Clair de Lune - K.M.

c h a p t e r t h i r t y

After Klaus and I shower (he insists on joining me) and both of us grab a bite to eat (literally), he tells me some information about the five. I pry as much information from him as I can but he insists that I'll have to wait and hear the rest later.

"No use getting ahead of ourselves, pup."

It's irritating, but I've learned to live with Klaus' unusual reasoning for his decisions.

It takes a little while, but by the time the evening rolls around I feel almost back to normal. I cross my arms and lean against against the wall as I glare at Connor, watching him struggle against his chains and ignoring the dull pounding of my head.

"You look like hell," the vampire hunter groans. It's clear that he's weakened by the time he's spent chained to Klaus' torture board but I'm still on edge around him.

"Someone tried to kill me and then I nursed my pain with a bottle of vodka. I think I look pretty fucking good all things considered."

"Did it help when you ripped that girls throat open just now to feed on her? Like the parasite you truly are?"

"A little, but I'm actually still feeling the urge so if you don't mind-"

"Easy there, pup," Klaus says, stepping in my path to catch me as I lunge, fangs bared, at the man in front of me. "We need him alive, remember?"

"Fuck that," I spit as I shove Klaus off me and turn around to stomp back towards the edge of the room. "He deserves to die."

"And he will. Eventually."

I scoff unhappily. Klaus takes one look at me and strides over to Connor. He reaches behind the board the man is tied to and yanks on the chains holding his arms up. Connor lets out a loud groan of pain as his wrist are pulled even farther into the air.

"You alright there, mate?" Klaus asks in a fake concerned voice. "See, here's the thing. I need you alive, but my girl here wants you dead. That puts me in a difficult position. Since neither of us can kill you, I've decided that you are not going to speak to or even look at Stella. If you do so I will make your existence an utterly miserable one until the moment that I am allowed to kill you. Do we have an understanding?"

He pulls harder on the chains until Connor grunts in response.

"Wonderful. Welcome home, sister."

I turn quickly and notice Rebekah and Stefan entering the room. The blonde gives me a slight nod before focusing her attention on the man chained in front of us.

"Is this a trick? How do you know he's one of the five? Where's his bloody tattoo?"

"Oh the tattoos aren't visible with this lot like they were with the last. Now, let's eat."

Klaus steps forward and leads a bewildered Rebekah and Stefan to where a table has been set for all of us. I shoot a suspicious glare at Connor before following as well. The girl that I fed on earlier, I think her name is Maddie, steps forward to serve us our food. I thank her politely as Klaus gestures for her to leave.

"I could kiss the council for burning up all the vervain in town. It's made my life so much easier."

While I don't necessarily agree with Klaus' tendency to compel people from town to be our servants, I must admit that it's been nice to not have to drink from a blood bag when I'm here. My self control has been a lot better and I always make sure that the girls are taken care of.

"Rebekah, love, eat your veggies."

"We're not eating until you apologize."

I raise my eyebrows at her use of the word 'we' to describe her and Stefan but I decide not to say anything.