"You're fucking lucky I didn't tell him." I pointed at Marcel. I'm so glad he didn't do a head dive too.

Making Klaus jealous was incredibly risky.

"But it worked?" Marcel stood in front of Esther's tomb, or well, her prison.

"Obviously, I'm not an idiot. He fully bought that Oliver had come onto me." Though I tried not to, Klaus did in fact make me scream his name- while the party was still going on. "Jealousy is not an emotion he handles well, by the way. He completely threw their little plan out the window. We were supposed to make it seem like he was infatuated with Camille." I threw my arms up. "Don't even get me started on how he was fucking me in his room, while the party was still going on downstairs." Was it weird that I was talking to him about this?

"You did good. The first round of poison is done." He produced another vile. "You just have to do it six more times."

For the love of- "Why does he need seven doses?"

"Need I remind you that Klaus is an Original. He's practically indestructible, and he won't notice this is in his system until it's too late. Plus it takes time to enact a plan to get his other siblings out of the house and occupied long enough for Dahlia to get what she needs."

"Why are you even working with her?"

"I'm trying to save that kid right there." He pointed at Bennett, who was playing with his carrier. "It also doesn't hurt that I was promised certain things in return."

"But betraying Klaus? Speaking from experience, it always ends badly."

Marcel shifted. "Do you trust me?"

"Not particularly."

He let out a laugh in a huff. "If we tell Klaus, he's going to want to use his own plan, on top of that, he'll want payback for said betrayal." He held up the poison. "Just follow my lead and we'll all get out of this alive, yes?"

"Fine." I grabbed the vial. "You know, you're just as devious as the rest of the Mikaelsons."

Marcel grinned. "I was raised by them."

I shoved the poison in my pocket, and looked at the tomb. "Are you sure he's not going to know I've done this?"

"My 'shift' doesn't end for another hour. Besides, you've expressed wanting to talk to Esther right?" I nodded. "Good. That gives us some wiggle room. They're not going to connect the dots until it's too late."

The thing was, I didn't want them to know at all, if that were possible.

"This is such a bad idea. Teaming up with Dahlia."

"Way I see it, we're up against old magic. If we want to win, then we have to be careful, because if you really think about it, with my plan, we're betraying her too. There isn't any way to fully protect all the kids without any risk."

"Still. This better work, or we're in deep shit."

Marcel chuckled. "Oh we're already in deep shit. It's going to get worse before it gets better."

"Lovely."

"Now, stop stalling and go talk to her."

Fine.

I let out a breath, before pushing the door open.

Esther sat against the far wall, chained to it. She lifted her chin in something I could only presume to be a show of strength, but all I saw was where Klaus got it from.

"Hello."

"Maverick."

"I have some questions, if you wouldn't mind answering."

"It's not as if I could go anywhere if I did." She rattled her shackles.

"The vows and the marriage. You said if we broke our vows that it would void the protection spell, but does it also void the marriage?" Would I be free?

"No." Esther gave me an odd look. "Your marriage can only be broken in solemn agreement. The spell is laced in your vows. If either of you harm one another or the child, then consequently my sister would be able to find the baby."

Damn it.

Though I didn't know why I was so hopeful, the bite mark wouldn't go away until one of us died.

"Alright, thank you."  Stupid wolf law. "There's the rune that- Hope and I share, but then she has one that I don't. It's a line." I rubbed Bennett's back.

Esther pursed her lips. "Are you certain?"

"Pretty sure."

"Centuries ago, I bound Niklaus' wolf side, it's one of my deepest regrets." I had an awful feeling about this. "That particular rune prevents the wolf gene from ever forming. It seems as though it attached itself to my protection, coming from Niklaus himself."

"What?" Holy shit. "But Klaus had to have broken it right? He's part wolf now."

My baby. I didn't want him to carry that.

"It was not part of my original spell. That was meant to protect my children's descendants from Dahlia. I have no idea how to undo it."

I fought the tears welling in my eyes. Stupid pregnancy hormones.

Would they be affected too?!

"Why me? There are other women he's slept with and I'm the first to have a mark." At least by their reaction, that's what I thought. Hayley certainly didn't, and neither did Hope.

She shifted. "Wolves have soulmates, yes?"

"True mates, but yeah."

"I suspect that it only appeared on you because you and he were destined to meet."

There was no way. "That's impossible. He's over a thousand years old. If he had one, they're dead."

"Not necessarily, he recently broke his curse, freeing his werewolf gene."

"But that still doesn't make any sense. We only get one." I started to pace.

"And Nature is what brought us all here today." Esther nodded to herself. "Not even the witches can predict some of the things It decides."

Oh no. This is so much worse than I could've possibly imagined. "So you're saying that me and Klaus... that we... you've got to be fucking kidding me."

Fuck.

"You were always meant to be a Mikaelson."