I groan as I open my eyes, the sunlight making it hard to adjust at first. My veins are on fire and I can barely lift my head. My eyes focus in on Cami and I grunt as I try to move. "Cami." I breath out and she turns to me. I try to move my hands, but instead I hiss in pain. Looking down I see my hands and ankles are bound to a chair with rope. My wrists are red and raw. "What's going on?" I mutter, finally realizing I'm by the boxing cage in Marcel's gym.
"Aurora..." Cami starts, but is cut off.
"Ahh, good you're awake." Aurora smiles sickly. "It's about time." I go to try and attack her, but my skin starts to sizzle from the ropes and I groan. "Wolfbane and Vervain, nasty little herbs."
"What do you want?" I seethe.
"Simple." She smiles. "It seems Nik shares an affection for both of you and I would like to know, what exactly it is. So, tell me a bit about you two. Starting with how you feel about Nik. And, do bear in mind, I am a stickler for honesty."
"Are you fucking kidding me?!" I snap. "You kidnapped us to talk boys."
"Not boys." Aurora sneers. "Just one boy."
"Let Cami go and I'll tell you anything you want to know." I tell her.
"I'm not leaving you." Cami denies.
"She's not going anywhere." Aurora says. "At dinner, it was made clear that she means something to Nik and I want to know what."
"Klaus and I are friends." Cami tells her. "He talks, I listen. I'm his therapist. I give him advice. We're not romantically involved, but I care about him. I see that he wants to be more than what he is. And I don't think you would do much to help him get there."
"You see the good in Nik." Aurora says. "What about you, Kelsey? Do you see good in him?"
"Of course, I do." I roll my eyes.
"Tell me, are one of you to bring it out of him?" Aurora exclaims. "The frail little human that he has manipulated, abused, and compelled or the one night stand that he never even mentioned. He doesn't care about either of you. You're both just a thing he uses from time to time. That's all."
A laugh weakly. "You are truly delusional."
"You can say whatever you want. We can't stop you." Cami says. "But I do find it interesting how angry you are. I think you're worried. If there's anything that Klaus likes about us, it's our mind. That we can both understand him. And you? You are beautiful, and you are powerful, and you do have a long history together. But you're worried he doesn't love you. That maybe he does see the truth. That your mind... It's a bit damaged, isn't it?" Aurora back hands Cami into the fence of the cage.
"You bitch!" I yell enraged, burning my skin as I struggle to get free.
"Tell me you deepest, darkest secret." Aurora demands looking between me and Cami. "And if I sense that you are holding back... Well, you both might not live long enough for Nik to get here." Neither of us says anything. "I will not ask you again. Your greatest shame, admit it!" She yells. "And do not bother lying because I will know. And then I'll end you both. So, come on, Kelsey. You first."
I sigh in frustration. "Fine. Most wolves hate to idea of being a vampire. It goes against their nature. But, me, I love it. The heighten senses, the urge to kill. Killing make me feel empowered and that makes my sick. I fight that feeling everyday. I hold back my urges and only embrace them when faced with enemies. Is that what you wanted to hear? The thing that I'm ashamed of most."
"Yes!" She exclaims. "Amazing. Who would have thought? Little miss moral compass." She laughs, then she turns to Cami. "And you?"
"Junior year of college, I was arrested for assault. Battery." Cami answers shocking me.
"Fabulous." Aurora smiles intrigued. "Now, that's more like it. Now, do go on."
Cami sighs. "It was some guy. He was dating my roommate. She tried to break up with him, so he hit her. Broke her nose. I tried to get her to go to the police, the dean, anybody. But she was too scared. I hated that he was just getting away with it, like nothing ever happened. I saw him one night at a bar, hitting on a freshman. So, I took a beer bottle, and I smashed it in his face."
Aurora inhales deeply. "Oooh."
"The next thing I knew I was kneeling on his chest, and pounding his head into the floor." Cami continues. "And by the time they pulled me off him... Well, he wasn't laughing."
"You're not ashamed that you did it." Aurora smirks. "You're ashamed that you enjoyed it. And that's why you study psychology. To understand your own dark impulses."
"Here I thought I was the shrink."
"Wow." Aurora chuckles. "I see why Nik is so taken with you. The trouble is, my burgeoning respect for you is over shadowed by my somewhat puerile jealousy." My heartbeat picks up. "So, I suppose, we've reached the inevitable."
"Aurora." I call out. "Killing her won't change anything. All you will do is make Nik mad that you killed his friend. He trusts her and he cares about her, but it's platonic. You're pointing your jealousy at the wrong person."
"Kelsey." Cami warns. "Shut up."
"And who should I point my jealous at?" She inquires.
"Me." I answer without hesitation. "Okay, it's me. I'm the one in love with him."
