Chapter 43
"Sweetheart" Klaus cooed as he followed his human lover from the car onto the streets of New Orleans, heading straight for Rousseau's. His lover's blonde curls flipped around her lovely neck as she suddenly stopped mid-stride. Her body turned towards him without breaking her pace.
With his enhanced senses, Niklaus was able to stop before his larger build bumped into hers. Her blue eyes were fierce as her pale hands stopped to rest on her delicate hips. Her lips pulled back into a snarl that would leave a lesser man weak at the knees if they were into that sort of domination. Niklaus always preferred to do the dominating, but he would always make an exception for Caroline.
"Don't you dare Sweetheart me" The blonde hissed, pointing her freshly manicured nail courtesy of Rebekah into his chest. Her black boots stepped in front of his own brown boots, her voice low, but every vampire in the vicinity could hear every bloody word.
"I made a deal with Sophie," Caroline's voice was a low hiss, "I do not make deals that I cannot follow through. You insisted that you'd deal with Marcel yet the bloody Mikaelsons only managed to get into a pissing contest! Then you waited two bloody weeks to tell me!"
"We got a little distracted what with your whole rescue mission, love" Niklaus's lips pulled into a grin. His heart snagged at the thought of her entering the bloody asylum with just a self-taught which and a 500-year-old vampire for safety. Yet her anger at the misstep of his family with Marcel simply delighted him.
She was beautiful when angry. Her eyes softened slightly, but the pressure of her finger only increased. Before Niklaus could be concerned that she would injure herself, Caroline pulled her finger back, using the same hand to flip her hair over her shoulders. Crossing her arms, "Nik, we need to be a team."
"We are," He insisted immediately.
"Then let me at Marcel," Caroline stood her ground, staring at the original hybrid. Knowing full well that Marcel's minions and witches were staring at them across the streets of New Orleans.
"If I say we are leaving, we leave" Niklaus bargained, annoyance flashed through him at having to negotiate with this little girl. He was Klaus Mikaelson, the original hybrid. The being every supernatural creature was deathly afraid of, a god of death and destruction. Bowing to no one, not even his own family.
Yet here he was, bowing down to a now nineteen-year-old human, former vampire, forever stuck at seventeen blonde. He could hear his siblings snickering just a few steps behind them. His elder brothers smirked at him, Sage snickered into her hand, having followed them when it became clear Caroline was about to own Klaus once again.
Rebekah was not bothering to hide her laughter, neither did Katherine nor Kol. He had his arm wrapped around the Bennett witch who rolled her eyes, but even her lips were smirking. While Freya was to the other side of Finn, amusement evident in her eyes. Yet her stance told him Freya did not feel comfortable enough to show it.
Fucking hell, Niklaus inwardly seethed. "Not a word," He hissed.
Caroline turned towards the restaurant forcing the rest to follow as she burst through the doors, nodding her head towards Sophie as she walked past her. Katherine was the first after Klaus smirking over at Marcel as she offered the black man a friendly wave, taking a seat at the bar.
"You brought the whole clan, Klaus," Marcel said instead of a greeting, his gaze pausing at the sight of Caroline.
"You must be Caroline," He purred, holding out his hand for her to shake. Caroline stared at him, glancing down from his shoes all the way to the top of his head. Her scan lasted barely a second. She knew all about him as his role of 'Uncle' to Hope.
"You must be the pain in my boyfriend's ass. Nice to finally meet his prodigy," Caroline smiled at him brightly. Marcel's eyes widened slightly by the girl's gutsy move. Laughing at her words, Marcel offered her a more sincere smile.
"I see his tastes have not changed."
Caroline rolled her eyes, "Are we going to go around with this ideal small talk? Or are we going to talk about why you really should reconsider my boyfriend's offer? Admittedly they fucked it up. Perhaps you and I can do business."
Marcel laughed, "You have guts. Klaus, I have to say I think your girlfriend has more balls than you."
Niklaus growled, wrapping an unwanted arm around Caroline, "I'd be careful with your words."
