Katherine was on a high, drunk on euphoria and alcohol, and she wasn't even at the party yet. She was hanging onto Damon and Enzo on an arm each, while Damon was dating her sister and Enzo had a thing for Bonnie. Nothing would change that the three of them were close and lacked boundaries. Elena, Bonnie, and Davina were walking behind them, the former two looking nervous while Davina was vibrating with excitement.
They had pulled up to the house the auction and party would be at, it was surrounded by gates and guards, all of whom looked daunting and ready to strike. Katherine didn't really mind though, she was used to it.
The house itself was a mansion only someone who made as much money as a hustler could get. All decorated in gold and white, illuminated by bright lights. Somehow it still managed to maintain that dark aura, which warned people what they were really getting into when they stepped behind the gates.
Damon, Enzo, and Katherine stopped before the front gate guard. "Name, please."
"Tatia Petrova." Katherine said confidently, twirling the ends of her hair. Elena looked up at the name, but Davina shook her head and pushed her back.
"Petrova?" The man repeated. "It says here that you're banned."
"How insulting." Katherine snapped. "You must be talking about my sister, Katherine."
"You think you can just change your name and we wouldn't know?" He asked, looking at her incredulously.
"Excuse you!" Katherine snapped in a eerily similar high pitched tone to Tatia. "Haven't you heard? I can't believe he doesn't know who I am!"
"Nice act." The guard snapped. Katherine was about to reach into her purse to grab something when another man stepped out.
"Ms. Petrova?" He was tall, dark, and handsome. Clearly the hustler behind the whole operation, his name was Arcadius, but everyone called him Cade.
Katherine knew him well. She had had a bit of a fling with him back before Elijah and her first got together, and a little after Elijah had gone off to college. They also tended to mess around with each other whenever the other was close by. Then again, with such bold and clashing personalities, they did like to fight.
The last time they saw each other was at the very same party the year before. While it was true the fight had been started, Katherine had lied when it came to the real reason they'd been banished. The actual reason had started when Katherine and Cade had gotten into a fight over Katherine's inability to care or commit to one person. Which set her off and said he should've known her better than that, that it was expecting too much from her.
By the end of the fight, Cade had banished them from ever coming back, and Katherine had exiled him from ever getting to enter Manhattan again.
"You can tell all the lies you want." He drawled, standing tall before her. "I know you, Kitty Kat."
"Nice to see you too, Cade." Katherine smirked, crossing her arms. "I heard you were supposed to be in India."
"Keeping tabs on me?" Cade retorted.
"Only to avoid you." Katherine smiled, leaning back on her heels to smirk under the shadows. "Besides, don't flatter yourself, it's a minions job."
"I clearly remember banishing you." Cade said, stepping closer to her.
"When have we meant it?" Katherine asked, batting her eyelashes.
"I also remember getting escorted out of Manhattan eight months ago." Cade snapped. He seemed both generally angry and amused.
"Couldn't be the one to break first." Katherine shrugged, taking note of his open stance. If had really meant her any harm, he would've had her escorted long ago.
"And why should I be?" Cade asked, they were nose to nose now. His hand wrapped around her waist and hers holding the lapels of his jacket.
"Because you need me." Katherine whispered darkly. "We both know the only reason you'll break is because you think I'm the only person who's got ethics and morals more twisted than yours." She ghosted her lips over his, but not quite touching. "And what's worse is that I know you miss me."
"Here you are, sister." Kol said, handing Freya a glass of bourbon. She simply stared at it for a long time, but accepted it and patted the spot next to her. Kol smiled and sat down with her, sipping on his own drink.
"First time we've all been on a plane together in a long time." Freya said, looking around her. Klaus was at the front, looking out the window, his contemplative brooding stare etched into his features. Rebekah was across from him, texting, probably Stefan. Klaus seemed particularly annoyed that she had her feet up on the chair next to him, but they all knew he didn't mind at all because Rebekah was his favorite. Elijah was behind Rebekah, reading the newspaper, making him seem more like the oldest of the siblings, rather than the third oldest.
The most interesting thing is that Finn had been talked into going. It seemed to only take Rebekah muttering a very well kept secret, and suddenly Finn was ready to jump on the plane.
"Henrik's not here." Kol pointed out.
