Fighting For Hope (The Hybrid and The Wolf - Book 3)

Chapter 3 - Every Mother's Son

When I walked through the courtyard, I noticed there was a table with fruit, grapes and a jug of orange juice just sitting there and I furrowed my brows in confusion before helping myself. I turned around when I heard footsteps and saw Klaus approaching me.

"So, which restaurant is missing a compelled chef?" I asked him.

"It's certainly a card I played in the past, but I had no hand in this," he answered.

"Hm, well, I guess we have Elijah to thank."

"This wasn't my doing," he said as he descended the steps.

I looked at him, surprised. "Ah, he speaks. Then, where did this all come from?"

As if to answer my question, the lid of the silver platter began to rattle. I took a step back, startled and watched, cautiously as Klaus lifted the lid. A pair of birds fluttered out. What the hell?

"What the hell was that?" I asked, looking between the brothers.

Klaus picked up the piece of paper on the platter and read the note.

"An invitation from our mother."

Oh, this can't be good.

~*~*~

I was lying on Klaus' bed while he stood out on the balcony, pondering Esther's invitation.

"It's times like this I'm really glad I never knew my mother," I said as he walked back inside.

"We have enough enemies here and now, the war for our home is to be fought against my own family."

"Your wretched mother and her disciples tried to put a carving knife through our baby's heart," I told him as I sat up. "I will happily add to the body count."

Klaus smiled at me.

"You will do no such thing," Elijah said, joining us. "Esther is a master in the art of possession. We know whose body she currently inhabits, we must decipher her intentions before she finds a new host."

"Well, her last invitation was an assassination attempt on all her children," Klaus reminded his brother. "I think we can assume her intentions are decidedly foul."

"Well then," Elijah looked down at his watch. "We have this afternoon to prepare for the worst."

Elijah then left the room.

"The bloom is off the rose, I see," Klaus commented as he followed his brother.

"Shut up," I said, laying back on the bed.  

~*~*~

After speaking with Oliver on the phone, I walked into the dining room and found Klaus making arrangements for dinner with his mother.

"So, I guess letting Oliver live paid off. He just informed me your mother has a partner-in-crime . . . another witch."

"Building alliances in her quest to destroy us, I imagine," he said, his back to me.

"Why does she hate you so much, Klaus?" I asked, genuinely curious. "She had six kids, it's not like she doesn't have the maternal gene."

"Seven, actually," he said, finally turning to face me. "And I think at one time, she loved us very much. One died before I was born."

I could see how emotional this conversation was making him because he started the fold napkins, anxiously.

I lowered my head in guilt. "I didn't know that."