Chapter 9
Magic
"It seems that I was right," Freya stated after Brie had left. Klaus had already suspected that much; he had seen how Freya had looked at Brie. There had been pity in his sister's eyes. "I doubt that she knows," Freya added.
Klaus didn't think so either
"Hmm, poor thing."
Freya looked at him sharply.
"What are you up to, Niklaus?"
Klaus smiled.
"Up to?"
"You know what I mean."
"I'm just trying to help the poor girl; I think she has already been through more than enough. She needs some help and she's not going to get it from Kol."
"And you want to help her out of the goodness of your heart?" Freya huffed. "I find that hard to believe."
Klaus smiled; obviously Freya wasn't a fool, so he wasn't going to insult her by claiming that he was being completely selfless.
"Yes, perhaps I hope something for myself, but that doesn't make me any less determined to protect the girl. Let's face it, she needs someone to look after her and I'm willing to do that."
Freya looked at him for a moment before she seemed to understand. Her eyebrows furrowed.
"Nik… This is a very damaged girl we're talking about, you can't possibly mean…"
"I'm not going to hurt her," Klaus cut in. "Of course not, I'm not some kind of a savage."
Freya crossed her arms over her chest.
"And what if she refuses to give you what you want?"
"That's her right; I have no intention to force her into anything."
That was true, but Klaus didn't think for a second that she would refuse him. She needed a protector for herself and for her child and he was willing to look after them both. And if everything would go well with her pregnancy… He didn't think that she would mind eventually having another child. His child. That was what she had been created for.
She was a vessel, designed for this single purpose. Sure she had a human body, but she had been conceived by very powerful magic. It had made her incredibly fertile, able to bear children for anyone. Even for a vampire. The only question was why? Why on Earth had Esther wanted this child? Finn had mentioned that the child was supposed to be a gift for the ancestors, but Klaus had a feeling there was more to it.
Obviously he was going to find out everything, but right now he had other things that required his attention. He needed to look after the poor girl, show her that she would be safe with him. Earning her trust and affection shouldn't be too difficult, not after how Kol and her father had treated her. Klaus however had every intention to treat her like a queen and in return she would hopefully give him an heir of his own. It was a fair trade.
Kol was in a very bad mood when he returned to the compound. He had spent his night drinking in a bar and ended up having sex with a pretty young vampire called Joan, Jean or something like that. Usually he enjoyed casual sex, but not this time. All he had been able to think about was that damn heartbeat and the fear in the eyes of that damn girl.
He had certainly made a mess last night. So what if he had? So what if he had scared her? The whole thing was her fault, not his. There would be no damn heartbeat if she wouldn't have deceived him. What he hated the most was that he had actually bought her dreadful act. However, that hadn't really been his fault. He had spent a century in a damn coffin; he had needed to get laid.
Then she had appeared, practically begging him to take her. Yes, a part of him had realized that something wasn't right, but come on, he was only a man. Who in his position would have turned her down? She wasn't unpleasant to look at and yes, he had desperately wanted to have sex, just as much as he had wanted to have a proper meal. Blood bags… What an insult. Anyhow, the point was that none of this was his fault. How was he supposed to know that she was some kind of… What, he wasn't really sure.
Innocent.
No, that wasn't the right word. Naïve. Foolish. Yes, those ones sounded better. He still didn't know what to do now. Why should he do anything? The heartbeat…. No, that didn't mean anything to him. Who knew what that thing growing inside her even was? The ancestors could keep it and the girl. Kol was determined to forget the whole thing and move on.
He marched towards his room when he suddenly saw her, the damn girl. She was standing in the middle of the hallway, looking at the painting hanging on the wall. It was one of Nik's, scenery from the 18th century Spain. Nik had probably painted it before he and Elijah had daggered Kol and forced him to come to America with them. The strange thing was that Kol had walked past this painting countless of times, but he had never really paid attention to it before. Now it made him feel nothing but anger.
"Look at that," the girl said.
Kol frowned, for a moment he thought that she was talking to him.
"Pretty, isn't it? I think so too."
She was stroking her stomach while she spoke.
"Looks like a fairytale kingdom…"
"Hardly," Kol snorted. He startled her so badly that she literally jumped, dropping a vase that was on a small table under the painting. Her eyes widened and her mouth floundered open and closed as the vase shattered.
"I…I…I didn't mean…"
Quickly she knelt and started to gather the pieces.
"Oh come on," Kol huffed and took a step towards her. "It was just…"
She winced and covered her stomach with her arms. He frowned.
"What do you think I'm going to do, kick you?"
She didn't say anything or look at him, but he could hear her heart pounding. She really was afraid of him. He probably couldn't blame her for that.
"I'm not going to kick you," he stated, trying his best not to sound annoyed. He was aware that she wasn't trying to purposely irritate him, she was genuinely afraid.
"Alright," he murmured and held out his hand. "Stand up."
She was clearly reluctant to take his hand, but she didn't dare not to. She winced again as he helped her up. He could smell the blood, apparently she had cut herself. Her blood… Suddenly he remembered what it had tasted like. Magic. Literally. She had actual magic in her blood. How was it possible that he hadn't remembered that? He frowned and grabbed her wrist.
"What are you?"