Davina finally texted back.
'It's been days!' Yara couldn't help but exclaim. 'Are you alright? Where have you been!'
'Busy. A guy has been following me. It's a vampire. I need help, please...'
Yara's face immediately dropped. 'Tell me where you were when you noticed it, I'll see if I can get security camera footage.'
Marcel was quickest to retrieve it once Yara confirmed that Davina had reached out to him, too. He forwarded her the footage for her to start trying to figure out where the man had encountered Davina as she walked toward the cemetery from a grocery store.
"There!" said Marcel, pointing at the computer screen. "That guy in the all-black suit. I recognize him. Shen Min, eight hundred years old. According to Tristan, he was a torture consultant for Genghis Khan."
"Oh, that he was," said Yara, taking a screenshot to confirm with Davina and let her know she and Marcel were taking care of it. "The Red Sorrow, The Viper."
"I knew the first nickname, not the second one."
"Figures. I called him that."
"Wait a second, you knew this guy?"
She let out a dry laugh. "Knew him? I worked with him in 1552. When I liberated Zanzibar from the Portuguese, I met this woman whose daughter had been taken. Tracked her to another Portuguese colonization mission in Malacca. He was in the process of getting them out of there, too. We decimated hundreds of Portuguese explorers and wanna-be conquistadors and freed that girl. I learned a lot from him. He called me 'The Wolf' and I called him 'The Viper.' Eventually my name was modified to be 'Lone Wolf' because I was always by myself. But he coined it because of how vicious I was... ripping people apart like a wolf might. And I called him the viper because, well, those fancy rings The Strix carry full of poison? Yeah, one of his ideas even if that bitch Aya made the majority of the venoms."
"So you're acquaintances?"
She rubbed the back of her head awkwardly. "A little more than that, just that one time, so I wouldn't say acquaintances but I also wouldn't say friends. Still, potentially enough to have an in and ask him what he wants with Davina? Do you have any idea why they'd be doing this?"
"No clue. If this is being done on behalf of The Strix, membership or no membership I doubt they'd let me know anything."
"Okay, so I'll reach out and arrange a meeting. We'll tell Elijah to be on standby."
"Do we need to?" muttered Marcel. "You and I can take him."
Yara let out a snort. "Oh, hell no. I might stand a chance if it were someone else but I am not taking a chance when it comes to Shen Min. We need someone stronger than him waiting to help us. If we're not able to get information out of him based on his behavior, we may need Elijah there to try and compel him. At least that way if we need to kill him or something... we can pin it on him and not on you. How will it look if they find out you're involved? At least with Elijah we can try and cover it up somehow."
He relented. "Okay, I'll call him while you try to arrange a meeting."
The plan was simple: Yara would reach out to an 'old friend' and arrange a meeting while Elijah and Marcel lingered nearby, listening and waiting. Yara would be able to hold her own well enough for the first few minutes if something went wrong; she could definitely survive until they got there. If he proved unwilling to say anything (which she expected, given his loyalty to The Strix), they'd take him to the St. Anne's gym and bleed him to allow Elijah's compulsion in.
She was sitting in a bar alone, back to the door. She felt his eyes on her before he even walked in, felt how he drew nearer and at last sat down across from her.
"You are looking good, Viper," she said, holding up her glass and pushing another toward him. "I like the hair now that you cut it."
He didn't smile, but he accepted the drink. "You look the same, Wolf. Clothes are all that's changed on the outside."
She tilted her head. "What are you worried about on the inside?"
"You've become soft. From the woman who was bloodthirsty and tore through conquistadors in Zanzibar and Malaysia to a woman here to plead for the life of her son."
She snorted. "I am not pleading for the life of my son. He's been accepted, so what." Perhaps I can use this train of thought to steer us away from Davina, keep the conversation flowing. "Though, from one sorrow to another, tell me what I should expect."
"When you look at your son," said Shen, "what do you see? Do you see a warrior? A fighter? Yes, surely you do. But tell me, Wolf, is your son anything like you? Because I think he doesn't have what it takes to be part of The Strix. A nightmare... versus a king."
"So... what, you think Marcel shouldn't have been recruited? I've been wondering why Tristan would reach out. I don't like it."
"Why would you? You're quite comfortable playing house with a hybrid."
