Sophia's POV

"I cannot believe you disposed of those vampires without me, you know how I love to set things on fire" Rebekah complained looking out the window to the front yard where the pile of dead vampires was nothing but ash and I sniggered rolling my eyes a little.

"Was I supposed to leave them in the front yard to rot?" Nik argued leaning in the doorway, we had spent majority of the night trying to plan to take Elijah from this little witch Davina and from Marcel. "Besides they were my responsibility, they attacked the helpless pregnant girl who's carrying our child" he added gesturing towards me, I huffed and raised my eye at him since it was just last night that he had choked Hayley which I was still insistent to hold a grudge over, I was yet to forgive him.

"Oh I am so moved by your newfound sense of fatherly duties towards the werewolf carrying your hybrid bun in her oven" Rebekah remarked making Nik laugh before I had the chance to speak my mind and turned seeing Hayley walks into the room.

"The werewolf would like to know what the plan is" she asked looking back and forth between us.

"Well that depends what plan you mean love, my plan for global domination, Sophia's plan to remain angry at yours truly for the next century or Rebekah's plan to find love in a cruel, cruel world" I glared at him with a slight eye roll while Rebekah fake smiles at him before she picks up a paintbrush from Nik's easel and throws it in Nik's direction who merely just catches it easily before it land in his neck.

"The plan to rescue Elijah, you know the good brother, the one who is now in the possession of your mortal enemy after you stabbed him in the back!" Hayley exclaimed glaring at Nik.

"In the front, if we're being specific" Nik argued.

"She wasn't" I scoffed rolling my eyes at Nik who just continued to smile, unaffected by any of this which frankly just annoyed me more.

"You three said that you would get him back, so is there a plan or what?" she asked once again looking around at us as Nik, Rebekah and I all shared a look.

"Yes Hayley, there is a plan" I replied letting out a sigh. "Granted not a very good one but a plan none the less" I added turning to look at Nik, gesturing for him to explain.

"Okay" he huffed pushing himself from the doorframe to a standing position. "Well firstly, Marcel is not my mortal enemy...he's my friend, albeit one who is unaware that I'm trying to sabotage his hold over the supernatural community of the French Quarter but a friend nonetheless" I scoffed as he sat down at the desk and put his feet up crossing them. "And secondly, I daggered Elijah in order to gain Marcel's trust, if I had known he would place my brother in the hands of a particularly nasty teenaged witch I certainly would have weighed my options a bit differently and thirdly...my love please" I let out a sigh turning to Hayley.

"And thirdly, the plan is for Niklaus to simply ask Marcel for Elijah back" I finished and watched Hayley's skeptical look.

"That's...that's not the whole plan, is it?" she asked looking around clearly trying to judge if we were being serious or not.

"Please, Klaus may be a miserable excuse for a sibling but there is none more diabolical" Rebekah replied when she continued to look at us like we were crazy.

"And that's only the plan A love, there's always a Plan B" Nik added and Hayley's face suddenly looked like she didn't want to know.

"And what's Plan B?" she asked even though it sounded like she really didn't want to know the answer, not that that deterred Nik in anyway.

"War" Nik smirked clearly excited by that prospect.

"Hence why I said it wasn't much of one" I added looking at Hayley. "Just stay here and leave it to us okay" she frowned but we all headed out to attend to our respected tasks, Nik was responsible of going to the compound and speaking with Marcel while Bekah and I were going to find out who ratted out Hayley for being in the Quarter last night since from what she'd told me after I finally got to speak with her was she only stopped at the voodoo shop to buy the herb and I was having a little bone to pick with Sophie Deveraux so I called her to meet us at the said voodoo shop.

Rebekah and I were walking through the Quarter towards the Jardin Gris voodoo shop when I heard my phone ringing and pulled it out seeing 'Niklaus' on the screen hesitating for a second wishing he had called Rebekah instead.

"What are you doing, answer it" Rebekah said snapping me out of my thoughts and I accepted the call.

"Nik" I greeted stoically.

"Sophia" Nik greeted back and I saw Rebekah roll her eyes from the corner of my vision before she snatched the phone out of my hand.

"Niklaus, for the love of Mary Magdalene how long does it take to ask a simple question?"

