She almost regretted her choice.

The next day, Elijah declared that there would be a feast day for the witches, La Fête des Bénêdictions, and as the human representative, she was required to attend the private afterparty and bring a gift to the Harvest girls on behalf of the humans.

"My social battery is just about out for the next week," Andra muttered to herself when the invitation arrived at the Jardin Gris. "Fuck, what do I even give them? What don't they already have?" She couldn't exactly call in a shipment of a magical artifact when she was probably already being marked as a fugitive from Malivore.

She spent her day packaging different bits of Jardin Gris merchandise for the witches, making sure to add plenty of ribbons so it would at least look like she put some effort into it. Good enough. It wasn't like she wanted to do this anyway.

Thierry came by her apartment while she was getting ready, planning to reuse the same black dress; she'd yet to buy a new one.

"Didn't think you knew where I lived," said Andra, having him sit at the dinner table. "This is a little creepy. What prompted the home visit?"

"What do you know about Klaus and the werewolves?"

"I don't know, what am I supposed to know about them?"

"Marcel got intel that Klaus is having secret meetings with the werewolves behind Elijah's back. Figured you either knew what that was about or could find out."

"Hell no, you think I can just ask Klaus and he'll tell me? I'm not going to snoop because then he'll wonder how I found out, why I care. I just got myself into a position of power; if I wasn't already a threat and a nuisance to him, I am now. You tell Marcel not to overthink it until we learn more, however it is that it happens. Finding out what Klaus's game plan is won't be so simple if even Elijah isn't aware of this. We need an inside man if we want to determine how concerned we need to be about a potential coup. Let me talk to Hayley tonight, see if she knows anything. Chances are she's in the dark about it, too, but it'll be more believable if she confronts Klaus or the wolves, and we can find out then what Klaus's next move is. We need to fully understand it if we want to make a move back. Which, by the way, shouldn't even be happening. He's supposed to be laying low. Yeah, this is concerning, but he's not exactly in a position to be making countermoves when he's on a chessboard with one pawn and Klaus has a bazillion pawns and two queens at his disposal."

Thierry sighed. "God, this whole back and forth is really getting tiresome. Feels like I'm a child of divorced parents trying to fix things."

"If Marcel would just listen, this wouldn't be a problem. Why are you entertaining him, Thierry? You're better than this. Don't let him rope you back into this vendetta."

She went to the after-party as soon as she got a cute enough gift bag for her little packages, arriving just as the witches began the informal ceremony.

"Welcome," said Genevieve, standing in front of the Harvest girls, who were each dressed as one of the elements that bound the Harvest. Davina, in a fiery orange dress, Monique in simple earth tones, and Abigail with white and silver to represent the wind. "As is our time-honored tradition, you are all welcome to deliver your offerings. It is our custom that no one should be turned away, no blessing be denied."

They all formed a line, with Hayley at the front. She smiled at Davina and made to drop the gift at her feet, but an attendant motioned for her to give it to Monique. Then, Diego was instructed to hand it over to Abigail. One of the other vampires was once again prompted to bestow her gift upon Monique.

"Seriously?" said Andra when she was pointed toward everyone but Davina. "She's the only one I know."

The attendant silently continued to point. "Doesn't this count as the gift being denied because it's not going to who I want it to go to?" said Andra. "Help me understand this, really."

The woman made the mistake of grabbing her arm to try and coax the gift away from Davina. Elijah and Klaus both swept forward, yanking Andra's arms behind her back just as she dropped the gift and reached for her knives.

"Now, that simply isn't fair," said Klaus, kicking Andra's gift aside (so much for the bows and glitter). "Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention please. We are gathered here today to pay homage to our beloved witches, but one very special witch has been utterly ignored. That seems a little unfair to me."

He offered Davina a small box.

She made a face. "No. I don't want your gift."

That certainly left Klaus looking like a fool. He insisted, "I understand why you would reject me, given our past. In truth, many of us here today have been wronged in the conflict which my brother's treaty ended. Your friend Josh," he looked over at one of the corridors within the building, "whose heart I hear pounding away just over there, was involved in a plot to kill me. It would be well within my right to execute him here and now. But, in the spirit of solidarity, and for your favor, Davina, I hereby pardon him. Josh from this day forward, you have nothing to fear from me. Please."

The vampire stepped out, and Klaus once again pushed his gift toward Davina. She took it, then made to stand beside Josh. Whatever he'd given her, it seemed both of them were very pleased with it.

"That went well," said Andra lowly when Elijah had pulled her as far away from Genevieve as possible.

