Things did not get better.

"So Hayley isn't coming back, we have a fucking hurricane closing in on us, and Klaus is missing," said Esmeray, looking out the library window. "Fucking perfect. Can someone tell me how the hell he got that dagger out of himself?"

"It has to have been Dahlia," said Freya, clasping her hands tightly together. "And there is no telling how much he hurt. Judging by the fact I am still alive, we must assume he did not hear anything regarding the pregnancy."

Esmeray held out her phone. "I can try calling him again."

"You've tried ten times already," sighed Rebekah. "He's not going to want to reply."

Either way, she dialed his number again. They were quiet, waiting. But he did not answer, and Esmeray figured it must be because he knew he was acting rashly, and didn't want Esmeray to get involved, lest she be harmed in wanting to help him.

"Klaus," she said, choosing to leave a voicemail for him. "We really need to talk. Call me back, please. I... I really need to hear your voice right now."

"This could be Dahlia's plan," mused Freya. "She could be trying to win Klaus to her cause."

"That is absurd!" cried Rebekah. "Nik would never align with Dahlia."

Freya was clearly irked. "You continue to defend him."

"He'd kill anyone who'd try to take his daughter," said Rebekah. "Even if he doesn't know about baby number two, he won't let Dahlia take Esmeray, either."

"Well, isn't it Hayley who's trying to take his daughter?" inquired Freya.

"Their daughter," Elijah corrected her gruffly. "Let's not forget that Dahlia is the true enemy here!"

Freya cast him a fake smile. "How good, then, that I finished my spell." She urged them toward the courtyard, gesturing at the paintings she'd set up around the four corners. "The paint of his artwork, combined with my blood, will render Dahlia vulnerable. The moment she passes between these paintings, she will be mortal." She held out a blade to Elijah. "You can kill her, using this."

Elijah was surprised. "Father's knife?"

"I thought it appropriate," said Freya.

Elijah was going to say something else, but froze. "We have a visitor." He sped to the entrance, and the three women peered out the window, seeing Gia.

"Aw, his little girlfriend," said Rebekah with a smile.

Esmeray cleared her throat. "Well, you can all come and get me when you're ready. I'm going to go do a spell that'll at least make me look a bit beat up, otherwise, Dahlia won't buy the fact that Freya took me down."

What she really needed was to talk to Anya.

"Hi," she said in her head as she started putting on some makeup.

"Hello. Congratulations on the baby!"

"Did you know?"

"I didn't. I found out at the same time as you. I don't know much about your physiology, since I'm tied to your spirit."

"Do you think I'm doing the right thing by staying and going along with this plan?"

"I do. You're keeping Hope safe, and you've already performed the spells needed to protect your baby from Dahlia's magic."

"Do you think I should be out looking for Klaus so I can tell him before he does something he'll regret?"

"Well, if you did try to find Klaus, you wouldn't be very focused for this trap. This is the thing you want to fixate on. He'll find out eventually, and he'll be happy."

"You think so?"

"He may be difficult, but he loves you, and he loves his daughter. Knowing that he has another kid on the way will be good news for him. He'll behave a lot better this time around."

"That's good to know. You heard about Damon's idea, right? I'm thinking to make a reservation at that restaurant I took him to when I was named Queen of the Quarter by Marcel. I can tell him there over dinner."

"That's a good idea. Keep it straightforward. We should hope that Freya doesn't get anywhere near him once he learns what she did."

"Ugh, as annoyed as I am with her, I can't really let her die, can I?"

"Technically, she's your kid's aunt. She could be a resource in the future."

"Do you think the plan is going to work?"

"It should. You did what you could to help it along. It's up to the others to play their part."

That helped her feel at least slightly better about the whole thing.

"You're certain this will work?" asked Elijah once the time was rapidly approaching.

"We have all that we need," Freya told him, Rebekah, and Esmeray. "Once Dahlia is lured into the killing ground, you, brother, will do what is necessary."

"You're rather calm," observed Rebekah. "Which is odd, because there are a million ways this plan can fall to pieces." She moved a bit closer to Freya. "Make no mistake, if Esmeray and her baby end up harmed in any way..."

