CHAPTER 10: BROTHERS AND DAGGERS
Six weeks of resurrection, and Kol had almost convinced himself he was safe.
Then Marcel's text arrived: Elijah Mikaelson spotted entering city limits. Heading toward French Quarter. Thought you'd want to know.
Kol stared at his phone, anxiety spiking through his borrowed vampire nervous system. He'd prepared for this. Planned responses, crafted explanations, built contingencies for the inevitable moment when Kol's siblings came looking.
Preparation didn't make facing Elijah any less terrifying.
The grimoire manifested, displaying a simple message: Brother.
"Yes, thank you, I gathered that." Kol dismissed the book and checked his reflection one more time. Kol's face stared back—sharp features, knowing eyes, the smirk that suggested secrets and schemes. He needed to be Kol now, completely and convincingly.
The compound's front door opened downstairs. Footsteps, measured and deliberate, ascending toward Marcel's office.
Show time.
Elijah Mikaelson radiated authority the way the sun radiated light—effortlessly, inevitably, with the weight of a thousand years behind every gesture.
He stood in the compound's doorway, perfectly tailored suit somehow unstained despite New Orleans humidity, dark eyes taking in every detail of the space with tactical precision. When his gaze found Kol, something flickered across his expression—shock, suspicion, and beneath it all, complicated grief.
"Hello, Kol." His voice was perfectly controlled, the kind of measured tone that suggested dangerous emotions held on a tight leash. "Heard you died. Again."
Kol channeled every ounce of Kol Mikaelson's sarcastic irreverence. "Got better. You know me—can't stay dead. It's boring."
"Indeed." Elijah stepped fully into the room, and Kol felt the weight of his presence like atmospheric pressure before a storm. "Though I must admit, your resurrection comes as something of a surprise. The last I heard, you'd been killed in Mystic Falls. Klaus was... displeased."
"Klaus is always displeased," Kol said, moving to put the table between them. Not overtly defensive, just casual repositioning that happened to create obstacles. "It's his natural state."
Elijah's eyes narrowed. "You seem different."
"Death changes a man." Kol kept his posture relaxed, even as his mind raced. "He knows something's wrong. Of course he knows. Elijah's spent centuries reading his siblings."
They circled each other slowly, predators assessing threat levels. Marcel watched from his position by the window, hand near the stake at his belt. Josh had pressed himself into a corner, young vampire's instincts screaming to get out of the way.
"Different how?" Elijah pressed. "Your mannerisms are familiar, but the way you hold yourself, the cadence of your speech—something's altered."
"Maybe I grew up," Kol suggested. "Realized that chaos for chaos's sake loses its appeal after you've been murdered by your brother. Twice."
"Kol Mikaelson, developing maturity?" Elijah's lips twitched toward a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "Forgive my skepticism."
"Skepticism noted and ignored." Kol stopped circling, forcing confrontation. "Why are you here, Elijah? Klaus didn't send you—he'd have come himself if he knew. So what brings noble brother to New Orleans?"
Elijah's mask slipped for just a moment, letting real concern show through. "Rumors. Whispers of magical disturbances in the Quarter, ancestral unrest, and at the center of it all—a resurrected Original who shouldn't exist." He took a step closer. "I came to verify the impossible. And to determine if this resurrection poses a threat to our family."
"Threat assessment. How very you." Kol met his brother's gaze directly. "And what's your conclusion? Am I dangerous?"
"Undoubtedly." Elijah pulled a familiar object from his jacket—silver dagger, ash-coated, the weapon that had kept Kol imprisoned for decades. "The question is whether that danger is acceptable or must be neutralized."
Marcel tensed. Josh squeaked slightly.
Kol just grinned, sharp and predatory and absolutely fearless. "Go ahead. Try it."
He summoned the dagger from his own void storage—his original, kept as insurance against exactly this scenario—and held it toward his own chest, an offering and a challenge simultaneously.
Elijah stared. "You want me to dagger you?"
"I want you to try," Kol corrected. "Consider it a demonstration of why neutralization isn't an option anymore."
The compound fell absolutely silent. Even Marcel looked confused, unable to parse what strategy Kol was playing.
Elijah studied his brother for a long moment, calculation visible in his expression. Then, with the decisive movement of someone who'd made countless impossible choices, he took the offered dagger and struck.
