CHAPTER FIFTEEN:

KATHERINE P.O.V.

(The same night)

"Marcel has invited us to a party." Rebekah said as she walked into the room, I shifted off of Elijah's lap and onto the arm of the chair, knowing that he doesn't like public displays of affection.

Elijah raised his eyebrows at his sister, as she flopped down onto the couch. "A party?"

"Yes. He's having a big soiree tonight. He invited all of us. Nik, You, Katherine, Nadia, and me. What should we do?"

I climbed off of the couch and walked across the room, plucking the invitation she held from her hand and read it over. A formal event to 'have a good time'. Formal attire. "Sounds like fun."

"We can't all go. Klaus wouldn't allow for Hayley to be left here alone."

I turned to look at Elijah sceptically. "I'm sure she'll be fine for one night. We all deserve a little time out."

"I'll stay with her. I don't think it would be wise to leave her alone anyway. You never know what might happen."

"Well, I'm going." I said, throwing the invitation down at Rebekah. "And I'm sure Nadia would love to go."

"I'm going too." Rebekah said, jumping up from the couch, arms crossed over her chest as she looked at Elijah. "I mean, you don't have to do everything Klaus wants you to do. He's not here."

Elijah sighed and placed his hands in a steepled position. "Klaus hasn't given me any orders, I'm using my common sense. I don't mind if you guys go, but I'm not leaving Hayley unprotected."

#

"It's too bad that Elijah and Klaus couldn't make it." Marcel said, leaning against the wall next to me.

"I suppose so. Not that I'm looking to spend any more time with Klaus." I said, taking a large sip of my drink. "He just doesn't seem like the type to miss a party."

"Well, it's his loss." Marcel pushed off of the wall, grabbed my arm and dragged me towards the dance floor, both of us placing our glasses down on a table on our way.

Once we reached the dance floor, he wrapped his arms around my waist as we danced to the relatively slow music. I let my eyes scan the room, falling on where Rebekah and Nadia stood talking among themselves.

A part of me wishes that Elijah could be here to dance with me and actually let loose for once, but another part of me knew that he preferred to show affection in private rather than in front of heaps of people.

"You look very beautiful tonight, Katherine." He whispered, his lips close to my ear. One of his hands slid down my waist and came to rest on my ass.

I laughed and reached down to move his hand away. "Marcel, if Elijah saw you right now I'm pretty sure he'd snap your arm off."

Marcel reeled back in shock. His eyes wide. "You and Elijah? I wouldn't peg him as your type. He's too...structured for someone like you."

Marcel spun me around to the music and then pulled me back to his chest. I opened my mouth to shoot back a snide remark, but stopped when I saw who had just entered the club. Andre.

I stopped dancing and pulled away from Marcel. "What the hell is he doing here?"

Marcel turned around to see who I was talking about, and then looked at me curiously. "I invited him, but I did not invite her."

I followed Marcel's eyes and was surprised to see that Andre had a witch on his arm. Marcel was renowned for not tolerating witches, especially in his club. But this wasn't just any witch. I knew her.

With icy blonde hair and pointed features, Ysabeau had always looked flawless. She was from one of the larger covens in Bulgaria, and I had met her a couple of decades ago when I had contracted her help.

I watched as Marcel made his way towards Andre. Not wanting to be notice, I moved towards the back of the room, and was met by Nadia and Rebekah coming to stand beside me.

"Marcel, nice party." Andre was saying, his arm wrapped around the Ysabeau, with a massive smile on his face.

"Andre, old friend." Marcel called, smiling maliciously. "I don't think you got the memo. I don't like witches in my parties."

Ysabeau looked shocked and turned to face Andre, slapping him in the arm at Marcel's words. The whole scene seemed rather confusing. I wondered what Andre was up to.

"I am so sorry. I didn't know." She said with a fake American accent filling her voice. "I will go. I didn't mean to cause you any trouble."

Marcel smiled down at her and swept her a bow. "Such nice manners. I am sorry, Sweetheart. Any other night and it would be fine, but tonight's a night for the vampires to have some fun."

She slapped Andre on the arm again before saying goodbye and leaving. After she had gone, Andre apologised to Marcel, telling him that he hadn't realised that witch security had gotten so tight.

I stopped listening, not wanting to listen to anything else that he had to say. Nadia was still watching Andre with a strange look in her eyes, and Rebekah seemed to watching Marcel. I sighed and composed myself, walking over towards the bar to get myself another drink. Suddenly this party didn't seem so much fun.

"I'm sorry about that, Katherine." Marcel said, wrapping his arm around my waist again. "Now, why don't you tell me how you know Andre?"

"He's an old friend. We didn't part on good terms." I whispered, taking a large swig from my drink.

"Ah, he's one of those old friends!"

I turned to shoot another remark at Marcel, but before I could open my mouth I was blown back by a massive explosion near the front of the club. Falling hard on my back, Marcel landed hard on top of me. Pushing him off of me, I shot to my feet to see the extent of the damage.

