Chapter 11
Oh, she wasn’t sure how to do this. She’d never been at LaFayette before, and she wasn’t even sure if Davina was around. Sighing, she got the book out of her bag and hugged it as she walked around the tombs, reading the names and inscriptions. Some were so old that it had their life’s story told on the stones. It was interesting. Intriguing, even. Maybe, when all of this would be over, she’d turn to her love for history again.
Read. Explore. Think of crazy theories and prove herself wrong or right. Ever since she’d started to run, she hadn’t stopped and taken the time to enjoy herself, to allow herself to bite into a chunk of history and not letting it go until she was done with it. She should have done that the moment she set foot in New Orleans, but her mind had been otherwise occupied.
Bella walked around for quite some time before a young woman, a brunette, came stomping out of a tomb, agitation set on her face. “Hey, you!” she snapped before stopping dead in her tracks. “Is that my book?”
“Depends on who you ask and who you are,” Bella replied, holding the book close to her. “I mean, you might say it’s yours, but I have someone else saying it’s theirs so…”
“Ah, you’re the innocent that Freya stole that book for,” Davina replied as she stretched out her hand. “I’m Davina, and your magic is interfering with my spell, so…”
“I’m Bella. I thought I’d return your book and have a beer with you for thanking you for so generously giving the book to Freya Mikaelson so we could do some research.”
“I didn’t freely give anything. The bitch stole it from me after I said no. Knocked me out with a spell,” Davina said bitterly as she held out her hands for Bella to give it back. “Did it help you, at least?”
“Yeah… I wanted to ask you if I could hold on to it for a bit longer. I think there’s a lot that I’m missing when it comes to understanding what exactly is wrong with me,” she said with a slight chuckle. “The last few pages in the book are in a language I don’t understand so I want to make sure that I’ve got everything translated correctly.” She hoped that Davina hadn’t read the book and knew that she was lying. Especially the last bits of the book were in English. And some code she wasn’t able to decipher and that intrigued her.
She eyed her skeptically. “You know, I could do a magical x-ray of you, maybe that will help. Are you sure you’re a witch?”
“Oh, I’m not a witch. I hate witches – sorry, bad experiences.”
“That’s okay,” Davina laughed. “Come, let’s find out what you are then, and maybe show you that not all witches are evil or wrong or out to get you,” she motioned for Bella to follow her into her building. “So, how do you know the Mikaelsons?”
“I’m an entertainer,” Bella said with a shrug as she stuffed the book back into her bag as she followed Davina.
“Oh? What do you do?”
“I dance, and I am an exclusive adult escort.”
Davina stopped dead in her tracks and looked at Bella, pity written all over her face. “Oh, I’m so sorry. Did um… did they compel you to do that?”
“Hell no,” Bella smiled at her. “Don’t worry, I have a reasonable steady background, and I know what I’m doing. I love what I do. Don’t pity me.”
“Were you drawn to New Orleans?”
“Yeah, I guess I was, in a way.” She followed Davina deeper into the building, only to realize that this was also a tomb. A big one, at that. “Wow. Uhm… should we even be in here? It sort of feels like trespassing.”
“Did Freya tell you about me?”
“Only that you were a witch but other than that? I’m not familiar with everything supernatural. I’m quite the novice, really. I mean… real vampires? Werewolves? Witches? Magic is real?” Bella couldn’t help but look around and notice the names on the stones. “What is this place?”
“This is a seat of power,” Davina explained. “It’s where all the previous Regents of the covens are interred and thus the home of the current regent of the nine covens. Me,” she said proudly. “I’m the most powerful witch in New Orleans.”
Bella let out a breath. Klaus’ observation about Davina being power-hungry and quite arrogant was spot on. “I… oh… I didn’t know that, I’m sorry. Should I bow or curtsey or something?”
“Relax,” Davina laughed. “You said it yourself; you’re no witch. So, the book, it was about the Travelers, wasn’t it? Aren’t they like… extinct?”
