It took a minute for Vincent to reciprocate and wrap his arms around Cami in return. Even when he did return the hug, his body was still stiff and his hands rested unsurely against her back.

Not wanting to make him uncomfortable, she squeezed him tight one last time and stepped back to put some distance between them, although her hands remained on his arms.

"I don't understand," he said, his eyes flitting across her face. "How are you here?"

Her joy at seeing him again dampened a little upon hearing his question. She didn't want to get into the whole story with him immediately.

"I was brought back," she said, offering nothing else.

"Obviously," he replied wryly. Realising that they were still standing in the middle of the doorway, Vincent urged Cami inside and shut the front door behind her.

Cami's eyes quickly darted around, taking in the apartment that had once been her home. A lot of the furniture had been removed. There was still a bed and a dining table, but the living room was quite different. Bookshelves – full of old looking books that Cami recognised as probably being grimoires – lined one of the walls, and glass cabinets full of ingredients were against one of the others. A weathered desk was in the centre of the room, with a chair by it and a little couch nearby.

A silent question in her eyes, Cami turned to look at Vincent.

"I'm using this place as a sort of office for the time being," he explained.

"I'm surprised the apartment was free for you to use."

"It's been free since you…" he trailed off. "Well, you know."

"Died?" she offered, finding his discomfort at saying the word to her almost funny.

Vincent nodded. His expression remained a picture of shock, like he still couldn't believe that she was really there in front of him. "Klaus bought the apartment afterwards and kept it empty until I started using it a while ago."

"He really bought this place," Cami mumbled, more to herself than to Vincent, as she glanced around her apartment. It wasn't a particularly amazing apartment. Certainly nothing that an Original would ever want to live in. Knowing that Klaus bought the place only for sentimental reasons affected her more than she would have expected.

"Have you seen Klaus?" Vincent asked quietly, pulling her from her thoughts.

She swallowed the lump in her throat. "No. I tried to, but…" she paused. How could she even begin to explain to Vincent the situation that she was in? She could be putting him in danger just by being there. God forbid Inadu tracked her down. Vincent was a powerful witch, but she didn't know if he'd been able to go head-to-head with Inadu, and she didn't want to be the one to put him in that situation. He didn't need to get involved in her mess.

"Okay. It's okay," Vincent said, placing his hand on her shoulder. He looked at her with concern, searching her face for any answers to the questions that he no doubt had. "Look, why don't you go take a bath? You might feel better afterwards and I'll put together some herbs that might calm you down."

She hadn't been allowed to bathe since she'd been brought back to life. Her body didn't seem to sweat anymore, so she was fairly certain that she didn't smell from the time she'd spent stuck in the crypt. Still, a simple, normal thing like taking a bath could make her feel more human again.

She nodded, the corners of her lips tilting up into a grateful smile. "Thank you."

She sat there, holding her knees to her chest, while the water grew cold. It didn't feel the same against her skin. Before getting in, she had made sure that the water was boiling hot and she'd been aware of the temperature as she'd slid into the tub. She felt the warmth, as much as she now felt the chill from the cooled water, and yet, it didn't affect her at all. Her body remained comfortable, as if there was a subtle shield around her skin that stopped her from becoming too affected.

Alone in her old tiny bathroom, she could almost pretend that everything was normal. That she was the same old Cami. She didn't want to go outside and face reality, but she knew she had to. She'd already spent too much time there. She was pushing her luck. Inadu could storm in at any point.

Her hands wrapped around the sides of the bathtub as she pulled herself out of the water. Having no other choice, she had to put on the clothes that she'd been wearing earlier back on after drying herself. Her wet hair laid against her shoulders.

She took a breath to calm herself and stepped out of the bathroom.

Vincent sat on the couch, scrolling through his phone. He looked up when he heard the door open. "You okay?"

She nodded, suddenly feeling a bit uncomfortable. "Thanks for letting me use the tub."

"It feels weird to hear you say that considering that this is your apartment."

"It's not mine anymore," Cami mumbled, making her way over to sit beside him on the couch.

