Chapter 13
Davina’s friend Josh looked at the two girls in disbelief. “I can’t believe you two are going to do this.”
“Relax, Josh,” Davina smiled at him. “Nothing can go wrong. It’s really just a simple suspension spell. The poison stops our heart, and the spell keeps us from dying for good.”
Bella wasn’t entirely sure about this, but if she died for real, she’d turn anyway. She didn’t fear death, and this was the only way to get the cipher to Kol’s code from the man himself. She had Davina take the lead on this one. She smiled a little. If Klaus would find out that she was playing with her life like this, he’d kill her himself. And Davina. And likely Josh as well.
“Cool. Yeah, now I’m totally on board. Uh, just except for the part about the poison, your heart, and whatever you said at the end there about dying,” Josh remarked sarcastically as he eyed his friend. When Davina explained more, he still wasn’t convinced, but when the two girls were wobbly on their feet, he knew that they had already taken the poison. Bitches.
“You’re our link to the living, Josh. Whatever you do, don’t let go,” Davina said as she took Bella’s hand and sliced her hand open before cutting her own arm. “Your hand goes there, Bella,” she said weakly before slicing her own hand and Josh’. “And you, Josh, hold on tightly. Don’t let go. Whatever happens, don’t let go, or we’ll be stuck there forever.”
“For the record, if you looked up “uncool” in the dictionary, there would just be a tiny drawing of what’s happening right now.”
Bella wasn’t sure what had happened, but she suddenly found herself standing next to her body, seeing Davina and Josh as well. “Trippy,” she muttered as she looked over to Davina, who seemed to know exactly what she was doing. Bella followed her out of the room, still a bit unsure of all of this because technically, Bella was sharing her blood with Davina in the living world, something she had promised Klaus not to do because her blood was special. However, she couldn’t help but to be curious about this dark version of New Orleans; there was no sun.
Weren’t the Ancestors supposed to be something similar to light?
“This place is creeping me out,” Bella hissed to Davina as they were walking on Bourbon Street. The eerily quiet Bourbon Street, deserted. It was an exact copy of it, a mirror image, but so dark. Not even night like dark. Just… off.
“Shh,” Davina shushed her as she anxiously looked around to see if they were being followed. She wasn’t supposed to be here; the Ancestral Witches were going to be pissed if they found her here. When they walked passed an alley, she was pulled in, roughly. “Stop it! Let go of me!” She squeaked as she struggled against the person’s hold.
“Easy now, easy now! Don’t take off my head,” the man replied soothingly as his hands remained on her.
Bella joined them in the alley and was ready to punch the man’s kidneys when Davina spoke. “Kol?” This was Kol Mikaelson? Bella was impressed. Well, she should have known that the younger Mikaelson sibling was as gorgeous as the rest of his family, but wow. If things wouldn’t turn out with Klaus after all, maybe she could have another Mikaelson to play with? No, that was insane. Improper.
She was a one guy girl. She wasn’t going to do anything to hurt her relationship with Klaus but damn. If this truly was Kol Mikaelson, she might be in trouble.
“Come on; you don’t recognize this roguish grin? I guess my true face is just too handsome.”
Davina scrunched up her nose. “You certainly sound like Kol Mikaelson.”
“Oh, Davina Claire…” Kol pulled the girl into his arms for a big hug; there was this huge smile on his face that Bella found endearing, but she knew that he was dangerous. Dead or not, he was still an Original who liked to cause trouble. She loved trouble. No, she was in trouble if she allowed her hormones to continue to rage on in her body. “Oh, you are a sight for bleary and battered eyes! You’re also stark raving mad. Do you have any idea what would happen if the Ancestors found you here?”
Bella startled when the electricity around them started to buzz and flicker and turned to watch what was going on, only to have to run after Kol and Davina as they went looking for a safer place to talk. Yes, introductions would come later, and she’d try not to drool. She remained at a distance so the two lovebirds could catch up – yes, it was evident that Kol was madly in love with the witch, but she could also see that she was also a means to his end.