Freya sighed. "You are all so determined to protect Hope, Esmeray, and the unborn baby at all cost. Perhaps I'm envious— no one ever fought so hard to protect me. Then, I recall what I've learned about the day you all swore an oath to stand by one another— always and forever. There's strength in such vows, even for new additions to the family."

"I can assure you," said Elijah, "it has not been free of consequence."

Rebekah half-smiled. "That is an understatement. Ask me, that vow has been more trouble than it's worth."

"And yet, here you are— proving my point," said Freya. "Family defines you, even if it demands sacrifice." She took her sister's hands and squeezed them encouragingly. "My entire life, I have longed for what you have. It is better to at least glimpse it, facing death, than run forever and know nothing of family." She then moved to Esmeray. "It pleases me to see that my brother has you to make him happy, as irrational as he can be. I will do everything in my power to keep you safe."

If someone who didn't know of the plan had peeked into the Compound fifteen minutes later and seen how Freya was holding a beat-up looking Esmeray in a chokehold, they would have been very confused.

The bells of the St. Louis Cathedral rang out Dahlia's song just minutes before they heard the familiar clicking of the high-heeled boots the witch wore.

"I come all this way to collect what is owed to me," the witch mused as Freya forced Esmeray down onto her knees, facing Dahlia. "And whom should I find?"

"Tante, please listen," Freya said shakily. "I betrayed my siblings so I could procure the hybrid you wanted. I offer her to you now, and in exchange, I only ask that you release me from my obligation to you."

Dahlia moved further into the courtyard, but not yet entering the killing ground. She tilted her head sideways, looking over Esmeray and seeing that she really did look exhausted. "How curious," said Dahlia, "that you should bargain with me for that which is already mine. But, by all means, make your case for why you should be freed. And then I will decide whether to release you or kill you, once and for all." She moved even closer this time, still not within the borders made by the paintings. "You surprise me. Betraying the family you meant to coax to your side? How very ruthless of you."

"I had hoped that they would welcome me as a sister," said Freya. "Instead, they choose to trust this girl merely because she's made her bed with my half-brother. They prefer to trust the hybrid Crescent who cannot even decide between two men in her life. They refused to trust me and they refused to accept me. I was wrong about them."

"Of course you were, you poor little fool!" said Dahlia with fake sympathy. "To think that Esther's wicked little progeny could ever care for you? They are known the world over for obscene acts of violence, and yet, you sought them out instead of staying where you belong. With me."

She came up to the border of the killing ground, one step away from entering it. "I offered to protect you for all time, and you left me," she said before stepping inside, and looking over Esmeray before facing Freya agan. "And now, it is youwho is alone! But then— Who could love a deceitful little wretch?"

Freya abruptly grabbed Dahlia, holding her in place as Esmeray sprung up to do the same. "Elijah, NOW!"

There was a rush of movement from the hallway, and a blur moved toward them, but another blur caught him halfway, and Elijah was tackled back into the ground. "And so the wheel of betrayal circles 'round once more," said Klaus before tossing Elijah into the wall, leaving one of the pillars to crack as Dahlia shoved a very shocked Freya and Esmeray off of her.

"You treacherous little shrew!" the woman snarled at Freya before waving her hand and tossing her twenty feet into the entrance hall. She turned her attention to Esmeray. "As for you, I cannot kill you, because I still need you." She wove her hand, sending her crashing to the ground.

But Klaus had anticipated this, even without knowing that Esmeray was pregnant. He knew Dahlia would not hurt her, and he knew this was his chance. The instant he'd left Gia for dead, he'd made a big show of going to kneel beside Esmeray, running his hand down her face to plant some of his memories into her, in the hopes she'd understand what he needed them all to do. He did not think to extract anything from her mind, out of fear that too long of a tender moment would clue Dahlia into what he was doing.

Esmeray woke with a start, seeing the Compound was a mess. Freya, Klaus, and Dahlia were gone, there was another charred body on the ground beside her, and Elijah was panting off to the side, shivering from the all-too-familiar effects of Papa Tunde's blade.

"Hold on," said Esmeray, feeling the memories rushing into her mind now that she was awake. She could afford to think too much about them in that moment. She wove her hand over Elijah's chest, bringing the blade shooting out and rousing him with a gasp.

"Breathe," she prompted, bringing him to sit up. "Breathe. Here— feed on me."

