Dark Paradise

Chapter 23 – Après Moi, Le Déluge – Part 3

••• ••• •••

With a groan Mara pushed the door to the compound shut behind her, fighting against the strong winds that kept trying to blow the door back open on her.

She'd much rather have stayed at her house with everyone but she couldn't as it was during the time she'd been there her phone had racked up several missed calls from Klaus. If she didn't return to the compound it would look suspicious and while she was sure Klaus' mind wouldn't immediately go to her working with Marcel to protect Davina, if she kept ignoring his calls that's the precise direction his paranoid mind would take him; which would lead him directly to Davina.

"Where have you been?"

Turning around she faced Klaus as he raised his eyebrows with demand for an answer.

"Searching for our runaway witch, why?" She sighed, hoping he wouldn't see directly through her lie.

When he continued to give her a disbelieving look she crossed her arms over her chest and continued, "We tried a locator spell but nothing. Even with the three of us working it… so wherever Marcel has Davina, they're cloaked –extremely well."

"Well, that would require the assistance of a very powerful witch… last time I checked Marcel only had one of those and she's down and out," Klaus pointed out and Mara held her breath, thinking he'd seen right through the lies, with a shrug she replied, "Well apparently he's got a witch or two in his corner; Davina is his family and he's desperate to save her… I can only imagine that might lead him to make some unlikely allies."

Pushing past him she started down the hallway, hoping that she'd pulled off the lie with a heart of truth and he hadn't figured her out.

"I suppose so," she heard him say from behind her and she breathed an internal sigh of relief. She'd done it, successfully pulled one over on him –which normally would have had her smirking, especially since the powerful witch Marcel currently had in his corner was Emmalin and the unlikely allies included herself.

But she didn't feel good about lying to him; in fact, it made her feel sick.
He'd shown more trust in her than she'd seen him put anyone else in the time she'd known him –not to mention sitting through story after story of betrayal he'd endured over the course of his lifetime and now she was lying too. Only it didn't really have anything to do with him, she was only trying to help save a life.

As she walked into the sitting room Rebekah looked up from where she was sitting as she questioned, "Where's the other Cromwell?"

"Hopefully a town or two over by now," Mara said as she looked around the room giving a small nod to Elijah before adding, "We're no closer to finding Davina and I don't want Emmy caught in the middle of this so I asked Kaleb to get her out of New Orleans."

"And she just left… without you?" Elijah asked, a surprised look on his face. He may not have known either twin very well but he had witnessed their connection and close bond.

Mara's eyes dropped to the floor for a minute as she swallowed and looked up to answer, "I might have told a little white lie about grabbing some things from the house and being right behind them."

"Yet, here you stand," Klaus said as he leaned against the door frame and watched her, not entirely sure if he believed everything she was saying but she'd also given him no reason to doubt her.

"In for a penny; in for a pound, right?" She shrugged, before turning her attention to Elijah and asked, "How'd it go with Celeste's bones?"

"Not well," he admitted, "According to Sabine and Sophie Deveraux; her bones contained not even an ounce of magic –no power at all."

Mara's forehead lined with confusion, she wasn't well informed with ancestral magic seeing as how the Cromwell's didn't practice it –but she knew enough to know that a witches bones held power until they'd been properly consecrated.

"It's taken a thousand years... but Elijah's finally done it," Rebekah chimed in, pausing for dramatic effect before explaining, "He's gone mad. He wants to use our mother's bones instead."

"Esther?" Mara questioned.

"Yes, our loving mother who Klaus has affectionately placed in a coffin in his basement… not daggered but quite dead." Elijah nodded and Mara looked over to Klaus who smirked as he crossed the room and sat down in a chair.

"She did try to kill us all," he reminded them.

"Well, I say we finally put her to use and put her to rest once and for all. Now, if we bury our mother on land owned by one of her descendants, she becomes a New Orleans's witch, and we as her family share in that ancestral magic," Elijah started to divulge his plan to the room but Rebekah quickly cut him off, "We're vampires, Elijah… we can't practice magic or own property for that matter."

"Yes, with regard to practicing magic," he agreed as he then launched into an explanation of how after their mother's bones were buried they could channel all that magic to Sophie Deveraux and as long as they participated in the harvest it would work.

Walking over to a table he picked up a sheet of paper which was proof that Hayley now held the title for the plantation house.

Handing the title sheet to Klaus he continued to explain, "If we bury our mother at the plantation house and consecrate those grounds we can then finish the harvest ritual."

Walking over with a void expression on her face, Mara sat down on the armrest of the chair Klaus was sitting in as she blocked out the rest of the conversation between the siblings. Esther, otherwise known as the original witch, was extremely powerful in life –meaning her bones held an immense power to them and they were going to hand all of that power over to Sophie.

Mara wasn't sure that she and her sister's cloaking spell would be strong enough to keep Davina hidden after the consecration was complete.

