Chapter Text
Kol’s eyes glinted, sharp and unreadable, the flicker of the chandelier above fracturing his gaze into shards of amber and shadow. “You know... I don’t believe in you.”
Elena, defensively, tried to play it cool. “Fine, you got me. I don’t know anything about wines.”
Kol smirked, taking a step closer, the floorboards creaking beneath his weight like a warning. “I’m referring to your willingness to give up the cure.”
Her voice came out steady, but her heart thudded in her chest, each beat a frantic drum against her ribs. “I’m willing to do anything for my brother.”
Kol’s smile twisted as he advanced, the air between them charged with the scent of wine. “Besides… trade eternity for a human heartbeat? How... mundane.”
Elena’s mask cracked, the tension taking the best of her, and honesty slipped through her lips. “You think I want the cure for myself? Considering what it’s costing us, and the danger it could bring? I just want to be free. The sire bond — it’s like I’m not even me anymore.”
For a moment, Kol felt his expression softening. A muscle feathered in his jaw, his arrogance fading like a facade slipping to reveal the raw edges beneath.
For an instant, he was no longer just the Original — he was another soul, weary and trapped, his shoulders bowing under the weight of centuries locked in a box.
He spoke quietly, as if confessing a secret to the shadows crowding the room. “You think you’re the only one who’s ever felt chained I’ve spent centuries under my family’s thumb. The things I’d do for a little freedom…”
His gaze flickered to her lips — a heartbeat of vulnerability — before meeting her eyes again.
Elena’s breath caught, not just from his words but from the heat of his proximity.
There was a magnetic pull that made the air hum between them.
However, she didn’t retreat, even with her pulse quickening, and it was not duo fear, but something else, something that she didn’t dared to name.
She did not had the time to understanding what he was awakening within her.
Kol stepped even closer, the smirk gone from his lips. “My family daggered me for my rebellion. You think I don’t understand the want to claw your way out of a cage?”
Elena’s chest constricted, and suddenly breathing wasn’t easy anymore.
How had she come this far? Was she capable of doing the necessary to protect her loved ones? Most definitely, but the lack of guilty within her… Damon’s voice echoed in her head, and she tilted it, as if seeking to dispel the echoes in her mind.
When she spoke, her voice came softer, fraying at the edges. “Are you certain you’re right about Silas? The cure... we could use it against Klaus.”
Kol’s eyes narrowed, his tone cold but not cruel, a blade wrapped in velvet. “That’s the problem with people today. They lack faith. Trust me, Elena, some things are better left buried.”
Elena hesitated, torn between fear and curiosity.
Would she want her brother to risk himself for her? No. Would she want her friends to act recklessly, consequences be damned? No, too.
What if Kol was right?
He could hear her heartbeats, see the uncertainty gleaming in her eyes, and he leaned in until his breath mingled with hers.
His voice dropped, low and intimate, as he sough to persuade her. “Let me rid you of the sire bond. In return, you walk away from the cure. Let Silas rot.”
Elena blinked, then answered, determined, her spine steeled by the memory of Jeremy’s hollow eyes. “Not unless you free Damon from your compulsion.”
Kol raised an eyebrow, impressed - there was more to her than he’d initially thought - a flicker of genuine respect cutting through his smirk. “If I agree, Klaus will still want your brother to complete the mark. You know that, don’t you?”
Elena stepped back, unsettled by his closeness and the way he made her feel — like she was teetering on the edge of a precipice.
One conversation, and her resolve was already wavering.
Jesus!
She crossed her arms, the gesture as much a shield as a challenge. “As will Rebekah... and probably Stefan. Besides… No one approves of me as a vampire.”
Kol chuckled softly, the sound dark and honeyed. “No one approves of me as a vampire either.”
Elena half-smiled, despite herself, the expression fleeting but bright. “So what — I pretend I’m after the cure, but help you sabotage their plans? And you? How will your siblings believe you lifted Damon’s compulsion?”
Kol slipped the white oak dagger from his jacket, twirling it between his fingers like a macabre dance. “This is not the only dagger in my possession. You distract them — just like you’re distracting me now — while I sneak into the Salvatore boarding house and undo the compulsion. Then you say you managed to get me daggered. I hear that’s become something of a tradition for you.. finding a way to an Original fall into silver daggers.”
Elena gulped, trying to mask her anxiety, the taste of copper sharp on her tongue.
He knows, she thought.
Every time she’d bested an Original, it had been by surprise.
Kol was the only one who saw beyond her innocent act. That surprised her — and made her feel wary.