The front of building was in flames and there were people laying on the ground covered in building debris and glass. I looked around the room for Nadia and found her and Rebekah at the back of the room untouched. I rushed forward, pulling some of the rubble off of people as I passed. Marcel was beside me, shouting out in Occitan as he looked for his men.

We were quickly joined by the other uninjured vampires, all of us working to extract the people who were hurt. I had moved more towards the front of the building, clearing the large rocks and fallen building out into the street.

I looked around for Andre, wondering if he had been one of the one who had been buried. Across the street I caught sight of him standing beside a man covered in shadow. A man I knew. A member of the same coven that Ysabeau was from.

I turned back to the building. This had been a hit.

I didn't bother running after him. I was needed here in the clean-up. We could worry about him later.

Hours later nearly all of the debris had been moved. The police had arrived not long after the explosion, helping clear the way with their machines and such. Before Nadia, Rebekah, and I left I caught sight of Marcel sitting on the curb with a couple of his friends, sadness in all of their faces. They had lost men.

The drive back to the house was filled with an unbelieving silence. None of us could put into words how we felt about what had happened. When we finally pulled up in front of the house, we all let out a collective sigh.

Before we could get out of the car, I stopped and stared at the light through the front window. "It wasn't an accident."

"What?" Rebekah said from the passenger seat, turning towards me and staring at me in shock.

"The witch Andre arrived with…I know her. And I saw her again, and another witch from her cover, outside when I was cleaning up rubble. They were looking at the club and whispering to one another. It was a hit."

"How do you know it was a hit?" Nadia said from the back, her voice sad.

I turned to look at her. "The coven those witches are from specialise in hits. And I know a shady transaction when I see it." I paused and turned back to face the house. "When we go inside and tell Elijah, he's going to want to call Klaus straight back. I think we should wait a few hours until day breaks. It's going to take a lot to unpack all of this, and I think it would be best to have a well-rested Klaus when that happens. Also, can I be the one to tell Elijah?"

We all agreed and climbed from the car, Rebekah and I walked up to the house, whereas Nadia bid us goodbye and climbed into her own car. When we entered, Elijah looked up from reading in his chair in the lounge room. Once he took in our dishevelled appearances his expression darkened and he raced to stand in front of us.

"What the hell happened?" He growled, looking between me and his sister.

"It's a long story. We've had a long night, and I think it would be best if we headed up to bed and talked it over. I'm sure Rebekah would like a shower and then some sleep."

I pulled Elijah by the hand up the stairs to his room, not looking back to face Rebekah as I went. I sat down on the edge of his bed and rested my head in my hands. I should have known that Andre was up to something when he showed up to the party with a witch. I should have spoken up and done something before people died.

"Katerina, what happened?"

I looked up and met Elijah's eyes. I could sense the worry coming off of him in waves. "There was an explosion at the party."

His eyes widened and he stepped forward and knelt down on the ground in front of me. "An explosion? How?"

"The whole front of the building was blown to rubble. Some of Marcel's men died. We spent the last two hours just cleaning up debris and getting the bodies out. Marcel and everyone thinks that it was an accident, but it wasn't." I took a deep breath and ran my hands through my hair. "It was Andre and a coven of witches from Bulgaria."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure!" I yelled, shooting up from the bed. "Andre showed up to the club with a witch that I know. Then, not even ten minutes later, the explosion happened. And while I was out the front of the building I saw him with another witch from the same coven. What I don't understand is why. Why would he blow up Marcel's club?"

"We should call Klaus." He said, placing his hands on my shoulders and looking me in the eyes. "Maybe he will know of a reason."

"No." I said, stopping him as he moved one of his hands from my shoulder towards his pocket. "We decided it would be best to wait until the morning to tell him about it. We think a well-rested Klaus would be better in this situation than a sleep-deprived, murderous, Klaus."

CAROLINE P.O.V.

The blaring noise of a phone ringing was what woke me up from my peaceful sleep. I groaned and started to roll over, but was stopped by my body hitting something warm. My eyes shot open and I looked up to see a half-asleep Klaus growling as he reached for his phone that sat on the bedside table.

Memories from last night flooded through my brain and a sleepy smile pulled at my lips. I snuggled into Klaus' chest, closing my eyes and trying to drown out the ringing.

Klaus shifted and picked the phone up, growling into the speaker. "Do you know what time it is?"

I sighed, lifting my head up to look at his face. I stroked his bare chest and pressed a kiss to his collar bone, listening carefully to see if I could hear the reply on the other end. I couldn't.

Klaus listened for a moment, one of his arms wrapping around me and running their way up and down my back. "Fine. We'll be there at lunchtime."

He hung up the phone, placing it back on the bedside table and the rubbed his free hand over his eyes.

"What's wrong?" I asked, tracing my fingers over the feather tattoo.

He turned his face to look at me, smiling as he pulled me closer. "Something happened last night. Elijah didn't go into detail, but they want us back there as soon as possible."

I nodded, pulling myself away from him and up into a sitting position. The blanket fell down to my waist, revealing my bare chest. I reached down to cover myself back up, but was stopped by Klaus pouncing on me and pulling me back down to the mattress.

"That doesn't mean we have to get up right now." He growled, nuzzling his face into my chest.

