Ardent | Elijah Mikaelson

Chapter 1

April 27, 2010

The clock's ticking unnerved her.

The woman paced back and forth, waiting for the man she was meeting to arrive. He was usually rather punctual. Clearly, something was delaying him.

At last, she heard voices outside. Both of which she recognized, despite being under the impression that the man was coming alone.

"Wait for me here," instructed the man to the young woman with him. "I won't be long."

"Elijah—" the girl began.

"Elena, I give you my word, I will be right back."

"Who is it that you're meeting? Elijah, when we renewed the terms of our deal, we stated we would be honest with each other."

"All will come to light when we return to the Salvatore Home. This story is best explained just once, to all of you simultaneously."

The woman tapped her foot impatiently, uncrossing her arms as the door opened. A man in a suit walked in, and the two vampires acknowledged each other.

A millisecond later, Elijah had her throat squeezed tight in his hand, her body pinned to the wall while he lifted her to his eye level, her toes unable to graze the surface of the floor once she ended up hovering eight inches above it.

"You won't even hear me out?" the woman said, rather steadily for someone in a chokehold. "Are you going to kill me, just as you killed Slater? And Trevor?"

He released her, and she fell to the floor, but was quick to get back on her feet. "It was you?" he asked, raising a brow. "You arranged the meeting for them?"

She shrugged, giving a light cough. "They're long-time friends of mine. Or were. I would have arrived sooner if they hadn't been killed. What can I say? I know my way around online chat rooms. And around people's minds. Your little lieutenant, the one that politely passed along the message..." she shrugged, "he was always very malleable. He's the one that helped me contact you yesterday."

"And why are you here now?"

She looked at him intently. "Katherine is missing. I heard she fell into Klaus's hands."

"I was under the impression that you haven't spoken to her since 1864."

"I haven't. But we have kept tabs on each other for a long time. I don't have any intention of talking to her, or even seeing her, but I will not allow Klaus to hurt her. I've had spies planted in this town since Katherine arrived. I know you're planning on killing him, and I want in."

He considered it. She moved closer. "You need my help. A five-hundred-year-old elixir, a witch who is going to risk her life channeling an enormous amount of magic... you need the vampire muscle to make sure it works, and you know it. Those Salvatore boys may be fierce but they don't stand a chance. Me, however..." she spread her arms. "I hold him down, you rip out his heart when the witch weakens him enough. That's all I ask. It's the only thing I want. A chance to stand over his dead body. As soon as that's over with, I'll be out of your hair. Even if it is really weird-looking nowadays."

Elijah's lip twitched. "If those are the only terms you pose, then I accept. You were always more reasonable than Katerina."

"Not really," said the woman darkly. "I just have more of a reason to hate him."

The girl outside was surprised when Elijah walked out followed by the brunette with dark, cold, calculating eyes. "Elena Gilbert," said Elijah, gesturing to her to introduce her to the woman. "Elena, this is Evangeliya Ivanova."