Chapter 15
After Matt was thoroughly dealt with, Freya put Elena and Damon under with a sleeping spell only she could break and Peter and Jasper came to collect the two former vampires to make sure they were kept out of harm’s way. Myriam returned a day later after Bella and Isaac had promised that they had gone over every inch of the basement and made sure that no blood had been left behind.
Kol, deciding that he had handled himself well during this cure scare, treated himself to a wild night out. That wild night turned into a day. Two nights, two days, three days… before Myriam eventually found them in his room at the Owl. “You could have told us you were here!” Myriam cried out as she looked at Kol’s female companion. “Is that Jeri?!”
“Sorry, darling, I asked Jeri to cast a teeny spell around my room,” Kol smirked at Myriam as he was stood in front of her, totally naked.
“You had us worried!”
“Where else would I go but here?” Kol blinked at her. “Jeri stays at the school, our passionate and casual sex would be completely wrong for that kind of setting.”
Myriam rolled her eyes at him. “Incroyable. Get dressed. You two are having breakfast with us, because it’s been days and I bet you didn’t feed your pet witch.”
“I am not his pet witch, Myriam!” Jeri exclaimed as she finished getting dressed. “We were having fun, two consenting adults.”
“Bah! He’s barely classified to be an adult! Troublesome gnat!”
Jeri looked at Kol for a moment, really appreciating the view. “You should get dressed. Not that I oppose to your nudity.”
“Yes before I call your brother here. I promised him I’d help the wolves keep you out of trouble.”
“Jeri’s not trouble!” Kol whined as he turned around and found himself some clothes to wear. “We both had an itch to scratch, so what?”
“Jeri’s a teacher at the school for the gifted and she’s a witch. Not that gifted, so I don’t know what she’s doing there to begin with. She could get you in a whole lot of trouble.”
“Ah, I knew you never liked me, Myriam,” Jeri laughed, shaking her head as she collected her purse. “You know what? I think I’ll pass on the breakfast and head home.”
Myriam grabbed Jeri by the arm as she passed her. “Oh no, sweetheart, you’re going to have the breakfast of shame,” she grinned. “I’m pretty sure that the wolves will just love you.”
Kol growled. “They can’t stop me from having my fun, you know. Just because they’re in a relationship doesn’t mean that I have to be one to have meaningless sex.”
The vampire turned and glared at him. “You and I will have a discussion about this, this tryst, believe me. I strongly suggest you choose your words carefully from this point on if you truly do not wish for me to follow through on your brother’s threat as I had no intentions. This? This crosses a line you will learn.”
“Hey, stop it. My body, my choice,” Jeri said as she wrestled herself loose from Myriam’s hold before looping her arm through Kol’s. “Let’s have breakfast then.”
Bella hit Kol over the head with a newspaper. “Where. The. hell. Have. you. Been?!”
“Upstairs,” Kol grinned as he ducked away. “Silencing spell around the room while Jeri and I had a lot of fun the last few days.”
“You could have said something!” Bella shot at him and hit him again with the paper, this time on his back. “You had us all worried. No note. No phone call. Nothing! We’ve looked all over for you and we were about to ask Freya for yet another favor of tracking you!”
“Relax, darling,” he smiled at her as he sat down at the table. “There’s no need to worry about me.”
Bella watched as Myriam sat down between Kol and Jeri and felt some agitation coming off of her friend. Which was strange, because Bella had only experienced that with Isaac, who was merely feeling slightly confused at the moment. “I understand you want to have some fun, Kol, but you should have told us where you were,” she then looked at Jeri. “A silencing spell on the room? In this building? You’re not allowed to do magic in here, you know that. This place is protected by some powerful spells and you could have upset the balance.”
“I know what I’m doing,” Jeri countered angrily. “Sure, Freya is far more powerful than I am, but her magic is all over the place, spread too thinly. I specialize in defensive spells. Don’t worry, your protection is still in place.”
“It doesn’t matter, there are rules.”