"Oh, please, let's not do that thing where you shame me for becoming a mother and for choosing to live my life in a way that pleases me. I still very much like to kill. But for me there is a time and place. I didn't want to dedicate my entire life to whatever it is you do on a daily basis. There's nothing wrong with that just as there's nothing wrong with your agenda and your goals. Besides, I remember you used to talk about becoming an emperor, of having heirs. We seized power in a different way, Shen. You know what I lost and what I wanted to gain. Peace. Control over my life and who was a part of it."
He eyed her closely. "You could have had more power. Tell me, Yara, where do you land in this war?"
"I'll protect my family. Klaus, the father of my children. Elijah and Rebekah, their uncle and aunt, practically my siblings. And anyone else who lives under my roof. I don't want a war and despite your bloodthirst I don't think you want one, either. It would disrupt The Strix's operations, even more than it already is by you all being here."
This didn't seem to be the answer he was expecting. And he knew what that meant. "You haven't the faintest idea who sired you, do you?"
"I don't. And I don't want to know. I don't need to."
"There is a one-third chance you are Elijah's sireling. A one-third chance you would be meant to be a part of The Strix."
She laughed. "What, you're trying to recruit me now? I told you a long time ago that I couldn't commit to that. Besides, I think it may be strange to be a part of the same organization as my son." She noticed a slight twitch over his lips. "Unless... you don't intend for him to be part of it. You don't like that he isn't Elijah's sireling, do you?"
"He should not be a part of it," said Shen firmly. "By being from another sireline, he is nothing but filth. Without the common goal to protect our sire in this war, we only risk Marcel siding against us, siding with someone as volatile as Niklaus Mikaelson."
"And you think me being in The Strix makes him easier to control because he won't compromise my safety. Marcel, you don't trust or seem to like. But if I happened to be from Elijah's sireline, I could be an asset to you. Let me guess, you'd help me find out who my sire is, and if it is Elijah you'd drag me back to the Davilla Estate as a way to help me keep my city safe... but what happens if he's not my sire? You can't kill me, you'd risk Klaus's wrath swooping down on you immediately. The war would start right here, right now. Hmm. Choices, choices."
She leaned forward. "What do you want me to do, Shen? Convince Marcel to leave? Do my own soul searching and pick a side? I'm not sure if I want any part in this at all. I'm this close–" she held her fingers nearly together, "from just taking my daughter and heading out of town because I don't like anything brewing here. Unless, of course, you were in a position to strike a bargain so we can all calm down and go back to what we were happily doing a few weeks ago. What do The Strix want with Marcel?"
"The others were pleased to see Marcel join our ranks. None can decipher what Tristan's end goal is, though he claims your son to be an asset. They simply enjoy the benefits."
"See, that's the thing, I don't really know what Tristan is doing here, period. Protecting Elijah? Really? I call bullshit. If he wanted to, he could have already ambushed Lucien and stolen from his mind the information he needs regarding the weapon. The Strix would control it and ensure Elijah can't be killed so they all live happily ever after. Which makes me think Tristan has some other agenda. There is a reason he can't go after Lucien, but he's going after someone else. Marcel." And Davina. Unless this is all connected? Could Marcel and Davina have something to do with the weapon? Something he needs? But wouldn't it be Lucien coming after them? Unless...
"That is," she continued slowly, "assuming that Tristan and Lucien still hate each other."
Shen didn't react. "I've never seen a pair more vocal about their dislike for each other."
"Funny. But like I said, if the weapon really was so concerning, Tristan could already have it. Yet instead of harming Lucien, he's taking on new recruits and he has you following Davina Claire, and what would a witch Regent matter to any of you unless you planned to use her?"
The man's lips curled upward as she finished, "They're working together, aren't they? Marcel goes into The Strix, everyone focuses on Tristan while Lucien does god-knows-what with that weapon. You get Davina, she helps them both find the weapon because Marcel will stand to benefit from it, because he will be one of the people giving her the command."
"Very good, Wolf. But unfortunately we now reach–"
Elijah and Marcel were there to catch Shen Min's arms before he could reach out to choke Yara.
They chained him to a chair at the gym, bleeding him into two buckets on either side of his body, legs and arms wounded to create a stream of blood.
