Danse Macabre Part II — Mors Vincit Omnia


"To be fond of dancing was a certain step towards falling in love"

Jane Austen (Pride and Prejudice)


Klaus could feel the coin burning out in his pocket. The barrier spell would probably only last for a few minutes more but Caroline didn't need to know this. Not until he would force some answers out of her.

He looked at her and prepared himself for what was to come because he knew he had to play dirty to make sure he would get what he wanted from her.

Usually he would have expected another response but Caroline's angry shock didn't last long.

There was a flash of heartbreak and despair in her eyes that if he wasn't this attuned to her he could have sworn he had imagined it but it was there and it was like a punch in his gut. Only he didn't linger in that feeling. He pushed the feeling of guilt away. He could see what trapping her in this room did to her now. She was already traumatized and he was pushing her limits but if he didn't push they'd get nowhere. They'd only repeat the same cycle and that could be far more destructive. Not just for him and them but also for her. He had to reach her somehow. To make her open to him even if he had to force her.

Only it didn't seem that possible now. Forcing the creature he had in front of him didn't seem much of a possibility.

The transformation was instant.

Klaus noticed how Caroline got immediately in fighting mode. It was not a hotheaded reaction as one would expect. No. The lethal edge in Caroline turned sharp like a piece of jagged ice honed to a slick weapon ready to strike.

Caroline's energy mutated and it was as if the fire inside her rose from the ashes. She came alive and her instincts took over. If he hadn't lived for as long as he had he wouldn't be able to notice the change in her. Her stance didn't betray anything but that false façade didn't fool him.

A warrior confronted him now. Caroline was capable of anything and everything but no matter how amazed he was by this he didn't show it. He kept his cool and maintained his sardonic expression.

Caroline was now like a viper ready to strike and he waited until they both started circling each other. Klaus could see the hint of blood that contrasted in her eyes.

"You don't want to do this," Caroline said in a low voice.

She was keeping her whole body calm. Her muscles at ease and Klaus' heart broke as he realized that she was trained to do so. She survived Purgatory and she expected danger. He knew what it meant to be hunted by your worst nightmares and to fight like an animal to survive, always be alert, always be terrified, always expect the worst so much that you become accustomed to the danger and the inevitable terror that becomes real. Watching Caroline now was like watching a mirror. It was heartbreaking. He hadn't wanted this for her.

Still, there was another part of him that felt differently.

He was intrigued and mesmerized and he also felt hate and envy. Caroline was magnificent like this which excited him but these new skills of hers were not only innate. Not all the way through. They were cultivated and he hated that Kol had taught Caroline this. He would have loved to have been the one to teach her and maybe Kol becoming her mentor had been a necessity but that didn't make him hate his brother any less.

Hate. Yes.

He had to center there. If he had any chance into cornering Caroline he had to steel his heart against the tornado of feelings she awoke inside him. Caroline was intuitive. She could read him. If she noticed weakness she would manipulate it.

So he pushed all his thoughts away and let only the rage and the destruction linger. Just under the surface. Enough to make her worry. Enough to make her believe that his threats were not empty.

"I think I do," he replied in an even and unsympathetic tone.

Caroline's eyes narrowed before her face relaxed. She remained unblinking but he could see the calculation in her features. She was weighing her options. She was assessing the situation. He could see how her mind worked. He could see even the speed it was firing thoughts and ideas. Brilliant strategic Caroline Forbes in all her glory. She was trying to shut him out. She kept her expression unreadable and if he didn't have a thousand years of experience he wouldn't be able to match her intelligence and for someone so young as her that said something. He wasn't anywhere near her brilliance when he was at her age. In a few centuries, Caroline would be a force to be reckoned with that much he knew. She already was. And like such, she was trying to find the advantage to turn the tables on him. She knew a direct confrontation would not do her any good. He was the Original Hybrid and she wouldn't win in a brutal fight based solely on strength especially since she didn't have the element of surprise.

Then her eyes fell on the bed near then and her gaze hardened. She cast him a mocking glance before she pointed at the bed.

"What is it that you really want Klaus?" she wondered, her voice turning sultry and Klaus pressed his lips annoyed.

He could see where this was going and it both turned him on while disgusted him too. Her weapon of choice was the one thing she had in her arsenal that could defeat him. The one thing he wanted. Herself. She couldn't defeat him in a straight out combat so she chose the next best strategy.

"Well there is a bed in this mausoleum you built for me," she mocked him making him grit his teeth, "much more comfortable than the woods," she shrugged indifferently, "so how about we get on it and I spread my legs for you?"

The crudeness of her words had a sharp edge that made him grit his teeth. He should be prepared for her hostility but it didn't make it hurt any less.

His eyes followed her as she went towards the bed.

"It is not like I haven't done it before to get rid of you and it did the trick. You left," she reminded him with a bit of poison on her tone. A part of hers blamed him for leaving. She tried to hide it but the evidence was there in her tone. It was veiled to not show her bitterness but it was there. "So let us go at it again," she propositioned him, her fingers trailing the fabric of the duvet, "You know take this out of your system and move on to a new obsession."

She locked her gaze with his and silence stretched between them. He felt his insides churn and could feel the gold that consumed his eyes that dilated. His rage was sharp on his gums, his fangs almost descending.

He took one step and one more and approached Caroline.

Silent and fearless as she was there was still a hint of caution that flashed through her eyes.

Only it wasn't enough to break through the haze of his anger that was consuming him whole not allowing the pain to register.

He loved her. That much he knew. That much he had already accepted but for monsters like them, the barrier between love and hate could be nonexistent. They felt everything more. They ached more. The lines blurred more.

So maybe at this moment, as Caroline desecrated what that had transpired between them, he felt hate more acutely than anything else. It was the only way to not let her words hurt him any more than ripping out his heart would.

He stood inches away from her. Stoically, calmly…deadly.

One more step back and the back of her knees collided with the frame of the bed but she kept her balance.

It would be so easy. To take her upon her offer. To throw her on that bed and bury himself between her thighs. Bite her. Drain her of all life. Making her scream his name both in agony and pleasure. To let his venom infect her. To be her poison and her cure.

He looked down at her. He didn't raise his voice.

"I've been so lenient with you. I showed you mercy. Kindness," he whispered making Caroline almost flinch.

Almost.

"This is how you keep repaying me?"

Caroline's lips curled to an acidic smile.

"Kind?" she asked him incredulously pointing at the room he was currently keeping her in against her will.

Unforgivable. He could see it in her eyes. This was unforgivable for her but if she was going to treat him like her enemy then it was just as good. At least he could give her an actual reason to act like this with him. A legit one. "This is what you call kind?"

His smile mirrored hers.

"Have you been kind Caroline?"

Ghosts and memories lingered between them as the truth hung like a sword that would take no mercy once it would fall.

And it had fallen. And they bled.

They were still bleeding.

"Have you been honest?" gentleness rolled off his tongue but his gaze was hard, "Have you been merciful?"

'…with me' were the words he left unsaid but he knew she heard them. She heard them as if he had screamed them in her face.

Caroline swallowed harshly and when his fingers skimmed the line of her jaw her breathing turned erratic.

He was caressing the monster of hers now. The one that lingered just under the surface. The one that would never be kind, would never show mercy. The one that wanted him just as mercilessly as he wanted her.

"My Caroline," he whispered fondly, his words a melody of love that resembled hate and he wanted nothing more than to erase all the love and just keep the hate. It would be easier. It would be safer. But he couldn't do it. Because this was his Caroline. Any version of hers he wanted, he cared for…he loved.

He could never hate her no matter how much he tried.

And neither could she. He could see it in her as her eyes fluttered closed.

They both suffered from the same infliction but Caroline hated it more than him. He had given in to it.

She hasn't. Not yet.

Maybe not ever. And that made his hate grow which only meant that his love for her knew no bounds. Such blurred lines and all.

He leaned closer, wanting to feel her, to relish in her weakness. The one that his touch provoked. The touch that every other would fear but she embraced. She took in the danger and made it her safety but it didn't last long.

Her eyes snapped open and she pushed him back. He didn't stumble back. He remained unmoving and a growl escaped her lips.

He smiled at all those waves of frustration that broke through all the barriers and her walls and allowed him to see the Caroline she used to be. All light and fire and angry at him so much that she was coming alive.

"Why can't you just leave me alone?" Caroline screamed at him.

He pushed back the smile and canted his head to the side. He had to push her buttons more. He had to lure her to him. That obstinate stubborn part of hers that Purgatory hadn't managed to bend. That part his brother hadn't touched. That part that would give him the answers he wanted and shine a light for Caroline herself to follow. Follow him straight into his darkness. One much preferable than the one that plagued her lately. He wasn't a saint. He wasn't the cure that much he knew. But his poison could be soothing once it would burn her resistance.

"Why indeed?" he wondered out loud giving her a scathing look, "I grow tired of these games love," he warned her, "if you wanted me to leave you alone you shouldn't have come tonight."

Caroline compressed her lips.

"Newsflash Klaus! The world does not revolve around you."

She tried to move past him but he didn't let her. His body blocked her exit and the only escape was…the bed.

"Oh but it does," he drawled making her heave in such a beautiful rage that brought the color of blood on her cheeks that flamed so temptingly, "and the more you try to deny it the more you are pulled in its axis."

Thousand years of exercising the art of seduction made him able to pour all that knowledge into his voice. Into the way, he looked at her. And no matter how much she tried to hide it Caroline Forbes was affected.

And yet she denied him. How she denied him.

"As if!"

Her indignation lacked the confidence it should and he smirked.

He traced the bodice of her dress with his finger, his nail leaving a trail of fire on her exposed smooth skin that not even the shivers that broke all over her body could not put out.

"I thought the message of my invitation was clear," he told her, skewering with his gaze, "and still you came. Dressed up in my gifts no less."

Caroline straightened her back only to find herself pressed on him since he hadn't left her any room to breathe in the way he had invaded her personal space.

He could feel her heart beating like a war drum. It reverberated on his chest.

"I didn't come for you," she rejected him ruthlessly.

Oh yes, this was the answer to his question. She wasn't kind. She had no mercy to spare.

His body turned to a block of solid steel.

"Then for whom?"

He let out the question word by word. Slowly. Lethally.

Anyone else would have screamed in terror just by looking at him now. It was not wise to not tread with caution only Caroline didn't seem to care and she didn't dignify him with an answer which only made him see red.

"For my brother maybe?"

The savage hell that rose inside him just at the thought of her answer being yes was enough to burn the whole world but Caroline simply rolled her eyes.

"You know what," she snarked, "believe what you will."

She tried to leave but he didn't let her. His fingers wrapped around the nape of her neck making sure to trap her in his unrelenting grip.

Caroline didn't even try to fight him off. She didn't try to stave away his monster either. She just stood there which was worse.

"This is what you want? For me to let you go?" he spat, "give me the truth and I will."

The darkness in the room now created glimmers of light over her face giving her face a sinister and yet ethereal glow.

She pinned him with her gaze.

"You know the truth."

The loathing in her eyes made him chuckle as his fingertips left bruises on her neck.

"Do I?" he wondered and when Caroline removed her eyes from him he tilted her head back forcing her to look at him. She almost lost her balance, her hands splayed on his shirt making his muscles flex underneath, "come on love! Look me in the eye as you lie to yourself."

When she looked at him now there was no derision in her eyes. No deflection or indifference either.

Only pure anger similar to his.

He lowered his head. His lips touched the edge of her mouth and Caroline inhaled sharply, her fingers gripping his shirt, ready to tear it apart and him with it.

"Tell me again you and I are not happening," he provoked her, his voice melted honey dripping over like gold encasing them in a fiery want, "I dare you. Tell me how much you hate me. How much you don't want me. How there's nothing between us."

The green in Caroline's eyes became more potent so much that it turned to frosted glass in her eyes. Translucent even, like moss after rain that reflects the sun. It was violent and weak at once. It showed her conflict. Her desire to lie.

"Let me help you, sweetheart," he purred and a soft gasp left Caroline's lips when the world titled and she found herself on the bed with his weight blanketing in.

"Lie to me, love," he whispered, his one hand still on the back of her neck while the other was slowly pushing the delicate fabric of her long skirt up. Like cloud fading over smooth skin, heat rising higher.

