Warrior | Stefan Salvatore

Chapter 17

The next day was just as eventful.

Graciela woke up early to make breakfast for everyone, and spent quite a while in the kitchen flipping pancakes. Surprisingly, no one complained. Either because they hadn't done the cooking, or because she was actually getting good at it.

"We have some updates," said Hayley, pulling Graciela and Jackson aside after they ate. "Good news, Dahlia still doesn't know that we're here. Bad news, she's given us until tomorrow night, and then she's coming for Hope. She killed Josephine LaRue and used her to send that message to Klaus, Elijah, and Rebekah."

"Can't say I'll miss that lady," said Graciela. "But that does suck."

"I say it's time we get the hell out of here," said Jackson seriously.

Graciela blinked. "You want to leave? But the point of spelling this place was to make it a safe place to hide."

"Look, Jack," said Hayley, looking at the wolf, "I wanna go as much as you do, but think— Freya said that Dahlia was drawn to Hope's magic. No matter how far we go, she's still gonna be able to track us! At least this place is spelled— no one can do magic here, not Hope or Dahlia."

Jackson sighed. "Sure, this place is spelled, but we've seen bigger magic than this break. I say we run while we can."

Hayley looked over to where Hope was in her playpen, currently waving around happily at one of the wolves. "It's a risk either way," said the hybrid. "She's just so little. It's not fair— witchcraft, magical spells. She didn't ask for any of this...." she seemed to have an idea. "Which means that she wouldn't miss it if it was gone."

Jackson and Graciela were both confused. "Maybe that's it," said Hayley. "Dahlia could only sense her when she's usingmagic. So, what if there's a way of stopping her from doing it in the first place?"

"She's just a baby," said Jackson. "How are we gonna do that?"

"I have an idea," said Hayley. "Although... it's dangerous. Especially now."

"Let me do it," offered Aiden, who had been listening to the conversation off to the side. "Look, whatever it is, it's myfault you didn't get away yesterday."

"No, that wasn't your fault, Aiden," said Jackson before Graciela could ask what he meant.

"Please," insisted Aiden. "Just give me a chance to make it up to you."

"Okay," said Hayley. "Come on, let me explain my plan."

She led him away. "What did he mean?" asked Graciela before Jackson could walk away. "Is that why you arrived late? You were trying... to make a run for it?"

The look on his face suggested she was right. Her jaw tightened. She waited until Hayley returned to burst out, "Are you seriously planning on running off the instant you suppress Hope's magic?"

"We're not safe here," said Hayley. "It's what's best for Hope."

"Is it, really? Living out in the streets and running constantly? She's not even a year old yet. Babies need calm and happy spaces to develop. You'd have to be moving all the time, assuming Dahlia doesn't find another way to track her without needing her magic. Everyone here is willing to fight to protect you. And you'd be willing to walk away from that? Tell me, why are you really doing this?"

"We'd be safer in the Bayou," said Jackson. "We can be the predator, we can hide more efficiently, and we can buy time to figure out how to get rid of Dahlia for good."

"And what, you'd abandon everybody to do that? Were you planning to say goodbye to Elijah and Rebekah? Did you talk to Klaus about it?"

Obviously, they hadn't. "Don't tell him," said Hayley lowly. "Please."