"You're a bit of a mad genius, Elijah," Klaus complimented with a smile as he handed the paper back to him as he stood up and exclaimed, "Count me in."

"Am I the only one thinking here? Our mother was the most powerful witch in history… if we bury her we hand that power to our enemies to use against us," Rebekah said as she stared at her brothers with a stunned expression.

"Given our circumstances, I'm not sure that we have a choice, Rebekah," Elijah argued.

Crossing her arms over her chest she sighed, "I don't know why I bother… you two will just do what you want anyways."

"No the decision must be unanimous," Elijah said, but Klaus argued that this wasn't a democracy.

As they continued to bicker back and forth, Mara looked over to the windows just as the rain started. Falling suddenly, hard and so fast that she could just barely make out the glow of streetlights through it.

Sinking from the armrest into the seat of the now empty chair she shook her head back and forth. In the beginning, she'd been sure that they needed to save Davina, not let the harvest ritual continue, but now she wasn't so sure about the choice she'd made for an array of reasons.
One of them at the top her list being that Klaus wasn't only going to be mad at her –he was going to take it personally, feel betrayed when he found out she'd been hiding Davina the entire time she'd sat there pretending to be on his side.

"Kill a demon today; face the devil tomorrow… count me in," Rebekah finally conceded to her brother's wishes and Klaus smiled as he said, "Well, we can't have a family reunion without our mother. I'll go fetch her, then."

Mara waited until Klaus was out of the room and she was alone with Rebekah and Elijah, who were talking amongst themselves until Mara asked, "This city's really going to come to an end, isn't it? The floods and then finally fire. We're all going to burn, right?"

"If we're unable to locate Davina and finish the harvest then, yes. We'll be reduced to ash." Elijah nodded, his eyes slightly narrowing in question as he finally saw how she was sitting in the chair, closed in on herself like she was trying to take up as less room as possible –retreating into herself like wounded prey.

"Mara?" Rebekah questioned as she too became aware of the teenager's anxiety.

"I… I have a confession," she finally breathed pinning her eyes shut and already hating herself for what she was about to do and hoping her sister wouldn't hate her for it.

"What did you do?"

Mara jumped and looked up to see Klaus standing back in the doorway, staring at her with a fury-filled broken expression.

"I lied," she admitted her voice cracking slightly and barely audible over the storm's raging outside.

Thinking back to the earlier conversation he'd had with her when she'd first gotten back to the compound, Klaus continued to stare her down as he repeated, "Unlikely allies, indeed."

"Klaus, I'm so sor-"

He didn't even let her finish the apology as he yelled, "Where is she?"

Mara jumped slightly from the sudden outburst and she didn't have to look back at him to know the look on his face. She closed her eyes, unable to look at him knowing what she was going to say next wasn't only going to outrage him further but also hurt him.

"I'm not going to tell you."

He opened his mouth getting ready to unleash a barrage of threats; get the point across to her of how serious this was and how badly she'd screwed up, but before he got the chance Mara looked to Rebekah and said, "I'll tell you… and only you… not only because I know you care about Davina -but Emmy's with her and I can't risk her getting hurt."

Rebekah stood up and nodded understanding exactly why the witch was entrusting her with this task, though truthfully it was a task she didn't want to complete.

Crossing the room Mara picked up a pen and sheet of paper as she scribbled down a note saying that Davina was being kept in the house she and her sister lived in, before making a small apologetic note at the bottom addressed towards her sister; both because she was truly sorry she had to rat them out and because the note might be the only way she'd believe Rebekah.

Dropping the pen back to the table, she slowly folded the page in half and handed it to Rebekah who immediately opened the note and scanned the page before tucking it into her jacket pocket and leaving in silence.

"We'd better get our mother's remains to the plantation, we're running out of time," Elijah announced as he started to leave the room but then stopped and looked back to Mara as he sincerely said, "Thank you."

"Yeah." She scoffed, shaking her head back and forth.

As Elijah left she looked up to see Klaus still standing in the doorway staring at her with an expression comparable to if she'd staked him through the heart.

"Klaus, you have to understand, I was just trying to help her…" Mara's voice trailed off as the hybrid turned and walked away, leaving her standing in the middle of the room by herself with tears stinging her eyes as she whispered out loud, "I'm so sorry."

••• ••• •••

Hearing rain hit the side of the house, Emmalin looked up from the book she was reading, then walked over to the window to see sheets of rain falling down outside -which could only mean one thing; Davina was awake.

As if on cue, she heard Davina yelling out to Marcel. She still didn't want to hear what he had to say, she still felt too betrayed. She wasn't sure if she could still trust him or not.

"We should do that spell," Kaleb suggested, standing up from the couch and grabbing her attention.

Emmalin turned around to face him, a sad look on her face and her voice soft, "It's getting worse. She's getting worse."

Kaleb blew out a breath, hating what he was about to say. Taking a step toward her, his tone matching hers, "I know you don't want to hear this-"

"No," she interrupted. "I ca-I can't... Kaleb, she's only sixteen."