Caroline sighed, entwining her hand with the one over her shoulder, acknowledging silently that Klaus would not let her out of his sight. Mentally she reminded herself to have a talk with the man. "Ignore him. Marcel, you are dealing with me today. Everyone else simply wanted to see how real work gets done."
Rebekah laughed along with Katherine at the irritated looks on the Mikaelson males, Finn being no exception. Freya looked over at Finn and his lover Sage; the redhead shrugged, "Your brothers do tend to do things idiotically. Rebekah, while often acting with more tact, tends to lose her temper."
The blonde in question stuck her tongue out at the redhead as Katherine smirked at the original blonde. Marcel focused his attention on the human blonde in front of him as he signaled behind his back for the tables to be fixed. He would allow the entire clan, having spent years with the family Marcel, knew better than to separate them when they were like this.
That was when a familiar scent filtered through his nose. Looking up to the door where Camille looking disheveled, narrowed her eyes at the big group before heading straight to them. Kol's eyes lit up in delight, smelling the frustration on the human as she walked swiftly towards Klaus.
The hybrid grinned lazily over at the dirty blonde, "Why hello there, Camille, was it? Lovely to see you again."
Caroline took one look at the blonde and inwardly rolled her eyes, finally seeing the famous Camille that the old Rebekah would throw in her face when the two women would talk.
"Klaus really did have a type," Caroline thought to herself, thoroughly amused. One look at the human bartender and Caroline knew that she once again got caught up in Mikaelson's mischief.
"What did my boyfriend do now?" She asked the blonde, earning cackles from the peanut gallery. Niklaus glared over at his siblings; Freya stood to the side, observing the sight with much interest. The relationships of her siblings brought much drama yet high amusement in the time she had been awake.
Camille looked over at Caroline; the bartender's eyes widened, seeing a young woman clearly a few years younger than herself being tucked into the big bad wolf's side. The young woman looked exactly as Elena described.
"Your boyfriend did a weird thing with his eye. I believe it was called compulsion?" Camille shook her head, refusing to dwell on that right this second, "they made me move to Denver to watch over Elena Gilbert before she told me the truth, allowing me to tell Klaus to shove it."
"Brother," Elijah groaned, knowing that particular plan would most likely backfire. Kol practically squealed in delight, clapping loud enough for the humans to hear said, "Do tell us how you did that beautiful."
Camille shot Kol a dirty look ignoring how he grinned, precisely the same way a schoolboy would look at a pretty girl, at her reaction before turning her attention back to Klaus. "Klaus, I am not a toy for you to play around with."
"Camille."
The bartender looked over to see Marcel, "and you," the blonde growled, "you knew all along about this supernatural bull crap!"
Katherine snorted, "Darling, he's a part of the supernatural bullcrap. He and most of the city is."
Camille crossed her arms, looking back at Klaus. "I realize you just wanted to annoy Marcel. But next time, keep the humans out of your lover's spat," the woman snarled before turning on her heel away from the group walking out the door.
Kol whistled, "Well, neither of you are going to tap that now."
Caroline bit her tongue as she walked over to Marcel's table and sat down next to Klaus. She turned towards her lover, "compulsion? I thought we talked about this."
Niklaus chuckled, "Of course, darling."
Marcel took the brief interruption to observe the Mikaelson clan. Klaus, of course, was at the center next to Caroline, the couple sitting at the table with him. Next to Caroline was a dark-haired human, a witch from the way the young woman's nose twitched around the vampires.
An almost vampire-friendly witch, how interesting.
Next to the suspected witch was the Petrova Doppelganger and Rebekah. The three women seemed to surround Caroline. On Klaus's side were his brothers. Elijah was on Klaus's right while Kol and Finn stood behind them. Finn's paramour was curled up on Finn's side while an unfamiliar blonde was on Finn's other side.
Glancing over at his most trusted adviser, he saw that the man shook his head. Marcel cursed at the fact they didn't know of a new member. The blonde that he knew of, Caroline, finally turned her attention towards him.