Aurora laughs. "Well, I should have guessed. You've shown your fair share of jealousy when you saw me with Nik."
"Yeah. Well don't hold it against yourself." I sneer. "You're not really the brightest." She storms up to me and punches me in the face.
"Tell me, how does it feel that Nik loves me and not you. That he could never return your affections." Aurora smirks.
"You've got it twisted." I chuckle humorlessly. "I'm the one he's in love with, not you. He's told me many times."
"Oh, honey, now who's delusional?" She laughs. "He's been showing his love for me ever since I arrived, you've been nothing but an after thought." Her word sting, but I don't let that show.
"Use your head for once, Aurora." I smile. "You have information about Tristan. You have information on where Rebekah is. You know things he wants to know. You can give him answers. You know what I give him... Empathy, understanding, trust, children, support, guidance, and more. Maybe you should learn to notice when you're being used."
She yells in frustration and anger. She takes a needle out of her pocket and plunges it into my neck, injecting me with more Vervain and Wolfsbane. I groan and grunt in pain as fire lights up my veins. I struggle to keep my eyes open.
"Kelsey!" Cami yells and runs to my side. "Stay awake." She panics.
"It seems you've come to your end, Kelsey." Aurora muses. "Wouldn't you say, my love?"
"Stop this game." Nik says.
"This is not a game, Nik." Aurora replies. "This is an intervention. You're in danger of losing the love of your life. Me. We're finally together after so long apart, all the world before us. If we can just dodge a few minor obstacles. Like this nuisance of a prophecy, my brother's internment, the insufferable influence of Elijah. But what I cannot overcome is your affections for someone else. I've waited for too long to share you now. Call me jealous."
"I remember full well the extent of your jealousies." Nik says walking closer, glancing at me. I do my best to keep my eye pried open, but I can feel my body shutting down. "But what surprises me is that they extend to the, uh, lowly therapist and my regretful one night stand. Aurora, you can't believe they mean anything to me."
"But I do believe it, Nik, I see it." She exclaims. "Especially, Kelsey. I see the fear in your eyes as she slowly dies. Do you actually love her?"
"You know I love you." Nik counters.
"I'm so glad you admitted that." Aurora says. "I wanted Kelsey to hear it, before the Wolfsbane and Vervain kills her."
"Honestly, Aurora, these petty displays are so far beneath you." Nik exclaims. "Wild scavenger hunts, threats against innocent acquaintances," He gestures to Cami. "And the mother of my children. They cast you in a very unflattering light. Jealousy's more my game."
"I wish I didn't have the need for it."
"And why would you? Kelsey and Camille is no rival to you." Nik tells her. "Your fears are ridiculous."
"Nik, I have no doubt that you love me." Aurora says as my breathing becomes more shallow and my legs become numb. "I was just hurt to learn that you would lower yourself to this distraction. One night stands should stay as such. And particularly when she constitutes a rather fiendish lie. You were drawn to her under the mistaken belief that she is pure. But she's not quite the ray of unwavering sunshine that you believe her to be. No, there is a darkness in her. In both of them really. Why else would she be drawn to darkness? Why else would Kelsey be drawn to you? See, I might have my own imperfections, but at least I am not a fake." Aurora pushes Cami away from me and grabs a fist full of my hair and yanks my head up, making me wince. "Whereas Kelsey, here. Well, she's just an illusion."
"Aurora..." Nik warns.
Cami who is standing by Aurora elbows her in the face. Aurora manages to knock her down, before she stumbles back. Nik vamp speed and pins her to the cage. Aurora glances down at me as I let out a shakey breath.
"Poor frail, little thing." Aurora taunts. "How sad you involved her in all this." Nik looks down at me and I can see, through blurry vision, the concern in his eyes.
He keeps his hold on Aurora and maintains eye contact with her as he bites his free wrist and puts it to my mouth. I quickly swallow as much of his blood as I can. When, I've had enough he removes his wrist and grabs Aurora and vamps she away. Slowly, the pain lifts and I regain feeling. I'm still tied to the chair, but I don't feel like I'm dying. Cami must have hit her head when she went down because she is unconscious.
After, a couple of minutes Cami groans. "Cami. Hey, hey. Are you okay?"
"Besides the migraine, yeah I'm okay." She groans. One of the bodies laying around gets to their feet and my eyes widen. I start to struggle to get free.
"Cami, Cami, get up." I demand. She grunts as she wobbles to her feet, blood pouring from her forehead. "Cami, run."
She quickly turns around and sees the man. "Hey." She says wearily.
"I'm so hungry." He tells her eyeing her forehead. I start to struggle more.
"Run, Cami!" I yell. Another guy starts waking up. Aurora changed all of them. They're in transition.