"Henry's not a proper Mikaelson yet." Freya shrugged. "He hasn't been disappointed by either of our parents yet. Nor learned to hide his feelings under layers of passive aggression and self preservation."
"Henry?" Kol questioned, appalled by the nickname. "Where did you get that from, Angel? Besides, the boy's been disappointed by our parents, he's just too young to realize it. The rest he'll learn."
"I'm not so sure that's a good thing." Freya murmured.
"Oh come now." Kol said, patting her knee good heartedly. "Mikealson's have all the fun, and he doesn't really get a choice."
"Is this what we want for him?" Freya asked softly, shaking her head. "This isn't what I wanted for any of you."
"You did good, Freya." Kol replied, because Freya had raised them, and he never wanted her to think she was the cause of their failures in life. "We're not perfect and we're far from good, but that's never what we've strived for."
"Do you know what I've learned, darling?" Freya asked Kol, looking up at him, because despite being her little brother, he was a great deal taller than her. "We are destructive, and ruthless, and the best part is that, I don't care. Call it compensation for ending up with parents like Esther and Mikael."
"I think we should tell Damon." Stefan said, looking at Caroline. The pair were still in Singapore, waiting for their father to fly in from New York, thanks to a quick bribe to their father's secretary, they would know when. It had been almost a full day since they'd arrived, and in order to keep up the ruse and not be spotted, they've been staying in the hotel.
"I don't think we should tell Damon." Caroline retorted easily, shrugging her shoulders and pursing her lips. She was reshuffling some papers around and setting them neatly on the table provided by the hotel room.
"That's not really your choice." Stefan pointed out, watching her move.
"And what makes it yours?" Caroline asked. Stefan shook his head, looking away from her. Then turned around abruptly to look at her with a dark look. "We do a lot of shit Caroline, and you're my sister and I always trust you no matter what, but this isn't some petty Manhattan feud." Stefan said evenly. "This is Damon."
"And that's exactly why we shouldn't tell him." Caroline retorted, rearranging some of the glasses on the counter, one had a smudge and she ended up washing it. "You really want to tell him that Dad wants to marry him off to some girl from Singapore for a business deal? What do you think that's gonna do, Stefan?"
Stefan sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I just think Damon should be the one to confront Dad."
"Don't do that." Caroline snapped, kicking off her heels and dropping into the couch. She needed to keep moving, and no matter how much she loved her heels, they weren't easy to clean in.
"Do what?" Stefan asked innocently.
"Talk to me like I'm being the selfish one." Caroline hissed, picking up some of the clothes laid out and folding them. "You want Damon to confront Dad because you think it'll magically fix the ingrained disappointment he has for him."
"I never said that." Stefan defended himself.
"You don't have too." Caroline muttered.
"So what makes this the better alternative?" Stefan asked her, sitting down on the chair across from where his twin sister was organizing magazines.
"This way we don't have to drag everyone into it and make it a spectacle." Caroline shrugged. "He's happy with Elena. Not to mention what this does to her? She's trying so hard to adjust, and is it really the best idea to just drop this on her?"
"What if this girl from Singapore decides she wants to meet Damon?" Stefan pointed out. "What happens then? Both Damon and Elena get ambushed."
"Unless we get to Dad first." Caroline responded. She had moved onto making the bed, which had already been made, but she was smoothing out the comforter and fluffing the pillows.
"And if he won't listen to us?" Stefan asked, his eyes darting around to follow Caroline's movements.
"Why is it so important to you that Damon finds out?" Caroline demanded.
"Why are you trying so hard to keep this a secret?" Stefan asked her calmly.
"Stop talking to me in riddles." Caroline sighed tiredly.
"I'm just saying, Care Bear." Stefan sighed, tapping her foot with his. "Contracts are binding." Stefan poured her a glass of bourbon. "You love your life, we all do, money, power, freedom. But sometimes it comes with a price."
"This shouldn't be it." Caroline snapped, finally standing still and placing her hands on her hips.
"I'm not saying it is." Stefan argued. "My point is that this is who we are and what we do, the means to get there isn't always moral."
"And that's why our means of getting out of it aren't going to be very moral either." Caroline hissed and stormed out of the room.
The party was insanely loud. The ground was vibrating to the beat of the music and it was making Davina's ears ring. This feeling, the sound of the music, vibrating energy, and the smell of money. It was all very familiar and comforting.