There were light bruises on Kol’s face, even Bella could see them from where she was, but it took Davina quite some time to see them. Poor girl, she was so smitten that she didn’t particularly care for how her boyfriend looked.
“Kol, what’s happening to you here?” Davina lightly touched his face, careful not to hurt him.
There was a sigh, and the typical Mikaelson look when someone was just about to give an evasive answer. “It’s nothing. Really.” It was then when Kol decided to change the subject and notice Bella. “Who’s this?”
“Hi, I’m Bella,” Bella said with a slight wave of her hand. “I’m with her.”
“Obviously,” he said before looking back at Davina. ”You shouldn’t have come here, Davina. There’s a darkness to this place. To bring someone else with you? That’s insane.”
Davina sighed and frowned as she listened to him. “Kol, I had to find you. I think I figured out a way to bring you back!” She pulled the piece of parchment from her back pocket and handed it to him for him to start reading.
Bella leaned against the counter, observing Kol’s face as he paced and read. She was wondering if Davina was as observant as she was because he didn’t look too pleased with the spell. It was probably legit.
“Hate to break it to you, love… It’s a fake. Looks like someone’s trying to put one over on you,” he said as he placed the parchment on the bar and poured himself a drink, nervously eyeing Bella. “Why are you here?”
“Not now, you have your witch to deal with,” Bella replied and shook her head as she watched Davina narrow her eyes on her boyfriend. “She knows you’re lying.”
He looked at Davina, the bottle of bourbon still in his hand. Yeah, she knew he was lying. For good reason.
“I don’t get it, isn’t this what you want? To live again?”
Kol threw back the glass of bourbon in one go and gathered his thoughts before speaking again. “More than anything, Davina Claire. But do you have any idea how dangerous that spell is? I haven’t seen anything even remotely like it since…” There was the familiar look of panic on Kol’s face. “The Strix Coven. This is their work, isn’t it? Please tell me you haven’t done something foolish.”
Bella knew about the Strix. Of them. They were Elijah’s posse, and they had a coven of witches to themselves. Of course they had. Power was everything, wasn’t it? Why were immortals so good at screwing things up? This was yet another reason why she wished to remain human for a little longer; just to experience the reasonable unknown.
“They can give me power, Kol. Real power! I can bring you back!”
Bella hadn’t known that Davina had let herself get into it with the Strix, but what could Bella have done? To Davina, she was an adult entertainer, working at the Mikaelson’s, she couldn’t possibly have exposed herself as more.
Kol looked desperate and genuinely worried about the little witch. “Find another way, love. Not with them. Nothing is worth what they’ll make you do.”
And just like that, lights started to flicker, the jukebox was quiet, electricity crackling and while Kol had pulled Davina to safety, Bella had been too much inside of her head to hide with them when the Ancestors came into the pub. She was standing so close to them, and yet; they didn’t seem to notice her. To see her.
Curiosity got the better of her, and she waved her hand in front of the closest face, and it didn’t even blink. She peeked over the counter with a big grin on her face and did a thumbs up before heading out the door and ran to another street where she started to make as much noise as possible. This was awesome; the ancestors couldn’t see her.
After she had gotten the attention of the Ancestors, she ran back to Rousseau’s. “Did you see that?” she said excitedly. “They didn’t see me!”
“Curious,” Kol said as he walked towards her and observed her. “Now, what are you? Who are you?”
“I get paid to have sex with your brother.”
“Nah, there’s more to that, come on, Darling, you can fill me in while I walk you back to St. Anne’s,” he said, Davina momentarily forgotten by something that the Ancestors couldn’t see Bella, and yet, he could. “So, tell me why you’re here.”
“I just need to know what you use as a cipher for your special little language. I’m doing research to my lineage, and you made notes in that book. I want to read them,” Bella replied casually as she followed along.
“More.”
“That’s it.”