"Much longer than you'd think, considering the answer was as expected 'no', Marcel's man Thierry is suspicious he thinks you killed 10 nightwalkers"

"Well that's a lie I only killed 7 and your wife killed 1, should we make Thierry the ninth?" Rebekah argued making me snigger a little with a small smirk.

"Marcel is playing friendly, we can't kill the favorite son or he'll catch onto us and might I remind my wife she is supposed to be travelling" Nik argued and I rolled my eyes.

"I'm not staying away anymore Niklaus, this is my fight too" I argued knowing he'd hear me.

"So war it is, then" Rebekah interrupted before Nik could say anything to argue.

"Indeed, do you know what to do with the witch?" he asked and I scoffed rolling my eyes, since he seriously didn't trust us.

"I believe we do" I snapped back.

"Good you manage Sophie Deveraux, I'll take care of the next step" he insisted before hanging up and I scoffed since he seriously talked like he didn't trust that we could be of any help to his so called master plan but I kept it all in figuring I could use the anger on interrogating Sophie and the witch that ran this god awful voodoo shop which Rebekah and I finally made it to the Jardin Gris and waited outside the shop for Sophie who I can see is finally approaching.

"Oh so glad you could make it, Elijah only lies daggered and rotting whilst you dilly-dally"

"You're lucky I came at all, what do you want?" she asked us and I glared since she had no right to be snarky right now.

"Hayley was attacked last night by Marcel's crew because somebody told him there was a werewolf in the Quarter" I snapped at her looking back towards the shop. "She only made one stop, whoever saw her here ratted her out"

"Watch and learn" Bekah added and walks into the shop with me behind her and Sophie follows us in and I saw the witch that Hayley had seen emerge from a back room with a box and sees Sophie first.

"Hey Soph" the witch greeted and both Sophie and I looked up before I rolled my eyes, that was so annoying.

"Hey, Katie" Sophie nods at her before this witch...Katie sees Rebekah and I before focusing her eyes on Bekah who was touching an item hanging in the shop.

"That's filled with marigold, great for attracting the opposite sex it would look awesome on you"

"I very seriously doubt that" Rebekah argued turning to face her. "Do you have any others, one with, say I don't know...wolfsbane perhaps?"

"Wolfsbane, why would you want that?" Katie asks her and I roll my eyes fed up with her clear tactic of playing dumb so I vamp-sped towards Katie grabbing her neck and held her up.

"Please do not play dumb with us" I growled at her before slamming her down on a counter.

"Sophia!" Sophie yelled out but I ignored her glaring down at Katie sliding her across the counter knocking over some racks of herbs and jewelry.

"I just sold a werewolf some herbs, that's all" Katie spat out around my hand.

"Are you lying to us Katie, I suggest you answer my question honestly" I argued squeezing just a little tighter so she'd fear her life since that often made one talk.

"Sophie-" Katie choked out looking over at Sophie.

"Just answer the question Katie, please" Sophie begged her.

"Yes I told someone but you don't understand, I...I love him" Katie spat out and I scoffed rolling my eyes before throwing her towards the floor where Rebekah places the heel of her stiletto directly over Katie's throat threateningly.

"And tell me, who is this vampire Romeo of yours?" Bekah asked her but she hesitated. "Shall I count to 3?"

"Thierry, his names Thierry!" she yelled out and I looked at Rebekah with a small smirk since that sounded like something we could use, she let up on Katie and we left walking back out onto the Quarter where Rebekah called Nik to fill him in on the development we just made.

"Well?" Nik asked as soon as he answered the phone.

"You were right about the traitor, luckily she's just a kid and she doesn't know anything about us and what we're up to, do you want to hear the part that's gonna please you the most?"

"Oh, do tell" Nik stated sounding impatient.

"She's in love with someone in Marcel's inner circle, guess who it is?"

"Right-hand-man type, favors silly caps?"

"Two points for you" Rebekah smirked while I watched Katie and Sophie talking outside the shop. "Thierry is fraternizing with the enemy"

"Well, that means he just unwittingly became the key to our entire plan" Nik replied sounding pleased with the leverage we now had.

