Chapter 12
He wasn’t sure if he had to be amused or irritated by the sailors that he had hired to bring his sister back to him. They were boasting, thinking about trying to get more money. Oh, and for heaven’s sake, they opened Rebekah’s prison. Now he really had to kill them.
Humans were so predictable. Greed and power were their Achilles heels, but mainly greed, because more money meant buying more power. Elijah believed that he had been quite generous when he hired these men to retrieve something as valuable as his sister, but of course, they thought differently.
Most of them scattered after he tore out the heart of the most vocal one, but he managed to kill some of them. His excitement for getting his sister back overruled his idea of being clean, and he opened the lid of her coffin, seeing her sleep ever so soundly with a spelled stake in her chest. Pulling it out, he watched as her veins receded and her skin started to pink up some. The smile on her face was worth it when she sat up in confusion. “Hello, sister.”
“Please tell me I didn’t miss Christmas!”
“You didn’t,” a woman’s voice sounded from behind them. When Elijah turned around, he was surprised to find the entire A-Squad standing there, all geared up in their catsuits and utility belts filled with knives and a gun or two. Was that a whip on Autumn’s hip? “But I fear you’ll have to miss it anyway.” Elijah knew it was the A-Squad as he’d seen their picture in the newspaper, some were also lingering when he first entered Débauche on his own, and he and Freya may have passed the others on their way up to the second floor that day.
“Our boss wants to keep Ms. Mikaelson safe and doesn’t trust you to provide that safety,” the blonde, Ashley, said, slightly bored. “So please, kindly push the stake back into your sister, and no harm will be done.”
“Oh, you brought me food, Elijah?” Rebekah said as she held on to him to climb out of the shipping crate. “You shouldn’t have!”
“Look, we really don’t want to do this, seeing as you’re our former boss’ love interest and all, but we have a job to do, and that job is to protect what’s our current boss’ property.”
Rebekah huffed as she narrowed her eyes on the redhead. “I am nobody’s property but my own.”
“Oh please, do not tell me that you’ve abandoned your comfortable lives to work for the She-Devil,” Elijah said as he looked at the women to find the weakest link. He was torn between the red head, Ace, and the pint-sized woman who looked to be their technological support. Autumn, wasn’t it? “Whatever she’s been paying you, I’ll pay double.”
“Our allegiance can’t be bought!” Aria fumed.
“Uhm, actually, it can,” Alina was the most levelheaded of the group. Elijah remembered Bella taking a liking to her due to their similar interests. “That’s how we got this gig. We were bored.”
“I really do not wish to hurt you,” Elijah said calmly. “But I will, if you keep insisting that Rebekah should be back on the bottom of that ocean.”
Three of the girls huffed and then they all looked at each other. It was almost as if there was some telepathy going on, a huddle without actually moving from their spot. Well, she is a nutcase. I never agreed to do this anyway. I like Myriam too much to continue. There’s no way we survive two Original vampires attacking us. It’s just a job, get over it and let’s do what we’ve been paid to do. Shut up. “Double, you say?” Aria eventually spoke up and locked eyes with Elijah.
“I’ll make it triple if you see to it that my sister and I return safely. Then, if you wish, you can go back to working for Myriam or be the added security for the humans in our care,” he negotiated before pulling his phone out of his coat pocket. “I can make the money transfer now, if you’d like, but I never break my word.”
“Pass,” Ashley shot at Elijah and drew her gun to point it at Rebekah. “Back into your box.”
Without blinking, he moved to the girl and snapped her neck, allowing Rebekah to sink her teeth into Aria and drain her. “Yay, food,” she said as she wiped her mouth and dropped the body to the floor. “Anyone else or are you going to take my brother up on his generous offer?”
“You do know that you didn’t have to do that, right? It’s not as if bullets can kill you,” Autumn remarked as she looked at the two bodies as she chucked her gun to the floor. “Hardly anything can kill you.”
“Try nothing,” Alina said as she followed Autumn’s lead.