The blade sank into Kol's chest, right over his heart, ash activating to neutralize Original vampire nature—
The Cardiac Redirection Ward triggered.
Reality bent. The dagger vanished from Kol's chest and reappeared in Elijah's, teleporting through space with the void's assistance. One instant Elijah held the weapon, the next it protruded from his own heart, ash spreading through his system.
Elijah's eyes widened in shock and fury. His skin grayed. He desiccated mid-curse, collapsing to the floor with the distinctive thud of an Original vampire forced into dormancy.
Silence. Absolute, shocked silence.
Josh broke it, voice climbing several octaves: "Did he just—did your brother just—"
"Dagger himself?" Kol finished cheerfully, extracting the blade from Elijah's chest. "Family tradition. We're always stabbing each other. I just automated the process."
Marcel's expression cycled through disbelief, horror, and something that might have been impressed. "You're going to revive him. Right?"
"Eventually." Kol knelt beside his desiccated brother, studying the gray, mummified features. "But first, I think we need to have a conversation. And Elijah listens much better when he doesn't have the option to noble-gesture his way out of uncomfortable truths."
He gripped Elijah's shoulder and pulled the dagger free.
Color returned instantly, flesh reanimating as Original vampire nature reasserted itself. Elijah gasped, lurching upright, hand flying to his chest where the dagger had been.
"What—how—" He stared at Kol, composure shattered for the first time in probably centuries. "That's not possible."
"Welcome to New Orleans," Kol said drily. "Where impossible things happen daily, and I've apparently become the ringmaster."
Elijah's fury was palpable, magic crackling around him as he stood. "You could have warned me."
"Where's the fun in that?"
"Kol—"
"Brother." Kol's tone shifted, losing the mockery. "You came here to determine if I'm a threat. Fair enough. But before you make that assessment, there's something you need to see. Something I can't just tell you—you need to experience it."
Elijah's eyes narrowed. "What are you proposing?"
"Vision sharing. The void granted me abilities during resurrection, and one of them is showing others what I've seen." Kol extended his hand, void energy already gathering. "I can give you glimpses of the future. What's coming to New Orleans. Why I'm preparing instead of just running like the old Kol would have."
"Why would I trust you?" Elijah demanded.
"Because Klaus is coming," Kol said simply. "And when he arrives, he'll bring catastrophe with him. You can either help me prepare for it, or we can fight each other while the city burns. Your choice."
Elijah searched Kol's face, looking for deception. Whatever he found there made him nod slowly. "Show me."
Kol gripped his brother's hand, void power surging through the connection.
Images flooded between them—not memories, but possibilities bleeding through dimensional barriers. Klaus standing in a compound courtyard, hybrid nature fully unleashed. Hayley Marshall, pregnant and defiant. A baby crying, power radiating from her tiny form in waves that made reality ripple. The name echoing through multiple timelines: Hope.
The vision fragmented, showing futures stacked on futures. Werewolves massacred in the bayou. Marcel's vampires fighting something ancient and terrible. Mikael arriving with white oak stake, hunting his children with single-minded purpose.
And at the center of it all—Hope Mikaelson, tribrid child, target of every faction and key to everyone's plans.
Kol released Elijah's hand, and they both staggered backward.
"Niklaus will come for her," Elijah breathed, horror and determination warring in his expression. "His daughter."
"Yes." Kol's voice was steady despite the drain—sharing visions cost power he couldn't quite spare. "Two years, maybe less. And when he does, every supernatural faction will either want to kill the baby or control her. We need to be ready."
Elijah paced, mind visibly racing through implications. "A tribrid. Werewolf, vampire, witch. The power that child will possess—"
"Will make her the most hunted being in supernatural history," Kol finished. "Unless we create a structure that protects her. Alliances strong enough to withstand the pressure. Plans comprehensive enough to handle every threat."
"And you expect me to believe you're preparing for this out of altruism?" Elijah's skepticism had returned, but it was tempered with calculation. "The Kol I know would see that baby as either a weapon or a threat to eliminate."
"The Kol you knew died," Kol said quietly. "I'm what came back. And I'm asking: Are you helping me prepare, or fighting me while Rome burns?"
"Please believe me. Please see that I'm trying. I can't do this without you."