"I told you you'd be pleased"

"Oh, to be young and in love in a city where witches and vampires are at war, how very tragic" I rolled my eyes at Nik's reply before we hung up and we all met back up at the plantation house with Sophie to come up with a new plan and the one we did come up with Sophie of course had issues with it.

"Are you out of your mind?" Sophie demanded looking at us. "No way"

"It's very simple, we need you to perform a teeny, tiny locator spell to help us find our brother" Rebekah argued.

"Witches who practice magic in this town get caught and they get killed" Sophie protested.

"Yes about that, it seems you left out a crucial detail when we made our deal...Marcel's secret weapon the way he knows when a witch is using magic" Nik added sitting down in the chair next to where I was standing.

"Girl about yay high, cute as a button, anger issues" Rebekah describes the little witch...Davina and I raise my eye at Sophie since she seems to be in shock by that description like she knew exactly who Rebekah was describing.

"Davina?" she asks us and we look her with more interest. "Where have you seen her?"

"I don't know, the little brat erased my memory right after she threw me out a window with her bloody mind" Rebekah shot back glaring at Sophie.

"Let me cut to the chase, Davina has Elijah, you witches I assume want to get Davina away from Marcel, we don't know where she is, ergo we need magic"

"Davina would sense it" Sophie continued to argue.

"Unless, of course another witch...say a traitor to the cause, Katie for example was to perform much more powerful magic at the same time, that would create a smokescreen concealing your very small spell from Davina"

"Katie doesn't deserve to die" Sophie protested and Nik reacts showing his impatience by angrily slamming his hands on the table as he stands up.

"Sophie Deveraux, you're in no position to be so principled, you can't win a war without a few strategic losses, no matter how regrettable they may be, how many times have the vampires been one step ahead known something they shouldn't?" Nik asked her and I saw the effect his words was having on Sophie. "Your sister, executed in the public square for practicing magic, who knew she'd be caught...did she even attempt to flee?"

"She was caught hiding in a cargo hold of a freighter before it set sail down the Mississippi"

"And who pray tell, of Marcel's valued inner circle manages his business at the docks?"

"Katie's boyfriend, Thierry" Sophie replied with a look that said she was on board...in a sense.

After that little meeting we all went our separate ways, Nik went to meet with Marcel again, Rebekah was off on some secret mission which would somehow help us tonight and I was busy flicking through the racks of clothes in my closet trying to find a dress for tonight as I was attending Marcel's charity ball thing and finally showing myself to the man who was practically my sire-brother, we were both sired by Nik and during our life here 100 years ago he'd been like a surrogate brother to me so I was both excited and dreading his reaction.

"Little sister" I heard Nik's voice making me look up before I walked out of my room seeing him sitting at the upstairs desk.

"Well brother, I believe I've made certain Marcel will be properly distracted tonight" I heard Rebekah's voice over the phone as I approached the desk seeing Nik look up hearing me approach.

"Dare I ask?" Nik asked her.

"Let's just say his attention will not be on us, I did my bit what are you doing to ensure Elijah's safe return?" Rebekah asked him.

"Currently, I'm preparing insurance against the tender-hearted" Nik replied pulling out a page from a book in which I recognized but didn't know he had...their mother's grimoire.

"Meaning?"

"We need proper motivation for Katie to cast a powerful spell tonight, I'm creating that motivation" he replies sealing the pages in an envelope. "Marcel has ordered a rousting of the witches and I in turn have arranged for things to go tragically wrong" I raised my eye in question wondering what the hell he was planning. "Marcel may not be concerned with Thierry's romantic entanglements... but there are other crimes which he'll be less inclined to so easily forgive... killing a vampire for example, that would be unforgivable" I huffed since leave it to Nik to take advantage of this. "If Katie hopes to save her one true love from Marcel's punishment, well a rescue mission like that will require something positively magical but then...what's worth dying for, if not love?" he states before hanging up on Rebekah.

"How romantic of you?" I scoffed looking at Nik before I turned to head back to my room.