“True, but just because we can’t get killed, doesn’t mean that bullets don’t hurt like hell,” Rebekah said with a slight pout, somewhat disappointed that the other three women were smarter than to go up against Originals.
“So we have your word, you won’t kill us?” Ace said as she reluctantly put her weapons on the floor as well. “Why should we believe you?”
“My brother is a man of his word, darling, don’t you fret,” Rebekah purred as she went over to her and ran her fingers through her hair. “Aren’t you just the loveliest specimen.”
“While it frightens me that your allegiance can be bought so easily, my sister is right.”
“Hey, if it were up to me, we wouldn’t have left our cushy job but the muscle got antsy,” Autumn said, throwing her hands up in the air in surrender. “Being the good little drones that we are, we had no choice but to follow.”
“There is always a choice, now, let’s go home, shall we?” Elijah said amused as he eyed his sister. “Rebekah, the redhead isn’t food.”
“But she’s pretty.”
“And so are you,” Ace winked at the vampire. “And I’m great in bed, too!”
“Great, I’m going to keep you, then,” she said lightly and looped her arm through Ace’s. “What’s your name?”
“Oh, Rebekah please.”
“Shut up, Elijah, and let us go home, it’s been far too long since I’ve seen Nik and I am so curious to his latest squeeze!”
~o.O.o~
It had been so nice to live in relative quiet for a few days. No kidnappings, no attacks, no pesky know-it-all Cold Ones who said they had information but in truth, didn’t come up with much… And most importantly; no psychotic bitch making everyone’s life miserable.
Klaus had moved back with her in their bedroom and when he wasn’t tending to a shaken Camille; he was with her. Talking, digging through Elijah’s books that basically said the same thing that Peter had told them; just in a very ancient dialect of Italian. Probably a Greek dialect at that. It was strange and creepy.
She was in awe of Elijah’s library. Yes, Klaus had his own books, but Elijah’s library was filled with hundreds if not thousands of books on every subject. Every war that had been fought. Every book that mentioned the Mikaelson name. Even personal journals of long deceased world leaders.
It was after that they had browsed through Elijah’s books that they returned to the Traveler book belonging to the other Mikaelson brother, Kol, to the strange language at the end of the book. It wasn’t a language that Bella recognized; even scanning it in on her iPad and running it through a translation program didn’t work and Klaus could tell her why; it was written by Kol in his unique coded language. Something his brother had done for centuries, mainly to piss off the rest of his siblings when he wanted to keep a secret or something hidden.
The only person who could tell them what was on those pages was dead.
Or maybe there was someone else? When Klaus went to follow Camille when she got a phone call – Bella really couldn’t believe that nobody saw the caring side of Klaus like she had, like Camille had, it was so obvious – she sent a message to Davina on her iPad to meet her at Gillespie’s, if she was available, before grabbing her bag, stuffed her iPad with the scanned pages in that bag and headed out.
“Yeah, I’ve seen this before, in a handful of books,” Davina said as she took a sip of her drink. “Never knew what it was.”
“Klaus says it’s something Kol did to piss the rest of the family off, to keep things a secret from them,” Bella replied with a shrug. “I thought maybe Kol would have let you in on this.”
Davina started to laugh and shook her head. “He was really guarded in some way. Very open in other ways, but always guarded. Very mischievous. I didn’t trust him after finding out who he was, and we only started to truly trust each other when he was dying.”
“I thought you were lovers?”
“We were in love, yes, but lovers? No,” the witch replied with a small smile across her lips. “But believe me, I wish we had been. There was simply too much going on, you know, to really stop and smell the flowers. And then he died.”
Bella smiled as she took a sip of her coffee. “I can now totally understand why you’re so desperate on getting him back; you two have unfinished business!”
Davina blushed. “I made a promise to him. He had so much to live for, still. Especially as a witch and it’s sad that his brother took that away from him,” she said as she looked at the pictures of the book again. “I really wished I could help you, Bella. I have a feeling that this will help you so much more in finding out what you truly are, but I can’t. And I don’t know of any spell that could decode this.”
