It was the day of the full moon. The last night for the Crescents to turn against their will. I stood with Nik in one of the studies as Genevieve looked over the pages of Esther's grimoire that contained the moonlight ring spell.
"Your mother's spell is as complicated as it is elegant. She was clearly a very gifted witch." Genevieve complimented the dead bitch.
"Yeah, too bad she tried to kill all her children." I stated before Nik snatched the page from her hands and pointed at it.
"Is this the bit, here?" he asked her.
"Hey!" Genevieve snatched it back from him. "Like I said, it's complicated. She bound protection magic to black kyanite stones. A werewolf with the stones is free from turning on a full moon."
"And what of the improvements?" Nik asked her.
"This spell will enhance speed, strength, and agility." Genevieve said pulling another page to her.
"There should be something in there about fangs, it's what our mother used on us when she turned us into vampires." Nik explained.
"Not just fangs—" Genevieve reminded him. "You said you want venom, so the bite is still lethal to vampires." Nik smiled as Genevieve laid a third page carefully on top of the other two. "Here. It should make a nice gift for your wife."
"It's not just for me." I told her.
"You'll be making quite a few of these. Let's call it an even hundred." Nik told her and she frowned up at him.
"That's not the deal I made with Elijah." She reminded him.
"Well, you're dealing with me now." He told her. "And I am offering considerably more."
"You think because I'm doing this spell for you I'm suddenly at your beck and call?" Genevieve asked him.
"Because I need you, I'm prepared to offer something more valuable than my protection." Nik told her.
"Which is what?" she asked him curiously.
"My mother's grimoire, from which I took these spells. You see, Elijah is offering you a mere peek at these pages, but I will grant it to you as a gift. If you pledge your loyalty to me, beginning with the creation of those rings." Nik told her.
"This has been your plan all along! You want to build a werewolf army, and you're using me to do it!" Genevieve said finally placing the pieces together.
"I'm not the enemy. Nor the wolves." Nik told her. "Your abusive coven expects you to sacrifice yourself for the last of the Harvest girls." Something flashed through her eyes, but it was too quick to see. "Do this one favor for me, and you need never fear anyone ever again."
Hours later Hayley barged into my room telling me Jackson and Oliver weren't back yet. We went to Elijah who immediately called Nik at Hayley's persistence.
"It appears our wolves have gone astray, brother." Elijah told him.
"They should have been back hours ago." Hayley said pacing.
"We need to find them." Elijah relayed to his brother.
"Well, that might be a bit tricky. You see, we've located their car on a back road in the middle of nowhere. I suspect they've been shanghai'd." I heard Nik say when Elijah put him on speaker.
"And you didn't feel the need to share this information?" Elijah asked him.
"It was my intention to present you with a problem only after I had found an appropriate solution." Nik said.
"Which is what?" I asked him.
"I'm closing in on it as we speak. The only person who would be bold enough to snatch my wolf allies is the one who has the most to lose." Nik told us.
"Marcel." Elijah sighed and Hayley's face paled.
"No, he'll kill them!" Hayley reminded them both.
"Genevieve assures me that Marcel has procured a cloaking spell. The only witch who will aid Marcel is Davina. I just need to get one last bit of leverage before I pay her a visit." Nik told us. "And there it is." Nik said before hanging up.
"I really wish he wouldn't do that." I sighed before thinking something over. "If Marcel's taken Jackson and Oliver it might not be long before he sets out for us. We need a safe house for Nikolas."
"This is the safest house will be here with us." Elijah insisted but I gave him a look before taking a deep breathe.
"Take him out to the Bayou. Tonight." I said looking to Hayley. She looked at me shocked before nodding.
"Nicole –" Elijah started but I but in.
"No Elijah. I want him safe and the safest places for him are either with us, who Marcel is coming for, or Hayley, who will be in the Bayou with the pack." I told him. "My decision. Not yours." I told him before leaving the room.
I sat next to Hayley who was pacing around in the room, worrying about our current problems.
"Elijah should have called by now." Hayley told me.
"Worrying isn't going to help. You should sit down, try to keep calm." Genevieve said walking into the room behind us.
"What are you, now, magician slash zen-life-coach?" Hayley asked her.