"I know. I don't like it either," he said. Standing in front of her, he took her hands in his, "We can put her to sleep, we can search for another way, but we are only one stage away."

"What about earlier?" she questioned. "You said we will find a way."

"I know, and I'm sorry, love." He sighed as he rested his forehead against hers, feeling like the biggest failure in the world for having to take his words back and letting her down.

Laying his hands on either side of her face, he pulled back to look at her, "I would do anything for you, and if you want to keep going, I'll be here. We'll keep trying, but I fear things will not get better."

He paused for a moment, knowing they both could hear the heavy rain falling outside. "You hear the rain out there. It's not going to stop, it's going to keep falling, then next everything will go up in flames."

Emmalin stared up at him, her vision blurring as tears filled her eyes. Deep down she knew he was right, she just wasn't sure if she was ready to say those words out loud yet. She was finally starting to accept what she was, finally starting to see that she can do good and with her newfound power she wanted to save Davina.

If she couldn't save a young, innocent girl, then what was the point in having power at all.

Before another word could be said, they heard the bedroom door open before Marcel stepped out. Walking into the living room, he looked at the couple then announced, "She's not up for talking right now."

"Yeah, we heard," Kaleb sarcastically said. They both heard Davina yelling at him earlier.

"I'll go check on her," Emmalin offered as she walked past them and down the hall. Walking into the bedroom, she tried to keep a soft smile on her face when she saw Davina laying in the bed resting.

"Hi," Emmalin said before softly closing the bedroom door.

"Hey," Davina said back. Rolling onto her back, she looked up at the lights above the bed, "I like your lights."

"Thanks," Emmalin said, walking over to the bed. Sitting down beside Davina, her eyes went to the lights, a genuine smile appeared on her face. "Kaleb bought them for me."

"He really cares for you," Davina stated. Even a blind person could see how much he already cared for her in such a short time.

Nodding her head, Emmalin said, "I know, and I care about him."

"Do you love him?" Davina questioned as she rolled over to her side to face Emmalin.

"I-I don't... We haven't known each other that long," Emmalin nervously said.

"I always believe when you know, you know," Davina said, sounding older than her sixteen years. She knew from the moment she laid eyes on Tim how she felt for him.

"I believe that too," Emmalin softly said. As a memory hit, she smiled before saying, "My mom use to always tell me when I met the right one I would know. She said I would feel the flutters, like a million of fireflies in my stomach, but my palms wouldn't sweat or my heart wouldn't race, that I would be calm. That's how I would know I met my soul mate, he would make me calm."

"Does Kaleb make you calm?" Davina asked.

"He does," Emmalin nodded. She couldn't stop smiling as she said, "He's my mate." It was something she had been wanting to say out loud since she read about soul mates in her grimoire but was too scared of chasing him off with her strong feelings.

"Then you know," Davina said, giving her a small smile.

"I know," Emmalin repeated, her voice barely above a whisper.

"I had a dream about Tim," Davina began to say after a few minutes of silence. A sad look appeared on her face as she continued, "He was alive. He played a song that he wrote for me, and he kissed me, and we were just normal."

Tears filled her eyes as she whispered out, "Maybe after I die we can have that."

"You're not going to die, Davina," Emmalin stated as she grabbed her hands. She ignored the fresh tears in her eyes, as she shook her head and reminded her, "I promised, remember?"

"I can feel it. I can feel myself getting worse. At this rate, I'm going to take everyone out with me," Davina explained. She locked eyes with Emmalin and softly said, "And it's okay. I let you out of your promise. You can't save me."

"I'm sorry," Emmalin softly cried. "I didn't want it to come to this. I wanted to save you, I still do."

With a soft smile, she brushed the tears from her face, then continued, "Me and Mara have this saying; we look out for each other... always have and always will. We'll do the same for you too. We'll look out for you, Davina, no matter what. You're an honorary Cromwell now."

Giving her a weak smile in return, Davina whispered, "I'd like that."

Emmalin smiled back as she continued to hold on to her hands -almost like she was scared to let go. She knew there was a chance this could be the last moment she had with the young witch. The two were quiet for a moment, lost in their own thoughts before she spoke up.

"You know, I know he has done bad things, but I think you should talk to Marcel. Give him a chance."

Davina turned to look at her, intently listening to what she said. Her fingers nervously pulling at a loose string on the light-colored comforter.

"He went against Klaus, Davina. He was adamant about no one hurting you. He cares about you and he just doesn't want to lose you. I truly believe everything he does, is for you, Davina."

"For the longest time, I felt like he was my only family- the only one who cares about me," Davina softly said. "But now I see; if this is all I have, then I have enough. I had friends, I had Tim, I had Marcel and now I have you and Mara. I had people fighting for me."

"And Marcel has been there from the beginning," Emmalin pointed out. As Davina nodded her head, she added, "And I believe he will always fight for you, Davina. We all will."