“No, there’s more,” Kol said, impatience evident in his voice. Gone was the nice Kol, the one who Davina loved, back was Kol Mikaelson, Klaus’ brother. “You’re going to tell me.”
“Or what? You’ll bore me to death?” Bella rolled her eyes at him. “No, all I want is the cipher.”
“Is it because of Davina? You don’t want her to know?”
“She knows enough,” Bella said after a while, stuffing her hands in her pockets. “But if I share more with her, Klaus will have my head. So. Cipher.”
Kol let out a frustrated sigh. “I’ll have to know which book, Darling, I used several.”
“The one about the Travelers.”
“They’re long dead, Darling. They’ve done their last massive sacrifice to raise the first immortal, and that was the end of the lines. The Gemini coven? Well, last thing I heard they were all gone too. So whatever your business is with the Travelers, just keep your nose out of it and don’t worry your pretty little head,” Kol replied as he pat Bella on the head as if she was a good little dog.
She looked at him with a shrug and raised her hand to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. Her sleeve slightly dropped, revealing the scar left by James on her wrist.
Kol blinked when he noticed the scar, grabbing her wrist and looked at it, before looking at Bella and looking back at the wrist. “So you survived a Cold One, whooptiedoo.”
“Use your brain, idiot,” Bella rolled her eyes at him. “Klaus had a friend of his do family tree, and I found out that one of my ancient cousins is from Bulgaria and was a Traveler.”
Swallowing hard, something inside Kol’s brain clicked. “Thank God we’re at the church,” he said under his breath before looking at Davina. “Love, return to the land of the living. I just need a few more minutes with your friend.”
“But, you need to come back with me!”
“It’s not my time yet, love. Once you’re gone, the both of you, I shall wait for my resurrection but please, Davina, don’t use the spell by the Strix.”
Davina huffed. “You don’t have a choice in the matter,” she walked back to him to kiss him goodbye. “And just so you know, I take offense that you’re choosing Bella over me right now.”
“I understand, and I’ll make it up to you. I promise, now go, before they find you.”
“Five minutes. Then I’ll use brute force to bring Bella back.”
“Five minutes,” Kol replied with a nod and watched as Davina disappeared inside the church. “Nik always has a nose for the particular ones,” he remarked as he sat down on the steps and as he was still holding onto Bella’s arm, yanked her down with him. “You’re his whore, then?”
“Not quite,” she replied with a small smile.
“I’ve seen him go to that club where you work.”
“Yes, but we only have five minutes so unless you want to waste that by going over your brother’s relationship with me, you better start asking the right questions so you can give me the cypher for that book,” Bella said curtly as she pulled her arm back and pushed her sleeve back down.
“You’re obviously not a doppelganger.”
“Obviously. Thank God,” she huffed and rolled her eyes. “I’ve been told about them, doesn’t sound too grand.”
“So… you must be from one of the other two Petrova lines. From the brothers.”
“Yep,” she said with a nod. “Want me to tell you?” She was so afraid that she wouldn’t be given enough time to get the information that she needed.
“You’ve been around Cold Ones.”
“You’re just stating the obvious,” she said as she motioned to her wrist. “It’s a long and complicated story, but yes, I survived the Cold Ones. For now.”
Kol thought for a moment, thinking about the book, knowing what he wrote on the back of it. “But why do you need the information in that book? Unless… you’re from the Cold One magnet line of the Petrova line.”
“Bingo.”
“Bloody hell, you’re a singer?”
Bella nodded slowly. “We think that I might be like Carmen, I need to know what’s in your notes. That’s why I’m here, because of your knowledge about them.”
“Does Klaus know that you’re here?”
“Please,” she huffed. “He would have found a way to stop me and it wouldn’t be pretty because I can’t be compelled.”
“Right,” Kol said as he ran a hand through his hair. “Well, what’s in that book won’t help you much. The Cold Ones, especially the Volturi, tend to keep their secrets just that. All the little snippets that I’ve learned through my travels are all safely in here,” he said as he knocked on his forehead.