Upon walking inside, there were hundreds of people all dressed up like animals, insects, or plants that are all found in forests. But the costumes had all been changed slightly to a simple color theme or an extravagant design.
Bonnie came up to Davina's side and leaned on her shoulder. "This place is insane!"
"Isn't it great?" Davina shouted back over the music and dragged her into the crowd to start dancing. Enzo had come up from behind Bonnie and she was now sandwiched between Davina and Enzo's body, getting pushed around by random people as well.
Damon and Elena had disappeared somewhere else, probably to find drinks or a quiet spot to mess around in. The only one they'd lost track of was Katherine, but that's just because Cade had let them all in and then pulled Katherine into a private room.
Davina hadn't been expecting to get in so easily, she knew there were going to be complications. Except that had less to do with getting in than the tension between Katherine and Cade. Together the two of them were dangerous, it was why they never worked out and Katherine kept Caroline by her side. The blond balanced out Katherine's wild nature, or she'd be going off the edge all the time doing crazy things that would make her fit in better in Hartford than New York.
Davina took in the sight before her. Tons of people all dressed in elaborate clothes, drinking and partying the night away. Half of her closest friends in the world were dancing before her, and as much as she'd like it, it just didn't feel right.
Her life in New York had always been fairly simple. Go wherever she wanted and do as she pleased. Somewhere along the way, missing family members started piling up, lots of old secrets, and too many scandals to count were coming to light, and honestly Davina was at a loss.
It wasn't supposed to be like this. She imagined her sophomore year being a lot calmer, maybe training new minions, and exile a few people. She didn't exactly mind helping her friends or necessarily mind manipulating people. She just kind of hoped her sophomore would be a little more predictable.
Then again, without all the extra drama, they wouldn't have Elena, which in turn led to Damon getting his life together. They wouldn't have Bonnie, who she was growing quite fond of. Katherine and Elijah probably wouldn't have gotten together. All these things were good and so different than what the royals usually got up, and Davina truly didn't mind it all. In fact, it seemed to fill that part of her innately lonely heart.
She was drawn from her thoughts when Enzo tilted her head back and poured a searing liquid down her throat. Davina laughed through the pain, letting the liquid do its job and make her weightless. Sometimes a little ear shattering music and good booze could fill her lonely heart too.
"We need a plan." Rebekah announced. They were still on the plane, but they would be landing in London soon. The Mikaelsons may have been known for their self preservation, which in turn led to very good planning and devious escapes. Except when it came to all of them working together, all caution and rational thought was at a standstill. Mostly due to the conflicting views, opinions, and general stubbornness that was ingrained in their bones.
"I thought that plan was extortion and blackmail." Kol shrugged, the amused, but smug look he usually had attached to his face.
"That's not a plan." Finn snapped exasperatedly. "That's what's going to ruin our family name."
"Still so concerned with the family reputation?" Rebekah mocked. "Why does it matter so much?"
"Says the spoiled little girl who spent over four million dollars in the last two months." Finn hissed at her. "God only knows what we have to do to keep up with your inane spending."
Elijah pinched the bridge of his nose and raised a hand to silence them both. "We land in less than an hour, and Rebekah is right, we need a plan."
"And what do you suggest?" Freya asked, prodding him to go on. Out of all her siblings, he was probably the only one she trusted not to derail a conversation.
"Niklaus?" Elijah called to his younger brother. Usually it was Klaus that came up with the best plans, whether they were ethical or not. Truth be told, they usually weren't, but the consistent outcome would always put the Mikaelsons on top.
"We are going to go to his office and ask him." Klaus said, not looking up from his phone. All of them gaped at him.
"That's it?" Finn asked in disbelief. "You just want to walk into his office and ask?"
"That's what I said." Klaus snapped, rolling his eyes when Kol pushed Rebekah just to push her. She retaliated by stomping on his foot.
"Even you have to admit that it sounds like a copout." Kol said brashly, glaring at her.
"If he really wanted to ruin our family, he would've done it when Rebekah marched into his office like a child and exposed his darkest secret." Klaus explained, dodging the pillow Rebekah threw at his head.
"What makes you so sure he'll tell you?" Freya asked, placing her hands on her hips and turning to look at him doubtfully.