“I don’t know,” Bella said with a shrug. “According to the book they do like their mass suicides.”
“Why the interest?”
“Uh… well, it appears that I’m related to them, and certain clients hate it that they can’t compel me, so there must be something wrong with me, right?” Bella said with a slight chuckle. “I also have some issues with a sub-species of vampires, and I am trying to understand why.”
Davina slowly nodded as she lit some candles. “Let me try to do that witchy scan on you, but I’m afraid that the knowledge you seek is not in my possession or in my knowledge. I do know of one witch who might know but… he’s dead.”
“Freya’s brother, right? Kol?”
“Yeah,” Davina smiled as she pointed at the floor for Bella to sit down. “He was this amazing person. Kind, warm, slightly crazy and his knowledge of magic was just out there. But then again, he had so many years to gather his knowledge… I might travel one day and do the same, you know, to learn more. Teach it to the covens upon my return.”
“That sounds like a great idea! You should do that. The world is this big, crazy place and it’s awesome,” Bella sat down and pulled two bottles of beer out of her bag. “Want one?”
“Would you like it if a surgeon with alcohol breath would perform surgery on you?” She replied laughing. “But go ahead if you want to calm your nerves. I promise I won’t hurt you and that I’m pure with my intentions. Everyone should know where they come from and what they are.”
Bella shrugged as she screwed the top off and took a swig of her beer. “Hey, aren’t you a little young to be Queen Witch?”
“Trust me, I know what I’m doing,” she laughed again as she started to place the burning candles around Bella. “You’re safe.”
“Yeah, and what if I’m not?” she said slightly hesitant. “I don’t want you to scramble my brains or anything; I need it to do my job.”
Davina sat down on her knees behind Bella and placed her hands on her shoulders. “You came to me for help, let me help you. It’s what I do.”
Bella took another swig of her beer before setting the bottle outside the circle where her bag was and sighed deep. “Alright, I’m relaxing.”
Davina started to chant a spell as she moved her hands around Bella’s body before, just like Freya, she received a jolt and was propelled backward. “Oh no, no no no!” she said as she scrambled to her feet and looked at Bella in shock. “What was that!”
“Oh, that? Yeah, that happened to Freya too.”
“And you couldn’t tell me?!”
She shrugged. “I thought it would be different with you, since, you know, you’re not Freya,” she said as she got to her feet and took her bag. “We should hang out together. No magic involved. Go shopping. Have a manicure. Spa day. Really.”
“Why? You just tried to kill me!”
“No, I didn’t,” Bella sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose. “But I could use a friend, a non-adult entertainer kinda friend. And I like your energy. We should hang out. So, the day after tomorrow? Spa day? You and me? I’ll pay.”
“Fine,” Davina said, resigning with a sigh. “I suppose I could use a normal, human, friend to hang out with.”
“Cool,” Bella smiled. “Thanks! I’ll come and find you.”
“Hey, um, do you want me to ask the ancestors about you? See what they know?”
Shrugging, Bella readjusted her bag. “If you want to, any help is appreciated.”
“Can I have some of your blood?”
She shook her head. “Sorry. If there’s one thing I won’t part with for magic or food, it’s bodily fluids and hair,” Bella then tugged on her hair. “Ohh, speaking of hair… I’m going to the hairdresser to make my hair awesome again. It’s a little bit dull, isn’t it? It could use some more color… Thanks for your help, Davina. I’ll see you in a couple of days,” she smiled before bouncing out of the tomb and headed into town.
~o.O.o~
Bella felt as if she was having a heart attack when she got rudely awoken the next morning by a fuming Klaus. “What have you done with your hair!” He demanded angrily as he sat next to her on the bed. “Your lovely hair!”
She groaned as she rolled onto her back and looked at him. “Don’t be such a drama queen, Klaus.”
“You cut it!”
“My hair. And it’s not super short, you know. It still reaches my shoulders,” she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and sighed. “And I had it dye-dipped. Awesome, isn’t it?”
