The Red Queen | Lucien Castle & Tristan de Martel

Chapter 12

The world was still far from perfect in Vivalda's eyes.

She was disturbed while wearing a green face mask, still in her bathrobe, by one of the witches who'd come by to check on Hayley.

"I told you Agnes, I feel great!" said Hayley, flipping through a book absentmindedly while the witch told her how important it was that she start monitoring the pregnancy with a proper doctor.

"You are overdue for a checkup," said Agnes.

"What am I gonna do? Pop into the Quarter for a quick ultrasound? A pregnant werewolf escorted by a witch? Nothing to see here!"

Rebekah scowled from the coffee table, laptop propped open to search for the attic she'd been tossed out of. "A lot of women would kill to have a child. It strikes me as odd that you're not taking better care of yours."

Vivalda made a sound of agreement, offering her sister a cup of coffee and peering at her internet searches. "I know a doctor out in the Bayou," said Agnes, "off the beaten path. Now, I took the liberty of making an appointment for you. Tonight, after-hours, just us. Vampires will never get word of it."

"Okay, fine," said Hayley. "Bayou-baby-doctor it is."

"That's not going to work," said Vivalda, pointing at the screen as Rebekah kept typing different variations of 'attic' into the search bar. "You'd make more progress searching manually. Those pictures are old."

"Someone has to find Elijah!"

"You can, if you use a better strategy."

"If I can simply find a place of the property, I will know it! There were shutters on the windows behind Elijah's coffin."

"Welcome to New Orleans. Look, Klaus is already trying to cause problems with Davina. Maybe you should go and check where she comes out of and check there."

"And just where are you going?" Rebekah demanded as her younger sister trotted upstairs.

"To ask my boyfriend for a favor!" She pointed at Hayley and Agnes. "Don't leave without me."

"It may be better if we go alone," said Agnes slowly.

"Alone? No, hell no. You don't like vampires, I get that, but I don't like witches. We don't trust each other but we do both want Hayley to be healthy, so we are both going. Unless you'd rather just give me the address and I'll take her."

Agnes smiled tightly. "We'll wait for you."

"Good. I'll be right back."

Tristan was more than happy to help.

"Of course, I imagine it will take mere minutes for a Strix witch to find Elijah once Kol gives his blood," he said pleasantly. "I've sent Aya to fetch him now. I believe he and Antonella were going to try... bungee jumping?"

"There was a time when Toni wanted to be a trapeze artist," sighed Vivalda. "Good old days. How we used to work on our flexibility."

"Forgive me for saying this, I sound like a lecherous fool, but I very much appreciate you having done it. The flexibility comes quite in handy."

She giggled. "Oh, don't worry about sounding lecherous around me, darling, I adore it. It's perfectly alright to give into your desires. If you ever wish to explore them more, I am glad to oblige."

"I may, in time. Perhaps when you return I will allow myself to unleash a bit more. Truth be told, I do not think I'd ever been as active as I was in the few weeks we spent together intimately."

"Did you like it?"

"It is shameful to say, but I adored it."

"Good. I like having that effect on people. Please let me know what your witch finds. I need to make sure one here doesn't kidnap the werewolf I'm supposed to be babysitting."