Her body couldn't lie. Not when her legs parted for him. Not when her chest rose higher and her arousal bloomed filling his nostrils with the need that deprived their bodies of oxygen. Awaiting for just one spark for both of them to combust.

"Lie," he demanded again, his forehead resting against hers. His eyes never leaving her. His palm skimming her inner thigh making her tremble uncontrollably.

"Stop," she mumbled, but her fingers pushed back his jacket and nailed his back pulling him closer.

It was pure instinct. He knew it. And he was ready to take advantage of it.

He pushed himself between her legs and the soft moan that escaped Caroline's mouth was an ever stronger aphrodisiac than what her body's reaction was doing to him. But he wouldn't have her like this. Not like this.

"I even gave you the opening you wanted Caroline. I locked you in," he reminded her and saw the fire turn to ice. Her eyes grew big and in them, the desire turned to death.

She tried to push him back this time but he held her leg in his grip making her face twist in disdain.

"I threatened you. Everything despicable thing you think I am capable of…I just proved it," he pointed out as he pulled her leg around his waist in a taunting motion making her grit her teeth. He rubbed his body over hers and pressed his erection against her sensitive skin. There was nothing nice in the way he used her body now and her need evaporated but the traces of it still lingered and they both knew it. He felt the same disgust she did but he didn't stop, "so tell me again how there will never be an us. Not today, not tomorrow, not in a century from now."

He used the words he had once told her, the words that promised her the world and declared his infatuation for her only now they were nothing but a mockery and Caroline glared at him.

"Stop this."

This time he voice lacked emotion. This time it was steady. Her hands fell back and she wasn't holding on to him anymore.

There was a hint of pleading in the way she told him to stop though.

His smile turned dark.

Caroline could pretend all she wanted that the time they had spent in the woods was something cheap that she didn't want but the moment he turned the tables on her turning to what she claimed him to be and turning what flowed so effortlessly between them into something vulgar all the lies she was feeding herself with shuttered into nothingness.

Her pretenses turned to tangible anger and disappointment.

Klaus arched his brow trying to tame his own body and put his emotions under control. How easy it would be to claim her lips. To put an end to this nonsense and bury himself inside her making her scream his name until she would not remember all the reasons she invented as to why she still couldn't stand him and why they couldn't be together. It was hypocritical. And it burned him. It inflicted more wounds than his worst enemies had ever given him. He wanted everything from her. He had once made love to her for endless hours in Mystic Falls, giving her a part of him and then he let her go because it was what she had wanted and needed. He would never do that mistake again.

His hands moved. He let go of her neck and she at once turned her head to the side unable to look at him any longer. Pain flashed through his eyes now that she wasn't watching but he pushed his palms at each side of her head and his nose traced the long column of her neck. He felt the pulsing vein there and bit it with blunt teeth making her whole body tense.

She whimpered.

"Why is it so hard love?" he laughed against her skin and Caroline's hands turned to fists at her sides, "you've already said it once. Now this time say it again and mean it. Tell me we are not happening. Say it and know that it will be over. There won't be any second chances. There won't be a however long it takes anymore."

And there it was.

The tipping point.

One second he was over her, the next second he was lying on his back. Caroline was on him. She had straddled him with a strength he didn't know and could have never imagined she possessed, her vampiric face was a mask of wrath, her fangs gleaming in the dark.

Her hand had wrapped around his neck and she held him down ready to rip his head off.

"I said STOP!"

Her savage command almost shook the room. It was a combination of refusal, agony, and rage. So much rage. Caroline wasn't accepting this. None of it. Not even him letting her go as she so much proclaimed he wanted him to do.

The flames in the room flickered and Klaus watched that magnificent creature mesmerized, his hands going to her waist only for Caroline to grip his neck harder.

He laughed, taunting her more.

"Maybe we should use this bed after all," he enraged her further until she became the full embodiment of what he would imagine a Goddess of vengeance could be. She vibrated with darkness so hot that it became bright. His personal nemesis. She looked at his neck transfixed. At the flow of his blood in the beating vein. Her hunger rose. She wanted his blood. She wanted him. Her fangs elongated more, the veins under her eyes a spider web pulsating over her cheeks, more prominent in the deathly paleness that had taken over her.

A creature of the night. Ready to curve him into a river of red and drown both of them in it.

"Maybe it is me you need to get out of your system love."

He couldn't help it. He touched the veins under her eyes with his thumb. Stroking the monster within. Admiring its signature on her skin.

His touch, light as it was, was enough to bring her back from the edge.

Caroline blinked. Once. Twice. Her face turned human again and she looked at him as if she couldn't believe she had lost all her control. Tears pooled in her eyes.

And then she flashed away from him as if he had burned her.

She straightened her gown and rubbed her face with the back of her hand. Wiping tears she wouldn't shed. Not in front of him. She hated herself for her weakness. For everything. And with everything she hated him too.

Klaus pushed his head back for a fraction of time, looking at the ceiling with despair before he casually made himself comfortable on the bed not bother to get up. He pushed his elbow on the bed covering and rested his head on his palm. His body ached from the distance between him and Caroline but he was on this earth for centuries. He could pretend. He could fake his reactions and now his eyes followed Caroline as if this amused him instead of hurting him.

Caroline had turned her back on him. She was taking deep breaths. Trying to reclaim her control. She was shaking so hard. Like a leaf in the wind. She was trying to push air in her lungs, to subjugate the madness of her bloodlust….or simply of her lust.

"Why not take what you need Caroline? After all, you've been correct in your assessment. This bed is far more comfortable than the forest ground."

"Shut up," she kept mumbling over and over again, "just shut up. Seriously!" Caroline grumbled without turning around to look at him, trying to regain her composure, and this time his smile was genuine.

"Really. We have all the time in the world sweetheart. It's not as if I plan to let you out."

Caroline swirled around this time, all fury and fierceness.

"You unbelievable ass!" she yelled at him and the next second the vase with the flowers that decorated the table next to her flew at him.

Klaus laughed and easily dodged it only for Caroline's shoe to find him straight in the back of the head as the glass and the water from the vase exploded everywhere when it impacted with the bed frame making the flower petals rain down along with their thorns.

Both of them stared at each other in shock not believing that she had managed to do that. He rubbed the back of his head baffled but then gave her a warning look when she reached for her other shoe.

"Now love," he warned her as he sped away a few feet away from her.

"I will tear this fucking place apart until there will be nothing left from it to keep me in," she hissed at him and he caught her shoe a few inches away from his face. She had pointed the heel this time with full force at his face, its edge aiming between his eyes straight for the kill.

"Tear the fucking world apart Caroline. It will still not be enough," he lightly said as he tossed away her shoe and despite her fury, she flinched and he smiled at her. Caroline Forbes always loved her shoes.

Caroline crossed her hands in front of her chest.

"And why is that?"

"You think I haven't noticed Caroline?"

"Notice what?" she bit out and he gave her a sympathetic look.

She frowned at him and he hummed.

"You know love…if your world did not revolve around me you wouldn't be putting such a conscious effort to avoid me while you keep your eyes and ears trained on me. Every day. Every night. Tonight was no different." He saw the way she stiffened and averted her eyes, "don't think I haven't noticed how you have been keeping tabs on me? All your energy goes there. Why is that?"

"You are imagining things," she muttered making him chuckle. Her blush was adorable.

Klaus took a step forward, she took a step back.

"As cute as this is you need to work on the art of lying love."

This time she stopped moving and the stubborn fire in her was back with a vengeance.

"This didn't seem to be the case when you were falling for my distraction."

His response to her pleased expression was a crooked smile.

"That only happened once sweetheart and I learned from that mistake. Every other time I was willingly let you play your little games with me."

Caroline narrowed her eyes trying to find even a trace of dishonesty in his words but she would find none because he was telling her the truth. Every other time he knew and he was willingly joining the trap her distraction staged for him. He was willing to let her do anything to him, betray him, let her moronic friends that hadn't earned her precious loyalty play their games, let his enemies think they had the upper hand on him. All that and more if it meant spending more time with her. Her distraction was gaining him something else much more precious...time with her, a chance to win her over, to get under her skin, to enter her heart and mind. What wouldn't he do to have her distract him again!

"I still am willing to fall for your lovely distraction should you be up to it."

He prowled closer and they started moving in circles following an imaginary perfect diameter that kept them in sync.

"Feel free to distract me at any time. I am honest enough to admit that should you want it my world is ready to revolve only around you."

Her breath was caught. She stopped moving. He didn't.

Without her shoes, she now had to slant her head in a bigger angle so to face him. His fingers traced her lips.

"Let it, love."

"Stop."

Again that damned word. Like a broken record on repeat. How he longed to fix that record and let it sing another tune.

"How long will you be avoiding me, Caroline, when we both know it's all for nothing?"

Caroline's fingers wrapped around his wrist immobilizing his movement.

"That's not true."

Her voice cracked and his expression turned gentle.

"No?"

"No," she insisted and let go of his hand.

"When you came tonight," he started, letting his hand fall instead of reaching for her again, "I thought you came for me."

Caroline's chin jutted out.

"You thought wrong."

He examined her carefully and saw something more in the way she spurned him.

"You are still angry," he realized and Caroline looked at him as if she was standing in front of the greatest idiot of all times.

"Whatever gave you that impression?" she asked pointing with her accusing gaze at the room he had locked them in.

"Not for tonight. Not for now," he clarified and Caroline's gaze turned opaque.

And there it was. She didn't pretend she didn't understand.

He shouldn't have given her time and space. He shouldn't have waited. He should have followed her that night.

He connected the pieces. The way Caroline spoke to Hayley earlier tonight and the way she had avoided him since the night Kol almost killed the little wolf. He knew Caroline was furious with him but not to this extent. He thought it would be a fit of passing anger and this was why he had given her time. But this-

"What happened the other night with Kol and Hayley has nothing to do with us," he tried to placate her but Caroline scoffed.

He didn't understand why she was acting like this. It made no sense. He cursed through his teeth and then felt his frustration rising once more. Only this time it was worse than before.

"I don't know what kind of twisted affection you have for my brother but it has to stop clouding your judgment."

Caroline let out a not so much of a lady-like snort.

"My judgment is just fine thank you very much."

"Is it?"

Her reply to his disbelief was a harsh gaze.

"It is," she declared and this time she used that particular tone that made it clear that she was done with his bullshit and she would not yield, "this is why when I told you I've had enough I did mean it."

She reminded him the way she had left things just after she had saved Hayley that night and he shook his head unable to believe or accept this.

"Come on sweetheart," he lightly pled refusing to give depth to her declaration, "we had a spat. I am over it."

Only Caroline was not having it.

This time it was she who reached for him. Barefoot. But she stood taller than he had seen her stand for a really long time.

Her gaze pierced the veil that separated his eyes from his soul. It was evasive. Undaunted.

It was reaching where his lies ended and where his truth began.

"Will you say that too when you retaliate against your brother with one of your infamous daggers and I step in front of him?"

His eyes grew wide. Electricity speared his heart.

"You wouldn't."

"I will."

The world stopped turning. Klaus stared at her. At her unrelenting figure. At her unmovable seriousness.

It was one thing to suspect and see her loyalty to Kol but another what she did now.

Caroline claimed his brother. Right now. In front of him. She claimed him as hers and he wasn't allowed to touch what was hers.

It took him a monumental effort not to lash out and throttle her. Not to lock her in a cage for real and throw away the key until her mind came back to reason.

Caroline saw the storm inside him but withstood it. He looked down unable to hide his surprise when she dared to place her hand steadily over his chest, right above his heart.

Her voice was sweet, tempting. Taunting.

"What then Klaus? You can't dagger me like your brother," she reminded him gravely, "Are you going to kill me?"

'Are you going to kill me?'

How she dared ask him this?

And yet she asked. Without fear.

As she had asked him this before. Dying on her bed. A long time ago.

When he had entered her room the night of her birthday when he had Tyler bite her and he cured her with his blood. The night the first seed of this incurable emotion sneaked into his heart. He had admired her that night and he had wanted her and that feeling never stopped.

Ever since that night all nights without her became lonelier. Ever since that night, he started viewing forever under a different light. Her light.

She hadn't cowered in front of him that night. In front of death, she stood tall and that was why he had given her a choice and she chose life.

