The Mikaelson siblings had situated you in one of the guestrooms in their home. Which meant that you were on hand when their mother pitched an absolute fit in the middle of the night. She had burnt sage to keep her deeds from being overheard, but your spell to detect any danger in the home was far stronger than burning herbs.

You sat on the edge of the bed and listened to her tirade. "I don't understand. How could we have possibly failed?"

"I do not know, mother. They all drank the champagne, I am certain of it." You tilted your head in an attempt to place the voice. The oldest of them, Finn. You'd only spoken to him briefly but hadn't cared for him much. At least you knew your intuition was still as sharp as ever. "Perhaps the girl's blood did not make it into all of the glasses."

What girl?

"Don't be foolish, Finn. I wouldn't make such an amateur mistake," Esther insisted.

You pursed your lips as you stood. It was time to get some answers for your friends and to put an end to whatever treachery the Original witch was concocting. You left your feet bare so you could move more quietly and eased the door open. After brief consideration you decided to wake the other brothers. Your attention would be taken by the witch, you didn't need to worry about the vampire as well.

You tried the first door you came to, not remembering whose room it was. The knob turned easily and you stepped inside before shutting the door behind you. The less noise you made the better. You'd barely turned around when your back was pressed against the door and a hand clamped over your mouth. Your heart raced as a warm body pressed against you.

"Hello, Y/N," Kol all but purred. "If you wished to accompany me to bed, all you had to do was ask." His nose nuzzled against the side of your neck before his mouth found your ear. "Why are you here, witch?"

A tremor went through you at the feel of his lips brushing against your ear. You grasped the hand he still held over your mouth and pulled it away. After releasing it, you ran your hands up the bare chest of the vampire in front of you. You hooked one hand behind his neck to pull him toward you as you whispered a spell. Your lips found his in the dark and you sighed at the sensation.

Your mother plots against you. Blood in the cups I kept you from drinking tonight. A binding. The spell you'd cast allowed you to speak directly into his head as long as your lips remained in contact.

Kol jerked back in surprise, his dark eyes searching your face. "What—"

Two fingers against his lips cut him off. You gave him a cockeyed grin as you kissed him again.

He moaned and his hands settled on your hips. God, you're good at that.

You giggled though you quickly stifled it. Why, thank you, Mr. Mikaelson. Finn is with her. Whatever she is plotting, he knows. We need Elijah and Klaus to help as well.

He stepped away from you and strode over to the table beside his bed. "Stupid bloody Finn," he grumbled.

"Shhh," you chastised.

You could see his scowl clearly when he turned as his face was illuminated from the light of his phone. "He can't hear me in here, darling. State of the art soundproofing."

You made a sound of agreement. "And if your mother is using magic to listen in?"

He shrugged as if it didn't matter and you rolled your eyes. Vampires never took any threat seriously until it was shoving a stake through their heart.

"What are you doing?" you asked as you padded over to peer at his phone.

He grinned as he turned on his bedside lamp. "Texting my brothers. I'd prefer if you didn't use the same trick to relay the information to them. This is just as quiet."

Your lips twisted as you tried not to smirk. The door opened and you jumped in surprise. Elijah and Klaus had arrived together. The latter held up his phone in anger as he looked between you and Kol. "You are certain about this?"

You nodded once and that was enough for the hybrid. You'd never let him down before, there was no reason for you to start now.

Elijah's gaze took all of you in. "What is the plan, Y/N?"

Still paranoid about being overheard despite Kol's assurances, you motioned for all three men to come closer. "Here's what we're going to do."

***

They hated your plan. All three of them protested but since you could give them unending aneurysms if the didn't cooperate, your plan it was. You paused outside Esther's door and knocked lightly. "Come in," her answer came immediately.

You opened the door and stepped inside, taking in her and Finn stashing something in the drawer of her desk.

Esther frowned. "Y/N, correct? Is there something you need?"

"I was hoping to talk to you for a moment." You wrung your hands together as if you were anxious about what you had to say. Your eyes found Finn. "Alone."

"Certainly. Finn, I'll see you in the morning. We will finish our discussion then."

He looked unsure but merely said "Yes, mother," and left, shutting the door behind him. His brothers were waiting in his room, ready to dagger him the moment he came through the door.

"What is it you wished to discuss, child?"

You huffed a laugh as you shed the timid persona you'd donned for her sake. You rolled your shoulders back and straightened your spine. "I am hardly a child, Esther Mikaelson. And if you had full access to your power you would know that."

She stood and narrowed her eyes. "I have come back from the dead. Is that not power enough for you?"

You hummed. This close to her, you could feel her power buzzing in the air. It was no match for yours. It felt new. Borrowed somehow. "It's not your power though, is it? Not entirely."

"I don't know who you think you are trifling with but—"

You waved a hand through the air before clutching it in a fist, silencing the other witch. Another gesture and she found herself back in the seat she'd left. As you walked toward her you trailed your fingers along the lines of the furniture you passed.

"Now, why would you want to bind your children together? It could be for nothing good without their cooperation. So, not strength. They hardly need health or a spell for a long life..." You trailed off as you examined the woman. "Death. You mean to kill them. But why would Finn help you?"

You snapped your fingers to allow her use of her vocal cords again. "Because he understands the abominations they have become. He loathes this existence and he will help me set things right. Nature is out of balance and I have returned to fix it."

You arched a brow. "Bullshit. Your presence here sends things out of balance far more than theirs. If nature wanted to be rid of the Mikaelsons, it's had a thousand years to come up with a much better plan than you."

The door burst open and you silenced Esther again before turning to the disturbance. The three men looked between you and their mother. "She means to be rid of us," Klaus all but growled. "She was to bind us together then kill Finn so we would follow."

"Thank you, Klaus. That is excellent information. Very helpful."

Elijah pursed his lips. "You already knew, didn't you?"

You placed a hand on your hips. "What kind of witch do you take me for, Elijah Mikaelson? Of course, I already knew. Did you get what I asked for?"

"What kind of vampire do you take me for, Y/N Y/L/N?" Klaus responded with a smirk. "Of course, I did."

By the time another hour had passed, Esther and Finn were back in coffins. Finn daggered and Esther aware but silent. Klaus had ripped out her heart the last time and she still managed to come back so you didn't see the point in killing her this time. Let her suffer a little. Maybe she'd learn her lesson.

No, you did something better. The spell you cast on the coffins was old magic and took a lot of your power. Once completed, no one would be able to open either coffin without your magic and the blood of three Mikaelsons. You would have made it four, but no one knew where Rebecca had gotten off to.

You rocked on your feet as you finished the spell and Kol swept you up in his arms before you collapsed. "Well done, witch. Now, it's time to rest."

You laid your head against his shoulder and nodded. "Okay, Kol."

He chuckled at your sleepy voice and headed toward your room.

"Wait," you said stopping him at the door.

His eyes were serious as he waited for you to speak.

"Your bed looked far more comfortable than mine."

The corner of his mouth curled up. "Did it, now?"

You made a noise of agreement. "And in a few hours, maybe we can test out that soundproofing of yours."

"As the lady wishes,"he said with a smile as he changed direction to his room. He slid you under thecovers that were still flung back from earlier and pressed a kiss to yourforehead. You were asleep before he even crawled into the bed beside you.