"Before I came to you, I spoke with Tristan again," said Elijah while they waited. "I confronted him about Aurora's presence here. He's not easily shaken, and yet I heard that little weasel's heart pound when I accused him of working with someone, and, strangely, nothing when I mentioned Aurora."
"So he was working with someone," said Marcel. "Lucien, this whole time. Playing the two sides, combining efforts to find the weapon."
Elijah approached Shen Min, leaning down and looking into his eyes. "I have questions... I want answers." He gripped his face. "Why were you following Davina?"
He tried to remain silent, but spit out, "Tristan needs her to activate a weapon to use against your family."
"The weapon that Lucien apparently has or knows how to find?"
"Yes."
"What is it?"
Shen resisted. "Forgive me," said Elijah as he gasped for breath, "I'm having a little difficulty hearing you right now. Speak."
"I'd... rather... die," said Shen. He forced a further twist on his arm, ripping off his own daylight ring and bursting into flames as Elijah leapt back.
"That at least confirms something," mumbled Yara as she watched Shen burn silently.
The doors of the gym opened. Freya and Klaus walked in, both clearly worried.
"What happened?" asked Marcel immediately.
"Rebekah is gone," whispered Freya. "We can't find her, no one knows–" she tried to keep it together, "Kol was nearly beaten to death. They were ambushed. The Strix... they killed Rebekah to put her back in her Original body and then they took her."
"And Aurora took her from The Strix," muttered Klaus darkly. "But she did let slip tha the weapon is a medallion called The Serratura. It creates a boundary that can't be crossed by anything living or dead. They intend to trap us where we can't be killed."
"Okay," said Yara, trying to think. "Aurora, we can work with, right? We can appeal to her in some way to see if she would be willing to reveal more. I would hope she's more reasonable than Tristan because she is only responsible for herself."
"Aurora will always protect Tristan," said Elijah, also brainstorming. "And given that he and Lucien are allied, the three of them together have a distinct advantage on us."
"But is Aurora working with them? Or is it just the other two?"
Elijah snapped his fingers. "Yes, unless we break that advantage. Keep them all separate."
Klaus seemed to like this. "Now there's a strategy I wholeheartedly endorse! What do you have in mind?"
"Let's invite them for a friendly meal... systematically turn them against one another, and then devastate their pitiful alliance."
"You two handle that," said Freya anxiously. "I need to keep finding Rebekah. And Kol will be heading back soon, we need to make sure he's safe–"
"I can pick him up from the airport," offered Yara. "Make sure he gets back in one piece. Marcel–?" She saw he wasn't paying attention, frowning at his phone. "Everything alright?"
"I think Vincent is finally going to be able to help me with Davina," said Marcel worriedly. "She's okay now that Shen Min isn't following her but after what happened with the witches..."
"Go, it's okay."
"There's something else, though. Cami– her texts have been weird all day."
"I'll check on her. We'll figure all this out, I promise."
While Elijah and Klaus went to prepare the dinner, Yara had to get rid of Shen Min's body, retrieve some of Rebekah's items for Freya to do her Locator Spells up in the St. Louis Cathedral bell tower, make sure Kol was on a private jet back to New Orleans, and stop by Cami's apartment, which was empty.
She had Gia, Josh, and Aiden help her track Cami's phone, which was still active, given someone was responding to her texts but in a strange un-Cami-like way. It pinged at a cell tower near a new apartment complex, which she vaguely recalled Klaus mentioning from having visited Lucien.
The Serratura is a magical object, Cami has access to magical objects. Could he have kidnapped her to get it? And then having Shen Min tail Davina, it distracted Marcel just long enough for Cami to be taken, all while The Strix were trying to kill Rebekah and Kol to get Rebekah's real body...
It was becoming more difficult to quell her rage.
As soon as she confirmed with Klaus that Lucien was at the Compound and that the address given by the phone was for Lucien's penthouse, she made her way there.
She didn't bother to wait for the elevator when she reached the apartment complex. She sped up the stairs, finding a small table in the hallway and breaking off two of the legs to use as weapons. She kicked open the doors to the penthouse, glad when she saw Cami was in there, unharmed, but apparently being kept captive by a man who sprung up at the sight of her.
