WAR OF HEARTS ↠ KOL MIKAELSON [1]

3:06

| THE AFTERMATH:
CHAPTER SIX |

⸻

Rhea's boots echoed softly as she stepped through the doors of St. James Infirmary for what felt like the hundredth time that week. The air was still and quiet—too quiet. A tightness pulled in her chest, a strange sense of dread crawling up her spine as her eyes scanned the empty space. She'd come here hoping for peace, hoping to collapse into Kol's arms and let herself forget, just for a while, how much she'd endured in the past twenty-four hours. The channeling had drained her to the bone—Vincent and Davina had drawn so much power from her she still felt hollow, like the magic hadn't quite come back to her yet.

She was exhausted. She needed Kol.

But Kol was nowhere to be found.

The only person in the room was Marcel, sitting alone at the bar with a half-empty glass of scotch cradled loosely between his fingers. His shoulders were tense, the lines around his eyes deeper than usual. He didn't look up when she approached—he didn't need to. He could feel the storm of her presence coming.

"Where the hell is Kol?" she asked, voice sharp with panic. "And Ares? Are they okay?"

Marcel exhaled, slowly setting down the glass. His silence was louder than any words. Rhea's stomach dropped.

"They're gone, Rhea," he said quietly.

Rhea blinked, stunned. "Tell me you're joking." Her voice faltered on the edge of hysteria. "Tell me this is just some stupid, elaborate plan to keep me from worrying."

When Marcel didn't respond, she stepped forward. "Why? Why would they leave? We stopped the spell, Vincent and Davina closed the breach. This place is safe, they didn't need to go."

Marcel slid another glass of scotch across the bar toward her. "It's not permanent," he said, his tone heavy with reluctant honesty. "You know that. They knew that. This was just a temporary band-aid, Rhea. And Kol—he didn't trust himself to be near you. Not with everything that's been happening."

Rhea stared at the glass, her reflection warping in the amber liquid.

"No," she whispered, shaking her head. "No. He promised. He promised he'd never leave me again."

"I think that's exactly why he did," Marcel replied. "Look, I've seen Kol a lot of ways over the past two centuries—selfish, reckless, violent. But with you?" He met her eyes gently. "This is the first time I've seen him do something selfless. For you. And your brother? Same thing. He didn't want to risk Davina's life either."

Rhea's eyes brimmed with tears. "I have to tell Davina..."

Marcel nodded, placing a hand on her shoulder, grounding her. "You'll figure it out, the two of you. You always do."

Rhea didn't say another word. She turned and walked out, holding herself together just long enough to make it home.

The second she opened the apartment door, Davina sprang to her feet. "Where have you been? Have you seen Ares? He didn't come home and I've been trying to reach him all night, but—"