Moonlight (Klaus Mikaelson)

Chapter 161

Klaus, Elijah, Freya and I all tred through the drainage pipe before reaching Rebekah and Kol. I have my arm wrapped around Klaus's waist, his arm warped over my shoulder. To touch him like this feels like a dream, but I can't linger on it. We have to get out of here.

"Nik!" Rebekah jumps up from a rock and hugs him.

"Hey, you can hug him later. We need to leave," Freya says.

"Marcel's right behind us. Go. Go!" I plead, pulling Klaus with me.

We walk up a hill and spot the car only to find Marcel blocking our path.

"Actually, I'm right here," he snarls. "You shouldn't have come back, none of you." His gaze flicks between us.

"That's what family does. We fight for each other," I say.

He shoots his eyes to me, rolling his eyes at my words. I adjust Klaus' grip around me so I can fully support him.

"Yeah, so I've heard. Though it didn't really work out for me, did it?"

"Oh, for God's sake, you were never a Mikaelson. Get over it. Don't you have a city to run? Vampires to boot out of town?" Kol retorts.

Marcel steps towards him but Rebekah soon intercepts.

"If you want to kill one of us, you'll have to kill us all," she warns him.

"Hey! Don't push me, Rebekah."

"Then get on with it. Let's end this once and for all."

Klaus sighs, pushing himself away from me.

"Klaus!" He raises his hand to reassure me as he steps in front of Rebekah.

"That's enough. That's enough, Marcel. You've won. New Orleans was our city once. Now it's yours. For good," Klaus says as he straightens himself up.

"Is the great Klaus Mikaelson accepting defeat? Or is this all just another distraction?"

"Neither. In fact, despite your appalling behavior, I'm offering you a chance at peace. Attempt to kill us all, and you will be making a mistake. Any who survived would no doubt return to seek revenge, bringing our enemies back to your city in our wake. And even if you did manage to eliminate us all, one day my daughters would come for you. And their daughters after that. On and on for all your days. An endless cycle of violence you will bring upon yourself. Or... Or we leave and we never come back."

"After all that time buried in a hole, you still got some nerve. Yeah, well, you stand there with a straight face and try to sell this like it's your choice. But here's the truth. I could kill all of you right now and tonight, I would sleep like a baby. Hell, that's what you would do. You've destroyed more people, taken more lives, ended more families than anyone who's ever lived. All because you can. But here's the other truth. Despite being raised by you people I am nothing like any of you. In fact, I'm proud as hell I'm not a Mikaelson. I beat you all without turning into you. And now you can live the rest of your lives knowing that the only reason that you exist is because I am showing you mercy. Now go. And don't ever come back."

Everyone begins to pass Marcel as he finishes his speech. I watch everyone get into the car, but I pause, grabbing his arm.