“Your hair!”
“You never complained before. I needed a change,” she sat up and looked around. “Wait, you’re here, does that mean Aurora’s gone?”
“She had some business to attend to, and she wanted to go dress shopping for the ultimate dress to wear for our dinner tonight,” he softly kissed her lips. “Every moment spent with her is agony. You need to save me.”
“No,” she smiled as she put her arms around his neck and pulled him in for another kiss. “You made your bed; you’re going to lie in it. In your misery,” she kissed him again and pressed her naked body against him. “Please tell me we can have sex.”
“I don’t know, love, Aurora wore me out, I thought I’d take the time to take a nap.”
“Asshole,” she said as she pushed him away. “I know I went along with this, and it seems to be the right course of action, but I don’t like it!”
Klaus started to laugh as he pulled her back towards him. “I was joking, Bella.”
“Yeah well, you’ve spoiled the mood now,” she said grumpily and got off the bed in search of some clothes. “So, what have I missed, tell me all about it.”
“You’re not fair,” Klaus sighed as he flopped onto his stomach and watched her move around the bedroom. “You agreed to this.”
“I did, but joking about it isn’t something I’d like to hear, so spill.”
Sighing again, he told her everything that he and Elijah had learned over the last few days. “And thus, Elijah thought it’d be fun to throw a Thanksgiving dinner party to show them that we’re on to them. It’s possible a few threats will be tossed around; I sincerely hope to spill some blood…”
“I’ll make sure to stay out of your way.”
“Nonsense,” Klaus replied, noticing that she wasn’t making an effort when it came to getting dressed. Either she was torturing him, or she was changing her mind, playing a little mindfuck of her own. “I told Lucien that to keep you safe; we pretend that you’re an ordinary human who’s able to be compelled. He knows that you can’t, but he agreed. You’re simply too valuable – to him – to end up as cannon fodder. Aside from Elijah and myself, I trust that he will protect you when needed.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You’ll be joining us for dinner,” Klaus smiled at her. “As an unofficial referee and to have some good food, just as Myriam told me to do for you.”
“But…”
“Aurora was there when she made the threat; we don’t have a choice, love.”
“Of course, we do,” Bella said nervously as she looked at him. “I’ll just have the food in the kitchen. Far far away from five highly strung vampires who could snap at any minute and despite everything kill me. Granted, I’d just come back but I’m meeting a potential friend tomorrow, so I’d rather not be dead.”
He was surprised to hear that. “What happened to your deathwish?” Not that he didn’t like this change of heart. She deserved to be human for a bit longer, live without fear. Although that might take some more time… “And what potential friend?”
“Davina.”
“Are you mad!” Klaus said as he sped off the bed and almost pushed Bella against the wall. “She’s been nothing more than trouble for this family! The decisions she makes are borderline psychotic; she barely ever listens to advice, and she thinks she’s some sort of special snowflake because she used to be a Harvest witch!”
“Ask Elijah and he’d say the same things about you,” she countered and looked up to him. “Look, you’re busy with your prophecy, and I’m bored, so I took it upon myself to look for help. She’s useless in this department, so I decided we should be friends, or at least try to be. She appeared to be lonely, and I thought that was sad.”
“The only reason the witch is still alive is that I promised Camille not to hurt her. You can’t trust her!”
“And I won’t,” she smiled at him, gently patting his face with the palm of her hand. “I won’t tell her anything, besides, she stumbled upon the same magical roadblock as Freya so…” Bella shrugged. “But you know, it’s good for me to socialize. Make friends that aren’t vampires or other adult entertainers.”
“She won’t be your friend.”
“Well, then I won’t be hers either, but I wanted to do something, Klaus. And she hung around with Kol last year so maybe she knows more than she lets on. Are you catching my drift here?”
“She’s dangerous, love, I don’t want her to hurt you.”
“You expect me to attend to a summit that’ll be attended by five of the oldest vampires on Earth, and you’re afraid of a little witch hurting me?” She pressed her body against his and slinked her arms around his neck. “Cute,” she said as she tiptoed and kissed him sweetly.
