Chapter 13
After two weeks of Saint-Tropez, Kol wanted some more action in their lives. There were so many ancient settlements along the coast and there was one close by, perhaps only an hour away – well, less with Kol driving the Porsche to its fullest potential, which was also close to two theme parks; one waterpark with a lot of crazy slides and another one with roller coasters. Some adrenaline in their bodies for fun was going to be amazing.
Granted, he wasn’t too happy with the lack of choice when it came to hotels or apartments, but they were only going to stay there a few days at most.
After that, they travelled to Cannes, Kol didn’t like it very much but it was something Bella needed to experience, the crazy buzz of Cannes. Next up, Antibes. He knew that Bella didn’t like sea animals in captivity, but there was a place where they had killer whales and you could actually meet the dolphins. Of course, he had arranged it so that they could privately swim with the creatures for a while, and Bella did like that.
When they were a month and a half into their walkabout and halfway through Italy as they followed the coast, Kol received a message from his brother Niklaus that they needed Bella’s help in New Orleans. He found this strange, because they had made it clear to Bella, but also to themselves, that they’d never rely on Bella to bail the family out of tight spots.
While they were sitting on the terrace of their hotel on Giglio Island and sipping on a glass of wine, Kol was slightly worried by Nik’s text message and decided to call him on speaker. “What’s going on, Nik? Are you alright?”
“Oh, just fine,” the hybrid sneered on the other end of the phone. “Yet again a relative causing some problems and whatever we try, we can’t stop it.”
Kol thought for a moment. It was next to impossible for the relative being either one of their parents or their brother Finn, as they were dead. “Who?”
“Our lovely aunt Dahlia.”
“Huh,” he said impressed. He had heard of his mother’s sister, of course, but had never truly met her as mother and her had fallen out with each other. But how was she still alive?
“She’s a very powerful witch, brother, she’s tied herself to the magic of our sister Freya.”
“Freya died?”
“No, Kol. That had been a lie… come home, I’ll explain when you get here.”
“Yeah, Nik, that might take a little while,” Kol scratched his head, looking over at Bella, who didn’t look all too happy. “We’re on an island. We’re going to have to take a ferry to a peninsula and then drive to Rome to get to a plane… Ah… we’ll be there as soon as we can be.”
“You’d better hurry, this woman is a bloody nuisance and the Regent and the Ancestors are getting antsy. Bella, after all, promised to ensure their safety when one of our enemies would come to town.”
“I did do that,” Bella winced.
“Yes, you did do that,” Kol laughed as he tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. “But that’s alright, we can always choose to ignore my brother’s plight.”
“I’m still here!”
“I always keep my word, remember?” Bella reminded him. “Besides, it even counts double now that I’m an honorary Mikaelson.”
“There’s nothing honorary about you, Isabella Swan. You’re a Mikaelson, whether you like it or not. Now, come home and help us to keep the peace with the bloody witches.”
“See you in two days, Nik,” Kol let out a snort and hung up on his brother. He tossed his phone onto the table and relaxed in his chair as he grabbed his glass of wine. “We’re not leaving just yet, it’d be a shame to have this good wine go to waste.”
“The ferry stopped for the day anyway,” Bella shrugged, but already worrying about the state of New Orleans.
“Ah, no thinking about what could, can or won’t happen, we’re still on the other side of the world and tonight, we’re going to conclude this epic trip epically,” he playfully hit her on the head with a napkin.
“We could always go back after, right?”
Kol smiled brightly. “Yes, yes we can, darling, and we likely will!”
~o.O.o~
Myriam greeted them at the airport after landing. The moment Bella stepped off the stairs, Myriam was bear hugging her. “Oh, it’s so glad to see you in person again. The pictures were great but to see you still in one piece after all this time is so much better.”
“Hi,” Bella laughed.
“And thank you for all those lovely little gifts you sent us. I had Klaus put up a shelf with his own bare hands to accommodate it all, he wasn’t amused,” she put an arm around Kol, too and marched them to the car. “You look great. Nice and tan and happy. I’m glad.”
“How bad is it?” Kol sighed as he got into the car with the girls and put his arm around Bella. “You’re being too friendly, Myriam Jenkins.”
“Your long lost sister is a bitch,” Myriam said grumpily. “Which I can completely understand because she’s a victim of circumstance and basically your aunt’s well of power, but damn, she’s a true Mikaelson, just unpolished like you and your siblings. Klaus, of course, is amused by it.”