“What’s in the book, Kol?”
“Something about a prophecy.”
“Yes. I need that.”
“Why?”
“Because I have it from a quite reliable source that there’s a prophecy about me. Hell, we might even think that a part of your family’s current prophecy is about me.”
“Fuck.”
“So. How do I decrypt your words?”
“Have you considered asking a witch to cast a decryption spell on it?”
Bella sighed and shook her head. “I neither trust Freya or Davina to do a proper job. Something’s off about Freya and well… Davina… she’s just… inexperienced.”
Kol let out a breath. “First, alternate with one letter up, two letters down, three up, four down. Then grab the original story about The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Anderson. First publication. Elijah has a copy of it in his study. Replace everything of that cipher with every fifth character in the book. If it’s a period, it’s a period. Good luck.”
Bella smiled at him and pecked his cheek. “I do hope you’ll allow Davina to resurrect you. I think it’ll be interesting.”
Kol grinned. “If you’re going to kill some Cold Ones, I definitely want to be there. Those sparkly bitches have ruined enough. But I shall tell you of my exploits when I return, storytime!”
She let out a snort. She liked this sibling a lot more than Elijah. “Deal.” Before she knew it, she was coming to on the floor of the loft Davina had taken her to, and the girl didn’t look all too pleased for Bella’s alone time with her boyfriend. “Sorry,” she said with a slight grin, feeling as if she got knocked over the head with a sledgehammer – she wouldn’t put it past Davina to have actually done that.
“Did you get what you wanted?”
“Yes.”
“Good, so did I,” Davina said as she straightened herself up and pointed out the door. “I think it’s best if we don’t meet again, Bella Swan,” she spoke as Josh made some noise of objection. “There’s clearly things that you do not wish to tell me and I can’t have that. It’s either full disclosure when being my friend or not.”
“Davina…”
“No, I’m serious, Bella. You used me! I should hurt you, but I’m not going to, because you apparently needed Kol’s help with something, but as far as you and I go? We’re done.”
“I think you should go,” Josh said as he ushered Bella out of the loft and closed the door. He turned around to face Davina and glared at her. “Seriously?”
“She used me! Now, out of my way, I need to—”
“No,” he said as he pushed his friend down on the bed and handed her a bottle of water. “Tell me what it was like. Tell me everything. Drink that bottle and then maybe, maybe then I’ll allow you to go.”
~o.O.o~
Bella went to the Big Burger to get something to eat. A lot of time had passed since she went to Davina and returned from the Ancestral Plane and she needed to get things straightened out in her head – despite her self-imposed seclusion that she had insisted upon herself the day before.
It wasn’t safe out in the open; there was something in the air that made her feel uncomfortable, and it wasn’t until she spotted Alina in the distance, keeping an eye on her, that she allowed herself to relax some. Even Myriam was thinking about her. Still.
She needed to eat. She was famished, and while she could have returned home immediately after having done what she had, she needed to take this time for herself. She was relying far too much on Klaus. Bella was independent. She was reverting again. Allowing herself to be put on the sidelines, much as she had allowed Edward to do.
Granted, the biggest reason was because of everything that was going on and, like Klaus; she wanted to stay safe, but if she’d truly wanted to remain safe, wouldn’t she just have gone back to Débauche? She wasn’t ready for the big bad world. Not yet.
What sane, self-respecting woman would allow her sort of boyfriend sleep with another woman to try to find out what she was up to?
None. It was cheating with consent. Even though… it wasn’t. Or was it?
She sat back and chewed on the last bit of her burger. She was so fucked up. She knew Klaus wasn’t Edward, but there were similarities, weren’t there? He was manipulative, yet he didn’t quite manipulate her. Klaus gave her choices but with the slight hope that she’d pick the choice that benefited him. Klaus had his bouts of ignoring her completely, but she didn’t mind that much, it wasn’t as if the world revolved around her.
