~E v e r l a s t i n g~ {book two}

~fifty-six~

Davina walks into the courtyard the next morning and gapes at the mountains of pastries sitting on a table. Klaus and Hope were sitting in front of it with big smiles on their faces.

"Now, you can't call yourself a connoisseur if you have not sampled each and every one of these. Hmm? Here," Klaus says, holding out a beignet for Hope to bite.

"Mm, it's so good," she grins.

"Did I ever tell you the story of my first beignet?"

Davina chuckles and walks over to the table. "You have a story about the first and best pastry you've ever tasted in your life? Do share." She plucks a beignet off of the tower and bites it.

"You are in for a treat. Long ago, three French nuns came to New Orleans looking for a fresh start. And they came here. They marched right into our courtyard, and they presented Uncle Elijah and me with these rather lumpy-looking, sugar-coated pastries. Well, needless to say, we were entranced. We set them up quite well."

"Why did they come to you?"

"Because there was a time when we were regarded as royalty. You might even go so far as to say I was king, which would make you a princess," Klaus tells Hope.

"Good morning," Hayley greets and walks over to kiss Hope on the head before glancing at the table. "I guess apple turnover is fruit."

"Well, I saw no harm in indulging our daughter's sweet tooth. All things in moderation, of course."

"Okay. Don't eat too many. You'll get a stomach ache." Hayley then gives Klaus a significant look. "Can we talk?" He nods and they both walk out of the courtyard.

"So, Auntie D, beignets are your favorite dessert?"

"Of course," Davina smiles. "I'm not much one for sweets, but these things are scrumptious."

"How many do you think I'd be able to eat before getting a stomach ache?"

"Let's see...my record in the past has been eight, so for you, I'd say five. Just don't tell your parents, because they'd probably cut you off at three," Davina tells her, causing Hope to giggle.

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After learning that Elijah was missing, Davina was currently pouring some blood over a map. Kol was standing behind her, and Hayley had just gotten off the phone with Klaus.

"He's not at Marcel's," Hayley informs them.

"Well, it's bloody fantastic that my brother is not stuck with the man who can hold a good vendetta, but then where is he?"

"I can find him." Davina chants a spell while holding her hands over the map. However, the blood doesn't move. "He's cloaked by magic. I can feel it."

All of a sudden, the jaw bone in a salt circle begins to move on its own accord. Vincent walks into the room just then and points to it. "That's her. That's the Hollow. She has Elijah, and now she wants that bone."

"In exchange for Elijah?"

"No, you don't understand. There won't be an exchange. She needs Elijah to die in order to channel the energy from his sacrifice. She's already poisoned him with the rose thorns. She wants this bone by sundown. If she doesn't get it, then she's gonna come here and she's gonna take it. And when she does, she's gonna burn this entire city to the ground."

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"You want a plan of attack, it comes down to this. Use the element of surprise. Now, Marcel will hand over the bone, and then stab the Hollow with Hayley's blood, and then I'm gonna cast the spell that buries her," Vincent informs them all.