“We were always told she died of the plague.”
“I think that was a lie that Esther felt she could live with, the truth is a lot darker than that. Esther couldn’t conceive so she made a deal with her sister who performed some magic and in return, would receive Esther’s firstborn.”
Kol groaned. “As if our family couldn’t get any more dysfunctional. What do they want?”
“Freya wants to be free of Dahlia and join the family, Dahlia wants more power, guess who she’s targeting?” Myriam shot at Kol, irritated. “I swear, she’s messing with Klaus’ head. I’m surprised he was able to call you for help.”
“I’m not,” Bella said as she put her head against Kol’s shoulder as she watched New Orleans come closer and closer while they drove to the city. “He might simply be pretending to be messed with, he has quite the high tolerance to magic.”
“Dahlia sounds like a leech,” Kol sneered. “What’s Nik thinking? What could we do?”
“It’s not what you can do, it’s what Bella can do,” Myriam pointed out. “We don’t have a witch on our side to deal with the magical enemy aspect of our lives and the one we do have is currently still linked to that shrew so she’s of no help.”
“I get it,” Bella said quietly. “I’ll fix it, just like I fixed Silas. We don’t want the witches to be upset.”
“Bella, we’ve tried, truly.”
“Don’t worry about it,” she smiled at Myriam. “Anything for the family.”
Kol huffed. “I’m not sure if I want another sibling around, no doubt she’s a very powerful witch and Nik will be in awe and Elijah will be practically worshipping her and—”
“Hey,” Bella smacked his arm. “You’ve got me now, always.”
Kol softly kissed her. “So you’ll make Dahlia go poof and then we can continue what we were doing?”
“No,” Myriam pouted. “You’re staying put for a while. We all miss you. Hey, Bella, maybe you can come and help out at the brothel?”
“Absolutely not!” Kol objected. “If anything, she’ll be giving me private shows!”
~o.O.o~
They heard the entire story when they arrived at the compound, even meeting Freya Mikaelson, the eldest sister, and while it had been hard to believe, Bella could tell that this woman, this girl, was genuine about her heritage, much to Kol’s annoyance. He believed that her only redeemable quality was that she was a kickass witch, and his brother would love to have her around just in case.
It was clear that Freya had everyone who had remained in New Orleans wrapped around her finger, and Bella believed that her intentions were of the good kind after having simply listened to what had been shared that night about her and Dahlia. And the past. Freya wasn’t malicious, she was scared. Maybe she’d settle down somewhat once her biggest fear was defeated.
Of course, Bella’s status as a demi-Goddess was kept from Freya. Despite the family bond, Klaus liked to have an ace up his sleeve, and it was only for Bella’s protection. “So, what needs to happen to Dahlia to break her link to you?” Bella piped up eventually, as she had patiently listened on the couch, sipping her wine. “Does it require a spell or?” Oh, Bella knew it had been a spell; Freya had a dark cloud wafting all around her and it was likely that she could cleanse it with ease, as she had done previously on different occasions.
“She needs to die,” Freya said angrily before pointing at Bella. “I thought this meeting was family only?”
“Love, Bella is our family as much as Myriam is,” Klaus said kindly. “I suggest you be nice to her because she might be your only hope in ridding yourself of Dahlia’s link, and our only hope to stop the wicked witch of the West. I also suggest not to antagonize her, she’s known for her tricks.”
“Oh please,” Freya huffed. “I eat witches for breakfast.”
Bella blinked at her and then shrugged before finishing off her wine. “Alright, I’ve heard enough, I’m going home,” she softly kissed Kol. “Do you want to stay?”
“Yeah, I’m going to have some blood and then I’ll be up,” he smiled at her. “You’re not going to cleanse her?”
“She doesn’t deserve it,” she kissed him again before heading out of the courtyard to their apartment.
Kol had an amused look on his face before heading towards the kitchen to fetch him some blood, hearing his siblings talk amongst themselves as he did.
“It’s in your best interest to at least try to be civil with our Isabella,” Elijah’s voice sounded. “While she and I don’t see eye to eye, I do respect her immensely.”
“In other words, he’s afraid of her,” Myriam chipped in. “But he’s right; be nice to her or she won’t help.”
“What can she do that I can’t do myself?” Freya defended herself. “You’ve all been saying these wonderful things about her and how she’ll make sure that this family is safe, but she can’t be more powerful than me, what can she do?”
