*Wish me luck on my exams 😭*

"Claire" She turns and sees Elijah walking towards her and Caroline. "Mind letting me in on what's going on?" Claire glances at Caroline who shrugs leaving it up to her to tell him or not.

"Elena has a meeting with your mother" Claire whispers to him. He frowns his eyebrows. "Elena said something about Esther being on their side, I don't know what that means." She explains.

"I'll talk to Elena" Elijah said. Claire sighs watching him leave, not without kissing her forehead first. Elijah didn't like Elena but he had helped her through the sacrifice situation, he hadn't done anything to the Doppelganger so he's hoping he can get her to be truthful with him.

"Do you think Elena will tell him what's going on?"Caroline asks. Claire gives her a look. Neither of the twins trusted Elena and they both knew that Elena wouldn't tell the truth. "What do you want to do?" She asks.

"Can you try to eavesdrop?" Claire asks. Caroline nods.

"We just need to figure out the room." Claire nods.

"There's Elena" Claire whispers. They both hide behind a corner. They watch her walk down the hall and face a door. Elena knocks.

"You're alone, wise choice" Finn's voice rings out. Claire and Caroline share a look not understanding anything about this situation. They watch Elena walk into the room.

"It's only sage. I've spelled it so we can speak freely without fear of being overheard. That'll be all Finn, thank you." Esther dismisses her eldest son. Caroline curses.

"What?" Claire whispers. Caroline grabs Claire and leads her away from the room. "What's wrong? What's going on?"

"Esther put some spell in the room. She said it was sage."

"A privacy spell" Claire realizes. "Come on" Claire said pulling Caroline along. "Do you see Hanna anywhere?" She asks. They both look for her.

"Over there" Caroline spots the Australian. Claire nods and pulls her towards Hanna.

"Claire, you look wonderful!" Hanna said. "And Caroline, absolutely beautiful."

"Thank you" Caroline smiles. Claire smiles as well before pulling Hanna off to the side.

"What do you know about privacy spells?" Claire asks.

"There's a lot of privacy spells out there, can you be more specific?" Hanna questions turning serious.

"Sage?" Caroline suggests.

"When done right, it's impenetrable. It's a simple spell but very effective" Hanna said. Claire sighs feeling disappointed. "What's happening?"

"I don't know" Claire mutters. "I'll tell you when we've figured it out."

"Is there anything I can do?" Hanna asks.

"Just be careful, I don't think Esther is here for a happy family reunion like she'll have everyone believe." Claire whispers. Hanna frowns but slowly nods. The twins walk away from the Australian.

"I'm sorry" Caroline mutters. Claire smiles at her.

"Don't be. You heard Hanna, we won't be able to listen even if we wanted too.. Don't tell anybody. I don't know what's going on but I don't want to tell anybody until we know there's danger." Caroline nods.

"Klaus is looking for you, he's by the steps." Caroline said. Claire turns and smiles at her mate. "Don't worry about what's going on tonight, just have fun. We'll worry about everything in the morning." Claire smiles and nods.

"Klaus" Claire says walking towards him, leaving Caroline by herself. He turns to her and smiles. "Looks like someone's ready for bed" She said seeing Madelyn asleep on his shoulder.

"I was trying to find you." He said.

"I know, come on" She leads him to Madelyn's room. She grabs her daughter and changes her into something more comfortable before setting Madelyn into her crib. "She took quite the liking to you." Claire mutters.

"Don't sound so surprised, love" Claire laughs and kisses him softly. They walk out of the room quietly and go down the the main floor. Klaus whisks her into the ballroom where there is still music being played. "I haven't danced with you all night." He said twirling her into his arms.

"Such a shame" She whispers. He grins kissing her gently. He pulls her close to him as they sway.

"Do you have any idea of the affect you have on me?" He whispers in her ear. "Dancing so close, pressed up against me and the only thing keeping me from taking you is a few layers of your dress?" He growls nipping at her ear.

"I don't know what you're talking about" She whispers teasingly. He smirks moving his lips to his mark on her neck. She shivers closer to him, his grip tightens.

