Chapter 26

Flashback:

Kol searched the entire Compound for Marcel. It was the day before his 18th birthday and Kol wanted to spend the day with him because he knew Klaus was going to occupy all of Marcel's time on his birthday and he wouldn't be able to have any fun with his best friend.

He found Marcel in the middle of the woods tying together a makeshift punching bag made out of a bed sheet filled with dirt.

"What are you doing?" Kol asked as he watched his friend throw the other end of the rope over a tree branch and hoisting the heavy bag up leveled with his chest.

"It's my new creation," Marcel said proudly. "I use it to practice fighting."

"And why would you need to practice fighting," Kol mocked. "Klaus would kill anyone who even thought about raising a hand to you."

"But I should still know how to fight. Boys younger than me know how to fight. I can't be a man and protect my family if I can't fight. Besides, poppa isn't going to be around forever."

"Try convincing him of that." Kol laughed. He walked over to Marcel's punching bag and eyed it. He remembered the time before he was a vampire when he and his brothers made a similar contraption to hone their sword fighting skills. "This is pretty good. But, y'know, this thing doesn't hit back." He punched through the bag with all his vampire might and it burst into a million pieces. "Certainly hope that wasn't the good linen, mate. Elijah would kill us both."

"Kol!" Marcel screamed as pieces of the bag fluttered to the ground. "Now I have to go back and get another sheet."

"C'mon, can't you do this some other day? Tomorrow's your birthday. Let's go celebrate."

"It's not my real birthday," Marcel groaned. "It's just the anniversary of the day poppa took me in."

"Well, it's the day you were born a Mikaelson so close enough. Let's go find some beautiful witches and start your celebration early."

"I wanted to improve my fighting skills," Marcel groaned. He examined the pieces of fabric scattering the ground and realized just how strong Kol was. He would definitely make a formidable opponent. "Didn't your father teach you how to fight before your family became vampires?"

"Sure did. I also spent about 40 years in a monastery training with Shaolin monks once because I...got on your dear-ol'-dad's bad side and didn't want to get a dagger in me and at the time, that monastery was pretty much unknown."

"That's perfect," Marcel exclaimed. "Then you can teach me to fight."

Kol smirked, quickly responding, "There's no way that's ever happening, mate."

"Please, Kol! I really want to learn how to fight but poppa won't teach me."

"What about those fencing lessons you have with him and Rebekah."

"Oh yeah, that's really going to come in handy if I'm ever face to face with someone who wants to bash my skull in. I'll just grab one of the many convenient sabres that you can find lying anywhere and fight back with that."

Kol shrugged. "Maybe you could tote one around with you like some sort of...mix-raced French Samurai."

"Kol," Marcel whined.

"I'm sorry, Marcel. Although I do think a man should know how to defend himself, if I hurt you, Klaus would rip my head off. And I mean that quite literally."

"You could never hurt me. You care about me too much. I'm your only friend."

Kol chuckled at Marcel's lighthearted joke and how true it actually was. He didn't want to teach Marcel to fight because he was his only friend and if Klaus did find out that he was teaching him to fight, Kol was afraid he'd get a dagger in him and wake up a century from then when Marcel was long dead and he would be alone with Klaus, Elijah, and Rebekah - the trio that never failed to leave him feeling like an outcast in his own family.

"Marcel...if Klaus found out-"

"He'll never find out, I promise."

With a sigh, Kol shook his head and looked deeply into Marcel's eyes. "Forget about wanting to learn to fight. All you want to do today is drink with your best mate and kiss pretty girls." Ending the compulsion, Kol stepped back from Marcel and said, "So what do you say, mate? What do you want to do to celebrate your birthday?"

Marcel's lips slowly curled into a wide grin. "I think I wanna drink and meet some of those witches you were talking about. Do you think you can sneak a bottle of bourbon out of the Compound without poppa finding out?"

Proud of his compulsion working, Kol said, "You're speaking to the Master of Mischief himself. Of course, I can."

End Flashback

The morning sun peeked through the sheer curtains in Rebekah's bedroom, stirring Marcel awake. His arm automatically reached for the empty space beside him. He opened his eyes to see Rebekah sitting on the edge of the bed, sliding her shirt over her soft skin. As she swept her golden locks over her shoulder, Marcel got a clear view of the sun illuminating her beautiful profile.

Sensing the man behind her waking up, Rebekah said, "Good, you're awake. Now get out of here before Niklaus wakes up."