Tonight she was having another choice. She was willing to choose death. And this time her question was asked not from a survivor that had accepted defeat but would not let go of her pride in front of the monster she faced because she had decided to die with dignity. This time Caroline Forbes knew what death meant, she knew the gravity of this choice and yet for his brother she still faced death and saw him as the one that would carry that penance and still she asked him. With a voice soft. As only a lover would ask for a love confession.

Only this time Caroline's love belonged to another. To another, she was ready to give her life for.

This couldn't be happening.

Not with his brother.

His worst nightmare was coming to life.

"All this for… Kol?"

Caroline ignored his lethal intention. Instead, she insisted. Without mercy.

"What happens then, Klaus?"

Klaus ignored the monster of jealousy because he was treading a very thin line. They both were.

He didn't know what he was capable of doing at this very moment. And the fact that his next words would come out so calmly should be enough to warn Caroline. To warn her that she had awoken the monster inside him that now crawled to the surface.

She had just condemned them all. But most of all his deplorable brother. He would never see the light of day again. He would never see the beauty of the night he so loved.

And how much easier his life would be if Caroline had been wrong. If he could dagger her and lock her away in a coffin until she would forget that disgusting attachment she had formed with his brother.

He would dagger them both. He would keep their coffins in the different ends of the earth and while he would wake her up in a few centuries or so he would never unbury his brother from the deepest depths of the ocean where he would drop his coffin for all eternity.

Well, at least that he could still do.

"What makes you think I'd do that to Kol?"

He stated this in his most serene tone. It was eerie. He could feel it too. But it didn't terrify Caroline. It only made her sigh in disappointment.

"You should learn how to lie better too Klaus."

He didn't let her remove her hand. He covered her palm with his and kept it trapped over his heart.

"Why?" he practically begged, vulnerable and pathetic, "Why him Caroline?"

"I know the concept of loyalty and friendship is not familiar to you-"

"Your loyalty lies with my brother?" he incredulously exclaimed watching her as if she had just grown a second head of something. He punished her hand in his bruising grip. He didn't want to hurt her but he couldn't help it, "This is what you are telling me?"

Caroline didn't even flinch. A little harder and he would crush her bones in his hold.

"It does."

He let go of her hand as if it was acid that was thrown at him. Bruises had bloomed on her tender skin and yet it was as if she had acquired those by tearing his heart out.

He had to put some distance away from her. Now. Before it would be too late.

"This can't be happening," he uttered running his hand through his hair. He had to breathe, he had to do something, anything.

"Loyalty and love," she fearlessly stated and he snapped his attention back at her, his eyes glowing gold.

"The same loyalty and love I have in my heart for Elena and Bonnie," Caroline confessed and Klaus felt as if ice-cold water was thrown at him. Only the ice scorched him as if it was liquid lava melting his flesh on his bones, churning his insides, turning him to ash and dust.

He stopped breathing. He stopped moving. He stopped and listened. Because he had asked for the truth and for her to open to him and now she did exactly that even if this was the last thing he wanted to hear, "and as I would give my life for them," Caroline continued, "so I would for your brother as he is now mine too."

Klaus's shoulders fell. There was part of him that rejoiced because this was better than the alternative and yet it was still worse somehow too.

There was true honesty in Caroline. The kind that burned and he could clearly see she meant what she said. She viewed Kol as her own brother. In a twisted way, they had formed a family of their own in Purgatory and maybe that made her part of the Mikaelsons too but this wasn't the way he had wanted to be connected to his family. It was always meant to be through him. Not Kol.

And yet, even so, the monster inside him crawled back to the deepest recesses of his black soul. The idea that he could be reliving the same story as he had with Elijah and Tatia left him in a kind of misery he had never felt before. Because Caroline wasn't Tatia. Tatia had been a passing fancy. Caroline was everything.

Caroline loving Kol as a lover would be hell. But loving him as a brother? Maybe it was worse after all. Because the kind of bond between Kol and Caroline would not be able to be severed. A lover he could fight. He could manipulate his way into breaking such a disgusting romance but this ran far deeper and had roots he couldn't rip out.

"I know you don't understand," Caroline told him, "I know you can't accept it either but you can't change it," she said confirming his thoughts, "Kol is my friend and he has earned my friendship, my loyalty, and my devotion. Now and always."

He turned his back at her unable to take any more of this torture but Caroline didn't let him. She placed her hand on his shoulder and he closed his eyes as she pushed her forehead against his back.

"And no I am not saying any of this so to hurt you," her voice was soft, so soft, it lulled him back to sanity, "but to make you realize the lengths I am capable to go for him."

Klaus stiffened and then turned around and held her by the shoulders shaking her.

"Don't be ridiculous Caroline!"

"What's ridiculous is the way you and Kol are ready to tear each other apart! It needs to stop," she angrily confronted him pushing his hands away from her.

Klaus let her go and his face twisted in a mask of resentment.

"And if it doesn't?"

Caroline held his gaze, her own vexation battled his. She would not let this go.

"I won't let you dagger him."

His answering fury to her declaration was burning bright in his eyes that gleamed in the dark in shades of gold turning the air around them thick.

"And I won't let you get in the middle," he rejected her passionate statement with derision and looked at her coldly as if she was not just irrational but also insignificant, "This is a family affair, Caroline."

He belittled her worth to them but Caroline didn't seem to get affected by his remark. Instead, she clicked her tongue as if she had tasted something foul.

"Isn't it always with you people?"

Klaus forced his hybrid features to fade away but he couldn't stop the ticking muscle of his jaw.

"I won't let you do this Caroline. Not for Kol, not for anyone. I forbid it."

Caroline stared at him incredulously.

"Forbid. It.?"

She spoke the words as it was the vilest thing she had ever had to say.

He ignored the anger that erupted in her and he didn't bother lacing his words with any pretenses.

"I've told you before…Never again."

Caroline's breath grew shallow. He heard it. He felt it. So he knew she remembered.

His words echoed from when he had made his intentions clear the last time they had faced each other at the back alley of Rousseau's. The last time they had almost kissed.

.

Flashback:

"You died and I was not there…and I won't stand here and let it happen again…Never again."

.

Caroline gulped down harshly but then she pointed a finger at him. One that passed judgment and made one thing clear as the enormity of what she was feeling reflected in every controlled movement she was making. There would be no negotiation when it came to her choices and freedom.

"This is still my life. My choice," she stated fervently, "You can't take that away from me."

Klaus said nothing because this was not something he would ever negotiate with her either. Never again.

Caroline dying was not in the cards for her. Never again. Even if he had to take away her choices when it came to this. He wouldn't hesitate. He wasn't good or nice or sane, he was not the kind of man that would put her suicidal needs and choices above her well being.

And that included his brother's influence over her. He would burn it and destroy it even if he had to destroy his own brother to do so.

"Now let me out," Caroline ordered him only it would make no difference. He was starting to actually consider locking her in for real this time. Not for a few minutes but for as long as it would take to truly keep her safe because from the looks of it Caroline Forbes had developed some self-destructive tendencies and he would not accept it.

"No."

His refusal magnified her defiance and she honed her gaze on him not accepting his behavior any longer.

"We both know you won't keep me locked in here. And we both know you ll have to go join the treaty downstairs soon," she reasoned with him but he only shrugged.

"I don't care."

Caroline let out a muted scream looking as if she was ready to start pulling her hair.

"This is beyond crazy," she mumbled annoyed.

"You and I are not leaving this room."

"You are insane!" she accused him hotly and he shrugged again.

"I've been told."

"Klaus-"

"I don't give a damn about the treaty Caroline. You want to test me?" he challenged her, "go ahead."

Caroline gave him a look that was a mix of imploring him to get his shit together and of anger that was leaving her exasperated and tired.

"Let me make something abundantly clear sweetheart. What you feel for my brother is of no importance to me."

Caroline disbelievingly arched her perfect brow at him and he smirked bitterly.

"Not when it comes to your safety," he clarified, "you want to know what I will do if you step in front of the dagger I intend to bury into Kol?"

Caroline held her breath as his face loomed inches away from hers.

"I'll make you watch," he promised her and it was the first time she saw genuine worry and fear pass through her.

He caressed her hair and she flinched.

"I'll ensure in all the ways you can imagine and in all those you cannot that you won't be able to do anything stupid and then I'll force you to watch what happens to those that betray me or simply… annoy me."

The implication was clear in his words. It was not just Kol that annoyed Klaus. In his mind, Klaus considered her feelings for Kol a betrayal and it did far more than just annoy him. So this would be his way to punish her too.

"You wouldn't hurt me," Caroline said with certainty but not without any worry and Klaus pushed a stray strand of hair behind her ear seeing how that gentleness from him made her wince.

"Make no mistake. I am not a kind man Caroline and I may have gone out of my way to tame my most brutal instincts where you are concerned but as it happens your survival is high up in my list. So in this case…for you…if I have to be cruel to be kind then so be it."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Her rasp made him give her his most tender look before his gaze turned to stone.

"It means that I won't let you martyr yourself for Kol. He doesn't deserve it but even if he did it wouldn't matter. So when the time comes," he said making it clear it was unavoidable, "I promise you I won't play hide and seek. I won't lie."

Because he had heard her speak to Hayley and she had been right. He did not stab his enemies or his family in the back. He looked them straight in the eye as he dolled out his vengeance and this time would be no different and Caroline will always know where she stands when it comes to him and the way he deals with such inconveniences.

"You will be there when he desiccates and turns to stone," he swore and even though he hated the fear and despair he saw in her eyes he didn't stop, "you will be there when I cart his coffin to the far ends of the earth and so you will know that if the price I have to pay to keep my city and you safe in it is putting Kol in eternal slumber not only will I pay it but I will relish in the payment and just for the principle of the matter I'll pay it with some interest too. And yes love…this will be a hard lesson for you but a lesson nonetheless."

Caroline studied him for a long moment and surprised him when she nodded. He had expected her to lash out, to try to change his mind, to fight him on this. Instead, she was calm as if they had been discussing the weather.

"If these are the only lessons you are able to teach then it shouldn't be a surprise why you always end up alone."

Klaus' head snapped back. It was as if a viper had stung him. His mouth thinned but Caroline wasn't done.

"So if this is the price you want to pay…pay it," she told him, her tone one of acceptance. The acceptance one has when they quit and give up. And then that dullness went away from Caroline's eyes and it got replaced with determination. "But I won't let you turn this on me. If you dagger your brother it won't be because of me. It will be your choice as always and you'll know that the only thing you will gain from me won't be my survival because your brother has made sure I am more than capable to ensure that myself," she threw more salt in his wounds in the same way he had just done with hers, "it will be my hate and believe me when I say this Klaus. After everything you've done I am still here unable to hate you no matter how much I've tried and believe me…I've tried."

Klaus swallowed harshly. Caroline shook her head, a bitter smile on her lips.

"But if you are willing to gamble on making me actually come to hate you then this will be on you. You won't only lose your brother by daggering him but also parts of yourself and the parts of me that still hold on to some misguided faith that despite the way you act there is still some good in you buried deep within along with all the bad you prefer to hold on to. In the end, this is your choice. It always has been. From the looks of it, it will still be."

Klaus licked his lips slowly. Not allowing himself to truly deal with all the torrent of emotion Caroline's words created in him.

"So this is how it is Caroline?" he asked her, resigned, "you are here once more ready to use my feelings for you against me? To force my hand only to save Kol?"

"Yes…undeniably so…and no, unfortunately not," she simply said and he looked at her confused before she explained herself, "I won't make myself a bargaining chip because I am more than that," she defended herself and he watched her with a newly found respect, "but if it comes to keeping my friend safe then trust me when I say that I will bring down hell on you if I have to."

Klaus realized that this time he was standing against a potential enemy that had the power to actually take him down and it was a blow that almost made him lose his balance.

It was also a challenge that broke him out of the endless boredom so many centuries had inflicted on him. Caroline Forbes was a worthy opponent. One that could keep him on his toes. And he didn't know if he should fear her or get into this dance with her only to feel alive.

Only he knew that in the end should she want to she could leave him heartbroken, defeated and alone and he wasn't ready to sustain such a loss. So he had to find a way to contain the losses and even manage to contain her.

But something told him Caroline Forbes' couldn't be contained or broken down to his will as so many others before her had. And he couldn't help but admire that.