Davina smiled at her words, then said, "I'm ready. I'm ready to talk to him."

Emmalin smiled back and stood up from the bed. "Good. I'll go get him."

As she went to walk away, Davina reached out to grab her hand to stop her. When Emmalin turned back to look at her, she said, "Never stop fighting for good, Emmy. You can make a difference."

Emmalin nodded her head at the words to thank her, then exited the room. Stepping out into the hall, she saw Marcel -who shot her a look, as if to thank her for what she said to Davina. She gave him a nod back, then watched him open the door and slip into the bedroom.

Wiping the tears from her face, Emmalin sniffed then began to walk into the living room to join her boyfriend. She paused for a moment and watched him sitting on the couch flipping through a book with a concentrated look on his face as he read each word carefully.

He believed there was no other way to save Davina other than the harvest, yet there he was searching for another way because he knew it was something she wanted. It didn't matter if he thought this was a waste of time, he knew it was important to her, therefore, it was important to him too. He would really do anything for her.

Hearing her enter the room, he lifted his head then stood up as he opened his mouth to ask her if she was okay, but before he could say a word, she walked over to him, throwing her arms around his neck to hug him tight.

He stumbled for a moment at the force, then wrapped his arms tightly around her. He ran a hand up her back, cradling the back of her head as he blew out a calming breath with having her in his arms.

"Thank you," she whispered as she squeezed her eyes shut, feeling his presence calm her. She was still upset about everything going on, but being around him helped -it made her feel not so alone in the world.

Pulling back to look at him, she added, "Thank you for helping, even though you know it's pointless."

"Helping someone is never pointless, love," he pointed out. "But I do wish there was another way."

"Me too," she whispered with a nod. Reaching up to wipe away a fresh tear, she added, "She's ready to give up. She doesn't see any other way."

"I'm sorry," he quietly said as he laid his hands on either side of her neck, his thumb softly caressing her cheek.

The two were quiet for a moment until they heard a light knock at the front door. Walking to the door, Emmalin wasn't all that surprised when Kaleb followed her -she was, however, surprised to see Rebekah on the other side when she opened the door.

"Why are you here? How-How did you find us?" Emmalin questioned the vampire.

"This will explain things better than I could," Rebekah stated as she handed a note to the brunette.

Emmalin looked down at the single sheet of paper and recognized her sister's handwriting right away. Her eyes scanned the words as her sister apologized for telling where Davina was and apologized for going against her, but she hoped she would understand.

Sadly, she did understand her sister's reason. Davina was getting worse and there seemed to be no other way out of this -no matter how hard she wished that wasn't true. She knew what needed to be done; the harvest needed to be completed.

Feeling her eyes fill with tears, she raised her head to look at Rebekah and gave her a small nod. Stepping aside, she told the blonde to come in, then pointed toward the hall and told her which bedroom Davina was in.

When Rebekah left the room, she quickly turned away and felt Kaleb pull her toward him when a quiet sob broke free.

This was it.
This was the end.

••• ••• •••

Mara readjusted the soaking wet hood of her jacket over her equally as soaked hair as she stood in the cemetery, staring Sophie Deveraux down as they waited for everyone else to show up.

She'd skipped the consecrating ritual for Esther's bones and instead went to the cemetery to wait on everyone there. The strong winds had torn her umbrella apart just minutes after arriving there and despite Sabine offering for the young witch to join them inside of the empty tomb they showed in tours of the cemetery, which was now doubling as the space they were using to prepare for the last of the harvest, Mara declined the offer to get out of the weather.

Hearing footsteps she looked over to see Hayley, Elijah, and Rebekah approaching, despite them both having an umbrella they were both in rain-slicked clothing from the wind blowing so strongly.

Mara looked down to the ground, knowing if Rebekah was there then she had convinced Marcel to bring Davina there –a small part of her was still hoping that somehow Davina was going to make it, but she should have known better.

Hope breeds eternal misery –a lesson she'd learned a long time ago.

She was shaken from her thoughts when someone stepped up beside her; raising her head she saw it was Klaus. The only other one there who didn't have an umbrella. Turning his head he looked at her from under the hood he'd pulled up but it did little to shield his face from the winds which at some point seemed to be falling horizontally.

Their eyes met and she wanted to tell him she was sorry but she couldn't bring herself to speak –not that it would have mattered, she was pretty sure her apology was the most useless thing in the world to him.

Hearing a roaring and flame crackling sound, Mara pulled her eyes away from Klaus' to see her sister and Kaleb walking towards them. Emmalin had her arms wrapped around herself, clutching onto her damp coat while Kaleb held the umbrella for them. Marcel was walking behind them with an extremely weak Davina lying almost motionless in his arms with a blazing hot trail of fire swallowing up the ground behind him.

They'd gotten there just in time.