“Eh, was worth a shot,” Bella said with a shrug.
“I’m surprised they allowed you to take screenshots of it, though. The Mikaelsons, especially Klaus, aren’t known for their trust in people.”
Bella smirked. “What can I say? I’m a good little entertainer, and I know that I should probably have them return that book to you, but it’s not your book to begin with, is it?”
“No, true, but Kol wouldn’t mind me having it. Or the rest of his books.”
Bella wasn’t so sure of that. “I’ve been dealing with the Mikaelsons since I came to New Orleans, and if there’s one thing that I’ve learned, it’s that they’re very possessive about their belongings. It’s not as if we can ask Kol, right?”
“No, not yet,” Davina said frustrated. “I’m working on it. So, what are you doing for Christmas?”
She blinked at the girl. “Uhm… I’m working. As a present to himself, Klaus has given my boss a generous amount of money for my company for as long as he pleases. I suppose I should go shopping for a present… any idea what to give a thousand-year-old hybrid?”
Davina scrunched up her nose. “A stake through the heart. White Oak. He’ll make a beautiful fire.”
“Davina.”
“What?” She smiled at her. “Just because you entertain him, and you get paid for it doesn’t mean that I have to like him, right?”
“True,” Bella smirked as she finished her drink. “Anyway, I think I’d better start looking for presents. They’re celebrating tonight; even their sister is coming home.”
“Will Cami be there?”
“Yeah,” Bella smiled. “She and Klaus are very close.”
“Then why will you be there? Aren’t you just going to be in the way of their blossoming relationship?”
Bella shrugged. “I get paid, I don’t care, really.” She had started to wonder if by pretending that she was just the whore – mainly because of Aurora and Tristan, but also because Davina couldn’t be trusted with the knowledge that something else was going on, that she was putting Camille in danger from Aurora. She’d already been taken once, what was there to prevent that from happening again? Sure, she was at the compound, and Klaus had practically glued her to his hip to prevent Aurora from taking her, but maybe there was something else other than friendship?
Bella didn’t like the idea of Camille getting hurt, again. She was a normal human being who had an apartment filled with dark objects that were under the protection of her family. She was Klaus’ therapist and confidant. She had helped Klaus in so many ways.
And maybe that was why Klaus kept her close. Because he was afraid that Aurora would go for her again. Wouldn’t Camille be better off at Myriam’s though? It would certainly relieve the feeling of jealousy that Bella had towards her. Especially now that Davina thought the therapist and the hybrid were about to hook up. The feeling only started a few days ago when she saw Klaus and Camille talk quietly in the courtyard, but it was there, and she hated it. “Yeah, I’d better go. Merry Christmas, Davina.”
“You too,” she smiled back at the woman. “We’ll talk soon.”
~o.O.o~
“Not her, either!”
She shouldn’t have been surprised, really, that when she returned to the compound after a day of shopping – and additional pampering with a nice manicure, Klaus was yelling, and the sound of a battle was going on right inside the compound.
Was that Rebekah Klaus was trying to hold back? His loving sister, the one he spoke so highly of? What was going on? Everyone in the courtyard had a panicked look on their face, and they were now looking at her. Including a very much possessed Rebekah. Her black eyes were telling. Oh, crap.
Rebekah managed to get free from Klaus and used her vampire speed to get to Bella, but Klaus was faster and stopped her right before she could do anything. “And certainly not her!” Klaus said as he pulled his sister away from Bella and eventually managed to get her into a choke hold on the table.
“Ahh, those poor, little humans,” Rebekah said with a smile on her face. “There’s Cami the therapist and Bella, the whore, and you’re so afraid you’re going to ruin them both… Trying to be their white knight, keeping them safe as if they’re breakable objects.” She managed to launch herself off the table but Klaus was able to keep her from running away again.
Bella watched Klaus as his gaze quickly shifted to her and Cami before settling back on Rebekah. Klaus looked horrified as his sister spoke.