"How much of the deal did Klaus actually inform you about?" Caroline asked, pleasantly eyeing her boyfriend out of the corner of her eye. The way he watched her every move caused a shiver of pleasure to go down her spine.
Marcel looked over at Klaus with irritation, "Your vampire here was more of the do as I say or else type."
Suspecting as much, Caroline smiled brightly at the Mikaelson prodigy, "Hence why I am here. Here is the deal you get to keep New Orleans under your control with a few changes. In exchange, Niklaus and his siblings will hold their own territory but will not overthrow your own rulings. War is avoided, and everyone wins."
Marcel smiled up at a waitress that brought out a couple of drinks, waiting until the human left the vampire turned back towards his enemies. Sipping on the cup, "Why would I agree to that? You have no leverage."
Caroline laughed; it was light, airy, and carried throughout the restaurant. A few onlookers glanced over at the table before returning to their own tables. Marcel, with practiced ease, avoided showing his look of surprise. Niklaus grinned, showing a small number of teeth to Marcel's surprise, perfectly at ease, allowing his human pet, a pregnant one at that, to take the lead against Marcel.
What did they know that the king of New Orleans did not?
"I think you'll find yourself completely outnumbered, Marcellus" Caroline continued to smile using the man's full name.
"You think you can unite the other factions against me?" Marcel asked incredulously.
"I think you'll find that the werewolves will be at the very least appreciative of a group of vampires with a friendly witch or two that can reverse your little curse. Not to mention said witches would be willing to help yours," Caroline reminded Marcel.
"I do believe my brother actually mentioned that did he not?" Rebekah smirked over at her ex-lover.
"My witch has no need for your help," Marcel snarled. He watched as the dark-skinned woman on Caroline's right twitched.
"Are you so sure about that? I've researched this so-called harvest ritual. You interrupted it and now all that power is in one witch. How long until she burns out?" Bonnie accused. "Or do you not care for the life of the witch you saved."
Marcel's eyes narrowed, his lips turned into a snarl, "I'd choose your words carefully. I saved that girl from her own family."
Bonnie rolled her eyes, "She has the power of three other witches aside of her own inside her body. No witch can handle that much power your little witch is going to burn out. She needs to learn to control it, but that ritual you stepped in on can't be stopped. It will come to collect, and when it does, Davina will be killed. It's very likely she won't be allowed back if she is forcibly taken."
The vampires inched forward as Marcel leaped up, slamming his fists into the table. "You threatening me, little witch?"
Freya scoffed, sounding every inch a Mikaelson, "I've read the ritual as well. She speaks the truth. No magic can save her from the harvest. Witches are not known to be kind. The ancestors are no longer part of the living; the fact she disobeyed alone will make them angry. If you want her to survive this, then I'd advise you listen."
Marcel growled at the females in front of him only to receive several in return before Marcel realized that his side would most definitely be damaged. Far more than the Mikalesons. His witch was not around to be of use, and Klaus had two right next to the human of the bunch. "There is no way Davina can learn to control it?" He asked, eyeing the witches carefully.
The dark-haired one leaned forward, her dark eyes narrowing at the vampire, "I'm not a New Orleans witch. I have zero interest in their witch politics. While I hate this ritual, once it's been started, there is no other path but to finish. We can prepare Davina and teach her all the magic in the world. Still, until the Harvest is finished, she is at risk of burning out, and when it comes for her, she will very well die instead of coming back from the dead.
XXX
Matt was delighted to stay out of the current supernatural mess. Unlike most of his childhood friends, Matt understood that the supernatural beings were punching way above his weight. Knowing Alaric had helped ease Matt's fears knowing that there were ways to protect ordinary people.
The problem was many of his friends were not ordinary people. Bonnie had been born into a powerful witch bloodline, Tyler a werewolf bloodline. Elena was born the doppelganger, and Caroline, while starting out human, had been turned into a vampire. Even back to her human self, the blonde was no longer a typical human, not really.
Not that anything about Caroline had ever truly been normal or ordinary. Matt mused to himself as the door to the plantation burst open, not to see an angry vampire or witch as the cause. Still, a fuming human Matt had known since they were in diapers.