He couldn't help but admire…her.

"You say you'll make me watch?" she confronted him, "you won't have to because I will be there doing far more than watching," she defied him and he felt a rush of vexation and excitement pass through him. This was war and Caroline was choosing her weapons, "I will do anything and everything in my power to stop you from making this mistake. A mistake you will regret. And yes…just like you…I am ready to play dirty. I will fight you and I will use all the weapons I have at my disposal because you've made it clear enough that this won't be a fair fight."

Seeing her like this, a menace trapped in beautiful skin and blonde hair, reminded him of the legends of his ancestors. Here she was. A Valkyrie in her own right and it was an arousing sight.

But most of all it was the confirmation he had wanted. It gave him a weird sense of peace.

"I was right Caroline wasn't I?"

Caroline titled her head in question.

"We are the same you and I," he stated again and their gazes locked.

"We are," she agreed this time feeling no shame about it or pretending it wasn't true, "enough to know what this means."

Yes. He knew what this meant. And so did she.

He knew she wouldn't stop and this wasn't the last time they'd face each other when it came to Kol and all the things that stood between them.

"We will cross that bridge when we get there love."

"No," she disagreed, "we won't."

Her message was clear. There would be no compromise on this. She would not back down. Neither would he. And if she had to she'd burn the bridge instead of having to cross it.

Klaus smiled at Caroline's fighting spirit. He did love a good challenge after all.


Tick tock there went the clock and Caroline stomped her bare feet down gesturing with her hands frustrated.

The only thing she hadn't try was directly going after the coin. Because every other thing she tried. She had tried the window, the door and even kicking down the wall. The magic still held and Klaus couldn't be more grateful. Lady luck was by his side tonight because the magic of the coins was fickle at best. They could keep the barrier up for minutes to hours. The potency of the magic coin he had used hadn't expired yet. Too bad he had killed the witch that had made the coin. She'd be handy around here.

"Will you let me out now or what?" Caroline complained and Klaus let his side incline to the side as he pretended to think about it.

"It depends."

Caroline grunted.

"On what?"

"I told you. If you want to leave this room you will answer me honestly. You won't lie."

She glared at him and if looks could kill he'd be dead by now.

"What more do you want me to say?" Caroline sighed as she threw back her head in exasperation.

"Why did you come tonight?"

Caroline rolled her eyes at his persistence but he sauntered close to her and gripped her chin forcing her to face him.

She opened her mouth probably ready to let out a string of curses at him but his forbidding stare stopped her.

"The truth."

Caroline inhaled angrily.

She saw it in his eyes. He meant it. He was capable to keep them in here locked for eternity, letting the world burn all around them. He wouldn't move, he wouldn't cave, he wouldn't budge.

He was giving her the chance to get the key but for allowing her to turn the lock and get out there was a price she had to pay.

She had no delusions. This was Klaus Mikaelson after all. There was always a price to pay.

And she knew she would have to choose the price. Because staying with him in here was dangerous. The bed was still there. And so were all their problems and their issues and damn it she had to get out!

She deflated.

This time the price was the truth and she knew he would detect any lie. She couldn't stall any longer.

Damn his stubbornness! It was infuriating! It was even worse than hers and that said something!

Although maybe she could escape the truth by sharing part of it instead of giving him the whole truth. Because just maybe there was a part of her that had come for him tonight and deep down she knew he knew it and wanted to force her to admit it but that she would never do that. Not to him. Not to herself even. So she could give him what he wanted. Part of the truth. It would have to be enough.

"For Cami," she came clean yanking away her head from his hand tiredly.

Klaus frowned at her answer and at her disarming honesty.

He narrowed his eyes in confusion and Caroline folded her hands defensively in front of her chest as he waited for her to explain.

"Both you and Marcel are playing with her as if she is a puppet on strings. She doesn't deserve this," she hotly accused him, raising her chin at him, "she doesn't deserve getting caught in the crossfire because your family is hungry for power."

Klaus' gaze softened. He longed to hear that she had come for him and maybe parts of her darkest desires were obliging to that truth but what he heard was undeniably true. He could see it in her eyes. In the hostile honesty, she always shared so unabashedly with him and it made his heart soar.

Out of all the Caroline things…

It was as if tons of weight lifted from his chest. Not just because her answer was not about his damned brother again or anything equally worrisome but because no matter how much she fought against her humanity she would always lose. There were things Purgatory couldn't take away from her.

It was as if he could read her thoughts while the wheels of his own mind started turning and turning without halting.

Caroline had taken Cami under her wing because she considered her a friend and because she reminded her friends back in Mystic Falls. The same friends she fought for no matter the personal cost. And this was far healthier than the feelings Caroline had developed for Kol. Cami could actually be a good influence on her.

But Klaus knew that Cami also reminded Caroline of herself. He had seen it too at first. But now he could tell that Caroline saw herself in Cami in a different light than any of the superficial similarities they shared. She saw in Camille the way she had been caught as collateral damage in other people's wars in the past. Back then no one had been there for her but she could be here for Cami. It was admirable really and a diversion. Caroline was ready to do anything to stop herself from facing her true fears and everything that happened to her. Even if she had to project herself into Cami and obsess over Cami's safety instead of her own future and current reality.

He stifled his sigh. It was not time to get into that now. Not tonight and most certainly not here. Not after their disagreement over daggering Kol and over what happened with Hayley either.

Tonight was not the right time to dig into this deeper. But he would get to it. It was finally the opening he needed. A start.

"If it wasn't for Camille you wouldn't have come then?"

"I wouldn't," she mumbled but not with as much conviction as he would have expected. He swallowed back his smile.

He decided not to push her any further on this. He had to start building bridges with Caroline not tearing down the few that remained between them.

"Then I should really thank Camille," he accepted with a pleased tone looking like the cat that had just caught the canary.

Caroline jabbed a finger at him.

"Don't you dare-"

"Use her to exploit this newfound vulnerability of yours to my advantage?" he finished for her with a sensual curl of the lips ready to play dirty.

"You care for her too," Caroline half deflected half accused him and he felt his heart expand. Caroline couldn't hide her possessive jealousy over him and finally, the night became lighter and beautiful. He also acknowledged the truth in Caroline's words and didn't sugarcoat his answer for her.

"That's why I know how much of a weakness she can be."

Caroline looked insulted by what he had just said.

"She is not a weakness!" she paused before she added in a low voice, "she is a friend."

"Cami….Kol…so many friends," Klaus drawled before he stepped in her personal space, "what about us Caroline? Aren't we friends?"

She stubbornly refused to answer him and before she had the chance to escape him he pushed her back towards the wall.

"Why had you come to the compound the other night?" he asked her needing that answer more than anything. It was driving him mad for days and nights ever since Caroline had stormed out of the compound leaving back the destruction Kol had left in his wake.

They both knew that ever since she had found her apartment she had not returned back. And yet she had come back here that night. Maybe it was to save Hayley but something told Klaus that Caroline couldn't have possibly known what Kol had planned for the little wolf. Kol was unpredictable and Klaus could bet his brother's murderous mania against Hayley that night was spontaneous and not a carefully laid out plan despite Kol having every intention to kill Hayley. He had been thinking about it day and night. Caroline had come back that night to the compound for some reason and it couldn't have been Kol.

After their encounter and their almost kiss in the back alley of Rousseau's he hoped it was for him. She had come to find him that night. He felt it. He truly believed it. He only needed her to confirm it to him.

"Why Caroline?" he insisted, hope and desperation danced in his tone.

Caroline stepped back. Further back. Until there was no place she could run too.

He edged closer and Caroline pressed her back on the wall. He pressed his hands on each side of her body against the wall caging her in.

She didn't make an attempt to push him away from her.

"Is this a discussion you want us to have here?"

They both knew the magic of the coin made sure they were not heard outside this room but it didn't make any difference.

"Let us go talk in private then," he proposed ready to take her and leave this place. She wanted him to let her out? Then so be it. As long as she'd go away with him.

"Let us leave Caroline. Let us go anywhere in the city you want," If his mother hadn't trapped her he would offer to take her anywhere in the world she wanted.

He didn't care for the ball and the bloody treaty. Elijah could take care of all of that. All he cared for was Caroline. Taking her away from this snake pit was all that he wanted. Consequences be damned. He didn't care for anything or anyone. He felt as if he was losing his mind. Having her so close and yet so far away was driving him mad.

"No."

Her rejection hurt. It cut deep.

"I can't be trapped," her voice cracked, "you know this. Let me out."

"I will. I just-"

"I can't do this with you," so vulnerable was her voice. So very soft and small, "Not you. Not like this."

Not again was the phrase she didn't have to say but the one he heard and made his body shiver from ache for all the things he wanted from her and could not have. From that slice of heaven, they had touched together in the past and still haunted him. Always. Always and forever. One time was not enough. He would forever want her. His desire could even outlive him and eternity. However long it takes indeed.

He wished now he could erase the previous moments. The way he had touched her on that bed. If only she'd let him.

"Caroline-"

This time she pushed him back and tried to walk away only for him to hold her hand gently and maneuver her closer to him again.

He towered over her, inhaling her scent. His lips almost kissed the crown of her head.

"Hey," he whispered with his most soothing tone afraid of losing her, "stop running away."

"I am not running away," she scowled and Klaus traced a strand of her hair with the back of his hand.

"You are always running away from me," he sighed, "why?" he insisted realizing a pained ragged breath, "what are you so afraid of?"

Inhaling sharply Caroline refused to answer and tried to put some distance between them.

"Don't say it's me. We both know it's not true."

Klaus grasped her upper arms. It was as if he was trying to hold on to something unattainable and yet he couldn't stop fighting. He couldn't stop wanting.

Wanting her.

"Come on Caroline!" he pled without any shame or pride left. He could even tempt the devil himself when he wanted but he had no defenses when it came to Caroline. All he had was his true desire and longing. His truth and his sincerity, "Give me a chance."

Caroline faltered. Her pulse roared to life at the base of her throat and when she rested her hands on his chest Klaus' face lit up.

"You don't deserve it. Not after what you did tonight," she whispered.

He touched her pulsing vein. He felt the tempo of her heart dancing at the edge of his fingertips. Her blood rushed in her veins hotter.

"Give me one anyway," he tempted her.

Klaus pulled her closer, his hands gripping her waist with urgency.

"I can't-"

Her weakly uttered words denied him but he felt her giving in.

It was visceral what was pulling them closer and they could both feel it. No matter how they would call it…a connection…chemistry…it was magnetic and was always pushing and pulling, Drawing them closer.

"At least stay. Not just for Camille. Stay Caroline," for me he wanted to say, "give me a dance. Let us start somewhere you and I."

There was desperation in his voice but it was the temptation in his offer that closed in all around her and melted her defenses.

Caroline closed her eyes. Her hands gently cupped his face and she could tell that her touch tamed the beast in Klaus that always clawed under the surface longing to be set free. He leaned down and his forehead rested against hers. She could appeal to his softer side. She could feel it. In the same way, he called to hers. He smoothed her hard edges and set her shredded soul at peace.

Only it wasn't enough. It wouldn't be enough unless-

"Only if you promise me you won't dagger Kol."

Klaus pulled back as if he was electrocuted.

Caroline remained true on her promise. She'd play dirty. She'd use all her weapons. She would not stop.

Her words destroyed the magic his seduction had created and left them both cold.

When Caroline opened her eyes she saw the truth in his. This was a promise he couldn't give. One he wouldn't give.

It was a matter of time. He was bidding his time and tonight was just a prelude of what would follow and Kol coming here tonight in the way he had had only forced Klaus' hand more. And more so had Caroline's confession over the lengths she would go for his brother. That alone had set Kol's destiny on stone.

Caroline squared her shoulders and this time when Klaus tried to reach her she only shook her head with so much coldness that froze him on his spot.

She turned around and went for her discarded shoes. She put them back on and then Klaus watched her mutely as she strode at him walking past the shards of glass from the broken vase.

He didn't move when she swayed closer. So impossibly closer until her scent devoured his. He didn't move when she pushed her hand into his pocket and reached for the coin without taking her eyes off him.

He didn't stop her when she walked towards the fireplace and threw what was left of the fading coin in the fire. Klaus watched her as she stared at the flames. The magic dissolved breaking the entrapment.

