Nothing Dark Can Stay, Either

Chapter 21

The morning after was only weird because of Klaus.

"Bloody fucking hell, Beatrix, you could have done us the courtesy of a Silencing Spell," he said loudly at breakfast when she sat down with a bowl of cereal.

Her first instinct: pure panic. Her second instinct: to question it.

"Wait, what?" she said, her cheeks pink. "What— what do you mean—? I cast one!"

Klaus's devilish smirk persisted. "Oh yes, you did. But it was fun all the same to see the terror on your face when you doubted your abilities for an instant."

"Bastard," she hissed.

As luck would have it, there wasn't even time to laugh about that. Because even when she'd been left having breakfast alone while Klaus had gone into town, she'd soon been bombarded with the sound of angry voices. She'd finished eating and set her utensils away, rushing back into the dining room just as a very angry looking Klaus returned, followed by Hayley, Elijah, Rebekah, and Freya.

"Isn't that the point of a fortress?" snapped Klaus. "It does a better job of protecting you when you stay within its walls?"

"Okay!" growled Hayley in return. "We get it. Now, let's just figure out what the hell we're gonna do!"

"What I would like to do is take a strong leash—"

"Children, please," said Elijah sharply, holding his hand up. "Niklaus, your ire is justified. However, Hayley is quite right."

Hayley shot Klaus a smug look, and Beatrix slowly stepped forward. "What happened?"

"Dahlia," said Freya, looking worried. "The spell she just used— she calls it 'kenning'— using proxies to watch her enemies from afar. But I've never seen it done on quite this scale."

"Oh, crap," said Beatrix. "I haven't heard of someone doing that in ages. She's here?"

"Yes," said Hayley, gritting her teeth. "Awesome. So, basically every Hurricane-chugging, boob-flashing tourist on Bourbon Street is a potential spy."

"The good news is I know a little about how her magic works," she said. "I will be right back, I have ingredients for a tonic that will prevent her, at least, from using it on any of us."

She darted out, and Beatrix reached her hand up to rub the back of her head. "So, the bitch is finally here."

"Yes, which means your time stuck in your room is quite over," said Klaus roughly. "How much do you know about the spell Dalia did?"

"Quite a bit. But the last time I saw it done was in Spain, and it barely worked. Not a lot of witches have the power to do that. How many people, exactly, were part of it?"

"The entire strip of a street," said Hayley. "Everyone just turned to look at us... it was a huge crowd."

"That's concerning. Dahlia's old, sure, which means she has a lot of power, but for something that big..."

Freya returned just then, with cups of a brown liquid. Beatrix moved forward and sniffed one, gagging. "Yep, this is definitely going to keep Dahlia out..." Rebekah and Freya mimicked Beatrix and each took a cup, but the others were hesitant.

"Well, come on!" prompted Rebekah. "This should work like a charm."

Elijah and Hayley moved forward to grab cups, but Klaus stared at them with distaste. "Bottoms up," urged Rebekah, and the five with cups downed them. Elijah took the last cup and offered it to Klaus, who had no intention of reaching forward. "Niklaus, is there something you wish to contribute?"