“She has saved this family more than once in the short amount of time that we’ve known her and for that, she deserves our respect. While getting her and Kol back from their trip to help us, it’s still up to her if she’s willing to do so,” Elijah replied calmly. “While I predict she’ll help, it’s uncertain how or when.”
Kol sauntered back onto the courtyard, blood bag in his hand as he sipped from it. “Oh, Bella will help, alright,” he said as he passed his family. “If only our long lost sister had been kind, she’d have been released from our Aunt’s influence and link tonight,” he then waved. “Good night, Bella and I are going to try not to be too jetlagged in the morning while Freya ponders the next thing she’ll say to my Bella. Might I suggest it to start with an apology?”
Something in the back of his mind was nagging at him and he sauntered right back into the courtyard. “Christmas, 1914,” he said as he looked at Freya. “You were there.”
“I was,” she replied.
“As my date!”
Myriam laughed. “Took him long enough to realize he dated his own sister. Perv.”
“Nothing happened!”
“It wasn’t really a date,” Freya explained, a humorous smile on her face. “Kol’s so easy to flatter. Throw enough pretty words at him and he’ll think you’re in love with him. I simply wanted to spend time with my family even if they didn’t know who I was.”
Kol scowled. “Yeah, Bella was right in not helping you right off the bat,” he said as he turned around and left again.
~o.O.o~
“I don’t want to have breakfast at the compound,” Bella sulked as she had entangled her legs with his and was using her body to stop him from leaving the bed.
“You did promise to help,” Kol reminded her, not minding that Bella wanted to stay in bed longer, they were quite comfortable in their own bed, in their own little nest.
“I’m not sure I can help Freya without alerting your aunt to what I’ve done,” she sighed as she drew little circles on his chest with her index finger. “The dark cloud around her is so thick, it might not even work and it’ll only end when I take care of Dahlia. Using Freya as bait wouldn’t really work. She wants Klaus, above all. She knows that Freya is linked to her and has no other option to return.”
“How do you know?”
Bella shrugged. “It’s just a feeling, I guess. I mean, it’s really the ancient magic that’s the problem here. The spell has been on Freya for a thousand years…”
“Sounds to me you have performance anxiety,” Kol grinned as he flipped them over on the bed and started to nuzzle her neck. “Don’t worry, darling, I’ll be happy to fix that for you,” he whispered in her ear.
“Down boy,” she giggled as she tugged on his hair. “I need to show off today,” she softly kissed him as she kept tugging on his hair. “But I promise you can have me anyway you want tonight.”
“Anyway I want?” Kol’s eyes lit up with excitement. “Oh, the possibilities… I might have to go shopping for that.”
She laughed as she covered her eyes with her hand. “Oh boy.”
He grinned as he got off of her. “Go take a shower. I won’t join you, I might not be able to keep my hands to myself now.”
Bella hummed for an answer, kissed him and started to get ready for the day. She already missed the idea of not having to put much clothes on other than a light shirt, a short skirt and a bikini underneath. But no, it was back to jeans and a shirt now, fully dressed. Her body was only Kol’s to look at.
“Aw, darling,” Kol whined as he left the bathroom after a quick shower and saw Bella’s choice of clothes. “Jeans?”
She flashed him a smile. “My ass looks great in these, don’t you think?”
“Yes, but…”
“Butt! Exactly!”
“Tease.”
Kol wondered if Freya’s first words to Bella were indeed an apology. Elder sister with a tragic backstory or not, it didn’t give her the authority to be superior to everyone in their family. Niklaus and Elijah were still in charge, and if not, they needed to grow a pair of balls and tell sister dearest that she had to calm down. The way Kol saw it, both Myriam and Bella were higher up the family totem pole than their blood relative. Freya was more of an intruder than anything else.
When they stepped into the dining room, Freya was the first to rise. “Bella,” she said a little unsure. “I have to apologize for my behaviour last night upon our first meet,” she continued, and Kol was satisfied. “You do have to realize that I have been looking for my family for centuries and I have been fighting our aunt for just as long and I never believed that my siblings would be happy with someone outside the family.” Alright, Kol thought. Close enough.
“You don’t think they deserve to be?” Bella questioned, a little surprised by Freya’s admission. “What’s the point in having a long life when you can’t share it with someone and be happy? I know your life hasn’t been easy, Freya, and that you’re happy that you’re reunited with your siblings, but that doesn’t mean you have to be rude to those in this family who are not related by blood.”