"Giving Elijah your underwear... naughty girl." He grumbles. She smirks closing her eyes. She images herself alone with Klaus far away from this place. "My mother's about to make her speech" Claire tenses at the mention of his mother. "What's wrong?" He asks moving so he can look her in the eyes.

"Nothing-"

"Don't lie.. I know you too well." He whisper. She smiles and kisses him. She grabs his hand and leads him where everyone else was. She pulls Klaus to where Kol and Finn were. She let go of Klaus and grabs Finn before he can notice she's around. He instantly looks at her.

She watches as his expression turns from peaceful to almost painful. Claire didn't like it. She went to let go of him, her heart beating painfully at his reaction. His eyes soften and he quickly wraps an arm around her waist, pulling her close. She hold onto him, resting her head onto his chest. He kisses her hair gently.

She knew something was wrong but knew now wasn't the time. She grips him tighter hoping that he would be truthful with her. Finn knew she was on to them and knew he couldn't tell her, his mother made sure of that.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Waiters are coming around with champagne. I invite you all to join me in raising a glass." Esther says. Claire goes to grab a glass of champagne but Finn takes it. He gives her a subtle shake of the head before wincing as a slightly pain goes through his head. "It provides me with no greater joy then to see my family back together as one. I'd like to thank you all for being part of this spectacular evening. Cheers!"

"What's going on?" Claire mouths to Finn. He simply gives her a small smile and drinks the champagne.

"Stay with my brothers" Finn whispers in her ear. He gives her cheek a light kiss before prying himself from her arms. Claire frowns watching him walk up the steps to his mother. Klaus grabs her hand.

"I want to show you something" He didn't understand what was going on between her and Finn but he hoped he would help cheer her up. She smiles at him and nods. He leads her away. Kol huffs and drowns the rest of his drink. He then notices a familiar blond.

Matt Donovan. He grimaces as he thinks about one of the dreams he had of Claire. It was one with her and Matt, it wasn't PG-13. He growls with jealousy before forming a plan in his head.

"Where are you taking me?" Claire asked.

"One of the rooms you haven't explored to yet." He says smiling at her giddily. Claire smiles at his excitement. He leads her into his art room.

"I knew you could draw but these are amazing" She whispers looking around. He smiles following her throughout the room.

"One of my landscapes is hanging at the Hermitage" Klaus brags. She looks at him smiling. "Not that anyone would notice" He mutters modestly. "Have you been?" He asks.

"The furthest I've been is Portland." She tells him. "Other than that, I've just been in small town Mystic Falls."

"I'll take you sometime" He tells her. "I'll take you anywhere you want to go. Just name the place. Rome. Paris. Tokyo?" They smile at each other. She walks over to him and grabs his tux jacket. She pulls him to her and kisses his lips.

"I want to be wherever you are" She whispers against his lips. He smiles and kisses her again. She moans gripping onto him tightly.

"There's something else I want to show you." He whispers breathless. She smiles and nods letting him lead her to the other side of the room. She notices a large canvas with a sheet over it. "I've been working on this since we were in Portland." He says nervously. She looks at him her eyes wide and on edge.

"Wow" She whispers. The painting is of a woman laying down with a child on her chest. "It's beautiful."

"Just like you" He woos. She smiles at him and wraps her arms around his neck.

"I love you" She whispers to him.

"I love you too" He mutters gazing into her eyes. "Come on, Henrik wants to dance with you before the party ends" He said leading her back into the main area.

"Finally" Henrik mutters taking her from his brother.

"Sorry for keeping you waiting" She says.

"Don't be, the wait is well worth it" He kisses her forehead.

Upstairs Kol hides in the balcony. He senses Matt coming in his direction. He smirks loving the feeling of the hunt. He whispers the football players name, drawing him outside. Matt looks around but doesn't see Kol. He turns to go back but Kol appears behind him.

"Good evening" Kol says making Matt turn back around. "You're Claire's friend. We haven't met" He holds his hands out. Matt inwardly winces at the mention of Claire. He hasn't spoken to her since Klaus turned Tyler into a Hybrid.

