[ BOOK TWO ]
Erin Gilbert's life had become one supernatural catastrophe after another, not that she should've expected any different when her sister's boyfriend and his brother turned out to be vampires.
The years of chaos that followed should have...
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TO ERIN'S JOY, THE stifling air that encased the entirety of South began to lessen in heat and humidity. Summer had started to wane, giving way to autumn at a slow but steady pace. Her favorite time of year where bright green leaves faded into warmer hues, colder weather reigned supreme, and scary movies were more acceptable to view with Halloween right around the corner.
And across the city, the holiday already began to show in typical New Orleans fashion. Front window displays were filled with ghosts and spiders and coffins across every street. Typical decorations even Mystic Falls donned every fall season. But even under suppression from the vampires, the witches knew how to garner the attention of tourists and locals alike, selling herbs and crystals by the pound.
After all, most people were unable to tell real witchcraft from the fake.
Erin emerged from her bedroom, struggling to keep her backpack in place with one strap across her shoulder. When she entered the living room, she plopped the bag onto an armchair and headed for the kitchen. Her coffeemaker awaited, ready to produce her morning dose of caffeine. Breakfast could wait until she started for campus.
As her coffee began to bubble within the appliance, the sound of knocks erupted from the front door. Erin turned toward it with furrowed brows. She hadn't received a visitor to her apartment since she moved in, aside from Rebekah. Come to think of it, there were only a few people who even knew where she lived.
That didn't bode well.
Erin moved for the door and peered through the peephole. Her stomach swirled at who she spotted on her doorstep.
A fitful night of sleep had separated Erin from the gut-twisting events that took place within the Mikaelson Compound. The decision she and Hayley made that threw her into a constant state of nausea. She hated lying. She hated secrets. And in spite of that, she now held and did those same things to the one person who never had to her.
Nausea rolled as her guilt climbed.
Erin took a deep breath and leaned back, untwisting the locks to pull the door open. She forced a smile onto her lips. "Uh, Elijah. Hi," she greeted the man on the threshold.
Elijah offered a small grin in return. "Hello, Erin. I do wish this visit was under better circumstances," he replied, before he glanced down at the open frame and back to her. "May I...?"
Erin's eyes widened the tiniest bit. "Oh, right. Yeah, come in." She moved away from the doorway and toward the kitchen, hoping her elevated heartbeat couldn't be heard over the roar of her coffeemaker. "Not that I'm not glad you're here, but I don't have long before I have to leave. My class starts in thirty minutes," she stated, pausing near the island counter to face him.
