Ace of Hearts

16

"I look forward to it." I smile back at her, but my expression falters when I catch Esther's gaze. Nevertheless, I push past it as I continue to talk to Rebekah. "Maybe we could spend the day together sometime soon?"

"Of course!" Rebekah beams as she and I start to chat like old friends while the boys join in on the conversation occasionally.

. . .

"Lee, was it?" Esther calls as the rest of the family parts ways. "Do you have a moment?"

For the psycho mother I'm pretty sure is trying to hurt the people I love? "Of course." I force a smile onto my features. A cold chill runs through my spine as I sit down on the couch next to her. No words or actions can convince me to change my opinion of her or reduce my suspicions against her.

"My children seem to be quite taken with you. I even see the change in Kol that they were referring to. Now that I've met you, I can see why" Esther smiles at me with what I suspect is her version of pride. I bow my head in a false blush to hide my near laughter at her false kindnesses. "You are quite the young woman, Lee. Although, I hope you understand that being near my children is bound to put you into far more danger than you could ever understand."

I send out a silent thank you to my mother for forcing me into drama class for so many years as I feign worry. "I'm not quite sure I understand. I've already had to deal with vampires, and I was fine through that. Is there something else I should be worried about?"

Esther's lip flatten into a straight line, and she smooths out her dress. The oxygen in the room seems to run away from the awkward tension. It takes her a moment before she completely retains her composure. "Oh, my dear, I fear there are much worse things that you will have to face if you remain here. My children have made a great many enemies, all of whom search for any weakness to exploit. You will be seen as one of them.

"I tell you these things not to frighten you, but to prepare you. If you choose to stay, there will be no telling who or what may come after you. It is best to understand your situation before you get too involved. The choice will be up to you."

I take a deep breath as it clicks in my mind. She wants me to leave. That much is clear, but my question is 'why?' Is she really that selfish that she denies everyone happiness? Or could she know about me and want me out of her way?

My fingers fidget of their own accord, and I force myself to keep the anger out of my voice. "I understand and appreciate your advice. Although, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to turn in for the night. I think this is a choice I have to think over for a while." I stand up from the couch and only pause a moment in the doorway. "Thank you again, Esther. Goodnight."

I slowly make my way up the stairs, painstakingly keeping up the pensive facade. With every step, I can feel Esther's gaze on my back and her magic in the house. A piece of me is so tempted to reach out, to take away some of her power, to make sure she can never hurt my friends anymore than she already has. Although, the large part of me tells me not to be foolish. A time will come when Esther will get her punishment.

The door to my room shuts a moment after I enter, and I instinctively spin around with my hands raised to face a threat. A low chuckle fills the room and eases my nerves. "You scared me. Both of you should be ashamed."

"What for? It's not our fault you're jumpy tonight." Kol laughs as he leans against the door.

Klaus emerges from the shadow and into the light pouring through the window. "Tell me, love. Who won our bet?"

I roll my eyes as I fall onto my bed, finally allowing myself to crumble a little bit. "Well, it looks like I owe you two a favor. She tried to convince me to leave." Kol visibly stiffens at the words, and Klaus's expression is full of anger and contempt. "Don't worry, she didn't change my mind on any of it. I already made my decision."

"Is there anything else that she said that gave you an idea of what she's planning?"

"No, but I might have another way of figuring that out." I reply with a devious smile. "I might have had a suspicion she was up to something beforemy premonition."

The smile on their faces mimics my own, and Kol feigns hurt and surprise. "Lee, are you saying you don't trust our mother?"

"After she sent a special invite to the latest Petrova doppelganger? No." I roll my eyes as I stand up and peer into the hallway. "We can talk about it more in the morning. For now, I need to get some rest and keep Esther's suspicions of me to a minimum."

"Alright. We'll see you in the morning to discuss more." Kol smiles as he places a hand on my waist and cheek. He presses a quick kiss to my forehead before he continues. "Goodnight, darling."

"Night."

I wait another hour and a half to make sure everyone is asleep before I slip into the hallway. The sound of my own breathing fills my ears, and my heart jumps at every creak of the hardwood floor beneath my feet.

It's a scene straight out of a trashy horror movie. Where the teenage girl is creeping through the house with an eerie silence setting her on edge. That's me right now. Except this isn't a movie, and the 'monsters' aren't who you would expect them to be.

The study door painfully creaks as I open it and slip in, all the while praying I didn't wake anyone up. I stop in my tracks at the smell that lingers in the air. Something about it is familiar but strange. It takes me a long moment to identify it, burnt sage. "Clever trick." I mumble to myself as I walk over to the desk.

Kol's method of teaching has been to let me look through his mother's grimoires and see how many of them I could work out with minimal help. Still, it doesn't take Esther's books to understand that burning sage is a guarantee to a private conversation and will essentially soundproof the room of your choice from supernatural hearing.

Unfortunately, it confirms my fears that Esther is up to something--something she doesn't want anyone to know about. It also means that she'll likely go to drastic lengths to protect her secret until she's ready, and it makes what I'm doing infinitely more dangerous.

I pull open the bottom drawer of the desk and remove the false panel Kol showed me at the beginning of my stay at the Mikaelson house. Inside the drawer is now a multitude of drawings, notes, and most importantly, a tape recorder. Esther may have wanted a private conversation, but it was a luxury I couldn't afford her having.

I press the end recording button and grab a book off the shelf before slipping back into the hallway. Everything is still quite in the house, and I gently shut my door as I lay on my bed with the covers over my head.

Static floods through my earbuds as I lay beneath the blankets. My own breath filling my bubble with warmth to the brink of suffocation. Then, all of the sudden, the monotonous static is broken up by garbled sounds and voices.

I scramble to rewind the tape just enough to where I can hear everything –Esther's discussion with Elena and the split second glimpse at her grand plan that she alludes to with Finn.

Her words echo in my head long after the tape reruns to static, and I find myself rewinding and listing to the conversations all night long trying to piece it together. It wasn't until about the thirteenth time that it finally clicked. The champagne, her mentioning linking them, and the 'sacrifice' she thanked Finn for. "Oh my gosh. I'm gonna be sick." I mumble to myself as it comes into focus.

Like tying a group together and shoving one off a cliff, she linked them so they will all fall. Esther's desperation to fix her 'mistake' has led her to this.

She is going to kill the Mikaelsons.