"Go back to your guests," Caroline icily said and left without looking back at him, "and leave me alone."


Elijah noticed that Kol was nowhere to be found which was alarming but instead of going to search for his brother he focused his attention on his brother's date.

Renée Mardoin was a beauty tonight but the only thing Elijah saw in her was the ugly intentions she directed at Hayley. Renée kept following Hayley with a steely gaze and she wasn't bothering to mask her venom.

Elijah had been right to be concerned. Hayley killing a Mardoin witch was a fatal mistake. One he would have to correct before it would be too late.

"Good evening miss Mardoin," he greeted Renée Mardoin by kissing her hand.

Renée smiled at him. A perfect seductive smile that could tempt even a saint.

"Please call me Renée," she said with a sweet melodic voice and Elijah nodded and gestured to a waiter to bring them two glasses of champagne.

"As you wish Renée and please do return me the favor."

When he offered the one glass to Renée she gracefully took it but didn't drink.

"You have a beautiful home Elijah," his name rolling from her lips with a lovely accent, "thank you for inviting me tonight."

Yes, he had invited her. He had invited her whole family. But none of them came. And she came here as his brother's date and not as a representative of her family. He didn't comment on that however.

"The Mardoins are always welcome in my family's home."

"I'd hardly define your hospitality as welcoming when one of us fell by the hand of one of yours. Unless you don't consider Hayley Marshall to be family."

Her voice was probably the only sweetness this witch possessed because nothing, when it came to this woman, was sweet.

Elijah gritted his teeth trying not to show his discomfort as the witch in front of him cared not for platitudes. The Mardoins were powerful. A dynasty. Renée Mardoin hasn't come here to play nice or bow. She was here to claim her enemy. Hayley.

"Witches declared war on my family," he coldly reminded her making it clear that Hayley was part of his family, "A profound loss is only bound to bring more."

Everyone knew of the tragic loss of his niece and so that had to remain.

"To that, we agree."

Elijah ignored the coldness in miss Mardoin's tone and used his most diplomatic approach.

"It has to stop at one point Renée if we are not to sustain any more," he gravelly warned her refraining from threatening her.

Renée only swirled the champagne in her glass and Elijah kept still. He didn't dare drink from his own glass. Despite the precautions, they had taken he knew what Renée Mardoin was capable of and he also knew that with Kol and his dark objects by her side she was a danger they couldn't contain.

"And you are to decide that point, no?"

"We all are. That's the point of tonight's treaty," Elijah dodged her direct challenge and Renée smiled.

"Yes. A lovely intention I am sure."

"One that will become a reality. I'll ensure it so."

Renée arched her brow in a challenge but Elijah continued.

"I am truly sorry for your loss Renée," he offered his condolences, "the only thing I can offer you in compensation is the promise that there will be no more loss for you or any of us from this night forward," he promised her and tried not to flinch at the coldness of her laughter.

"You offend me, Elijah."

"It's not my intention."

"It has to be when you believe that I am here to believe all the promises you won't be able to keep only because you declare them wrapped up in faux honesty."

Elijah put his glass aside and straightened his tie. This time he didn't pretend to be civil. He came closer to Renée Mardoin keeping his voice low, intended only for her ears.

"Make no mistake Renée. The treaty will happen," he emphasized, "New Orleans will find peace either through alliance or…destruction. Because if the treaty won't stand Niklaus' wrath won't compare to mine. No one…and I mean no one will lay a hand on my family again."

Renée watched him thoughtfully but didn't step back. She ran her fingers over his tie with a smile. Elijah tensed.

"I am sorry for your loss Elijah and… for all the loss that is yet to come."

Her tone was sad, sounding almost genuine despite the threat it carried and Elijah was ready to tear off her head when Kol came by her side and protectively wrapped his arm around her waist.

"Easy there, brother. Remember your precious treaty," Kol mocked him and Elijah glared at him.

Kol made it clear by his stance that if he wanted to go after Renée Mardoin he would have to go through him.

"You take her side over your family's?" Elijah asked him not hiding his hurt and not bothering to care for whoever would listen to them now.

"You should know better than to ask me this Elijah. There is only one side. Mine," Kol turned him down with a dark grin but whatever Elijah was about to say was cut short when Renée spoke.

"Have no worry about your treaty Elijah. My family won't oppose it. Your family is safe." she said while she kept her eyes trained on Hayley.

Renée detached herself from Kol's hold, drank her champagne and gave Elijah Mikaelson her glass only for Elijah to realize that inside it the remaining champagne had turned black and a ruby was floating on top.

"I've come prepared to avenge my family tonight," Renée admitted "but after your brother's inspiring speech I reconsidered. How was it? Lux Omnia Vincit?," she ironically sang and Kol laughed amused.

Neither Renée or Elijah bothered with Kol however. The witch only came closer to the older Mikaelson who visibly stiffened.

"One of my gifts is premonition," Renée revealed to Elijah before she directed her gaze to Hayley that was standing a few feet away among the wolves, "It only comes to life when I step in New Orleans. I wanted to exact my family's revenge against your precious she-wolf but I don't have to. None of us do."

"That's a pity," Kol mumbled and reached for the glass of champagne Elijah had abandoned and drank it in one go ignoring his brother's glower.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Elijah asked Renée that now watched Hayley with the kind of glee that turned Elijah's insides to ice.

"Her downfall has already been written," Renée prophesized, "Mors Vincit Omnia," she paraphrased Klaus's words from before. Elijah froze. Death conquers all. "Her destiny is soon approaching. And I for one would not dare intervene with fate."

Kol smirked and offered his elbow to Renée that gracefully took it.

They left Elijah behind.

A shaken Elijah Mikaelson that was left holding the glass with the hexed ruby and watching a smiling Hayley to the other side of the ballroom with a look of pure dread.


Caroline felt hot and cold at once. What transpired in the room upstairs between her and Klaus had drained her. She needed something stronger than the champagne she had taken from the tray one of the waiters carried. Her gums were oversensitive and her heart was pounding. She needed blood and she felt as if she was about to break apart.

She had spent almost half an hour in one of the guest bedrooms before she joined the celebration downstairs again. She had locked herself in the bathroom and tried to erase all evidence of the chaotic image she presented. Fixing her hair, her clothes and her make-up was easy.

Fixing what was creeping inside her was less so.

Klaus had that unique ability to make her lose every semblance of control but truth to be told was that lately, she felt off. Her panic attacks were multiplying and she was barely holding it together. She could barely sleep. She could barely think. She craved blood more and more every day. She was becoming aggressive and erratic and impatient. She was afraid Purgatory had turned her into a ripper but she was afraid to voice that worry out loud. Ever since she had killed those people in that back alley she was battling with her instincts. There were times she felt she was about to attack any human that would stumble in front of her. There were times she didn't feel as if she was herself. It was as if something was possessing her from the inside out forcing her to do things she didn't want to do and she was barely holding it together.

And through it, all Klaus kept pushing and pulling and messing up with her mind and heart. He was capable for the best and the worst and there were things he was trying to force her to feel and say and she wasn't ready for that. She wasn't ready for him and he would just not relent.

What happened upstairs…everything really. It only showed her how toxic they were for each other but she couldn't stop what she was feeling and the more she felt what she felt the more she wanted to turn it all off. Flipping the humanity switch was becoming more tempting by the day.

She looked around. She didn't belong here. She shouldn't have come.

Caroline put her empty glass aside and was ready to call it a night. She didn't want to stay until the treaty and she didn't want to have to face Klaus Mikaelson again but as she was just about to turn around and head for the exit she noticed Cami standing with Marcel at the other side of the room.

She had a pained expression and it alarmed Caroline that she forgot all about her escape plans and rushed to Marcel's and Cami's side.

"Hey Cami, what happened?"

Cami smiled reassuringly at her concerned tone as Marcel left them and mingled with the crowd again.

"Hey. So I don't know about you but I am not a vampire and these heels are killing me," Cami moaned and Caroline let out a breath of relief.

"That's the only thing vampirism can't cure trust me," she laughed and gave a comforting pat on Cami's arm when her friend let out another whimper as she tried to stand on her high heels.

Marcel Gerard, always the gentleman, helped Cami sit down to a chair that he had magically brought with him and Cami gave him a nod of gratitude.

Marcel then turned his attention to Caroline and gave her a blinding smile full of teeth.

"So if I were to ask you for a dance would they stop you from accepting?" he teased Caroline pointing at her shoes and Caroline shook her head without losing her hilarity.

She opened her mouth to actually turn Marcel down since didn't want to either dance with him or leave Cami alone here but then she tensed when she felt Klaus' presense.

He was standing behind her and she couldn't help her body's reaction. She felt pulled towards him. It was magnetic and when she craned her head to the side and saw the metallic gaze that devoured her she froze.

There was something in the fury that appeared in Klaus' eyes that stopped her from turning down Marcel Gerard. After everything that had happened upstairs with her and Klaus, she would have at least expect him to tone down his ego and his possessiveness since he surely must have realized himself too that it led them nowhere and yet here he was. The amber that swirled within the blue in Klaus' eyes put her on edge. It was the kind of a dangerous glint that Klaus did not even bother to hide.

"Someone definitely would," Klaus stepped up, snapping at Marcel, and Caroline stared back at him in disbelief. She couldn't comprehend what was happening. She thought she even heard Kol's chuckle from somewhere in the back but everything was a haze now as Klaus pulled her closer to him.

God! He hadn't bother masking her scent. He smelled like her. Her scent had stuck on him after what happened upstairs and Klaus knew it and walked around not caring how every vampire and wolf would smell her on him. He did it on purpose! He had to. And surely their absence must have been noticed too. They were gone for a long time and Klaus was the host. And he had let her come here first only to follow her. She had locked herself in the bathroom on the upper floor for quite some time but Klaus hadn't returned. He had waited and timed his return according to hers.

Her mind was screaming at her now. To find a way out of this mess. She actually considered to reply with a light comment and diffuse whatever it was that was driving that aggression in Klaus and find an excuse to leave but he didn't let her.

Instead, Klaus declared his possession over her in front of everyone.

And not just in words.

First Caroline gave an unbelieving stare at Klaus' hand that had wrapped around her wrist before her eyes traveled on his face. She saw the way Klaus tightened his jaw and the way his nostrils flared. He looked as if he was trying to keep a grip on his everlasting bad temper and along with it on her too.

Caroline bit her lip almost drawing blood. Klaus looked as if he wanted to throw her over his shoulder and take her away kicking and screaming. The stunt he had pulled in the bedroom upstairs was one thing but this was another. He was actually considering locking her in for real. She could see it in his eyes.

And now everyone was watching. Her. As if she hadn't already had a mark on her back. Now she had a neon sign too. That sign wrote on big flashing light's "Back off, Klaus Mikaelson called dibs"! Which insult aside would also mean that most would back off but the worst would come at her only to spite Klaus and use her against him. Well…shit!

Klaus knew it and he did this to force her to return to the compound where she would be safer. That manipulative asshole!

Caroline barely saw from the corner of her eye Cami shaking her head in disappointment at Klaus' unprovoked hostility and at his caveman behavior.

Marcel scoffed and Elijah, that came out of nowhere, carefully and without attracting any further attention pushed himself between Marcel and Klaus. This was not the right place to make a scene and yet it seemed as it could not be avoided and for some reason, Caroline relished in that moment. She wanted to feed the fire and there was a part of her that felt as destructive as only a monster that had survived Purgatory and wanted to see the whole world burn would feel.

And there was another part that felt contradictory too. Some of her wanted to surrender to Klaus and another part of her wanted to state that she belonged to no one but herself.

The second part won despite the traitorous parts of her that wanted to give in to Klaus Mikaelson.

Only she wouldn't. She wouldn't let him treat her like a commodity. To hell with that. Purgatory had changed a lot of things in her but one thing that hadn't and would never change was her lack of tolerance when it came to Klaus Mikaelson's bullshit.

Caroline yanked her hand back and faced Klaus without backing down. She responded to his forbidding glare with a glower of her own.

"Trust me, Marcel," she said, her eyes locked with Klaus' that now seemed to burn as if flickering flames had been trapped in his gaze, "If those heels can't stop me… no one can."

The message was clear. And so was the challenge between Klaus and Caroline. As was the attention they were drawing at them.

