The Other Mikaelson- Book 2

Chapter V

Back at the mansion, Nik stood in the kitchen when Keira walked in.

"Took you long enough," Nik said. "How long does it take to ask a simple question?"

"Much longer than you'd think, considering the answer was, as expected, no."

"It's Marcel's men. Thierry is suspicious. He thinks you killed six vampires."

"Well, that's a lie, I killed nine. Shall I make Thierry the tenth?"

"Marcel is playing friendly. We can't kill the favorite son, or he'll catch onto us," Nik said as Rebekah walked in.

"So, war it is, then?" she said.

"Indeed. Do you know what to do with the witch?" Nik asked. Rebekah smiled and nodded. "Good. You manage Sophie Deveraux, our sister and I will manage the next step."

As they walked farther into the basement, Nik walked past Keira's coffin, and she eyed it nervously.

"Nik, please tell me I'm not here so you can dagger me," she said, knowing full well he couldn't since the daggers were missing.

"You're here because I know you're mad at me, and my peace offering is you get to compel vampires to torture themselves," Nik said. Keira frowned at him. "Look, sister, I'm sorry for what I did to Elijah, and I need as many allies as I can. And, if you've met yourself, you would know you're not a person to have as an enemy."

Keira smiled as they reached a vampire and a chair with another vampire, who looked pale and drained of blood.

"I ordered you to drain him of blood. What's taking so long?" Nik asked.

"Sorry. I'm not, like, medieval-torture-expert-guy," said the not hostage vampire, who seemed to be compelled.

"Oh, yeah, sis, this is Josh and this is Max," Nik said, gesturing to the two. "Go ahead and use that pitchfork over there to speed up the process."

Keira smiled, picked up the pitchfork, and impaled Max with it. "What did he do to you anyway?" she asked.

"It's not about what he did. It's about what he's going to do when we're done here, which is whatever I want him to, just like Josh here," Nik said. Josh looked confused, and Keira then sighed and stared into Josh's eyes.

"Drive this through his torso," she said calmly, handing him the pitchfork. Josh looked confused, but took the weapon and stabbed Max, who yelled out in pain.

"That is crazy. I didn't want to do it, but I did it anyway!" Josh exclaimed.

"It's called mind compulsion. Vampires can compel humans. Originals, like my sister and I, can also compel vampires, and no one can compel Originals. You following?" Nik asked. Josh nodded, looking frightened. Noticing this, Nik looked between his sister and Josh. "Calm him down, please, I can hear his frightened breathing and it's annoying."

"Calm down and shut up," she compelled. Josh obeyed.

"Good. That is how a brand-new nightwalker such as yourself is here doing my bidding with no one the wiser," Nik said.

"But I never had my guts drained out of me," Josh said calmly.

"Ok, that's weird, you can compel him to be frightened again," Nik said. "Yes. That, young Joshua, is because I got to you before you had even a drop of herbal vervain in your system. You see, it prevents compulsion. Marcel has had his whole crew taking it since I returned to town, and that is why our friend here needs to be bled dry of it, so I can compel him to follow my every command. And with my brother currently in captivity awaiting rescue, we can't afford to be gentle about it, can we?" he picked up the pitchfork, put it back in Max's abdomen, and twisted it roughly.