“They’re not precious, Nik. Every woman you and Elijah brought into our lives turns into poison. Cami just wants to be loved and appreciated. Bella? She’s so scared and broken that she doesn’t even care that you’re making most decisions for her. Wrap them in bubble wrap, why won’t you?” Rebekah laughed as she watched Cami run away. “She’ll grow toxic too!” Her gaze then shifted to Bella, who wasn’t moving a muscle. “Look at her, Nik, like a deer caught in headlights, too afraid to move, trusting you to have everything under control or so lost in life that she doesn’t even care about her own anymore.”
“Stop talking, sister,” Klaus warned her and was grateful that his brother was now helping him to contain her. Yes, he was still the strongest, but a little help couldn’t hurt. She was right, of course. Camille was too precious of a human being to be hurt, he had pulled her into his world and put her in danger, and she needed to be taken care of as he had failed to do so. And Bella, his beautiful enigma, trusted him with her entire being and that, as history showed, was dangerous for her even though he would do anything not to betray that trust. The worst part of it all was that he could hear Bella’s heart race above everything else that was going on.
Maybe taking her away from Débauche had been the worst idea ever.
“Oh, I’m right, aren’t I?” Rebekah cackled. “You look like a puppy who’s just been kicked!”
“Rebekah!” Elijah pushed her back onto the table. “Ignore her, Niklaus,” he reminded his brother, who turned to help him keep their sister on the table.
“No, no!” Rebekah struggled against her brother’s hold.
“Keep her down,” Freya said with as much confidence as she could muster when she walked into the courtyard and approached her siblings. She looked bloodied and weak, and Bella felt so confused. When Freya produced a knife to slice off whatever, Bella left her shopping bags and ran upstairs to the bedroom. Behind her, she could hear Freya chant and Rebekah cry out in agony, and it was just too much. Too much.
How did Camille do this? Well, it was easy, she didn’t actually live at the compound where the threat level could go from green to red within minutes. She had a place of her own, distance. But Bella didn’t want distance; she wanted Klaus. She knew that by agreeing to live with him that she’d encounter some trouble but this was getting ridiculous. While she’d lived a somewhat fearful life for five long years, she had believed it would have been over by now, or at least things that she could understand.
Cold One trouble? Yeah, no problem with that. Other challenges? Nearly every day? How was this healthy? How could Bella go on and pretend that everything was alright? It wasn’t. She wanted to stand by Klaus with everything that was going on in his life; he deserved that, but at what cost?
And she had felt more in the loop with his life when she was still living at Myriam’s. Yes, Klaus told her everything when they were in bed, but right now she felt as if she was on the outside. He was the only one who included her.
Frustrated, Bella poured herself a glass of bourbon and threw it back while sounds of struggling and then laughter could be heard from downstairs. Who was she kidding? She had no right to think like this.
She was existing, and that was what was important. Her feelings only got in the way of making other people happy. Damn that Peter for telling her to feel something. It only made things worse. Bella was strong, and she had a hot boyfriend who was going out of his way to make her feel loved, and she was always presentable for him. What else could she possibly want?
It wasn’t as if she was a pushover. Hell no, she had an opinion of her own and Klaus liked that. Bella wasn’t a meek, little lamb either, but despite the fact that Peter had given her the temporary ‘all clear’ on the Cold One front, she now felt that it was best not to leave the bedroom anymore. Maybe only go back and front to the kitchen for food.
Create a new bubble world like Débauche had been for the last two years. Maybe by restricting herself, she wouldn’t end up feeling as scared like this all the time. Bella filled another glass and barricaded the French doors that lead to the walkway. There was still an entrance through the study anyway, something she preferred because she could keep an eye on that one.
She felt a little bit sad about closing the doors if she had to be honest. The courtyard was beautifully decorated for Christmas and she had sat in awe the day before, just to look at its sheer awesomeness. It was impressive. Tasteful for the most part. But sacrifices had to be made.
