Ardent | Elijah Mikaelson

Chapter 47

They reached Mystic Falls.

"I never wanted to come back here," said Evangeliya, shivering in the passenger's seat, afraid of what Lucien would do if she even moved her hands.

I need to get out of here. I hate it here. I hate him. I've ruined everything. They'll never forgive me for this.

No matter what happens, Lucien must die. If I go down, I'm taking him with me.

"You never wanted to do many things, love," Lucien noted. "But here we are. Just a bit further."

Hold Evangeliya tightly as the witch carried their supplies, they moved deeper into the forest until they reached a clearing with a basin.

How long ago she'd been here, planning to kill Klaus, with Elijah apparently barely finding out what kind of man his horrid brother was. This is where he's betrayed her.

But it had also been where she started to care for him, where she learned she didn't have to be alone, where she tried for peace in her own life and started to feel happy.

I'm going to find my way back to you, one way or another. This isn't how we end. It can't end without us settling things, without a good conversation of what's happened and what might come next...

"We've arrived," said Lucien, inhaling deeply. "The place where it all began. Where Esther Mikaelson created the vampire species. Under the shade of the infamous white oak tree, she crafted the spell that turned each of her children. Today, we will replicate that spell. I have everything I need to become what I deserve to be."

"What about me?" muttered Evangeliya.

"Well that depends if you're going to behave or not. I'd like to make you my equal, but after that compulsion was washed away, well, let's just say you're on a probationary period. Go on, love," he snapped his fingers at the witch. "Get working."

The girl looked at Evangeliya, who nodded her head defeatedly. Lucien was holding her arms too tight. One wrong move and he'd simply kill her.

"It's okay, Gwen," she told her gently. "Do what you were paid to do."

She began to combine the ingredients in the basin. She dipped the white oak stake in first, then poured over it the wolf venom and Freya's blood. She started to sprinkle in more herbs, reaching out to accept a leather-bound booklet that Lucien offered, containing the actual spell.

"How did you even get that?" muttered Evangeliya.

"It took an entire coven ages to reverse-engineer it," said Lucien smugly. "Of course, the hardest part was to acquire the materials needed. And thanks to you, we have them."

"You're right," she said quietly. "They're never going to forgive me."

"You'll only be safe with me from now on, love. They'll hang you for a traitor while I place you beside me on a throne. The choice is rather simple, isn't it?"

She leaned away as he tried to caress her cheek. "It's going to take awhile for me to forgive you after this."

"Don't worry. When I kill Klaus and lay him at your feet, bygones will be bygones."

"What about Elijah? Rebekah?"

"Elijah will die afterwards, and The Strix will fall with him. The Serratura is still out there, able to be used if it becomes activated. She's not awake even now... her curse still stands. We can lock her away and keep Aurora out of harm's way."

She scoffed. "And everything is about Aurora again."

"Now, now, no need to pretend anymore."

"I'm not pretending," she bluffed. "Everything has always been about her for you. You know why I didn't help you before, Lucien? Because you wouldn't be able to commit fully to me. You were always going to want something or someone more than you'd want me. I didn't want that insecurity, I didn't want a man who came with all sorts of promises but at the end of the day couldn't even pick me over a woman who couldn't give him the time of day for a thousand years. I gave you everything and I thought you cared for me but then you wanted me to make Elijah fall in love with me, you wanted me to be someone else, someone you wanted me to be. I can't do this with you if she lives, Lucien, I refuse to. After this, I'm going to be alone one way or another. I won't stand here helping a moment longer if you're still going to go running to Aurora after everything I did for you."