Mara looked over as Kaleb and Emmalin stood beside her, even with the heavy coating of rain still falling she could tell it wasn't just rain running down her twin sister's cheeks as Kaleb wrapped an arm around her and held her at his side.

Closing her own umbrella and dropping it to the ground, Sophie purified the blade over a flame as Marcel helped Davina stand and the scared teenager walked up to Sophie.

"Do you believe in the harvest?" Sophie asked and Mara could hear her sister make a small whimpering noise from beside her.

Davina looked around the cemetery, pulling in a deep breath before she strongly said, "I believe."

Sophie raised her knife to the teenager's neck and Davina closed her eye, tilting her face up toward the sky.

Emmalin buried her face against Kaleb and he turned away too, even Rebekah looked away but Mara continued to watch; thinking in those moments that Davina Claire was the bravest person she'd ever met.

Not wasting any time on completing the harvest in hopes of it bringing her niece back, Sophie deeply slit open Davina's neck.
Hayley gasped and quickly looked away as blood poured from the wound and she stumbled back where Marcel caught her and gently lowered her to the ground with him.

A few seconds later the fires burned out and the rain stopped falling; a sign that Davina had taken her very last breath.

Mara looked over to Klaus to see he was watching her and in that moment she realized he truly didn't want to see Davina die either –none of them did.

Emmalin finally turned her face back toward the scene in front of her, hoping with everything in her that Davina and the other three harvest girls would come back. Her eyes widened as she saw a glowing reddish-orange light travel down Davina's motionless arm, through her hand and finally disappear from her fingertips as the power flowed back into the earth.

Everyone lowered their umbrellas and Emmalin's heart started to race as she watched Marcel lovingly place Davina's body beside the other three of the harvest girls. "Why isn't-" She started to ask but Kaleb whispered, "The ritual isn't complete."

She nodded, breathing a sigh of relief, at first she'd been worried that something went wrong and Davina wasn't coming back.

"After the harvest comes the reaping. Their sacrifices made and accepted; we call upon our elders to resurrect your chosen ones," Sophie called out and everyone looked down to the bodies of the four harvest girls, waiting for any sign of life.

When nothing happened, Sophie repeated, "We call upon our elders to resurrect your chosen ones."

Still nothing happened and her face twisted in pain and anger as she demanded, "Resurrect your chosen ones!" Her eyes lingered on her niece Monique's body as she helplessly pleaded with the elders, "Please… I beg."

Marcel hung his head with the realization that Davina was truly gone and Sophie cried out for her niece as a feeling of devastation took over the night air in the cemetery. Four girls died and despite all of them seeing the power from Davina flow back into the earth –none of the harvest girls were resurrected and as sad as Mara was, she couldn't help but wonder where all that power had gone.

Marcel raced off with lightning fast speed once it was clear the harvest didn't work and Klaus followed him while Mara continued to stare at the bodies of the four girls laid out on a white sheet with Sophie crying over her niece's body knowing she'd not only failed Monique –she'd also failed her sister Jane-Anne who had apparently given her life for nothing.

Looking over she saw Emmalin let out a soft sob as she turned completely toward Kaleb and he wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug.

She couldn't help but feel guilty for Davina's death, feeling like maybe if she'd held out a little longer the younger teenager could have somehow beat what was happening. Maybe she'd given in too quickly when she agreed to let Rebekah come into the house to talk Marcel into bringing Davina to face her own demise, but one look over to the blonde female vampire showed she was just as torn up.

"We did all we could, love. You did all you could," Kaleb assured his girlfriend with the exact words she needed to hear at the moment.

Emmalin nodded, then pulled back as she sniffed and turned to tell her sister the same thing because she knew Mara would be just as upset over what happened, but her sister was already gone.

"Let's get you home, pretty girl," He softly said as he wrapped an arm around her and led her from the cemetery.

••• ••• •••

Mara opened the door to Klaus' room at the compound and breathed an internal sigh of relief to see the room was empty; she had a plan. Gather her things and head home for at least the night because she knew Klaus wasn't happy with her and in truth, she was just as angry at him.

Grabbing her bag she started to shove her clothes into it and zipped it as she crossed the room to the small table next to a few plush chairs. Her eyebrows lowering as she saw the only thing on the table was a book that Klaus had been looking through the night before. She'd been sure that was where she'd left her grimoire after searching it for something to help Davina earlier.

Dropping her bag to the floor she got down on her hands and knees to look under the chairs and under the bed but it wasn't anywhere to be found.

Sitting up she groaned as she ran her fingers through her hair and helplessly looked around. She'd been known to misplace things here and there but she'd never lost her grimoire.

Standing up she decided she'd try a quick object locator spell on it.

"Lose something?"

Her eyes closed at the sound of Klaus' voice and her inability to have snuck away.

Turning around she started to admit she was looking for her grimoire and ask him if he'd seen it or moved it but then she saw he was holding it in his hands.