"Why hello there," Matt waved with a bemused smile on his face as Caroline's angry blue eyes flashed towards him on the couch, a book in his lap. Matt could see the hot air deflate at the sight of himself on the sofa as Caroline briskly walked straight towards him. Matt didn't have the time to even ask what was wrong before Caroline was using him as her outlet.
As the others slowly made their way into the foyer, catching the sight of Caroline, flailing her hands wildly as she caught her human friend up on their adventures. Within seconds Matt knew everything that had happened and all of her observations.
Matt was confident that if Caroline had anything to do with it, Marcel would go to hell. Klaus walked in to find his lover sitting next to her childhood friend and ex-boyfriend, regaling him with their adventure. He locked eyes with Matt, thoroughly amused by how the teenager managed to roll his eyes without Caroline noticing.
They had spent hours dealing with Marcel; even an hour with his protegee could be tiring, Klaus knew. Stopping her tirade, everyone noticed the way Caroline pulled her feet up, taking off the boots to rub the souls of her feet. "Feet hurting you, Care?" Matt asked in concern, much to Caroline's ire.
During the five months that she had spent human, Caroline was rarely reminded of her vulnerability. She hated being vulnerable after feeling nothing but that for so very long. Surprisingly the Mikaelsons could make her feel at home, even with how out of touch they were dealing with humans.
Today was no different; however, Caroline could feel her energy drain in a way the blonde could no longer remember feeling. Freya stepped in front of her, "are you feeling well, Caroline?"
Caroline blinked, looking at the newest member of the Mikaelson family, trying her best to keep a kind smile on her face. It was not Freya's fault that Caroline was in the position she was in. She should have expected it to occur sooner or later. It was in all the freaking baby books. Not wanting to cause her friends or the vampires around her concern, the blonde smiled, "I'm just tired."
Freya frowned, "you need rest now that you are with child." The oldest Mikaelson noticed how Niklaus perked up at this idea immediately closing the distance between them. Picking Caroline up and ready to take her towards their shared bedroom when Caroline shook her head, stopping him in his tracks.
Niklaus was many things, but an idiot was not among those adjectives. Looking down at the woman, "Freya is right. It's been a long day."
"I'm not arguing about rest," Caroline corrected as her face turned towards Freya, "I agree to sit down, but I am not ready to sleep for the night. Besides, before Freya and Bonnie could start to work on freeing the wolves, you have a promise to make. Now carry me back to the couch; we need to talk."
Niklaus gave the blonde a calculating look, a slight smirk on his face as he let out a long exaggerated sigh, "if you insist."
"I do," Caroline confirmed, smiling as the rest of their group slowly made their goodbyes, giving the smaller group some resemblance of privacy. Finn and Elijah gave Caroline a knowing smirk as they nodded towards their brother.
Niklaus frowned, knowing his siblings as well as he did; Freya aside, his little former vampire was going to do something he disliked. Setting Caroline back onto her feet and offering her his arm on their way to the couch, allowing her to control the movement. He frowned as he noticed her slower pace. Rebekah shook her head towards her brother, indicating that he should not mention his concern while pulling Matt with her.
Holding back a growl, Niklaus nodded towards his sister as he took his seat beside Caroline. Her scent fell over him as she leaned into him, almost automatically. His arm wrapped around her, not liking how drained of energy she seemed to be.
"I'm pregnant, Nik. It affects everyone differently. I'm going into my third month being more tired is normal," Caroline informed him, "I really need to give you those baby books."
Freya snorted, "Yes, I'm sure my brother will be happy to read those," earning herself her first brotherly glare.
"Klaus's lack of pre-baby reading aside. Freya and I have determined a way to not only undo the curse but provide them protection from it again," Bonnie announced, giving a teasing smile at Klaus. The latter looked like he was about to object.
"What is this protection? Knowing you as I do, Ms. Bennett, you would ensure that if they crossed a line, they could be punished," Niklaus deduced, earning a smile from Freya. The small amount of time she has spent with her siblings have shown that they were not as ill-educated about magic as her Aunt had made it seem.