Yara didn't bother to come closer. She threw one of the chair legs at him, impaling him in the chest and killing him instantly. She made to walk in and examine Cami for injuries, but collided with an invisible boundary in the doorway.
"You can't come in unless you're from the same sireline," said Cami, relieved, as she reached for a small disc and ran toward Yara. "Which means..."
"Yeah," said Yara, taking the disc from her as her heart skipped a beat. "Not Klaus's sireling. This stays between us, please. I don't want him to know."
"Of course."
She took Cami back to her apartment immediately, pocketing the Serratura and waiting with her until she heard back from Marcel, who reported that Davina had been shunned. She was no longer the Regent. No longer part of the Coven.
"Stay with her," she told Marcel, patting his shoulder and motioning to where Cami sat inside, still shaking and trying to drink some tea. "I'll wait at the airport for Kol."
When he finally arrived, she pulled him with her immediately, driving straight to the Compound, which was quiet by the time they got there. The table was a complete mess, and a chill ran down Yara's spine when she realized she recognized the scene, the disarray, from Alexis's vision.
It's coming true.
"Hi baby girl," she whispered, finding Klaus already with Hope. "How did it go? Judging by the ah..." she gestured in the direction of Elijah's study, "tied up and unconscious Tristan, things are not okay?"
"Lucien claimed he was going to give us the Serratura," said Klaus tiredly. "Which, judging by what I heard downstairs, you retrieved along with Cami. As for Tristan and Aurora, they each had one half of the coordinates needed to find Rebekah..." he sighed in frustration, "They dropped her in the ocean. Thus, until Aurora gives us what we want, Tristan will remain here."
She winced. "Okay, in that case, what do we do with Hope? There's no way we can have her stay here while Tristan is captured. The Strix are going to come for him... Aurora could be with them when they do."
He hesitated. "I was thinking... Kol could take her to the safe house with Camille. Again. I am as displeased as you are that Lucien took her. Kol is in no position to be dealing with The Strix in a mortal body. He could cloak them, keep them out of the way until the situation improves."
"I'm fine with that as long as they are. I don't... I don't one hundred percent like the idea of sending her away but I don't think there is a choice anymore. At least with this we know Hope isn't the target. Keeping her out of the way would be best."
He put an arm around her, seeing how she'd begun to tremble, the events of the entire day finally sinking in. She lowered herself into the rocking chair, sighing and covering her face as Hope whined, wondering why Yara wasn't paying attention to her.
"I'm sorry, my love," she whispered, holding out her arms to take her. "It's been a rough day."
"When you went to rescue Camille," said Klaus curiously, kneeling down, "were you able to walk in?"
Her heart sank. There was no point in lying. "No," she said quietly. "So... either Elijah or Rebekah. But it doesn't change how I feel about you, or how hard I will fight to protect you."
She could tell he was trying to stay calm, as if this didn't bother him. Maybe he hated knowing that she didn't have any further connection with him, or maybe he was relieved that if anything happened to him, she wouldn't suffer the consequences.
"It doesn't mean anything," she insisted, holding his hand. "I care about you. I am remembering my love for you, too, Klaus." She whispered, squeezing his palm, "My partner, my king. I will fight like hell to make sure our little girl has both her parents. I will fight to make sure that we get Rebekah back, that we get our city back, and that this prophecy doesn't swallow us whole. That, I promise you."
He smiled weakly. "I must remain here to aid Elijah in monitoring Tristan and preventing any attacks from The Strix. Would you be able to handle the move into the safe house?"
"Yes, of course. I'll get them out tomorrow."
Though she was worried about Davina (who had completely ghosted her, Marcel, and Vincent and was only communicating with Josh and Aiden, who were extremely concerned), though she wanted more than anything to help Freya look for Rebekah and figure out what to do with the Serratura, she kept a good attitude as she arranged transport for Cami, Kol, and Hope. She had to fight not to tear up when she kissed her little girl, promising this would only be for awhile and that Kol and Cami would keep her perfectly safe.
But she wasn't safe. Not when she was putting together a care package for Davina, not when she'd delivered some magical objects to Freya to try and help with the locator spells. She sensed someone watching her too late.
She was only a block away from the Compound when a figure came behind her and snapped her neck.