The next day I was in one of the small houses with Eve and Hayley who were both helping me prepare for giving birth naturally.
"That's it. Inhale and release." Eve instructed me.
"I guess this means no epidural, huh? You sure I can't do this thing in, say, a hospital? The place with the doctors and the drugs?" I asked for the millionth time.
"Honey, the werewolves have been having babies out here since before you were born. Stop worrying." She told me with a smile.
"Okay. Then what, Eve?" I asked the older woman. "Alternating weekends with the werewolves and Originals?"
"Trust me, when the time comes, you'll know exactly what to do." She told me.
"I hope so." I said looking at the ceiling.
"As fun as it is to image Klaus changing dirty diapers, I'm pretty sure that we'll be doing this alone." Hayley told me with a smile making me laugh at her a little.
"I somehow doubt that" Eve said sending us a smile as well.
"Yeah, you'd be surprised at what Nik will do for his children." I told her with a smile.
"Pardon the interruption." Elijah said sticking his head in the doorway. "I wonder if I might have a quick word with the conspirators of a supposed uprising." Hayley and I shared a look with each other.
"Eve can you bring Jackson and Oliver in here please." I asked her without actually asking. She nodded her head and we all met up in the dining hall area. Soon Jackson and Oliver joined us and we waited for Elijah to start talking.
"You're making a grave mistake." Elijah told us.
"So, you're just worried about us. Is that it?" Oliver asked him pacing.
"Look, Elijah. We know all about your brother's reputation, but if there is even a chance that these rings can help us take control of our curse—" Jackson said before being cut off.
"—Our gift—" Oliver corrected.
"—Then, honestly, we don't care what he's really after. Won't have to." Jackson finished.
"I see. There are those in the Quarter who will consider this a great provocation." Elijah warned us.
"Apparently, most of them see us breathing the same way." Oliver told him.
"You signed a pledge, and you looked me in the eye as you did so." Elijah reminded Hayley.
"We don't want a fight, Elijah. We just want a better life." Hayley told him.
"Allegiance with my brother will guarantee you anything but that." Elijah warned. Suddenly we heard a motorbike approaching the Crescents.
"What the hell?" Jackson asked confused. We walked outside to see a man on a motorbike ride into the encampment and stop as we all approached him.
"Which one of you is in charge?" the man asked.
"Who's asking?" Jackson asked moving forward.
"Why is it the person in charge always asks that?" I asked quietly ensuring only Hayley, Elijah and those close to me heard. The man smirked before Elijah suddenly tackled him and the motorbike exploded throwing us all back in the blast.
When I woke up my ears were ringing and my head was pounding. Once I relearned how to stand and walk I quickly went to where everyone else was.
"Nikolas!" I called out for my son. He had been playing with other children when the driver had pulled up. Where was he now though!? "Nikolas!" I called again.
"Jackson!?" I heard Hayley call out. I turned to her but didn't see Nikolas so I continued looking for him. I finally found him covered in dirt and crying loudly I ran to him and pulled him to me.
"It's okay baby. I'm here. Mommy's here." I told him picking him up and holding him close to me, letting him cry out as loudly as he wanted to. "Elijah!" I called out to him and he rushed to me. I handed him Nikolas. "Get him somewhere safe." I ordered before I moved to the rest of the injured. I saw Oliver and Eve leaning over a woman who had a tree branch impaled in her leg. I watched Oliver grab the branch.
"Oliver, no." I called to him but it was too late. He'd already pulled out the branch and I quickly ran to them.
"Idiot!" I shouted at him before grabbing Eve's hand. "Press here." I told her before looking at Oliver. "Give me your shirt." He just stared at me. "Shirt! Now!" I ordered before finally listened and gave me his plaid over shirt. "It's okay." I told the woman before creating a tourniquet out of it and the tree branch.
"How'd you learn how to do that?" Eve asked me amazed.