"Y'know, I'm too hot for you to be so ashamed of being seen in daylight with me?" Marcel droned as he sat up straight, resting against the headboard as he continued to admire the beauty of the woman he loved. "Keep this up and I'll develop a complex."

Rebekah leaned over and kissed his supple lips. Pulling away from her gentle lover, she said, "Don't want Klaus to walk in on his little sister in bed with his adopted son."

Marcel cringed at her statement. "You Mikaelson women have a knack for making that sound wrong."

"If loving you is wrong..." Rebekah joked with a bright smile.

Marcel moved behind her, pulling her back against his chest as he kissed lightly against her neck. "So," he muttered between kisses up to her chin. "You love me."

Rebekah craned her neck around to Marcel and pressed her lips against his. "I've loved you for two hundred years, you beautiful fool."

"Then lie back down and spend the day right here with me. Klaus already knows about us. You don't need to kick me out at sunrise anymore."

"You told Klaus about us?" She barked, spinning around to face him.

Marcel sat back away from the angry Mikaelson and said, "You're mad, I know, but I had to. I love you and I don't want to have to keep hiding my love from Klaus or anyone else."

"When did you tell him?" Rebekah jumped to her feet.

Marcel shrugged. "About two weeks ago. The night Travis's wolves invaded."

"Tw...two weeks ago? Klaus has known about us for two weeks and neither of you thought to mention anything to me?"

"I knew you'd be angry...so I thought I'd wait for a good time to tell you. Clearly, this was not a good time."

"You're right! I'm furious. I've been walking around pretending like everything's the same old same when this whole time Klaus has known that you've been sneaking into my bed every night."

"Well, if it's any consolation I don't think he really knows the details. I just told him that I love you and that I want to be with you and he didn't fly into a blinding rage like usual so I assumed that meant we had his blessing."

Panicked, Rebekah began to pace the room. "Or he's waiting for the right opportunity to put a dagger in me. Perhaps he's waiting for us to get nice and comfortable in each other's love again. He wants to make sure that I'm at my happiest before he snatched that happiness away from me once again."

"If he was going to dagger you he would have by now," Marcel said trying to calm her down. "He hasn't so, obviously, he accepts us."

As angry as Rebekah was at Marcel for telling Klaus about them and keeping it a secret from her for two weeks, she couldn't help but wonder if he was right. Did Klaus really accept them? Was she finally free to find peace with the man she loved?

A rapping on her door caused both of them to jump in shock.

"Rebekah," Klaus's voice called through the door. "Family meeting in the study in ten minutes. Something important's come up."

Rebekah stared wide-eyed at Marcel. She quietly mouthed, 'Does he know you're in here?'

As Marcel shrugged his uncertainty, Klaus said, "Bring Marcellus too. This involves every vampire in this household."

Marcel smirked as they listened to Klaus's footsteps move down the hall. "See," he said haughtily. "And you were afraid he was going to dagger you."

-M-

Rebekah and Marcel walked into the study together, side by side. Rebekah's heart fluttered as her hand brushed against Marcel's. For the first time, she was able to stand next to the man she loved without the fear of having a dagger shoved into her heart. Marcel took her hand into his just as they walked through the threshold of the study. As he walked in he expected the looks he got from the other Mikaelsons - the looks of surprise and/or approval. What he wasn't expecting to see was the body of a young man lying in the middle of the floor, his big brown eyes wide open and staring up at the ceiling. His head lying separately from his stiff, heartless body.

"A bloody body on the floor before breakfast," Rebekah ridiculed. "Some things never change."

"Don't be so rude, sister," Klaus said condescendingly. "This is my new friend, Drew. I met him last night as I was getting a bite to eat. So was he."

"You found a vampire within the border?" Freya questioned.

"Not only was he in the border, he was in the Quarter. My Quarter. The Quarter where my daughter roams freely. The Quarter I allow her to roam freely in because I assumed that it was free from any possible threats to her safety, including ravenous vampires."

"That's impossible. I have a boundary spell around the perimeter of New Orleans that alerts me the second any Supernatural being enters or exits the city. I would've known the moment a new vampire entered New Orleans."

Klaus's eyes knitted together. "So that means someone turned a vampire inside of my city?" His fuming glare immediately fell upon Kol.

Immediately knowing what his brother suspected, Kol growled, "Why are you looking at me?"

"Let me think. Who among us is notorious for his lack of patrimonial loyalty and his unwavering duplicity?"