Bella’d rather choose her excitement than to be surprised by it. This was good. She refilled her glass and sat down on the bed as she unpacked her backpack. While she had bought presents for everyone – and they were still downstairs – she had also bought herself some chocolate, and she had ventured into a bookstore and hadn’t been able to stop herself from buying more books. More silly fiction books to add to her collection. They weren’t going to smarten her up, but at least they made her happy.
When she reached for her glass, she was surprised to find Klaus’ hand on it. Allowing her eyes to follow his arm up to his face, she smiled at him. “Can I have that?”
Sighing, he downed it and put the empty glass back down. “We need to talk,” he said in his ‘I mean business’ voice. “And it cannot wait.”
Bella studied his face and swallowed hard. He had a mixture of sadness and fear written all over his face and all she wanted was to pull him into her arms and tell him that everything was going to be alright, but she feared that he was going to tell her that she had to go and pack her bags to go back to Myriam. “You want me to leave, don’t you?”
Surprised by her question, he sat down on the bed with her and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear as he watched her face. Bella looked as if she was anticipating a positive answer; there was a flash of disappointment on her face, but also a hint of resignation. He never quite knew what to make of her, and that was what kept him on his toes around her. “Now why would you think about that nonsense? Do you want to leave?”
“No, I don’t want to leave you, I don’t. But I can understand if you’d want me to,” she said as she plucked an invisible piece of lint off his shirt and sighed. “And maybe Rebekah was right, you know.”
“Rebekah was under the influence of a curse, and that made her say things she didn’t really mean,” he smiled at her. “Or at least, perhaps she did. But has someone ripping you to shreds with their words have stopped you from anything before?”
“It’s not just that. It’s probably my fault, things that go through my mind. Things that I shouldn’t even think about…” Bella sighed as she met his eyes. “You’re not going to ask me to leave?”
“No, love,” he smiled warmly at her. “I had an exciting day with Camille and Detective Kinney. It appears that Lucien had compelled him to think less of himself and he was about to end his life, and I simply couldn’t allow that to happen. Camille looked heartbroken, and it was pathetic to see a man sit like that.” He sucked in a breath. “So I helped him. A little bit of compulsion, some words…”
“How did that make you feel?”
“She said it was uncharacteristic of me to show kindness like that, and it made me realize that she, too, thinks I’m a monster,” he said after a pause. “And I don’t deny that I am, but I also knew that you’re the only person in my life who sees beyond all that. If you’d been there, you’d have smiled proudly.”
“You have a good heart, Klaus, it’s just that not everyone appreciates the way you’re showing it,” she replied and took a deep breath as she caressed his cheek. She was still wondering why he wanted to talk to her – something deep inside told her that it was a different kind of talk that he wanted to have.
Was this going to be about the fact that she stood nailed to the floor when a psychotic vampire lunged at her? It wasn’t anything new; Jasper Whitlock had done the same thing. The main difference was that he had indeed been much like a live grenade, could go off at anytime.
Oh, she had been scared. Confused and scared. Bella had no idea what was going on when she walked in on all of that, but she didn’t respond to it until Freya started to cut Rebekah’s skin. That was just something she didn’t need to see. It was gross.
“I’m working on the part where I have to run away when something like that happens, I know that,” she eventually said. “You’ve said it before, I’m not okay even after all those years, but I’ve never been one to show my emotions much or talk about them. I either implode or explode.”
It was then that he realized something that he should have seen before. Yes, she had her depressions a couple of times a year, but it almost appeared as if she had found a way to shut off her emotions without the pesky little side effects it came with when being a vampire. And this could prove problematic if she’d be turned. She was caring, she cared for people, for him, deeply, but she was ignoring herself. He didn’t want to have a Ripper on his hands should she decide to turn, if it’s the right moment.
On the contrary, with her showing so much control over her feelings – until she reached a breaking point and plunged into a deep hole she had to claw her way out of – she’d make an excellent vampire. The learning stages would be a lot easier to handle for her. “How did you feel when I left you?” Her behavior had shown him how she had felt; as if the world had fallen apart and not caring about anything anymore. He was somewhat grateful that she had ended up with Lucien and not someone else.