"Might I remind you," he said, "that you are meant to be posing as a human. Arriving to such an event with weapons–"

"–is how I protect myself. I'm not the biggest fan of unsolicited physical contact. They were being rude."

"You were willing to commit murder because of a petty display of jealousy between teenage girls."

"Davina didn't deserve that."

"And would that attendant have deserved for you to slit her throat?"

"She was being a bitch."

"Perhaps it is not a specifically outlined rule, but we do not commit murder simply because someone is a 'bitch.'"

Andra rolled her eyes, watching as Klaus invited Hayley to dance with him. "He does it to people when they sneeze too many times in a row, but I can't do it when a rude bitch touches me without my say so? Double standards."

A loud series of drumming distracted them, drifting their gaze to the staircase, where a large group of them were marching down. "Happy Fête des Bénédictions," said the lead drummer when they stopped on the main floor. "We have a message for all of you from Marcel Gerard."

"Oh, that son of a bitch," said Andra quietly as the men brought out straight razors and slit their wrists open.

"Control yourselves!" cried Elijah, seeing the vampires were all growing agitated. "This is a vulgar trick. We do not violate our agreement!"

Out of nowhere, the lights went out. Andra was knocked over, shielding her face as several people began to trample her, scrambling to get away as the vampires attacked, feeding on everyone they could get their hands on.

When the lights came back on, she saw the Harvest girls were gone, escorted safely out. But on the floor were dozens of dead and injured humans. With their blood, written on the wall, were the words 'THERE WILL BE NO PEACE.'

Despite the fact Klaus had apparently shielded Hayley, the wolf sat up. "Elijah?" she called out shakily.

Elijah ran to her aid. "Hayley. It's okay, it's alright."

Klaus, with a scowl on his face, yanked Andra up from the floor. "You tell Marcel that if I see him again, I'll kill him."

"I'm fighting the urge to kill him myself," said Andra, massaging her bruised shoulder. "I think someone cracked one of my ribs. It hurts to breathe. Can you snap my neck?"

He stared at her as if she'd said, 'Will you marry me and father my children?' Maybe Marcel was right, and she did traumatize him whenever she opened her mouth. "Oh, dear god," she said when he didn't do it. "Elijah, can you–"

Klaus decided he could complete the task now, and snapped her neck.

As soon as she awoke fully healed, she made her way to Algiers. When she arrived at the loft, she found the vampires and Marcel gathered together, covering up Thierry's body.

"What the hell did you do?" said Andra angrily. "Get away–" she raised her hand as the vampires got closer, revealing she was holding a grenade, thumb on the safety pin, "from me. What happened?"

"Elijah happened," said Marcel. "Killed Thierry." He didn't seem at all afraid fo the grenade, and held up a bottle of alcohol, pouring it over Thierry's body. "This is Thierry Vanchure. Mean-ass horn player, lover of feisty women– witch, vampire, and human alike. I rebuilt this city with him and he always had my back. Even when I screwed up and forgot to have his. And now All I can do is promise you this, T. I won't let you die in vain. I will take back our city."

She laughed dryly. "When are you going to learn, Marcel? When are any of you going to learn? The lone fact that none of you could control your hunger today is telling enough– you are all too inexperienced to take down an Original. If you wanted to do that shit, Marcel, fine, but why put your name on it? Your cockiness now got your friend kill. Congratulations, you should take credit for that, too. If you all want to die, that's fine by me."

She got closer to Marcel, pressing the grenade to his throat. "You want to be pissed? Be pissed. But know one thing– Thierry's death is your fault. Because you are time and again causing problems knowing you've been on thin ice for a month already. You are just making it worse. The next time they kill someone because you messed with them, you know who it's gonna be? Diego. Then Josh. Then whoever the hell these other people are because I don't know their names but you do because they're your people, your friends, your family. And you are sending them to the Compound the way pigs are sent to a trough for slaughter."

She brushed the grenade higher up, forcing him to tilt his head back, "Until at last, you'll be the one killed. It'll all be over, then. Maybe it should happen already. I highly doubt Klaus and Elijah will be able to stop themselves or each other from killing you. You put Hayley at risk today and now you've turned the already dangerous Original Hybrid into a ticking time bomb. Stop this, Marcel, or it will mean your end. You want to play with the big boys? You want to be in Klaus's league and manipulate the game? You can't. Because you are conceited and impatient. You have been a brilliant leader but you don't have what it takes to outsmart Klaus Mikaelson like this. Sometimes you really do just have to watch and wait before you act, stalk a little to figure out the other person's plan before you even start formulating yours, if you don't already get ahead and make your own plan before they think of their own. You're already behind and you're gaining no advantages with this."