Kol simply smiled in admiration of his girlfriend. Bella in Goddess mode was hot as hell. Granted, she was hot, period, but when she put human Bella aside in exchange for a better version, it almost melted his insides.
“You’re not a witch.”
“No, no, I’m not. And I’m not going to tell you what I am until we’ve gotten to know each other a little bit better, but trust that I am more powerful than you can imagine,” Bella replied to Freya before stepping up to her and placed both her hands on Freya’s shoulders in an attempt to cleanse the elder Mikaelson. She managed to chip away a little bit, but had to give up. “Eh, I tried. I’ll have to try to do it the other way around then,” she shrugged before sitting down beside Kol and grabbing them some beignets before she looked at Klaus. “You’re going to take me to Dahlia and by the end of the day, everything will be over and done with.”
“Love, I can’t take you to our deranged aunt, what if—”
“She won’t,” Bella said playfully. “I could handle Silas, I can handle Dahlia.”
“I have been Dahlia’s prisoner for so long, you don’t know what you’re up against,” Freya said a bit confused, almost as if something had changed around her. “Her connective magic is strong and she will draw from me if you engage her in battle.”
“I won’t engage her in battle,” Bella blinked at Freya. “I try to resolve things peacefully without any bloodshed on my behalf.”
“We have all the faith in our Bella to take care of our current problem, she knows we won’t ask for her help unless there isn’t anything we can do,” Klaus said amused, seeing the confused look on Freya’s face. “As you said a while ago, Freya, we’d need to have the ashes of a viking and we’d need a witch like my mother – which would mean we’d have to resurrect our parents and that’s not an option. You shall be free at the end of the day.”
“If you’re going to hang out with Nik today, I’m going shopping for tonight,” Kol whispered in Bella’s ear. “Don’t break him.”
Bella huffed as she pushed a beignet in Kol’s mouth. “Oh, I won’t, I have other plans!”
On their way to the Bayou – that was the best place Bella could think of to meet a deranged Mikaelson without too much damage done to surroundings, Klaus filled her in about what Dahlia’s original plan was; to have as many first born Mikaelsons in her fold as possible, for power. To covet the magic. It was no secret to Bella that the Mikaelsons were witches before they turned into vampires; Kol had openly admitted that he would have loved to have his magic back, but that he took solace in teaching everything he knew to witches while still learning from them as well.
During their trip in Italy they had met a witch or two and Bella had loved the excitement in his face when he could teach a witch something they hadn’t previously known. He’d be the perfect candidate to open a school like Hogwarts and teach young witches. Come to think of it, Bella loved to teach as well, maybe that wasn’t such a bad idea…
She then snorted. Yeah, right, a real life Hogwarts, that was a copyright battle waiting to happen.
“So what’s the plan, Bella?” Klaus asked curiously. She had made him pack an extra set of clothes and he wasn’t quite sure why. He had an idea, but that would be ludicrous, wouldn’t it?
“That little shed at the water is still there?” She questioned him as they got out of the car and headed deeper into the Bayou.
“Yes.”
“Good,” she smiled at him as she made sure no one was around them and turned into a carbon copy of him. “OH! Bad mistake! Bad! Oh, these jeans! Fuck!” Bella winced as she tried to get out of her pants as quickly as possible while Klaus’ voice came out of her mouth. “Oh, this hurts, oh fuck!”
Klaus was amused as he merely stood back and watched. “Perhaps you should have changed into my clothes first?”
“I didn’t ever have to do that when I changed my appearance before!”
“Ah, yes, but those were different girls with the same body build as you, love,” he smirked as he watched himself topple over as Bella wrestled with her jeans. “I must say… this is hilarious.”
“Stop laughing and help me!”
“Oh, do I really sound like that when I demand something?”
“Yes! But worse!”
Sighing, he pulled off her shoes and tugged on the jeans, surprised by the fact that she wasn’t wearing any underwear and saw his junk stick out. “Bloody hell.”
Bella growled as she snatched the bag and found Klaus’ pants. She got to her feet and blinked at the sensation of something between her legs. Looking down, she raised an eyebrow. “Huh.”
“No.”
Wiggling her hips, she watched as the penis swung left to right, much like a pendulum and giggled before going a little faster, make it almost look like a helicopter. “Look at me! I’m a helicopter!”