Amused, he smiled at her. “Do you have any idea what I’d do to anyone who would dare to talk to me like you’ve been doing for the last two years?”
“Yup,” she smirked.
Letting out a breath, he pulled her closer. “I want to bend you over the desk in the study and punish you mercilessly,” he said huskily.
She looked into his eyes as she admired him. “One condition,” she said after a moment of thought. “Since you’ve been sexing a thousand-year-old vampire for the last few days, I’m going to need you to suit up.”
“Bella…”
“I know you’re both vampires and can’t get sick from disease, but that doesn’t mean you can’t carry it and spread it around. I’m still human, Klaus. I don’t want to get sick from her cooties.”
“You’re out of luck, I don’t have those,” he scowled as he ran a finger along her spine causing her to shiver.
“Doesn’t that mean that you’re out of luck, love?” She said playfully. She was dancing too close to the fire right now. There was nothing more that she wanted than to fly apart against him after the last few days, having to tolerate Aurora in his arms instead of her, and she knew that he wanted her badly. This could all blow up in her face. When she saw the disappointed look on his face, she smiled widely. “Lucky for you, your sister Freya likes to have casual sex now and then and she was willing to part with a suit for you.”
Slightly annoyed by her, Klaus’ upper lip curled up before he kissed her possessively, his hand on the back of her head, keeping it in place as his tongue invaded her mouth, ravishing her, drinking in her scent. After breaking off the kiss, he leveled his gaze. “Get it and then present yourself in the study.”
Bella just laughed at him as she cupped his groin and gave it a gentle squeeze. Oh, he was interested alright.
“Bella!”
“Nuh-uh,” she said as she took a step away from him and released him from her hold. “You’re in no position to make demands, Klaus Mikaelson. For one, you’re still fully dressed, and you know as well as I do that I don’t take orders from fully dressed men.”
“Are you taking the piss?” He watched her as she walked away from him, light on her feet as she ran a hand through her freshly cut hair and made a pirouette.
“No, but now you mention it, I could take A piss, seeing as you woke me and all…” she said thoughtful and headed to the bathroom. “I’ll be right back!”
He scratched his head as he thought of what to do; he knew that she was just playing and that she was definitely interested – he could smell her arousal, but this was annoying. Klaus would have thought that she’d be more open, more receptive after these days.
And he wasn’t sure why she was punishing him. She had agreed to him trying to play Aurora! When she seemed to take her time, he sighed and got rid of his clothes and searched the nightstand for the condom that she wanted him to use. Again, he understood why, but him sleeping with Myriam and with her had never been a big issue with her. It was likely because she knew that Myriam was clean. He wasn’t even sure Aurora was, but seeing she’d been in a monastery for so long…
“Looking for this?” Bella smiled widely as she held up the wretched object and casually leaned against the doorpost. Playing games were so much fun, but she knew that she had to give in to him eventually if she wanted everyone to live. Not that Klaus would deliberately try to hurt her, but he was a vampire, after all, and she had only just made the realization that she wanted to be human for a while longer – destiny or not.
Not because she liked being a human, but more that she could get away with shit like this because she was a human and Klaus wanted her. Getting her neck snapped for merely toying with him would be horrible.
She took him in with her eyes and licked her lips. “Don’t you look…” She wasn’t even able to complete her sentence because he rushed over to her and threw her on the bed, knocking the air out of her lungs as he snatched the condom from her. She started to laugh to steady her breathing, but it quickly dissolved into a moan as he plunged into her.
She was still a little wobbly on her feet after she and Klaus spent most of the day together, in bed or on the floor or against the wall, in the tub… Still high on sex, but smelling like roses, Bella now stood in front of the mirror wearing the dress that she knew that would guarantee Klaus to go batty. Again. It would also catch the eye of Lucien, and she wasn’t sure about Tristan, he sounded just as asexual and stuck up as Elijah.