Klaus respected her, made sure that she didn’t want for anything, but maybe this wasn’t the right time to have a relationship with each other. He had this whole family prophecy thing going on and her world got turned upside down when suspicions arose about her being Bella the Cold One Slayer.
And how was that going to work, exactly?
There were just too many unknowns at the moment and maybe she’d be better off at Débauche. Her own apartment. Doing whatever she wanted, dance for an audience again instead of just by herself – even though she was the worst mover ever – have sex with other guys and get paid for it, feel like she mattered again when helping Myriam out with the administration.
Ignoring her problems yet again.
She nearly spilled her drink when Peter sat down in the chair across from her. “Bella, you need to go to the Compound, now. I’ll explain later, but you need to go now.”
He sounded urgent enough to spook her, gather her things and to start running. What the hell?
She found the home empty. Nearly empty, that was. Hayley was quietly sitting on one of the couches in the courtyard, watching Hope who was on a blanket, playing quietly. It was almost as if she was mourning someone.
Bella didn’t have much time to register the rest, as, out of nowhere, Myriam appeared and pulled her into a bear hug. Tight. “Can’t. Breathe,” Bella reminded her friend as she hugged her back. Myriam immediately released her and checked her over to see if she was alright. “I’m okay, what’s going on? Peter said I should return immediately and—”
Myriam blinked at that, not having thought of anything other than what they had been dealing with all day. She’d been sick with worry. Not because of the shit that was happening with Klaus and everything, but the knowledge that Bella had gone to a friend and wasn’t reachable because she didn’t have a cellphone… let’s just say that she had been extremely thirsty and ready to sink her teeth into Freya for being… off.
Myriam never meant to stay at the compound; that wasn’t the rule, but she felt as if she had to be there. Klaus and Elijah were getting their revenge and play their little mind games, and basically left the grieving female hybrid by herself. Spending the entire day surrounded by misery, she wondered why Bella hadn’t snapped yet. But maybe that was the reason why Bella didn’t tell anyone where she’d been, to get a little peace and quiet.
Was she going to worry about Peter? In her belief, the Cold Ones were a threat to the girl who had sought refuge with her; it was more important than whatever was going on in the life of the Mikaelsons. “Peter?”
“He appeared at Big Burger, telling me to get here and he sounded quite insistent. Where is everyone?”
“Elijah is doing some Strix business and Klaus is trying to collect Camille’s dark objects before they fall into the wrong hands. Hayley… the Strix got to her and Jackson, and he didn’t make it,” she said quietly as she guided Bella up the stairs towards her room. “Aurora killed Camille last night, and I took care of Aurora, so you won’t have to worry about her any longer, but tell me, was there anything else Peter said?”
Bella shook her head, realizing where Myriam wanted to take her. “Hold on,” she said as they passed Elijah’s library and thanks to his excellent filing system, she found the book she was looking for quite quickly. “I haven’t been in any danger today, well… had I died, I would have turned, but it was quite eventful.”
“What have you been doing?” Myriam wasn’t sure why the girl grabbed The Little Mermaid of all the books out of Elijah’s prized collection and continued to go to her room. “Does Klaus know what you’ve been doing?”
“Looking into myself, because I’m kinda fed up with being a sitting duck. Not being able to turn because we don’t have all the information and… well, he knows. He also knows that the information we need is in the back of this book about Travelers and that until today, only one person knew how to decipher it.”
“Who?”
Bella smirked as she tossed the book onto the bed and walked around the room to gather a pen, paper and the book in question. “Klaus’ dead brother Kol.”
“You went to have a seance?”
“Something like that. Davina wanted Kol to check her spell that could return him to the land of the living, and I took the chance to ask questions. We went to the Ancestral Plane.”
“That’s insane! Have you lost your mind?” Myriam raised her voice, anger and worry evident. “Bella, how do you know you can trust a word he says? It’s Kol Mikaelson we’re talking about. The trickster.”