He refused to, at first, but he knew he would not be strong enough unless he acquired some of her blood. He bit into her wrist, drinking for less than a minute before he stood, looking toward the charred body and turning away.

Esmeray didn't need to ask who it was. In Klaus's memories, she could see that it was Gia. "I'm so sorry," she whispered.

"You're sorry," Elijah repeated.

"Yes, I'm sorry. I don't know why he thought this was the right way to go about things. I know the rest of his plan, Elijah, he implanted it into my mind. I have a slight understanding about how you feel and I know that this is the last thing you want to hear, but I need you to stay calm long enough for me to explain. He's tricking her, and he's going to try and get her to link herself to him so that he can dagger himself and take her down long enough to get Esther's blood." She acknowledged the shocked look on his face. "Freya's blood wasn't the answer. He knows I'm strong enough to bring Esther back, and if he does this, it will buy us time to make the right weapon and kill Dahlia once and for all."

When he didn't immediately answer her, she bit her lip. "I'm sorry about what he did, Elijah."

"I'm sorry that he is the father of your child," said Elijah sharply. "This— this is just—" he looked like he wanted to cry, but wouldn't let himself. "You ought to leave and raise your child elsewhere, before Klaus has the chance to learn of his existence."

"What? I'm not going to just leave before I tell him that we're having a kid. He's still the father. I'll give him a very proper and deserved scolding when I see him again, and I'll make sure he apologizes and never does something this horrid again. But I will not shove him out of our baby's life."

"I never should have let you become involved with Niklaus!"

"Let me?" she said. "You don't control me, Elijah."

"I was supposed to protect you from him from the minute I woke you up, three years ago. Instead, I allowed you both to become an item."

"Hey, that was my choice, and if you respect my choice, you won't blame yourself and you won't urge me to leave with the baby. We will reprimand him for this later, I promise you. I'm sorry for what he did, Elijah. It wasn't alright and he knows it. The best I can do is ensure he apologizes and does better."

They looked up as Rebekah, in her Original body, and Marcel walked in.

"What happened?" asked Esmeray immediately. "Rebekah— why—?"

"Klaus compelled me to take Elijah and Rebekah down if they tried to stop Dahlia," said Marcel dejectedly. "Rebekah decided this was a fight she was better equipped for in this body."

"Don't shoot the messenger," said Rebekah gravely, "but we have bad news about Hayley and Jackson."

Esmeray paled as Marcel said, "When Klaus attacked me, he stole the spell that I used on the Crescent wolves."

Elijah's head snapped toward Esmeray. "Should I assume that he conveniently withheld this memory from you?"

"H-He did," she said shakily.

"So he would condemn her to the body of a beast?" snarled Elijah.

"Hold on," said Esmeray, not looking afraid anymore. "Our wolf forms aren't our beast forms. Klaus did another bad thing. I can fix this. As soon as Dahlia is defeated, I can remove the curse. I'm guessing he managed to get Dahlia to spare me from the curse. We'll find them and we'll cure them, I swear it."

"Yes, Elijah," said Rebekah, going to take her brother's hand. "We need to focus on who needs saving today. Freya called— Dahlia is... incapacitated. They are two hours north at an orchard near Pale River. She has Hope."

Elijah was gone before they could say anything else.

Esmeray took the time to explain Klaus's plan to Rebekah and Marcel, and immediately got to work on the Resurrection Spell they'd need for Esther.

"What if this hurts you?" asked Marcel, who could clearly hear the baby's heartbeat.

"It's too early in the pregnancy, I'll be fine."

"Perhaps Davina can manage it," offered Rebekah, "with her new Regent power."

"That's not fair," said Marcel, frowning. "She wants to use that to bring Kol back."

"Esmeray, Freya, and I, can help her bring Kol back. We need Esther back today."

Marcel and Esmeray were not okay with this, but when Elijah and Freya returned, voicing their support for Rebekah's idea, they were unfortunately outnumbered.

"Nik is demented," hissed Rebekah once they reviewed the plan as a group. "Are we really to dig up our mother, burn her to ash, swap said ash with Kol's, and then trick Davina into using up her last chance to bring someone back from the dead? Not to mention we lose the opportunity to save Kol... if Davina doesn't turn us inside out!"