"What are you doing with my grimoire?" she asked, trying to keep her anger in check even though the thought of anyone, even him with her grimoire made her extremely mad and uncomfortable.

"I figured you wouldn't run off without this," he admitted walking further into the room and nodded to her packed bag on the floor as he reasoned, "Looks like I was correct in my assumption that you were going to run."

She stared back at him with a look of astonishment. He was making it sound like she wasn't just going back to her house; like she'd planned on running away or something. "I'm not running… I'm just going home," she finally said as she took a few steps closer with her hand out expecting him to hand over the grimoire.

But he stepped back, clearly not going to hand the book over. He knew when she had her grimoire she'd leave and though he still felt betrayed from her aiding Davina earlier that day, he didn't want her to leave.

She opened her mouth to demand he give her –her book back but then she realized he was standing next to the still burning fireplace and her eyes widened slightly as she reminded him, "Klaus… my grimoire is really, really important to me."

"Ah, yes, well… you did take something that was important to me," he reminded her and she shook her head back and forth as she pointed out, "The only reason you thought Davina was so important was because you wanted to use her as a weapon-"

Seeing she'd completely misunderstood, his eyebrows raised as he clarified, "I'm not talking about Davina. I'm talking about the trust I'd placed in you; the same trust you broke today and after so long of trying to prove your loyalty too."

His eyes locked with hers as he added, "And I did trust you… above all others. Well played, love."

Her face twisted in both pain and confusion as she asked, "Well played? You think this was some kind of game? Like I was trying to hurt you on purpose? You think I liked having to lie to you?"

"I think you've spent the day conspiring against me with your sister. You lied right to my face," he accused, feeling the anger starting to bubble back inside of him. Feeling like she'd played him for a fool.

"And I also lied to Rebekah and Elijah and you know what? If Emmy hadn't been on board with the plan I would have lied to her too. You just don't get it, do you?" She breathed while roughing tucking her hair behind her ears as she stared at him with a look of disbelief on her face.

"What are you talking about?" he questioned.

"That this wasn't even about you! This was about Davina, I didn't conspire against you… I worked with people to try and save a teenage girl." Her face fell as she shrugged and in a voice just above a whisper admitted, "Or it was me trying to prove to my sister that I'm nothing like the person you made me out to be earlier…or prove it to myself, I don't know anymore."

His eyes locked with hers as he said, "People are rarely what they think they are… they're what they try so desperately to hide."

"How can you do that?" She breathed shaking her head back and forth, "How can you tell me that you love me one day and then the next day try to turn my sister against me? She's the one person who always finds the good in me. Even my parents looked at me like they're preparing for the worst, I guess they always knew I was bad and that's why they put Emmy up on a pedestal because she was their only kid who was worth anything and I was a lost cause. But not her… she never once looked at me like that and today you tried to take that away from me. And for what, huh? To get back at me for not standing with you about something."

He watched her closely as she spoke; part of what he loved about her was her strength, something he'd see in her very early on and something that seemed to be missing that day.

"Honestly, love, I'd rather have seen you stand against me than just having stood there like you did, afraid to take sides or take any kind of stand," he admitted.

Shaking her head back and forth she fought with all of her might to keep her tears at bay.

The day had been trying to say the least and she normally wasn't one to break down but she was pretty sure she'd failed everyone that day.
She'd most certainly failed Davina, she'd given in and sent Rebekah after the teenager, failing the promise she'd made her sister that she'd return to the compound and not say a word and apparently she'd failed Klaus in several ways but most of all she felt like she was failing herself over and over again.

"No…" She breathed shaking her head back and forth as her eyes continued to burn, "I can't do this… not tonight. You want to keep hurting me, fine, you can keep my grimoire… burn it to ash for all I care. But I cannot stay here and go round after round with you –you're so screwed up that you honestly think I did all of this because I have some side plan to take you down and I'm just screwed up enough that I actually feel terrible for lying to you even after all the times you've threatened me and my sister –all the times that you lied to me about something while you worked on some back up plan."

She could see his anger start to fade but her own feelings were still bubbling inside of her.
He opened his mouth, but she wasn't done, knowing everything about him that she did it should have come as no surprise that he was still suspicious and thought she was working against him and for that she wanted him to hurt too and she knew that more than any hurtful thing she could say to him or spell to cause him pain –the single worst thing she could do would be to leave because deep down she knew his fear of abandonment and with the admission of his love for her she knew the power she held now.

Maybe if she was a better person it wouldn't even cross her mind to use that against him –but she wasn't.

"If being a part of this," she yelled, motioning around them to the compound, "Means that I don't get the right to fight for something I think is right… if being with you means that I have to compromise myself and agree to the things I don't believe just so your paranoia doesn't get the best of you –then I don't want it."

Her words affected him like the sting of a thousand bees all at once, the pain he felt as she turned and headed for the open bedroom door was comparable to being entirely submerged in a pool of vervain water.

