ACHILLES' HEEL ▷ KOL MIKAELSON [2] [COMPLETED]

𝟐𝟏. 𝐋𝐄𝐓'𝐒 𝐂𝐀𝐔𝐒𝐄 𝐀 𝐑𝐈𝐎𝐓

(CHAPTER TWENTY ONE :
LET'S CAUSE A RIOT)

✧࿐ ཾ✧

WARNING SIGNS WERE SOMETHING I had to know by heart — it was necessary for me to know when I had to stop pushing. Sometimes, I pushed too hard because when I was stripped down to the bones, I was volatile and stubborn. So, alarm bells were ringing when the three of us managed to parade into the bar without so much as a fight from Kol. It wasn't like him to brush off a surprise attack like that, making me think he was expecting us. And if he was expecting us, we had waltzed right into his trap.

"I can see the cogs turning in your brain from here." Kol shouted over to me from his stool on the bar, his lips curling upwards with fascination. "Why don't you come a little closer and see if you can figure me out, Charlotte?" The Original enticed, holding up a bottle of tequila. Damon gagged at the man's comment, but I shushed my friend and took several careful steps forward.

I held my chin high. "Pour me a drink then." I told him, taking a seat a few stools down.

Kol slid a glass down to my end of bar, mock cheering me before narrowing his eyes at the boys in the room. "Now, sorry about the mess. Ugh, it was a little crowded when I arrived, and I prefer more intimate gatherings." As he apologised falsely, I absentmindedly swirled the liquid in the glass. "Us four need to have a little chat." He concluded and I followed his lead when I saw him take a long swig. "Care for a drink?" He offered the pair.

In an protective manner, Damon placed his arm in front of the hunter. "He's underage, and I don't like you, so let's just cut to it." His tone was sharp as a blade.

With an exaggerated sigh, Kol nodded his head half-heartedly. "You know, my brother bragged about his plan to complete Jeremy's hunter's mark. It was easy enough to track this lot down. They were all hiding in the shadows." He hummed, content that it was his quick wits that meant he was able to beat a supernatural hunter to their prey. "Now, killing young vampires is easy or old ones, for that matter." He bit, the remark being aimed at Damon.

"Why? What's it to you either way?" Damon interrogated.

"Because, you fools, in your zeal to find the cure, you risk waking someone very dangerous." He raged, jumping up from the bar stool to move back into the supply room, his footsteps sounding like rolling thunder against the stone floor.

Taking one more sip from my drink, I followed after the vampire, my two friends not far behind as we returned to where a stack of dead bodies were arranged. I didn't feel like talking much, I needed to take a step back from the conversation to figure out my choice. What Kol had said earlier resonated with me, I was cruising between two rival teams. Both wanted to eliminate the other. It wasn't safe for me to play mediator all the time. Life was about losses and my life was a revolving door of loss, but to win some, I had to lose some. But who could I afford to lose?