“You need to loosen up.”
Myriam slammed her hand on the table. “And you need to get it through your skull that this place is a safe haven for those being attacked by hunters, and for the paying guests. If you’re messing with the magic of this place, you’re messing with their safety!”
Kol let out a deep breath. “Note to self; dingy motel next time.”
“No,” Bella smiled at him. “It’s nice that you’ve met someone you can have casual sex with and that you feel free enough to take her here. But no more magic. Promise me that. And please, tell me where you go. I don’t want to control you or belittle you, I want to know that you’re safe.”
“Darling, I’m an Original vampire.”
“And? Your point?” Bella retorted, cocking her head as a playful smile appeared on her face. “Doesn’t mean you can’t get into trouble. And here I thought you were doing so well…”
Kol could hear the disappointment in Bella’s voice and hung his head in shame. “My apologies, Bella.”
“Apology accepted. Don’t do it again,” she said before looking at Myriam. “And what has your knickers all in a twist?”
She pointed at Jeri and Kol. “These two shouldn’t be together.”
“What!” Jeri exclaimed. “I know you don’t like me but you’re not going to make decisions for me, Myriam. I will not allow it!”
“She kinda has a point,” Isaac nodded as he took a bite from his breakfast burrito. “Jeri’s 25 years old, she lives in a free world and she’s free to see who she wants to see. Who are you to say no? Besides, didn’t they say it was mutual and consensual? As long as they’re happy with their agreement, so should we. But Kol, just because you have the hots for your brother’s girlfriend doesn’t mean that you should date someone who’s looking like her.”
Myriam scowled then as she dismissed Isaac’s remark about Jeri looking like her. “I don’t think Jeri is worth it to even be in the same proximity as a Mikaelson,” she muttered.
“That’s not your decision to make!” Kol shot at her, causing Myriam to drive a fork through Kol’s hand. “Ouch?” He had seen the similarities but he didn’t care about them. He had just wanted a free, uncomplicated fuck for a few days and then he’d move on from her. His new family, the pack he was now a member of, were making things far more complicated than it had to be. He pried Myriam’s fingers off of the fork and pulled it out of his hand.
Bella sighed as she got to her feet, rounded the table and took Myriam’s hand before pulling her away from the breakfast table and straight into her office. After having closed the door, she looked at her friend. “What’s going on? I know you don’t like Jeri, but you never told me why. And now this?”
Myriam was jittery as she gnawed on the inside of her cheek as she debated if she should answer. A glare over her shoulder at her friend as she moved to stare out the window had her shaking her head. “It’s not so much that I don’t like her. I tolerate her. However I have to make sure she’s protected too.”
“And why is that?”
Myriam sucked in a breath. “Alright, fine. But you’re not going to tell anyone.”
“I promise.”
“My mother was a French prostitute, working in Barcelona in the late 1600’s, and around 1680 she fell pregnant with me, after one of her Johns took quite an interest in her and used her for pleasure multiple times. Once he realized my mother was pregnant, he tossed off again to Italy, making my mother raise me by herself,” she said carefully, still staring out the window. “She died when I was 15 and I spent the next three years travelling on my own until I met the Mikaelsons in Cádiz. I travelled a thousand kilometres on foot, sometimes on horseback and making ends meet. I went to Cádiz, because I thought it be possible for someone with a ship to take me to the New World, to exciting and exotic places.”
“You’ve known the Mikaelsons for that long?”
Myriam slowly nodded. “For years I didn’t care about being alone, it was a way of life, but upon seeing the Mikaelsons so happy together, and having fun, it made me realize that I missed that part of my life. Kol offered his help to track down my family, even if that meant we had to travel a long time,” she hesitated then. “Yes, we did have sex with each other, but that’s because we were traveling and always together. Things were bound to happen.”
Bella was flabbergasted. “Wow, I did not know that… and you two don’t act like exes, either.”
