Dark Moon | Klaus Mikaelson

Chapter 77

She burst into tears seconds later.

Freya, Elijah, and Klaus watched as she fell to the ground, covering her face and shaking her head. The hybrid came toward her slowly, sitting beside her and placing his hand on her shoulder. She wrapped her arms around him, crying into his chest.

"Love," he whispered, rubbing her back. "What's wrong?"

How could she voice it? She got something that many would never get. The chance to stand victorious over the person who assaulted her. There were those who would never feel they could safely speak up about their abuse. There were those whose offenders still controlled some part of their lives. There were those who had to live with the fact that their assailant would walk free without consequences. She felt sadness for them, and she felt guilt because it'd gone better for her than it'd gone for thousands of others.

Even knowing Lucien was dead didn't fully alleviate her pain. Her child was still dead. Jackson was still dead, and she hadn't been able to say goodbye. His touch would never go away. His death didn't mean he hadn't abused her. His death didn't mean he hadn't tortured her and other wolves.

"I don't feel better," she whispered, moving to sit on his lap so she could hug him properly. "I just want to go home."

He picked her up, letting her stay latched onto him. "Let's return to help Davina, then," he told her. "Lucien can burn alone." He looked back as Elijah used a lighter to set fire to the vampire's body.

"Klaus," said Freya gravely, coming to block his path before they could retrieve Rebekah and the box she was in. "There's something you need to know."

Esmeray tensed, and turned to look at the eldest Mikaelson. All the worst scenarios flooded into her head in that moment, though it was unnecessary, because she knew exactly what Freya looked so worried about. "What did you do, Freya?" she said lowly, moving out of Klaus's hold to stand on her own.

The witch started to tear up. "I had no choice, Esmeray, you have to understand, I only wanted to protect our family..."

Esmeray swore loudly, and Freya flinched, thinking Esmeray was going to slap her. Obviously, she didn't. "She was a kid," the werewitch whispered, trying to stay calm, but failing miserably, her own hands running through her hair and tugging at it. "She was a kid, Freya. She's— she can't—"

"I'm so sorry," Freya sobbed, bowing her head as if to acknowledge that what she'd done wrong. "There was no other way."

"YES THERE WAS!" Esmeray snapped. "We said no, Freya, we told you both not to do it! Good fucking Christ— does no one understand that 'no means no?' What of Kol? What of Marcel? And Davina— they're all family. All of them. What the hell is the point of it all if we're not going to actually honor each other? We can't pick and choose who we sacrifice just because they aren't blood. Would you have done the same to me? Would you have let me die?"

"No!" Freya cried. "No, I wouldn't have, Esmeray, but—"

"I had a plan that could have worked! No one would have gotten hurt! We asked you to wait, to hear the plan, to resurrect Davina first. You took away someone's child. You took away Marcel's child. I would have thought that you of all people would understand how it feels to lose your kid."

"Killing Lucien was a priority—"

"So was resurrecting Davina! She would have helped us kill him!"

"If we hadn't arrived when we did, Lucien would have killed you."

"I'd rather have died fighting than get to live because an innocent child got torn away from this world," she hissed. "Is my life really worth more than hers simply because I'm dating Klaus? She was dating Kol. She and I are on the same level. Both of us could have been your sisters-in-law one day. She was still young, Freya, but that never meant she was useless. Certainly not useless to a degree that would make you think it was right to sacrifice her."