I wrapped a hand in his hair and pulled him back. "Klaus, if something happened we need to go and see if everything is okay. That doesn't mean roll around in the sheets for hours and then maybe get ready and go."

He smirked down at me before leaning down to press his lips against mine in a soft, but passionate kiss.

"Sweetheart, I only just got you to cave in. I'm not ready to share you with anyone just yet." He leant in close, his breath tickling my neck as he whispered into my ear. "Whatever happened can wait."

"Klaus." I laughed, running my fingers through his hair and down the back of his neck.

He nibbled on my ear, making a moan slip from my lips. "I think we're intimate enough for you to call me Nik."

"Nik…That's going to take some time to get used to."

"I'm sure I'll have you screaming it in no time." He said, smiling down at me.

#

The drive back to New Orleans was filled with happy conversation, which was strange considering that we didn't know what exactly we would be driving into. Klaus didn't let go of my hand once the whole drive, gripping it tight as if he thought I would disappear if he let go.

As we got closer and closer towards New Orleans, Klaus seemed to get even more nervous, gripping my hand tighter and tighter.

"It will be okay, Nik." I said, leaning across the centre console to press a kiss to his cheek.

"I know." He said, unconvincingly.

When we pulled up in front of the Mikaelson house, a little bit after 2 in the afternoon, we were met by a very frustrated-looking Katherine. Klaus and I slowly walked across the driveway and up the steps, meeting her there. She stood in her usually leather jacket and skinny jeans, with her hands on her hips.

"You're late." She hissed.

"Last time I checked, I didn't specify the exact time we would arrive." Klaus said, edging past her and into the house.

"Seriously! We tell you that something major happened last night, and you and Caroline decide that the better decision of what you should do, is to roll around in the sheets?"

Klaus spun around to face Katherine, his eyes flashing gold as he bared his teeth at her. "It's none of your business what happens between Caroline and I. We got here. Now, why don't you tell me what happened instead of complaining."

I followed both Klaus and Katherine into the lounge where everyone was seated. Klaus stood by the window, as he did most time we were in this room. Elijah sat in his corner, where he was joined by Katherine; Nadia was standing by the doorway; and Rebekah and Hayley were sitting on the couch. I sat down in one of the chairs, leaning back and relaxing into the soft cushion.

"There's been an attack." Elijah said, placing a hand on Katherine's leg as she sat on the arm of his chair.

"Where?" Klaus asked, looking out the window rather than at his brother.

"At Marcel's club."

Klaus stood perfectly still, his body slightly tensing at Elijah's announcement. I watched Katherine, who was looking remarkably…guilty.

Klaus sighed, running his hand through his hair, slowly turning around to meet his brother's eyes. "What happened?"

"It's all my fault." Katherine said, meeting Klaus's eyes. "I could have stopped it."

"What. Happened?" He growled.

"Marcel had a party and invited us all. So, Rebekah, Nadia, and I decided to go. It was a regular party, everything was going fine until Andre showed up with a witch. Marcel told her to leave, and she did. Then, ten minutes later the whole front of the building blew up. Marcel lost men, the club is out of business until the police figure out how the explosion started. But, I saw Andre outside with a witch from the same coven as the girl he showed up with. I know the coven, I've dealt with them before."

"And you think it was Andre who hired them to blow up the club?" I asked, interjecting before Klaus could.

"I could tell by the way that they were talking to one another. It looked like a business transaction. You could just tell that that's what happened."

"And why do you think it's your fault?" Klaus said, stepping forward, his anger dissipating slightly the closer he stood towards me.

"I should have known something weird was going on when Andre showed up with a Bulgarian witch. I should have mentioned something to Marcel, maybe they could have prevented it. I could have gone with Marcel to confront Andre when he first arrived, but I was too afraid."

"I don't understand why Andre would want to hurt Marcel. It makes no sense." Rebekah said, sitting up straighter. "I mean, when I found Andre he was drinking with Marcel in the bar. They seemed like friends. Not enemies."

My brain ticked. Rebekah was right, that didn't make sense. But, surely Andre would assume that at least one Mikaelson would be there. Klaus was supposedly trying to get his throne back from Marcel, so it wouldn't be too farfetched that the Mikaelson's would be there. If that was true, and he had known that one of them would be there, then why was that so important? What did he want with the Mikaelson's? Unless they were the target, and we were playing right into his hands.

"He's not after Marcel. He's after you." I said, looking at Klaus. He met my eyes, his brows furrowing.

"Why do you think that, Sweetheart?"

"You're trying to take reign of New Orleans back from Marcel. Andre would have either assumed that one of you would be at the club, or he would have known that you would band together to catch whoever it was that had attacked Marcel." I looked from Klaus to Katherine, who was watching me carefully. "What he wasn't expecting was Katherine knowing the witch he bought to stake out the layout of the club. If you hadn't noticed her and then the other witch, then no one would have a clue about who caused the attack. But, you would all be helping Marcel, and be out in the open."

A smirk appeared on Katherine's face as she looked from me to Klaus. "Who are you and what have you done with the small town neurotic cheerleader?"