"She said she wants to travel to Liberia after her residency is finished, and I offered to go with her." Freya rambled to Bonnie about Keelin. She watched her friend's infectious smile as she talked about the girl she met literally four days ago. They have somehow been on three dates within that time.
It suits Freya to have a relationship that moves so quickly. When Freya loved you, she loved you deeply. She would go to the end of the earth for you. She knew Freya wasn't there yet, and she wondered how she would react to why Bonnie never wrote about Keelin in her books.
Keelin was meant for Freya and vice versa, and she wanted them to have a moment before the chaos. If Keelin became family a bit sooner, that would mean that Freya wouldn't hurt her as easily. That's why she had Niklaus use his influence to get her an offer she could not refuse from one of the hospitals here.
Freya looked at her friend, who returned her smile; she was in a much better mood, as was her brother; she guessed they resolved their issues.
"What?" Freya asked when she noticed Bonnie frowning when she stopped talking about Keelin. They were on their way to meet Vincent, who had been asking for help. She wanted to just kill him and be done with it, and she knew Bonnie wanted the same, but her morality kept her from saying it.
Bonnie smiled at her, but this time it didn't meet her eyes. They stopped walking, watching each other.
"It's about Keelin," she said. Freya inhaled deeply. She knew Bonnie had visions of Keelin and never told her; she thought maybe she wanted to be surprised.
"What about her?" she asked. She felt her heart beating faster; the connection she had with Keelin was just like it clicked. Everything seemed a bit hazy, and then she went to the counter to get the cinnamon roll for Bonnie, and her vision became clear; her focus was only on Keelin.
On their third date, when she leaned in to kiss Keelin, she reminded Freya of the citrus sweets she loved dearly. She should have known it was really a bittersweet thing with Keelin. For the first time in a while, she wanted more. Whatever Bonnie said would blur her vision. She hugged herself, and Bonnie took her hand and held it firmly to reassure her.
"This could go either way." Bonnie said, looking at her friend, "Keelin is a wolf." She said that, and Freya nodded. She felt it when she kissed Keelin, but she knew there was more to that.
"She is the last of her bloodline." Bonnie confessed, "which makes her very valuable." Freya felt like she swallowed her heart and bit her lips.
"You are wondering why I am telling you this? Because if all else fails, you will need her, and you could use her to save your family." She said Freya looked away from Bonnie and took her hand from hers.
"I won't let that happen." Freya said, swallowing her saliva; her throat was dried. She wanted to make that promise, but there were things that came before her happiness, her family's safety and Hope's safety.
"I am glad you told me, Bonnie," she said, looking at her friend with a smile that didn't reach her eyes for the first time in days. She knew Bonnie was telling her everything and trying to protect her. Keelin was already so reserved with this information; she knows that the reaction won't go well when Freya tells her she is a witch.
"I didn't want to take away your smile," Bonnie said, frowning. Freya pulled her in for a side hug.
"For you, I will smile all day." She said that, smiling down at Bonnie, the past few days have been the first time within a while she has taken a break. Her siblings treated her like a basic witch to do their bidding at any time, not like they didn't have very capable girlfriends.
"Is it your brothers? Do you want me to hex them?" She asked, and Freya laughed and shook her head.
"No, I just wonder if I would be able to find love and stay true to my family," she said honestly.
"Of course you can; it will take time, but you will get the hang of it." Bonnie reassured her, "Sometimes you just need to forget the world around you and remember you have feelings just like they do and deserve better than they do." she said, rubbing Freya's back.
Freya took Bonnie's hand, and they continued walking. A thought came to her mind that would not go away. She tried to shake off the dread, but they had reached Vincent's home, and neither of them could address it.
Before she knocked on Vincent's door, he opened it. He looked tired and less put together than he usually did.
"This is..." she said, frowning as she stepped in. His living room was scattered with papers and clothes, and his ornaments were on the floor.
"I know, I know," he said as he watched them look around.
"If you want a maid, I am not the person to call Vincent." Bonnie said, looking at him then the room.
"I haven't left my home in days; please forgive the mess," he said, leading them to the kitchen, which was neater. They sat on the stool, and he offered them coffee. Bonnie denied it, but Freya accepted it until Bonnie tapped her and shook her head, and she looked at Vincent and smiled.
