The Red Herring Revives: A Mikaelson Love Story

Chapter 58: The First Stop

~Klaus POV~

"I wish I could be here, but I have to go." He told the blonde with a look of shame. He wanted to be there for her when Kieran woke, but his family had to come first.

"That's fine." She told him. "What's next?"

"He'll be in transition, craving blood, but I'll be back before then." Klaus explained.

"He's gonna be furious with me." The bartender said with a dark laugh. "He's a priest. I turned him into a vampire. What kind of desperate move is that?"

"You're smarter than that, love." He told her as he sat her down in one of the pews. She was trembling now. "He'll never go through with it. Turning him wasn't the goal. It was to give you a chance to say good-bye."

"Klaus. Could you—could you stay a little longer, please?" She asked of him.

"Of course."

~Iliana POV~

I sat by the lake, giving myself some time to recover from all the carnage I had seen. I finally got to my feet and headed to what was now the makeshift hospital where Jackson and Elijah were already waiting for me.

"Is this the peace you promised?" Jackson asked Elijah in dismay.

"I gather my brother believes he can remove your curse." Elijah muttered in resignation.

"Klaus was offering us freedom, not just from the pain that comes with turning, but from the contempt we've faced our whole lives."

"What about Hayley?" I asked of the girl who was now my chief concern.

"I wasn't to make this place right for her." Jackson answered, looking me directly in the eyes. "For her and the baby."

~Klaus POV~

"Cami?" Kieran said as he opened his eyes and saw her and Klaus standing at his bedside. "What happened? The hex... I could feel it, like a living thing inside of me. It's gone!"

"Oh my gosh!" Cami said as she pulled him into a hug, tears trickling down her face. He let out a small laugh as he caught her in his arms only for him to notice his missing thumb.

"Oh my god!"

"Yes, you've had a trying day, Father." Klaus interjected. "How best to break it to you? It appears the hex was broken by your death."

"Back up. I died?" Kieran asked him. "For how long?"

"A few hours, give or take." Klaus told him.

"I'm sorry. I just couldn't lose you, not like that. I made Klaus give you his blood." Cami told him sheepishly.

"So, the devil has a deal for me after all." He muttered with a bitter chuckle.

"Uncle Kieran, that hunger you feel will only grow stronger." Cami added nervously.

"I know how it works." He said with a darkened smile.

"Then you know if you don't feed, you'll die." Klaus added.

"Like I said, I know how it works." He said sadly. "I know if that's the choice that I have to make, I'm dead already. Please leave me with my niece. I'd like a private moment to talk with her."

"It's okay Klaus." Cami told him with a soft smile which he returned. "Thank you for today. You were kind."

~Iliana POV~

Elijah came and sat down beside me as we watched Oliver give an impassioned speech to fight back against the vampires.

"He's good at that." I began. "In a maniacal kind of way at least."