"Extortion and blackmail." Kol laughed, placing a hand on his chest.
"Great." Finn muttered under his breath. "I suppose I should call Sage and tell her to start working on press control."
Caroline and Stefan were no stranger to business. Their father ran an empire, they ruled the city, business was bound to be a part of who they were. It was easy to detach themselves from the personal feelings, and that was part of what allowed them to really make the hard and fast choices that made people both fear and respect them.
Except now, sitting in front of their father, discussing their brother's impending marriage contract, it was nearly impossible to not get personally involved. After all, it was the reason they were getting involved at all.
Caroline had made sure they dressed to perfection in order to meet with their father. It was more of a statement than anything. She had put on a mini black Chanel dress right off the runway, pairing a white collared shirt underneath with a golden chained belt and heels. Her hair pinned up and away from her face.
Stefan was in a similar ensemble to her, black pants, and a white collared button up. His jacket was long, tapering off at his calves, and had the Chanel emblem on the cuffs. Once again, a display to their father.
Giuseppe Salvatore stared back at his two youngest children with both amusement and exasperation.
Caroline cleared her throat and pulled out the copy of the contract they had made before sneaking out of their father's office. "I'm sure you know where we got this?"
She slid it across the table and he picked it up, looking it over. He didn't look surprised that they'd seen it, but even if he did, Giuseppe was skilled enough to hide it. "You went into my office?"
Stefan narrowed his eyes. "You signed away Damon's life and you're concerned we went into your office?"
"I didn't sign away his life." He shrugged, brushing off Stefan's anger. "I'm sure he'll be very happy marrying into a billion dollar resort chain."
"You'd be that cruel?" Caroline demanded, but her tone was even, diplomatic.
"It's not cruelty, Caroline." Their father corrected her in the same tone. "It's business."
"He's your son." Caroline argued. "We didn't come here to hear your reasons why."
"Then pray tell," Giuseppe asked, spreading his arms wide, "why are you here?"
"You can't force Damon to marry some girl for the sake of a business endeavor." Stefan snapped. Angry that he had to even explain. "Let him out of the contract, come up with something else."
"Why are you doing this?" Caroline asked, grabbing Stefan's hand to calm him. Usually he was the one keeping her in check, but when it came to Damon, Stefan didn't have a limit.
"Why do I do anything, Caroline?" He responded vaguely to his daughter, looking down at the contract in his hands blankly. "For you, Stefan, Damon, your mother."
"You can't justify this." Stefan said, placing his hands flat on the table. "Condemning Damon isn't going to be anything but condemning him no matter how you say it."
"Yes because I'm so morally inept." He retorted smoothly. "I seem to remember the two of you were quite proud of this trait. Coined your kingdom on it."
Caroline looked up calmly, a sweet smile on her face, but it was utterly disparaging. "No empire, kingdom, can run based purely on good intended morals or ethics. But those are fickle rules that change, but the one constant, Father, that you claim to do everything for, is family." Caroline grabbed the contract from the table and traced the glaring inked signature with her finger. "Damon, no matter how much of a disappointment you think he is, deserves more than to have his own father boil down his life to a piece of paper."
Giuseppe looked down at his daughter in a contemplative expression, both conflicted but hardened. "You've grown soft, Caroline. Perhaps it's time to resign your crown."
Katherine kicked off her heels and dropped them on the glass coffee table. It was the habit she tended to to do every time her and Cade were in a situation like this. Whether it was because she wouldn't need them or because she needed to run. The room he had led her too was also one she was particularly familiar with, considering it had been built just for her. Cade had surprised her with it two years ago when he had finally been put on the map as a top hustler.
The walls were made of some dark wood that had all been stained black, but every now and then a mirror was strategically placed to let light reflect off it, except one wall was made purely of a one way mirror. Dark, shimmering silk drapes flowed down from the ceiling, creating yet another illusion, pretty and delicate, but easy to get lost in. In the center of the room there were two leather couches facing each other, and the glass coffee table separating them. Just underneath it was a burgundy, velvet rug. The room was meant to be a physical representation of Katherine, or at least, she thought it was the way he saw her.
