Dark Moon | Klaus Mikaelson

Chapter 26

He held her until she stopped crying.

She pulled back, her face blotchy and her eyes red. She pulled her shirt up to clean under her cheeks, still trembling. It was clear that something was bothering her, and judging by the way she kept flinching at even the slightest noise in the background, Klaus had a sinking feeling in his stomach that the spell had done more damage than he realized.

"What's wrong, love?" he asked, not understanding why she was crying. Esmeray shook her head. "Esther is gone," he told her calmly. "She can't hurt you anymore."

"She trapped me," Esmeray said unsteadily, letting just her eyes peek out from under her shirt. "I could hear you."

He frowned, and she continued, "You spoke to me. I don't know how long it was, but I could hear you saying that you were trying to wake me up... that my magic attacked me... that's not true. I-I heard her lying to you..."

With a pang in his heart, he knew what she meant. She had been perfectly conscious, but simply out of control of her own body. She hadn't been able to show that she was still in there. He couldn't enter her mind because she wasn't thinking of anything— she was actually there, but her access to the world had been blocked. "Would you like me to take you to the kitchen for some food, or would you like me to bring it to you?"

"Please don't leave me here alone," she begged, and he nodded, standing up and picking her up gently, letting her lean into him.

Esmeray felt like she was going to be attacked at any moment. She had been screaming and clawing at her own mind, trying to break through Esther's spell, and she hadn't been able to. She could hear Klaus speaking to her, and no matter how hard she tried, her mouth wouldn't move, and he heard no sound coming from her. She hadn't been able to sleep. She hadn't been able to visualize anything. Her mind felt like it had been placed into the most basic modality— only able to hear and think, but without any imagery or other senses to help her get through her imprisonment within her own self.

The hardest thing, perhaps, is that she could feel her power dissipating. There were moments when she thought she might be strong enough to break free, and then when she'd try to just open her eyes, she'd feel like she was going to throw up, only that she was unable to move, which meant she felt a searing sensation in her throat and running down her chest that wouldn't go away quickly. And when it did, she felt significantly weaker, as if a huge chunk of her being had been carved out with a sacrificial blade. Every day, more and more of her strength faded.

The house was empty as Klaus carried her to the kitchen, where only one servant awaited them. Klaus motioned for the servant to make something— anything— for Esmeray. The woman nodded obediently and went to fix her up some steak, because she understood that her carnivorous nature was the one that needed to be nourished at the moment.

Esmeray sniffled as Klaus set her down at a seat beside the counter. She swayed, and he steadied her. "You're still shivering, love," he said, holding up his arm as he sat on the seat directly beside her. "Do you need some of my blood?"

She nodded wordlessly, and he pulled her onto his lap. She didn't complain, grabbing onto his shirt as he bit into his wrist and guided it to her mouth. With one of her hands, she held his arm as she pressed her lips to his skin, closing her eyes as she drank. In her human state, blood didn't taste all that good. She knew that if she were in her wolf body, she would have enjoyed it. His heart skipped a beat when she curled up closer to him, still drinking and caressing his forearm

"I didn't turn," she said quietly when she pulled away, setting his arm down carefully. "She left me so drained, I didn't even have the strength to do that."