Bloody Symphony | Elijah Mikaelson

Chapter 25

Natanya tiptoed out the door.

"If you're gonna yell at me, keep it limited to a whisper-yell," she said. "Cami's sleeping."

"I'm not going to yell at you," he said gently. "I wished to ask if you're alright."

She crossed her arms over her chest and shrugged. "I'm fine. What were you all crying about?"

"Lucien's witch is dead. Poisoned. I do not know if he did it to be rid of her. He appeared... surprised and shocked. All the same, it could be a performance. Be careful around him."

"I will be," she said. "Is that it?"

"What was your impression of Tristan?"

"Seems like a guy who is trying to compensate for the fact that he doesn't have everything in life... he just pretends to. He seems to be hiding something. He addressed you as if expecting for you to go back to however things were between you one thousand years ago. Except, there was a lingering bitterness, as if he hates you but he can't show it because his life sort of depends on you."

He internalized that, and sighed. "I worry that this prophecy will reach beyond myself and my siblings," he said. "I fear it will affect you. I simply wish for you to be safe. I should have taken you with me. With Marcel... something could have happened to you. I should have allowed you to be my plus-one."

"It's whatever, it happened already. The ball is over, Elijah."

"Are you angry with me?"

"I'm annoyed with you. But like I said, it's whatever. Just promise me that you won't hurt Marcel for this, and we can go our separate ways."

"Separate ways? Are you implying something?"

"Doesn't seem like we have any chance of working out if you're not gonna respect my choices and just try to control what I do. Not to mention your ex is in town and is trying to make you jealous by hanging onto Marcel."

Elijah sighed. "I am not jealous of Marcel. Aya and I were together over nine hundred years ago. It is a thing of the very distant past. My jealousy came from the fact that you were with Marcel."

"You know Marcel and I are just friends, right? The guy is head over heels for your sister."

"And yet, there seems to exist a certain chemistry between the both of you. You worked together tonight without needing to prepare for it. You work well as partners. I dislike the thought of you with anyone else, and I felt... envy. Seeing how safe you felt with him. How comfortable you were. And I realize it's all quite selfish of me. I want you to be safe. It's all I've ever wanted for you. And I continue to desire that for you even if it means I cannot have you for myself."

"Me going to the party with Marcel doesn't mean that it's over between you and me. But it will be if you keep trying to control what I do. You don't own me. No one does. You don't get to tell me what to do and you don't get to tell Marcel what to do, either. We're making our choices and sticking with them. Respect that, please."

Elijah nodded. "Of course. I'll leave you to rest."

Natanya grabbed his arm before he could go. "Just be honest with me. Do you want us to work out? To potentially be together again?"

"Yes," he said bluntly. "Do you?"

"Yes."

_

Over the course of the month, tensions seemed to cool down between them.

Natanya continued to work diligently at Rousseau's alongside Cami, who was teaching her how to mix drinks so that she could get paid more as a bartender. Cami was a good friend, and an even better roommate. She was very clean and respectful, and shared Natanya's interest for watching movies late into the night on days when they didn't have a morning shift.