"Look Vincent I could trap you so you can't leave the house or even give you something so the ancestors can not possess you but," she said
"You won't," he said, and she shook her head. He studied her, trying to see what she was thinking, but she gave away nothing.
"You stop being the regent of New Orleans if I do that. Do you want this to happen to another witch?." She asked, "They will retaliate, and it will be nasty." She said she gripped Freya's arm as she looked around. She swore she heard something whispering in her ear.
"They don't like me here now." Bonnie said she was letting go of Freya. Freya looked at Bonnie with concern.
"I am okay, but they have been leaving things for me on my way to class. I know it's them because a familiar magic is there." she said.
"Do you know why you are a regent? It's because of the black magic you practised in your past life that is of use to them." she told him. She watched him as his body stiffened, his eyes widened, and his nose flared. "Did you ever wonder where it went now that you are no longer after its power?"
She smiled at him, "I practised dark magic, the worst of our kind, but you," she laughed. "You meddle in pure evil; the magic source is natural—not dark magic exactly, but still," she said. The temperature of the room changed, and Bonnie felt Freya shiver next to her.
"You are a powerful witch, but your body is what they want until they get their revenge and one of us kills you," she said. "When you die, they will tell you your sins are atoned," she said sadly.
"So, what should I do?" Vincent asked, defeated. She looked him in the eyes; she felt Freya's gaze on her. She wanted to help him, but her family must be protected first. She could not go toe to toe with them hastily; they had experience on their side.
"Let this ride out, and when the time comes, I will do my best to make sure you survive," she said, and she gave him a small smile. "I do need you anyway; I am not asking you for your trust but as Zaci's friend," she watched as his face softened at the sound of her name.
"Okay," he said, accepting his fate. She smiled at him, knowing he would understand. They have both been in that spot before, having to choose between themselves and those they love. He turned around to the little window that streamed in a ray of sunlight. Freya looked at Bonnie, wondering why she really came here.
"Don't trap yourself in this place; go out; go about your day; your people will need you," she said, getting up to touch his shoulder.
"Bonnie, has anything really changed for you? Helping those brothers in Mystic Falls and now the Mikaelsons," Vincent asked, turning around.
"I would never let her die for us." Freya said, firmly glaring at him
"Can you really promise that?" Vincent rebutted, "you guys have made that promise before and time and time again."
"I would bet my life on it; my siblings' mistakes are not my own." Freya said, "Goodbye Vincent."
"Vincent, there is no need for you to atone; you wanted what any other witch wants," she said. He looked at her as if he didn't believe her.
"Please try to hire a maid or something," she said, looking around his home one more time. He smiled at her, and she pulled in his door.
"What is that about?" Freya asked, and Bonnie leaned on her friend's shoulder.
"I can't tell you everything; you know why," she said. Freya moved away.
"You and your brother just want to 'protect' me. I get it, but somethings must stay with just me." She stopped on the pavement, watching a parade go by. Someone had died; Bonnie wasn't sure who.
"I don't want secrets between us." Freya said, and Bonnie laughed.
"It's not logical for me to tell you everything; do you want to know everything me and your brother do?" she asked
"I want there to be trust between us; if you are going to be my second, we must trust each other." She said, looking Freya in the eyes, that she didn't even trust her siblings. How could Bonnie ask her to trust her, a total stranger? Freya sighed and broke eye contact.
"Trust comes hard for me, Bonnie, and whatever you mentioned back there." She said, "You need to tell me." Bonnie smirked and touched her friend's shoulder.
"It will be dealt with just like the ancestors will." Bonnie said Freya studied her.
"You figured it out." Freya said the change in Bonnie's confidence since she came back to the city.
"Do you trust me?" Bonnie asked, "I will earn it anyway," she said matter-of -factly. Freya took one of Bonnie's braids in her hands.
"I know it's foolish, but I am beginning too." Freya said, and Bonnie giggled.
"Then come, let's get what I need to wake Kamali, and you look for what we need to bring Kol back to life," she said. Freya followed her friend. They spent the rest of the afternoon shopping.
Marcel watched as Davina left an abandoned building,perfect for the work the strix was doing. He knew she felt him, but she wouldn't sell him out yet. They both have separate goals for this little clubhouse Elijah created.
