The house was set up like army barracks, but on a smaller scale. We exited the room and appeared on a balcony that ran the perimeter of the house. On the first floor was an open courtyard decorated with patio furniture and doors lining it, parallel to the ones on the balcony.

"I am the King of New Orleans, sweetheart, and this compound, my castle," he guided me towards his brother Elijah and a dark-haired girl. "Anna, I would like you to meet Hayley," he presented her and while keeping a hand on my lower back and whispering in my ear. The words are barely audible, no louder than a breath and had I still been human, I would have heard nothing. "She is the mother of my child and engaged to the werewolves' alpha. Only my family knows that Hayley is alive," he warned me.

I shook her hand politely, but inwardly ground my teeth.

"It's nice to see you again," Elijah said emotionlessly. "Klaus, may I have a word?"

"It must be strange, your first day as a vampire," Hayley tried to make small talk. "They say all your emotions are heightened."

I shook my head. "I've always been pretty temperate in my emotions, I don't like this feeling."

She laughed. "Clearly you had some emotions because they're coming out now."

I looked around the compound. There was absolutely no one else here. It felt like a prison. I needed to get out of here. I assessed the exit points, but Klaus and Elijah were both Originals. I probably didn't stand a chance, even though I had been able to best plenty of vampires as a human. Before I could make a move, Klaus returned to my side and excused us.

"Why did you tell me a secret like that?" I asked, referring to his child. I'm not even sure how he could have a child, but that was the least of my problems. Being a blood-sucking beast trumped anything else at the moment.

"Because if I keep secrets from you, you won't trust me and then you'll leave," he explained. "I know how to get what I want, darling. Mostly it involves my power or threats of violence to keep people loyal to me. But you will not put up with anything less than honesty. You're different; you've never been afraid of me."

"I don't want to be here," I told him.

"You don't really have a choice, sweetheart. You still need to help me with my witch problem," he winked.

"And here I was beginning to think that you saved me because you liked me," I sighed.

"Never said I didn't," he smirked. He guided me back upstairs where we could speak in private.

We entered a sort of drawing room. I wasn't sure what all the different rooms should be called, my best guest was from books and movies. I'd never been in a house with more than six rooms and couldn't imagine what else there was other than a dining room and a living room. Klaus poured us drinks and immediately the smell of alcohol burned my nostrils. I crinkled up my nose and took a step back.

"You'll get used to it, luv," he handed me a glass.

I took it, but didn't drink. "Not sure if I want to," I mumbled. "So what is this witch problem anyway?"

"My sister is in some witch's body somewhere in the city. I cannot trust Kol even more so now that he's a witch again. Finn, also now a witch, is sure to be after us imminently after what I've done to our mother. Along with my Aunt Dahlia, a ghost story which now might be true. She'll want to steal Hope," Klaus explained.

I scoffed. "That sounds less like a problem and more like you're royally fucked. What do you want me to do about it?"

"You said your tattoos protect you against magic, right?" he said.

"Yeah?" I had no idea where he was going with this. "But they can still use magic on anything else to use against me."

"Well you're a vampire now; you should be fine," he smirked at me. "I want them dead."

"That's quite the laundry list you have for me," I commented, not fully intending on following through. I put my lips to the rim of the glass just because I was uncomfortable and looking for something to do.

"I'm not going to leave you to do it alone." Klaus took a couple steps forward, closing the space between us. "I look forward to working with you, Anna," he breathed and my own breath caught in my throat.