Rebekah POV

I didn't want to come back here.

After what I have just saw in the compound tonight, I need all the allies I can get to protect me in this weak body until I give birth. Nemeria will come after us after what happenned to her brother.

New Orleans had always been a place of heartbreak for me—a city of ghosts and regrets. Yet here I was, walking the dim streets once again, clutching my stomach as if that could somehow protect the life growing inside me. Marcel's bar loomed ahead, the one place that always felt like a sanctuary… and a trap.

I hadn't seen him in months. I hadn't even told him I was back. But this was no ordinary visit. I was running out of time, and Sergio would be here soon. I needed Marcel's help. And I knew he'd give it to me. He always had.

As I pushed open the door to the bar, the scent of bourbon and old wood hit me like a wave of nostalgia. The dim lighting did little to hide Marcel's presence at the far end of the room, his back turned as he spoke with one of his vampires. He didn't need to turn around to know I was there.

"Rebekah."

The way he said my name—it sent a shiver down my spine. His voice was the same as ever, carrying that mix of authority and affection that had always made it hard for me to resist him. But I wasn't here for that. Not this time.

I walked toward him, forcing myself to stay calm. When he finally turned to face me, his expression was unreadable, but his eyes… there was warmth there. And then confusion. Probably stunned by my new appearances.

"You're back." His words were a statement, not a question.

"I need your help." The urgency in my voice was undeniable, and Marcel's expression shifted from warmth to concern almost instantly. "I'm pregnant, Marcel. And the child… it's in danger."

His eyes widened. "Pregnant? Rebekah, how—"

"It's complicated,but at least I'm glad you know me so well that you knew that even in this body that I'm still me" I interrupted, not wanting to rehash the details of Sergio, the curse, and the witch body that was currently trapping me. There wasn't time.

"Nemeria and her brother Lexis are coming after me. For my baby."

Marcel's face darkened. He remembered the famous twins—cursed beings, untouchable by death, severed from the Originals' bloodline. "Why? What does your baby have to do with them?"

I took a shaky breath. "Well I dated some guy name Sergio and that guy turned out to be the descendant of some powerful witch when I got pregnant he told me that Nemeria should never learn about the baby or otherwise they would kill me and the baby as she does everytime she learned he has a baby on the way. Sergio is Nemeria's ward and she treat him more like a son… but I just found out that Sergios witch bloodline is the one that cursed Nemeria and Lexis many years ago. Now, My child carries that bloodline, and it's the only thing that can break their curse. They need this blood gone to stay immortal. If they get to me, Marcel, they'll kill the baby."

His jaw tightened, and his hand gripped the edge of the bar. "Who told you all of that ? It's okay. " he said to rassure me and calm me down but I cut him and add : " Davina came to the compound earlier, she came to deliver us a message from the ancestors that all evil is about to get loose in the city over my baby. Nemeria and Lexis have only one vulnérabilites and that is my unborn child so they will stop at nothing to kill that baby"

" I won't let that happen. NO ONE will hurt you in my city" Marcel said while coming closer and touching my shoulders

For a moment, I let the tension ease from my shoulders, the relief of hearing those words settling in. But it didn't last. There was more to this than just my own safety.

"And there's something else," I added, lowering my voice. "Nemeria was… she was Klaus's lover. Long before any of us knew who she really was. Now she got jealous of Hayley who had a baby with klaus and her twin brother for no good reason just killed a bunch of Hayley's wolves so when the news will spread out to the bayou and jackson we don't know how it will turn out for the french quarter"

Marcel's eyes narrowed. "And now she's coming after you?"

"Not just me." I hesitated, wondering how much I should say. But he needed to know. "I told you She's found out about Hayley. And about Hope. And Klaus refused to help his brother when Hayley bite him to get even. Now my guess is she will kill Hayley and Hope first to get at Klaus for not helping her brother then she will come after me to kill the child that she perceived as a weakness"

The silence in the room thickened. Marcel looked at me, his expression unreadable for a moment. "What can we do now? We have to see with klaus to come up with a plan "

"We need to create a diversion long enough so that Sergio can get here to take care of calming down her lunatic wanabe mother. If Nemeria and Lexis evil plans go according to how we know them, they will come after Hope to punish klaus and Hayley but in any way… they'll come after her too."