"You mean besides Marcellus."

Marcel's face remained stoic, hiding his guilt. He recognized the dead vampire before them. He had turned the young man himself. He was one of the new vampires he had turned over the past two weeks. He warned his new vampires to stay hidden in Algiers and to never enter the Quarter but apparently Drew was about as obedient to his leader as Marcel was to Klaus.

"There you go again," Klaus grunted, his fierce eyes burning into Kol. "Trying to turn me against my son." His yellow eyes shined with fury and his hybrid teeth dripped their venom. He sped over to Kol and grabbed him, his slender fingers wrapped around his brother's neck, keeping him in place. "Perhaps a few days with my venom coursing through your insignificant veins will help you learn your lesson."

"Niklaus, that's enough," Elijah barked. "Let him go."

"I don't think so, Elijah. First, he turns a new vampire behind my back, then he tries to blame Marcellus for his treachery. Who knows how many other vampires he has turned. Are you building an army to try to take my city away from me?" His grip tightened around Kol's neck. "I should rip your throat out."

Suddenly Elijah sped between his brothers and shoved Niklaus away from Kol.

"What would Kol do with an army?" Freya asked, frustrated by her brother's endless cycle of distrust of his family. "This is his city too. He gets everything he wants, he lives how he wants. There's only one thing that he wants that he can't have and having an army of stupid baby vampires is not going to get her back to him."

"Then you explain where this filth lying on my floor came from," Klaus demanded.

"You ever think maybe he escaped from Vincent's Sanctuary?"

"Thought of that first but Vincent doesn't seem to recognize this one. Even after I chopped off the lad's head and threw it through the window of the church. Vincent couldn't find any record of this vampire ever living under his protection. So, please, waste more time thinking of more rubbish explanations when we all know that Kol has once again betrayed this family!"

"I didn't turn this vampire," Kol yelled. "I didn't betray anyone!"

"Shut up," Klaus demanded. "I don't want to hear another word from you unless it's the truth."

"Maybe he was always here," Rebekah continued trying to think of other possible solutions for the appearance of the new vampire in the hopes of calming Klaus down so there wouldn't be any bloodshed. "Maybe he's been living under the radar in the Quarter since we returned this whole time and last night he just slipped up and ran into the loathsome, paranoid Mikaelson."

"She's right," Marcel immediately agreed. "About the vampire, I mean. I...I remember him. Yeah...he was, uh...one of my newer converts. A bit antisocial. He liked living in an empty warehouse by the docks. Maybe you just overlooked him when you ran all of my men out of New Orleans."

Marcel feigned confidence in his lie in order to convince Klaus that he was telling the truth.

"There we go," Hayley stated. "A vampire hiding away in an overlooked warehouse. If it'll make you feel better, I'll have my wolves search every nook and cranny of every empty warehouse in the city to find any lingering vampires."

When Klaus's tightly knitted eyebrows relaxed, so did everyone else.

"If they find any," Niklaus growled as he strolled towards the door. "Bring them to me. I want to kill every one of them with my own hands."

"I don't get an apology?" Kol yelled as Klaus walked out of the room. Klaus kept walking as if he didn't hear a thing. "Bastard!"

"Kol," Elijah bit. "That's enough. Let him be."

"He was going to bite me, Elijah. He didn't care to investigate who really turned that vampire, he had already made up his mind that it was me. I'm always guilty until proven innocent! Every time!"

"I know, Kol. I'm sorry. I'll speak with him."

"I'm sure that'll make a difference. Klaus is always receptive to a good talking-to." Kol sped out the room, infuriated.

Elijah released a heavy sigh of frustration and Hayley came to his side. She placed a gentle hand on his chest and said, "Let's go. You need to relax. I'll give the order to my wolves and then you and I can go take a nice, relaxing bubble bath."

Elijah cupped her cheek in his hand and kissed her. "That's exactly what I need."

As Elijah and Hayley walked out of the room, Rebekah reached for Marcel's hand and said, "I'm feeling a little stressed myself. How about you and I go take one of those relaxing bubble baths together."

"No," Marcel muttered. Rebekah stared in shock of his response. Even if he didn't really want to take a bath with her, she didn't expect him to be so blunt about it. "I...I have to go," he leaned over and kissed her lips. "When I come back, we can do whatever you want."

"Where are you going?" Rebekah yelled at his retreating back but he was gone before he could answer her.