Marcel Gerard raised his eyebrow impressed at the way she faced Klaus and when she turned her attention to him ignoring how Klaus tensed in a way that made it seem as if the whole world around them had turned several shades darker she beamed with forced excitement and gave the man a nod accepting his dance proposal.

Elijah put his hand on Klaus' chest discreetly holding him back, mumbling about the treaty just as Caroline pushed her hand inside Marcel's waiting palm. But not before she provocatively shoved her glass to Klaus with a pointed arched brow.

Klaus' sharp intake of breath didn't go unnoticed but Caroline didn't bother looking back at him as she followed Marcel.

All the while feeling Klaus' eyes boring holes in her back.


Caroline tried to relax and ignore the way Klaus' eyes followed her every move from afar. Caressing her skin like a ghostly touch.

"If you feel uncomfortable-"

She glared at Marcel before she forced herself to chill.

"Why would I?" she pointedly asked and Marcel was smart enough not to comment on anything that would include his sire's name. Not in front of everyone that surely kept their attention on them.

But most importantly not in front of Klaus that most definitely had his attention on them.

"Shoes inflicting misery and all," Marcel deflected and Caroline laughed as he twirled her around. He was an impeccable dancer and soon enough both of them found their rhythm and effortlessly followed the patterns of the dance perfectly in sync with each other.

"You and Hayley Marshall have history," Marcel commented and Caroline stared back at him putting every other thought aside. She had to be sharp now despite how much Klaus was messing with her head even by just watching her from afar.

Nonetheless, Marcel Gerard was a predator and she had to ensure she wouldn't become prey.

"Water under the bridge and all that," she beamed at her dancing partner that now gave her a smile full of teeth. They both knew they were heard so they both knew they were playing the game.

"It didn't sound like it," Marcel probed more and Caroline matched his dangerous smile with one of her own. One that would appear innocent to anyone watching but not to the one she directed the smile at. Which was Marcel Gerard.

"Let us say I'd rather not see history repeat itself," she casually said, "but I know how to let bygones be bygones. Case in point," she joked pointing at them dancing.

This time it was Marcel who laughed and masterfully dipped her bending their bodies to a beautiful dancing lunge.

When he pulled her up she saw the way his eyes gleamed. He was enjoying this.

Soon enough Caroline realized that there was something wicked in him that competed even with Klaus' and Kol's brazenness and as the song ended, another started and they kept dancing. Both of them having a silent agreement on that, each one deciding to do it to spite Klaus for their own personal reasons and their own personal agenda. Caroline knew Marcel was using her at that moment as he knew she was using him too. Either way, none of them were ready to relent where Klaus was concerned which in Caroline's book made Marcel as equally dangerous if not more with the worst monsters inside this room. Herself included.

It was when he changed the subject once more that Caroline saw some genuine seriousness in Marcel as he complimented her for the way she trained his vampires.

"I didn't expect it to have it in you," he revealed honestly and Caroline let out a bitter breathless huff.

"People do tend to underestimate me. They always did."

Marcel nodded in solemn approval.

"Quite an advantage," he praised her before he added with a smirk, "I won't be making that mistake again."

"Of course you won't," Caroline smirked back at him.

"We are working towards the same goal," Marcel accepted in a conciliatory tone, "Trust does not come easy to either of us as it would seem but we should try to at least get along Caroline."

Caroline gracefully placed her hand on his shoulder making sure to keep up with the appropriate decorum of the dance. After all, she was dancing with the King of New Orleans now.

"Is that a royal command?" she snickered and Marcel Gerard grinned at her.

"Left the crown at home."

"Why is that?"

"Too heavy," he joked, "it made my head tilt."

She tried not to laugh. She really tried. But damn it if Marcel Gerard wasn't charming as hell when he wanted to and unfortunately for her, she couldn't help but see parts of Klaus Mikaelson him.

Only it was not as if Marcel was a cheap copy or an imitation of Klaus Mikaelson. He was his own man and yet he reflected parts of the man that raised him into becoming who he was today.

Which should really tell her all that she should know about Marcel. He was dangerous and bad news. But instead of focusing on the villain in him she was slowly coming to understand as to why Cami had come here with Marcel as her date. Marcel Gerard was charismatic. Seductive even. And could be delightful when he wanted. Despite disliking him Caroline was also intrigued and entertained by him and that almost made her snort out loud. Of course, she would be drawn to Marcel's thrall.

'Like father like son,' she guessed. It would seem charm ran in the family.


He rolled his shoulders trying to cast away the stiffness. Yet another body. Yet another adjustment period to get used to it. It was truly uncomfortable having to constantly change skin but it was necessary.

He played with the dice in his palm, the numbers shifting in shadow. A toy really. Not even compared to a dark object but it would have to do. The power it emanated was like comparing a drop to an ocean but sometimes a drop was enough to break the dam so he had to be patient.

He stared ahead and noticed how Klaus' concentration was diverted.

His brother's eyes were trained on the blonde that danced with Marcel Gerard. It was a lucky occurrence because the obvious jealousy in Klaus Mikaelson made him slip.

He smiled and looked at the way Kol Mikaelson was also keeping an eye out for the girl.

Finn Mikaelson didn't understand why both of his brothers were so attached to the Forbes girl but admittedly she now had drawn his attention too. For very different reasons, however.

Mother was right. The more he followed the girl the more he felt it. She was a beacon.

They had to have her.

He knew when the time came both of his brothers would try to get in the way but it would be futile. At least for now the fact that they only had eyes for Caroline served him well. Caroline Forbes had stolen all their attention which was a good thing for it left room for him to cast the spell without getting noticed which was the hardest thing one could do in this place. Elijah had secured the compound against hostile magic all too well. Only he missed one loophole. Blood calls to blood and while his family ensured to take their measures against their mother they always underestimated him.

He closed his eyes and let his thoughts roam far away from the Mikaelson domain straight to the hideout their mother was wasting away. The connection he had with her was dim. As was the power he had to use so to remain unnoticed.

It should be enough for a young vampire like Caroline only it wasn't.

And more so she made it even harder. It was impossible to follow her and keep an eye on her. Not only Klaus and Kol had witches and vampires guarding her but she always knew when she was been followed. Her instincts were sharp. So he had to rely on tricks and objects and passing by human strangers to pass his magic on her and that had to be as faint as a molecule of a speck of dissolving dust as Miss Forbes seemed to have developed a mastery on sensing magic too. Kol had trained her well.

He noticed some moments of instability and irritability in the blonde vampire but she was stronger than he had anticipated. Her control was impeccable.

'She still resists…That girl's will is strong mother' he let his silent words travel trying to contain on his frustration, 'Her control should have faltered weeks ago.'

It took almost what felt like a lifetime but Esther's whisper as weak as it was reached his mind.

'It only takes but one moment.'

'One moment,' Finn Mikaelson thought miserably and in anticipation.

Maybe the moment had come. Maybe the night was still young. He focused on his spell and smiled.

It was a good thing that Klaus was distracted by Caroline but it was even better that the favor was returned. Caroline Forbes was just as distracted by Klaus Mikaelson which left her vulnerable.

Love was a weakness…one that required all but a moment to take root inside and spread like a disease forever.

Only but a moment.


Klaus Mikaelson barely listened to what Camille was telling him now.

He let the alcohol burn his throat as his eyes couldn't get away from the dancing couple that stood out, among all others, on the floor.

There was something ugly stirring inside him at the sight of his son dancing with the woman he actually wanted. And he wanted her.

She was stunning. Dressed like a Queen and walking into his Kingdom with her head held high and her beauty outshining everything in her way confirmed what he knew all along. He wanted Caroline Forbes. More than his power, his kingdom, his city. He wanted everything that Caroline was. Everything she used to be. Everything she became.

The way she had played Hayley tonight had been magnificent. He should be angry she was ruining his plans so effortlessly but he couldn't help but admire her brilliance. She knew how to play the game.

He had also heard what she had said about him too. And even though she had not intended it as a compliment and it was more of a backhanded insult in the way she compared him and Hayley he knew that deep down there was a part in Caroline that respected and trusted him. A part that knew him for all that he was. She acknowledged all of him. She had seen his worst and she didn't run away from it. Instead, she only dug deeper and found all that he hid from others. For her he was bare.

By all the Gods he didn't think it was possible but he wanted her more than he used to. She used to be like a Princess full of light. He had seen her potential but now all that potential had bloomed. The princess had found her crown. She was a Queen. A cunning vengeful Queen missing a Kingdom. Ready to take down his castle and he was ready to give her the keys without a fight.

But despite all his benevolent intentions, he was still the same malevolent creature as always. Wanting Caroline was not a good thing. Not for him and surely not for her. And despite his best efforts at being selfless with her, in the end, he was still the same selfish miserable bastard he has been for the last thousand years. What he did to her tonight proved it.

Caroline being back in New Orleans had awakened all his desires. He wanted his Kingdom. He wanted his heir. But he wanted more. He wanted someone to share everything with him. He wanted Caroline and he was going to have her. One way or another. He was done playing games. He was tired of all the obstacles that were getting in his way. Many of which were created by Caroline herself. He didn't care if he had to play dirty. If he had to get in her mind. If he had to use her weaknesses against her. He had been ready to wait for her to come to him for all eternity if he had too but she was here now and he could cut that eternity sort.

Especially now that his damned brother had entered Caroline's heart and pulled her strings. Because Kol was just like him in the end. Selfish, manipulative, destructive. He didn't deserve Caroline's loyalty and he would make sure he wouldn' keep it. He would never allow Kol to bring ruin to Caroline Forbes and Caroline may hate him for it but he would have to deal with Kol quickly. In the end, she would forgive him. She had to. Forever was a long time to hold on to grudges. A few years ago and she would have never considered being at the same place with him because of all the things that had transpired with her old friends in Mystic Falls and yet here she was. She kept trying to pretend otherwise but she wanted him too. In time, when she would heal from Purgatory and see more clearly she would let go of her insane devotion to Kol. He would make sure of that and a few centuries later he would even be willing to bring Kol back to the fold and appease both his brother and Caroline. Until then he would have to start eliminating all the treats that got in his way. Kol, Marcel, his parents. Caroline had found herself caught up in his world and he had to make sure he would keep her safe and by his side no matter the price he would have to pay.

Klaus' eyes remained trained on the beauty that Caroline was tonight. His patience ebbing away. He was half tempted to force her to stay by his side. To lock her in her room upstairs and let the whole world know to whom she belonged to. Insinuating it subtly was not enough for him. He wanted to act.

This, however, was not the right place or time for him to lose his temper despite how Caroline was testing his patience.

Camille's voice had faded in his ears. He should be giving her his attention. In fact, he was planning to do in the future more. Camille could become a link between him and Caroline. It was the queerest thing but it was happening and he was not one to deny opportunities that gave him leverage. He cared for Camille a lot. She was a good friend and he appreciated her intellect. He would ensure her safety but she was human. Her life would sooner or later expire and she was still a means to an end despite her soft heart and her insight.

Camille O'Connell could help Caroline regain her light and hope as she had helped him too when he had first returned in New Orleans. But all the plans that had started manifesting in his head had to wait. Camille had to wait despite the fact that he had invited her here as the new leader of the human faction. He should be guiding Camille in the right direction but instead, all he could think of was how sexy Caroline looked. How dazzling her smile was. How glorious she looked in the dress he had given her. How he wanted nothing more than to strip her from it and sink himself deep inside her and have her beauty undo him in all ways possible.

Only it wasn't just lust and it wasn't just her beauty. Caroline's beauty wasn't skin deep. It was genuine. It was rare. It was running deep and it was sublime. The girl he used to know was full of light. The woman that stood before him now had found the darkness in her light and came out of it triumphant in her cruel and relentless beauty. A beauty that terrified him because he knew what he could lose now.

Somehow after a thousand years of an empty existence, a baby vampire cheerleader from a small town in the middle of nowhere filled his life with light and gave him hope again. Of course, the place that had birthed him also bore his match.

He inhaled sharply when Caroline threw her head back and laughed at Marcel's fluttery and the glass in his hand cracked but he didn't let it break. Not in the way Caroline was breaking him.

It wasn't just jealousy or the possessive feelings that were rising. It was pain. Raw pain that was not yielding to his mental commands.

Alive.