Marcel cursed under his breath, pacing across the room. His protective instincts were kicking in, just as I had hoped they would. He had always cared about Hope, even if it was through his loyalty to Klaus and me.

"We need to stop them before they get anywhere near you," Marcel said firmly. " I am calling Davina to see if she can do a little trick we might try to deter them"

But before he could finish his sentence. the door to the bar swung open, and a gust of cold air swept in.

Two figures stood in the doorway.

Nemeria, with her cold, dangerous beauty, stepped into the dim light of the bar. Her blonde hair framed her face like a shadow, and her eyes gleamed with malice. Behind her was Lexis, taller and more imposing, but silent as ever. The air around them seemed to crackle with an ancient, powerful magic that I can feel in my witch's body.

Davina were right, Alexis is completely healed but how can that be?

"Well, isn't this a touching reunion," Nemeria said, her voice dripping with venom as she sauntered into the room. "Eva, darling. Did you really think you could hide from me here? You should know better. But first of all please how come, I always found you around a member of the Originals families" she tilted her head slightly to assessed me and Marcel.

Marcel stepped in front of me, his body tense, ready for a fight. "Well well, To what I owed this unpleasant surprised? Nemeria , coming to my town unannonced"

Nemeria's eyes flicked to him, then back to me. She portrait à sinistre perks and ignored Marcel remark. She walk toward me slowly while Alexis were assessing the important numbers of vampires in the pub that were looking at them ready to pounce at Marcel's order.

"You've told him, haven't you? About the child. Good. Saves me the trouble." She took a step closer, her voice lowering to a whisper. "But there's something you left out, didn't you, Eva?"

I stiffened. "What are you talking about?"

Nemeria's smile widened. "Hayley. Sweet, innocent Hayley. She's not just the mother of Klaus's child, is she? Oh no. She was more than that, once. His lover. How tragic for poor little Hope, to have such complicated family dynamics." " it took me sometimes, to figure out why Klaus refused to heal my brother when Hayley bite him and more importantly my question is how did Klaus knew about this little predicament becoming my demise" she said gesturing toward my stomach " Who are you exactly Eva Sinclair and who sent you to our lives ? That love I will get it out of you one way or another "

Marcel froze, and I felt the air shift. He hadn't known. Of course he hadn't. I'd never told him. Klaus and Hayley's brief, ill-fated romance wasn't something we discussed. But now, Nemeria was weaponizing it.

"How dare you," I hissed, stepping forward. "This has nothing to do with Hayley or Hope."

"Oh, but it does," Nemeria purred. "Because Klaus may not care about you, Eva, but he does care about that child. And if you don't give me what I want, I'll make sure your little "tribrid niece " never grows up to be the threat she's destined to become. To this world."

I felt my blood boil, my hand instinctively moving to my stomach as if I could shield my unborn child from the weight of her words. Marcel stepped closer to Nemeria, his voice low and dangerous. "You won't touch Hope. Or Eva. I'll kill you myself before you lay a hand on them."

Nemeria's smile faded, and her eyes glowed with an eerie light. "You'll try. But you can't kill what's already cursed. WE ARE IMMORTAL AND IMMUNE TO ALL MAGIC"

With a final look of triumph, she turned and glided toward the door, Lexis trailing behind her like a shadow. Before they left, Nemeria cast one last glance over her shoulder. "We'll be seeing you soon Marcel and Eva you have until tommorow at sundown to surrender to me before all hell break loose. So, I suggest to you to pack your things and say your farwell to your loved one "

As the door swung shut behind them, I released a breath I hadn't realized I was holding. Marcel turned to me, his eyes fierce with determination.

"We need to get Klaus involved," he said. "And we need to protect Hope and that baby of yours. I'm calling Davina and will met you at the compound"

I nodded, fear and anger mixing inside me. "This isn't over. Not by a long shot."

And as I stood there in that dark bar, with the weight of centuries-old curses and family secrets bearing down on me, I knew that New Orleans was about to become a battlefield once again.