He sped to her when she was the perfect distance away; she smiled at him and hugged him. He returned the hug and inhaled her scent. He wished he had gotten her out of the city when he had the chance, but here she was working on a spell that could save him if Klaus was ever killed but kill her if any of the Mikaelsons ever found out.
"I missed you," she said. He frowned at the sound of her voice; she looked like she was yelling. They started to walk.
"I missed you too; you never visit me anymore," he said "I am starting to think I am not your favourite vampire," he said. Davina let out a laugh that put his heart at ease.
"No, I have just been busy," she said with a small smile gracing her lips. "This is all for you,I promise," she said giddily.
"Davina, I don't doubt your skills, but make sure they give you what you want," he told her. Davina rolled her eyes.
"I am not the same girl you saved years ago, Marcel." She said she had grown so much then that she had to survive. "I can read between the lines."
"Knowing to read between the lines is a skill, but also knowing when to not accept is better," he said, "if anyone else catches wind of what you are doing." Davina shook her head angrily.
"You won't tell; you can't." She said it sternly. It reminded him of her tantrums when she was up in the attic. At least this time, she didn't have the magic to back it up.
"Someone already knows; that's close to him." He said, trying not to reveal Bonnie, that she basically gave him confirmation that this spell would work, but there would always be consequences; he didn't want to be Davina's life.
"What does Kol think of this?" he asked, changing the topic. Davina gives him a pointed look. Marcel sighed.
"I don't want to fight with you," Marcel told her, and she nodded.
"I am just very stressed; finding the last ingredient is essential, and Kol isn't being very productive," she told him. He raised his eyebrows at that. What would make Kol not want to help her? Revenge was always at the top of the Mikaelson list.
He wondered if Bonnie knew what the missing ingredient was. Could he poke her for it?
"Ice cream on me?" he said. She nodded and leaned into him, taking in the comfort of the only parent she ever knew. Marcel changed the topic, talking about what he was up to, and asking her when she would get back into drawing.
Marcel was talking to one of his vampires at Big Auggie's Bar when Aya approached him.
"What do you know about Bonnie Bennett?" she asked when they were alone. He looked her in the eye, trying to see what she wanted with her. "You asked for her to be your plus one, and I got curious; I saw who she was and that she should be long dead," she said.
"From what I know she was," he said. "She was also the witch that went up against Klaus in Mystic Falls.".
"I know that, but I thought you would have some information that's unique, seeing that she comes here at least once a week," she said, stepping closer to him. He shrugged.
"She knew I liked to fight and asked me to teach her cause she has a tendency to run into big, bad vampires and her magic fails her," he said "I agreed because I want to know what a witch like her is doing in New Orleans," he smiled
"Have you figured it out?" she asked him. Aya studied Marcel with another vampire; his eminent presence would make them think Niklaus himself was in the room. It's strange how they raised him but still denied him the Mikealson name.
Is it because he lacked their cruelty to destroy everything in his path? She sat on a brown stool that was in the office of the bar they were in.
"Yes, there is a professor at the university that she attends; he is a warlock, and I believe she is here to learn from him." He said she could tell that he was lying; maybe that's why she stayed, but she never met the professor until she started school. Someone of interest would definitely have approached him earlier, but she never did.
Aya just nodded at his response. Did he have some kind of loyalty to her?
"When you bring her to the ball, I need you to leave her with me." She told him, looking for signs of resistance, and he simply nodded at her, staring at her with his brown eyes.
"Will the Mikaelsons be there?" he asked.
"Maybe Elijah, but that's it," she answered. He sighed.
"She wants the same thing as you, but if he asks why Bonnie is alone with you," Marcel said.
"I didn't think you feared him." She taunted him with a sly smile. So the witch had their protection? Interesting.
Out of all the vampires she has met, very few of them have the guts to go up against the Mikaelsons. He was exactly the person Strix needed in their group. Over weeks of testing, probing, and taunting him, he has shown that he is patient, cunning, and resourceful. He was what they needed to bring their vision to light without Mikaelson interference.
Tristan was missing in action, Lucien would not be a problem in the end, and Aurora could be easily dealt with; she had almost everything she needed.
No more hiding in the shadows.