"Seems like he was in a bit of a rush," said Freya. "Where do you think he's going?"

Rebekah stared at the open door Marcel had sped through only moments before, wondering the same thing. "He must have...something important to do."

"Something Klaus knows about?"

"Don't tell Klaus," Rebekah begged, turning a pleading eye to her sister. "You saw how he acted with Kol. I don't want him to start acting that way towards Marcel again."

"Rebekah, I know he's your boyfriend but if he's planning to betray this family again-"

"He's not planning to betray us."

"How do you know that?"

"Because I know the man I love, dear sister, and I would know before anyone if he was planning something."

"Are you sure about that?"

Rebekah turned back to the open door as if she was waiting for Marcel to walk back through it at any moment. A moment that never came. She remembered all the nights she woke in the past two weeks with Marcel missing from her side. She always assumed that he had snuck back to his bedroom but then the next morning he would be mysteriously by her side again acting as if nothing ever happened. She always thought it was suspicious but she was blinded by love. She refused to believe that after all they'd been through Marcel would do anything to hurt his family again.

"Don't tell Niklaus," she repeated. "Whatever Marcel's up to...it's alright. I know it is. He wouldn't dare betray this family again."

Marcel walked briskly through the Compound on his way out. He was hoping to get out of the Compound before anyone spotted him but unlucky for him Hope was looking for a little attention from her big brother.

"Marcel," Hope sped in front of Marcel just as he made it to the Courtyard. Her arms were crossed over her chest as she glared daggers at her quickly escaping brother. "Where are you going?"

"I...need to see Josh."

"Good. We can go see that new street artist everyone' been talking about that you promised to take me to see...last week."

"I can't today, Hope. I need to go see Josh alone. I'll take you to see your little street show tomorrow."

Marcel tried to walk around Hope but she vamped back in his path. "You've been putting off hanging out with me all week."

"I've been busy."

"Busy with Aunt Rebekah?"

Marcel released an exasperated sigh. In the past two weeks Hope has been pinning for his attention and as much as Marcel wanted to be the brother he was to her when he was in his teenage body, he had been too busy handling other matters over the past two weeks to spend any real quality time with his little sister.

He leaned down and kissed her forehead. "I could never resist a jealous Mikaelson woman," he smirked. "I promise when I'm through with my business with Josh, you and I will feast on greasy street food and enjoy whatever artist you want to view."

Hope let out a long, drawn-out groan. "Fine," she resigned when Marcel didn't fall victim to her brattiness. "I'll give you two hours with Josh but then I want the rest of the day, without Aunty Bex. Deal?"

Hope held out her hand, her pinky extended, and waited for Marcel to do the same.

With a smile, Marcel wrapped his pinky around Hope's and said, "Deal."

-M-

The three vampires living in Josh's apartment managed to make as much ruckus as two dozen. When Marcel came through the door, they joyously greeted him, eternally grateful to the man who found them as individual lost souls and brought them together as an immortal family.

"Marcel," a green-eyed vampire in a denim jacket was dancing on the kitchen counter with a beer in one hand and a blood bag in the other until his fearless leader came in the door. He jumped down from the counter and sped over to Marcel's side. "You're back! Please tell me you brought more beer. We're down to the last six pack and all Josh has is Bourbon. I hate Bourbon."

"No," Marcel mumbled. "I thought you would all be asleep when I got here. I told you, Zane, you need to sleep in the daytime and wake at night."

"Lora woke me."

"Did not," barked a petite girl with silky curls that fell down her back. She was holding a small device in her hand that changed the song blaring from the speakers with every flick of her finger.

Another girl with short black hair sat in a chair in the corner reading from an encyclopedia of communicable diseases. "You did so," she stated loudly. "You woke us all up with that damn music. Everyone but Josh. He could sleep through a nuclear bomb."

"Gwen, put the book down and come here, please. Lora, turn off the music. I need to talk to you all about something."

"I don't mean to be a tattletale," Gwen started as she sat the book on the table and walked over to Marcel. "But I think whatever you're about to say should wait until you go find Drew. He left right after you last night and he hasn't been back since. He probably got caught up on feeding on someone and got trapped somewhere by the sun."

"Ohhh," Lora joked. "He's only been here six days and already Drew's the biggest troublemaker of the four of us. He's definitely last in line to get a daylight ring."

"Drew is what...he's what I need to talk to you about." Marcel took a deep breath and moved between the three young vampires. "...Drew was killed last night."