Caroline was alive. And it hurt. He had died without her. He couldn't live without her now either.

Like his brother, she had left pieces of her in Purgatory but she didn't know the pieces she had taken from him. Her resurrection gave him back some of the pieces he had lost but not all. Caroline still kept most of them. They belonged to her now and he wanted them back. He ached without them. And he knew the only way to get them back was only if he could have Caroline.

Only he couldn't have her. She was keeping her distance. She was keeping him away from her heart and no matter how much he tried he couldn't get close. She proved to him as much tonight.

Their confrontation in the hallway and later on in her bedroom was just the tip of the iceberg. She was so close and so far away.

She didn't even know the damage she had inflicted on him. She had destroyed him. He fell in love with her and her death had cast a heavy shadow. He had sunk back into his dull darkness and her presence now exploded all colors in his life again. Colors he hadn't believed existed. Colors he craved for their glow, their intensity and their warmth but no matter how much he tried to master their tones Caroline kept them away from him. She kept herself away. She had given him a taste of how life was with her in it and how it was without her. He refused to go back to a colorless existence but the more he tried to hold on to her the more she was slipping away and watching her waste those colors carelessly to everyone around but him was making the beast in his bones howl and the fire in his heart rage all at once.

In the end, it was Caroline's bubbling laughter at Marcellus's flirting nonsense that made him see red. It was a siren's song that called to his beast that now craved destruction. It was the same when he had seen Kol kiss her cheek and seeing her laugh and smile when his nuisance of a brother was near her. It cut him deep. Especially now that he knew how important he was to her. Now that she had admitted that she sided with him.

But Marcellus was where he drew the line.

Her laugh was a blade. She didn't know the damage she was inflicting.

He has had enough. He saw the world through the amber color of his eyes and he tasted iron on his mouth as his fangs grazed his tongue that pressed against them. He had given speeches for maintaining peace but the claws that broke the glass in his hand only wanted to tear into the masses and ignite war. Nothing would satisfy him but a bloodbath. He stepped on the shards and he barely acknowledged Elijah's warnings from the corner of his eye. He felt Kol's gaze focused on him too and ignored it.

Instead, the crowd passed as he decisively walked towards the dancing couple.

And then it stopped. The madness. The voices in his head that demanded blood had no more whispers to share.

Sauntering closer and closer brought Caroline's scent to his nostrils. It taunted him. His heart started beating faster but that sweet fragrance somehow cast away the poison in him. The danger was swept away. Yellow turned to blue. His vision cleared and Caroline's colors came to life again.

And all he wanted was to get close to her.

All he wanted was a dance.

One step closer.

...Come to me in the night hours …I will wait for you...

He closed the distance.

"If I may Marcellus," he intercepted the dance, his hand squeezing Marcel's shoulder in a warning that couldn't be ignored.

He kept his tone amicable but there was no missing of the threat that lied underneath. He had reached his limit. He had far surpassed it tonight.

Marcel and Caroline stopped dancing and while Marcellus was still holding on to Caroline he stepped into their personal space effectively coming in between them.

He didn't bother with what was happening around them or the hushing sounds and the whispers just beneath the music that kept playing.

He didn't mind being the center of attention. He didn't care he had stopped the flow of the couples that gyrated around them and now tried to compensate for the interruption by awkwardly changing their steps and moving into more fluid patterns again while trying not to show their curiosity at the unfolding scene.

Klaus' eyes were set only on Caroline. He didn't care for anything else. He didn't care for all those that watched. He didn't even notice all the eyes that were on him. Camille's and Elijah's eyes from the other side of the room. Hayley's and Kol's from the far distance.

He only cared for pulling Caroline away from Marcel. He only wanted her to fall into his hands, to dance with him, to give him her laugh and her smiles.

Instead, he now faced her scowl but he didn't miss the way Caroline tensed or how her eyes shone for a moment before she had the time to school her expression back to a mask of neutrality.

Klaus smirked when Caroline's hand slipped away from Marcel's hold and only when she stepped back he pulled away his punishing grip from his son's shoulder. So far Marcellus had withheld his ground despite the threat that lingered between them.

Maybe he wasn't thinking clearly. Maybe this was him trying to stake his claim to the woman every inch of his being had claimed as his mate. Maybe it was just the only human need he would ever get. The longing to be close to Caroline and dance with her without any worry in the world. Like they had done before when their story had started. Like he wanted to do now. Even if the treaty he and Elijah had been planning to ensure was hanging from a thread.

No words were exchanged. Marcel eyed both him and Caroline before he nodded and stepped back.

Without missing a beat Klaus extended his hand towards Caroline. He smiled and waited.

He had let her play her game with Marcel but he was done playing games and it would seem Caroline understood just as much. He had given a victory by letting her dance with his child. But he would not allow her victory to be a crushing defeat for him. Not where she was concerned.

He felt his heart swell with tenderness when he noticed how Caroline's confidence was replaced with indignation and anger. He wasn't insulted. That spark, that attitude was so…Caroline and it brought back several memories from their past.

It seemed like a thousand years had passed since they had shared their first dance in Mystic Falls.

Their story had started with a dance. It had more dances to share. It still did.

Their story had not ended yet. It just danced to another tune now.

Klaus tilted his head at her, his eyes shining with expectation and finally without taking her eyes from his Caroline pushed her hand into his awaiting palm. He squeezed her hand gently before he masterfully twirled her and led her into his embrace sweeping her away into the music far away from Marcel.

...And I can't sleep cause thoughts devour…Thoughts of you consume…

Klaus' hand in her waist elicited shivers Caroline couldn't hide.

There were no words needed as they both fell into a familiar pattern. This time their figures were not locked in an old memory painted on canvas or in a dream Klaus gave her. This time the past clashed with the present as Klaus Mikaelson span her around again and she once more fell into his arms.

They mingled with everyone that danced around them. The tension all around them faded away. Like everyone else, she had too felt the danger when Klaus approached. Marcel's body had turned to stone when he faced Klaus Mikaelson that interrupted their dance and for the first time since she had met the self-proclaimed King of New Orleans she saw a glimmer of fear in his eyes but he only stepped back when she gave him a reassuring nod.

She knew her time was up. She couldn't keep avoiding Klaus Mikaelson any longer.

When she had accepted Marcel's offer to dance she felt more on edge than she felt now. Her bloodlust was playing tricks on her and made her go on a self destruct mode more times than she felt comfortable admitting and there was something on Klaus that always provoked her. But rationality always came back as did the thrall that man had on her.

Always.

And it left her weak. She kept trying to fight what she felt. To hide the impression he left on her. She couldn't. As she couldn't hide her inexperience either no matter how hard she was trying to pretend otherwise. And she was sure that Klaus could tell. He could always tell.

Caroline had felt Klaus' gaze washing over her all night and she had hoped he wouldn't see her nervousness and how uneasy she felt. For some reason, she didn't feel comfortable in this environment. This was not one of the small dances she was used to in Mystic Falls when she believed those to be really important and lavish. Those kid affairs paled in comparison. They were nothing but juvenile parties. Even the Mikaelson ball Klaus and his siblings had thrown back then was not as grandiose as this one or as dangerous.

Dragons and Kings attended this ball tonight. And Klaus Mikaelson was both.

She kept him at arm's length because the last thing she needed was to draw attention. She didn't want Klaus' allies and enemies to view her as someone close to him and the Originals. Maybe it was a lost battle but she had wanted to keep her distance.

Lost battle, she thought ruefully.

More so she wanted to keep her distance from Klaus himself. She didn't want him to see how unimportant she was in the grand scheme of things. How in comparison with his world she was just an insecure girl from a small town that only had to show a title from a small town's beauty pageant as her only achievement in life. It was depressing and it made her feel small. She was once more little Caroline Forbes that tried so hard and wanted so much and competed to come first only to finish last.

This was killing her. It wasn't like the prom she had once waited with longing or like the fairytale dances she dreamed of. This ball tonight was making her realize how out of her depth she was. She had spent so much time in Purgatory she had forgotten how it was to be among people. Among such people. She had forgotten how it was to dress up and walk elegantly in high heels. She was one step away of brooding like Stefan Salvatore used to do. How far from grace had she fallen? Maybe she shouldn't have come tonight but she hadn't been able to resist. And yet when she came and realized what she had gotten herself into she felt so out of place.

She was Caroline Forbes. She shouldn't feel that way. She used to host events and used to plan the most beautiful parties Mystic Falls had ever seen but her scope back then was so limited. Tonight was the proof of it.

She didn't want to admit it but she felt like a fish out of water despite how Klaus had assured she would look the part and would fit in. His gifts made sure she would look as if she belonged here and she tried to play the part confidently but she knew that she didn't.

Despite her self-assured attitude, she was still at heart the small-town girl. A girl that once upon a time had been awfully sheltered only to spent most of her life in Purgatory; and was now full of edges and broken pieces.

And Klaus…Klaus was in his element. He thrived here. She could see it too. Mystic Falls couldn't contain him and his larger than life personality. New Orleans was where he truly belonged. And it made her self-conscious. This was his domain where this was her prison. New Orleans was Klaus' territory and his home.

She had tried to mingle tonight. She had tried to smile and be brave. She had tried to hold her head high, to not be impressed or intimidated. To make small talk and dance and be fearless.

She had tried not to feel squashed in Klaus' shadow. To not allow his possessive attitude to overshadow her. She had tried not to show how affected she was by him. How he was breaking her in pieces.

So she played it safe. She stayed away from Klaus despite how much she hated seeing him close to Cami. Despite how much she longed to get closer.

She even promised herself she would soon leave and would not look back. Klaus locking her up in a room was the perfect reason for her to hate him and never look back. Him wanting to hurt Kol was an even better reason. Him wanting to take advantage of Cami so to manipulate her was one more reason. The list kept growing and she had all the reasons she wanted and needed. She planned to use them all to shut Klaus out. She planned to leave and not look back.

That had been the plan.

One dance would be enough to mingle socially before leaving and Marcel provided the perfect deflection. She was a coward for going with it but Marcel Gerard was relatively harmless for her sanity. One dance and she would step away with her pride intact and then she would go back to her small apartment and drown her sorrows in cheap red wine and rocky road ice cream and pretend this night had not been her own personal catastrophe.

Surprisingly so however it only took a few steps before loosening up. Maybe it was all the champagne she had drank tonight or maybe she had forgotten how good it felt to actually dance and have fun.

She didn't trust Marcel but he was awfully charming. The alcohol in her bloodstream had done a marvelous job it would seem because she had slowly found herself laughing and relaxing. There were parts of Marcel that reminded her of Klaus but none to the extent to make her hair stand and her heartbeat to explode in her chest.

In retrospect, this had been a mistake because it didn't take long. When her mood changed and she loosened up enough to let go she had felt Klaus' gaze boring holes in her back as she danced. She then had decided to poke the beast and ignore the instincts that screamed at her. Just so to spite Klaus she kept dancing and flirting with Marcel. She wanted to feel like her old self again. The girl that was not a nervous wreck. A girl that was smart enough to not allow herself to be seduced by a man like Klaus Mikaelson. To be the girl who used to be his distraction without allowing him to distract her instead. That girl would not feel jealous when Klaus would speak to Cami. That girl would own this place, this dance and Klaus Mikaelson. That girl wouldn't be buried in Purgatory and surely that girl would enjoy herself tonight.

That girl wouldn't have lied when she told Klaus Mikaelson that she hadn't come for...him.

So she threw her head back and laughed at Marcel's jokes and danced as elegantly as the old Caroline knew how. And she had felt how the air got charged with danger. She used to sense that kind of threat in Purgatory too. It was when the monsters woke. It was when they were readying themselves to attack.

Klaus was watching her. Claiming her with his penetrating gaze. Undressing her and marking her. This was not the benevolent King that vowed peace tonight.

Light would not conquer the blood Klaus wanted to shed now. She knew she should step away. Marcel's body stiffened too. Should they stop dancing they should give everyone the message that they bowed to Klaus out of fear. Marcel was still the King. And she was still training the vampires at his side. But most of all she was still who she was. She would not retreat. She would withstand the storm.

From the corner of her eye she had seen Klaus' amber eyes. She had heard the glass breaking. His steps had been a thundering echo in her ears when everyone had parted to let him pass. As if everyone knew that if they didn't they would lose their hearts and heads.

