Rue | Klaus Mikaelson

Chapter 7

Aiden was still dodging her calls.

"Motherfucker," she muttered when she hit voicemail again. "Aiden, call me back. Josh already told me you're at his apartment. Come here or I'll go there, you decide. We need to talk."

Hope babbled from her playpen, reaching up to try and take a stuffed giraffe from Ibeth's hand. "What if I decide it's my giraffe?" she teased, moving it to the side. "What'll you do then?"

The baby grabbed onto the bars, trying to make herself stand. She still wasn't able to on her own. "Aw, that would be mean of me, wouldn't it," said Ibeth, lowering it down for her. "But you almost got it, you know, a bit further and you would have been standing up all by yourself!"

She heard the music that'd been playing upstairs stop suddenly. A barrier to keep her from overhearing another one of Jackson and Hayley's angry conversations. "What happened?" she asked when they came downstairs, appearing annoyed.

"Dahlia showed up at the Compound," said Hayley. "The good news? She still doesn't know we're here. Bad news? She's given us until tomorrow night, and then she's coming for Hope."

"Okay," said Ibeth calmly. "So, what are you thinking now?"

"I was thinking, Freya said that Dahlia is drawn to Hope's magic. No matter how far we go, that's how she's going to track us. So... we do need someone to cloak us if we're gonna go. At least this place is spelled— no one can do magic here, not Hope or Dahlia."

"Sure, this place is spelled," countered Jackson, "but we've seen bigger magic than this break. I still say we run while we can."

"Enough," said Ibeth, holding her hand up. "That's what we need. We need a way to cloak her and her magic completely."

"Right," said Hayley, furrowing her brows. "If there was a way to stop Hope from doing magic in the first place, Dahlia won't be able to sense her, right?"

Jackson frowned. "She's just a baby. How are we gonna do that?"

"I have an idea," said Hayley. "Although... it's dangerous. Especially now."

"Let me do it."

They turned to see Aiden in the doorway. "What's the idea?"

"It's really risky," said Hayley. "I was thinking about those manacles that stop a witch from using magic. If someone like Davina could make a smaller version of those, we could put it on Hope and she won't be able to use magic at all. Then, maybe, she would also be willing to cloak Hope so she can't be tracked using blood, either. Dahlia won't be able to find us. And we'll be safe to leave this place if we need to. If she finds us, and if she comes to take Hope by force."

"No!" said Ibeth. "It— it's a good idea, but Aiden can't be the one to go in there to get those manacles. Klaus will kill him!"

"Not if you distract him," said Aiden, giving her a pleading look. "You are his wife. There's gotta be something you can talk to him about that'll keep him busy while I get the manacles. I'll do it quickly. It'll take less than five minutes."

Ibeth pursed her lips. "Fine. I'll come up with something. Let's go."

As they walked, she pressed Aiden for answers. "What was that about last night? The call, the insistence on doing what Klaus would like. I was thinking along those lines already but why were you so scared?"

"Jackson told me the plan and how he wanted you to help," Aiden said, somewhat unconvincingly. "I knew Klaus would take it out on you if it happened. I needed to make sure you would do it. Sorry if I scared you."