Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
chapter thirty. night has a thousand eyes
❦
SINCE ESME HAD been forced to stay in the walls of the compound for her protection, which Klaus continues to tell her, the only thing she had been able to do in order to see the outside was step out onto her balcony in the morning. It was chiller within New Orleans, a slight breeze would blow its way through the air and which had led to her spine shivering from the slight chill that caused her to pull her navy and red striped cardigan closer to her body as she begun to fill the missing feel by watching everyone roam the streets of the French Quarter. A smile crept on her lips before sipping some of her tea with the cup she held. Having an overview of the street was the closet thing Esme was going to get to be outside until her baby was born.
Elijah knew exactly how protective his brother was being when it came to the Browne, and as he had tended to check on her, expecting for her to be sitting on the bed enjoying a good page turner, his wander through the room had continued until he had met the vampire standing on the balcony. A smile had helplessly formed across his lips as Esme fell aware of his approach causing her to pull her tea away from her lips before Elijah had stood visibly by her side.
"I feel like Rapunzel." Esme quipped causing Elijah to chuckle faintly. "Locked in a building away from the real world."
"It is for your safety, Esme." Elijah told as he rested a hand on her upper back in comfort. "Until your son is born, you'll be able to be back in the action. I know you miss it."
"Oh, I miss it a lot, all right." Esme exaggerated before she had let her own fit of chuckle before her eyes shifted back towards the tourists and residences roaming the streets filled with music from the buskers who looked for some extra changed. "I just feel useless, you know? With Dahlia and everything. I would usually be a helping hand."
"I'm sure you'll be of help sooner than later."
Esme sighed deeply before she had caught the lingering stare from one of many people. Whoever it was, it wasn't someone she recognised as they stared at her intensively and which led her to her concern as she stepped closer to the railing while she was fuelled with her curiosity of the person. "Elijah? Do you know who that is?" She pointed to the woman among those who had stopped and stared up at the both of them and as Esme's eyes had squinted she had realised how the woman's eyes had faded white. "Oh, my God." Esme breathed out before realising that many others had stopped in the street and stared directly up at her on the balcony causing Elijah to place is arm gently around her waist. "What--?" She feared who it could be.
"Esme, get inside." Elijah demanded.
The Browne wasn't expecting for Dahlia so soon, she hoped that they'd have a while to execute a plan but she was wrong. Dahlia was already in New Orleans and prepared to take the children she was after. "That was Dahlia, wasn't it?" Elijah closed the balcony door behind him, locking it in the process as some sort of protection for Esme. "Elijah?" He quickly turned to face the woman who had begun to panic, her breathing her increased to the point where her shoulders visibly lifted higher. "Dahlia's here."