While they could no longer practice magic, only one other sibling even had a talent for it. They were well versed in magic's limitations and abilities. "Brother, Bonnie, and I have rewritten the spell to ensure that the only way for pack to be recursed with this spell would be by someone with Mikaelson blood."
At the pleased look on Klaus's face, the other witch interjected, "It's also must be cast by someone from the Bennett bloodline. For insurance purposes," Bonnie said sweetly.
Caroline and Freya snorted as the lone male in the room glowered. "So the curse must be cast by a Bennett and include the use of Mikaelson blood."
"As if I'd allow an entire pack's well-being rest solely in Mikaelson's hands. You tend to be vindictive and not to mention if we told the pack that stipulation, They would never agree to it," Bonnie shook her head, "this way, not a single Mikaelson can get angry and find a willing witch to curse them."
Niklaus grunted before turning to his lover, "and you condoned this?"
Caroline laughed, "this is the first I'm hearing of this. But I agree you should promise to agree to these terms, or else Bonnie won't help undo the spell."
"Freya," Niklaus started to say, only for the blonde to shake her head.
"As much as I dislike the accusation on our family, your reputation precedes you Klaus. I have to admit this is a smart play. I won't do the spell without Bonnie."
Niklaus looked between the three and grunted, "How on earth did the sister that I never knew was still alive, manage to get into cahoots with my girlfriend and her friend in the span of days?"
"Your sister is smart," Caroline quipped, "appreciates that what might soothe your bloody temper is not always what is best for the family in the long run."
XX
Her entire body ached; why did they always have to be so rough? It was not like she was particularly heavy or bulky. The excess forced used on her was absolutely unnecessary to get what they wanted.
Elena groaned softly. Flexing the muscles in her fingers gently, Elena concluded that nothing was broken in her hand. Focusing her attention towards her lower extremities, the doppelganger sighed in relief as her foot moved without much soreness.
"Argh."
Tom!
Elena finally opened her eyes to find familiar green eyes sparked with fear.
"Elena? Are you okay?" came the concerned voice of Tom.
Oh, Tom. Elena felt tears well up in her eyes but refused to let them fall. This was all her fault.
"Elena?"
"I'm okay," She gasped, turning over, grateful that only her hands were tied. Using her hands to brace herself, Elena pulled herself into a sitting position, only looking up to find Tom doing the same.
Elena took a moment to look around, frowning at their surroundings. From the appearance of where they were, whoever had grabbed them placed them in a warehouse of some type. Tom groaned softly, "What happened?"
Elena grimaced, "kidnapped and placed in what looks like a warehouse."
Tom raised a brow looking over at Elena, "you seem rather calm about this."
Elena laughed shakily, "would you believe that this would not be my first kidnapping?"
Looking around, Tom saw that they were in a singular room, with concrete for ground. A warehouse would be a pretty good guess, Tom thought to himself. The man then opened his mouth to speak when a new memory hit him, "I recognized that woman."
"You did?" Elena asked, her internal gut dropping. Someone had been watching him then…someone who knew about him being a doppelganger, how else could she explain why he looked precisely like Stefan?
"I met her during my shift earlier today," Tom admitted, "she had invited me for coffee, but I didn't want to be late for our date. So I declined."
"Turns out it worked out better this way. I found two doppelgangers for the price of just one," An unknown voice spoke up from behind. Tom and Elena turned around to see the woman from before standing before them.
"Who are you?" Tom questioned, narrowing his eyes at the woman.
XXX
Tyler sat at the Mystic Grill bar, where the bartender would ignore the fact he was underage, slipping him a beer once in a while. Tyler smirked darkly, taking a sip of the perks of coming from such a proud family. He flexed his hands, watching as his hand changed from straight fingers into a fist. His mother was busy doing his father's job yet constantly free to call to check in on him.
His eyes glazed over as his mother's number popped up on the caller id. Tyler ignored it, not wanting to hear her hints that he should sign up for classes or do anything that would place his roots back into his hometown.