"Old habits die hard, don't they, Thea." He quipped, nodding his head at her shoes while he poured them both a drink. Katherine flinched at the nickname, he was the only one who called her that, a mix of her American and Bulgarian name. He said she wasn't one or the other and he refused to think she could ever be that way. Then again, stuff like that was always pillow talk, and maybe he really only did see her one way.
"It seems they do with you too." Katherine quipped, looking straight out of the one way mirror. She was insinuating towards the party, the auction, all of it really. He was no different than the boy who made himself the villainous martyr of his own story.
"I missed you." He laughed darkly, but while it sounded sincere, it also sounded troubling.
Katherine scoffed lightly and threw her hair back. "I'm sure."
"You were sure of it when you wanted an in to my party." Cade reminded her, not only to tell her she needed him, but to show his power over her. It was their thing, power struggles.
"Don't flatter yourself." Katherine said, echoing her words from earlier. "As a stunning heiress to a diamond cartel, my love for jewels is much greater than playing games with you, Arcadius."
"Full name?" He mocked gasped, handing her the drink. Katherine took a sip and damn, he got it right on the nose. "I must be in trouble."
"Only your arrogance." She said boredly. "But you didn't bring me in here to suffocate from your ego."
"No, Thea, I didn't." He laughed heartily and sat down across from her. He still had that way about him. Such an easy nature, but beneath the surface was a well of dark secrets. If she believed in anything, it was that he didn't believe in anything but himself.
"Well?" Katherine prompted, tapping her fingers against the seat rest.
"I heard about the Monaco auction." He drawled lazily, circling the rim of his glass. "Kai Parker and Elijah Mikaelson? Although I shouldn't be surprised, you've always preferred to mess with the hearts of men than garner their other affections." He sounded at ease when he talked, he always did, part of being in his profession. Except Katherine knew better, she always knew better.
"I made a half drunken deal with Kai Parker on Halloween to win." Katherine shrugged, brushing off his stare. "Not the first time I've made a deal, only this time I was the devil."
"And Elijah?" Cade prodded, smiling into his glass at her blatant insinuations. "What about his infatuation?"
"I suppose I don't know." Katherine said, a statement that was only half true. She knew somewhere deep down he cared about her, despite the age difference and baggage they both had. But she also knew they weren't very good at anything but games. Ever since his declaration, he'd been in and out of her life just like before Bali, and not that she could fault him for needing to be with siblings. She was independent, she didn't need him to validate her, but that didn't mean he had a free pass to pick and choose when he could bother with her life.
"You'll figure it out soon." Cade assured her in a knowing tone, and Katherine's head lurched up at the cryptic comment.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Katherine asked, crossing her legs delicately in a defensive manner.
Cade ignored her question. "Elijah Mikaelson popped up on my doorstep a week or two ago and asked to buy a particular diadem I know you've had your eye on for a while."
"What?" Katherine asked bluntly. As she had said before, as a diamond heiress, she had quite the collections of jewels, but there was one diadem that had only been a rumor in circulation. She had spies everywhere trying to catch a lead on where it ended up.
Cade pulled out a tablet and pulled up a picture, it was the diadem, all covered in gold jewels and stunning emeralds the size of almonds. "He paid nine million dollars for it."
"He bought it for me?" Katherine asked, not tearing her eyes away from the picture.
"I couldn't be sure." Cade teased her, patting her knee. "But I do know he seemed pretty apologetic when he did buy it."
"I'm surprised, Cade." Katherine said, downing the rest of her drink. "I was expecting you to make at least two inneudos before trying to get me to sleep with you."
"While it would've been my preferred situation," he said, flashing her a seductive smile, "I think you've finally given Elijah what you could never give me."
"Bloody hell!" Rebekah hissed, slamming her hands down on the foyer table. "Everyone, just shut up."
They all fell silent as her outburst, both obeying and suppressing a laugh purely because she was their youngest sister. The Mikaelsons had once again resolved to doing what they do best, arguing. As they have all agreed to go with Klaus' plan to brashly march into Ansel's office, they couldn't all go. Too many people would look suspicious.
"I'm not going." Finn announced, crossing his arms and stepping back. "We've probably done enough damage by setting foot in the country."
"Then don't go." Kol snapped, his tone accusatory. "Be the hypocrite we all know you are."
"Kol." Elijah sighed exasperatedly and pinched the bridge of his nose. "You aren't helping."