“Because we aren’t. I basically repaid him with sex for all that he was doing for me,” Myriam shrugged. “He kept me safe and made me feel safe, something I hadn’t felt in a very long time. Love is… hard for Kol, because of his family’s history and abuse, and that’s why I’m glad that you and Isaac are helping him now,” she added before sighing. “And then the dreaded day came; Kol had found my family. The man who donated his sperm over and over again to my mother. He was married, had a lovely family and very wealthy.”
“Typical.”
Myriam nodded, a small smile on her lips. “The man clearly knew who I was, but he pretended not to. Accused me of lying and being a criminal; wanting to rob him for all that he had while all I wanted was a family. Kol managed to sneak out some trinkets for me that were quite expensive looking and that was that. We went back to Cádiz,” she sucked in a breath then. “Years later, after I turned, I decided to go and see what had happened of that family, and saw that they were very prosperous despite having lost most of their wealth. Their legacy will continue forever, I suppose that’s most important. I had my minions look after the family when I couldn’t. Jeri is the last one of that family line.”
Bella’s jaw nearly dropped to the floor. “She’s your family? It makes so much sense why she looks so much like you! And then that attitude!”
The vampire’s brows furrowed. “Family is such an intimate word, don’t you think?”
“Well, I believe that family is what you make it to be, it doesn’t have to mean just blood.”
“The Mikaelsons are my family. Same as you, now. I suppose even the wretched dog that got Klaus’s head in a vice that spawned their child, but I adore Hope. She’s everything I couldn’t give him.”
“So you don’t want Kol and Jeri in a relationship to protect her?”
Myriam turned to face her. “I know Kol in a way his siblings will never know him and I know they will only find pain in one another. I object only because I mean to protect him like he has done for me. He does not see it now and I don’t want him to know the truth.”
“You’re afraid that this casual thing might end up in a full blown relationship? Or that he might do something stupid causing Jeri to lash out?”
She grew agitated again as she thought of telling her just what family they were blood of. “Bella, I’ve watched Jeri as she grew up. She is as much as every other one of the rest of that bloodline and she will get what she wants and turn her back on him. That is the last thing he needs.”
“Okay,” Bella nodded. “We’ll talk to Caroline to fire her for breaking our rules and then you can do whatever you want with Jeri, how’s that?”
“With the hunters, the school is the only place for her unless we convince her to go to New Orleans. Klaus knows and won’t say a thing.”
She thought again and smiled then. “What if we invite my brother back and have him and Jeri strike up a friendship and have him take her to Beacon Hills?”
Myriam scowled. “I like your brother too much to subjugate him to my cousin.”
“So on the one hand, you want to get rid of her. On the other, you want her protected and you want her away from your family. From Kol. So… sending her to New Orleans won’t be an option either, will it?”
“Until your little adoption, everything was just dandy,” she snapped, immediately feeling guilty. “I’m sorry.”
Bella walked over to her friend and smiled at her. “I’m sorry, but you agreed that Kol needed our help, too. You brought him here because he didn’t want to come on his own and look how much he has grown since! And I’m not mad at you. Maybe this was a one time deal and it won’t happen again. I mean, this is the first time he’s had some sort of connection to anyone since his girlfriend died.”
Sighing, Myriam wished she could share in her optimism. “Davina was no better. She used him too until she became regent and it was ripped from her.”
Bella then had a very naughty thought. “Maybe Isaac is into threesomes.”
“No. I guess call your brother. I’ll see if Hope might be able to spell an amulet so she can’t try any tricks on him,” she conceded with a roll of her eyes.
“Or we could give her the Elena and Damon treatment.”
“We could. But we’d have an Original throwing a fit. He likes his witches. She might be able to do some good for your brother if we can keep him from falling for her tricks.”
“Well, they say this was meaningless sex, I suppose we won’t know if it was until we split them up,” Bella still wasn’t sure what Myriam’s deal was with Jeri or what was so important about her, but she trusted Myriam’s opinion. And on top of that, Myriam was very easy going and never made any requests. She worked hard to be of help to Bella and Isaac, without any problems or reluctance. But this was something entirely different.
