Vulnerable § Klaus Mikaelson

46

edited chapter

Chapter 46: Alexander the Great

{D. K}

Dakota had driven over the speed limit to make it to Klaus' mansion five minutes earlier, but as she bolted through the front door, her heels clacking against the hardwood floors, her hands were still shaking in worry. "Are you okay?"

Klaus allowed Dakota to hug him tightly, the strong scent of her hair filling his nose. "I'm unscathed, love." He promised, pulling her closer to him for a kiss, while his hands rubbed up and down her arms soothingly. "Let's go see our new friend, shall we?"

Klaus opened the door behind him, showing a very alive looking Connor. He was shirtless, and chained up to a wooden trap that kept his body upright, but his feet were held tightly by a steel lock. "Kinky."

Connor glared at the female, his wrists going raw as he strained against the grainy ropes. "Looks like I'll have to beef up the hybrid security detail."

Stefan say on the ground, his green eyes bright as the sunlight peeked through the window, illuminating his broody face. "I was going to take him, but he must be important if you saved him from being blown to bits."

"He has use to me, yes."

"What'd you get out of him?"

"Not enough," Klaus admits. "That's why I asked Dakota to join us, since her form of torture is a bit more effective than my own."

Stefan scoffed, his eyes dashing from Klaus to his partner. "Did I hear that right? Can you repeat that, maybe put it in writing?"

"You may be the better brother for Elena, but now I can definitely see why she's conflicted. You have a horrible sense of humor." Dakota walked around Connors tied-up form. "What am I looking for, anyway?"

"Whatever, 'greater evil' we're all supposed to he shivering over."

"I can do that." Dakota affirmed, shrugging her white cardigan off and hanging it up on a loose nail behind her.

Klaus and Stefan exited the room, both feeling oddly happy that the woman could and would handle her own. "I'm not telling you anything."

"Yes, you will."

"I can't be compelled."

Dakota shrugged. "That's fine, I have plenty of other ways to get you to talk, but I would prefer you to cooperate."

"You want to torture me? Cut into me for a little while, just enough to hurt me but not kill me? That's fine, have a field day, but I won't tell you anything. I can't."

"Why can't you?"

Connor's body relaxed, almost seeming as if he gave up. "Because, I don't know anything."

         The vampires hands skimmed across the manilla envelope, left on the wooden table by Klaus himself. Dakota opened it, her eyes dancing across the papers, her interest piqued. "Oh, I can see your importance now."

•

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•

         "What the hell is this?" Rebekah Mikaelson stomped in, her blue eyes on Connor. "—I came here to see a member of The Five, so where's his bloody tattoo?"

         Klaus stood beside the hunter like he was showcasing a prize. "They're invisible on this lot, unlike the last batch of hunters we came across."

         Tension filled the room, and Dakota could tell that Rebekah wasn't all that pleased to see her brother again. "Pretty sure I was MIA when Klaus decided to screw up whatever it is he did to you Bekah. So, let's catch up over dinner."

         Klaus opened his mouth to protest, but after a stern glare from the beauty, he quickly shut it. "Right. Dinner. Please, do stay."

         With the help of some mind-control, there was a table set for four with freshly cooked food. "So, now that we've broken the ice. Bekah, can you tell us what you know about The Five?"

         "His name was Alexander," Rebekah started, pursing her lips as she reminisced. "—he was very handsome and I fell in love. He came to dinner with me one day, to meet Elijah and Nik. Since he was a vampire hunter, we were in the clear when we wore our daylight rings. Elijah kept up the facade by thanking Alexander about showing us the vampire situation our village was being plagued with. He said that he was one of the firemen, born by the fire of a dying witch who used her last breaths to perform a spell that led to the destruction of all vampires."

          Klaus took a sip of his wine, before taking over. "Rebekah's dear Alexander told us of a weapon that no vampire could survive."

          "That's what this is about?" Stefan prodded, resting his arms on the table, while the food before him went barely touched. "A weapon?"

          "Not just any weapon."

          "Rebekah, love. Don't get ahead of the story."

          Stefan kept his stubborn green eyes on Klaus. "How is this weapon the answer to all of my problems?"

          "How do we even find the weapon?" Dakota pushed her plate away, her appetite wiped away from her.

          "We need to solve a puzzle, which seems to have disappeared."

          Dakota's eyes grew wide with understanding. "The tattoo."

          "It's a map," Klaus revealed, his hand sneaking under the table to rest itself of Dakota's denim covered thigh. "—when it is solved, it will lead us to its treasure."

          Rebekah scoffed, her doubt in his words so clear that she might as well have it marked on her forehead. "Fat load of good a tattoo's going to do if we can't see it."

          "We can't," The hybrid agreed. "—but someone else can. Dakota, do you mind getting him, sweetheart

          "I do hope you haven't turned into his maid since his revival, Dakota."

          Dakota stuck her tongue out at Rebekah playfully, getting a wide smile back in return. "He wishes."

          She was gone for less than a minute, coming back with Jeremy Gilbert. Her grip on his was firm, but she had no intentions of harming him. "Baby Gilbert here, is the only person who can see the tattoo, and lucky for us, he's a bit of an artist."

          "I'm not helping you with anything."

          Dakota tossed the ring that she had discreetly stolen off of his finger, and gave it to Klaus with a swift toss. "Oh, I'm afraid you are."