"Or, we dig a deep hole and leave both our problems at the bottom of it," muttered Elijah.

"I really don't like this," Esmeray said coldly. "I can do the spell, and we won't need to sabotage what Davina is doing. That's not fair to her. She's just a kid, and she just got her chance to bring someone she loves back from the dead. A lot of us never got that option. If I had a way of bringing Anya back, I would have. But I wasn't strong enough then, and she's at peace now. Davina shouldn't have this opportunity taken away from her."

Freya looked down at Dahlia and Klaus's unconscious bodies. "I say we choose a more permanent option— find the white oak stake, kill Klaus, Dahlia dies with him."

"Well, yeah, so do I, and every other vampire that Klaus has turned!" said Marcel with a scoff.

"I will not let any of you kill him," said Esmeray, gesturing to her stomach. "It's been less than twenty-four hours since I found out I'm pregnant with his child, so no thank you. Just let me do the—"

"The dagger!" shrieked Rebekah, looking down at the golden dagger in Klaus's chest. "It's bloody melting!"

Esmeray swore loudly as she knelt down, trying to do a spell that would slow its progress down. There was no longer any time to argue. Elijah and Rebekah left immediately to get Esther, while Marcel and Freya rushed about trying to find Kol's ashes.

"Sometimes, you really make me angry," she muttered to Klaus as she continued to work her spells. "This can't keep happening. You can't hurt others just to protect the few that you care about. Hayley and Jackson are family whether you like it or not, and they did nothing to you. Please... I don't want our kid to think this kind of stuff is okay."

Obviously, he didn't reply.

"It's no use," said Freya after she came to try and help Esmeray, who had not succeeded in slowing the dagger down. "We can't slow her magic down."

"There's gotta be a way to kill her," said Marcel, looking around as black dahlia flowers began to sprout over the railings of the room they were in.

Esmeray noticed the slightly evil glint in Freya's eyes as she extracted the white oak stake from her pocket. "There is."

"Stop it!" hissed Esmeray, flicking her hand and sending the stake flying through the air and lodging in the wall. "You can't just kill him!"

Marcel tried to get to the stake before Freya could retrieve it, but she pumped her fingers, and Marcel's neck was snapped. She bolted toward the stake, but Esmeray was faster. The only problem was, Freya was all too eager to end this once and for all, and tackled her to the ground.

"Freya, stop it!" Esmeray yelled out, trying to get her off. "Ow— OW! You're hurting me!"

Freya managed to snatch the white oak away and scrambled toward Klaus, desperate to get rid of Dahlia. Esmeray managed to yank her back before she could stab the stake into his heart, but she saw, horrified, that in the time they'd been brawling, the dagger had completely melted. Freya knew this was her last chance, and elbowed Esmeray before raising the stake, but Klaus, who was now awake, caught it.

Dahlia, on the other side of the room, awoke with a gasp. The two witches and two hybrids quickly got to their feet, and Dahlia glared across the room at Klaus. "I'm almost impressed by the lengths you'd go to for your little girl and the woman you love," she said almost mockingly. "Though, not enough to let bygones be." She held out her hand, and the white oak stake flew into her palm.

"We are still linked, dear aunt," said Klaus, pretending he was unafraid. "You may not want to punish me with that particular weapon."

"I made sure that the link between us melted along with that dagger," said Dahlia. "Meaning, I'm quite free to kill you."

She swiped her other hand out, bringing Klaus flying forward, his body about to stake itself. Esmeray reacted the fastest, pulling him down so that he couldn't continue his progress through the air. There was a flash, and when they looked up, Freya and Dahlia were gone, and they could hear Hope crying upstairs, where Elijah had gone to put her in her crib.

The two sprinted to her room, seeing that a mass of black dahlias surrounded her, one of them having grown a thorn that pricked her finger. "Damn it," said Esmeray, looking down at the blood before dabbing it gently with her shirt to stop the bleeding. "She just needed her blood to link herself to her."

She looked down as her phone chimed. "Rebekah," she mumbled. "Davina resurrected Esther. You need to go and see her. I have to get to work on a Locator Spell to find Dahlia. As soon as I get it, I'll take Hope to the St. James Infirmary, and I'll have Cami meet me there so that she can watch her before I—"

"No," said Klaus immediately. "You will not, under any circumstance, come with us to confront Dahlia once you find her location. You will remain in the St. James Infirmary."