He flinched when she flicked the safety pin against his collarbone. "The next time you make a move this rash and someone you care about gets hurt, I'm not going to be here advising you. You don't listen to my advice and I step away and then you keep making the same mistakes until Thierry takes it upon himself to ask that I talk to you and look where that got him. This is exhausting, Marcel, I really don't have it in me anymore. Is it really going to take an even more devastating defeat for you to learn your lesson? Klaus isn't even running things right now! Elijah is! If you just apologized or kept the peace, you'd be in a position to eventually have a say in things again! Thierry was the most loyal guy you had, your best friend, and now he's gone. If you continue down this path, you'll lose more and more until you're left standing a pile of bodies. Klaus will probably let you live just so you can see that everyone you love is dead. That is how people break you and right now... you're just chipping yourself and seemingly waiting for it to happen."

The vampires stared at the two of them, wondering what Marcel was going to do. Then, it seemed they grew tired of watching him just stare at Andra and started to walk away one by one until at last, they were alone.

She lowered the grenade, sighing and resting her free hand on his shoulder. "I am sorry, Marcel. I am so sorry that you've lost so much. You may think that after all this advice I don't get it, but I do. I give it for a reason."

She noticed his eyes watering, and slowly tiptoed, sliding her hand up the back of his neck to his head, pushing it down lightly so he could rest it against her chest and cry without her seeing it. "Shh, it's okay. Just let it out."

He didn't seem to want to (perhaps because he was under the impression that she was holding a grenade in her hands). She made quick work of throwing it as far as possible, revealing all it had inside was vervain.

She stood with him as he burned Thierry's body, then walked with him to the docks where he spread the ashes. She kept him company while he drank a few glasses, then guided him to bed when he'd started blinking at her too many times.

She knew, in some way, that this had finally done the trick. She wanted to trust that, at least. Even when she received a report that the Bayou was bombed the other day, she didn't immediately suspect Marcel.

She dragged Diego with her to find out everything they could about the attack. Apparently, the bomber had been captured heading into the Bayou on a traffic camera. Some digging led them to find out he was a known for a few bar fights and for having a gambling problem. It seemed that after the bombing, his debt at the Palace Royale had been rendered nonexistent.

"She runs a Cartel," said Andra, taking notes on a post-it. "I don't want to assume but if I can get my hands on bombs, I'm sure the Correas can, too. Look at these timelines of the city's history and the drug lords... how did the Correa Cartel rise into power so quickly after the Guerreras? Coincidence, or a family taking over for their partner, or perhaps a rival? Maybe they have some history with the supernaturals and are getting revenge. Where do they have supernatural records, specifically of conflicts between species?"

"That would be in the hands of the priest," said Diego. "Father Kieran has this secret room with all sorts of stuff. Marcel already asked Josh to get the key... Father K isn't going to last very long. Klaus and Cami are with him now."

"Good. When you get it, tell me."

As soon as Josh had gotten the key, Diego handed it to her with the address of the place. She headed in, and it didn't take her long to find the hidden door in the closet, misaligned and marked with a piece of duct tape.

"Remind me never to ask an O'Connell to hide anything," she muttered as she forced it open, finding a small room with shelves upon shelves of boxes labeled with what magical items they had in them, and a series of ledgers with different family names on them.

"My goodness, you already did all the work for me," she said, finding one labeled 'CORREA.' She began to flip through it, finding several notes regarding Francesca and her siblings. One post-it read 'GABRIEL CORREA, BIRTH CERTIFICATE FALSIFIED? April 1925.' Another page held a family tree, noting where the Guerrera wolves had disappeared and where the Correas had appeared. 'GUERRERA WEREWOLVES – STILL IN THE QUARTER?'

Andra smirked. "Hello there. Secret werewolves bombing actual werewolves? Well, you just made my day."

She had Diego help her acquire the same sort of bombs that'd been used in the Bayou, and asked him to make sure all civilians and supernaturals stayed away from the Guerrera Household until further notice.

She 'accidentally' caused a power outage by climbing into a tree and throwing branches at the wires overhead until she heard a loud 'zap' and saw that several lights inside the house went out. When the cleaning lady left for the day, she snuck inside and planted the four bombs all over the bottom floor. She watched like a hawk from the bushes, glad they weren't actually werewolves yet, which meant no one would sense her there. And without functional cameras, no one would know that someone had gotten inside.

One by one the Guerreras filed in once evening came. Francesca followed by her four brothers. As soon as they were all in the house, she pressed the button in her palm.

The house exploded, and she shielded her face as a few bits of debris managed to reach her. Oops.