"Sophia" he called me back and although I stopped I didn't turn around since I heard his footsteps coming towards me as he stood. "I need you to stay here tonight, with Hayley"

"No" I argued shaking my head as I finally turned to face him. "I'm not hiding away, Hayley is perfectly safe here and I'm tired of letting you do all the work, I want to help protect our child too so you can't stop me from coming tonight and if you even try-"

"Come with me" he suddenly said grabbing my hand and pulled me with him towards the room he had been staying in given I had overtaken his old one and as we entered I saw the beautiful black/white ombre ball gown laid perfectly and neatly across his made bed. "You understand I had to ask but I know you, I knew you'd refuse and that you wouldn't have anything to wear on short notice"

"I'm sure I could've found something" I argued with a small smile since that was a total lie given I actually found I had nothing here in New Orleans fit for a party of this caliber and fanciness.

"The theme is black and white"

"How mysterious" I laughed since black and white balls were so cliché but I secretly used to love the ones Nik and I crashed/attended in the past century together, whether they were ones thrown by us or the ones of actual royal caliber that we could crash, they were always fun as it meant dancing and loving embraces but this time I knew it wouldn't be so...intimate which brought a frown on my face. "Thank you" I quickly said to hide my feelings from him.

"You're beautiful Sophia" he smiled at me and I smiled back for a second.

"I suppose I should start getting ready" I sighed even though the ball was hours away, it was still just a tad awkward between us since I was still mad at him for what how he's been acting lately but a part of me also wanted me to just forgive him and let him in again.

"Sophia" he caught my hand again before I could escape. "Please, can you please forgive me?"

"I can't Nik not right now but I'm tired of fighting with you Niklaus" I replied letting out a sigh. "Things are just so different between us and I...I'm just so tired of it" I ran a hand through my hair as I sat down on the bed.

"I really am sorry Soph" he protested letting out a sigh of his own. "I'm sorry" I frowned feeling a few tears building up in my eyes since hearing him repeat it proved to me that he was being honest...for now.

"Nik..." I whispered letting my hands run over his hand as I avoided looking up. "As much as I believe you, I can't trust you right now"

"Then let me earn it back" I felt his hand skim over my cheek lifting my face and my eyes met his blue hues. "Let me prove that I still love you because I do"

"I love you too Nik, I always will" I sighed leaning my head into his hand as it ran into my hair lightly tucking it behind my ear and I couldn't help lick my lips as I stared at his lips for a second before looking back up into his eyes. "Escort me tonight and we'll see okay"

"Of course, my love" he smirked all cute like and I rolled my eyes at him.

"You're not cute Niklaus"

"I beg to differ" he argued and I smiled shaking my head.

"I better go get ready" I stepped back letting him go before I picked up the dress and smiled at him and left the room to head back to mine in order to shower.

Once I was finished up in the shower I stepped out slipping on my silk robe before I started the long process of drying my hair, pinning it up in a neat intricate bun then got started on my make-up creating a black smokey eye with white accents to match my dress while going with thick eyelashes and plain lip gloss just to accent my lips then finally went out and slipped into the dress since my hair and make-up had taken me about two hours and it was almost time to leave then put on a pair of matching black stiletto 'Loui Vuitton' lace heels.

After I was finished getting ready in my dress and heels I headed over to my jewelry box which I had brought with me from Mystic Falls and searched through it for a necklace to wear stumbling across the black pear shaped diamond necklace that Nik had given me for their mother's ball and smiled since it was perfect and slipped it around my neck but was struggling with the clasp.

"Allow me" I jumped a little and dropped the necklace before turning to Nik seeing he had caught the dropped necklace and was smirking.

"You scared the crap out of me" I hit his shoulder while he laughed.

"Apologies my love, you just looked like you were struggling"

"I was" I admitted rolling my eyes at him as I turned and let him place the necklace around my neck clasping it into place while I placed my old daylight bracelet around my wrist just because I could as our eyes met in the mirror as his hands moved from my neck down my arms before settling on my waist squeezing it a little as he pulled me back.

"You look beautiful, a real bell of the ball"

"I should hope so, my suitor has very exquisite and expensive taste so I have to dress to impress" I remarked with a small smile as I turned around and moved my arms up his arms to the lapel of his jacket smiling at his all black tux and the fact that his tie was slightly crooked so I grabbed it and adjusted it accordingly.

"You definitely will impress" he nodded and I smiled a little looking up meeting his eyes once again. "Your absolutely breathtaking my love, you will have all the men drooling which is why you'll remain by my side, understand?"

