Salvation of a Salvatore Sister

Stubborn Woman

        I stumble into the study at the sound of voices. My body is in incredible pain; my chest and abdomen feel as though they are burning from the inside out. This morning when I managed to maneuver myself to the mirror, I lifted my shirt to find my stomach covered in red veins, surrounding a cut down the core of it. I can't help but release a groan when I step wrong, causing a jolt to run up my spine. Elijah and Marcel's eyes flag me as I round the corner. Elijah is quick to rush to my side, bracing my body against his.

"Liliana! What are you doing?" His voice is scolding as he frowns at me. "You should be in bed."

Shaking my head, I step out of Elijah's hold carefully. However, a new strike of pain has me doubling over with a grunt. Fuck. A second later, I slowly stand back up. "I'm fine, Elijah." He sends me a raised brow in return. Obviously, my words aren't convincing enough. Copying his frown, I scowl at him. "My boyfriend and his sister are missing." I protest. "I'm not going to just lay around in bed and worry. Hell no! I'm helping you two find Klaus and Rebekah." Elijah steps to me with concern in his eyes. I shake my head with determination. "No. You're not talking me out of this, Elijah." I turn my head to look at Marcel, who looks as if he's about to say something. "Neither are you." The two men share a long look before Elijah sighs.

"Promise me you'll be careful, Lily." His eyes widen as he places a hand on my shoulder. "Your safety is a priority."

I attempt a small smile at Elijah, though I think it may have been closer to a grimace. "Thank you, Elijah. Now," I glance at Marcel, "where are we at?"

Marcel helps me walk over to a chair. I happily collapse into it, trying to suppress my reactions to the pain coursing through my body. Elijah may be placating me now, but he won't if he realizes just how much pain I'm in. The same pain Klaus is in...somewhere out there. "Eyes and ears are out everywhere. Day-walkers are working every contact we've got. Cops, dock workers, guys in the Treme. Word is out. Anyone trying to earn favor with me gets a lifetime of it if they find them."

Elijah nods. "Good. I need a pen and paper."

A look of surprise flashes over Marcel's features. It's clear this isn't what he expected Elijah to say, nor did I. "Hey, am I taking orders from you now, or are we in this together?"

Stripping his jacket off, Elijah glances at Marcel with frustration. "Pen and paper, Marcellus. Now!"

"I want her back just as much as you do, you know...the both of them." Marcel tells Elijah as he starts searching through the drawers for a pen and paper. Elijah slips off his tie next. My brow furrow at this action. What the hell is he doing? His siblings are missing and he's giving a strip tease?

"Elijah. What's going on?"

He unbuttons his shirt, and I gasp. Scrawled across his whole body is names. Each is scratched into his skin with black ink, almost as though they were tattooed there. I stand, needing to inspect this closer. Elijah reaches out for me when I stumble, steadying me. "Can you make a list of these names for me?" He asks. I nod, still in shock.

Glancing at his forearm, Sabine's name stands out to me. My eyes flash to his. "I believe they represent the names of the women Celeste inhabited for the past two centuries."

I gape at him. "Is this..."

"A Devinette," Marcel finishes for me, handing me the pen and paper. "It's old school. Kind of a riddle. Witches use them to teach their kids. Solve it, and it disappears." Wow. It's been a while since I've seen one.

"To find Niklaus and Rebekah, we need to solve this riddle. The solution lies somewhere in these names."

Marcel scans the name before pointing to one. "The name next to Sabine... Annie La Fleur, she's the witch that was shunned from her coven just over a year ago. Never knew why, but I can find out." Elijah nods, and I begin copying down the names. When Marcel returns, I'm done, and he tells us he has Annie's last known location. We head out to find it.