She was wearing a gorgeous lace column cocktail dress with a jewel neckline and a little bit of sleeve. The illusion was that it was see-through and nude underneath, but in fact, there was fabric in the color of her skin that was attached to the dress to create it. It was one of her favorite dresses, still. She couldn’t remember if she’d ever worn it for Klaus. Probably not.
When she heard Klaus speak downstairs, she moved to the balustrade and leaned over it to see what was going on. She kept herself from laughing when she noticed how ‘dressing up’ for the vampires meant to wear ‘a different suit’ and in Klaus’ case, he’d put a velvet dinner jacket over his casual henley and jeans. Aurora was dressed in a velvet dress. A purple one at that. Since when was velvet back in fashion? It was gross. Those puffy shoulders were clearly out of the previous century!
Lucien looked like a horny teenager when Aurora greeted him. Of course. Why was Bella even surprised about this? What was it with men and falling for complete nutcases like Aurora? Was it her tits? Or was it merely for sentimental reasons, that it was easier, since they were all so ancient? Oh, but she could work with the look of horror that appeared on both Tristan and Lucien’s face when Klaus grabbed Aurora’s attention.
Then, of course, almost as if it was rehearsed, Elijah descended the stairs and rolled into his dramatic speech. “Welcome to our home! I do wish it was under better circumstances. We all face a common threat– a prophecy warning that my siblings and I would all fall within a year.” Cue the dramatic pause. Bella silently snickered. Elijah deserved an Oscar for his performance abilities. “I fear my sister already has.” There it was. She fought hard against the urge to whoop and applaud Elijah for his performance, she did.
There was some petty squabbling and a patronizing Elijah belittling Lucien, before Elijah invited the trinity to sit down at the table. Klaus was just about to speak up when Aurora’s annoying voice sounded. “Nik, aren’t you forgetting something?”
“What’s that, love?” He replied pleasantly as he walked towards her.
Aurora sighed dramatically. “You got into a fight with her madam about this. You should get her down for this lovely feast. After all, we do need to keep the whore happy, don’t we? Since you’re obviously refusing to allow her to return to the rotten place you found her in.”
Bella was surprised by that. Maybe Aurora said it to test him, or her, or maybe it was simply out of kindness. Shrugging, Bella headed towards the stairs and waited. She had to pretend to be compelled. Fucker. Fuck her. Fuck him. Fuck everyone.
“Well, as a matter of fact, I’ve asked her to join us this evening as a referee,” Klaus said as he pointed to the top of the stairs and motioned for Bella to head down. She looked ravishing. Absolutely gorgeous. Even Lucien did a double take. Klaus could hear him swallow, hard. Tristan was surprised, but even he was interested. “Isa, darling, please join us. You remember Lucien, don’t you?”
“I do,” she smiled brightly at him, caressing his cheek with her hand as she passed him to round the table to sit down next to Lucien. “Hello, Lucien. It’s so good to see you again.”
“You’ve been here all along?”
“I have,” she smiled at him. “Klaus is treating me well.”
Aurora scoffed. “Hardly. She’s been compelled to say that.”
“Compelled? Really?” Lucien cocked his head as he looked at Klaus before back at Isa. He knew that she couldn’t be compelled. What kind of game was his sire playing? Not going to ruin his game – as there must have been a reason for this charade, he leaned into her. “You still owe me a shag, beautiful. So repeat after me; ‘I want you to take me home, Lucien.’”
Bella’s smile faltered as she narrowed her eyes at him before reaching for her fork and stabbed him between his legs. “Oh, I’m so sorry, Lucien!” Bella said panicked. “That wasn’t me, I swear!”
“I told you, she’s compelled. There’s no original thought left in her body,” Aurora said bored. “Obviously, Nik wants to keep her all to himself and compelled her to use brutal force against anyone who’d make her want to change her mind.”
Lucien snarled as he pulled the fork out of his skin and wrapped his hand tightly around Bella’s throat. “I shall get rid of his toy, right now!”