"The treatment of women has advanced remarkably since I was a nurse, but even I know high blood pressure is bad for you." She stated.
"I'm a Hybrid. High blood pressure doesn't mean anything to me." She told the witch.
"But Nicole isn't." Genevieve said. "Do you really think her pacing is helping her?"
"I hate this." Hayley said sitting next to me.
"Meanwhile, ever since we took back the compound Nik hasn't let me leave these four walls willingly. I feel completely useless." I told her.
"Don't you get it?" Genevieve said drawing our attention back to her. "You're the point of all this. Klaus and Elijah running all over town? It's all for you. I'm a bit envious."
"Great. Lucky me." I sighed.
"Is there anything I can get you?" she asked us and I gave her a look.
"How about a moonlight ring?" Hayley asked her with a smile.
"The spell can't be performed until the full moon reaches its apex. And, of course, I need the stones, which will be here soon enough. Have a little faith!" she said sitting next to me. I sighed before getting up and walking away from the two of them. I called Nik but he ignored my calls so I called Elijah who answered.
"What's going on?" I asked him.
"Jackson is fine. He's...a little tied up right now. Can we call you back?" Elijah asked me and confusion filled me.
"Why are you guys avoiding my calls?" I asked him before I heard something crashed on their end.
"Oh, that doesn't bode well." I heard Nik said.
"Are you trying to kill us?" Jackson yelled out.
"Elijah, tell me what's going on, now!" I ordered. Suddenly there was a loud explosion and I jumped in surprise and fear.
Hayley and I now switched places. I was the one pacing while she sat on the couch. I turned to the doorway to see Elijah and Jackson walk in looking very disheveled and covered in ash.
"I got it." Jackson groaned and Hayley ran to them.
"Thank god you're alive!" she said running to Jackson and hugging him tightly. Elijah nodded at her and watched them.
"Where's Nik?" I asked getting worried.
"I'm fine, love." He told me and I ran to him and held him to me.
"What about the stones?" Hayley asked them.
"Scattered across the bed of the Mississippi, I'd imagine." Elijah sighed.
"Marcel's not a fool. He knows an empowered werewolf army would mean the end of vampires in New Orleans. The explosion is his way of saying he means to prevent that. For all the good it'll do him." Nik said holding me close to him.
"Well, it did him pretty damn well, didn't it?" Hayley asked them.
"This is my fault. I'll find a way to fix it." Jackson told us.
"No, Jack, you're hurt. No one's blaming you." Hayley told him.
"I'm blaming you!" Nik told him and I hit his side lightly. "Those stones will be hard to replace."
"Luckily for us you always have a plan B." I said hoping I was right.
"And it will soon be here." He told us and I gave him a confused look. He stepped away from us and we all followed him to see Francesca walk into the compound with five other men.
"You can't seriously mean her! She's a gangster!" Hayley reminded him.
"I see her more as a means of procuring rare items at short notice." He said as we met them in front of the stairs. "Greetings, Ms. Correa! I see you've brought company."
"These are my brothers. I always include them in delicate business matters. "Fellas, meet Mr. Mikaelson." she introduced.
"Please, call me Klaus. All my friends do." Nik told them.
"I don't know if I'd call us friends." She said before reaching into the briefcase one of her brothers were holding. She pulled out a small black drawstring bag. "But, if you and Marcel are planning on having a little throw-down, I'd prefer my family to be on the same side as the inevitable victor."
"Then, you have what I asked for?" Nik asked her.
"Not enough for an army at such short notice, but it's a start." She said holding the bag out to him. He took the bag and inspected the stones within.
"Strange, I wasn't aware that she was familiar with our plan." Elijah said.
"Funny enough, neither did I." I said giving Nik a look.
"My price for doing business is full disclosure. Your brother complied." Francesca explained.
"And what does the Human Faction stand to benefit from all of this?" Elijah asked her curiously.
"I only want us to solidify our allegiance to the ruling class. It's good for business." She told him and I shared a look with Elijah.
"If only everyone shared your capacity for reason." Nik said smirking at her.
"Sadly, they don't. Marcel is being especially vindictive. I'm worried he might come after me, or my family, just for meeting with you." She told us before taking a deep breathe. "It might be in our best interests if we combine our efforts."
