laissez les bon temps rouler//jackson kenner

2.8

I am sitting in the dining room with all my brothers. Kol and Finn are still bound by the manacles. Compelled waiters are placing all kinds of breakfast foods on the table.

Nik is speaking to all of us, "We arrive into this world as innocents. Wide-eyed. Vulnerable. It is the job of our parents to nurture and protect us. Unfortunately, our own parents failed miserably at even the most basic of parental tasks. But, we are not beholden to the past they created for us. Today, a new future awaits. Forget your animosity toward Elijah, Else, and myself. Instead, join us against she who truly deserves your ire our mother." Kol rolls his eyes at Nik and Finn just seems bored. "Do this, and we will welcome you with open arms!"

"Well," Kol starts. He reaches for a plate of pastries with his shackled hands, but Nik pulls it out of his way. Kol sighs and rolls his eyes again.

Nik smiles. "But, if you continue to oppose us, a denial of pastries will be the least of your concerns."

Kol sighs again. "If all you wanted was my allegiance against Mother Dearest, you should have said so! Save me a night shackled to the wall."

"Yes, this was Niklaus. My recommendation was to remove your limbs, one by one, until you comply," Elijah remarks.

Nik laughs as he stands up. "We've... we've no desire to torture you." He stands behind Kol and Finn and squeezes their shoulders with his hands. "Provided you vow to stand beside us as brothers."

Finn shrugs out of Nik's grip and looks at him skeptically. "Brothers... Does that word even apply to us? After all these centuries of betrayal? And, has loyalty to you ever rewarded? If so, tell me, Niklaus where is our sister, Rebekah?" I glare at Finn. "She was blindly loyal to you for a thousand years, and now? Nowhere to be found. Where did our sister go? And, how did she escape your vile machinations?"

Nik laughs at Finn. "Heh! You think me vile? What, then, do you make of the one who cursed us?"

Finn shouts in frustration, "She was trying to make you mortal again!"

I pick up a knife from the table and start swirling it in my hand. Finn is starting to get on my nerves.

"And, you three refused her." Finn laughs. "It only proves how far you've fallen. But, I expect Rebekah will have a different response to her proposal. See, unlike the three of you, she always did cling to her humanity."

"Rebekah is off-limits to you. You pursue her, and you will suffer," I warn Finn.

"Do not let him goad you, Else. Neither he, nor Esther, will find Rebekah unless she wants to be found." Nik turns to address Finn. "And she does not."

"Esther is quite determined," Finn tells us. "She's been searching for Rebekah since the day she returned. I imagine it's only a matter of time."

Elijah completely loses his temper, grabs Finn by the collar, and slams him onto the table before vamping-out and feeding on him.

Nik quickly pulls Elijah away from Finn and shoves him into a nearby wall. Elijah puts his hands up defensively, so Nik backs off. I tug Elijah's handkerchief out of his jacket pocket and hands it to him so he can clean himself up.

"I enjoy a good bloodletting as much as anyone, but our brothers have power, as well as knowledge of Esther's plans." Elijah wipes the blood off his face while he listens to Nik. "We need them alive."

"Imagine what they would do to Rebekah. To Jolie," Elijah whispers.

"Rebekah has been cloaked by powerful magic. Focus on the task at hand," Nik states. He looks to Finn and Kol making sure they can't hear us. "We need to persuade our brothers."