As Klaus neared closer to the house, Katherine made one last attempt to smooth down her now messy hair and to adjust her top, which Klaus thankfully hadn't torn.
She quickly glared at him when she heard him chuckle.
"What?" She muttered, checking her appearance in the car mirror.
"Nothing." He smirked, keeping his eyes on the road but looking over at her from the corner of his eye. "You carry on in your attempt to look as though we did not just spend the past hour in the backseat of this car. I do wonder how you'll be able to hide your undying desire for me in front of Elijah however."
Katherine scoffed, wanting nothing more than to get rid of his smug smirk. "You think too highly of yourself Klaus."
"And you don't?"
"Think too highly of you? No." She smirked.
"Of you." He clarified even though he knew she had had only been teasing him. "Or are you telling me you don't want any compliments from me? Because I do have quite a few in mind."
"Do you now?" She wasn't sure when her annoyance turned into a desire for flirting and playful banter, but it had. Maybe it was the possibility of actually hearing Klaus Mikaelson compliment her. Surely she couldn't be blamed for her curiosity. She didn't think she ever heard anything resembling a compliment come out of his mouth, unless it was regarding himself.
He grinned, taking note of the change in her tone of voice. "I do. Your tongue for one...is quite enjoyable when it isn't being used to spit out insults towards me."
Katherine snorted. "Why thank you. But I'm not sure that was a compliment. It's more like a fact combined with your wish for me to never insult you again. But just keep in mind that if I stop throwing insults your way, your head will get too big to fit in your house. Someone needs to remind you you're not all that."
"Oh and I suppose that someone absolutely needs to be you?" He chuckled. "You know perhaps if you were nicer to me I would give you real compliments-"
"Klaus." She interrupted him, silencing whatever he had been about to say. It wasn't important right now. Not when all the hybrids outside were lying on the ground. Dead.
"What?" He slowly followed her line of sight and in an instant he was out of the car. "Hayley?!" He called out speeding into the house.
Katherine quickly stepped out of the car as well and followed him into the house. "Is she here?" She asked already beginning to look around. She easily spotted several other dead hybrids on the living room floor and all of a sudden her heart clenched tightly at the thought of what could've happened to Hayley. "Klaus?" She called out worriedly.
"She's not here." He breathed out, his eyes showing the panic and fear he was feeling in this moment.
She went to him and reached for his hand. "We'll find her." She assured him, trying to ease the rising worry she could see in him. It was in the way his eyes were darting from hybrid to hybrid, in the way he was squeezing her hand and in his shallow breathing.
"I don't..." He exhaled shakily.
"Klaus. Look at me. We're going to find her. Go get the witches. We can do a locator spell with your blood." For once she saw Hayley's pregnancy as a good thing. At least it could help find her. "Where are Elijah and Rebekah?"
"Elijah is daggered in one of the rooms." He hadn't seen Rebekah but it was the least of his worries. His siblings could handle themselves. Hayley was carrying his child and she wasn't an original vampire.
"I'll wake him up. We need all the help we can get right now." She said darting up the stairs. She didn't pause to think about the fact that she was going to be seeing Elijah for the first time after having spent four whole days with Klaus. After having slept with him. Right now her mind was only one thought. Find Hayley.
"Katerina?" Elijah gasped softly as the color was slowly returning to his skin. "Hayley? Is she alright?" He asked, quickly standing from the floor.
"We don't know. Klaus left to see the witches." She whispered looking around the room before bringing her gaze back to him. "What happened?"
"Marcel. He stormed in here with the most powerful witch I have ever seen. They killed all the hybrids and took Hayley."
"That doesn't make any sense. Marcel shouldn't have known Klaus was out of town. That was the whole point of keeping the security outside the same and just increasing it inside."
"He had help." Elijah muttered bitterly. "Rebekah. She was with him."