“I knew that when I went in, I mean, I’ve heard the stories. I knew he’d help me if I had something that would intrigue him. And my situation is interesting to him. Trust me; he’s given me the right way to decipher is code.” She sat down on the bed and opened the books before she started to write on her pad. “Cami’s dead?” she asked quietly as it finally set in. “How did Klaus take it?”
Myriam sucked in a breath and shook her head. “I don’t know if I’m honest. He wanted to bring her back, but that wasn’t the essence of Camille, was it? Knowing him, he went to her apartment to gather all the important things before he notifies the authorities.”
“Nobody knows she’s dead yet?” Bella was shocked at that. Camille was loved by a lot of people in the community, sure they all had a right to know. Were they going to cover up the fact that she had died? Have her body get found days after it happened? Probably yes, if Aurora killed her… maybe that was best. Wouldn’t want to alert the mortals of a vampire presence in New Orleans.
“Let them handle it.”
She huffed as she continued with the code. “Agreeing to live here and try to start something with Klaus has been a terrible mistake, hasn’t it?”
She didn’t know how to respond to that. Myriam had been hesitant to let her go; it was that Klaus hadn’t left room for objection. But despite all the good that he had done for Bella, she could tell that Bella was suffering in silence. It was one thing to be locked in a building for years where she had all the freedom and non-conflict that she could wish for and a whole other beast in its entirety to live with the Mikaelsons.
After a while, Myriam spoke. “I can’t answer that question for you, Bella. But I can tell you that all relationships will go through a time of doubt. You’ll have to talk to Klaus about this.”
Bella shrugged. “When I talk to him about this kind of thing, he says he understands, but does he, really? I mean, whenever we’re together it’s nice, and we can talk… but nothing’s changed since moving here with him. He doesn’t treat me any differently.”
Myriam could tell that Bella was getting agitated about it. “How would you describe a relationship?”
Frustrated, Bella put the pen down and looked at Myriam. “Human. With human problems. With no one picking a fight or get in danger or—” she sighed as she ran a hand through her hair. “I don’t know. I love him, or at least I think I do, but with everything that’s going on… should I stick around to see what’s going to happen or am I going to bail?” She looked at Myriam, whose face she couldn’t read and continued. “Or maybe I don’t have enough confidence in myself, in Klaus, in our thing what we’re having to actually see it through. That maybe, maybe, our paths crossed so we can both fulfill our destiny and then go our separate ways once that happened.”
“You should talk to Klaus about this,” Myriam repeated. She knew that the Mikaelsons weren’t easy to live with, she heard the stories, and if you weren’t careful, you’d end up as collateral damage. However, she knew how Klaus felt about her friend and that she had nothing to worry about. But, if she were unhappy, things needed to change.
“I guess,” she murmured as she picked up her pen again and continued with the cipher. “Maybe I should let go of my humanity to stop appearing like a whiny little bitch,” she eventually said with a small smile on her face as she continued to work.
“Bella…”
“No, I’m serious. I mean, you’re a vampire. Can’t you just shut off that part of you that makes you question everything when there’s no reason to do so?”
“It’s either we switch off completely or not.”
“Then I opt for the not feeling anything kind of thing,” she muttered. “I’m tired of feeling like this.”
“It’ll only get worse,” Myriam smiled at her, yet again worried. Yes, her mood would only get worse when turned. It could be disastrous or work out perfectly. There was no way to tell, really. Not until she would turn. Even if she’d turned, she would be something new entirely – a hybrid. Or was it a tribrid like Hope? Bella had Traveler blood inside of her, her mental shield created by magic and she was a singer. On top of that, it was likely that she still had a little bit of Cold One venom inside of her, seeing as her scar hadn’t shrunk in the two years, almost three, that Myriam knew her. Turning her would make her quite powerful, but how much? It was still an unknown. “The only piece of advice I can give you is one you already know yourself; Klaus likes his women strong and vulnerable at the same time. Don’t doubt yourself or your actions.”