“Put down the girl, Lucien,” Elijah commanded, but Lucien wasn’t listening.
Klaus was quick on his feet and broke Lucien’s arm, so he let go of Bella. “Isa’s human and she is not to be harmed. Have I made myself clear?” He spat at his first sireling. “I shall not hesitate to kill you should any one of you hurt a hair on her perfect little body.” Releasing Lucien, he checked Bella over. He had not expected him to do this. “Are you alright?”
She nodded quickly as she reached for a glass of water to drink from it. This had been a bad idea. “I don’t think I should be here, Klaus.”
“Ah! An original thought!” Aurora squealed. “Well done, little girl.”
“I promise I won’t tell Myriam.” She’d never been scared shitless in the presence of vampires. No, something really had changed within her. She wasn’t sure if it was because of her supernatural status or that she didn’t want to die just yet. But she wanted out. This had been a bad idea. What a waste of a pretty awesome dress. She’d wished she’d been able to show it some more.
“Isa, I am sorry,” Lucien started, which earned him a backhanded slap from Klaus, who kept his eyes on her.
“Go fill up a plate then, sweetheart, and go to your room,” he murmured. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay,” she smiled at him and softly kissed him before doing as she was told. She didn’t understand why she was feeling the way that she did. It wasn’t the same sort of feeling that she had around Freya or Davina, but it was a more intense feeling of dread and pain. Of betrayal. Was it coming off of Lucien? She had hoped he was one of the good guys, but feeling like this? She wasn’t so sure anymore. “I should be the one who’s sorry.”
Sighing, Klaus bit his hand and dripped some of his blood into an empty glass as Bella gathered some food on her plate. He handed her the glass as she stood to leave. “I’ll check in on you later.”
Elijah watched Bella leave and processed what he had just witnessed. She had met Lucien before and hadn’t really had the idea to leave him, even after his witch had stopped her from leaving. In fact, as the way that his brother had told the story, she turned it around and played Lucien for quite some money. Bella didn’t like Aurora, but that was because she was insane and as much as the girl denied it, she really didn’t want to share Niklaus anymore. However, she didn’t have the same reaction when Aurora was around.
Perhaps a little, but Elijah wasn’t worried about that. No, he was worried that Tristan, his sireling, and leader of The Strix, was the problem. The threat. That Bella’s internal alarm bells went off, and she wasn’t able to pinpoint where it was coming from, but Tristan was the only one she hadn’t encountered before. It made sense. He glanced over to his brother and came to the realization that he had the same idea.
Tristan was going to cause them one hell of a headache.
~o.O.o~
Some distance did her some good, but almost half an hour later, or an hour later, perhaps, she could hear fighting coming from everywhere in the compound. Talking, slapping, punching, growling. Bella had barricaded all entries to her bedroom, just in case. Not that it would help against a vampire, but it was the thought that counts.
After changing into something more comfortable, she found a note on her bed from Davina. I don’t know where you are, and I hope this comes to you and not someone else. Can you meet me at Gillespie’s Pub? It’s on St. Peter’s, the corner of Bourbon Street. I could use a friend right now. D.
Blinking, Bella grabbed her purse with her money and was glad she hadn’t changed into PJ’s but a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, and tossed the note into the fire. Using a piece of paper and a pen, she left a note for Klaus on her bed and snuck out. She didn’t want to bother the vampires in case something happened, or in case she was interrupting their plans or whatever.
Yeah, it was dark, and yeah, she knew she shouldn’t be out by herself, but Davina had actually reached out to her. It was a chance she had to take. She blinked when she passed Marcel on the street. He was walking by so fast that she didn’t think that he’d seen her, which was probably for the best, before she ducked into Gillespie’s. It was a karaoke bar. Perfect.
She found Davina at a corner of the bar, pushing around her food, looking miserable. “Hey,” Bella greeted her as she slid onto the stool next to Davina’s. “Is everything okay?”