"I can't just stay there!" she said. "I have to go and help!"

"Listen to me, love, I will not stand for you to be in harm's way. I went about this all in the wrong way and it could have hurt you. Do not come to find us."

Esmeray looked up at him and gulped. "Just... if you defeat Dahlia tonight... meet me at the restaurant where we had our date, okay? We can talk then."

Klaus gave her a firm kiss, pulling her close. "I love you," he told her when he pulled away. "I love you so bloody much, more than you can ever know. You and our future baby."

Her eyes widened. "You know?"

"Dahlia told me, just before we were linked," said Klaus weakly. "I did it all wrong, love, and it could have hurt you both." He kissed her one more time. "We will meet later and we will speak of it. I swear to you, I will be there. Please. Get somewhere safe."

He sped off, and Esmeray put her fingers to her lips, sighing to herself before getting to work on her Locator Spell. She finished it relatively quickly, and as soon as she let them know where Dahlia was, she picked Hope up and bolted full speed to Algiers, where Cami would be meeting them.

"There you are," said Cami as she rushed in, about fifteen minutes after Hope and Esmeray got there. "Is everything okay?"

"It should be," said Esmeray nervously. "I'm going to check the perimeter, I'll be back."

But she didn't make it back. She hardly realized what happened. She'd been making her way back to the building when she felt a sharp pain in her neck, as if someone had injected her with something, and she slumped back into the arms of an unfamiliar figure.

_

In the evening, Klaus was losing his mind.

"Do the spell again!" he snarled after Freya told him that her third attempt at a Locator Spell had been unsuccessful. "She has to be somewhere!"

"I don't know why it isn't working!" said Freya, looking just as worried as him. "We've used her personal items, we've used your blood, nothing is working! I don't understand how this could have happened— she never crossed paths with Dahlia after we left the Compound. It's been hours already, and I fear..."

"You fear what?" asked Elijah, who'd been off to the side, trying to call Esmeray and track her through her phone, which they had yet to locate.

"I fear that one or both of them is no longer alive," said Freya meekly. "I can't sense her magic. It's gone. And if I haven't been able to locate the baby using Klaus's blood, the baby could be dead."

Klaus shattered the bottle of bourbon in his hand. "This is all my bloody fault," he mumbled. "If I had said something... if I had just..." he stormed to his art room, out of ideas. If Locator Spells weren't working...

... then science had to be interfering. Esmeray awoke in a laboratory, surrounded by faces she recognized. Instantly, someone had grabbed her heart from behind, threatening for her to put her magic away into the small wooden wolf she still carried in her pocket. Out of fear for her life and the life of her baby, she'd done it immediately.

"Esmeray Poldark," said a man's voice in her ear. "The last pure Poldark wolf. Aren't I lucky to have found you so easily?"

"What the hell do you want?" she asked fearfully, looking around.

Was that Elvis Campbell, Anya's father, and a Paxon wolf, with a muzzle over his face? The grandmother of Keelin, the wolf Esmeray had helped out, from the Malraux Pack? Cary, the North East Atlantic relative of Klaus? The young girl from the Deep Water Pack that Esmeray met when helping her parents rebuild their home? One of the BasRoq wolves that she'd helped with their health care? Jerick, the Crescent who'd been living in her home for the longest time?

"Why do you have all these wolves?" she asked shakily, realizing that there was one from each of the seven original Packs.

"It's simple, love," said the man, coming to stand in front of her. She looked up, horrified, when she realized that she knew who he was. He put a mask over her, making her cry out in pain as two needles injected themselves into her gums, beginning to extract her venom. "Stay still now. You have wolfsbane in your system, and after a miscarriage, this is usually unadvised."

She started to sob, thrashing against the restraints on her arms, before she realized that she wasn't strong enough to get out of them. Her pleas were muffled, and the other wolves wouldn't hear her, not when they were currently unconscious.

"You and I," Lucien Castle whispered with a maniacal glint in his eyes, "are going to have a lot of fun."

A/N: Man, I have been waiting to publish this chapter FOREVER. It had to happen— she's literally the last Poldark wolf and where else would Lucien have gotten the venom from? Get ready for some angst.