September, and the heat and humidity continued to stifle the city of New Orleans. The sun began to rise, bathing the city in light. Her city, Francesca Correa thought, smiling to herself and looking out onto the city. For eighty years her family had patiently waited for their revenge, and to take back their rightful place in New Orleans. And she was the one to do it - her plan had been masterful. To think that she had been able to fool even those oldest beings - The Originals. They should have known better. To simply trust her when she appeared with the stones - that was the moment she felt the most fear, although she was careful not to show it. That was the moment that should have raised the most flags, the most questions, especially from Elijah. But no - too worried about the precious werewolf queen - nothing but an incubator, she thought, shaking her head.

She narrowed her eyes as she thought of Hayley - a no class tramp who tripped her way into one Original's bed, then fell into the arms of another. She rolled her eyes. How anyone could think she's a queen...well, no matter. Now that Hayley somehow managed to turn herself into a half-breed hybrid, no pack would accept her. Not even the one she went through so much trouble to find, not even the ones who owed her the most for breaking the reverse-curse. Loyalty quickly fades when you become the thing most hated.

Only one thing continued to nag at her - the baby. The Quarter had been full of rumors regarding what had happened with Baby Mikaelson and she could get no confirmation from anyone, which was rare. She wanted to know not for justice, but for the simplest of reasons: was the murderer someone she could work with to oust The Originals from New Orleans? And if they weren't willing to work with her, there was always her favorite standby - she would coerce them into helping her.

She knew one of the more persistent rumors was that she herself killed the child - which was ridiculous. Not that she wasn't capable, but taking that step hadn't been in her interests. As if I would kill the Hybrid's child and bring that reign of terror on my doorstep. She pointed out that piece of logic to Elijah when he had shown up at her office a few days after the massacre. He seemed to believe her. If he hadn't, she'd be dead - she knew that beyond a shadow of a doubt. She felt safe. He had merely come to inform her that he, his brother, and Hayley would be staying in New Orleans. More specifically, that they would be staying in their home in the Quarter and that they expected to be left alone.

She had assured him that she and her wolves had no intention of disturbing them during their bereavement. She did however, make it a point to reiterate to him that Marcel and whatever remained of his pitiful vampire army were banned from the Quarter. He offered no objection, considering that Marcel and his army had attacked them, kicking off the entire debacle. For now, she would play nice with the Originals. But soon, she'd amass an army strong enough to run them out of her city.

As for Marcel, she thought as her mind drifted towards him. She'd take care of him and whatever vampires remained sooner rather than later. He still needed to pay. Not only for nearly exterminating her family, but for the reverse-curse as well. She was Alpha of her pack, but the only reason the Crescent Wolves had accepted her was because she had promised they would have their rightful revenge on Marcel. Well, that, and the moonstones. If she had to guess, she would say they were more interested in the moonstones than revenge. What wolf wouldn't be? But they would have to wait. Although she had a witch willing to perform the spell, she only had a limited number of stones. She had her people mining for more in different locations around the world, but until the next shipment arrived - they would just have to be patient. Her family waited eighty years to reign again. The Crescent Wolves could wait a few weeks more.