"I wasn't aware I was supposed to be." Kol muttered sarcastically. "I'm usually just the one that's always right."
"Well, we can't all go." Freya sighed out, running a hand through her blond hair. She made the quick decision and decided for them all. "Rebekah, Klaus, Elijah and I will go. Finn and Kol will stay here."
"Why do you get to decide?" Kol demanded, ignoring the smug looks Klaus and Rebekah were sending him.
"Because this isn't a democracy." Freya retorted.
"You let us vote on whether to come to London or not" Kol pointed out petulantly.
"Yeah, well, I also get to decide when it is a democracy." Freya shrugged. "Besides, Finn already doesn't want to go and you're too irrational. If something goes wrong, I know you'll do something that could potentially just make everything worse."
"Maybe we should leave Klaus at home then." Rebekah said lazily, looking haughtily at her older brother.
"Right because you're so eloquent, Bekah? Don't forget it was you who exposed Ansel without any disregard." Klaus reminded her angrily.
"I swear to God, if I hear that one more time, I'm going to set your art studio on fire." Rebekah threatened, bracing her hands up and glaring at him.
"Still wanna bring them?" Kol asked, pointing at Klaus and Rebekah's defensive positions.
"Her name is Rose-Marie Porter." Caroline said, scanning the screen of her laptop as she sat cross legged on the hotel bed. The meeting with their father was a clear indication that they weren't going to be able to convince him to change his mind. So the new plan was to find the girl.
Stefan leaned over the edge of the bed to look at the girl. She was pretty, short layered hair framing her angular face. It turned out she wasn't actually from Singapore at all. She was the daughter of a European businessman who lost his wife early on with only Rose to show for the marriage. Eventually, years later he married into a Singaporean family and took over as CEO.
"Where can we find her?" Stefan asked.
"I'm working on it." Caroline muttered, waving him off. "Hold on."
It took a few more minutes before Caroline finally made a noise. "You got her?"
"She's going to be at a party tonight, some of the richest of the rich." Caroline mumbled, looking for details. "Any idea how to get invited?"
"Leave that to me." Stefan said, winking at his sister. "You just worry about getting us clothes to wear."
He disappeared from the hotel room and returned two hours later with two shiny, crisp white cards in his hands. Stefan looked a little disheveled and tired, but nonetheless triumphant. Caroline arrived around the same time with a worker in tow, holding two bags. The worker placed them on the bed and left promptly afterwards.
"Do I want to ask how you got those?" Caroline asked with a laugh.
"No." Stefan deadpanned. "What did you get us to wear?"
Caroline smiled sweetly and unzipped the bags, pulling out a nice demure holographic suit for Stefan and a silver gown for herself. They both quickly got dressed and Caroline couldn't help but take a photo and send it to Klaus, to which he promptly responded that she was stunning. Caroline rolled her eyes, knowing Klaus mostly definitely looked at the photo, but didn't bother to actually observe her outfit. He just always thought she was beautiful.
Together, her and Stefan got in the hired car they had for the week and were on their way to stop Damon from getting married.
Elena wasn't too sure how they had ended up in this situation, but she wasn't surprised in the slightest. Katherine was still missing, which meant Elena was sticking close to Damon, and she hoped Enzo or Davina were looking after Bonnie. Lucky for her they were. It just hadn't occurred to her that someone would need to look after them.
Elena was getting a little tipsy, but she knew she was the most responsible, so she laid off on too much drinking in case something went wrong. Of course it had. After Davina helped Bonnie place a bid on the necklace Katherine wanted and transferred the money, a brunette girl with murderous blue eyes grasped her arm and swerved her around.
Elena watched as Davina stumbled around and her eyes widened at the girl before. It only worried Elena more when she pushed Bonnie back behind her.
Elena took that as a hint and signaled Damon. "Who is that girl?"
Damon narrowed his eyes under the dark light and winced. "Shit."
"What?" Elena prodded. "What does that mean? Who is she?"
"Her name is Cassie Harvest." Damon said, already dragging her forward. "I'm not really sure what happened. But I know Davina and Rebekah got her expelled."
"Don't you mean exiled?" Elena asked and internally laughed at the fact she was beginning to pick up on their terminology and speak like them.
"Nope." Damon corrected her, trying to tug her fast through the crowd. "They got Caroline and Katherine to convince Valentina to expel her, I'm not sure why though."
