"Yes, love, I would."

He cast a smug look to the Salvatore brothers as she walked off the porch and into the grass outside, feeling her body being warmed by the sun. Klaus instantly took her hand, entering her mind.

They were now in the Mikaelson Mansion, completely alone. "I didn't wish to be overheard," he told her seriously. He looked down shamefully, and she cupped his face, realizing what he was thinking.

"Don't," she said sternly. "Klaus, this isn't your fault. Ignore what Damon said."

"It is my fault," he insisted. "You asked me to peruse through your mind and rather than giving it another go or being more attentive, I got distracted and I've only tried to complicate matters between us. Had she killed you, it would have been my fault and my fault alone. I didn't protect you, love, and I should have. I can't claim to adore you while simultaneously being careless and allowing a woman with a psychotic vendetta against me to harm you."

Esmeray sighed. "She's gone now. I feel nothing of her influence, and I didn't let myself wake up until I knew all my magic was my own. She can't corrupt me anymore. I'll get my ritual done and no one will be able to get in my head."

"We have to leave, quickly," he told her. "Rebekah refused to wait for us. We just need a little bit of Elena's blood before we abandon this miserable town."

"I want to help put Alaric down," said Esmeray. "Bonnie mentioned something about desiccating him the way her mother did to Mikael. She and I, together, can manage that."

At this, Klaus brought them out of her mind and bit into his wrist, handing it to her in order to give her strength. She drank, but in the meantime, her ears perked up at the sound of conversation inside the house.

"Elena's not in there," said Esmeray with a frown.

It seemed Stefan had heard her, because he opened the door and looked out at the two hybrids. "Elena's not here," he confirmed, stepping outside. "Alaric has her and Caroline and he's gonna kill them both unless you turn yourself over to him."

Klaus let out a dry laugh. "Now, I know you're not asking me to walk into a certain death."

"I really wish we could," Stefan replied bluntly. "But unfortunately, if Alaric kills you, there's a one in four chance that we die too."

"I already told you all," snapped Esmeray impatiently, "you're all from his sireline. I don't know why you think I'm lying to you."

"Fine," said Damon from behind him. "Fine, Esme, we're from his sireline. Happy?"

She gave him a cheeky smile. "No." She looked back up at the vampires. "So? Any brilliant ideas on how to execute this?"

"Bonnie is trying to get Abby here as soon as possible," said Stefan. "You'll likely be with her."

"How about this," suggested Klaus. "How about Damon sneaks in and distracts Alaric, while Stefan grabs Elena and carries her to safety?"

Damon scoffed. "Huh, that's a great idea. What's to stop me from getting killed instantly?"

Klaus had on a wicked grin, his inner wolf liking the idea of Damon not being around, because it meant he and Esmeray could never be a 'thing' again. "Nothing."

"We have to save Caroline too," sighed Esmeray. "Even if I'm not too happy with her."

Bonnie walked out beside them, holding up her phone. "My mom is on her way... or so she says. She's going to give me the desiccation spell she used on Mikael." She looked around at the group. "But even with Esmeray and I working on the spell, we'll need a lot of vampire muscle to take him down. Including yours."

Klaus narrowed his eyes a bit suspiciously before holding up his hand. "Just so we're clear, the sun sets in about... hmm... eight hours. If we don't succeed before then, Elena will be dead, Esmeray and I will be gone, and the rest of you will be left to fend for yourselves."

Damon sneered at this. "We already established, she's not going anywhere with you. I can't trust you to make sure she'll be okay."

"And what, you'll protect her?" snapped Klaus, coming forward and glaring at Damon from a few inches away. "You, who could not even devote yourself entirely to her after stringing her along for months? You, who gave her absolutely none of the materials she needed to gain control over her wolf nature? You, who never once were at her side after a full moon? You, who has never seen firsthand how much she suffers? Am I supposed to believe that you, mate, a vampire less than two-hundred-years-old is going to be her savior?"

"Klaus," said Esmeray sharply, pulling him back as Damon's fist balled up. She looked back at the others. "I need to get some things from the Mansion first. Text me where we're meeting." She yanked hard at Klaus's jacket. "And you're coming with me."

Klaus didn't look like he regretted anything he said. In fact, he looked rather satisfied with himself as he took Esmeray's arm and used his vampire speed to take her back home.

"Run out of ways to chastise me, love?" he asked when, after several minutes, all she'd done was rummage in her bags quietly.

"We don't have much time," said Esmeray, extracting some of her bottled herbs. She perked up at the sound of someone else in the house. "Who's here?"

