Where was she?
Hope looked around, trying to figure out what was going on as she studied the bricks she passed, as if they could give her the answers.
The city she walked through seemed like New Orleans, but something about it felt, off somehow.
As she neared St. Louis Cathedral, she felt someone watching her, but she couldn't figure out where it was from. The cathedral was reported to be so haunted that the humans could feel and see the ghosts, so was that where the feeling was coming from? Hope looked around, spinning slowly as she tried to figure out what was going on.
"Hope Mikaelson."
Hope turned around to see a beautiful woman dressed all in white, with a complexion a few shades lighter than Marcel, her dark curls caught up in an elaborate headdress, standing on the steps of the cathedral. As Hope studied her, she suddenly knew who the woman was.
"Madam Laveau." Hope lowered her head in respect for the most powerful witch New Orleans had seen since the Hollow.
"You've come home."
"And the trouble I was trying to escape followed me here." Hope grimaced as the words left her lips.
"Did you do your best to protect us when you left them?"
I did. I swear it."
"Then their presence here is not your fault." Marie regarded her carefully before she spoke again. "You promised to do everything you could to protect this city from Triad."
"Yes, ma'am, I did."
"What would you do to get them out of this city?"
"I'm a Mikaleson. I made a promise, I'll do everything in my power to keep it."
"I've got a spell. But it requires sacrifice. It will give you all the power you could want, to destroy your enemies, to achieve whatever goal you might have."
A chill flooded her veins and Hope waited for Madam Laveau to speak, terrified as to what the older woman would demand.
"Judging from your expression, you understand what I'm asking you to do."
"I can't. I'm sorry, but I can't sacrifice my baby." Hope shook her head, her hands moved to her belly, as if she could shield her child.
No. No. please. Hope begged silently. Don't make me kill Ryan's child to save my family. Because killing her would mean losing him, and he saved me. He spent centuries thinking he couldn't father a child and yet, there's proof the bastard who created him was wrong about him. Please, don't make me choose between him and saving the city. It would crush him. Please.
Hope's throat tightened and her eyes burned with forming tears. Her heart felt like it would split into a thousand pieces and she wanted to throw up.
"Even if it means risking others dying?" Marie tilted her head, her expression curious.
"I know it's because of my, because of what I did to remove their memories of me that Triad is here, because if I hadn't run, they wouldn't feel the need to come here, but I can't give up my baby, and even if I could go through the loss of this baby, I couldn't face Ryan if I did it."
"Good."
"What?" Hope stared at her, shocked and confused. What was the other woman getting at? First she all but demanded that Hope sacrifice her baby to going the other way and being happy that she wasn't willing to give up what she already loved? This sudden shift had Hope scrambling to keep up.
"Your heart, your love, they're more powerful than any spell I could give you. And if you hadn't run when you did, they would do to your child what they tried to do to you. And with her father being what he is, there's no telling what sort of powers she'll inherit from him. He might not have these abilities himself, but he's got the blood of so many creatures flowing through him, that it's almost guaranteed that she will be entirely unique."
"And Triad would have had their perfect weapon." Now that Madam Laveau laid clear exactly what Triad would do if they knew about this new species she was bringing into the world, Hope felt a savage fury race through her. There was no way she would let them harm her baby.
"This fight will take longer since Greta is in the area, trying to stir up trouble, and pushing you too far would result in you suffering from a miscarriage, which I won't allow. Your child is too important to the future of the supernatural world." Marie's mouth pulled down into a dark frown.
"What can I do?"
"I'll give you the spells you need to protect this city from those who would destroy us all and I promise you that they won't pose a risk to your child."
"Thank you, Madam Laveau." Hope smiled widely. She was so relieved by how the conversation had gone that she felt like she could fly.
"It's time for you to wake up. You can express your thanks by not failing me."
"I won't fail. I swear it." Hope smiled
Hope stirred awake, blinking to find Ryan studying her, his brows furrowed in concern.
"I was just about to get your aunt."
"Why?" Hope stretched, the sheets sliding down her body.
"I've been trying to wake you up, but you wouldn't respond. It was as though you weren't here." Ryan's gaze followed the lines of her body and caught his lower lip between his teeth, his eyes darkening with lust, but he blinked sharply, shaking his head so he could focus on the conversation.
Hope reached up and cupped his cheek. "I was meeting with Madam Laveau. She wanted to meet face to face."
"What did she say?"
"She wanted to know what I was willing to do to stop Triad and Greta."
"What did she ask you to do?"
"Nothing I can't do." Hope smiled up at him and kissed him lightly on the lips.
"I've heard stories about her, Hope." Ryan's frown deepened.
"She's respectful of my boundaries and I'm a Mikaelson witch, the firstborn of my generation. There are few witches who can even try to match me. She needs me as much a I need her with Triad and Greta trying to cause trouble."
Ryan placed his hand over her lower belly, his expression softening.
"Madam Laveau said that she's important to the supernatural world and has sworn not to do anything to risk her life."
Ryan rolled them so that he was lying on his back and Hope was on top of him.
"She tested me," Hope admitted, pressing a kiss to his chest. "She offered to give me the power, and spells that would wipe out our enemies, but it would kill the baby and when I refused, she said that I'd passed her test. She wants this baby to live."
"I love you," Ryan whispered.
"I love you too and as much as always and forever means the world to me, I'll burn the world down and cut all ties with my family if it means protecting you and our baby."
