The Investigation | Mikael

Chapter Seventeen

 I helped Mikael slowly sit up, and I peered at the wound on his neck. Marcel's bite was fatal even to an Original. 

 "I know what you're thinking, Finnamore," he said. "I know what he did to me, and I know I'm dying. I witnessed my sons suffer the same. There's nothing you can do for me." 

 "But there-there has to be something I can do!" I cried. "How can I just let you die? You can't expect me to do that." 

 A new emotion came across his face, one I rarely saw on him-it was sadness. 

 "I think I'll have to ask it of you now," he said. "I'm sorry, Finnamore. You can leave me if you don't think you can witness this. You should go." 

 I shook my head. "No. I can't just leave you like this. If you ever needed someone by your side, I think now is the time. Don't ask me to leave." 

 "I wasn't going to. Come on." 

 I helped him onto the mattress in the living room, and I sat down beside him. 

 "Did you actually set out to seduce me?" I asked. "From the very beginning?" 

 "No, I didn't. Not at first, anyway. What I did intend to do," he said, "Was to distract you. I wanted to distract you from your case and from whatever loyalty you had towards Marcel for a little while, however long I could keep it up. I convinced to write down my story. You're a good listener and good at asking questions. I hadn't thought I would open up to you as much as I did." 

 "And I hadn't thought I would telling you my own story," I pointed out. "But you made me feel like I could trust you with whatever I had to say. Who were you going to tell? And...the seduction part..." 

 "That came later. I hadn't expected that to happen. When I kissed you in the woods that afternoon, I did it because it was something I had been wondering about. I just wanted to know what it would feel like. I hadn't planned to care so much about you in such a short time." 

 I shook my head. "Neither did I. I wanted to be with you, too." I moved on the mattress so that I was a little closer to him. "Is there anything you want me to do? After...you're gone?" 

 "I think you should get out of New Orleans," he answered. "Once I'm gone, go home and pack whatever's necessary, and then leave. You can't stay in the same city as Marcel anymore. He isn't going to forget this." 

 "Yeah, you're right. But I don't know where to go." 

 "Take my ashes with you," Mikael continued. "I'd like my remains to go home. Norway. I grew up...in a beautiful town, near the water. Just leave my ashes on the shore. Anywhere will do. And then after that, there's one more place I would like you to go." 

 "Where?" 

 "To find Hayley Marshall and Hope Mikaelson. Hayley fled the city and took Hope with her. I have no idea where they are now. Please find them, and tell them you're a friend of mine. Hayley doesn't trust me, so I suppose I shall have to tell you everything." 

 "About what?" I asked. 

 "I've lied to you, Finnamore," Mikael began. "My children are not dead. They are very much alive right now." 

 "Alive?" I repeated. "How can that be?" 

 "Freya cast a spell to put them all into magical comas. Their lives are all linked with that of Niklaus. If he dies, they all do. I know Marcel won't kill him; he might need him someday." 

 "And he doesn't know they're not dead." 

 "No, he doesn't. Hayley left to look for cures for them all, and she left me behind. We never did like each other. That is why I never left New Orleans, Finnamore. I had to stay, to watch over Niklaus and wait for the others to come back. I know they'll come back someday, and I won't be here. Finnamore, if you...if you ever see Freya...tell her I'm sorry. Tell them all I'm sorry I couldn't do better." 

 I wrapped my arm around him. "I promise. I will do everything you've asked me to do. I promise I will."