"Well I don't know about that, I might meet a tall, dark stranger...a devil in disguise if you'd call him" I winked at him before I smiled and walked away leaving our hands outstretched for a few short seconds.

We arrived at the ball with Rebekah and I both dressed in black matching Niklaus perfectly as he escorted us into the compound and truth be told I never thought I'd ever see this place again as I had avoided this compound on my last visit with Stefan and Damon but had I, I might have found out Marcel was alive before now but now this place was all so different but yet still held a sliver of familiarity.

I smiled a little taking in the dark, wild atmosphere as there were acrobats performing hanging from silks tied to the ceiling, dancers handling exotic animals and confetti falling glittering upon the party guests and it certainly was a very invigorating party compete with the alure of mystery as most of the guests were wearing masks as this was a masquerade gala.

"Well this certainly is a fitting backdrop for tonight's events, I must say" I turned towards Nik with a small smile as I squeezed his arm before we all turned and were surprised to see Camille, the bartender from Rousseau's as she enters the party wearing white angel wings and a vintage white beaded dress, I turn to share a confused look with Nik and Rebekah only to see the latter looking quite pleased with the sight of the bartender. "What's she doing here?" Nik asked looking over at Rebekah.

"What better way to distract Marcel than to put his very human, new girl in a room chock full of vampires?" Rebekah replies before she leaves our side and crosses the courtyard to greet Cami. "Hello darling, you look precious"

"This party is ridiculous and I think I could pay tuition with this dress " Cami smiles laughing before she looks past Rebekah and makes eye contact with Nik nodding her head at him and I frown since clearly I have missed something and frankly wasn't sure I liked this situation. "Is he the infamous on-again/off-again?" she asked Rebekah and I made a face since that was just 'ew'

"He's the brother, actually" Nik argued stepping up towards them before he held his hand out towards me. "And this is Sophia, my wife" he introduced me clearly thinking we hadn't met before.

"We've met actually, you served me at Rousseau's I believe" I smiled towards Cami even if it was forced since I wasn't that much of a bitch.

"Right yes I do remember you, you were passing through memorializing your friend" I nodded trying to keep the smile on my face even though I felt the familiar stab of sadness for the reminder of Kol's death.

"Well my sister is right, you do look stunning" Nik suddenly said as if he knew I needed the subject change and Cami looked taken aback by his compliment for a second and even looked towards me but I just smiled letting on that I was fine by his comment.

"You clean up pretty well yourself" she finally replied looking at Nik and once again I refrained from any sort of displeasure I was feeling on the inside but I did reach down and grab Nik's hand, probably a little possessively but it was well within my right to be protective with the way she was looking at my husband.

"Well don't be fooled love, I'm the devil in disguise" Nik smirked then held up his mask and I scoffed shaking my head slightly as he clearly stole my words from earlier and clearly making it a not-so-subtle nod towards me.

"You three chit-chat, I need booze" Rebekah sighed before walking off towards one of the many bars.

"Shall we?" Nik asked offering Cami his other arm and I rolled my eyes slightly at him being such a gentleman tonight as she took it and we walked to one of the many other bars that were scattered about the courtyard.

"Bourbon" I ordered with a sigh since I needed the alcohol if I was gonna make it through this party.

"The guy of hers Rebekah was talking about...I'm sensing that would be Marcel" Cami suddenly says and I look over my shoulder seeing Bekah talking with Marcel and my eyes widen just a bit as this is the first time I'm seeing him and he looked so different...not in a bad way but just a...different kind of way.

"I wouldn't worry about it, ancient history" Nik played it off.

"I'm beginning to think your sister is a bit of a bitch" Cami pointed out and Nik laughs while I manage a small smirk as Rebekah's known to have that tendency.

"It's as though she invented the term" I scoffed and hit Nik's shoulder lightly.

"Don't be an ass Klaus" I spat and he turned me purely for the name I had called him and narrowed his eyes.

"So how long have you two...?" she asked leaving the question out in the open and I knew she was asking about our marriage.

"Feels like a lifetime" I played it off with a small smile and Nik smiled too wrapping his arm around my waist.

