A/N:

Hello my lovelies! I hope everything is well, and here I am with another chapter of Taking His Offer. I'm going to uploading more regularly now, and I have almost completed the entire story in my drafts, which makes me beyond ecstatic. I truly cannot wait to finish this story and for all my readers to get to see the ending that I've written. So, without anymore fluff, here you go.

~Erin

Chapter 45: To Live or To Die

September 14

It was the first day of September. I knew that the the young werewolf was due in December, which meant Corrie and I had much work to do.

"Fontana, I want to thank you in advance for your unwavering dedication to the protection of our coven. I have arranged a glamour spell that should protect as you infiltrate the Mikaelson plantation." Corrie explained her precise preparations to the young witch. Fontana had evidently dyed her hair a deep black, which contrasted with her pale skin. She was taking this role of a spy seriously, just like Corrie had promised.

"What should I do if I find the ashes of Kol Mikaelson?" Fontana asked Corrie, who gave her a endearing smile before responding.

"You will read this spell that I have written, and it should transport you and the urn back to the Abattoir without any harm." Corrie handed Fontana a scroll of paper, along with a folder which I assumed had her new identity and some emergency cash.

"Your alias is named Pearl Johannessen. If Klaus asks, you are a descendent of the witch Aurelia Johannessen. Her great-granddaughter, if you want to be exact. Klaus trusted Aurelia, and will trust her decedent as well, as long as you can answer the Johannessen family riddle." I removed myself from the ledge I had previously been sitting on, and Fontana gave me a look of confusion. I decided to explain to make things easier.

"When I was growing up with the Mikaelson's, Klaus had a tight bond with Aurelia Johannessan. It was sexual, of course, as most relationships with the Mikaelson men were. Excluding Elijah, that it. Aurelia was his source into the witchcraft world of New Orleans at the time. Corrie new Aurelia well, didn't you?" I asked Corrie, who snarled with disdain. Aurelia and Corrie had had a love/hate relationship.

"Aurelia betrayed her own coven for the love and power that Klaus provided her with. She spied on everyone and everything. I was only a small part of the Mikaelson empire then. It was the 1870's, and Klaus had killed Corrie's love. He only knew of the affair through Aurelia. He used that information to destroy Corrie's life. She had a son, named Amaranth, who then had two daughters, Nessarose and Evelise. Nessarose had a son, Bill, who died of tuberculosis. Evelise had a son and a daughter, Malcolm and Sarah Grace. Sarah Grace is your 'mother'. She kept her maiden name after marriage." I explained the entire Johannessen family tree to Fontana, and Corrie followed along, knowing the story as well as I did.

"What happened to the real Pearl?" Fontana asked.

"She died in a mundane train crash in Paris, in 1989. Klaus doesn't know, though. If you can answer correctly to the family riddle that Klaus had with Aurelia, he will gain your trust." I assured Fontana.

"What is the riddle, I ask?'

"The riddle goes as so: What is something that can only be broken when spoken?" I replied, and Fontana closed her eyes in thought. It was a few minutes before she opened them again, obviously stuck.

"I don't know the answer." Fontana responded, her eyes downcast onto the floor. I placed my hand on her shoulder to reassure her.

"Don't worry. The answer is silence. That's all you need to know." I replied, telling her the answer. As long as she remembered it, all would be in her favor with Klaus.

"Okay." Fontana replied, a little less nervous.

"I will now place a masking spell on you. It will disguise your features, but not permanently. Are you ready?" Corrie asked Fontana.

She nodded.

"Hoc volens mutare faciem virginis, et venus in alis portant illud super eam." The words of the spell flowed effortlessly through Corrie's lips.

Instantly, Fontana was gone. She had been transported the the road in front of the Plantation House. Now, we just waited.

"It's almost time for Davina's lesson. I'll leave you to whatever business you have planned. Battle ideas, I would hope." With that closing remark, Corrie disappeared through my office's doorway, leaving me with my thoughts.

Davina POV

"Now, your studies of witchcraft have been basic. As we discussed last time, I'm guessing you mainly focused on herbal remedies and natural spells. You unleashed and depended on the power of nature and the influence of the spirits. We're going to to explore the darker side of magic today." Corrie paced herself along the length of the library's floor boards.

Dark magic wasn't something that I wanted to dwell in. Even though my ex-coven had wanted to use me as witch ritual bate, they had at least taught me that dark magic was harmful, dangerous, and unnecessary. Using such magic would upset the balance of nature, and the spirits. Angry ancestral witch spirits were not something I wanted to deal with.

"Dark magic is hazardous. I don't want to mess with such intense sources." I countered, trying to lure Corrie away from her insane idea.

"Marcel wants me to expose you and to teach you all elements of magic. You're powerful, Davina. More powerful than you could ever imagine."

"Trust me, I've heard that before." I muttered under my breath.

"Okay, let's get started. The first rule of dark magic is to always have control. Having control will make performing any spell a whole lot easier. Understood?" Corrie asked me, and I nodded, trying not to be sarcastic.

"Now I'm going to teach you a small spell, but you cannot use this spell on a human being, since the magnitude is too low. The version I'm teaching you only works on small organisms such as plants and insects. But later on, you can use this for much bigger targets." Corrie went to the window of the library, where I kept a small garden with lively house plants. Scanning the selection, Corrie picked up my favorite succulent, which I had nicknamed Hank.

Corrie approached the table where I was sitting, and slid the small potted plant in front of me. Her gaze held a look of wickedness, which made me uncomfortable.

"I want you to repeat this spell after me, and as you do, focus all your attention onto this plant here." Corrie instructed me, and I grudgingly obeyed. Taking my eyes from Corrie's gaze, I focused on the plant.

"Exhauriebat de industria et ens potentia sorte me fortissimi." Corrie spoke, and I then repeated after to her.

Instantly after I had repeated the words, the bright green leafs of the succulent wilted, turning black and brown. It was obvious that the life had been sucked out of it. Turning to Corrie, a horrified look spread across my face.

"Did I just kill the plant? You're teaching me to murder things?" I asked shakily. Corrie looked at me a moment before chuckling lightly.

"I didn't teach your how to kill, I taught you how to drain power from an organism. The plant is dead, yes, but I wouldn't consider it murder. Now, I'm going to teach you how to resurrect the plant."

"You can't bring something back from the dead. It's against the law of the ancestors. I refuse to go against my beliefs. I think this lesson is done." I removed myself the stool which I was sitting on, and tried to leave the library. But with the flick of her wrist, Corrie had closed the library door with a large slam!

"I'm leaving." I said through clenched teeth. All Corrie did was laugh.

"I'm sorry, Little Miss Princess, but I'm not finished." Corrie approached me, her heels clacking against the wood flooring.

But her sassiness was a bad ideas. With all my anger flowing through me, I shoved my energy at Corrie, who went flying into the library wall. She fell down, obviously stunned.

"Yes, but I'm finished." I spoke, leaving Corrie in a to her confused state.

I was gone.