Bella fumbled her phone out of her pocket and dialled her brother’s number.
“Hey!”
“Hey yourself,” Bella greeted him. “How are things going?”
“Great! What can I do for you?”
“Ah, you’re not alone, are you?” she laughed. “Well, I may have found you a new project. We can’t keep her around and can’t send her to New Orleans. Family history and all that. But she’s hot, and she may benefit from your influence?”
Derek was quiet for a moment then and Bella could hear Stiles and Lydia bicker in the background. “Yeah, sure. Does that come with a manual?”
“That can be drafted, yes,” Myriam grinned. “I’ll start on one right away!”
“I’m on my way.”
“Love you,” Bella smiled as she disconnected the call and watched as Myriam took a seat behind Bella’s desk and started to type furiously. “What are you doing?”
“Typing a manual,” Myriam grinned. “He’s going to be dealing with a witch. Like she said, she’s good with defensive spells but she’s a manipulative bitch, too. The Medici’s didn’t come as far as they did without their manipulation skills and she’s inherited those.”
Bella blinked as the information hit her. “You’re an illegitimate child of a Medici?!”
“You can say bastard child, you know. Works for females too,” she winked at her. “Yeah, I am, and I’ve watched her grow up, she’s just like them. She takes what she wants and leaves. I can’t just kill her, either. I mean… I’ve grown into the habit of allowing the descendants to spawn one child first, and then kill them when the child reaches 15 years of age. I might just raise the next one myself.”
“Does she know? About you being family?”
“No, and I intend to keep it that way, got it?”
“Got it,” Bella nodded. “Good luck writing that manual, I’m going to release Jeri from the breakfast of shame.” She walked back to the dining room with a big smile on her face. “Alright, Jeri, I believe you have some classes to teach. Caroline called me yesterday to see if you were here. So you are now released from this table,” she said as she put her hands on Kol’s shoulders as she could feel him wanting to get up. “Oh no, you have some chores to do, mister.”
“What are you doing?” Isaac asked her, curiously.
“He disappeared for days, hiding under our roof under a silencing spell, having wild monkey sex with a witch, you bet your ass he’s going to do chores for the next two weeks!”
“What!” Kol exclaimed.
“Oh yeah, buddy, you’re grounded,” Bella grinned as she ruffled his hair. “Your first chore is to clean the porch from all the sand and clean the windows. All the windows.”
“And what if I refuse?”
“Either Myriam calls Klaus, or we’re sending you back to New Orleans to continue drowning in your sorrows.” Kol scowled as he got to his feet, but Bella still kept a hold on him. “And no vampire speed.”
“You’re mean.”
“You started this,” she reminded him with a smile on her face.
A YEAR LATER
It had taken Derek a couple of months to get Jeri under control, but eventually he managed to work with her shortcomings and she was actually doing a lot of good now with Derek and his pack. He had accepted everyone from Scott’s pack into his own and even according to Argent, Derek was doing great with them, and their mission.
Unfortunately, Peter Hale had died after he sacrificed himself for Derek and Malia, Peter’s daughter and the group of people he was saving. Bella thought that was surprisingly courageous of him, in the end, Peter Hale did have a heart. Luckily for Derek, he no longer had to worry about his deranged uncle and his relationship with Bella.
Bella received every credentials of her management courses so now she was legally allowed to run a Bed and Breakfast by herself, just in case the human authorities would come for a check. She wanted to have everything above board and not have the vampires compel everyone who said a bad word about their establishment.
The Mystic Night Owl was doing great. The only quiet days were during the winter, but they were always completely booked otherwise. Peter suggested buying the motel, knock it down and build a dependance of the Owl there, even though it would require more staff that Bella and Isaac had to vet and train. It was something Bella and Isaac still had to discuss, but both not really wanting to expand their success, as more and more supernaturals came to them for their aid.
