Ardent | Elijah Mikaelson

Chapter 36

Elijah was still worried.

Evangeliya had offered to speak with Finn and Kol, thinking she might be able to calm them down after being kidnapped and open their minds to a conversation with their brothers. Elijah had shot the idea down immediately. Klaus had agreed with him perhaps because he intended to be in control of the situation.

She tried not to take it personally, not taking it as a sign that he lacked faith in her rather that he didn't want to put her in a tense situation especially when she didn't know Finn and Kol the way he and Klaus did. Though she thought a gentle approach might help, at the end of the day, she knew she had no say in it.

She'd been asked to take breakfast alone upstairs while the brothers chatted in the dining room. Hayley had gone out into the Bayou to deal with the wolves, meaning Evangeliya had no one to talk to.

Every now and then, she listened into the conversation below. She hoped Kol would easily be convinced to join them; all he really seemed to want was his brothers' genuine love and attention and if Lucy made the decision to be with him again, he was more likely to stay nearby and might even be persuaded to help Hope.

The one that gave her more feelings of doubt and worry was Finn. The way he spoke and slammed his manacles on the table instilled little confidence that he was going to become an ally. He so firmly believed that his mother had been in the right, demanding they leave their vampire bodies after having attempted (and in her eyes, succeeded) in killing her granddaughter. She continued to wonder whether this rage was due to his own beliefs changing after death or whether Esther's manipulation had gone too far.

Despite having slept for two days, she found herself feeling tired, and opted to take a nap after breakfast. It was different to be able to sleep again after not having felt safe enough to do it. Elijah found her drooling onto a pillow, almost unable to bring himself to wake her.

"Evangeliya," he whispered, caressing her shoulder gently. "Wake up, my darling."

She was quick to wipe her mouth as she sat up. "Everything okay?"

"Unfortunately, no. Please, pack a bag. You and I will be meeting Rebekah, Lucy, and Hope and heading to a safe house with them. My mother found them."

Evangeliya's heart dropped into her stomach. "Are they okay? Is Lucy–?"

"She is alright. Finn informed us our mother has been attempting to locate Rebekah for quite some time. Unfortunately, there was only so much Lucy's magic could do against a witch so determined to destroy her own progeny."

He drove them (after Klaus modified the compulsion on her) as Evangeliya called Lucy, coordinating with them and deciding on a diner in Mississippi, right near the Louisiana border. Klaus would be telling them what safe house to go to as soon as they were all together.

"Looks like we're the first ones here," said Evangeliya as they entered the diner. "You take that half, I take this one?"

Elijah nodded, the two moving around to compel everyone present to finish up and leave without remembering they'd been there. When the last customer had gone, they lowered the blinds, closing up the cafe early and compensating the waitresses and cooks after one last meal was made for the two to share.

"How did things go with your brothers?" she asked, happily devouring yet another platter of waffles despite having eaten so recently.

"Marcel agreed to aid Niklaus in the interrogation," said Elijah. "My brother will work on Finn. With any luck, Kol will become our ally. With his help we will stop our mother from tormenting Hope."

"And what about Mikael?"

"Kol may be able to track him if Davina does not agree to help. Given how her previous attempt to set him on us ended... I take it that it will not be too difficult for Marcel to convince her to bring Mikael to us so we may kill him once and for all."