The Beautiful and the Faultless | Cami O'Connell

Chapter 6

Elijah arrived before the firetrucks did.

He'd already been on his way, it seemed, to ask Cami for help. He'd gone to speak with Freya, who suggested using Hope to lure Dahlia into a trap. He was hoping the young psychologist could give him access to her storage of dark objects, which would allow them to make a good trap without endangering Hope.

"Camille," he said in shock when he found her inside the ruined building. "What has happened?"

He saw Ingrid a second after he spoke, and he could tell by the way she was covering her face that this was her doing. He stared at Cami as if she was insane for allowing Ingrid anywhere near her. Ingrid couldn't see his face, but she had a feeling that Cami had been offering her help against the Mikaelsons' advice. They likely feared Ingrid would kill Cami instantly, and hadn't wanted her to risk her life.

"I will have someone fix this," he said, knowing that he couldn't allow Rousseau's to remain this damaged. "We must go." He whisked both women away. When they landed in the Compound, he set Ingrid on one of the couches, standing protectively in front of Cami, as if to interrogate the witch.

But the blonde shoved him aside. "Elijah, no," she said firmly. "She didn't hurt me. And she won't. She came to me for help, to break the control Dahlia has on her. She broke free of it, Elijah. She can help you now."

"Please," said Ingrid weakly, looking up at him. "Please don't hurt me. I'm sorry... I never wanted to hurt anyone. I couldn't stop myself from beating you all up or killing Aiden. I can't take back what I did. But I have information that can be useful. So please... please don't hurt me."

"I suggest you speak quickly," said Elijah, who seemed to relax when he realized perhaps Ingrid might have an idea that could stop Freya from trying to locate Hope to use her as bait.

"The ingredients are wrong. Dahlia told me herself. Esther's blood is needed, not Freya's. She's the one who broke her heart. If anything— their blood combined is the key. But Freya's alone is not the answer."

His eyes widened. "Esther is dead. Her true body has been dead for even longer. We have no way of acquiring her blood."

"Well, we're going to have to find a way," said Ingrid. "Dahlia is in Klaus's mind as we speak, trying to convince him to side with her."

Elijah scoffed. "That is absurd. Niklaus would never, no matter how betrayed he feels. How did she manage—?"

"He didn't drink the tea Freya made, to prevent him from being kenned. In his weakened state, jumping into his mind was easy." She drew a deep breath. "Which means we have a few options. We either wake Klaus up now to get Dahlia out of his head, then find a way to resurrect Esther, or have someone go to disrupt Dahlia's spell so that she can't manipulate him into helping her get Hope."

"But Klaus wouldn't do that," said Cami confidently.

"Unless she promises what I figure she will," said Ingrid. "Dahlia endured abuse at the hands of the Vikings to protect Esther and my mother, Frida. When Esther fell for Mikael, she abandoned magic, and her sisters. Frida was the only one who stood by her, the only one who seemed to understand the sacrifice Dahlia made. So she twisted that loyalty, twisted my mother, and when she bled out birthing me, she did nothing, because in the end, power was more important than family. Maybe she thought she was being merciful because my father was dead, and my mother would never see him again anyway.

"Once, I recall, Dahlia told me that she thinks Freya and I might have been more obedient from the start if we had a parental figure that could give us the love she couldn't provide, while she handled our instruction. She didn't know how to care for children, nor did our wellbeing matter to her beyond obtaining our power. She knows she was too harsh and emotionally incapable of being a good mentor. If she were to offer Klaus the chance to raise Hope while Dahlia acts as her teacher and gains her power, he might be willing to accept. Especially because he knows that Hayley took Hope from him. She will twist that. She will use what Hayley did wrong to—"