"Poor werewolf. Must be terrible to be so cursed."
Instinct told Tyler that danger was near; with his hackles raised, the werewolf slowly turned towards his left, where a strange woman with blonde hair sat smirking at him. She leaned over so that her scent full of spices and herbs floated into his nose. Slender fingers grasped the bottle of beer the bartender left, snatching it, taking a hearty sip before placing the bottle back in front of him. Tyler watched the woman warily, who looked right at home sitting next to him. She turned her body on the stool so that she was facing him.
Unable to take the silence, Tyler snarled, "What do you want?"
The woman grinned an intrigued, happy look in her eyes, "Didn't your mother teach you better manners?"
"I treat ladies with manners. You are no lady," Tyler replied, looking the blonde up and down. Her blue jeans were worn, the straps on her tank top seemed barely capable of holding her shirt together. The leather jacket on top was worn but of good quality. Whoever this woman was, the blonde was undoubtedly not the type of woman his mother had taught him to look out for.
While Mrs. Lockwood would have his hide if Tyler dares disrespect a woman. Carol was of mind that a woman like the one in front of him were for good times, treat them with general kindness on the street but never bring them home if he dared touch them. Hell, she had barely tolerated Caroline. A girl from a blue-collar family but not a founding family. It was Caroline's loyalty to the town and its traditions that made her a favorite of Carol's even if her family was not as well up as the Lockwoods.
It was why Caroline had been perfect. She was a vampire, understood the changes Tyler had been going through. His mother adored Caroline for her enthusiasm for the town's traditions. Once Klaus freaking killed him, there was no use worrying about carrying on the family name. Tyler tightly gripped his glass; he really fucking hated the Mikaelsons.
Fuck he hated the Salvatores too none of this supernatural shit started happening until they arrived. The likelihood of Tyler unlocking the stupid wolf gene had been small until then; even his uncle had said so. His uncle who had only recently activated his own by the time Damon had killed him.
"You look like a man that my friend and I can help," The woman purred softly, taking his hand into her own. She gave him a flirty smile, "after all, you wouldn't be in this predicament if it weren't for the doppelgangers."
"Elena never-"She hushed him with her finger.
"While the female doppelganger never hurt you. It was for her sake that everything happened; it's been that way since their creation."
"You keep talking in the plural. There is only one Petrova doppelganger at the time unless you are talking about Katherine," Tyler scoffed.
"Silas has his own doppelganger. You know of one of them. I believe he goes by the name Stefan?" The strange woman smirked at the anger darkening his eyes.
"See, you and I can help each other."
XXX
Freya tapped her foot impatiently as she sat in the contraption that her fellow witch had called a car. The dirty blonde's face had twisted in dislike as the metal door closed shut. Did they have to make these cars so small? Freya felt herself jump out of her skin when she heard the door slam on the other side.
Freya relaxed upon seeing Bonnie's apologetic expression as she took the driver's seat. "If I didn't think magical transportation would drain us unnecessarily. I would have suggested that instead," Bonnie explained, knowing that while Freya probably would not be drained by magical transportation, Bonnie had rarely practiced it once she saw the spell in the grimoire.
The ancestor's had sent warning nudges whenever she tried; apparently, they thought it was a bad idea. Freya nodded, "most magical transportation spells were created for emergency use. I understand the reluctance. It's just being in this contraption is a bit unsettling."
Bonnie snorted, "How long have you been awake again?"
"A week" Freya smirked over at the dark-skinned witch. "In which I've only been in a car once with that blonde friend of yours driving. Has he arrived back home yet?"
Bonnie smiled at the mention of Matt, "he should be arriving home any day now. I'm surprised the grill managed to let him go this long. They really should give him a raise, but it's a small town."`
Freya let out a low chuckle, "I'm afraid our ideas of a small town are very different."
"Well, you were born over a thousand years ago. I imagine so" Bonnie shrugged as she turned on the ignition, grinning at the glare the other witch sent her way.
