WAR OF HEARTS ↠ KOL MIKAELSON [UNDER EDITING]

1:02

[ THE RISE: CHAPTER TWO ]

If you had asked Rhea Monroe months ago whether she'd still be in the French Quarter, she would've laughed in your face. Yet, here she was.

"I just don't understand why the old man can't catch up with the times and listen to some music from this century, you know? He's not that much older than me, and even I have good music taste for an older woman," Rhea muttered to Davina as Joe, the record shop owner, went to fetch the album they'd asked for.

Davina chuckled, shaking her head. Over time, the two had grown close. What began as a shared hatred for Klaus Mikaelson evolved into a genuine friendship, something both of them rarely experienced.

Joe returned with the record, handing it to Davina. "Here you go, ladies. Now, sometime soon, you're gonna have to explain why you're both so hooked on ancient Icelandic folk music," he said, grinning at the witches.

Rhea deadpanned, "We're part of a cult that only relaxes to Icelandic folk music." Davina snorted, nudging her with a playful shove.

Joe raised an eyebrow, visibly creeped out, but Davina quickly apologized, "Ignore her. They're for someone else."

"I sure hope so," Joe replied with a smirk. The two witches turned to leave, but Rhea suddenly stopped short, narrowly avoiding bumping into a tall, curly-haired boy with striking blue eyes.

Rhea tilted her head, studying him. If she weren't still hung up on someone else, she might've flirted with the guy. He flashed a charming grin, which she returned before he walked out of the shop.

Before they could exit, Oliver—someone Rhea had recently learned was a werewolf—entered the shop, blocking their path. He smiled at the girls.

"Davina," he greeted, then turned to Rhea with a smirk, "Hey there, cutie."

Rhea's expression twisted with disgust. "Call me that again, and I'll end you, mutt," she snarled. Oliver raised his hands in mock defense before turning back to Davina.

"I heard you left your coven and made your own with this one," he nodded at Rhea, casually flipping through a record. "That's too bad. That other Harvest girl, Cassie? She's been super helpful to us wolves."

"She's making you moonlight rings, Oliver. That's not helpful—that's an alliance," Davina shot back, holding her ground.

Rhea had been brought up to speed on the ongoing chaos in New Orleans. Her initial instinct had been right—she had walked into a war zone.

Oliver smirked. "Call it whatever you want. As long as we don't have to turn on the full moon anymore, it works for me." He then leaned in close, his voice dropping to a whisper. "You might wanna take off. Things are about to get a little ugly in here."

Without waiting for a reply, he shouted to the rest of the customers, "Hey, y'all! Store's closed—get out, now!"

Joe, visibly confused, spoke up. "What the hell are you doing?"

Oliver stepped toward him. "Joe Dalton, right? Your family's run this shop for ninety years. You, your daddy, and his daddy before him." He pulled out a black-and-white photo of a young man. "...But there's not many photos of your family. Just you."

Rhea and Davina exchanged wary looks, realizing Oliver had just exposed Joe as a vampire.

"Oliver, NO!" Davina shouted, but it was too late. Joe tried to escape using his vampire speed, only to be blocked by two wolves wearing moonlight rings.

Rhea nodded at Davina, who handled the wolves while Rhea focused on Oliver, inflicting a magical migraine to make him suffer.

"Joe, get the hell out of here!" Rhea shouted. As soon as Joe fled, they released their hold on the wolves. Oliver winced, glaring at them both.

"Let's go, D," Rhea said, pulling Davina out of the shop.

▽▲▽▲▽

When Rhea and Davina entered the attic, the infamous indestructible white oak stake slammed into the wall beside Davina's head. Both witches rolled their eyes.

Davina sighed. "I don't know why you keep showing off. You know you can't hurt either of us."

"Oh, but the desire I have to do so," Mikael, the vampire hunter himself, grumbled.

Davina approached Mikael, holding out her wrist for him to feed from. He looked at her like she was out of her mind.

"I am Mikael, the vampire who hunts vampires. Your young blood does little to sustain me."

Rolling her eyes, Davina glanced at Rhea. Rhea smirked and uttered one word. "Feed."

Mikael's veins and fangs involuntarily protruded, and despite his reluctance, he bit down on her wrist. As Davina began to weaken, Rhea stepped forward.

"Stop." Her command was sharp, and Mikael, annoyed, pulled away, wiping the blood from his mouth. He noticed the bracelet on Rhea's wrist and touched it.

"I wish I could rip this from you, break the bond that ties me to you, and kill the bastard who calls himself my son." His voice was full of venom, unused to being a weapon rather than wielding one.

Rhea sighed, frustrated. "You can't take off the bracelet, and you can't kill Klaus."

"Not until we unlink my friends from Klaus' sire line," Davina added, kneeling by a large trunk and pulling out Esther's grimoire.

"We've been studying Esther's spell book for weeks. Once we break the link, you can do whatever you want," she assured Mikael.

"We'll let you drag him to hell," Rhea confirmed.

A wicked smile curled across Mikael's face. "Music to my ears, my little witches."

▽▲▽▲▽

The next day, Rhea walked to the record shop and noticed it was closed, a sign marking Joe's death. A pang of sadness hit her.

"Aw, this sucks," an unfamiliar voice said from behind. She turned to see the curly-haired boy from before. "No trades today. Too bad—guy had the ancient Icelandic folk scene on lock." He smirked, and Rhea let out a rare, genuine laugh.

"Those weren't for us," she explained, smiling.

The boy chuckled, holding out his hand. "I'm Kaleb."

Rhea shook his hand. "Rhea Monroe."

"Beautiful name. Terrible taste in music though—you need me," he said with a grin.

Rhea smiled back, feeling like the boy with blue eyes was a breath of fresh air in the chaos around her.