A hush fell amongst the three vampires.

"Wh...what do you mean?" Zane stammered. "Who...how...why?"

"It's a long story." Marcel walked over to the bar and grabbed a bottle of bourbon and four glasses. Pouring bourbon in all four glasses, he said, "I know you don't like bourbon but perhaps you'll make an exception this time. Let's drink in honor of our fallen brother."

The three vampires circled the bar, each taking a glass of bourbon.

"Six days ago," Marcel started his solemn speech. "I found a homeless boy, a runaway from an abusive father and a drunken mother. He had no one and when I found him he was in the process of drinking himself into a coma in the bayou hoping that the Gators would do the work of ending his life so that he wouldn't have to face another day alone. I saved him. I brought him into our family. And last night he died for the final time. But he did not die alone. He died loved by each and every one of us and with him went a little part of us. To Drew," Marcel held up his glass and the others did the same.

Marcel drank from his glass but the others did not.

"Who could kill him?" Lora asked with tears in her eyes. "He-he's a vampire. Who...wo could've...who could've..."

Marcel took another sip of bourbon and said, "He was found in the Quarter last night by Klaus Mikaelson."

Gwen shook her head in disbelief. "Klaus? Your father Klaus?"

"Yes, my father Klaus. I told you all that he has banned vampires from New Orleans but as long as you stay out of the Quarter you should be safe. Actually...I think that you all should stay indoors for the next week or so until I say it's safe. Hayley's werewolves are going on a vampire hunt and they've been ordered to bring any vampires they find to Klaus and if I know Klaus he is not going to make your end swift or painless."

Josh came out of his room just as Marcel was warning them about the werewolves.

"Wait...what's Klaus doing to vampires?" Josh asked surprised.

"Don't worry, you're safe. You've already been pardoned from him, remember."

Before Josh could relax in relief, Gwen blurted, "Klaus killed Drew."

Josh's mouth fell slack. "Wh...when," he managed to mutter.

"Last night," Marcel answered. "Klaus found Drew feeding in the Quarter and he ripped his heart out."

"We have to retaliate," Lora insisted. "We can't let him get away with this."

"You have to," Marcel stated. "Klaus is a thousand years your senior and he holds no remorse for killing those outside of his family."

"Then we will turn more vampires." Zane declared. "We will turn a thousand vampires to fight that thousand-year-old asshole."

Marcel cringed at the memory of the last time he tried to bring an army to fight Klaus. The invincible Original made quick work of his century-old friends, he knew a thousand baby vamps would die twice as quickly, especially now that Klaus had the entire Mikaelson clan by his side.

"We don't need to fight Klaus," said Marcel calmly. "I will talk to him. I will convince him to let the vampires back in the Quarter again and once I do you all can come out of hiding."

"What was the point of turning us if you didn't want to use us to fight Klaus," Gwen barked. "Are we supposed to just cower in the shadows away from the Mikaelsons for the rest of eternity?"

"I turned you to give you a gift. When I found you, you were all lost or in pain and contemplating taking your own lives to end your suffering. I turned you into immortal beings and made you a part of our family. I want you to live but if you ever try to go up against any of the Mikaelsons, they will kill you without hesitation. Let me speak to Klaus. He will listen to me. You three will be fine. I promise."

The three young vampires marched angrily away from Marcel. Their minds were flooded with feelings of fear and disappointment. Fear of Klaus and Hayley's werewolf army hunting them down and killing them like they'd done Drew and disappointment in Marcel for failing to be a leader who could protect them.

Marcel could feel their hateful stares burning into him and he could no longer stand it. As he opened the front door to leave, Kol stood on the other side of it, his fist raised as if he was just about to knock before Marcel opened the door.

"Ugh," Kol grunted upon seeing Marcel standing in the doorway. "Of course you're here too."

"Kol," Josh sped to the door, blocking Kol's view of the three vampires standing in the middle of the room surrounded by clumsily discarded blood bags. "I thought we agreed to meet at the restaurant."

"Yeah," Kol said trying to brush past Marcel and Josh but the two locked shoulders so Kol had to stand at the door. "But I had to get away from my lunatic brother for a while so I decided to meet you at your place today. Uh...care to step aside you two?"

"No," Josh answered quickly. "Let's just go to the restaurant."

Kol raised as confused eyebrow as he looked down at Josh's blue silk pajamas. "Are you going to get dressed first?" He asked.

