Bloody Symphony | Elijah Mikaelson

Chapter 27

Natanya felt safe in his arms.

"Don't let go yet," she whispered, her head still resting on his chest. She'd finished crying, but she wasn't ready to go back to her own bed. She was in his, curled up under his sheets to be warm, his arms wrapped around her.

"Take all the time you need," he said gently. "I will stay right here."

"I'm gonna have to tell Jackson," said Natanya, reaching her hand up to get the tear stains off of her cheeks. "And he's not going to be happy. About any of it. Did he even know—?"

"Yes, when we learned that you and Camille had been kidnapped, he took a group of wolves to search the city. Niklaus found you first because Aurora left him a clue."

"Did you tell him you found me?"

"I called him to inform him that you were safe. He was here for a while, waiting for you to wake. But he and Hayley went to try and find Aurora, who vanished. I suppose they wish to enact their revenge." He slid his hand over her head. "Natanya... you won't like what I have to say, however—"

"Then don't say it," she whispered. "If I'm not going to like it..."

"I simply believe it's safer if, perhaps, you, Jackson, your grandmother, Hope, and Hayley were to go out of town for just a little while. Niklaus and I must find our sister, and it is not safe for you to remain here."

"But what if I feel safer here? Where you're just across the street, if I need help? If I had been in another city and Aurora had gone to find me... I would have been alone and unable to beat her, and she would have managed to kill me. I know that part of her wanted to. She wanted to make you suffer by taking me away from you. But... she didn't... because she thinks one of us will kill the other."

"You will never fall at my hand," said Elijah quietly. "Just as I know I will not fall by yours. Please... consider it. I know that you wish to help, but if you were to go elsewhere, it might be far better. Do not think of it as me pushing you away. I love you, and it is because I love you that I wish to keep you safe, even if it means I cannot be near you for a while."

"I can't leave, Elijah. I need to own up to what I did... tell Jackson the truth. Tell the wolves the truth."

"Are you sure you wish for them to know?"

"I've lied to them for over a decade. No more. They have to know."

She'd felt better the next morning, and had arranged to meet Jackson in the Bayou so that they could talk.

"Are you alright, Tanya?" he asked, pulling her into a hug once she was standing in front of him.

"Physically, yes," she said. "Mentally, no. Did Elijah talk about his offer?"

"Yeah. He's got a good idea... it's safer for us to be outside of New Orleans. Think, Tanya, we don't owe the Mikaelsons anything. You could get killed staying behind to help them."

"They're Hope's family whether we like it or not. Klaus saved me from Aurora when he didn't have to. Elijah's kept me safe in the past. I know that we haven't had the perfect, ideal interactions with any of them, but I feel safer knowing that if I'm close by, they just might have my back. Elijah told me that Aurora dropped Rebekah into the ocean, and it could take weeks to find her, because they have to follow an entire route and check every bit of it to see where she was dropped."

Jackson sighed. "Hayley said something similar. Truth be told we're not too happy with each other right now."

Natanya frowned. "What happened?"

"The day before Thanksgiving, she promised me we'd have dinner together... just her, me, and Hope, and maybe we'd ask you and Cami to come along if we found out y'all didn't already have plans. But then you and Cami disappeared, and I just knew something was wrong. When in the hell have you ever been to a music festival? I told Hayley that I was worried, and I asked if she'd help me look for you. Then, she ended up going to the Compound without telling me 'cause apparently the Mikaelsons were having Lucien, Tristan, and Aurora for dinner. She almost got hurt and she came back really late... Hope and I had dinner by ourselves and I was anxious the whole time 'cause I hadn't been able to contact you. So... I left to look for you on my own. And when Klaus told me that Aurora had taken you, I got the wolves searching."