Chapter 11

Blood

"Elijah?" Rebekah said. "Is everything alright?"

"No," Elijah replied tensely. "Where's Niklaus?"

"In the study, I think. What's..."

Elijah marched to the study and yanked the door open. Klaus was sitting on the armchair, a glass of bourbon in his hand.

"Let's make something clear right now," Elijah snarled. "I have tolerated a lot from you, Niklaus, but those days are over. That woman upstairs has my loyalty, as well as my protection. I will die for her and our child if I have to." Elijah paused and took a step towards his brother. "And I will most certainly kill for them. If you ever lay a hand on her again, you'll see how serious I am."

"How sweet," Klaus huffed. "Except that I didn't touch her."

Elijah's eyes narrowed.

"You certainly did something to her, she was terrified..."

"Did she tell you that I hurt her?"

Elijah crossed his arms.

"No, she didn't have to. I have eyes."

"Hmm, sometimes I doubt that. In case you haven't noticed, your little lady seems to have all kinds of issues. How well do you actually know her?"

"She's carrying my child," Elijah snapped.

"I haven't forgotten that and for the record, I never had any intention to hurt her. I only wanted to ask her few questions."

"What questions?"

Klaus raised his eyebrows.

"Are you honestly trying to tell me that you haven't noticed anything strange about her?"

Elijah glared at his brother. Yes, he had noticed something, but he wasn't willing to talk about it with Klaus. Cate was a sweet and innocent woman, that was all Elijah needed to know. At least for now.

"There's something wrong with me..."

He had tried to ask her some questions, but she hadn't wanted to talk. He had no intention to pressure her, especially after seeing how upset she had been. She would tell him when she would be ready.

"Well, allow me to enlighten you then," Klaus hummed. "First of all, she's running from someone called Roark. I could tell you who that is, if you wouldn't have interrupted me in the cemetery. Second of all, it seems that she has been abused by her father. Poor thing. And third of all, she smells very interesting, would you agree?"

"She does," Kol stated while entering the room, followed by Rebekah. "I noticed that too."

Elijah pressed his lips together; he wasn't going to talk about this. He hated the fact that Klaus knew more about Cate than he did, but he wasn't going to force her to talk to him.

"That girl has many secrets," Klaus continued. "Normally I wouldn't care, but in this case, secrets can be dangerous."

"Elijah?" Cate's cautious voice said from the door.

Elijah turned quickly to look at her.

"Hey, is everything alright?"

"Yeah," she replied tensely as she entered the room. "I... There's something I want to say. To all of you."

"You don't have to..."

"I think I do." She paused and took a deep breath before looking at Klaus. "You were worried about your brother, I get that. And... I think you were right. I think there's something wrong with me."

"Cate..." Elijah started.

"Please, let me finish. I can't really explain it, but there has always been something wrong with me. My mom always said that it's not safe for me out there. She warned me not to draw any attention to myself. And my dad... He could never stand me. I couldn't understand why before now. I think he knew something about me."

The whole room was quiet after her words. Everyone was looking at her and Elijah was trying to find the right words to say. Klaus was the one who spoke first.

"Where are your parents now?" he asked.

"Dead," she replied tensely.

"I'm so sorry," Elijah said and moved in front of her.

"That's okay," she murmured. "It happened couple of years ago. A car accident."

"Any other family members?" Klaus asked.

Cate bit her bottom lip.

"I have a brother, but I don't think that he knows anything."

"Hmm. Is this Roark your brother?"

Cate tensed.

"No. I don't want to talk about that."

"It's okay, you don't have to," Elijah assured.

"I think she does," Klaus stated. "When I looked inside your mind, I saw that you're running from this Roark. Why?"

"That's personal," Cate murmured. "It has nothing to do with this."

"How do you know?"

"I..."

"That's enough, Niklaus," Elijah stated firmly. "She already said she doesn't want to talk about it."

Klaus rolled his eyes.

"What are you suggesting then?"

Elijah wasn't completely sure. He knew that they needed to find out what was so special about Cate. Perhaps that even explained how he had managed to get her pregnant.

"I have a suggestion," Kol stated. "Her blood."

Elijah frowned and looked at his brother.

"What?"

"Have you tasted her blood?"

"No, of course not and I'm not going to." He paused and gave Cate a reassuring smile. "It's alright, no one will taste your blood."

"That's actually not a terrible idea," Rebekah pointed out. "If she's something more than a human, you should be able to taste that in her blood. I'm not talking about feeding from her, few drops should do."

"I can do it," Kol announced immediately, earning a glare from Elijah. "I can be gentle."

"I won't be if you even try to touch her," Elijah snarled.

"Do you have a better idea then?" Klaus asked.

Elijah didn't have time to reply when Cate spoke up.

"You could really taste it in my blood?"

"Yes," Kol replied for Elijah.

"No," Elijah snapped. "I won't do that," he continued, using a much softer tone.

Cate hesitated for a moment before looking at Elijah.

"What if I give you my permission?"

"You don't have to do that..."

"I think I do. I need to know if... I just need to know."

"Are you sure?" Elijah asked gently.

She nodded.

"Yeah. But I don't want you to bite my neck or anything like that."

"No, no, of course not. I just need few drops."

She pressed her lips together and nodded.

"Okay... Okay. Can we do this upstairs?"

"Yes, of course."

"Can I come too?" Kol asked.

"No," Elijah snapped and gently guided Cate to the door. "Let's go."