The Originals - Revenant

Chapter 26

»»—2019, somewhere in the state of Louisiana, USA—««

"So," she said, handing me a plate, "Who is he?"

I looked at her distracted and hummed questioningly. Hayley rolled her eyes.

"Henry," she said, "Who is he?"

I peered over my shoulder. He was on the kitchen table playing with Hope. They were drawing on the same piece of paper some kind of weird alien. It was green and red and purple, and now Hope had decided that only glitter could make it better. Henrik couldn't do anything but agree.

I cracked a smile. He was good with Hope. They had just met just some hours ago and now, after dinner, while Hayley and I cleaned, they were acting as if they were the best of friends. At first, I had been nervous about how their interaction would go, I couldn't have wished for a better one.

"He's a friend," I said, looking down at the plate I was carefully drying with a towel.

I noticed how she arched her brow.

"I've seen the way you look at him, B," Hayley said grinning, "He's more than a friend."

"He's really not," I insisted, not looking at her.

"Then why bring him and not Bear?" she asked.

Björn, or Bear as Hope called him when she still couldn't pronounce his name, had wanted to come, but it was Henrik the one that I needed. I was risking a lot just by coming, I didn't know how Niklaus was going to react upon seeing me and I certainly didn't know what he would do if Björn tagged along. So I had made him stay back. Henrik, on the other side, hadn't budged. He had been Hel-bent on coming. I knew how stubborn he could get, it was a family thing, so I couldn't make him stay.

"You know how much Hope likes him," Hayley continued.

"Yes," I said, "But I'm not that sure about how much her daddy likes him." I smirked thinking about it. "I don't know how much he likes me," I added chuckling a little. I needed to laugh, it was the only way I was going to get through this and not freak out.

I put the now very dry plate back on its cabinet and put the towel next to the sink. I rested my back on the countertop and sighed. What the Hel was I doing here?

"Hey," Hayley called softly. I looked at her. "It's going to be okay. I swear," she said reassuring, resting one hand on my arm, "Klaus is not gonna hurt you. I won't let him."

I nodded slightly. I wasn't sure about that but I would roll with it and hope for the best. If only my pendant worked, I would be much more confident. If Nik killed me now, no magic would bring me back. I looked down, grabbed it and willed it to work without any success, and then I tried to think about something else.

"When are you going?" I asked her.

She scowled thinking. "Mary told me she has a lead," she explained, "She'll come any minute now. I'll put Hope to bed and leave."

I nodded again. I liked Mary, she was good with Hope, she cared for her. The old lady wasn't too fond of me at first. She had some kind of cross against vampires, but after some long years, she had grown to like me. Or at least tolerate me. She saw I was doing everything I could to help Hayley's kid and didn't want anything in return. She had once told me she hadn't expected that from a Mikaelson. I grinned. At least someone still thought of me as one of them.