Shielding The Innocent - Niklaus Mikaelson

Chapter 9

"Good Morning." I greet the twins and Nik in the Courtyard. The twins are stationed in one chair, sharing the seat, in front of the table filled with enough pastries to feed the French Quarter. Nik is standing next to them, a smile on his face. I kiss both of the girls temples. "At least we don't have to worry about cavities, thanks to the magical healing." I raise my eyebrows at all the sugar.

"Well, I saw no harm in indulging our daughters' sweet tooth." Nik muses. "All things in moderation, of course."

"Okay." I chuckle and I turn to the twins. "Watch how many you eat. We don't want stomach aches."

"Can we talk?" Hayley inquires, looking at Nik and me, as she steps down the stairs. Scrunching our eyebrows in curiosity, we both step off to the side to meet her. "Have either of you seen Elijah?"

"I thought he was with you?" Nik questions.

"I haven't seen him since he left for Marcel's last night." She sighs.

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Hayley gets in contact with Freya. Nik and I go straight to Marcel's door to see if he's seen Elijah. Or, in Nik's case, to accuse Marcel of having something to do with his disappearance.

"You can come on in, Klaus." Marcel calls from inside his apartment. Nik and I swing open his doors and enter. "To what do I owe the displeasure?"

"I thought we had a truce." Nik jumps straight to the point.

"We do." Marcel nods. "If we didn't, I might've responded differently when Davina asked me to sacrifice you."

"And does that truce extend to my brother, despite your extensive grievances?" Nik questions, and I roll my eyes.

"Well, yeah, I want to get Sofya back and stop the Hollow." Marcel says, taking a few steps forward. "As long as you guys want the same thing, I don't see why we can't play nice. Why? What's wrong?"

"Well, far be it from me to jump to conclusions, but the last time anyone saw my brother, he was on his way here to talk to you." Nik half-accuses, walking right up in front of Marcel.

I sigh and step up to the side of both of them. "And you think I have him?" Marcel questions. "Seriously?"

"No, I don't." Nik states, surprising me. "But I'd like to know who does."

"Did you speak to him last night?" I ask Marcel.

"No, I haven't seen him since Davina's attempted sacrifice." Marcel answers.

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Marcel and I sit in his office. I had let Hayley know that Marcel hadn't seen Elijah and soon after she told me the Hollow has him. So, Nik immediately got a call from Freya, and Marcel and I stepped away to let him talk to her. Nik finishes up the call and rushes into the room, while putting his phone in his jacket. "Freya informs me your mate Vincent has a plan. Just one tiny problem. I don't trust him."

"Alright, Vincent helped me keep the peace for five years." Marcel defends. "He knows the Hollow's power, and he is our best shot at coming up with a plan."

"I have a plan of my own." Nik counters. "We find this thing and it's acolytes, we slaughter the lot of them. And then we stack their bodies into a monument dedicated to those who would threaten my family."

"As if it's that easy." I mutter.

"Right, right." Marcel says. "There's just one problem with that. One of those bodies would be Sofya, and I want her alive."