"Dad was a doctor. That should slow the bleeding, at least until the healing kicks in." I said helping her up and handing her to Eve who took her where the wounded were being taken to. Oliver suddenly stood up and threw a nearby trashcan in anger.
"Argh!" he shouted out in grief and anger. "Vampires. They don't even have the guts to do their own dirty work themselves. I mean, why bother when you can just compel some poor son-of-a-bitch to do it for you? I say we hit them back! Hard." He started to move past me but I pushed him back.
"Stay here, Oliver. I need you to help look after everyone until I get back." I told him.
"Where the hell are you going?" He asked me.
"If this was vampires, I'm pretty sure that I can guess who gave the order." I said grabbing a tree branch from the ground and broke it into a stake. "I'm gonna go find Marcel."
As I drove back into the city I picked up my phone and called Hayley.
"Nicole." She answered. "Where are you going?"
"I have something to take care of. I'll be back as soon as I can." I told her.
"Tell me where you're going and I'll meet you there." She told me.
"Hayley, I'm fine. Just take care of the pack while I'm gone, please?" I asked her before hanging up.
Once I found the vampire hideout I stormed in with the stake in my hand. I looked around and found Diego.
"You done got some nerve coming up in here, mama." He told me.
"Do I?" I asked him before knocking him flat on his back. He quickly jumped back up and growled at me. I pushed him against a wall shoved the stake into his chest just barely missing his heart.
"Someone attacked my pack in the Bayou this morning, and since I don't see any geniuses around here... Why don't you just tell me where Marcel is, and we can both get on with our day, huh?" I asked him. Diego groaned and I shoved the stake closer to his heart. "You think I'm playing with you? There were families out there. My son was out there!" I said glaring at him.
"He used to keep a place. 1917 Patterson. If he's still around, he'll be there." Diego told me.
"Good dog." I said before I ripped the stake out of his chest and took my leave.
Once I got to the docks I pulled out my phone and looked at the screen to see Nik and Nikolas. I sighed before calling him.
"Yes?" Nik answered.
"Nik, where are you?" I asked him.
"I'm in a bit of a situation here, love." He told me.
"Somebody sent a suicide bomber out to the Bayou this morning." I told him.
"What? Where are you and Nikolas?" he asked me worriedly.
"I'm in the city now and Nikolas is with the pack. We're fine. I figured an attack like that must have been Marcel. He's hated the wolves for years, and after that stunt he pulled with the witches... So, I tracked him down. Thought you might like to help kick his ass for trying to blow us to kingdom come." I told him.
"Hey, listen. I assure you, once I am finished here, you will have my undivided attention. In the meantime, please stay out of trouble." He told me and I looked at the warehouse behind me.
"You don't have to worry. Elijah and Hayley are with me." I lied before hanging up on him. I barged into Marcel's loft and instead of surprising Marcel he looked like he was expecting me.
"Come on in. Have a seat. I'd offer you a drink, but..." Marcel gestured to my daughter still in my womb.
"Nice place." I said looking around.
"Oh, it's just temporary. Friend hooked me up. Believe it or not, I still got a few of those kicking around. I need friends to keep me informed, to warn me when someone is coming looking to blame me for things that I didn't do." He told me while pouring himself a drink and smiling at me. "For the record, you didn't have to work Diego like that. You and I are long overdue for a chat."
"I agree." I said remembering the last time we'd spoken.
"Tough girl. You're a lot like your mother in that way." he told me.
"You mean Katherine?" I asked him.
"No. Isabel." He told me and I gave him a curious look. "Oh, yeah. I knew her. I knew your whole family. Johnathon Gilbert made his way here when she was. If you knew them like I did, you'd know just how many enemies they made while here." I sighed knowing he wasn't wrong. "Not only your parents but also the wolves you hang with now. Back in the nineties, it was the Crescent wolves who took over the city. Or, tried to. They lived to throw down, and they were good at it, too. They didn't care who they killed as long as they got more power."
"So the Crescent curse was your way of stopping them? Big hero of the city." I said sarcastically.