The school was properly cloaked and hidden from humans. If there would be a supernatural child with human parents, the parents could access the school through the tunnels, one having been extended out of Mystic Falls in a different direction for safety. Myriam spent more time at the school again and even Isaac went over more often to play with the kids and teach them Lacrosse – mainly because Jeremy really sucked at it.
Bella was so happy that Isaac had finally become the confident and happy cook she had imagined him to be. The food was extraordinary now. It had been good, perfect before, but it was now rustic, authentic and extraordinary. Even their regular diners agreed with that fact. Bella couldn’t take the credit for that. It had been Kol’s presence in the kitchen, mostly, and Isaac’s friendship with Kol and Jeremy that had helped him alot.
Isaac was happy. Bella was happy. And even Kol was doing so much better. He enjoyed the single life very much, liking the fact that he didn’t have to share his time and space with someone and could do whatever he wanted to – within reason, because sometimes he did step out of bounds and he got scolded at by Bella, whom he sometimes called ‘mum’ just to tease her.
Emmett, Rosalie, Jasper, Charlotte and Peter were still running the farm in Mason Neck. They had bought more land to expand their territory and Emmett and Rosalie were ready for their own little project in the middle of the country. Between Derek in California and Bella in Virginia, Oklahoma was a great place to have another pocket of safety for those who were hunted by the hunters. Freya had been so kind to gift all five Cold Ones a permanent glamour for Christmas, one that made sure they’d never sparkle again, and they had been very thankful to her. In return, the Cold Ones gifted the Mikaelsons some of their special booze, and even sent some bottles to Derek in California.
Matt had basically ghosted the hunters, telling them that he was tired of being hurt all the time or being used as a pawn – thanks to Myriam’s influence – but that he would keep an eye out if anything supernatural was going to come his way to Mystic Falls. He still wanted the town to be free of as much of the supernatural as possible. To him; Bella and Isaac were still human and their business was just that and nothing more. Kol was invisible to him because Kol didn’t like it that Matt came over more often and he had to compel Matt to a) forget that he was yet again kidnapped to make sure he wasn’t on vervain and b) never saw Kol in a room.
Myriam’s project with Freya and Rebekah had been a big hit with the mayor of Mystic Falls, and she gladly parted with a part of the city so that a gated community could be built for the survivors of supernatural abuse. Even the sheriff was impressed and gladly helped out with the project. It had taken some months to make the plan work and get all the details right, but the community was now a work in process and the estimated completion date would be a few months from now.
But first, Bella and Isaac were in need of a well deserved vacation. Emmett and Rosalie were going to look after the inn while Alaric took over the cooking for a week and they went home with Myriam to New Orleans. Kol decided to go to the French Riviera, not fancying spending time in New Orleans.
For the first few days, they slept in the hotel that Rebekah and Myriam had put them in the first time they were in New Orleans, this time using all of the things the hotel had; room service. Room massages. The pool. The jacuzzi. And mostly the bed. The Mikaelsons always spoiled them whenever they came to town.
The rest of the days Bella and Isaac stayed at the compound, enjoying the company of the rest of the Mikaelsons and they usually spent their days sitting outside a restaurant and people watching. Maybe they could find Kol a girlfriend? By the time they had to go home, they hadn’t settled for anyone but had spoken to a few candidates, but none were worthy of Kol. Not even one of the local witches. Selene had started out to be promising, but she was a big fan of Marcel and Vincent and they both hated Kol, so she did too. Myriam took a bite out of her.
The week in New Orleans had been too short, but it was nice to relax and not to think about their lives for a while because they had left their businesses in good hands. Isaac did, however, found a New Orleanian cook or two that he liked and Myriam compelled that guy to quit his job and move to Mystic Falls to apply for a job at the Mystic Night Owl. And Bella couldn’t be happier; it meant that she would get to spend more time with her boyfriend during the day!
Bella and Isaac were watching Netflix on the couch with a nice glass of Peter and Jasper’s moonshine when Bella’s phone rang. She snatched it from the table and put it on speaker. “Hello brother,” she smiled.