"Tyler Lockwood," said Klaus. "I instructed him to help with the packing."

"Good. Tell him to come here."

Klaus was skeptical, but he did as she asked. Esmeray stood up, grabbing the herbs and igniting them in a small bowl. "What are you planning, love?" asked the Original hybrid as Tyler came to their side, confused.

"A protection spell," she said, yanking Tyler forward. "We don't have a lot of time, so listen carefully. You, Damon, Stefan, and Caroline will die for certain if I don't do this. We know Alaric is stronger, perhaps, than the Originals themselves, so we need a magical fail-safe so none of you will die if Klaus is killed. Including you, Klaus. I have an idea for what we can do."

She reached back to get some vials. "Put your blood in it," she said, handing one to each male. "What I can do is put a spell over Klaus to preserve his body in the event that he is stabbed with the indestructible white oak. His spirit can be tied to yours, Tyler. It will jump into your body and be safe until I can heal his body and put him back. That ensures that no one dies— not even other sired vampires who have no idea what's going on right now."

If Tyler had any complaints, he didn't voice them. Klaus gave Esmeray a curious look before spilling his blood into the vial. "Before you ask," the werewitch told him, "yes, I got the idea from your mother. She came in handy for once."

The Original grinned slightly at her, elated that she had spontaneously decided to protect him without him needing to ask. He wouldn't have even thought of this. His ego would have convinced him that he could not be bested by Alaric.

"Now drink each other's blood vials," she said, making a hand motion for them to swap. "Good. Now, close your eyes... Beskytte binda legume corporis bytte om, skydda praesidio allergies binde duplicia, kontakt växla kropp. Beskytte binda legume corporis bytte om, skydda praesidio allergies binde duplicia, kontakt växla kropp...."

All three hybrids gasped. Tyler and Klaus swayed, and Esmeray knew the spell had worked. "This has to stay secret," she said quickly. "There's no point in taking preventative measures if you're going to flaunt it about. Got it?"

Tyler nodded. "I was instructed to stay here and pack, anyway. And if it means I don't die and neither does Caroline... I'll do it."

Esmeray assented and put the bottled herbs back in her bags. Her phone chimed, and she looked down to see that they were going to be meeting at Mystic Falls High School in an hour.

The werewitch felt confident that they could manage to do this right the first time. As soon as Bonnie had let them know that Abby had walked her through the spell, Esmeray and Klaus made their way to the high school, where they walked up to the gathered group of Bonnie, Jeremy, Damon, and Stefan.

"Look at this," said Klaus, feeling significantly better about the situation. "One big, happy, family."

"Not so happy with you here," muttered Damon. Esmeray shot him a look, and he made a face. "What? He basically married in through you and— how would he say it— it puts a damper on things."

Bonnie ignored him and brought out a small vial of crimson liquid. "Drink this. It's my blood. It bridges us all together so that when I stop Jeremy's heart, you'll have the power to stop Alaric's. You need to make a physical connection to his bloodstream; a vein, artery, something connected to his heart."

One by one, the vampires drank. "If one of us gets a clean shot, take it," suggested Stefan. "The other two: hold him down."

Once they had all ingested the remains of the vial, Bonnie, Esmeray, and Jeremy made their way into the woods behind the high school. Jeremy's heart would be stopped to parallel their stoppage of Alaric's heart.

"I can do the spell, if you'd like me to," offered Esmeray once they laid Jeremy down. "Were you just planning on channeling me?"

"No, I think that I need to be the one to do it entirely," said Bonnie pensively. "It was my mom's spell. I think maybe you can do a protection spell on Jeremy so that stopping his heart won't damage him, since he's wearing the Gilbert ring."

"Are you sure? I can do it, too."

"No, no, it's fine. I think it should be me."

Esmeray didn't try to argue. She quietly cast the initial spell over Jeremy, who was nervous, but willing, because it meant his sister would be safe. They had to wait several moments before Bonnie straightened up. "They made contact," she announced. "It's happening." She let her hands hover over Jeremy's chest. "Ocoros Mecante, Aleora Subsitos. Ocoros Mecante, Aleora Subsitos. Ocoros Mecante, Aleora Subsitos—" but suddenly, she stopped chanting.

"What's wrong?" Jeremy and Esmeray asked in unison.

"Something happened," the Bennett witch replied, frowning. "The connection broke."

Esmeray felt herself tense. "Something is wrong. I should go—"

"It's not safe," said Bonnie, grabbing her hand. "It could be a trap to get you there. What if Esther corrupted the spell somehow? What if she wanted you to go there so you could get hurt? I have a bad feeling about you leaving, Esme."