Elena watched the girl scream in Davina's face, to which she crossed her arms and started back defiantly. "Why do I get that feeling that's worse than being exiled."
"Because it is, Pretty Girl." Damon said. "She has to live with the shame of falling from grace, face to face with people from Constance. At least the exiled can hide. She can't."
They finally reached Cassie and Davina a little too late because Cassie had made a move to grab Davina, and Davina automatically recoiled to the side and fell into Bonnie. Bonnie lost her balance, and Cassie inevitably tripped over Bonnie's foot. All a series of actions that could only happen with the right timing and wrong intention.
This caused Cassie to fall into the glass auction case, and it shattered around them like little droplets of water. And it would've been such a pretty sight if it didn't leave such a disastrous effect. As soon as the glass had been cracked, the music was abruptly replaced with a searing alarm and guards were flooding in through doors Elena hadn't even realized were there.
There was a lot of chaos after that, and Elena was sure she would've been lost in the crowd if Damon didn't have a tight hold on her waist. As soon as the crowd cleared and the flashing strobe lights were replaced with bright illuminating ones. All that was left was a shattered case, Davina with glass stuck to her hair and blood dripping from the arm she used to shield herself. Bonnie and Enzo nowhere to be found. Katherine and Cade on the dias looking murderous.
"Are you sure you're alright?" Kol asked through his phone to Davina. The girl herself was sitting on the stairs of Cade's mansion, while Katherine tried to talk Cade down and Elena and Damon went looking for Bonnie and Enzo.
"I'm fine." Davina promised, carefully picking shards of glass from her hair.
"I'm flying to come get you." Kol announced. Davina could hear the anger and rustling in the background.
"Kol." Davina laughed softly. "I'm fine, nothing a little water and bandages can't fix."
"Why wasn't anyone helping you?" Kol demanded. "Some girl shouldn't have been able to get that close to you."
"She took us by surprise." Davina explained, using a cloth to dab at the dried blood running from her arms. "She didn't even intend to hurt me, just screamed in my face about ruining her life, nothing new." Davina assured him. "Besides, don't your siblings need you in London? How is that going exactly?"
"Well, my dearest sister says I'm too irrational." Kol snapped irritatedly, clearly not wanting to talk about it. "So I've been left behind with Finn."
"Hmm, well, she's not wrong." Davina teased, putting down the cloth to smile at her feet. Even if he wasn't physically near her, she could feel the annoyance through the phone.
"What a mean way to kick me when I'm down." Kol quipped.
"I'll see you back in Manhattan at the end of the week." Davina mumbled into the phone. She could hear voices behind her, so it was probably time to go. "Let me know what happens with your family."
"I will, Darling." Kol promised, sounding smug and arrogant, his usual tone. "Are you sure you don't want me to fly to Qatar?"
"I'm sure, we'll be leaving soon anyway." Davina murmured. "Hey, I love you, Kol Mikaelson."
Davina could hear his signature scoff and low toned chuckle. "As I love you, Davina Claire. Manhattan?"
"Manhattan." Davina promised.
The four Mikaelsons stood in front of the door that led to the man who their mother was having an affair with, and no one wanted to be the first one to enter. Something about the door seemed very telling this time, like this was going to be the beginning of something they weren't going to be able to control.
Rebekah took the first step and knocked on it lightly, quite the contrast from the last time when she'd simply barged in. There was a faint call telling them to come in, and Rebekah recognized the voice. She supposed this was going to be a moment, one that was more than a broken heart, because the heavy tension garnered more than a petty execution.
The door swung open and the heaviness sounded more like a gate, as the four of them walked in together. Rebekah and Elijah were in front, while Freya and Klaus were behind them. They were all dressed in black, creating a very uniformed look. Not only that, but the color seemed to feed off their self indulgent and condescending nature, making the workers around them avoid eye contact.
The first thing Rebekah noticed about the room was that it was eerily the same the last time she'd seen it, not a trinket out of place. Which is probably why the man behind the desk was no different than Rebekah remembered either. He was still made of sharp edges, still ruggedly handsome, still someone she couldn't fault her mother for loving because she was still married to a man like Mikael.
Ansel's head snapped up at the abrupt sound. "Niklaus?"