“I don’t see why that’s relevant, really.”
“Love, I don’t want to push you to do anything you don’t want to, but you need—”
“I need, what? To be in touch with my feelings? I am, Klaus. I feel the bad things and then let them go as soon as I feel them,” she shot at him. “In some cases, I may act out, but the thing is, if I’d stop to consider everything the way it’s supposed to be felt, then there’d be nothing left of me. I’d be this sad, sorry mess of a person. Weak. And if something bad happens, it’s usually my fault anyway so why bother you or anyone else with that?” She pushed herself away from him and looked at him. “You’re just like him. Why is it so important for you to know how or what I feel? I’m here, aren’t I? I’m on your side; I’m with you. And not because you made me, but because I want to.”
He smiled at that. “Fair enough.”
She crawled into his lap and made herself comfortable against him. “What was wrong with Rebekah?”
“Oh, just a typical cursed stake that she’d been staked with courtesy of the Strix,” he sighed as he kissed the top of her head. “We’re going to have our hands full with them. What did you learn today?”
“That we really need your dead brother for the last part of that book unless you have a cipher laying around,” she said as she put her arms around his neck. “But you know what? It’s fine. The story about that other Singer, who wiped out thousands of Cold Ones all those years ago after turning, could be real, so if I turn, I will be able to rid the world of them as well.”
“We’re not certain of that.”
“No, but in the absence of more information, this is all we’re going to get. A theory. Unless there’s some way to talk to your brother,” she shrugged and softly kissed him. “But don’t worry, unless Peter warns us or if we spot another Cold One in the Quarter, I don’t want to turn just yet.”
“Good,” he smiled at her. “Now, the reason I wanted to talk to you…”
“That wasn’t it?”
“No,” he snickered and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “I think you’re right. Well, I know you’re right.”
“About?”
“About not including you. I know it’s what we both decided because my siblings weren’t particularly trusting you, but you know what? Sod them. You’re family, and it’s time that they finally accept that. They’ll have no choice in the matter. So, get appropriately dressed, we’re going to celebrate Christmas in a bit. And you should meet Rebekah properly. You’ll like her.”
“Properly?”
“While we’re not hosting a ball this Christmas, we do like to make an effort,” he replied with an amused look on his face. “Dress up.”
“Oh, yeah?” She smirked as she moved around on his lap and straddled him. “Will you be wearing a suit?”
“Don’t be ridiculous, a dinner jacket thrown over these clothes will do.”
~o.O.o~
She had been surprised when Elijah dropped off the remaining members of the A-Squad and Myriam wasn’t quite sure she wanted them to work for her again. Myriam had known from the very start that their allegiance could be bought. That was how they came to work for her in the first place and now they were back. Minus the two troublemakers, Aria, and Ashley. While Myriam had appreciated how Aria’s mind worked, she was too greedy, and Ashley only followed her wherever.
Yes, there was no doubt that the other girls had a mind of their own, a good set of brains, but Myriam wasn’t sure if she could trust them ever again. On top of that, she had realized that she liked a team of assassins working for her and had acquired Abeebee as a start. Funny enough, her name began with an A too. Certain circles talked about this woman in a very positive way, and Myriam had decided to snatch her up.
She’d never expected her to be a complete knock-out, too. Apart from her unique skills, Abeebee was absolutely beautiful with legs for days. Her mixed ancestry made her look exotic beyond words, and while she had been hired to enhance Débauche’s security team, Myriam had also told her that, if Abeebee wanted, she could do extracurricular activities, much like the A-squad had done before their departure.
Abeebee was also quite vocal about Alina, Autumn and Ace rejoining the team. She was against it. As she explained to Myriam, she never liked the girls much. Always taking jobs away from her and she had to work twice as hard to be noticed (or not noticed). However, not entirely heartless, Myriam decided to give the girls a second chance now that Elijah and his sister Rebekah had taken out Aria and Ashley.