“Bella!” Klaus growled at her. “This is not a time to play!”
“Oh, but it is!”
“Put some pants on,” he growled.
She pouted as she did as she was told, before looking up at him with a mischievous look in her eye. “Want to fuck with everybody’s heads later?”
“Myriam will kill you.”
“Nah,” Bella said as she pulled off her too tight shirt and got into the one provided by Klaus before getting into his shoes. “Now, you go hide in that cabin, I’ll make sure Freya has a pet.”
He scowled, then. “Are you sure this is going to work?”
“Yes,” she sighed and pointed at the cabin. “Go, before I turn you into a woodlands creature and I might not be able to find you to turn you back.” Bella then squeezed her crotch. “Oh, so you guys do like it when this happens!”
“Bella!”
“Kol’s is slightly bigger.”
“Bella!”
“I’m serious!”
“Bella!”
She was still pointing at the cabin and wouldn’t stop until Klaus was inside with her stuff. Shaking her head, she started to stretch a little and crack her neck, changing her stance and hoped that she looked more Klausy than Klaus. Taking a deep breath, she decided to take a page out of Klaus’ playbook and started to call out to Dahlia. “Dahlia! Meet me NOW!” Bella could hear how far her voice – Klaus’ voice – carried, and was amazed by that. “I. Am. Waiting!”
“Niklaus, you have my phone number, why do you need to make such a dramatic spectacle out of everything?”
Bella turned to the voice and saw an older, brunette woman stand in front of her, looking pretty pleased with herself. She had cold, brown eyes and her appearance somewhat reminded Bella of Elijah. Dahlia was definitely their aunt. “Well,” she said casually with half a shrug. “If this is my last moment as a free person, I figured I could do whatever the hell I wanted, don’t you agree?”
Dahlia cocked her head a little to the side. “You have been fighting me on this for weeks, why the sudden change of heart?”
“I am tired of fighting and you have taken advantage of my sister for far too long. I shall take her place and you can bind yourself to me, allowing you to live forever without having to take a 100 year nap.”
“And what makes you think that I am after you, Niklaus?”
“I am the Original Hybrid, I am the strongest of my family and in absence of children for you to take away from their parents, I’m saving you the trouble of having to—”
“Stop talking,” Dahlia replied as she circled Bella, eyeing her curiously. “I don’t want you. Granted, immortality will be a bonus, but you are nothing, Niklaus.”
“I’m here willingly. Freya has been kept against her will.”
“No, Niklaus, the reason I went after you is because there is a power surrounding your family that I have never felt before and I sense that that power has returned after a short absence, no doubt your solution as what to do with me.”
Bella blinked. “My brother was dealing with his grief over his ex-girlfriend overseas, and yes, he has returned, but Kol is no more powerful than Elijah or Rebekah. It is me that you want.”
“Oh dear child, I never said it was a family member,” Dahlia said patronizingly. “Tell me, what is she?”
Well fuck. Dahlia wanted her. “None of your concern.”
“Do not test me, Niklaus. You will surrender the girl or I will kill every single one of you! I will take what has been promised to me!”
“You were promised the first born children of our line,” she countered angrily. “Which is preposterous and wrong. You can’t change the rules simply because we are all vampires and cannot have biological children of our own.”
“Oh, but I can,” Dahlia flicked her hand to cast some spell, but Bella wasn’t even flinching. “What’s this?”
“Surprise, bitch,” Bella said as she finally found the right amount of energy to turn Dahlia into an animal. Quick on her feet, she grabbed the rat by the tail. “Klaus! I hate rats!” She called out as she looked at the squirming black rat in disgust. “Please take her from me!”
“Oh no, love,” Klaus said as he emerged from the cabin. “Your creation, your responsibility. You don’t have to take her back with us, you know.”
“I know that Silas and Amara haven’t turned back but I don’t trust this one.”
“Then allow me to kill her.”
“No,” Bella said as she now cuddled the rat. “You stay away from her. She’s a gift. For Freya.”
Bella still hadn’t turned back to her normal self when they arrived back at the compound. Klaus was quick to hide, allowing Bella to mess with everyone present, wondering how long it would take for them to notice that it wasn’t Klaus they were dealing with.
Bella walked up to Freya and handed her the rat. “Your problem has been dealt with, sister,” she said proudly. “I suggest you find a nice little cage for your tormentor to live out the rest of her days.”