“No,” Davina sighed eventually, putting her fork down. “I’m still trying to process it myself, I mean, where to go from here? I had to do what I had to; otherwise they wouldn’t respect me and it seems to work for everyone else, but why not me? It came round to bite me in the ass, and now I’m useless.”
She blinked as she tried to make sense of Davina’s words. “Slow down; you’re not making any sense, Davina,” she said as she rubbed the girl’s back. “Why are you so upset?”
She took a deep breath and ordered Bella a beer and a soda for herself. She waited for hers to arrive and took a swig. “Were you working? Is that how you could come here so quickly?”
Bella snorted as she pointed at her outfit. “Do I look like I was working?”
“No,” she blushed. “Sorry, it’s none of my business, I shouldn’t have asked…”
“And what if I was? You need me; you magically sent me this note. What kind of a person am I if I refuse to answer it?” Bella took a long swig of her beer and shook her head. “Way to change the direction of the conversation.”
“Yeah well… I’m afraid that if I say it out loud that it’ll be true.”
“If something happened to you, then it probably is true. You weren’t assaulted, were you?”
“No, no, nothing like that!” Davina gasped. “Oh, god no. I don’t know what I’d do if that happened.”
“As a woman, there are two ways to deal with that. One, if you feel threatened by a man, just stare at his junk every once in awhile. It’ll make him feel self-conscious and leave you alone. Two; if it does happen, just break his dick. Uhm. Manhood.” Bella took another swig. “Besides, you’ve got magic; you don’t need strength.”
“True,” she snorted. “But I’m not as powerful as I used to be. They shunned me. I’m no longer a regent, and I don’t belong to any coven anymore. I feel so powerless. And I was well in my rights, you know. Other people kill to make a statement and get away with it, like Klaus Mikaelson, and when I ask a wolf to take care of something, it blows up in my face. Granted, the bitch lost control and killed a lot of witches instead of just the one but…”
“I’m sorry, Davina,” Bella said as she rubbed her back. “Why did they shun you, though? You must have had a good reason to want to get rid of someone?”
“You’re not even shocked that I’m a murderer?”
“You’re not. Perhaps by proxy… I dunno. I’ve seen worse shit.”
“And the reason was that she threatened me. And my position as regent. I know that I’m like the youngest regent ever, but she humiliated me in front of everyone,” she sighed and took a sip of her soda. “And now I’ve lost everything.”
“Did you?”
“Yes!” Davina whined. “And it’s not like I could use my position for anything that I wanted, either. I mean, when I became regent, the ancestors granted me all their power for one spell. And I choose the spell to bring back my boyfriend, but, the Mikaelsons hijacked the spell by swapping out his ashes with that of his mother. So all that magic, gone. Because they ended up killing her too. I stopped doing favors for vampires, like creating rings for them, and I fought every coven to remain where I was. It was all I had, Bella. Magic. The power.”
She now understood why Klaus wanted to get rid of Davina; she was an obvious threat, but now with her power stripped away from her, maybe he could ease up a little on her. “You’re still alive; that must count for something. You’re obviously still able to do magic even without the help of your ancestors. You’re more than just a witch, Davina. You’re a person first, and you’re still here.”
“Yeah, you’re right,” Davina smiled at her and nodded. “Thanks, I needed that. Want to do some karaoke?”
“Sure, why not? I’ll even switch to drinking soda as to be your equal. Sucks that you’re not 21 yet,” Bella pouted. “Unless we go somewhere else, like privately and have fun.”
“No. Karaoke.”
“Karaoke it is,” Bella laughed.
Coming home hours after the ending of the dinner party, she found the courtyard yet again, in ruins. Sighing, she shook her head and headed up the stairs where she was greeted by Elijah. “Good morning,” she muttered, wished she had a good reason to be in this late.
“Good Morning, how are you feeling?” He asked pleasantly as he followed her. “Better?”
“Tired,” she replied. “I’m going to bed.”
