forced me to look at him. "I'm supposed to be the monster remember? You are the…" Klaus searched for the right words, while brushing the mascara tracks off of my face with his thumb. "The sun. One spot of darkness cannot extinguish you forever."
It's a wistful hopefulness that fills me. I want to believe him, but keep down, I can feel myself "embracing my vampirism."
"Being a vampire doesn't make you evil, Caroline." Klaus said, as though he could read my mind. I raise one eyebrow at him, thinking of all the "bad vampires" I had encountered over the years. "Vampires are a creature of darkness. That's not a choice. Though, what makes you good or evil is not what you are but what you chose to be."
I smile up at him, not even using my words. He's the eloquent one, not me. I'm better with actions.
Slowly, I press my nose to his, standing on my tip toes as I make contact. Then, I press my lips to his, a light butterfly kiss.
"Thank you." I whisper quietly.
Our son seems to have appreciated his father's speech, eagerly kicking the interior of my abdomen. I spread my lips into one of those motherly smiles as Klaus holds me against his chest and run my fingers in spirals on my bump. Klaus doesn't pay any attention to it, though he's still holding me, his gaze is set on the slowly reddening pool.
For those who might not know, a praetor is the leader of a legion, which is a Roman military unit.
Translation of the Italian:
Part One
"Un amico. Che diavolo sta succedendo?"
A friend. What the hell is going on?
"Un cambio di programma."
A change in plans.
"Perché?"
Why?
"Un conoscente di tuo ci ha fatto visita. Le vostre azioni hanno fatto non è più il benvenuto qui, mostruosità."
An acquaintance of yours visited us. Your actions have made you no longer welcome here, monstrosity.
Lascia ibrida. Mai tornare a Roma.
Leave Hybrid. Never return to Rome.
Part Two
Ho un appuntamento con il signor di Angelo
I have an appointment with Mr. di Angelo
Nome?
Name?
Da questa parte.
Right this way.
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