“How did–” Freya blinked at the rat and then at Klaus. “How?”
“That’s for me to know, and for you to find out in due time,” she smiled knowingly before walking to the nearest table and poured a large glass of bourbon.
“Nik, where’s Bella?” Kol asked from his position on the couch as he drank from a servant after his shopping. “What is she planning?”
“She decided to go straight home,” she replied as she passed Kol with a smile on her face, causing him to blink and then smile back at her. “Something about you not being all too happy with her choice of clothing.”
“Right…” Kol dropped the servant and casually looked around. “So, all went well then?”
“Of course, what did you expect?” Bella had nearly the air knocked out of her lungs when all of a sudden she was up against a pillar with Myriam’s lips on hers.
Kol blinked as his mouth fell open in shock. Oh, if only Myriam knew! Was he going to say something? Nah, this was actually quite hot. Besides, it was Myriam, not a complete stranger. “Oh my.”
“What are you looking at?” Myriam shot at Kol. “It’s not as if you’ve never seen this happen before!” She tugged on Klaus’ pants with a grunt. “Off.”
“Oh, yes,” Bella grinned. “I’ve discovered something quite magical today,” she said, immediately dropping Klaus’ pants, revealing his penis. “Look what the guys can do!” She said as she started to wiggle. “Helicopter!”
Freya nearly dropped the rat in shock upon seeing Klaus’ exhibitionism and his out of character behaviour. “Brother, are you on drugs?”
Elijah peeked out of his room before heading straight back in, whatever was going on, it was none of his business, despite his curiosity.
“No, really, Kol, this is awesome!” Bella pushed passed Myriam to walk over to him and he immediately shielded his eyes. “What?”
“I don’t need to see your junk,” Kol whined.
“Ah, but you know what I figured out? It’s a bit smaller than yours! Poor Myriam!”
Myriam’s eyes grew big. “Someone please tell me what’s going on! Now!”
Kol pulled up Bella’s pants and quickly fastened it, just in time too, as Freya cast a spell to send Bella flying across the courtyard. “Freya!”
“That is not our brother.”
“Of course it’s not!” Kol whined as he helped Bella back up to her feet, Klaus’ face now adorned with Bella’s signature pout. “This is my girlfriend playing a prank!”
“That was highly uncalled for,” Klaus’ voice sounded before revealing himself from behind a pillar, an amused smile on his lips. “But thank you, Freya, for your willingness to do everything to protect this family, how are you feeling?”
Myriam growled as she slapped Klaus across his face. “Cochon!”
“I didn’t agree with her, love,” Klaus rubbed his cheek in frustration. “This was all her.”
“The hell it was!”
“I thought she wasn’t a witch?” Freya questioned as she looked at the Klaus doppelganger. “This is impossible!”
Bella let out a whine as she turned back to her usual self, Klaus’ clothes now too big around her. “I’m not a witch!” she retorted before looking up at Kol. “Let’s go home, I need a hot bath.”
~o.O.o~
They stayed in New Orleans for a few weeks, getting to know Freya better, but also to entertain the family, but both Kol and Bella were itching to go back to what they’d been doing previously; travel.
Bella wanted to check up on Damon and Stefan Salvatore, much to Kol’s dismay, so they spent a week in Bella’s little cabin in Mystic Falls before picking up Myriam in New Orleans to go to a convention in Las Vegas to let out their inner geek. Granted, Kol was pretty much a closeted geek, but he did like the superhero movies and he loved video games and Bella wanted to go to see the actors of her favourite TV shows in person. Besides, if Kol got bored, he’d hit the strip and do some gambling while the girls were geeking out.
On top of it all, there were some great resident bands and musicians in Las Vegas; granted, Kol wouldn’t want to be caught dead at a Shania Twain concert, but Green Day was right up his alley, and he knew that Bella and Myriam liked some of their music as well.
He watched with pride as Bella and Myriam mingled with the ‘fangirls’ of that TV show Bella had been writing about for years, Supernatural, was it? He overheard them talk about their favourite stories and as it turned out, Bella was quite known in that circle; at least her pen name was, and she wasn’t in the habit of revealing herself. Myriam knew that, so she basically outed Bella everytime her pen name was dropped.
Myriam and Bella went to concerts he didn’t want to go to – Backstreet Boys, really? And back to the convention floors, but after a week of either trailing behind them and be bored, or gambling and eventually get bored, Kol had enough. Myriam was stealing his girl and that was going to stop.