He gently put his hand on her arm and made her turn to look at him. “Niklaus is out, searching for Camille. It seems that someone has taken her out of Lucien’s custody, and we’re worried that something has happened to her,” Elijah said gently. “I do not expect him back until he has found her.”
“Okay,” Bella said with a yawn. “Wait, Lucien had Cami?”
“It’s a long story that really doesn’t matter right now,” he smiled politely. “I just need to inform you about a couple of things, in Niklaus’ absence. We’re holding Tristan, and we’re going to try to get the information we need about our sister’s whereabouts from him. It might get loud.”
“Alright.”
“Also; since we’re holding Tristan, it’s entirely possible that his minions, the Strix, will make an attempt to get him released. It’s likely it’ll be done by force. Know that you’re protected inside the walls of this building. You are invisible to anyone who’s not a Mikaelson for the next 24 hours. Should you feel that you’re not safe in your room, please hide out in the dungeons.” He then smiled at her. “But please, please refrain from running away.”
“Okay,” she smiled at him. “I trust you. Thank you, Elijah.”
“Do try to get some rest; it’s going to be a long day.”
She stopped him from walking away by placing her hand on his arm. “Elijah, are you okay?”
“Of course,” he smiled reassuringly, but without the actual feeling behind it. “Niklaus believes that we have the prophecy under control, but I’m not so sure about that. On top of that, Camille has been taken and…” Elijah let out a deep breath. “It’s nothing you should worry yourself with. What matters is that you’re safe and will be safe. May I ask… where were you this evening?”
“Davina needed me. We talked and then had a karaoke session, so it was awesome,” she said with a yawn. “Whatever you have planned, or whatever you expect to happen, please be careful.”
“Of course. Have a good night, Bella.”
“Good night, Elijah.”
~o.O.o~
Bella woke up to screaming, yelling and the smashing of things and fought her own fear of getting hurt. Elijah had told her, nobody but the Mikaelsons could see her, but even then, it was hard to wake up with. Quickly changing into her clothes, she quietly ventured out to see what was going on, only to be nearly grazed by seemingly a member of the Strix. It had been a close call. Had she honestly slept all day then? Had she been that exhausted or was that part of another spell of Freya’s, just to keep her out of harm’s way and not bored?
She did as she was told then, going to the dungeons and wait it all out. She wished she could do something, but if they thought the threat had been severe enough to make her invisible, then she should stay out of it. It wasn’t until Klaus came to find her that she knew that she was safe.
“You’re back!” She said as she flew into his arms and held him tightly. “Are you okay? Is Cami okay? What happened?”
He breathed in her scent and relaxed; he had been on edge all day because of what happened with Aurora and Camille, and then learning that the Strix had invaded his home. All he wanted now was to sleep. He had left Camille to sleep on the sofa in the courtyard, well protected, and even offered her a room of her own, but she refused.
Camille was going to linger for a few days until she’d get back on her feet, until she was certain that no vampire would come after her again. She’d gone through quite the ordeal, and strangely enough, it made him wonder how Bella would have reacted if she’d been in the same situation as his therapist had been in.
“We’re going to be able to spend the next couple of days in relative peace as we’re going to prepare for the Christmas celebrations,” he said instead and kissed the top of her head. “Right now, however, I want us to get into our bed and take a breather.”
“What about Aurora?”
“That part is over and done with, love, no more pretending, no more praising her. From now on, we’re treating her as the person she is; a psychotic lunatic.”
“So it’s just us?” She looked up at him, a glimmer of hope in her eyes. “Really? Can we finally continue being us?”
“For now, yes,” he smiled at her before lifting her in his arms and took her upstairs. “I will tell you everything in the morning.”
“Last question…” she said as she looked at him as he carried her to their room. “Are Elijah and Freya alright? There was so much commotion and…”
“Of course they are. There’s nothing that a little bit of blood can’t fix. Now, please, love, can we change the subject?”
A mischievous look appeared on Bella’s face. “Or we could not talk at all.”
