Nik had gone to collect Sophie and bring her home so we could ask her about Agnes and the witches who had tried to kill me and my baby. I turned to see Nik throw Sophie into a chair and we all stood in front of her.
"We had a deal!" Nik reminded her angrily. "You protect our unborn child, I dismantle Marcel's army. And whilst I've been busy fulfilling my part of the bargain, you allowed Nicole to be attacked and almost killed by a gaggle of lunatic witches."
"I had nothing to do with it, I swear." She told us frantically. "Nicole and I are linked, remember? She dies, I die."
"Then who were they?" Bekah asked her.
"They are a faction of extremists. Sabine stupidly told them about some vision she had about the baby." Sophie told us.
"What kind of vision?" Nik asked suspiciously.
"She has them all the time. They are totally open to interpretation. I'm guessing she's wrong on this one." Sophie told us.
"Well, how, may I ask, was this particular vision interpreted?" Nik asked her and I sighed.
"The infant is evil. We lose all from her." I said. "She said that but in Latin."
"Yea...Pretty much that your baby would bring death to all witches." Sophie said.
"Ah, well. I grow fonder of this child by the second." Nik said plopping into a chair across from her.
"How did you know what she said?" Sophie asked me.
"Other than the fact that I was there? I know Latin." I told her.
"Sophie, look- I promised Elijah that I would protect the Mikaelson miracle-babies whilst he tries to win your witch Davina's loyalty. Why don't you tell me just how extreme this faction is?" Bekah asked her.
"Elijah's talking to Davina?" Sophie asked shocked.
"Yeah. As we speak, I imagine." Bekah told her.
"I'm guessing she'll have plenty to say about that crowd." Sophie told us and I shared an intrigued look with Nik.
"Do tell." Nik said.
"I... wasn't always an advocate for the witches." Sophie told us. "My sister was devoted, like our parents, and our upbringing was very strict, which drove me nuts. The minute I turned twenty-one, I left the Quarter to travel... and play. But, I wanted to be a chef, so I came back to Rousseau's. When I came back she told me the elders had decided to go ahead with the Harvest.
"What the bloody hell is a Harvest?" Bekah asked her confused.
"It's a ritual our coven does every three centuries so that the bond to our ancestral magic is restored. We appease our ancestors, they keep our ancestral power flowing." Sophie explained.
"And why haven't I heard of this?" Nik asked her.
"Because a Harvest always seemed like a myth. A story, passed on through generations like Noah's ark, or the Buddha walking on water. The kind some people take literally, and some people don't." she said. "When I went to confront them they had the girls kneeling in front of one of our elders, Bastianna. They had the girls of our community preparing for months. Four would be chosen for the Harvest. They said that it was an honor, that they were special. I thought it was a myth."
"Was it?" I asked her. Sophie looked guilty, but before she could say anything Nik's phone rang and he answered it.
"Marcel. Bit early in the day for you, isn't it?" Nik asked him. "Rather you than me. All that responsibility seems like such a bore." Nik said with a fake smile. "Dead witches in the Bayou. Sounds like less of a problem, and more like a cause for celebration." Nik smirked. "Oh, why not? Haven't been to the Bayou in ages. I'm on my way."
"You can't go out there now. I need to gather the witches' remains and consecrate them. If I don't get to them before sundown, we'll lose the link to their magic." Sophie told him.
"Those witches tried to kill Nicole. I'd prefer for Marcel's informant not to find anything that would lead him back to us, to her, or to my children." Nik told her. "Stay put. And save the rest of your story 'til I return."
A few hours later I followed Sophie to the cemetery with Nikolas in one of those pouch things with him looking out into the world from my back. I walked into a mausoleum as she was packing a bag full of various bottles of magical ingredients.
"Hey. What the hell?" she asked me.
"I'm going to go with you to the woods." I told her.
"No, thanks. Already got assaulted by Klaus this morning. Don't need a repeat." She told me.
"What if whatever is responsible for all those dead witches is still out there? We've already established that it likes me and my kids and hates witches, so you'll be safer with me." I said to her.
"Sorry if I'm not buying your sudden concern for my safety." She said to me before trying to move around me.
"Look, I couldn't give a damn about your safety. But we are connected. You die, me and my unborn child dies with you. Plus I want to know who or what saved my life last night." I said. I heard heals clicking on the mausoleum stone and turned to see Bekah and Hayley.
"Could you two be more idiotic?" she asked and the two of us shared a look. "Three can play the follow-game, you know! You heard Klaus, he and Marcel are headed right where you're going."
"So distract them." I told her. "Because unless you wanna lock a hormonal, pregnant newbie werewolf in a tomb, I'm going out there. And wouldn't Nik and Elijah be mad if they hear that our children and I died of asphyxiation?" I asked her. Bekah stared at me, clearly annoyed with me and I smirked at her knowing she was going to give in. I looked to Sophie and she sighed and rolled her eyes resigned to having us all tag along.