He had arranged a surprise for Bella, which hadn’t been easy to do even with compulsion because he had to find the right people first, but that had been alright, it stopped his boredom for awhile. He was pretty sure she was going to like this, as they had discussed doing something similar in Naples, Italy, before Nik called them back.
Kol put her into the passenger seat of the Jaguar convertible he had rented, and drove off. “Where are we going?” Bella laughed as she held on to the door as Kol was, as usual, demanding every ounce of speed out of the car.
“It’s a surprise,” Kol smirked, not taking his eyes off the road. “You will love it.” It was the perfect night to do this; despite the temperature dropping quite a few degrees at night, they were going to stay warm in the comfortable tent he had people set up for them in the middle of the desert, off the beaten path. They were going to spend the night underneath the stars and their mode of transportation would be horses.
Bella’s squeal upon seeing the ranch made his heart flutter. She was excited alright. “Oh, really? We’re going horseback riding?”
“Amongst other things,” Kol laughed as Bella started to bounce in her seat. “I know how much you love these creatures.”
“Are you kidding me?” she giggled. “If it hadn’t been for us living in the middle of New Orleans, I would love to have a horse of my own!”
“We could always move.”
“No,” Bella shook her head. “New Orleans is our home and we’re close to the family. Sure, we could move to the outside of New Orleans but… nah. Then we’d have to travel a distance to reach the shops.”
Kol laughed as he parked the car. “You’re just lazy.”
“Damn straight,” she replied. “Wow, look at those gorgeous horses,” she sighed happily as she got out of the car and breathed in the scent of horse manure and horse sweat. “The smell is amazing…”
“You’re insane,” Kol remarked, shaking his head. “Who loves the smell of manure?”
“Horse shit is different than cow shit.”
“It’s all the same to me, darling,” he took her hand, greeted the ranch owner and headed straight for their horses; two tan Quarter Horses.
“Aren’t we going to need a guide or go with a tour?”
“No, I know the way. I have been plotting and scheming while you and Myriam were having fun, plus, I have an excellent sense of direction.”
The first part of their journey was on the path that the ranch used for their tours, but then Kol veered off and Bella followed. The scenery was amazing, the sun was setting and all these little animals came out to play while others disappeared. “I love how you keep surprising me, Kol,” Bella smiled as she gently pat her horse’s neck. “You think of everything.”
“Where we are going, there’s even a hitching post for the horses with food and water.”
“My hero,” she giggled as she gently nudged her horse into a light canter. “It’s been years since I rode a horse, this is amazing, thank you.”
“Oh, but we’re not done yet,” he grinned. “Keep up, if you can!” Kol galloped away from her and all Bella could do was follow, chase him through the canyon until he finally came to a full stop near a small clearing where there was a small tent with a burning campfire in front of it, and as he said, a hitching post with food and water for the horses.
He allowed Bella to settle the horses while he pulled a cooler out of the tent and started to cook the steaks over a rack over the campfire. Kol hated camping out; there was nothing comfortable or fancy about it, but he made sure that they were going to be comfortable anyway; only the best air mattress available in the tent, nice warm sleeping bags and good food. Bella liked the simpler things, and this was definitely that.
Bella sat down next to him and snuggled up before kissing him on his cheek. “We’re going to spend the night?”
“Yes,” he smiled at her. “Or would you like to return to civilisation?”
“No, no, this is great! Just you and me.”
“And Mister and Disco.”
“Yes, and them, but I doubt they fit inside the tent,” Bella giggled.
“And I’m not into beastiality.”
“Oh,” Bella cooed as she peeked into the cooler and found a bottle of wine. “Outdoor sex! Underneath the stars!” Not finding any mugs or glasses, she opened the bottle and took a sip out of it and let out a big burp.
“Oh, that’s not lady like at all.” Kol laughed as he took over the bottle, drank some from it and produced an even bigger burp. “Oh, I’m such a child!”
“Yes!” Bella laughed. “Nobody can hear us here, Kol, let it all out!”
He wanted to leave the steaks and go for the first round with Bella, but he knew that she needed some food first; besides, they were premium steaks, it would be a waste to let them burn. For now, all he could do was will them to cook faster. Taking another swig from the bottle, he handed it back to her. “Good for you to say that, darling,” he said darkly. “I’m going to make you scream so hard tonight.”
She stared at him with open mouth. “Fuck.”