He loved her entirely –the kind of love that opened him up to being hurt in ways he wasn't used too and for that he wanted her gone but just the mere thought of losing her was crippling.

When he got between her and the open doorway she threw her arms up in the air and let out a frustrated noise. Dealing with him was impossible –she didn't know if he wanted her to leave or stay, she wasn't sure he even knew.

"Move!" she all but screamed at him, wanting away from him and out of that house as quickly as possible. Right now the only thing she needed was to be alone.

"You need to understand something!" he yelled over her words until she was quiet, "I am sorry that the girl died, I didn't want that to happen any more than you did but I could not allow this city to burn. This is my home; my kingdom and I have worked far too hard to watch it all go up in flames. Did it ever cross your mind that as this city burned, along with it would have burned everything I have done in preparation to provide a home for my child? That when the smoke cleared nothing would be left, everything I have fought to regain would be swept out from underneath me and…"

His voice trailed off as he pulled in a breath in an attempt to stop shouting at her and prepared to admit that a big part of his decision had also been to save her –along with the city and everything going up in flames around them it could have killed her too; but she beat him to the punch as she asked, "And me?"

"You say that as if you don't really believe it," he noticed, his expression changing from anger to one of curiosity as he tried to figure out what was going on inside of her head. The allure of mystery she carried with her was different from anyone else he ever met; even when she'd smile at him it was as though she was smiling to herself in knowing that no one else would truly ever know her.

"That's just it… I do believe it. Just like I believe you meant it when you told me you loved me, but I'm not an idiot –it's been pretty clear how you felt for a while but nothing is ever simple with you. You're so paranoid about everyone else having ulterior motives and plotting against you because that's exactly what you do. Regardless of you actually feeling that way –you didn't say it until I was about to leave. You used it against me to get me to stay just like you're holding my grimoire hostage and wanting to pick a fight with me so I'll stay."

His expression was blank as he watched her staring back at him with a cold look in her eyes.
There was truth in what she'd said, more so than he'd care to admit and the way she was looking at him was as if he were transparent.

Yet, she didn't seem hurt or affected in the slightest as she faced him with a poker face that could turn the card masters green with envy. Inside she was sure she felt more broken than he did; she'd not only let Davina down but she'd let her own sister down too and in truth, she didn't want to be alone after everything that day –she wanted to stay with him but she wasn't going to on principle alone.

Mara knew she was hard to deal with when she was mad or hurt; her own mother even once described being on the receiving end of her anger as more frigid than being trapped out in a white-out blizzard.

"You're right," he finally conceded after what felt like an hour long staring contest, "I don't want you to leave. Even after your betrayals…"

Her eyes dropped down to the floor and she shook her head back and forth as she remembered what Hayley had told her about how almost everyone else at the compound was being held there against their will –Mara seemed to be the only one who'd been there willingly.
Only now she was starting to feel trapped too, so regardless of her own want to stay –she needed to leave, just to show that she could.

"You know where I stand… but I'm not going to force you to stay. It's up to you," he said, seeming much calmer than before and she had no doubt that was another attempt to get her to give in; a clearly failed attempt as walked past him and out of the door.

Only glancing back at him once –leaving her bag, her grimoire and a piece of her own heart with him as she left.

••• ••• •••

After arriving at the house, Emmalin was silent as she shuffled down the hallway into her room. She grabbed a pair of her most comfortable pajama bottoms and a tank top before taking a hot shower -hoping to wash away the cold rain and the horrible memory of losing Davina.

Standing by the front door, Kaleb had watched her leave the room and had no idea how to help her. He knew she was devastated about the young witch. The whole reason she wanted to find another way to save Davina was because she didn't trust the other witches or the harvest.

With his hands resting on his hips, he took several deep breaths as he glanced around the room, seeing all the different books they had looked through earlier in hopes of finding another solution. Grabbing a few closest to him by his feet, he placed them on the bookshelf and couldn't help but feel like he let her down.

While she was hoping to find something else, he was the one that kept telling her the harvest was the only way to save Davina. That's what he was taught, that the harvest had to be complete or risk losing their powers, and he truly believed it would work.

Now not only was he going to lose the ability to do magic, but four sixteen-year-olds died for nothing.

Taking a few steps back from the bookcase, he sank down onto the couch lost in thought. Spying a candle sitting on the coffee table in front of him, he snapped his fingers to make it light, then snapped them again to make it go out. He repeated the action several times until he heard a noise coming from the bedroom.

Snapping his fingers one last time to make the candle go out, he stood up and made his way down the hall. Pushing the bedroom door open, he saw Emmalin pulling the fitted sheet from the mattress. Turning his head, he saw the pillows and comforter already piled up on the floor.

Looking back at his girlfriend, he asked her what was she doing, seeing her snapped her head to the side to look at him with her eyes swimming in tears before she turned back toward the bed to continue her work.