“I know, I know,” Bella sighed, not looking up from her task at hand. “And I’m sorry for my temporary loss of insanity; things are merely confusing right now because it feels as if we lead two separate lives.”
“I understand, cherie,” Myriam replied with a smile and got up to pour herself a bourbon. She was wondering when Peter would grace them with his presence, probably only after Bella translated the pages, which was fine. She didn’t want to leave Bella by herself right now with everything that was going on. A part of her was afraid that both Klaus and Elijah wouldn’t come home that night. She hoped that her instincts were wrong – they still needed to organize a wake for Camille. On top of that, she was afraid that once Bella had her information, that she’d run. Again, another feeling and two years of experience. “How about you rest some? I’m sure that Peter will wake you when he’s here.”
“I can’t sleep now, Myriam, I’m so close in finding the last piece of the puzzle that’s me.”
“And it’ll still be there when you wake up.”
“I’ll go to bed when Klaus gets back,” Bella muttered and continued her work. Whatever Kol had been writing, it was a lot of information, or maybe it was something wrapped in a whole lot of nothing.
It was maybe half an hour later when Freya walked into the room with Hope’s toy. The toy knight on a horse that Klaus had made for Rebekah a thousand years ago and it was Hope’s favorite. “Had I known you were home I would have given you this sooner, but Klaus asked me to give this to you so you could keep it safe,” she said a little bit abruptly. “I have no idea why, but you shouldn’t lose sight of it. Granted, I’ve protected it from magic until he informs me why this toy is so important, but he told me to give it to you.”
“Are you okay, Freya?” Bella eyed her carefully. The witch looked a little frayed around the edges, almost as if she’d been casting spells all night. “Get some rest.”
“No, no, I can’t. Klaus went missing and—”
“Freya!” Myriam was quick to put a hand over Freya’s mouth. “We’ve discussed this.”
“What?” Bella blinked as she dropped her pen. “Klaus is missing? And you knew?!”
Myriam sighed as she let go of Freya and rejoined Bella on the bed, gently rubbing her back. “He’s not missing. He’s simply not picking up his phone. That could mean anything. Freya’s been doing everything that she can to locate him.”
“And what if she can’t?”
“Relax,” Freya assured her. “He’s still alive; I know that much.”
“Why didn’t you tell me that he was missing?” Bella turned to Myriam, worry, and anger in her voice. “Something could have happened to him. Maybe Tristan got him, or those Strix witches or someone simply decided to sideline him because he’s a giant pain in their ass?”
“And that’s why I can’t rest. Trust me, Bella, I will find him. You just do your part and keep the little toy safe,” Freya said as she left the room in a hurry. If she hadn’t left, Bella would have thrown the book at her for sure.
How was she supposed to continue with decrypting Kol’s work now? Klaus was missing. “I should go out there and find him.”
“No, you’re staying right here. Peter sent you home, remember?”
“And what if he’s the reason Klaus is missing?” She felt a panic attack coming up. She needed to move, to stay calm. To focus. Klaus had gotten in worse trouble before. Mikael was the first thought that came to her. Mikael had been the worst. Klaus had told her that. No matter the torture or the stabbing others did, Mikael had always been the worst. He was going to be alright. He was the damn original hybrid. He couldn’t be killed.
All of her doubt from earlier, her self-pity, thrown out the window. Klaus was hers, no matter how weird their relationship was, or how inclusive, he was hers. She was his. The best thing she could do is to allow the Mikaelsons do what they did best and take care of their own, and she needed to get a handle on her own path. She still had Klaus’ blood inside of her. If necessary, she could turn and become the powerful creature that everyone thought she’d become. “Fine,” she eventually said as she headed towards the kitchen to get herself a sandwich.
She walked back into her room carrying a lot of sweet treats and walked into Myriam talking to Peter. Bella had told her about Peter, but this was the first time they had met in person, and it seemed to be going well. “There’s a grieving hybrid downstairs and a witch on the other side of this house who’s on edge as well, and here you are, strolling in as if you own the place.”
