Bound in the Shadows / TVD N.M

🦋~° 21 °~🦋

*****************

Liora

The road back to Mystic Falls had been filled with the kind of jokes and teasing that only friends share after facing way too many life-or-death situations together. But Stefan's voice cut through the laughter like a sudden storm.

"They're planning to dagger Rebekah and lock me in the basement of the Salvatore house," Stefan said over the speakerphone, his voice sharp with anger. His usual calm tone was replaced by something more raw, more desperate. "I'll try to escape, but don't count on it. They've got Mikael, and he's not daggered like they told you. He's alive and he's convinced tonight is the night he's going to kill Niklaus."

His words hung heavy in the air. The entire car went silent as if someone had suddenly vacuumed out all the oxygen. Molly, who had been giggling about a prank she'd pulled on Jackson earlier, suddenly froze in her seat, her eyes wide. Jackson, usually the first to crack a joke, looked like he had just swallowed a rock.

In the back seat, Nik's hand stiffened on my shoulder, the light grip he'd had on me now turning tense. His face, which had been soft with a rare look of relaxation, hardened immediately. His jaw clenched so tightly I could hear his teeth grinding. His eyes, which had been lazily watching the scenery, now flickered with the cold intensity of a man prepared for battle.

Stefan's message was clear. The stakes had changed, and Mikael—Nik's tormentor, his father, the man who had made his entire existence a nightmare—was back.

"Great," Jackson muttered from the driver's seat, his voice dripping with sarcasm as he navigated the road toward Tyler Lockwood's estate, now the temporary venue for the high school Homecoming dance. "Because what's a party without a psychotic vampire dad crashing it, right?"

Molly gave a nervous laugh but stopped when Nik glared at her in the rearview mirror.

"I'll make sure they regret every second of it," Nik said, his voice low, a dangerous calm taking over him. His fingers lightly drummed on his knee, but it was a nervous habit masking the storm raging inside of him. I could feel his pulse through the bond we shared—the tether between us was more alive than ever, buzzing with his rage.

I leaned my head against him, trying to offer some comfort in my wolf form. But he didn't look down, didn't acknowledge the gesture. His mind was a million miles away, already locked in battle with Mikael.

And honestly, that terrified me more than anything else.

As we pulled into Tyler Lockwood's sprawling estate, the scene looked deceptively normal for a town like Mystic Falls. Students mingled around the front lawn, their faces glowing with excitement, music thumping in the background. The only indication that something darker was brewing was the presence of Nik's hybrids, scattered throughout the crowd like shadowy sentinels. They blended in with the crowd surprisingly well for people who could probably rip your heart out faster than you could blink.

I nudged Nik's hand with my snout as we stepped out of the car, hoping to bring him back to the moment. He blinked and glanced down at me, his face softening for the briefest second before hardening again. He didn't say anything, but his hand found its way to my head, giving me a gentle scratch behind the ears. It was a small gesture, but I knew what it meant.

"I know," his voice whispered through our bond. "I'm fine."

Fine? Sure. And I was a lapdog.

Inside the estate, the vibe was even weirder. Sure, there were typical high school dance things happening—students dancing awkwardly, teachers pretending not to notice the spiked punch, and some overachiever attempting to coordinate a cheesy group photo. But underlying it all was an electric current of unease. Nik's hybrids, though subtle, were clearly on alert. Something was going down tonight, and everyone who knew the Mikaelson family could feel it.