The werewitch sighed, knowing she might be right. "Okay. But still... I know something is wrong."

It was agony to wait for any sort of news. Esmeray's hearing only went so far, and she had no idea what was happening at the school. Several minutes— maybe even hours— could have passed as they remained there, silent, with Bonnie trying to feel a connection again.

At last, she did. She started to chant once more, and this time, Esmeray helped her, but without linking their hands, and only mouthing the words. Jeremy's face went slack before his heart was stopped completely. Esmeray felt a crawling sensation over her face and looked at Bonnie, who had dark veins similar to that of a desiccated vampire running up her neck. As Esmeray looked down at her own hands, she saw the same thing, only hers were more faded, because she was holding less of the spell's weight.

Bonnie knew when to stop. Right when she stopped speaking, so did Esmeray, and the werewitch breathed a sigh of relief before putting her hand on Jeremy's forehead and letting out a hard breath. He gave a gasp and sat up immediately, looking slightly disoriented at first, but overall fine.

Esmeray, pleased with the outcome, pulled out her phone, dialing Klaus's number. It was odd to her that he didn't answer. "Hey," she said, choosing to leave a voicemail. "I'll be heading back to the Mansion to finish packing."

But he wasn't there, either. Only Tyler remained, moving boxes, though with a bit more pep in his step. "Where's Klaus?" asked Esmeray, frowning as she peeked into the different rooms.

Tyler seemed to have been expecting that this conversation would take place. "Esmeray, I think you should sit down."

She narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "No. Tell me what happened to Klaus."

The hybrid knew he couldn't keep it a secret from her. "They desiccated him."

"What?"

"They tried to get Alaric. Couldn't. He brought Elena here to extract her blood. Damon and Stefan came to save her. They desiccated him."

"But— but that spell— that was supposed to be for Alaric— he's the one trying to kill all vampires, not Klaus!"

Tyler held his hands up in surrender as half the boxes burst open, spilling out their contents on the floor. "This wasn't my fault. I'm just the messenger. I didn't tell them to do it, they chose to."

"They tricked us! Bonnie and I only did the spell because we thought it was going to be done on Alaric! I never would have—"

"Esmeray, I know," said Tyler, trying to calm her down. "I just wanted you to be aware of it."

"Well, tell me where they took him! I'm going to get him back."

Tyler sped in front of her before she could head back to the door. "Not a good idea. They're intending to use him as bait. It's going to be fine, Esmeray, I didn't tell them about the protection spell you did. If anything happens, everyone will be fine, and so will Klaus. Please, don't try and go after him. We don't want Alaric to hurt you."

"Why the hell would Alaric hurt me?!"

"Because Esther instructed him to! Klaus told me when he brought Elena here— he saw into Alaric's mind. As soon as Alaric kills all the Originals, he's going after you. Esther doesn't want you to keep helping Klaus, but she wants her kids dead more than she wants you dead. So listen to me when I say that you need to stay here. Don't go after Damon. He's going to be fine."

Esmeray didn't want to listen, but she knew that it was risky to be disobedient. She got back to packing, her hands shaking continuously as she did so. She had to use magic to keep the boxes shut, because she kept releasing energy that would put her back on square one, and it was progressively irritating her.

She got a call about two hours later, from Damon.

"I thought you were driving away and hijacking Klaus," she said coldly.

"I am," he told her. "But Stefan's heading back— Elena's in the hospital."

"What the hell happened to her?"

"Apparently, she went unconscious, and little Gilbert thought to call 911 instead of telling a vampire to come help her."

"Oh, shut up, Damon, he did the right thing. He's human, what do you expect?"

"Ooh, you're feisty. Is it really so angering that I have your boyfriend in the back?"

"He's not my boyfriend. And you kidnapped him! All of you make it such a problem that he kidnapped me and I still caught feelings for him, and now you're kidnapping him while he's completely defenseless just to lure a vampire hunter that could kill all of us!"

"In the future, you will thank me."

"Thank you for what, Damon? You should have told me if you were going to switch up the plan!"

"You wouldn't have done the spell if you'd have known, Esme."

"I wouldn't have, you're right! Klaus was going to help us and you stabbed him in the back."

"He kidnapped Elena! I imagine that he was still going to try and get some of her blood, but why do it in a creepy manner away from everyone instead of fessing up? He couldn't be trusted, but now, he's serving a purpose."