"Some would say it's felt like 100 or so" I rolled my eyes at him but was unable to wipe the smile off my face but felt Nik's arm tense around my waist and looked up seeing him looking back over towards Rebekah and Marcel seeing the latter looking at us and looking like he was about to approach us. "Pardon us for a moment" he squeezed my waist and we walked away leaving Marcel to talk with Cami.

"So what-" my question was cut off when I was suddenly pulled by my waist so I went crashing into Nik's chest with him grabbing my other hand and my eyes widened slightly as he began to lead me in a dance. "Nik..." I sighed looking around, all this...the music, the dancing...it was feeling just like old times but like everything here it was all so different.

"Sophia, just be here with me" he whispered close to my ear and I smiled a little nodding my head since that I could do and laughed when he twirled me before pulling me back in. "Have I told you how beautiful you look tonight?"

"You might have" I nodded with my smile widening as I squeezed his hand reveling in the feeling of dancing so intimately with him again since it's been so long.

"Well you do, absolutely stunning" he smirked and I shook my head burying my head slightly into his chest for a moment as he squeezed my waist. "Do you remember when we danced like this all the time?" he asked and I smiled a little looking up at him.

"Mm no" I lied deciding to play around with him.

"Really?" he asked with a small smirk playing at his lips as he met my eyes. "So you don't remember when my hand would touch your waist" he lowered his hand to my lower spine, his touch feeling like it burnt right through the thin covering of my dress and was against my bare skin creating goosebumps.

"No" I lied again with a small shake of my head.

"What about this?" he asked running his hand down my arm as he moved it to wrap around his neck before his hand continued to graze down my side before settling and squeezing my waist.

"Nothing" I replied pressing my chin against his shoulder but my voice was probably enough to give me away as just his touch was leaving me breathless.

"Then this..." he grabbed the back of my knee lifting it before he dipped me ever so slightly and my leg was resting right against his. "Means nothing?" he whispered, his lips a hairsbreadth apart from mine.

"Nik..." I breathed out before he pulled me back upright and let out a small sigh. "You're not making this easy for me, are you?"

"I never do my love, I promised that I would always fight for you and that us ever going our separate ways will not be from a lack of effort" he smirked and I shook my head.

"This is different Nik, this isn't so easy to fix just because we might want it to" I replied letting out a sigh as I stepped back. "It's going to take time and trust to mend what's broken between us and right this second we have more important issues to be worrying about" I turned and walked away fighting the threatening tears that pooled in my eyes and quickly wiped them away as I approached the nearest bar where Rebekah was standing and joined her ordering another bourbon drinking it down the moment it was placed in front of me seeing her look over. "Not a word" I warn her especially since it wasn't long enough until Nik also comes over and joins us, the two of them fixated on Cami and Marcel.

"You really are a hideously evil little thing, aren't you?" Nik remarked leaning into speak towards Rebekah.

"Nonsense, they're perfect for each other" she argued and I rolled my eyes since was there ever such a thing as perfect for someone, you could be two completely compatible people and still there had to be fights and strife in even the happiest of relationships...just look at Nik and I, been together for over 100 years and we've had our share of fights, granted majority of those have been in the past couple of months alone which just proved how much things had changed. "You wanted Marcel distracted...voilĂ " Rebekah added right as some vampires walked in...one of them heading straight for Marcel and whispered something I could care less about listening in on but the fury on Marcel's face as he turned towards the entrance at another vampire made it clear that Nik's plan had to be working. "My cue to leave" I nodded at Bekah watching her leave to meet up with Sophie to get the spell done to find Elijah and Davina.

Marcel and the rest of his vampires head up to the second story in order to not be heard but you could still see them and even from here you could see the anger rolling off Marcel and Cami was right there witnessing it all and I frowned slowly approaching her.

"Are you all right, Cami?" I asked her.

"He's got a temper, doesn't he?" she asks and I frown looking back up towards the balcony watching Marcel pace, he definitely wasn't the kind hearted soul that I remember. "I guess this is the moment I remember I know better" she turns and starts to walk away.

