Howlin' For You

Chapter 8 - The Amends

To say Elijah was in a foul mood the whole night and morning after Rhiannon walked away from him would be an understatement. He followed her and made sure she got home safe; he watched her cry herself to sleep contemplating upon his options.

After Brenna, he never allowed himself to fall for anybody so deeply. There were other women that entered his life and made him care again. There was Katerina, and of course Celeste, but when push came to shove, he had always chosen his obligations towards his family over them, ultimately losing them as a consequence. Celeste paid the price with her life and Katerina turned into a vicious manipulative monster he barely recognized anymore. Frankly, he couldn't decide which was worse. He was more and more sure that he didn't want to repeat the same pattern where Rhiannon was concerned. Maybe the time had come for him to put his happiness first again.

He didn't expect to see her at the tea party Mayor Lockwood held for him, but there she was standing next to Jenna, wearing a leather jacket over simple black dress with a floral pattern, talking to Jenna. He barely even registered what the Mayor was talking about and when the young vampire approached them, she followed him with her gaze and for a moment when she locked eyes with Elijah, he could see all the hurt and confusion in her beautiful hazel orbs before she directed them back to Jenna, to excuse herself and walked away.

Rhiannon talking to Alaric, when she saw Elijah enter the study with Damon. She gave in to her curiosity and decided to leave Alaric and eavesdrop on the macho face-off that would inevitably happen between the two vampires. Boy was she right.

"What can I do for you Damon?" Elijah asked in an overly civilized manner. To everyone who knew him well enough, it would a sign they should tread carefully. However, Damon being Damon was completely oblivious to the fact that he was walking on a very thin ice.

"I was hoping we could have a word," Damon replied.

"Where's Elena?" Elijah asked. He couldn't help but notice the doppelganger's absence.

"Safe with Stefan. Layin' low, you know. We had a bit of a werewolf problem."

"Oh yea, I heard about that."

"I'm sure you did since it was your witch who saved the day," Damon said, leaning on the table casually.

"You're welcome," Elijah said, the strain in his voice becoming evident with every uttered word.

"Which adds to my confusion exactly why you're here," Damon pushed on.

"Why don't you just focus on keeping Elena safe and leave the rest to me?" Elijah said courtly turning around to leave the room before the temptation to rip Damon's head off would become too difficult to resist. The young vampire of course overlooked the thinly veiled threat and blurred in front of him hindering his way out of the room saying: "Not good enough."

Before he could do or say anything else, Elijah grabbed him by the throat and blur-shoved him against the wall behind the desk. Damon of course tried to retaliate by grabbing Elijah by his throat but that had about as much effect on him as if a toddler did it.

"Young vampires, so arrogant," Elijah said with a hint of emotion in his voice that made Rhiannon decide it was time to intervene. She barged into the room catching both vampires by surprise.

"Let him go Elijah! Please!" Rhiannon pleaded.

He ignored her pleas and turned back to Damon, saying: "How dare you come in here and challenge me?"

"You can't kill me, remember? It's not part of the deal," Damon rasped defiantly making Rhiannon face-palm inwardly.

"Silence," Elijah said sternly. That was the second time Rhiannon heard him utter those two syllables and it sent shivers down her spine that had only little to do with an actual fear. She was snapped out of her thoughts by the sight of Elijah stabbing Damon in the neck with a number two pencil.