Forever Original | Alaric Saltzman

Chapter 57

Hilda put on a smile as she approached Kol.

"How are those twins, eh?" he asked as he and Freya leaned over the coffee table in the living room, with a map laid out and the letters bursting inside of a mortar.

"They're sleepy," she said casually. "Hope's down for her nap, too. Poor thing, I think she's slightly irritated that they don't do much right now, but they'll come around eventually."

Klaus and Elijah came into the room at that moment, and Hilda got to work using the pestle to crush the letter ash while Kol took the goblet of Klaus's blood from Freya and held it up for his brother to see. "Mixing the ashes of these letters with your blood, Nik, will show us where your enemies are."

Hilda handed him the ashes, and Kol sprinkled them over the blood, handing it back to Freya. She poured the mixture over the map, which was held down by white candles. Kol extracted a spell written on fresh parchment and handed it to his oldest sister. "With feeling, now."

Freya smiled at him and drew a deep breath before beginning to chant, "Calaste piso tal tras es tros. Calaste piso tal tras es tros."

The blood that'd pooled in the center split into eleven smaller droplets, which each began to move without smearing the paper. From those that remained in North America, one seemed to situate itself in Chicago, one in San Diego, one in New Orleans, and one was somewhere in Central Mexico. The others moved off to different continents— three went into Europe and occupied spots in Belgium, Italy, and Russia, two went to Africa and planted themselves over Nigeria and Mozambique, and the final one came to stop in South Korea.

"Behold your greatest hits, Klaus," said Freya. "All over the world. But only one is here. Which means the legion of enemies you were worried about is an army of one."

"I assure you, this is your Gaspar Cortez," said Kol, dipping down to circle the singular dot over Louisiana. But Klaus did not answer. He looked down at his phone and frowned before speeding away.

"A 'thank you' might've been nice," said Hilda, putting her hands on her hips. Kol shrugged and nudged her with his foot. "Come with me, sister."

She followed him down the hallway and down the stairs to one of the lower studies. A woosh let them know Elijah had also left the Compound. "Good," said Kol. "We won't be overheard."

"What's the matter?" asked Hilda, now worried.

He bit his lip. "The blood, Hilly. I promised Davina that I was in control, but now that I'm a vampire again, the cravings are hard to resist."

She cast him a sympathetic look. "That happened with me during my pregnancy. Rather than trying to avoid blood altogether, I tried to limit the amount I was having once I stopped gorging it in the first month. You only need enough to sustain yourself. If you let it go completely, you'll be more likely to attack her."

Kol shook his head. "I don't know if I should risk it, Hilly. I want to feed on her, really, really badly." There was obviously something he wasn't saying, but Hilda interpreted it in her own way.

"The desire makes the cravings stronger," she said knowingly. "It er— happened with Alaric a lot. That hunger for her is making you want to feed on her, I bet."

He nodded, letting her think she was right. "Yes, of course, that probably makes sense..."

"You need to be honest with her, Kol. I know she's heard the stories but she trusts you all the same and she deserves to know the truth. She might even be able to do a spell to help you out. But tell her that you're feeling hungry and she'll try to understand, I know she will."