"Kol would be much worse," She laughed, pulling out of the driveway waving to Caroline. After giving in to Klaus demands that she stay away from being directly in the pathway of heavy magic while pregnant. The fact she had given in was a testament to how tired the blonde had started to get.
Sending her a worrying glance over her shoulder until the plantation was out of view, Freya gave her a knowing smile.
"Caroline will be fine," Freya assured her fellow witch.
"Have much experience with hybrid children?" Bonnie asked as they slowly reached the city limits, turning into the area of the Bayou they had agreed upon.
"No, but I have seen my mother through one pregnancy and watched for most of the second until Dahila," Freya said softly.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought that up," Bonnie murmured sincerely, giving the blonde a small smile.
"It's fine. My mother was a difficult woman at the best of times the fact she could so easily agree to sell a child of hers just to have them" Freya shook her head. "It's in the past."
"Well, not so much, but one giant ass Mikaelson shaped problem at a time," Bonnie said as they reached their destination. Freya let out a shaky breath unlocking her seatbelt, watching as the belt zoomed past into its compartment.
"So weird," Freya mumbled, thinking about just how much things had change in a hundred years. The blonde let herself out of the car, sharing a determined look with Bonnie as the two made their way into the grass area. The trees blocked out the rest of the world, even the road only a few feet away.
There in the middle of a small clearing, stood the pack. Bonnie confidently stood in the middle of the clearing where Hayley was surrounded by wolves, all of them looking warily as the witches approached.
Freya was just behind Bonnie, glancing around at the wolves. This is what her brother was supposed to have become?
Wolves were pack creatures; lone wolves, while not exactly rare, didn't do justice seeing so many together. Hayley stood there with her arms crossed, a familiar-looking wolf by her side. The three women stood, not saying anything, sizing each other up.
Hayley broke first, "you have the spell?"
Bonnie nodded, "Klaus asked us to go over the terms once more. For communication's sake, if you will."
Hayley scowled, "We agree to come to the aide of the Mikaelson family when asked and to not plot against a member of the family. Was there anything else?"
"In return, we have reworked the spell so that only the combined blood of a Bennett and a Mikaelson can use this curse against you again," Freya announced, enjoying the way the wolves all seemed to move back as if in shock.
Hayley's eyes widened, "Mikaelsons never do anything for free."
"You've agreed to help when asked. In exchange for helping us with Marcel, you will gain greater access to the city without a supernatural showdown," Freya ticked off another one of their demands. "Along with this security which means my moodier siblings simply cannot find any witch to just curse you. Which means you have less reasons to betray my family for future grievances, and I've just ensured the biggest one of all cannot be done unless a Bennett witch allows it."
Bonnie shrugged, "Bennett witches are known to be stubborn mules. Not a single descendent of mine would agree to such a curse unless it was necessary for balance or you threatened innocents."
Hayley relaxed, "So all we have to do is agree to fight for you when you need the extra hands?"
"We're most likely ask you to protect Caroline while she is at risk, both at being human and her pregnancy at this time" Freya added, "Is that acceptable?"
Hayley's eyes flashed, "I don't think Klaus will like that idea. After what I've done."
"You did it to find your family. While Klaus dislikes the lack of hybrids, it's no longer necessary for his plans," Bonnie snorted, "you may have killed people, but I doubt you'd kill a pregnant woman, let alone her children."
Hayley nodded her head firmly; there really wasn't more to say. "You have a deal."
The witches smirked, Freya waved her hand making a dagger appear in it as she easily pressed the knife into her hand before passing the blade to Bonnie who repeated the action, Freya allowed her blood to drop onto the land forming a circle same as the one where the wolves had encircled hayley around her and bonnie.
Bonnie slowly copied the older witch's movements as they began to chant together. They chanted together for several minutes. The sky's darkened as they continued to chant in unison, ending the spell with
"lunae et nepotes eius
neglegimus tollere nata es
forma ut verum tuae in sempiternum"
XXX
Katherine lay in her guest bedroom, absolutely bored out of her mind. Why was she still bloody here? Katherine tossed her hair back as she used her elbows to sit up, slightly annoyed at herself. She was Katherine Pierce; no man could tame her she was the baddest bitch around.