"I'm um, I'm changing the bed. It-It needs it. It's been a while, honestly, I don't remember the last time I did change them. I should have changed them earlier, before-before we put Davina... I, uh, I mean earlier, just earlier today and now so much has happened I thought-"

Kaleb felt his heart break for her as he saw her break down right in front of him. She was hurting and trying to stay distracted so she wouldn't fall apart but was failing to do that. She thought changing the sheets would take her mind off of Davina, but it only made her think of her more. It made her think about how just a few hours ago she was laying in the bed and now she was gone.

"Emmy..." He softly said, interrupting her ramble as he walked further into the room.

"I didn't save her," she whispered as she lowered her head. "I promised and I didn't-"

Before she could say another word, he pulled her into his arms and whispered out words of comfort. "Shh, it's okay. You tried, love. You did your best."

"But it wasn't good enough," Emmalin argued as she lifted her head. As more tears rained down her face, she continued, "I'm a witch, Kaleb. I have all of this power and all I keep hearing is how powerful my bloodline is, but when I needed that power the most, when I need it to save someone, I couldn't do it. I failed her."

"It wasn't your fault. The harvest-"

"Didn't work," she interrupted. "Why didn't it work, Kaleb, why?"

"I don't know, love. I don't know and I'm sorry," he quietly said, pulling her back into his arms as she broke down.

"I broke a promise," she whispered, resting her head against his chest, her tears soaking his shirt. "I promised her... that I could save her and I broke that promise."

Squeezing her eyes shut, she cried out, "I couldn't save my parents and I couldn't save Davina."

"It's not up to you to save everyone, Emmy," he pointed out as he pulled back to look at her. Wiping the tears from her face, he added, "Some things are out of our control."

"Do you really believe that?"

"I have to," he quietly said. "Thinking about all the 'what ifs' and 'could have beens' will keep you up at night. It will drive you mad if you let it."

Brushing the hair from her face, he continued, "Don't take that on, love. I'm not going to let those thoughts eat you alive."

"I'm sorry," Emmalin whispered, causing him to shoot her a confused look as he asked what she was apologizing for.

"For whatever you went through in your past, I'm sorry," she explained. "There's so much I don't know and for anything that has happened, I am sorry."

He gave her a nod, appreciating her kind words, but kept his mouth shut -not spilling anything about his past. He was even more grateful when she didn't push him before he was ready.

As he stayed silent, she blew out a breath, then added, "And I'm sorry for falling apart right now. I had really hoped... I hoped so much that she would be okay."

"I know you did. It's okay, pretty girl," he said, wiping fresh tears from her face.

"And your magic... God, you're going to lose it and I'm sorry," she said, the thought suddenly hit her. Shaking her head, she added, "I'm still learning about my magic and there was a time I wasn't even sure if I wanted it, but now I couldn't imagine living without it and you're going to lose yours because of the harvest."

"It's okay," he quietly said. "I'm not even thinking about..."

When she shot him a disbelieving look, he blew out a breath and lowered his head in guilt. There was enough going on and he felt selfish for thinking of himself. That was just something he was used to, it wasn't until he met Emmalin that he began to think about others. She changed him, she made him better, but the thought of losing his magic did upset him.

"It's okay to admit you're going to miss it."

"I'm going to miss it," Kaleb admitted after a few silent minutes. Flashing her a smile, he joked, "After all, my magic is what drew you in."

"No." She shook her head. "You are more than your magic, Kaleb."

Wrapping her arms around his neck, she raised up on her tiptoes to softly kiss his lips. Pulling back to look at him, she laid a hand on the side of his face, "Besides, I'm not letting you lose it. For once there has to be something I can do- my magic has to help someone somehow. I'm not giving up."

"That's my girl," he said with a proud smile before kissing her.

"Your girl?" she questioned, smiling against his lips.

She remembered the first time he made a comment like that -it was at the masquerade ball. That was the first time they kissed, the first time she felt that spark and any time after they kissed she still felt it. Knowing they were mates, she knew that feeling would never go away, and she was okay with that.

"Always my girl," he whispered against her lips before he began to kiss her again.

As his lips moved against hers, he thought about the flowers in her room, the roses he placed in there the other night. He imagined pulling each of the petals off and making them move around the room. He wasn't sure how much longer he was going to have his magic and he wanted to take advantage of it as long as he could.

Emmalin pulled back and breathed out a chuckle as she saw all the petals floating around them. She turned her head back to look at him with a smile on her face. She loved how no matter what he could always cheer her up. He always knew what she needed and she was going to do whatever she could to give him what he needed; his magic.

She didn't know what the future held, but she would do whatever she could for Kaleb and find a way to save Davina. She was powerful, she was good and like she told him earlier; she wasn't giving up.

••• ••• •••

A/N - Thank you to everyone reading. I'm glad I haven't lost you all. Also, thank you to all the new readers who have favorited or followed the story.
Special shout out to; NicoleR85, SmellYourScentForMiles, xxxRena and all the Guest reviewers for your kind words on the last chapter.