"It was either that or kill them all, and I'm not big on indiscriminate slaughter. See, I have this thing about kids." He told me.
"So I've heard." I said.
"Oh, you did more than hear about it. You're friend Andréa Labonair is living proof." He told me and I took a deep breath.
"How long have you known who she is?" I asked him.
"I saw how interested the two of you were in those Crescents. After the little family reunion out at the old plantation house, I started to put two and two together." He told me.
"Did you kill her parents?" I asked him.
"There was in-fighting among the wolves. Her folks were laying low. Somebody turned on them. I honestly don't know who. I got there afterwards, found Hayley in her crib." He told me.
"Give me one good reason why I should believe anything that you have to say to me." I said making sure he understood he was on icy waters with me.
"Believe whatever you want, but your friend is the last Labonair. I mean, could've been a lot of leverage for our side, but instead, I took her to Father Kieran." He told me before pulling out a duffle bag and handing it to me.
"And what's that?" I asked him pointing to it.
"Money, mostly. Stuff you need to start over someplace safe. Whatever happened in the Bayou, I'm not your guy. But, the way things are going? Eventually, I might have to be." He told me and I sat on the couch and opened the bag.
"So this is your grand plan? Get me and my children out of town, and the Originals follow closely behind." I stated not bothering in asking him.
"I can't say that wouldn't be a positive side effect." He said smiling.
"So why don't you leave? Follow your own advice?" I asked him.
"I was born here, Nicole." He told me.
"In a way, so was I." I told him before grabbing the bag and leaving.
"So you're leaving?" he asked me.
"Hell no." I told him. "But this money can help me with my pack and things for my children."
"Guy on the bike? The bomber? Word is, he had a gambling problem. Owed money to the casinos-more importantly, to the humans who run them. And Nicole? When things get bad, remember, I tried to get you and your kids clear of it." He told me.
"I'll remember." I told him.
When I got back to the Bayou I walked in to see Oliver talking passionately trying to convince everyone that the right thing to do was fight back against the vampires.
"They are counting on our doubts. That's right! Yeah! They are counting on our fears! That's right! Right!" Oliver shouted out. "Come morning, they will know that we are not cowards."
"What's going on? What is he doing?" I asked Elijah confused.
"We are not afraid!"
"He's making a move for power in the wake of tragedy. He's not alone. There was another attack after you left." Elijah told me and my blood turned to ice.
"What?" I asked breathy in fear.
"The wolves will want vengeance. Blood for blood. And, unfortunately, in troubled times, people do not look for the best. But rather the loudest." He told me.
"Where is Nikolas?" I asked looking for any of the children.
"He's safe and asleep. He didn't get injured in either attack." He told me and I breathed a sigh of relief. I went to collect Nikolas before we went home.
Once back at the compound I put Nikolas down in his room and just sat on the floor by his bed.
"Nicole." I looked up to see Nik standing in the doorway.
"I can't leave him right now." I told him trying not to cry about what could have happened. "He will remain in the compound from now on. And unless there is another reason for me to leave, then so will I." I told him.
"Come with me." Nik said offering me a hand. I looked at it for a while before taking it. He pulled me close to him and we watched as our son slept in his bed before leaving. We walked to the study with Nik's arm still around my waist refusing to let me leave his side. "First Marcel's massacre, now bombs in the Bayou. I'll assume you're ready to give up this doomed treaty."
"This alliance with the wolves, well... If it is to succeed, I believe you'll want this." Elijah said handing Nik Esther's grimoire.
"Seems I have Hayley to thank for your change of heart." Nik said before putting the book down on the desk as Elijah poured them both a drink.
"The rifts in this city run far deeper than I even imagined, Niklaus. These tribes, these factions- they're families, families who choose to fight. Mayhem has descended upon our home, and if I'm to choose a side..." Elijah said before raising his glass in a toast. "To our victory, brother."
"May our enemies rot on the Other Side." I said darkly.