She had prepared herself for any possible volatile outburst. She knew she was counting seconds before the loud fight inside Klaus Mikaelson would burst out of him but instead, she saw every emotion in him twist and change as he smoothed his way closer to her. The rage turned to fascination and then…fondness.

The kind of fondness she was unable to deny.

Klaus claimed his dance and her traitorous heart hadn't been able to resist him. She could pretend that she did it to keep the peace and not turn the dance floor to a battlefield but she knew that her heart wanted this. Dancing with Marcel had been lightless fun.

Dancing with Klaus was like finding home.

...Stay with me a little longer… I will wait for you...

She wanted to be angry with this caveman behavior of his but she couldn't because she finally found the sense of belonging she was missing. She was finally fitting in.

One step, one more.

One, two, three, his palm clasped hers.

His hand wrapped around her waist tighter as she supported her other hand on his broad shoulder.

It was a familiar sensation. It has been so long. So long to remember but she hasn't forgotten. A thousand years and she wouldn't forget.

Caroline raised her eyes to meet Klaus' encouraging gaze so she let go.

If she thought she had done her best in the dance with Marcel Gerard she had been wrong. She had been out of sync. Terribly out of practice.

But all the doubt now went away. Muscle memory kicked in and now she was dancing on clouds again.

Her body took charge as Klaus led the way.

They combined their steps, turning faster and then slowing down only to pick up the pace again following the sound of music.

She sighed in relief and Klaus only had to offer affection now.

His hold was gentle and she couldn't help but ran her eyes all over him. He was temptation trapped in a dark tailored suit tonight. She knew all the power that hid underneath. She could feel it in the way he held her now. In every assured step he was taking in tandem with hers.

His touch at the small of her back was sinful and she unconsciously wet her lips with her tongue. Klaus' eyes followed that reaction of hers and she knew she had captured his full attention. She half expected one of his usual smirks to come out but instead, he eyed her with an almost mesmerized expression that left her breathless.

And there it was.

That frustrating glimmer of hope again that made her heart expand and made her wanting to dance the night away with Klaus.

...Shadows creep and want grows stronger… deeper than the truth...

The blurry lights and the sparkling gowns were turning round and round all around them. Everything shifted, every color became a rainbow of movement.

Klaus' warm fingers against the bare skin of her back pressed harder drawing her in. In response, her hand clasped his shoulder harder too. She wanted to feel every inch of his skin. To take in his scent.

Klaus steadily set the pace and she almost hummed at the wave of heat his body was emanating. It engulfed from head to toe. It set her heart on fire as their bodies whirled around in an elegant waltz.

There they were. Again. And Caroline realized that she had needed this. This moment. To be just a girl gracefully dancing with a boy. And Klaus made it so easy, so much that she melted in his hands.

The music kept playing and the silence was comfortable around them until Klaus decided to break it.

"Maybe you didn't come for me…but I am glad you came tonight."

Caroline's mouth went dry at once, eyes snapping to meet his and she knew Klaus did it on purpose.

She inhaled sharply, old memories assaulting her.

There was a time she wore a blue dress and danced with him as he had tried to awkwardly warm his way into her heart.

'I'm glad you came.'

That's what he had told her that night.

And just like that, the illusion of being just a girl dancing with a boy faded away because she could never return to the past. Because too much time had passed, so many things had happened. No matter what she craved, how much more she lately craved it she was no longer the girl in the blue dress.

She missed a step and Klaus' tightened his hold. Instinctively she tried to push him away and put an end to this dance but Klaus' hold was not yielding.

She glared at him, desperately trying to defend herself from all the emotions that now broke through her carefully placed armor. It was of no use. The ice was thawing. The truth was coming out.

What his stunt in the bedroom hadn't managed to do this was doing.

She saw the soft gleam in Klaus' eyes. It was begging her. It was both nostalgic and playful as it was saying 'come on sweetheart…. play with me.'

"Well," she started sharply but bit her tongue as Klaus tilted his head expectantly.

Damn him!

She pressed her lips, her old reply a faint echo in her ears 'Well, it was either caviar or sympathy casseroles'.

Her shoulders slumped. The ice she had surrounded herself was melting away. She got caught in the thought of that memory and shook her head.

"Well… it wasn't as if there …was anything interesting in TV," she muttered and then closed her eyes for a second before her lips twitched to a smile that no matter how sad it was and no matter how much she tried so hard to suppress it she couldn't.

Klaus waited. The ice turned to dew dropping from her heartstrings.

"It was either caviar or yesterday's leftovers," she whispered ending up playing along. Her tone was soft, half amused half exasperated, and indignant as it once had been and Klaus gave her a goofy smile that she swore would be her undoing.

As would be the affection that shone deep in his eyes. So much love. So much understanding.

Only he couldn't really understand because she couldn't understand.

And the more she couldn't understand the more the ice was growing and building up back again this time with more sharp edges.

She tried not to feel the cold she really did. Only instead she felt the fire.

It took only but a moment.

.

Only one moment.

.

Caroline suddenly smelled the sulfur from Purgatory. The music vanished and became a loud screech in her ears. The walls were closing in on her again. All this emotional whirlwind was about to set her off. She could feel it deep in her bones. It was tugging and breaking out. She was about to be assaulted by one more of those imaginary attacks that always left her a heaving mess. She hadn't confessed about those incidents to anyone. She had first fallen victim to her bloodlust and ripped those people in the alley apart and then she had her first full-blown attack in front of Klaus when he had given her that dream with them dancing. As they were dancing now.

The ground shifted. Chaos threatened to spill under her heels.

God, this couldn't be happening. She couldn't break down in front of everyone.

"Stay with me love," Klaus whispered so quietly that had she not been a vampire she wouldn't have heard him. In fact, she could tell she was the only that heard him.

Only it didn't matter. His voice was lost because she was slowly losing it.

Her eyes widened. She tried to fight back. To not let the fear eat her alive again. Like it would do in her nightmares. Or at Rousseau's where she worked when she had to excuse herself and lock herself in the bathroom until it would pass.

She had to do the same now but she knew she was under the microscope tonight. She should excuse herself and go only she couldn't. She almost froze on the spot and barely noticed how Klaus had masterfully slipped his feet under her feet. She was standing on his toes, the skirt of her gown hiding their shoes. Klaus was moving them around now making it seem natural as he guided them a bit away from the spotlight.

"You are here with me," Klaus pressed and she tried to nod.

She was here. With him. Not in Purgatory. She was with him.

"It's just you and me. Breathe love," he soothingly said leading their steps in a more comfortable pace.

"You and me," she mumbled, her body trembling and she closed her eyes breathing deeply in and out as Klaus' fingers draw patterns against her back in soft caresses lulling her back to sanity.

Very carefully, without startling her, he span them around so to bring her closer to him. Klaus dropped his head, his lips almost touching her ear.

"You are here. You are safe."

The tension eased up and she was brought back to the presence. Still dancing. Klaus was anchoring her and supporting her. The music became lively again. Purgatory faded away.

She breathed. She could breathe.

She mouthed a muted thank you and pushed her feet back to the ground resuming the dance.

She felt her cheeks burn and swallowed the tears that were threatening to collect to the edge of her eyes. The shame almost overwhelmed her. She felt so weak and the concern in Klaus' gaze was more than she could handle.

She cleared her throat and tried to look anywhere else but him.

Shit. Marcel had his eyes trained on them. He knew something was up and she couldn't give him the ammunition he wanted against her. Hayley was watching too and Kol had a worried look.

She had to keep dancing. She had to pretend nothing was happening and Klaus knew it too and before she knew it they had found their way in the middle of the dance, mingling with the rest of the dancing couples.

This shouldn't have happened.

She had kept her distance for a reason. She had shielded her heart from Klaus for a reason. Because after Purgatory everything was magnified. Everything hurt. And Klaus…Klaus was the match that was lighting up the fire and that fire burned. So much. So much it was breaking her in pieces he was taking for himself and she couldn't afford to lose more pieces of herself. Purgatory had already claimed too many. But Klaus was destroying her defenses so easily. Turning them to ash. She knew he wanted to mend all the broken in her but how could she burden him so?

She shook her head. She couldn't do this. Not now. Not with him. Not tonight.

All she had to do was just finish that damn dance. And take her mind away from this mess. She had to detach herself.

"You really went all out with the extravagance tonight," she bit out trying to sound carefree and nonchalant. Mostly for the sake of all those that had their hearing focused on her and Klaus.

She knew Klaus would understand what she was doing but she gave him a withering look subtly pointing at Marcel and Davina at the far end of the room. Closer by there was also Elijah and the werewolves.

"Elijah had an input too," Klaus simply went along with it.

"Yes," she snorted unable to hide the sarcasm from her voice now, "and from the looks, of it, he achieved what he was looking for. Everyone calls it the Royal Ball apparently."

This time Klaus' smirk was taunting.

"What do you think?"

Caroline gave him a pointed look.

"I am not a fan of monarchy."

Klaus laughed amused and she almost wanted to stick out her tongue at him.

"Now that's a pity," Klaus commented lightly gracing her with one of those smiles of his that pronounced those stupid dimples she always wanted to poke with her finger, "you'd fit the role brilliantly given how you definitely look like a Queen," he complimented her and she rolled her eyes not missing the insinuation of him being the King in his scenario.

Klaus beamed at her reaction but then he gave her a soft smile.

"You do Caroline," he insisted with disarming sincerity, "you look magnificent tonight."

Caroline pompously threw her head at the side following the etiquette of the waltz refusing to fall into the trap of Klaus' gentleness.

"It's the dress," she shut him down with an unimpressed shrug and almost broke into a giggling fit at the incredulous look Klaus gave her but then she focused her most potent deadly glare at him and continued, "which reminds me," she huffed angrily "Stop. Compelling. Aaron!"

Klaus rose his brow at her in a challenge and she felt the need to shove the edge of her heel into his shin. Instead, she stepped on his right foot with all her might not caring at all for anyone that was looking.

Klaus didn't seem to mind. He was actually looking as if he was enjoying this.

"He is not your toy!" she hissed, hating the way Klaus used and abused people in that way.

Klaus let out a chuckle before he turned her around, the skirt of her gown flowing in waves that caught the light and reflected it all around.

Her body crashed against Klaus' and her lips almost touched his. She looked at him almost startled and swallowed down harshly at the demanding desire she saw into the blue color that stared her back seriously.

"Would you have accepted my gifts otherwise?"

...I can't help but be wrong in the dark …Cause I'm overcome in this war of hearts...

She should lie. She should avoid him. She should-

"You will never know now will you?" she met his challenge with her own, leveling him with a heated gaze that saw right through his longing and insecurities.

And even if she could deal with an irate manipulative Klaus she could never stand her ground against an honest unguarded one.

Her stomach flipped as if it was moved around in her body by the flutter of a thousand butterflies.

"Maybe you should have taken a chance," she said, her voice barely coming out in a soft whisper but the meaning of her words was heard. As was her own vulnerability that matched the one she saw in Klaus.

...I can't help but love you…Even though I try not to…

She felt the sharp inhale Klaus took before he held his breath and the world upended around them. Everything seemed to move in slow motion, slowing down, slowing in a single heartbeat, till time lost all meaning and stood still.

As if the world around them dissolved and disappeared in smoke, the blue of his eyes darkened and focused solely on her encompassing her in a heated embrace.

...I can't help but want you …I know that I'd die without you...

"Maybe I should."

I can't help but want oceans to part…

Not should have. Not past tense. Klaus' words uttered so softly and yet so decisively, held promise and created a torrent of emotion that swept her away as the world started turning again, faster and faster leaving her breathless with a longing she hasn't felt for years.

And this time she didn't stand in the precipice of it.

She fell. With her next words soft in their whisper. She fell straight in.

"Maybe…you should."

...Cause… I'm overcome in this war of hearts...

"Maybe…I will," he promised and there was no maybe in his vow.

Their gazes clashed, the music reached a crescendo and this time when he spun her around he pulled her close; her body colliding with his until their faces hovered close, so close for their breaths to coalesce and their scents to merge as if they've both given away to sensations that demanded a different release than dancing the night away.

But for now, they danced.

They had to start somewhere after all.


TBC


Song: War of Hearts by Ruelle