OUTCASTS | THE ORIGINALS

20

"I'll keep that in mind, Cadence," Klaus replied and gradually, he, too, began to smile at their odd conversation.

"So are you going to give that box with that man's hands to Genevieve?" Cadence asked him curiously and Klaus nodded, "You should make a joke out of it. Tell her that her buddy gave you 'a hand'," She explained, only to begin childishly laughing at her own pun.

"You have a sick mind, Cadence Delacroix. More than I once believed," Klaus commented, only to begin smiling at what she had previously suggested, "But I will be using that line on her. So I shall thank you for that."

"No problem," Cadence replied and the two of them began to laugh, "A hand. Who knew I could be so funny?"

"More morbid and sadistic than funny, but I suppose," Klaus remarked and Cadence smiled, rolling her eyes at him.

"Way to ruin it for me," Cadence muttered under her breath, causing Klaus to smirk in amusement.

_____

At the afterparty, Cadence had walked in with Klaus before they went their separate ways.

Genevieve held a glass of champagne in her hand as she addressed the guests with a smile on her face. "Welcome. As is our time-honored tradition, you are all welcome to deliver your offerings. It is our custom that no one should be turned away, no blessing be denied."

Guests lined up to bring their offerings to the Harvest girls. Cadence wasted no time walking forward, a smile on her face. She walked toward Davina and was about to give her gift to her, but was stopped by an attendant. She ended up telling her to give the gift to Monique, which she did despite not wanting to.

Cadence stepped away, frowning as she watched all of the gifts being given to Monique and Abigal instead of Davina.

She walked over to Klaus, who stood on the staircase with a mischievous look on her face. "What are you up to now?" She asked him curiously as she leaned against the railing.

"You will see soon enough, Cadence," Klaus responded as he walked down the stairs, "Come with me."

Cadence frowned but nodded and immediately followed after Klaus. He ended up leading her to where Davina was conversing with Josh, which made her feel uneasy.

"Joshua," Klaus called out, causing Josh and Davina to turn to him with wide eyes, "What a fortunate coincidence finding you here. We have unfinished business."

"You need to leave here right now," Davina demanded in a stern tone as she glared at Klaus hatefully.

"Now, to be fair, you're not quite as powerful as you once were, were you?" Klaus commented and Cadence rolled his eyes at his arrogance, "You're in no position to give orders."

"Klaus..." Cadence trailed off uneasily, only to jump when Klaus sped at Josh and roughly grabbed him by the back of the neck.

"Come along, lad," Klaus encouraged the boy, who winced in pain at Klaus' tight grip.

"Hey, can we talk about this?" Josh complained and Cadence sighed in frustration.

"Come on, Klaus, there's no need to be so damn rough about it!" Cadence added in and Klaus turned to her.

"It's efficient, is it not?" Klaus pointed out and after a long moment, Cadence shut right up and shrugged since she knew he had a point.

"Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention, please," Klaus announced loudly as he found himself standing on the staircase with Cadence standing to his right, "We are gathered here today to pay homage to our beloved witches, but one very special witch has been utterly ignored. That seems a little unfair to me."