Kindred Spirits

90 - Alex deserves to see the good side of the world

"Niklaus, I'd advise you to watch your words very carefully around my daughter. It would be a shame if she were to grow up to sound just like you."

"Oh, don't worry. Hope has that covered." Cassidy gestured to Hope, who she was bouncing on one of her knees, Leo on the other. Hope was giggling happily, and Cassidy could picture her growing up to be a mini-Klaus.

"We need to find a new strategy." Elijah sighed, a wide-awake Alexandria in his arms. "Freya, if you please?"

"The spell you described... Dahlia calls it 'kenning'. Using proxies to watch her enemies from afar." Freya paused, looking overwhelmed. "But, I've never seen it done on quite this scale."

"Awesome. So, basically every Hurricane-chugging, boob-flashing tourist on Bourbon Street is a potential spy." Cassidy sighed with a small frown.

"The good news is, I know a little about how her magic works." Freya gestured at a tray she had set up that had a silver tea kettle and five tea cups full of brown liquid on saucers. "This tonic will at least prevent her from using any of us."

Cassidy reached for a cup, careful not to squish the babbling twins in her lap, but before she could grab one, Alexandria started crying. Elijah tried to calm her down, but he was still quite new to parenthood and tried not to panic at the sight of his little baby girl squealing loudly. Cassidy placed Hope and Leo in their ball pit that Marcel and Kol had set up for them prior to the meeting, and then stood up to carefully take Alexandria from Elijah's arms.

"What's wrong with her? Is she alright?" Elijah questioned in a panic, worry evident in his eyes. Cassidy smiled up at him, rocking Alexandria in her arms.

"She's okay, 'Lijah, there's nothing to worry about. She's just hungry."

"Oh... okay." Elijah started to calm down. "W-will you be back with her?"

"Of course, and I'll give her straight back to you." Cassidy reassured, leaning up to press a kiss to Elijah's lips. She then turned to Freya. "Save me a cup, please. I'll be right back." She then left the room to feed Alexandria.

---

Cassidy was sat on her bed. She was just getting ready to bring Alexandria back to Elijah, who was already missing her after only ten minutes, when Hayley entered the room with Freya's cup of tonic in her hand.

"Hey. It's the last one... all yours."

"Thank you, babe." Cassidy smiled up at Hayley, taking the cup and downing the contents, slightly cringing at the taste. She then noticed how Hayley's eyes flickered down to Alexandria and then down to the floor. "Hey... is everything okay?"

"This Dahlia business... it's already getting out of hand. I mean, she got into the heads of every single person in that French Quarter while you were there with your children. She could have made any one of them hurt you, any of you." Hayley explained. "I wouldn't be able to live with myself if that happened."

"It wasn't your fault. Dahlia is dark, twisted, and sadistic... it's on her, and her only." Cassidy muttered, her voice dropping slightly once she noticed that Alexandria was beginning to fall asleep in her arms.

"Still, none of us know what Dahlia is capable of." Hayley hesitated for a moment. "I say you and I take Hope, Leo, and Alex, and we leave town. Tonight."

"We can't just run from our home, babe. I have the rest of my mates, and you have your pack."

"They can come, too."

"That'd be way too obvious if we all just disappear... and I'd never seperate my children from their fathers."

"Babe, I know every inch of that bayou." Hayley sat down beside Cassidy. "I can get my pack in on this. We can keep all three of your children safe. At the very least, it will buy us some time to figure out how to get rid of Dahlia for good."