"Cami wait" I called making her pause and turn back towards me. "Take it from someone whose married to a guy with complications, they are worth it if you feel it's the right thing" I told her and she just stared at me before nodding her head and continued on walking out of the party while I felt Nik step up beside me right as another vampire walks up standing slightly behind and Nik reaches into his coat's inner pocket, withdraws a folded piece of paper and hands it to him, he pockets it and walks away while Nik and I stand side by side watching the balcony as the young kid appears next to Marcel and hands him the paper.

"We found this at his girl's place" he says as he hands it to Marcel who looks at it before he turns back to vampire in trouble.

"Still my friend, huh?" he asks and you could hear his anger. "That's funny because it looks to me like that little witch of yours got her hands on a spell that I keep locked away"

"Marcel, I have never seen that"

"Shut up" Marcel spits cutting him off. "I see on your hand you still have the daylight ring I gave you, so what would you need with the recipe for making new ones, unless maybe you and Katie were gonna go off and start a little kingdom of your own?"

"Marcel, no"

"Here's a lesson in friendship, friends don't lie to me, they don't break my rules and they do not steal what is mine" Marcel turns to take a moment and breathe, then turns back around. "For the crime of murder one of his own, I sentence Thierry Vanchure to 100 years in the Garden" I turn to Nik and see his smile.

"And it begins..."

"I should go help Rebekah, I'll see you at the hotel" I state lying about our home situation since that's the lie Nik had told Marcel, that he'd been staying at the Palace Royal hotel so better to stick with that in case of any listening ears.

I turned and headed out of the compound slipping out of one of the many side exits since I knew this place like the back of my hand and then sped towards the cemetery seeing Sophie in mid spell with Bekah standing guard.

"Any luck yet?" I asked announcing my presence.

"Not yet" Bekah replied as the wind whipped around us.

"Well hurry, I'm not sure how much time we have left" I told them ushing Sophie to speed it up since every second that she performed magic had the potential for it to be discovered and Marcel to find out and kill her which would kill Hayley and my baby but it isn't too long when Sophie suddenly stops her spell and the winds die down.

"Something's wrong, Katie's magic stopped" I frowned looking around. "I can keep going" she insisted.

"You can't, she'll sense it" Rebekah protested before I could.

"No I can find Davina, I just need another moment" Sophie argued and I glared at her rushing forward grabbing the paper with black sand on top of it that Sophie was using and threw it aside.

"You may be willing to die to get your witch back but Hayley and my baby will die with you" I spat at her.

"Elijah will never forgive us and rescuing him will be for nothing" Rebekah added on and I frowned shaking my head.

"It's over, we failed" I sighed before yelling out and kicked a nearby pot just to feel better even though it didn't feel better as I'm pretty sure I heard and felt something in my foot break and the pain was enough to prove that but I could care less about the pain right now, this was all for nothing.


Third Person's POV

The party is over and the courtyard is deserted, Klaus and Marcel stand alone on a balcony and clink their drinks against each other Marcel downs his to drown and mask his sorrows over losing a friend.

"How much did Cami see?" he asks looking towards Klaus.

"She just saw an argument mate, it's nothing you can't fix" Klaus replies letting out a sigh as he couldn't help think about his own ongoing argument with Sophia, he hopes his statement is true that there is nothing he can't fix with her. "You really like her, don't you?" he asks turning the conversation back onto Marcel to distract himself from his thoughts.

"I like that she's not a part of any of this, sometimes it's good to see the world the way the humans do"

"I am sorry about Thierry, you know?" Klaus says half truthfully since he did feel a tiny shred of remorse for using the friendship against him. "I can tell he was a good friend"

"I made him what he was, obviously my trust was misplaced"

"Doesn't make it easier" Klaus argues again, once again his thoughts drifted to Sophia and her trust him having faded to nothing.

"You saved me tonight, I guess I owe you one" Marcel sighed knowing he always had to reply his debts. "You asked for your brother back, seems like the least I can do" Klaus smiled softly at the fact that the plan had worked and that bringing Elijah home would be a step to earning Sophia's forgiveness. "I couldn't help noticing a certain dark haired beauty tonight" Marcel suddenly said and Klaus turned towards him. "Why didn't you tell me Sophia was back in town?"

"She returned to my side today, she thought your party would be a very fitting way for her to make her presence known" Klaus replied with a small smile to cover up his lie.