And that was saying something considering she knew Rebekah Mikaelson.
Katherine groaned, leaning back; she came to this bloody city because she was bored, thinking a visit with her newly found blonde friend would give her a few days of amusement. Caroline was no failure in that aspect, drafting her into saving a newfound Mikaelson sibling of all things. But the amusement had slowly died down due to Caroline's pregnancy. Now here she was with nothing to do, Matt having returned to Mystic Falls just few days ago, meaning he was well outside of town.
Things were handled; in fact, Caroline was preparing for the imminent arrival of her mother. It was both amusing and frightening the way the blonde ordered the Mikaelson's around in preparation. Every single one of them snarking their way over to their duties. Yet, they had still managed to actually complete their tasks.
Katherine smirked as she heard Caroline cleaning the room picked out for her mother, with Rebekah complaining that she would hurt her back. A masculine chuckle at her doorway alerted Katherine to the unannounced guest. Snarling, she leaped up and glared at the sight of Elijah leaning against her door.
"What are you doing here?"
"Sneaking up on you is the only way I can assure that you no longer avoid me," Elijah deadpanned, taking a careful step into the room. "Caroline didn't happen to tell you where she hid the daggers, did she?"
Katherine smirked, "She gave me one. Insisted that if I was staying for any length of time, I needed a safety measure."
Elijah smirked, "sister-in-law's due love to cause trouble, I imagine."
Katherine shivered at the way Elijah's eyes darkened as he glanced over her lean body. She subconsciously licked her lips, "what do you really want, Elijah?"
Elijah sighed, his hand coming up to his neck, "you left before I could even form a response to our last conversation."
Katherine felt her stomach drop, "what more is there to say?"
"I've loved you for years, Katerina. Even after you ran, I tried to get Klaus to spare you; the best I could do was remind him how much he liked to play with his prey" Elijah's eyes held regret.
"You did always know where I was" There was no humor in her voice.
"You never made it easy."
Katherine let out a hollow laugh, "good."
"Katherine," Elijah stepped closer, silently relieved when Katherine did not take a step back. "I love you."
"Your family hates me," Katherine said scornfully.
"Freya does not know you yet; Finn thinks your devious but is willing to give you a chance especially considering you helped to save Freya" The vampire gave her a look. "Klaus was upset that he lost a chance to undo his curse; that is no longer an issue. Rebekah didn't like anyone until Caroline and Kol is a menace to everyone, even his family."
"You always run to them," Katherine pouted.
"I highly doubt we will be free to leave for a while yet. Besides, you are fond of Caroline," Elijah smirked, "don't deny it, Katerina."
Katherine growled, "so what? I'm supposed to just be with you here? Wait until all the drama is over, then we can finally get space from your crazy ass family?"
"I won't leave my family to fend for themselves, but that won't mean we don't get lives of our own," Elijah promised.
Katherine looked at him stepping closer," I still hate Klaus."
Elijah chuckled, "he still curses your name."
Katherine wrapped her arms around his neck, "I won't be nice," she warned.
"I wouldn't dream of you being nice," He drawled, wrapping his hand in her hair tilting Katherine up to his lips. Her lips pressed against his in a brutal kiss. Her arms tightened around his neck, moaning as he pulled her hair back, the movement allowing him to kiss her neck.
He used his vampire speed to press her against her closed door in seconds. He vaguely recalled Kol whistling low while Rebekah shrieked, crying out, "No! Fucking hell no! Klaus is bad enough!"
Katherine grinned looking up at him, "perhaps Freya should to set up new privacy spells."
Elijah grunted, pulling her into another bruising kiss forcing all coherent thoughts from the brunette.
XXX
A.N: Thank you all for your patience! This one took a lot for my very patient Beta to review. I will do my best to keep up a set uploading schedule, but because this is free I only write during free time. I will try to ensure every two weeks or so but it may only be once a month depending on other factors. Thank you all so much for sticking with this story! We still have a lot to cover and let me know what you think!