She does not know what makes her more nervous, the idea of trying to trick him now, or the idea of having to convince the Mikaelsons that she - somehow - got him to fall on a silver dagger, and that they would have to take the compulsion lifting as proof, not his daggered body.
Kol noticed her hesitation, his gaze softening just a fraction, the dagger stilling in his hand. His voice dropped, almost gentle beneath the iron. “You really are capable of anything for your brother, aren’t you? Killing me, to kill my sireline... That’s ruthless.”
Elena took another step back, finally grappling with the enormity of her plans, a weight pressing down on her chest.
Kol smiled — a real one, warm and unexpected even to himself. “You were awfully determined for someone who should be terrified of me. Don’t start faltering now, sweetheart.”
Elena fought the knot in her throat, feeling exposed, her walls crumbling under the weight of his scrutiny. “I don’t want to be ruthless. I just... don’t want to lose anyone else. That’s all I’ve ever wanted, since I lost my parents.”
A long silence stretched between them, thick with their unspoken pasts.
Kol studied her, searching for the lie, but found only truth — a bleeding one.
How would it feel to have someone to lose? To be loved by someone like her? He wondered, bothered to hear the sadness in her voice. So young, and so.. burdened. A gentleness he hadn’t felt in centuries reached him, and he said softly. “If you awaken Silas, that’s exactly what you’ll get.”
“And, if I don’t help your brother, that’s exactly what I’ll get, too.” Elena’s arms hugged her body, as if holding herself together against the tempest raging inside her. “I… I don’t want to kill you, or your entire sireline. But… I need to save my brother, and the only way…”
“It’s not by killing me, sweetie. I know I’m not the right person to tell you this, but… your brother is one of the Five now. He’s at risk, and will kill vampires whether you wish it or not.” Kol moved closer, his voice coaxing her, in a serpentine melody.
He could defeat her easily, if they came to fight, and yet, he desired for her to change her mind, for some reason he could not comprehend. “If they believe I’m daggered, I can find proof of what I’m saying, while your brother acts as he is acting now. It’ll take time for his tattoo to complete, no matter how many vampires he kills. Once I return with proof, my siblings will have to let go of their search.”
“How can you be so sure?” Elena asked, her brows furrowed, as the candlelight cast shadows that made him look almost human.
Kol’s lips curled into a lopsided smile, all sharp edges, despite the warmth in his gaze. “Because if there’s one thing us Mikaelsons do, it’s survive first.”
Elena’s eyes caught on his smile, her mind blanking for a fraction of a second, as his scent — spice and something ancient, like parchment and storm winds — filled her senses.
She tilted her head, trying to dissipate the thoughts, the movement sending her hair cascading over her shoulder. “What about my friends?”
“They are the good guys, aren’t they?” Kol drawled, a brittle laugh scraping his throat, as satisfaction started to curl within his chest. “They won’t want to unleash doomsday.”
Elena couldn’t believe she was truly entertaining the idea of actually forming an alliance with him.
She forced herself to meet his gaze, only to find him staring at the flutter of her pulse.
A predator captivated by the prey that refused to cower.
A slow, knowing smile spread across his face. “Nervous, Gilbert? Or… something else?”
Elena turned to leave, to create distance between them, but Kol caught her wrist, his touch searing her skin like a brand.
She looked at his hand around her wrist, the contrast of his pale fingers against her olive skin, seeking to ignore the warmth of his touch.
“Even if I… agree to this… This doesn’t make us friends.” She warned, her voice trembling despite her resolve.
“Wouldn’t dream of it.” He retorted, but his voice carried no conviction. His thumb traced her pulse point, in a whisper of contact, before releasing her.
He was intrigued by her. He never understood the doppelgänger allure before, but now… perhaps it wasn’t because she was a doppelgänger.
Perhaps it was because she was Elena.
She was unlike anyone he had ever met before.
Elena laughed weakly, the sound strangled by the tension that had awakened between them, thick and sweet as incense smoke.
Kol’s pupils widened, and for a reckless moment, he leaned in — close enough for her to feel his breath on her lips, close enough to drown in.
She wondered what he was doing, and why she wasn’t moving away.
But then, he pulled back, his voice rough, the words a vow and a dare. “Later. When you’re not second-guessing every move.”
“What… what’s that supposed to mean?” She stuttered, her cheeks burning.
Kol watched her intently, a rare, unguarded smile on his face, the kind that could rewrite destinies.
“Patience, sweetheart.” He murmured, the tip of his finger brushing her cheek, a ghost of a promise. “This game has just begun.”