"Didn't seem like the two of you are doing so good?" Marcel pointed out having clearly seen the way the two had acted with each other.

"Yes well...let's just say it's been a complicated few months, we've spent time apart and it's all part of readjusting"

"I get it man and hey send her my way, wouldn't mind catching up" Marcel smiled nodding at him before he turned and left Klaus alone.


Sophia's POV

Rebekah and I pouted having returned to the plantation and were already a couple glasses in to the alcohol stash from Nik's art room when he walked in spotting Bekah and I sitting around the piano where she was sloppily and lazily playing random notes.

"Well, tonight was an epic failure" she speaks up when she notices Nik.

"On the contrary sister, tonight was a masterpiece" Nik argued and I frowned turning to him confused as he placed his mask on the fireplace mantel.

"Are you mad, Katie died before Sophie could complete the spell" Bekah argued.

"Oh I'm well aware, I killed Katie" Nik argued and my eyes widened before they narrowed into a glare since that hadn't been part of the plan meaning he went off and did his own thing as usual.

"You what?" Bekah asked him.

"There's no way our little suicide witch wasn't gonna try and take out Marcel with her, I saved his life and in doing so, I now have him exactly where I want him"

"Sophie trusted you, I trusted you against all my better instincts" Rebekah bit at him and I frowned crossing my arms unable to not agree with her.

"Wake up Rebekah, the witches are on no one's side but their own" well that was kind of true. "This girl Davina, that's all they want and when they have her, what do you think happens then, a truce?" he asks and I let out a sigh dropping my glare hating that I agreed with him as well. "Of course not, they will use Davina's power against all of us"

"Even if you're right, the plan was to find Elijah and you've failed us"

"You always did lack faith, by protecting Marcel I've cemented his trust so much so that he's agreed to return Elijah to us and when the time is right, when he has told me everything I need to know about Davina, I will have her for myself" I scoffed and rolled my eyes at him and his thirst for power and control of the city.

"I have all the faith in the world that you'll get what you want Nik, you always do no matter what is costs the rest of us" I let out a sigh taking the place she'd vacated on the piano bench letting my head hang down. "You disgust me" Rebekah takes a sip of bourbon Nik had offered her before she sets it on the piano and leaves.

"You're really not helping me trust you, are you?" I spoke up as soon as I knew Bekah was gone and watched him turn towards me with a frown. "Every time I think we make progress you do something or say something that proves that I can't trust you" I closed the lid to the piano then stood.

"Sophia-"

"I don't want to hear it Klaus" I spat ignoring his frown when I called him Klaus but right now I didn't feel like he deserved to be called anything else. "Goodnight" I spat turning on my heel and walked out of the room to check on Hayley and found her in the library on her laptop. "Hey" I smiled politely at her but it quickly fell when I heard footsteps following me into the room and turned seeing Nik and glared at him since could I not escape him even for a minute.

"I thought you might like to know, Elijah is returning to us" he spoke up clearly speaking towards Hayley who smiled at him for that announcement.

"Congratulations, I guess being diabolical has its perks" she agreed to which I just rolled my eyes for her encouraging him.

"You hardly know him and yet you miss him, what is it about my brother that always inspires such instant admiration?" he asks her.

"He was kind to me" she replies and I smiled at her while Nik turns to leave. "Hey, I learned something today" she quickly said and he stopped but didn't turn while I turned back to Hayley in confusion. "I think it's a girl" she told us and my eyes widened in shock before I smiled since I couldn't believe it...it was a girl but how did she know.

"How?" I asked hearing Nik continue on his way walking out of the room.

"An old wives trick" she replied and I had a feeling there was more but I nodded since I wouldn't press her.

"Thank you Hayley" I smiled before I turned and left the room too since I didn't want to hover over her every minute of the day and I wanted to get out of this dress so I went to my room where I spent 5 or so minutes to remove the pins from my hair and wiped the make-up from my face before I changed out of my dress into some cotton shorts and a simple t-shirt that had once been Nik's sighing as the subtle scent of him still clung to the fabric before I shook my head and climbed into my bed turning off the light laying down and shutting my eyes letting today wash away as my mind drifted off into sleep.