"Matt Donovan" Matt introduces himself shaking Kol's hands.

"Kol Mikaelson" Kol grips his hand. "Claire's mate." Matt's eyes widen as he feels his and breaking. He cries out. "It would be best if you don't talk to her. I'm a very territorial person and I don't like my darling talking to her ex's... don't tell her I said that." He smiles at Matt slightly psychotically.

"Hey, hey, hey, hey!" Damon said coming out before Kol could kill the Matt. Kol releases the boy and glares at Damon. "Easy on the hand, guy's a quarterback." They glare at each other, growling lowly. Damon flashes forwards and takes Kol off the balcony. Before Kol could even think of fighting back, Damon snapped his neck.

"Damon! Are you crazy?" Stefan shouted racing outside.

"Kol!" Claire shouts and goes to her mate. Damon steps away.

"Maybe a little... Far be if from me to cause a problem" Damon says before walking away. Claire glares at Damon and subconsciously siphons from Kol. Next thing she knows, Damon is on his knees screaming in pain. Claire didn't care, the pain wasn't enough. She wanted to destroy Damon for snapping Kol's neck. It didn't even register to her completely that Kol wasn't completely dead.

"Angel, stop, Claire!" Henrik said breaking her concentration. "Not here, not now" He whispers distracting her.

"Leave" Klaus growls at Damon who didn't need to be told twice. Damon disappears.

"He's going to be fine, Angel... He'll be fine" Henrik whispers as Claire holds Kol's head in her lap. She runs her hands through Kol's hair.

"We should bring him inside." Klaus says walking over. Claire glares at him and Klaus stops. "I'm not going to hurt him" Klaus says slowly. He kneels on the ground, keeping eye contact with Claire. "I'm just going to move him inside, he'll be more comfortable." He said slowly.

"Ok" Claire nods relaxing. She then frowns her eyebrows not understanding why she reacted like that. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be.. It's natural to feel protective." Klaus explains to her. He kisses her head softly. She smiles relaxing and allows them to take Kol inside. Henrik helps her up.

"Keep your brother away from my family or a headache is the least of his worries" Claire snapped glaring at Stefan. He presses his lips together and steps back, away from her.

"Come on" Henrik mutters leading her inside.

"Hey, I'm going to head home" Caroline said finding her. "I'll come by in the morning."

"Ok" Claire smiles at her. They hug before Caroline leaves. "I need to get out of these heels" Claire mutters.

"No violence, that was all I asked. Kol disgraced our family tonight" Esther snaps angrily.

"It won't happen again, mother. I'll deal with them" Elijah assures her. Esther smiles at him and he forces one back.

"Thank you, Elijah... I wish the others were more like you." Elijah simply nods and leaves. He passes Finn on the way out, the both of them sharing a look.

"Are we alright to speak freely?" Finn asks closing the door.

"Yes, the sage still burns." Esther nods. "I noticed you didn't let Claire drink the champagne." She notes glancing at him.

"She's only 18, not old enough for alcohol" He tells her his excuse.

"Or you don't trust me." Esther said. Finn presses his lips together. "I told you I would leave Claire out of the link."

"Well after you poisoned her I find it slightly difficult to trust you." Finn snapped. Esther sighs.

"I have no intention of harming Claire" She said. "She brought Henrik back. Please believe me."

"By killing us, you're hurting her. She's completed the bond with Elijah and Klaus yet you still plan to kill them"

"I told you, the spell I'm going to do is going to sever the bond with all of you except Henrik. They will be spared. She's going to be fine, Finn." Esther assures. Finn simply clenches his jaw. "Come we must complete the link" She said walking over to the parchment that had the names of her children, except Henrik, written on it. Finn is hesitant. "If you don't do this, I will be forced to activate the poison that is still in her system and will be in her system until I have done what I've been sent here to do." She says.

Finn sighs and walks over to her. She cuts into Finn's hand and the blood drips onto the paper. She chants her spell. Finn watches the blood spread on the paper, connecting all the names together.

"The link is complete, you are one." Esther says looking at him as the paper burns. Finn pulls away from her feeling extremely guilty but not seeing any other choice.