She knew just the place for the girls to start their road to redemption; cleaning. Was that a little bit harsh? Perhaps. But they had to start somewhere. Myriam wasn’t mad that they left after getting a better offer, she was pissed about the fact that they worked for Aurora. Despite not knowing her, they should have known better when they were asked to protect the coffin carrying an Original.
Now, those Original Vampires weren’t all they were cracked up to be, but they deserved respect. Those girls should have aborted the mission, especially knowing Myriam’s long history with at least one of them. In any case, Elijah called it her Christmas present and she was happy to have her girls back.
Sticking to the rules that he wasn’t going to enter the club or that she’d come over at the compound – for him – he invited her to a hotel room where she gave him a Christmas present. If she had to be honest with herself, it had been something she’d wanted to do ever since she laid eyes on him when he entered the club the first time. Elijah Mikaelson was an arrogant prick, yes, but he was simply too irresistible on a more physical level, and Myriam liked physicality.
And it was beyond what she had expected. Elijah had proven to be quite the master of seduction himself. Now, it would be rude to compare, but where Klaus had been more animalistic – for a better word, Elijah was gentle, wanted to know if she was doing alright before taking what he wanted.
She had loved it how their bodies melted into each other, more than once that night and by the time they were truly done, she felt as giddy as a schoolgirl. She’d needed this, and when Elijah had told her he had no intention of giving up his advances towards her, something snapped inside, and she wanted him. Fully. Even centuries old vampires could get horny.
Ever the gentleman, Elijah wanted to escort her home, and she allowed him to, but when they passed St. Anne’s Church, a scream filled the silent night, and Elijah briefly paused as he looked at Myriam. “Camille,” he said breathlessly before speeding off into the general direction of the scream.
~o.O.o~
“Niklaus!”
He woke to his brother’s voice calling from the courtyard. It was still night and checking the time; he realized that he’d only been asleep for half an hour. Fortunately, his Bella had been fast asleep long before he had drifted off after their private Christmas celebration, happy that they didn’t have to pretend she was anything other than his girlfriend anymore.
Granted, Aurora was likely to remain a headache for them all until she wouldn’t be. While the Mikaelson, and Klaus especially, had the reputation of being monsters and killing whoever got in their way, it was surprisingly hard to kill old friends. Because they were just that. Old. And former friends. Sentimentality.
He and Elijah had talked about ridding themselves of the trio, but actions were harder than words. It was easy to talk. In the end, death was inevitable for everyone. Including for himself, but he was a thousand years old, the perfect picture of health and vitality – just ask Bella – and a conqueror of death. Well, he was just hard to kill, that was all. Death came easier to non-Original vampires. Non-hybrids.
Klaus had a conversation with Camille about death, once. She thought that he had a trauma about death. That death did matter to him, if not those of others, it would be his own. Of course, he didn’t want to die. Why else would he have run from Mikael so many times? Why else would he have killed those who were after him and his family?
He didn’t care about death. Death didn’t care about the people it took, or was gifted, so why would he care? The people he’d killed all deserved it. Those who died around him, that he liked or loved, didn’t deserve it, but it was his fault. His failure to protect them, to protect those who couldn’t do it themselves. Mostly humans.
And Camille had pointed out that he was afraid of Death, because why else would he surround himself with only immortals? That when a mortal was orbiting in his life that his anxiety levels went up? Because human life was precious and he and his family would destroy them, one way or the other.
He had no idea how he’d react if something would happen to Bella. To Camille. Take revenge was the most obvious response, and he’d avenge them proper. He’d tear out their hearts and place their heads on a spike for display. The humans in his orbit were under his protection – should anything happen to them, it’d be a failure on his part.
And this was also the reason why it was hard to end the lives of old friends or old enemies. Life was precious, immortal or not. Because you do build up some idea of a relationship with them, a kinship, that you’ll try to avoid killing them. No matter how much they annoyed you or pestered you. You only returned the favor long enough until both parties would get bored and left.