"Here you go," she said, arriving to the Compound and handing Klaus and Elijah a severed hand. "That belonged to Francesca Correa. I blew up their house because they planted the bombs in the Bayou, not Marcel. You're welcome."

The two brothers shared a look. "Well," said Klaus, "it seems you're ready to move on to a next task."

"That being?"

"I have formed an alliance with the wolves. We will grant them moonlight rings in exchange for loyalty. Elijah has agreed to help."

"And that does what, exactly?"

"It would grant them full control over their abilities. They would not have to turn on full moons."

She raised her brows. "Okay, and what can I do?"

"I need to acquire particular stones for these rings. Black kyanite."

"I know a place to get that. I can go get it tomorrow, but it might take a few days."

"That is fine, the spell cannot be done until the next full moon. Until then, we will prepare."

"Good. Pleasure doing business with you."

It seemed Marcel had become aware of the plan, too.

"You really don't see a problem with this?" asked Marcel when she revealed she knew what Klaus was planning while they drank at his loft. "In one night, we'd be going from hunter to prey."

"Calm down," she coaxed. "It levels the playing field. I doubt the wolves are going to attack you. They can't really get along with you if they feel they're constantly at a disadvantage. You have to realize you guys have never been the apex predators here. It just makes it a fair fight. Nobody is gonna hurt anyone. The wolves will feel better about being able to defend themselves and that's that. Listen to me, Marcel, I swear if you make this a problem I will kill you myself. Stop bitching. Klaus is going to get this way now that Elijah is backing him. Let it be. Tell your people not to mess with the wolves, and I'm sure Hayley will do the same with hers. Unless you'd rather be mauled to death, you'll just keep the peace."

She held out her finger, offering him the key that Diego had given her. "And by the way, just be honest with Cami about her family's legacy. She's just lost her uncle and she doesn't need her friends keeping secrets from her."

He took the key. "Is it true you blew up the Correas– excuse me, the Guerrera werewolves– today?"

"Of course it's true. I'm a badass like that. I can pencil you in for a mind-blowing and maybe some–" she mimed a motion that made him stifle a laugh, "of that for when I come back from my supply run."

Marcel rubbed his face, trying not to laugh any harder than he already was. "Ah... I bet they didn't see that coming. I thought I defeated the Guerreras a long time ago. Can't believe they've been around this whole time."

"Yeah, that's really sneaky of them. But we caught it."

"You caught it. I wouldn't have known if you hadn't... immediately believed I didn't do that."

She shrugged. "I had a feeling my words finally stuck. I know you don't like it but... in the long run... it's the right thing. I doubt you want to keep feeling this way. I doubt you want the hatred between you and Klaus to persist."

He shook his head. "No. No, it's... it's hard to hate the person who made you what you are... you just end up hating yourself. And it's even harder to hate someone who you loved for so long."

"You made yourself, Marcel Gerard. Klaus helped and he gave you a good home and family but he is not your maker. We all have influences but at the end of the day we dictate who we become. I am not who Malivore made me to be. But as I went through life, especially with the time I spent with Mikael, I learned who I wanted to be, who I could be. Don't forget how much value you hold. And know that value is not diminished if you admit you were wrong. You are a good leader. The two of you could be. I know he doesn't hate you, no matter what he says. 'Cause in the same way you think he made you... some part of you made him. I don't think he'd be so open to becoming a dad if he didn't have the memories of you to look back on, to remind him that during a time he knew what it was like to be a good father, even though he didn't have one. The only ones who can fix your relationship are you and him. You both have to want it and you both have to be willing to admit where it went wrong. If you truly love Davina and this city, you will need to love yourself enough to listen to what you need. And I think... you need to be loved, Marcel. You care so much and sure, you have many loyal friends, but when was the last time you were sure someone loved you?"

He contemplated it for a moment. "I guess I don't know."

She stood, patting his shoulder. "Don't be afraid to open up a little bit. Even if it's with him. You do just fine here, now you have to do it there."

Marcel hesitated, but said, "It's just easier to do it with you. You're real about everything, and you're calm. Despite the fact you literally just committed mass murder, here you are being gentle and giving advice and... I don't deserve it, Andra. I don't deserve the fact you're here instead of being somewhere else meeting people. You said it was exhausting to give me advice but you are still doing it. So... why?"

She managed a weak smile. "It's been a very long time since I had a friend, Marcel. I guess I'm afraid that if I stop helping you, I'll lose you just like I've lost everyone else."

He got to his feet. "I can't make promises for what's going to happen because I don't know, but I can say this: I'm not going anywhere. So if you want to take your turn opening up... I'm here. And I will be for a long time."

Andra's lips curled further up. "The one perk of immortality."