"Listen to me." Cami says slowly backing up as the first one walk towards her. "Alright. You're in transition. You're gonna have to feed on blood."
"I know the rules." He retorts. "Marcel told us. If I don't feed, I die." Cami quickly grabs a broom and holds it in defense.
"Back off! Right now!" She demands. He doesn't listen and neither do his buddies. "I said, get back!"
My body is back to normal now, so with a yell I use all my strength and throw myself forward. I catch my weight with my toes and sling my upper body backwards, ignoring the burning on my wrist and ankles. The force throws me back into the floor, breaking the chair. The guy gets closer to Cami, and she smacks him across the face. He tackles her to the ground, and I scramble out of the restraints. I rush over to Cami and see the guy on top of her. "Get off me!" She exclaims. And I yank his body off her. His dead body. She had staked him. Suddenly, Nik vamps in and snaps the other one's back. I drop down to Cami and pull her into a sit position, as she pants and breathes heavily. I help her stand and bring her into a hug.
"You're okay. You're okay." I whisper into her hair.
_________________________
Once, Cami had calmed down, we went to the Compound. Cami went to the study; she was going to stay here until Aurora was off the board and not a threat to her anymore. Nik and I sit in the Courtyard. The Strix used Marcel to break Tristan free. Marcel had to help them, or he would blow his cover. However, he did help Freya with a stab wound, saved Hayley by killing her attackers, and staked Elijah instead of using the magical dark object stake they gave him.
"Strix have numerous corporate assets, including private airlines. One of them specializes in cargo jets." Elijah informs us as he appears and reads a piece of paper. "Now, according to Marcel, a vessel they favor the most has the codename Cepheus." He passes the papers to Nik. "Records show this flight here left Marrakesh to Miami the very night our sister was taken. Now that we have the course, all we have to do is match the path."
"With the latitude I plucked from Aurora." Nik smirks.
"You got that from her?" I sit up intrigued.
He nods. "Right after I told her she means nothing to me." I smile at him as my heart flutters.
"X marks the spot." Elijah states. "The very moment we have our sister once again, Tristan and Aurora no longer have any leverage whatsoever, and we are free to deal with them however we choose. I recommend something delightfully gruesome."
"You know, I'm starting to like you more and more, Elijah." I grin and he chuckles.
Nik glances at me and then stands. "Just make sure you leave Aurora to me."
Nik and I head to the study to check on Cami. She sits on the couch with some ice held to her head. I sit down on the coffee table across from her.
"Can I get you anything?" Nik asks.
"I'm fine." She says putting the ice pack down. "I mean, my head is throbbing, but all things considered..." She trails off.
"Well, for tonight, I'd like you to stay here." Nik suggests. "Where I can protect you."
"Yeah." I agree. "You can take my room." I sigh and look down. Nik takes a seat next to me on the coffee table. "Cami, listen, what happened today. You got pulled into something you..."
"Hey." She interrupts. "Forget about it. It's not your fault. Either of your faults. I do have to ask though. Klaus, did you hear what Aurora made us admit?"
"Your incident at the university. The man you assaulted." He confirms. "I've already compelled some people to go and kill him."
She looks at him in disbelief. "That's a joke, right?"
"It doesn't have to be." He says and I chuckle, nudging him.
"Don't kill anyone for me, please." She smiles. "Either of you."
We chuckle. "No promises." I tell her and she raises her eyebrows. I put my hands up in surrender. "Okay, okay, whatever you say."
She stands. "It's been a lousy couple of days. Do you mind if I go lie down for a second in your room?"
"Of course." I smile softly. She nods and exits the study.
"So, if you heard hers, then you heard everything I said." I mutter, slightly embarrassed as I move to the couch across from him.
He chuckles. "Yes, I especially loved when you told her I was using her."
"Laugh it up." I scoff with a small laugh. "I had to say something to get under her skin."
"Enough for her to almost kill you." He goes seriously.
"Oh, c'mon." I knock my knee against his. "You know that it wouldn't have stuck. We're bonded, remember."
"Doesn't mean I particularly enjoy you almost dying all the time." He says.
"Yeah, me either." I agree. "It's not fun and it hurts like hell."
"How are you feeling?"
"I'm okay." I smile. "Thanks to you...again. You know, you keep saving me."
"Always." He smiles.
We hold eye contact for a long time, both of our smiles slowly fading. I don't know who leans in first, but our lips connect quickly with urgency and passion. His hand goes to my face and his other goes to my waist pulling me closer. One of my hands grips his shirt and the other one threads into his hair.
"The twins?" He pants pulling away slightly, our lips brushing.
"Hayley said she'll watch them overnight. I had planned to stay here with Cami." I breath out. He doesn't respond. He just reconnects our lips and vamps us into his room.