Klaus paused just before a large circle of flowers, in the middle of which was an even bigger tree. "Vervain. It's everywhere. Relentless Esther has set a trap."

Ansel nodded at me. "She will retrieve the Merlock for you."

"Don't act like we're working together." Klaus was so clearly not a fan of Ansel, and at the moment, I feared Klaus more than him. "We're not by the way. I'm captive on this little adventure. I don't want to be here."

I knew exactly who Klaus was.

The Original hybrid.

He was cruel and unforgiving and paranoid.

I kind of wanted to puke right about now.

He scared the ever living shit out of me. With Elijah it was different. If he could have escaped, he would have. But he didn't. He was trapped and couldn't do anything to me.

Klaus can.

"Get the flower, girl." Ansel nodded at the overgrown circle. 

There was the added benefit that Klaus didn't want to go into the circle. I'd be safe from one threat, if even just temporarily. I moved to kneel in it.

"At what cost would you do this for me?" Thank god, Klaus' attention turned back to Ansel. "What has my mother promised you?"

"Why don't you use your vampire powers. Search my mind. You'll see I'm not aligned with your mother."

Oh, so we'd jumped straight to lying.

"I have absolutely no interest in the inner workings of your mind."

I grasped a handful of the Merlock, pocketing some of it for later, though now that I knew where it grew, it'd make it easier to find in the future. Maybe I'd even take some to plant near my home.

Easier access and all that.

"I'm surprised at your cowardice."

Klaus scoffed. Goosebumps rose on my skin. He seemed pissed.

"While you stand here in fear of me, your brother suffers."

I turned, the two men were standing almost nose to nose.

They were also well and truly distracted. If I warned Jackson about the potential challenge, he could be ready. Maybe I could sneak some of this Merlock in Ansel's water.

Klaus may not be happy, but Ansel was no vampire. The vervain wouldn't hurt him, he could do this himself.

My hands shook.

I started running. 

At first it was fine. No one was giving chase.

However, I was not a runner.

My side quickly began to ache, and my thighs were burning. As soon as I got as far as I could, I stopped, leaning against a tree and breathing hard. 

Ansel would challenge Jackson.

Ansel would win. 

Damn it.

Damn it.

Ansel knew Esther, Esther was the Originals' mother.

That made Ansel... old. Very old. Did it work the same way with wolves as it did for vampires? Were they more powerful with age? That didn't sound right. Then again most wolves died at an acceptable age.

I had to get out of the bayou. Maybe go home. This was all getting a little too dangerous for me. Last I heard, Bill and Liz were separated, perhaps Liz finally saw what a shitty father Bill was, or maybe he saw what a distant mother she was.

Either way, it'd be good to see Caroline.

"Tell me," I jolted, spinning around to find that Klaus had snuck up on me. "Why does he have such an interest in you?"

"I don't know, I swear!" My heart raced painfully against my ribs. "He's been weird ever since-" Hayley's warning echoed in my head. "S-since he got here. I'm just a healer in Jackson's pack. Nothing special."

"A healer?" He pressed forward and I backed up. "What do you know of sleep magic?"

"I don't! I meant healer as in doctor. I'm human. I don't have magic or powers."

"No? Then why do I smell Merlock on you?"

Shit. "I saw an opportunity to run and I took it." I thrust out my hand with the flower crumbled inside. "Have it. Please."

All this time, the year or so purposefully staying off the Original radar... not that it was hard... and now I'd encountered two of them in the last week.

My luck was shit.

I could try and run now, but what was the point? I'd clearly piqued Klaus' interest. Enough that he was the one to find me before Ansel. "Please, I just want to go home."

"What was it Ansel called you?"

My stomach dropped. "Girl?" Hayley said Elijah had been muttering something about a woman. If he said my name... Klaus might have recognized it.

"Ezra." He tasted it on his tongue. "Yes, that's right. What little I could glean from Elijah's mind before Esther's magic shut me out was that."

"There could be hundreds of Ezras." Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit.

"Indeed." He approached me slowly. "However none but you have been involved with Ansel, the very man my mother sent."

Fear gnawed at my gut. "Please. The wolves need me."

"I imagine they do, healer. Coincidentally my brother needs some healing."