I'll Be Your Last

A Room with a View

Just like that, Klaus left me in the spelled room with Clarice’s daughters. They turned to stare at me as I fumed just inside the door.

“What an a—“I caught myself, not wanting to swear in front of the girls.

“Asshole?” Anya offered.

“Anya!” Clarice shouted from the next room.

Christine giggled.

Anya rolled her eyes. “Sorry!”

“He is,” I mouthed to the girls who both laughed.

“Caroline?” Clarice stopped just outside the door, heading for the confrontation with Marcel. The tiny blonde woman met my gaze, her expression one of sympathy. “I’m so sorry about this. I didn’t know he intended to put you in here with my girls. But if it helps, you’ll be completely safe.”

“Yeah, I assumed I would be,” I said with snark. “This isn’t your fault, Clarice.”

The witch nodded. “If things get… I don’t know, gory out there… can you keep them from watching that?”

“Sure,” I told her. It wasn’t like I could do anything else. Right?

Oh, Klaus was going to pay for this. He was really going to pay for this.

Anya had wandered back to the window facing the front lawn and whistled loudly. “He’s hot!”

“Who?” Christine dashed back to it to join her, following the direction of Anya’s pointing finger. “Oh, wow, he is hot.”

With no other options, I walked over to the window to see what was going on outside. And yes, I did see what they were talking about. There was a group facing off against Klaus and Elijah below our window. At the group’s center was a very hot guy. Tall, muscular with mocha- colored skin and a killer smile, he greeted the original vampires with a tiny brunette girl wearing a strappy summer dress at his side. There was a group of youngish men and women behind him. Whether they were vampires or hybrids, I couldn’t tell.

Immediately I grabbed the window trying to open it so I could at least hear what was going on. The window wouldn’t budge.

“Damn it!” I yelled in frustration.

“I got this,” Anya said, saying some chant under her breath and then lifting the window as if it were the easiest thing in the world.

That gave me an idea.

“Can you unspell the door?” I asked the older girl.

“That we can’t do,” Christine said. “Sorry.”

It was worth a try and at least I could hear what was going on now.

“What rule is that?” Elijah asked below in a deceptively calm voice.

“No magic is allowed in the quarter,” the hot guy who had to be Marcel answered, smiling as if he were here to have a friendly discussion. “And I happen to know that you’ve got a witch here.”

“And if we do, Mate?” Klaus asked, stepping closer to his old protégé. “What will you do then?”

Marcel held up his hands. “I don’t plan to do anything,” he explained. “But this lovely young lady here will indeed take care of it.”

I leaned out of the window a little and now I could see Klaus smirking at his opponent. The girl was Davina and if she was as powerful as Elijah claimed, things could get very interesting, very quickly.

“Is she a witch?” Christine asked.

“Duh.” Anya grinned. “Mom’s gonna kick her ass.”