"Um...this is what I'm wearing," Josh smirked. "It's the latest trend in France. You've been away too long to keep up with fashion."

"That may be," Kol said as he gruffly pushed his way past Marcel and Josh. "But I'm not going out with a man who looks like he's dressed for bed."

At first sight of the three vampires, Kol thought nothing of them. They looked like normal college-aged kids so he assumed that they were just a few friends of Josh's and he suddenly felt embarrassed at pushing his way into the room. Then he began to sense something strange about them. The blood bags scattered across the floor confirmed his suspicions.

"What is this," he growled, spinning around to Josh and Marcel.

"Kol, I can explain," Josh said.

"Oh, I think I can figure things out quite well on my own. You've been making vampires behind my back."

"I've been making vampires," Marcel said confidently. "I turned them all with my own blood. Josh had nothing to do with it."

"You?" Kol smirked maniacally. "You turned these vampires? The headless one in the study this morning, that was one of yours too?"

"He was," Marcel admitted. "I turned him six days ago, not years ago like I said."

Kol gripped Marcel's shirt collar and slammed him against the wall. The three young vampires all bared their fangs at the stranger who dared come into their home and manhandle their sire.

Ignoring the threat of the baby vamps, Kol focused his attention on Marcel. "You were going to let him bite me when you knew that I didn't turn that vampire. You were going to let me suffer the consequences of your mistake!"

"I wasn't going to let him bite you," Marcel growled. "I was trying to think of a better explanation than the truth."

Kol released Marcel, a thought suddenly occurring to him. "That's right," he chuckled to himself. "You lied to Klaus. You broke a rule. Not only that...you've been making vampires behind his back. You have once again proven your disloyalty to this family. This...this is it. This is what's going to get you banished from this family once and for all."

Josh moved between Kol and Marcel, blocking Marcel from the crazed sight of Kol. "Kol, please," he muttered. "Don't tell Klaus about the vampires. We were trying to build an army against the wolves, not against your family. You saw the numbers Travis has. It's not fair that there are that many wolves around here and a hand full of us vampires."

Another thought crossed Kol's mind as Josh spoke. Josh was an accomplice to Marcel's crimes. Kol knew the worst Klaus would do to Marcel was banish him but Josh would receive so much worse. Klaus would make sure he suffered as an example to anyone else who ever thought of betraying the Mikaelsons before finally killing him.

"You," Kol's voice came out low and gritty. "You should not have been a part of this. Klaus will rip you to pieces."

"Klaus isn't going to do anything to him," Gwen spoke out angrily. "We're not going to stand by and let you Mikaelsons kill our people off."

Kol was boiling over with rage. He wanted to take every ounce of his anger out on someone. He wouldn't hurt Josh and he couldn't hurt Marcel but when Gwen spoke, he realized that there were three people in the room that he could do whatever he wanted to.

Turning to the three vampires, Kol sped over to Gwen and shoved his hand through her ribcage. He felt her cold, dead heart clasped in his hand and it felt so nice to have complete control over someone's life again.

"Kol, no," Josh screamed.

"Let her go," Marcel demanded.

Fearing for their friend's safety, Lora and Zane vamped over to help her but Kol was expecting that. In the blink of an eye, he snatched out Gwen's heart and wrapped his hands around the throats of the two other vampires.

"No," Marcel screamed as Gwen's heartless body dropped to the floor, her flesh turning a sickly grey.

Kol slowly turned to face Josh and Marcel with the two young vampires tottling around with him as he squeezed the life from their body. "Since I can't tell Klaus about this failed attempt of a coup of yours, I'll just punish you myself. And what better way to punish you for creating vampires than to take them away from you."

"Kol, stop it," Josh yelled. "If you're truly my friend, if you ever want to be my friend after this, stop it now."

As filled with rage as Kol was, the thought of losing Josh as a friend managed to calm his temper enough for him to decide not to rip off the other two vampires' heads. Instead, with a flick of his wrists, he snapped their necks and allowed their bodies to fall to the floor.

"I'm going to let you two decide how to dispose of these two yourself," Kol muttered as he slowly stepped over the two fallen bodies before him. "Either kill them or get them out of New Orleans and make sure Klaus never finds out about this." He paused in front of Marcel on his way out. "Because if Klaus kills Josh for this," he grabbed Marcel's collar again and pulled in inches away from his face. "I'm gonna kill you."

Kol pushed Marcel back against the wall and stomped out of the apartment, slamming the door behind him.