WAR OF HEARTS ↠ KOL MIKAELSON [1]

THE ONE WHERE HE WAS UNDAGGERED

Warning: sexual content

The dagger slipped free from Kol's chest with a metallic whisper and the taste of stale death still on his tongue. The world he opened his eyes to was unfamiliar, the air too clean, the silence too loud. But one thought surged to the forefront like a war drum:

Rhea.

She wasn't here.

She should've been the first thing he saw, the first voice he heard, the first hands on his face. But she wasn't. And that was a problem.

And if there was one person to blame—it was Niklaus.

**

"Long time, brother," Kol said coolly as he stepped into the grand room of the mansion, the air thrumming with rage. Klaus turned, just in time to see the silver flash of the dagger slicing through the air.

THUNK.

It buried itself into Klaus's abdomen with satisfying force.

"Now then," Kol said, leaning down, eyes gleaming, "Where is she? And I'd think carefully, Nik. The longer you waste my time, the deeper this dagger is going to carve through your gut."

He yanked it out, hard.

"Kol—"

THUNK.

Another stab.

"Where. Is. She?"

"She's upstairs!" Klaus shouted, voice strained, blood blooming across his shirt. "Sixth room—east side! You lunatic!"

Kol gave a wicked smile.

"One more time for luck."

THUNK.

Then he was gone—a blur of speed and wrath as he raced through the halls of the Salvatore mansion, opening doors, tearing rooms apart, calling her name in a whisper that cracked more with every unanswered echo.

**

Room one—empty.
Room two—dust.
Room three—ripped bedding.
Room four—bookshelves and blood.
Room five—smashed vases and claw marks on the wall.

Room six—

He stopped.

The door creaked slightly open as he pushed it with trembling fingers.

And there she was.

Rhea.

His Rhea.

Sprawled on the bed like a sleeping goddess, but too still, her breathing shallow and unnaturally slow. Her magic barely pulsed beneath her skin—dimmed, suppressed, drowning.

His knees buckled.

He crossed the room in seconds, falling beside her, brushing her hair from her face with a shaking hand. "What has he done to you?" he whispered, voice cracking.