"What is all that dreadful hillbilly ruckus in the background?" Bekah asked Nik on the phone as we walked through the woods. "Well, order up a few rounds of moonshine and steer clear of the dead witches for a few. The witch is on a burial mission, your wife's friend is on a spirit quest, your wife is looking for answers, and I'm keeping Elijah's promise to keep her safe. So, stall, please?" Bekah asked him before hanging up the phone. "So, this Harvest thingy—- tell me more."
"Klaus said to wait." Sophie reminded her.
"Yes. He also said to stay out of the bayou and yet here we are, amongst the crawly, buzzy creatures." Bekah reminded her.
"Not only are we amongst the crawly, buzzy creatures. We're here." I told her. The bodies of the witches that attacked me last night all bloodied and ripped apart. Sophie knelt down to dig around her bag for the ingredients she needed to consecrate her fellow witches.
"Whoa." Hayley said kneeling in the mud. I looked to see a huge paw-print in the mud and three bloody scratches in the bark.
"Is that a wolf track?" Sophie asked. We heard the sounds of crunching nearby and looked all around us.
"Who's there?" Bekah called out and we turned to see a man who was wearing tattered clothes.
"What the hell? An Original?" he asked shocked before he ran away with vampire speed, leaving us standing and gaping in shock.
"Damn."
"Yes, and now that we've established that I am a failure as a sister, and a friend, and an Original, you should probably know he's on his way to Marcel right now to rat me out. Skinny guy in a hurry, looks like he saw a ghost." Bekah said on the phone with Nik. "I'm on my way." she said before hanging up and swatting a mosquito that landed on her arm.
"We'll stay here with Sophie then go back home." I told her.
Hayley and I helped her with consecrating her fellow witches and by the time we were done it was dark.
"Those people, all this, because of a vision about Nicole's baby you don't think is true?" Hayley asked her.
"Look, I love Sabine, but she's the witch equivalent of a drama queen. I've learned to take little stock in whatever she says or sees. Just kinda wish she'd kept her mouth shut." Sophie told us.
"The Harvest ritual- you said you didn't believe in it. Were you right?" I asked her.
"No. I saw it with my own eyes. It was working. It was real." She told us.
"So, how can you be so sure Sabine's vision isn't?" I asked her. Sophie looked away from me and donned a thoughtful look. "Food for thought."
Back at the house after Sophie dropped us off Bekah poured several drinks for her and Hayley
"I don't care if we have to get you a leash, that was your last trip to the Bayou. What is it with you two and those wolves, anyway?" she asked us.
"I feel like we're connected somehow. I don't know. Maybe it's just some pipe dream that I have of finding any real family out there. But sometimes, when I feel like it's me against the world, it keeps me going." Hayley told her.
"The wolves of the city are protecting me. I don't know why, but I have to find out." I said. "I'm a werewolf now, maybe they see me as pack. Maybe it's only because I'm pregnant with this baby. I have to know." Bekah gave us both a sympathetic look and handed Hayley a glass of bourbon.
"Well, if you ask me, family is a pain in the behind." Bekah said making me laugh. "And as for being in it alone, how dare you? I don't ruin a perfectly fabulous pair of boots traipsing through the Bayou for just anyone."
"I thought that was for me." I said giving her a false hurt look.
"Please, for you I'd kill anyone. Shoes are just below that." She said making the three of us laugh.
"Should I be worried you three are getting along so well?" Nik asked us and we all turned to look at him.
"Nik, finally!" Bekah said relieved. "What–-" she stopped talking when Elijah walked through the door after Nik with a huge smile on his face. Bekah ran to Elijah and hugged him tightly. I walked to Nik and hugged him tightly around the middle as he wrapped an arm around my shoulder. I saw Elijah and Hayley share a look before she leaves.
"Elijah! You're safe! Now that you're home, is your first plan to kill Niklaus?" Bekah asked him with a smile.
"Bekah!" I said.
"Excuse me just a moment." Elijah said before following Hayley.
"Where's he going?" Bekah asked confused.
"I think he's going to make a move on the only single werewolf in the house." I said smiling after him. Later, we were all sitting in the study as Elijah explained everything he learned from the young witch.
"Everything that brought us here to New Orleans was a lie. This story that Sophie Deveraux fabricated, this struggle for control of the French Quarter, this war between vampires and witches, wasn't over territory at all, this was over Davina. Eight months ago, Sophie Deveraux and her sister Jane-Anne lost everything. Now, four months after that, a young pregnant girl wanders into their restaurant. Suddenly, all hope is renewed. Jane-Anne actually sacrificed her life so that her sister can use you to find Davina. If Sophie Deveraux is successful in capturing Davina, she can return Jane-Anne's daughter back to life. We thought we'd come here to wage a war for power. This is about family. In order to return her niece to life, Sophie Deveraux will fight to the death. That makes her more dangerous than anyone."