“Hey.”
“Need more of the booze?”
“You keep that shit away from me!” Derek blurted, causing both Bella and Isaac to sit up and look at the phone with a dumbfounded look on their faces. “It’s more trouble than it’s worth!”
“What’s wrong?”
“Look, I can work with that bitch of a witch you sent to me to take care of. I can work with her shortcomings and she’s actually done a lot of good, but…” Derek sighed, frustration evident in that one sigh. “In combination with the alcohol… that great tasting crap, it’s disastrous.”
“Derek, get to the point, you’re scaring us here.”
“I got the bitch pregnant!” He exclaimed dramatically. “I don’t even like her! But what does a drunk wolf do?”
“I’m going to be an aunt!” Bella exclaimed happily. “That is so great!”
“Bella!”
“Well, okay, it sucks that it has to be with her, especially knowing what I know, but Derek, you’re going to be a dad! And you’re going to be amazing! Who cares if you don’t love that bitch? You’re the only one left of us who can continue the Hale line. You’re going to be amazing, I just know it.”
“You’re being too blasé about this. I don’t like it.”
“Wait, what? Why can’t you continue the Hale line, Bella?” Isaac said confused. “You’re a Hale yourself!”
“Yes, but babies get their daddy’s last name,” she winked at Isaac.
“Not in the modern day they don’t.”
“Well then it’s going to be Swan, because that’s what it says on my passport!”
“Guys!”
“We haven’t forgotten you Derek, but congratulations! I need to make a phone call. If you need anything, just call!” Bella quickly disconnected her phone, all excited, before calling Myriam. “Myr!”
“Yes?”
“I have some great news for you! I mean… GREAT news.”
“Oh, what is it?”
“My brother got drunk and guess what the bitch did? She seduced him and got pregnant!”
“That means I can get to kill her once she poops out the little baby Hale!” Myriam squealed in excitement. “This is great news!” Myriam was then quiet for a moment and sighed deeply. “Aw man, I wanted to keep that line completely human so I could use them as my toys… now the baby has a 50% chance to be a fucking puppy!”
Isaac just blinked at what Myriam had just said. Was she going to kill Jeri? Why?
“Two puppies here who are taking offense to that!”
“Sorry! But you know what I mean, right?”
“Yeah…” Bella sighed as Isaac now looked at her weirdly. “Hey, Isaac is giving me weird looks and he might scold me for being so enthusiastic about killing someone… can I fill him later?”
Myriam was quiet for a moment and Bella could hear the vampire hitting her own forehead. “Only the bare minimum to get the job done.”
“Gotcha.”
Myriam then squealed in joy again. “This was indeed great news, thank you so much, Bella!”
“You’re very welcome, enjoy the rest of your evening!” Bella hung up and snuggled back into Isaac’s arms before she filled Isaac in on the relationship between Jeri and Myriam. How Myriam thought it would be fun to keep the ‘proper’ line going from the man who impregnated Myriam’s mother and kill the parent when the child turned 15, as Myriam lost her mother at that age.
“That’s fucked up,” Isaac replied. “So Kol wasn’t allowed to continue his casual sex with Jeri because of Myriam?”
“No, because Jeri is a manipulative bitch and she didn’t want Kol to get hurt.”
“It’s still fucked up.”
Bella shrugged as she relaxed into his arms. “It’s our life now. We have vampire friends and vampires are a bit… strange. And Jeri won’t fall under our rules to protect, either. She’s a witch. Supernatural on supernatural violence is not our thing. Besides, it’ll make our Myriam really happy.”
He kissed the top of her head. “Are you happy?”
“Very,” she smiled at him. “I’m so very happy. With you. With our lives and even our friends.”
“Good, because everyone deserves a happy ending.”
“I think we found ours.”
“Yeah, so do I,” he smiled goofily at her. “I love you, Bella Hale.”
“I love you too, Isaac Lahey.”
* THE END*