"Next time I see you, I'm making your brain pour itself out of your ears."

"I look forward to it, Scarlet Witch, I'm terrified. I just have one question— how big is this guy that you're thirsting over him this badly? I have never seen you pine this hard over anyone."

Esmeray growled. "Bigger than you by a lot, so humble yourself, Dracula."

She hung up and swore loudly, making the ceiling crack, a thin line now running over her head and stretching to the other side of the room. She made her way out the door to where Tyler was already turning on his car. He gave her a look, and she decided she might as well get a ride to the Gilbert house.

They arrived at the same time as Caroline and Matt, who were preparing a space for Elena on the couch while they waited for Jeremy to bring her back home. Matt and Tyler did a quick sweep of the house to make sure no one was waiting to hurt them. The group didn't talk much after all, all feeling decently worried. Caroline kept looking at Esmeray as if wanting to talk to her, but the werewitch wasn't in the mood. She appreciated Caroline, but her judgment was something that brought back bad memories for Esmeray, and she had since learned to not keep people like that in her life. Not long after, Bonnie arrived, and Esmeray made small talk with her about how hospitals worked nowadays compared to healing huts in her Pack.

Caroline went out to get Elena when Jeremy pulled up in front of the house. Wrapping her in a blanket, she eased her through the front door. By then, Esmeray and Bonnie had managed to make some chicken soup for Elena, and Jeremy had gone to bring some extra food from the Mystic Grill.

"I told you, I'm fine," said Elena, sounding a bit weak as Caroline urged her to lay on the couch.

"Doctor says rest, you rest," the blonde insisted. "Now what can I get you? Do you want some tea, maybe some vodka? Both will help you sleep." Elena cast her a look, and Caroline sighed. "I know, I'm being smothering. It's what I do."

"No, it's— it's nice," said Elena gently.

"I'm thinking maybe tea with vodka," suggested Caroline, making Elena laugh. The blonde went to get it for her, and Elena waved Esmeray over while Bonnie served the soup for her.

"Are you feeling better?" asked Esmeray, furrowing her eyebrows as she sat beside her.

"A bit, but I keep having all these memory flashbacks," whispered the girl. "Is that... normal?"

"I expect so. After head trauma, at least in this magical world, it's common to think back to important moments of your life. It's hard to explain, but when I learned about Mind Spells, I learned that supernaturals tend to have a sort of life evaluation moment whenever they hurt their head. We're all granted certain abilities and importance, and I guess every time we're injured that way, we think back to major moments that have shaped us. If it bothers you, I can do a spell to ease your mind."

"No, I think I'm okay," said Elena. "I um... am having flashbacks of when my parents were still alive. I don't want to make that go away until it just... happens naturally."

Esmeray gave her a pained look. "I get it. I wouldn't want to push those memories aside, either."

"What were your parents like?"

"My father... was a natural leader. Very assertive, to the point. Impatient, but calculating when he needed to be. He wasn't all that lenient, but he cared about me... in his own way. I was a burden to him, so the last memories I have of him are all... unpleasant. My mother was gentle, almost the opposite of him. She took her time with things and tried to be more understanding of my condition. She was more available to help me, and as a witch, she understood some of what I was going through. She was the type of person that everyone came to for advice. But at the same time, she wasn't all that bold. She wouldn't have stood up to anyone who opposed her unless they hurt her directly."

Elena seemed to become sadder. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "I still can't imagine how hard it must have been to wake up and find they were gone. You got no closure. And it's been so long that you have only memories, and even the more recent ones aren't pleasant..."

Esmeray took her hand and squeezed it. "At least I have all of you. And soon, I will have my ritual done, and I'll... be able to make my amends. A part of me feels resentment for how my father acted with me before I was put to sleep. Once I have control over my two natures... I'll feel like I can be at peace to really move on."

They heard the door open, and saw Stefan had arrived. He came right toward Elena, asking how she was, and Elena sighed. "I'm being over coddled," she noted. "I feel completely fine."

Stefan asmiled. "You're on house arrest. You're supposed to be coddled."

"Wouldn't it be smarter if we just got you the hell out of town?" asked Matt.

"And do what?" inquired Elena. "Go on the run for the rest of my life? No thank you." She got to her feet. "And I'm not an invalid. I'm done with the couch."

She moved into the kitchen, and the others followed. Esmeray got up, thinking to go outside and maybe relax by herself for a bit. When she opened the door, however, someone was in her way.

"Elijah," she gasped, making everyone turn toward the entrance.

The Original cast her a smile. "Hello, again."