"So be it! The more bodies we have to defend the compound, the better. Let's get started, shall we?" Nik asked and we set out for what we needed to do.
Later that night, Hayley had taken Nikolas to the Bayou with herself and Jackson and I stood in a room with my husband, brother-in-law and Genevieve as she chanted the spell for the moonlight rings.
"Tua virtuse. Materi lunare tua virtuse. Materi lunare tua virtuse."
"My people say Marcel is on the move, and he's bringing friends." Francesca told us after rushing in.
"Get Nicole to safety." Elijah told Nik before rushing out.
"Come with me." Nik said grabbing my arm.
"No." I told him and he gave me a look. "Some needs to watch her." I insisted. He looked like he wanted to say something, but it was most likely meant for private ears only.
"You should help Elijah. My brothers and their security detail won't be much against a vampire army. I'll stay with Nicole."
"Go, Nik." I said before walking up to him and kissing him deeply my hands cradling his face. "And don't hold back." Nik kissed me once more before turning and leaving to help Nik.
A short time later one of Francesca's security guards walked into the room trying to get the human to leave.
"Not yet." She told him.
"Materi lunare tua virtuse. Materi lunare tua virtuse." My phone buzzed and I looked down to see Cami's name. I ignored it and continued watching Genevieve. "Materi lunare tua virtuse. Materi lunare tua virtuse." She stopped chanting and picked up one of the stones. "The stones are finished. I've done my part. Now, it's up to you."
"I'll get them to the Bayou." I told her happily.
"Actually, she was talking to me." Francesca told me taking a stone from Genevieve.
"What the hell is going on?" I asked getting angry.
"Call it a side deal. The point is, I'm taking the stones." She told me before she started walking away from us.
"Are you out of your mind? You think the humans can go up against the Original family?" I asked her stunned.
"No, I don't." she told me. "But, I'm not human." She pulled out a knife and I backed away from her but she used it on her bodyguard, slitting his throat. When he died she doubled over in pain and I felt my eyes widen. "I'm like you, Nicole. And now, I'm gonna take back my town!" she told me with her golden eyes and fangs protruding from her gums.
"Over my dead body!" I said before lunging for her. Before I could do anything I felt something stop me and my world darkened.
When I woke up I was in the arms of two witches dragging me somewhere. I immediately started struggling before I felt a familiar pain in my abdomen. I started begging them to let me go. Let me go home, but they just ignored me. They drug me to St. Anne's Church and I saw Monique and another witch waiting for us in the pews with Genevieve and Abagail by the alter. I kept screaming hoping someone would hear me.
"Get her down on the floor!" Genevieve ordered and they placed me on the steps.
"We should take her to the City of the Dead." Monique told Genevieve.
"We won't make it, the baby is coming now." Genevieve told her.
"No! It's too soon! Ahhhhhh!" I screamed.
"Apparently not." She told me.
"The plan was to induce her when the sacrifice was ready!" Monique told Genevieve and I looked at them terrified. How long had they been planning to do this to us?
"I had to subdue her, and the trauma caused a placental abruption. So, the baby is coming, and we'll just have to adapt." Genevieve told her.
"AHHH! LET ME GO!" I ordered the witches around me.
"You need to be calm, Nicole." Genevieve told me.
"Why are you doing this to us?" I asked her terrified. I saw someone else come into the church and saw Hayley desiccated and Nikolas in some unknown witch's arms.
"To be reborn, you must sacrifice." Monique told me.
"What does that mean, you psychotic little BITCH?" I asked her.
"The ancestors demand an offering in exchange for power." Genevieve told me and I looked at her.
"Your children will be a fine offering." Monique told me.
"No! NO! You will not take my babies, I will kill ALL OF YOU!" I shouted in their faces.
"No, you won't! And neither will Klaus, or Elijah! When your baby is born, we will offer her and her brother up to those who came before us." Monique said. I screamed as I shook my head and cried, struggling to be released from them and get myself and Nikolas out of this place.
"I'm sorry, Nicole, but this is the way it had to be." Genevieve told me.
"No! NO! NO! AAH! AAH!" I screamed out again. "YOU MONSTERS! AAH! NIK!"