“Niklaus!”
His brother’s annoying voice jostled him out of his dark thoughts, his temporary distraction, and he silently slipped out of bed, careful not to wake his Bella. He got into some clothes and went to the walkway to see what had gotten his brother’s nuts so tightly wound. It was her scent that disturbed him the most. Her dead scent. Cami. But dead. Rushing down the stairs, he took Cami’s body into his arms, ready to feed her his blood. She couldn’t be dead.
He had failed.
“Niklaus, don’t,” Elijah said as he pulled his brother’s arm away from Camille’s mouth. “She wouldn’t want to become a vampire; you know that.”
Yes, he knew that. But it was just unacceptable. Without Camille in his life… well. “What happened?” He managed to let out, trying so hard to find a heartbeat, but it was gone. No vampire blood would be able to bring her back. They could inject blood into her heart with a syringe and manually pump the blood into her system – it had been done before. Camille had to live, against her wishes.
He was such a jerk.
“Aurora,” Elijah said quietly as he observed his brother. He could see the cogs in his head spinning, likely trying to come up with a scenario that would bring Camille back without her being infuriated with Niklaus for turning her into a vampire. “As it turned out, Aurora was under the impression that you were in love with Camille.”
“That’s preposterous!” Klaus spat, cradling Camille’s body tightly as he rocked her back and forth. There might be a few post-mortem broken bones.
“We didn’t have much time trying to get an explanation from Aurora, but it appears that Aurora had Camille compelled. She told her that after your night of passion, she’d have to drink Aurora’s blood from a vial and kill herself,” Elijah calmly explained, he found it remarkable that Niklaus was handling the death of his friend this well; or he was merely pretending to be. “When that didn’t happen, Aurora realized she had made a mistake and killed her. Since she never drank the blood, Camille died as a human.”
“And I ended Aurora,” Myriam’s voice sounded. Klaus wasn’t sure where she had come from but looked up when a heart and Aurora’s head dropped on the ground next to him.
“You did what!” Klaus breezed, looking up to his friend, anger in his eyes. Did she really say what he had heard her say just now?
Myriam felt lucky that Klaus was still holding on to Camille’s dead body, almost like a puppy with the last remainder of his broken toy; otherwise he would have likely killed her in return. “Aurora’s exact words were; ‘It’s the whore, isn’t it? I knew something was up; I’m going to kill that little bitch!’, I feared for Bella’s life, and I ended Aurora. To keep Bella safe. Bella’s my priority, Klaus, and she might be here with you now, but she’s still under my protection as well.”
Klaus gently lowered Camille’s body to the ground and carefully stood up, lowering his gaze upon his friend. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done?”
“Ridding this world from evil? Yes.”
“You have made things a lot more complicated, more difficult than they should have been!”
“Oh, lighten up, Klaus. The sooner you deal with the unholy trinity, the sooner you can truly play house with Bella. You should be thanking me for this because I know that you or Elijah wouldn’t have been able to make this decision.”
Klaus scowled as he paused to think and then looked up to his bedroom where his Bella was still sound asleep. “Let’s move Camille out of the courtyard, find a medical examiner we can compel and organize her a proper send-off.”
“Are you sure about this?” Elijah asked carefully. He knew his brother wanted to bring her back but to be so willing to honor Camille was something entirely foreign to him. Where was the anger? Where was the throwing of things?
“Camille once told me that if she passed, she would want a wake at Rousseau’s, good music, good food, plenty of alcohol. If I’m not allowed to find a way to bring her back, then we will do what she wanted,” Klaus replied as he kept his eyes on the bedroom, stabilizing his emotions by hearing Bella’s heartbeat and breath. His home. “I believe she has plans for the day so we will not inform her of Camille’s death just yet.”
“What will I do with Aurora’s heart and head?” Myriam asked, a knowing smile appearing on her face. “Would you like me to mount her head on a stick?”