"This place will always be yours," he said. "You can have it back if you want."

She kept her gaze low. "I don't think I can stay."

While she wasn't looking at him, she could feel his eyes on her. "What's going on, Cami? A couple of hours ago, I thought that you were dead and then you show up here, living and breathing again. Who brought you back?"

While she didn't particularly want to get into the whole story, once she started talking, she couldn't stop. The words just spilled out. Everything from the moment she'd woken up in the crypt, all the way to her arrival on his doorstep.

Vincent stayed quiet the whole time and listened. When she finally stopped, he spoke again. "Bringing you and Davina back to life to use you against the Mikaelsons is smart. She's using both of you as human shields. Klaus would never hurt Inadu if that meant hurting you too."

Her face warmed. "If Klaus had to choose between me and his family…" she left the implication in the air.

Vincent shot her a doubtful look. "The Hollow wants power. Nothing else matters to her. She wants sacrifices to make herself stronger. She already tried to get to Hope before."

That piece of information made Cami sit up straight. "She tried to kill Hope?" Magically linked or not, Cami would tear out Inadu's heart herself if she hurt little Hope.

"She did." His eyes became distant with thought. "I don't doubt that she wants to sacrifice all of the Mikaelsons. Their deaths would make her unstoppable. Klaus and Kol won't kill Inadu if that would mean killing you and Davina too. That means that she can go after them without the fear that they'll kill her. Once she's sacrificed them, she'll just break the linking spell and kill you again too."

Cami's throat suddenly felt tight. "So she wants to use us to kill Klaus and Kol first. We're just bait that she'll throw in the trash once she has them."

"Pretty much," Vincent confirmed, "but don't worry. I'm going to find a way to break that linking spell before she can do any of that."

"You think that you can break the spell quickly?"

"Hopefully. I'll talk to Freya as well to get her opinion. Between the two of us, we should be able to do it," he said. "In the meantime, you can stay here with me. You'll be safe from the Hollow until we can break the spell and end her."

"I can't stay, Vincent. I have to go back for Davina. She needs me," Cami replied. The offer was tempting, but she couldn't stay with Vincent and leave Davina with Inadu. She wouldn't save herself only. When she'd left the crypt earlier, she hadn't intended to leave Davina permanently; she just wanted to get them help before returning to get Davina out too. Now that she had Vincent on her side, and she knew that he was going to help them, she had to go back to the crypt for Davina.

Vincent's forehead creased. "If you go back, there's a very good chance that the Hollow will get you again."

"But she can't do anything to me while we're linked," Cami pointed out. "If you break the linking spell first without Inadu knowing, you can go to the Mikaelsons and figure out how to kill her."

"It's too risky, Cami." Vincent shook his head.

"I can't leave Davina behind," she countered, standing back up.

Seeing that she wasn't going to change her mind, he quickly stood too, his hands in front of him in a placating gesture. "Fine. I don't like it, but it's not my choice. I'll start working on how to break the spell."

She pulled him into another hug. "Thank you."

This time, he immediately responded, him arms going around her waist and squeezing her tightly.

Elsewhere…

Death moved through the streets, barely managing to avoid wrinkling their nose at the people that surrounded them. Some of the people smelt like alcohol and most didn't quite understand the concept of personal space. The smart ones kept their distance.

Dressed in all black, their hands covered in leather gloves, they hardly looked like the average person on the street. Having no need for it, they had no hair on their head and their body type was neither female nor male.

One drunken fool stumbled into them. They snarled back and the guy quickly jumped away as if he'd been burned.

The scent of death in the air pulled them in two different directions. The two souls that they were searching for were in separate places. It was inconvenient, but Death chose to follow the nearest scent. They'd have to go back for the other one after they caught the first.

One touch to the skin would right the balance. Even though they would probably try to run, Death would only need to place their hand on the person's skin and the soul would leave its unnatural body and return to the afterlife, where it belonged.

Just one touch. And then this would all be over.

Author's Note: Thank you to the people that reviewed! The next chapter is going to be a big one, but I hope to post it soon