Ardent | Elijah Mikaelson

Chapter 22

Klaus made good on his promise.

Before they'd even had breakfast, he'd dragged Sophie into the mansion and sat her onto the couch for an interrogation.

"We had a deal!" he snapped at her. "You protect my unborn child, I dismantle Marcel's army. And whilst I've been busy fulfilling my part of the bargain, you allowed Hayley to be attacked and almost killed by a gaggle of lunatic witches."

"I had nothing to do with it, I swear!" said Sophie frantically. "Hayley and I are linked, remember? She dies, I die!"

"Then who were they?"

"They're a faction of extremists. Sabine stupidly told them about some vision she had about the baby."

Klaus narrowed his eyes, flickering them between Evangeliya and Hayley. "What kind of vision?"

"She has them all the time. They are totally open to interpretation. I'm guessing she's wrong on this one."

"Well, how, may I ask, was this particular vision interpreted?"

Sophie pursed her lips, "...pretty much that your baby would bring death to all witches."

"Ah, well, I grow fonder of this child by the second," said Klaus happily.

Rebekah interjected, "Sophie, look– I promised Elijah that I would protect the Mikaelson miracle-baby whilst he tries to win your witch Davina's loyalty. Why don't you tell me just how extreme this faction is?"

Her eyes widened. "Elijah's talking to Davina?"

"Yeah. As we speak, I imagine."

"I'm guessing she'll have plenty to say about that crowd. Not that it matters anymore." She leaned forward and put her head in her hands. "Agnes was killed. She was our last living Elder, the only one left that could do important spells, our last access point to the power we need to survive. The Harvest Ritual won't be able to be completed anymore."

"Wonderful," said Evangeliya with a smile. Though she hadn't meant to interfere with the ritual, she did like the idea that the witches would be powerless and no one would be able to try and hurt Hayley again on that end. "If I'd known killing Agnes would be beneficial, I'd have done it from the moment I arrived in this city."

Sophie glared at her. "You killed her?"

Evangeliya's smile dropped, disliking Sophie's accusatory tone. "And I will gladly kill the rest of them including you if another witch dares try to harm Hayley and her baby again. I'll annihilate every last witch in this godforsaken city and I will not lose one wink of sleep over it. You'll have a fuckton of Ancestors but no one to practice their magic. If you aim to scold me for what I did, spare me your woes about the Elders. They shouldn't have crossed this family. Hayley has become like a sister to me. Someone messes with her, they mess with me."

Hayley cast her a grateful look. Even Klaus seemed impressed (though that was more likely to be because the witches would be powerless soon, rather than the fact Evangeliya was threatening Sophie).

His face changed when his phone began to ring. "Marcel," he answered, "bit early in the day for you, isn't it?"

"I know," said Marcel on the other line, "I make this look easy, but I still have an empire to run."

Klaus smiled fakely. "Rather you than me. All that responsibility seems like such a bore."

"Well, this might spice things up– I just heard about a bunch of dead witches out in the Bayou. The kinda damage a werewolf might do, only there was no full moon. I have an informant out there I need to meet, and I would love for you to go with me."