Piece of You | Finn Mikaelson

Chapter 14

She spent the night with Finn.

Occasionally, she made trips to the kitchen to bring him food or more coffee. Whenever she wasn't moving, she laid over the couch, watching him work. Her head was propped on her hand, her sleepy eyes refusing to close for more than a second at a time while she tracked the movement of his hands.

Finn was clearly tired, but he didn't want to give up. Knowing Freya was out there meant he had to find her. No choice other than to keep searching. He had to see her again. Elaine worried about what might happen if he couldn't find her.

"It still is not working," said Finn sourly. "She has either cloaked herself with very powerful magic, or I am doing something wrong."

"She's probably cloaked," said Elaine. "She just woke up from a sleeping beauty slumber, surely she would have hidden herself in case any old enemies came calling."

"She may not know I am alive again," said Finn. "If she ever knew I was dead in the first place, that is... she might not know I am searching for her." He huffed and went to sit next to her, leaning his head back. "Tell me something. Anything. I need a break."

"Reynard's definitely interested in someone," said Elaine. "He always jokes the most when he's in a particularly good mood, and that usually happens when he likes someone. Unless I'm completely mistaken and things are simply going well for The Strix... or he's trying to keep me from finding out something else and he is using this as a cover. I wonder if he's tricking me... if he's going to pop up randomly in New Orleans while I am busy wondering about who he's set his sights on this time."

"He seems like a smart and honest man. Would he really do such a thing, knowing that it is dangerous? That you have asked him not to?"

"That's true. I suppose it throws me off... I haven't seen my son joking around in quite awhile. He and his uncle, they just... they become so serious when their hearts are broken. Reynard goes through phases where he'll be a nightwalker for several decades, almost punishing himself for a failed love. They nicknamed him 'Nyx,' and he often uses that as a cover when he does not wish his true identity to be divulged in unfamiliar territory."

Finn recalled what she'd mentioned about Tristan's boyfriends meeting horrible deaths, while Reynard's girlfriends seemed to meet terrible ends as well. "Could it be Aya? You said he was with her, too."

"Oh, I hope not," said Elaine. "I have not trusted Aya since I met her. She never did get over Elijah. She toys with Reynard, she's admitted to it. But Reynard lets her. They will be together a few weeks then break it off and go back to normal. They do not love each other, not like that first time they were together. And still they drift back into each other's arms constantly. The one I liked was that Strix witch. The one that died in his arms. That was the one that really made him start to deny love... to run away from it instead of toward it. I want him to be happy, but because of what happened to past lovers, he believes he is cursed. I haven't the faintest idea how to talk to him about it. How to encourage him to pursue his happiness instead of insisting it is all for nothing. I wonder, if I'd been able to raise him with you, or even with his father... maybe he would have understood what romantic love was like in a different way, maybe he would feel more comfortable with the subject, perhaps he wouldn't have taken it so hard." She rubbed her forehead. "My boy has needed a father for a thousand years. There are certain things only a father can teach their son, certain things they can only speak of with their dads..."

Finn rubbed her shoulder. "I am sure you did a wonderful job teaching him, Elaine. I do not think that the problem is him not understanding romantic love. I think he simply takes loss too hard because... he hasn't lost you. He has had you, your sister, your brothers every second of his life. Friends come and go, he's surely learned that by now. But his main family, his closest relatives, have lived on for a very long time. He's not accustomed to losing the people he loves that deeply. He is not used to how profound that grief can be. And if his lovers die in violent ways, it makes it difficult for him to understand how to move past it."