"What did she ask for in exchange?"
"That I protect this city from Triad and Greta. That's how I'm supposed to thank her, to use what she's giving me to keep them from harming New Orleans and since she is a woman of her word, I trust her."
"Okay." Ryan brushed her hair out of her face and smiled at her, most of the tension melting off his face.
"What's wrong?"
"I'm naturally suspicious of everyone and everything." Ryan looked away, as though afraid of what he'd see in her expression as he continued, "You've seen me at my best, but that's because you saw me in a safe place, but when I'm threatened, I'm not a good person."
"If you think you can scare me, you don't know my family." Hope pushed him onto his back and braced herself on her elbow so she could look down at him.
Voices from downstairs caught her attention and she tilted her head, trying to figure out what was going on.
"What is it?"
"We'd probably better take a shower so we can get down there. My family is anxious to know what Madam Laveau had to say." Hope climbed out of bed, glancing over her shoulder at him and smiled invitingly.
Ryan grinned in response, then leaped out of bed and scooped her into his arms, making her giggle.
He carried her to the bathroom and turned the shower on. Once the water was warm, he led her under the spay. The expression on his face wasn't lust or need, but one of tender adoration. Whether they started making love or not, it could go either way and Hope wasn't sure which way she wanted it to go. Touching, kissing, caressing, the intimacy of the moment twisting her heart and she fought back tears.
"What's wrong?" Ryan whispered, brushing his thumb beneath her eye.
"Nothing's wrong. I'm pregnant. Anything can make me cry, I promise."
"I must have done something right to be so happy, except I was a very bad boy before I went into the pit," Ryan murmured as he kissed her neck.
"You were good to Seylah and you were the first person in years to be kind to me, so I think that counts for something." Hope slid her leg up his thigh and sighed softly.
"I love you," Ryam whispered. "I can't say it enough, because I have to convince myself that it's real, that you're actually here, with me, wanting me."
"I'll always want you."
Ryan thrust into her, drawing a moan from her. Cupping her cheek, he kissed her deeply and Hope dug her fingers into his curls, pulling herself as tightly against him as she could.
"I love you," Hope groaned, her body arching beneath the onslaught of pleasure.
The pace they set then was fast and hard, Hope's moans urging him on.
After only a few more moments, the cresting waves washed over her and she found her release.
For a long moment, Hope clung to him, her mind in a whirl.
"Marry me?" she whispered.
"What?" Ryan pulled back, staring at her, his eyes wide.
"Um. I'm- I'm sorry. If you don't-"
Ryan pressed his fingers to her lips. "You want to marry me?"
"Maybe not right away, but yes, I do want to marry you and be a proper family."
"Hope." A wide smile crossed his face and he pulled her tightly against him.
"Is that a 'yes?'" Hope asked, heart pounding.
"It's definitely a yes. I'll marry you."
Tears spilled down Hope's cheeks and she laughed. "Does this mean I can call you my fiance now?"
"I like the sound of that." Ryan kissed her lightly on the lips and turned the water off.
"Hope had better get down here before I go in there and find out for myself," Kol was saying and Hope sighed.
"Your family is getting anxious to know what's going on with Madam Laveau, aren't they?"
"Yes. Just so you know, because you're my fiance and the father of my baby, so that makes them your family too."
Once they'd showered and dressed, Hope linked their fingers together and they headed down the stairs.
"How did your meeting with Marie Laveau go?" Freya asked as soon as the two walked into the kitchen.
"She came to me in a dream last night and our agreement is that in exchange for her knowledge, I will thank her by doing everything in my power to save the city from Triad and Greta and she's promised that her aid won't harm the baby."
"Oh, thank god," Freya sighed in relief.
"She wants to keep this baby out of the grip of Triad at all costs because of who her parents are, so while she's being very generous, it's also a self-serving generosity."
"Madam Laveau is certainly no fool."
As the witches discussed what happened in Hope's dream, Ryan walked over to the fridge and started pulling items out to make them breakfast.
"After breakfast I'm going to see about getting those spells that Madam Laveau promised," Hope said.
"How do you plan to do that?" Freya asked.
"I was studying automatic writing during the last few months I was with Tirad. So I think that might be a way for her to reach me, unless she goes through Vincent."
"She's definitely strong enough to reach you that way."
"So, while we're getting things prepared for the coming fight, perhaps Ryan would like to go shopping," Rebekah commented.
"What do you mean?" Hope glanced over at him and then back at her aunt.
"I happened to overhear a certain conversation and that means you need a proper ring." Rebekah flipped her hair as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"I'm pregnant, Auntie Bex. My fingers are going to swell up."
"So, we'll get a chain for you to wear it around your neck. And once the baby is born, we'll start making plans, provided Triad and Greta are dealt with by then."
"Even then, I think we'll be ready to take that step, so we'll work around it."
"What's going on?" Freya looked at each of them, confusion on her face.
"Hope and Ryan are engaged and before you get your knickers in a twist, Nik, it was Hope who asked Ryan!" Rebekah added loudly.
Hope looked up at Ryan and he shook his head, a fond smile playing around his lips.
She walked over to him, and ran her nails lightly across his back.
Pressing her lips to his shoulder, Hope murmured, "My family is insane."
"But they love you and they'll fight to the death to protect you."
Hope hummed in agreement. They were in this together, all of them, and she would fight with her fiance, the father of her child, at her side.
