Savior | Klaus Mikaelson

Chapter 67

Maddy felt like she was intruding.

Klaus and Lucien were chatting like they'd never been apart. Like best friends who constantly saw each other and had never had anything drive a wedge between them. She tried to laugh lightly when appropriate, didn't make comments unless Klaus looked at her to indicate he wanted to hear her thoughts. Mostly, she just rocked Hope and listened to the conversation, which she wasn't sure she wanted to be a part of. The last thing these two needed was a third wheel just eavesdropping.

"Oh, Kol!" said Lucien, who was on his eighth glass of whiskey. "Kol was a bloody loon, I loved it! But Finn! Oh, Finn— Finn was fine, as long as you didn't actually have to speak to him."

"Nik," said Maddy gently when she saw him pouring himself another glass. He was already at his seventh, and though his tolerance was much greater than hers, she knew he wasn't far off from being a giggling mess. "Maybe take a small break."

"Come now, drink with us!" said Lucien, noticing she hadn't even touched the bottle. "You obviously don't breastfeed, a bit of liquor won't harm your daughter at all!"

Maddy forced a kind smile. "I don't feel comfortable drinking when I'm holding her. But thank you for offering."

Lucien glanced at her curiously before turning to Klaus. "Have you heard from the de Martels at all?"

There it was. The mention of Aurora. What Maddy had been dreading. She tried not to make it obvious that she was more keen on listening now. Klaus didn't suspect a thing. "I haven't heard from Tristan or Aurora in a thousand years," said Klaus, a bit of venom lacing his tone. Considering how Aurora had dumped him, this was clearly still a sore subject. "Why, have you spoken to them?"

"As you well know, Aurora and I parted ways centuries ago," said Lucien. "And Tristan always despised me. He's not one I care to speak to." He gestured to Maddy. "Does she know—?"

"Yes," said Maddy before Klaus could answer. "Rebekah told me, and Nik clarified a few points afterward."

"Cruel, isn't it, the way a woman can break a man's heart?"

"I think that cruelty can go both ways," said Maddy flatly. "Everyone has it in them to be vicious and to hurt another emotionally."

"Well said. Tell me more about you. I'd heard the Salvatore name before, but I never learned much about your family."

Maddy cleared her throat, bringing the blanket up to cover Hope's ears to help her sleep despite the noise around them. "I have three brothers. Two of them and I have been vampires since 1864. The other was turned in 1903 by my mother, unbeknownst to us. One of them was with me in the twenties when we came across Nik and Rebekah in Chicago. From there, well, unless you have specific questions, I'm not sure what else to mention without making this story dreadfully long. There are a lot of details."

"Are you all from Nik's sireline?"

"No. Two of my brothers and I are. The other, we actually don't know. We'd have to figure out who turned my mother and who turned that lady. We've always suspected it's Rebekah because she would work as a nurse from time to time. We assumed maybe she turned someone and they wanted to do the same thing. We know for certain it couldn't be Kol or Finn's sireline. But he could also be from Elijah's. Not quite sure how we'd figure that out."

"Blood tests, obviously," said Lucien. "Compare his blood to Nik's, Elijah's, and Rebekah's. There will be similarities with whoever his sire is."

"Is that really how that works?"

"I don't see why it wouldn't work."

"Hmm, we might do that eventually. We haven't really felt curious about that. Why do you ask?"