Dark Moon | Klaus Mikaelson

Chapter 85

When she landed, she was ambushed.

"Holy fuck!" she hissed when Damon hugged her from behind and spun her around. "Don't do that! I'm nervous enough as it is, worrying that someone followed me here!"

"I told him not to," sighed Bonnie, who was standing with Elena and Stefan, who'd apparently also come along as backup.

Esmeray turned to look at Damon, who was grinning like an idiot. "How is it that you still look normal and not crusty?" he asked her, grabbing her cheeks and squeezing them.

"Why do men seem to think that women turn into corpses as soon as they hit twenty-five?" She patted his chest. "Good to see you again. You're as childish as ever."

"You still love me, though," he told her as she pulled him into a hug, kissing his cheek. Damon caught the charm at the end of her necklace, holding it out. "Mikaelson-Poldark? Is that what you're gonna change your name to?"

"Just Mikaelson," said Esmeray as both Elena and Bonnie hugged her.

"Congrats on the engagement!" said Elena. "Caroline told us to tell you how happy we are for you. She has her hands full at the Salvatore School, but we'll take you to see it later, if you want."

"How's that going?" asked Esmeray. "I still feel bad I said no to being a teacher there."

"Ah, they're fine," said Damon, flicking his hand in a 'don't worry about it' kind of motion. "Care Bear and Ric are happy running their X-Men slash Harry Potter kind of school, and Enzo is having a good time coordinating with the Armory to find what stuff there might be useful for the kids. The twins are doing really well there. Bonnie might teach there soon."

Bonnie blushed as Esmeray clapped, congratulating her. "I'd be teaching several classes, but I think I can manage it. Not much else to do. Damon is considering a job there, too..."

"Oh, really?" said Esmeray, raising her eyebrows. "Damon, a teacher?"

"I never said I was teaching," he corrected, holding a finger up. "I'd be... supervising."

"Shut up," Bonnie said, nudging him with her hip. "He was joking about how Ric had no electives on the list, and that he was willing to teach a music history class, just from the nineteen hundreds going forward."

"Aw, you should do it!" Esmeray encouraged. "I might recommend for Klaus and Hayley to enroll Hope there... she could use it. If she becomes a student there, I'll consider being a teacher. Just don't know what I'd do— our magic is different, Bonnie, do we want to confuse the kids with two different styles of magic?"

"Well, you could teach specifically Mind and Healing Spells for older students," piped up Stefan. "Technically, there will be different age groups once enrollment picks up again. Older kids should be okay picking up another style of magic."

"Plus," added Elena, "the wolves will need someone who knows all their traditions. A lot of them already know you as their Queen. They'd be learning from the best of the best and they'd feel accepted."

They continued to talk through potential ideas as Stefan drove them into Mystic Falls, and to the tunnels where, long ago, they had found Esmeray in her coffin, and later on, the runes that told them the story of the Originals.

"Here we are," said Damon, leading them down into the old Lockwood cellar. "There'll be a certain point where I can't cross, because I'm still a vampire. Just keep following the tunnel, I left your coffin exactly where we first found it. It's a bit closer to where the tomb vampires were, but that side is completely sealed off now, so we have to go in through here."