Katherine's eyes widened a little. She knew the siblings had their ups and downs. She knew their relationship consisted more of Klaus' show of power and Elijah and Rebekah having no choice but to follow. However. She never would've guessed that the one sibling who always stood by Klaus no matter what he did to her, would be the one to betray him like this. "Don't tell Klaus. Not yet." She whispered, earning a confused frown from Elijah.
"If you tell him he's going to get distracted. He'll be too focused on the betrayal and punishing Rebekah to actually concentrate on finding Hayley."
Elijah slowly nodded, knowing she was right. "Come. If I know my brother like I do, he will need some help speaking to them without ripping anyone's heart out." He picked her up in his arms and swiftly sped through the city streets.
"Brother." He spoke up, setting Katherine down and quickly walking over to him. It appeared he arrived just in time, as Klaus' hand was currently wrapped around Sophie Deveraux's neck. "If you kill her how is she meant to help us?"
"She already refused to." Klaus hissed tightening his grip. "She refuses to put her life on the line for my child. Why? Because it is an abomination to you?" He snapped, seething with anger.
"Klaus." This time Katherine spoke up as she neared him.
Klaus' grip loosened the slightest amount at the sound of her voice, but overall his angered expression remained.
"Let her go. You can't ask her to risk her life for someone she doesn't even know. Not without giving her something in return. Something she wants." She gave him a knowing look.
A sly smirk slowly made its way onto his lips as he caught on to what she was trying to tell him. "Very well." He let go of Sophie, watching unimpressed as she fell to the ground, struggling to breathe normally again. "Find Hayley, help me bring her back safely, and I will kill Marcel. You and your witches will be able to freely practice magic without anyone killing you for it."
"You wouldn't kill Marcel." Sophie whispered weakly, glaring at Klaus. "You care for him. If you wanted him dead he would already be dead."
"Oh sweet naive Sophie. I killed my own mother." His smirk widened a little as he stared down at her. "If that is your price for helping me, consider it done."
Sophie stared at Klaus, a mix of surprise and incredulous Ed's in her eyes as she pondered over his words. "Fine." She finally spoke, standing up. "But not here. Meet me at the cemetery in thirty minutes."
Klaus gave her a nod and without really thinking about it, he reached for Katherine's hand and sped away to the cemetery, leaving a confused Elijah to follow them.
"Thank you love." He whispered as he leaned against the wall inside of the mausoleum. His hands rested on her waist delicately, but with a certain firmness. A firmness that indicated she was his.
He was taking advantage of the few minutes he had alone with her, as Elijah was no doubt close behind.
"I was close to ending her. I couldn't think about anything except securing Hayley's safety."
"I know." She mumbled, letting her head rest on his chest.
"You brought me back. You helped me control it. When we find Hayley, it will have been because of you." He brought a hand up and gently lifted her chin, causing her to look at him.
They both seemed to lean closer to each other at the same time, however before their lips could touch, Klaus pulled away from her in a flash and was suddenly standing on the opposite side of the mausoleum.
Her lips parted open, ready to question him when all of a sudden Elijah stepped inside. Oh.
"Is everything alright?" Elijah spoke, his gaze falling on his girlfriend.
She knew the questioning, confused look on his face was related to the fact that she hadn't protested when Klaus sped her over here. It felt natural and easy to hold his hand ever since that day in the woods. But of course Elijah didn't know about that.
She knew right now the only way he would stop giving her that look was if she was completely nonchalant about it. After all, he couldn't suspect anything if she didn't look suspicious. "Yeah. Why wouldn't it be?" She raised an eyebrow for good measure and then checked her phone. "Sophie should be here in a few minutes."
At the moment her mind was mostly on Hayley. And as much as she hated to say it or even think it, it was also on Klaus. She knew what he was feeling. Maybe not exactly. But she lost a child once. She knew that wasn't something one easily got over no matter how well she pretended to.
True to her word, Sophie Deveraux soon walked into the mausoleum, looking directly at Klaus. "Alright. Let's do this."