“Someone’s feeling better,” Peter remarked as he eyed her. “You had me worried for a little there.”
“What do you want?”
“Several things, actually,” Peter said as he sat down in a chair and pulled his feet underneath him. “First, I want ya to finish the thing you were working on. Second… Uhm… I assisted one of your girls, Myriam, when they were keeping an eye on Bella. I am so sorry, but I could not stop Alina in time to fall off that roof… She broke her neck and died; I had to think quick, and she’s hidden inside a dumpster in a darkened alley.”
“Alina?” Bella’s voice hitched. She had always liked Alina. “She’s dead?” Why was everyone dying around her all of a sudden?
“Not quite,” Myriam said soothingly. “Like yourself, she has a little extra to get her heart pumping again. The only thing you should worry about is that she’ll be smelling like garbage when she wakes up.”
“So… not dead?”
“No, Cherie, she’ll only want to drink your blood when she comes back.”
“Ew, my friend will smell like a garbage can when she wants to take a bite out of me,” Bella eventually quipped after the cogs in her head stopped spinning. She should mourn the loss of Alina, but with her coming back, she didn’t have to. She hated that part of the supernatural community so much. So much. But at least she wouldn’t lose her friend. But both Jackson and Camille were dead dead. And that sucked.
“Thirdly, it appears that there’s a powerful vampire in town who has Cullen friends,” Peter stated carefully, watching Bella take in the news. “He must have told them that the Volturi ban on New Orleans doesn’t matter to them as he’s the threat and he needs their help. That’s uh, how Alina ended up on the roof, she tried to take on Emmett, and he tossed her aside to get to you, which is why I told you to run.”
She nearly dropped the pastry she was munching on in surprise. “No, no, no, they can’t be here. No way. The Volturi… you said so, Peter. They forbade… no.” She wasn’t ready for them. Yes, she wanted to get rid of them, but she was nowhere near ready. “How? Who?” Powerful vampire? Surely Elijah would have told Klaus about being friends with the Cullens. Was it Klaus?
Bella felt the color drain from her face. There’s no way that Klaus… would he? It would explain why he wasn’t there, that he was missing. Probably to save face. That he couldn’t face her for knowing the Cold Ones personally. But Klaus wasn’t the threat. It was one of the Trinity and with Aurora gone… Lucien or Tristan. Oh, Lucien was good, very good, to fool her senses. “Do they… do they know I’m here?”
“That’s highly likely, but you do not need to worry,” Peter assured her. “They’ll focus on the Mikaelsons first, seeing as that’s the main reason for Tristan and Lucien to call them, I don’t think those two know about your trouble with them.”
“Not to worry?” Bella huffed, getting off the bed again and started to pace. “I’ve been running from them for seven years, Peter. I should never have left Débauche. I…” Everything was coming all at once now. The pressure. The fear. The worry. Where was Klaus? The disappointment in herself that she needed Klaus. The feeling of being disgusted with herself that she wanted to hide in Débauche. The fact that the ones who’ve been hiding her for two years were now in danger and it was her fault – which was ridiculous even to think this way. If anything, her friends were able to protect themselves just quite well.
Myriam saw how Bella was close to getting back into Isa mode, and she wanted to do something to stop it. The Cold Ones coming to New Orleans had been inevitable; she couldn’t run from them forever, and now she had to be brave. She had to be the brave woman Myriam knew she was. “Bella, you’re still safe,” she said reassuringly as she watched Bella pace around. “Take a breath.”
“Bella, the best thing you can do righ’ now, for your own survival and those you love, is to continue with what you’ve been doing and stay calm. We’ve got this. We’ve got your back.”
They were right. Of course they were. Hope. Klaus would kill Bella if anything happened to her. “Tell Freya to protect Hope or Hayley to take Hope and run,” she said slightly calmer, a nod followed to reassure herself that she could do this. No pressure. Of course not. It was simply a matter of ignoring everything happening around her and do this. She could do this.
Where was Klaus?