Elijah studied him for a long, tense moment. Then, slowly, he nodded. "Tentative alliance. But I have conditions."
"Name them."
"First, I meet the witch who resurrected you. I need to understand what she did and why." Elijah's tone brooked no argument. "Second, you share everything you know about the coming threats. No secrets, no schemes. Third—" He paused. "You let me determine if you're truly changed, or if this is another con."
"Done," Kol agreed immediately. "Davina will be here soon for our evening study session. You can meet her then."
"Davina Claire," Elijah said. "The Harvest girl Marcel protected. The one you've been teaching magic."
"Your intelligence network is as efficient as ever."
"It's served me well." Elijah straightened his suit, composure restored despite having been desiccated minutes ago. "Very well. I'll reserve judgment until I've spoken with the girl."
Davina arrived twenty minutes later, carrying her usual armload of books and looking exhausted from whatever confrontation she'd had with the ancestors that day.
She froze when she saw Elijah, magic instinctively crackling around her hands.
"It's okay," Kol said quickly. "Davina, this is my brother Elijah. Elijah, this is Davina Claire—witch, scholar, and the person who brought me back."
Elijah stepped forward with the kind of old-world courtesy that made him simultaneously intimidating and charming. "Miss Claire. I understand I have you to thank for my brother's resurrection."
"I—yes." Davina straightened, refusing to be intimidated despite Elijah being an Original vampire who could kill her without effort. "Though the spell didn't quite go as planned."
"So I've gathered." Elijah's gaze shifted between them, taking in the comfortable familiarity, the way they unconsciously positioned themselves as a unit. "Kol tells me you've been studying together."
"He's teaching me spell analysis and magical theory," Davina said, confidence growing. "Advanced techniques Marcel never had time to show me."
"Demonstrate," Elijah requested. Not a command, but close.
Davina glanced at Kol, who nodded encouragement. She pulled out one of the spell diagrams they'd been working on—modification of the Ancestral Firewall, incorporating principles they'd gleaned from Esther's grimoire.
She walked Elijah through the logic, explaining how conditional triggers could create adaptive defenses, how modern systems thinking applied to magical protections. Her passion for the subject matter was evident, brain working at speeds that impressed even an Original vampire.
When she finished, Elijah was silent for several heartbeats.
"Remarkable," he said finally. "I've seen witches twice your age with half your grasp of fundamental theory."
Davina beamed, clearly trying not to look too pleased by the praise.
Elijah turned to Kol. "You've changed him," he observed. "Or perhaps revealed something that was always there but buried. Either way—" His expression softened slightly. "This is the brother I always hoped you could become."
"Don't get sentimental," Kol muttered, uncomfortable with genuine emotion. "We're still Mikaelsons. Dysfunction is practically genetic."
"Indeed." Elijah moved toward the door, then paused. "I'll be staying in New Orleans. Keeping watch. Klaus will sense my presence eventually, but perhaps we can buy time before he investigates personally."
"Thank you," Kol said quietly.
Elijah nodded once, then was gone—vampire speed carrying him into the night.
Davina turned to Kol, eyes wide. "Did that just happen? Did you just form an alliance with Elijah Mikaelson by making him dagger himself?"
"Family bonding," Kol said. "Mikaelson style."
She laughed, bright and disbelieving. "You're ridiculous."
"But effective."
They settled into their usual study routine, but Kol's mind churned with implications. Elijah's arrival meant Klaus would follow eventually. The pieces were moving into position, the future from his visions approaching with inevitable momentum.
Later, walking Davina home, she linked her arm through his. "Your brother was right, you know. We have changed each other."
"For better or worse?"
"Better," she said firmly. "Definitely better."
Watching her disappear into her building, Kol thought about the alliances he was building, the plans taking shape, the future he was trying to rewrite.
Progress, Elijah had said. Terrifying progress.
Kol couldn't argue with that assessment.
Note:
Please give good reviews and power stones itrings more people and more people means more chapters?
My Patreon is all about exploring 'What If' timelines, and you can get instant access to chapters far ahead of the public release.
Choose your journey:
Timeline Viewer ($6): Get 10 chapters of early access + 5 new chapters weekly.
Timeline Explorer ($9): Jump 15-20 chapters ahead of everyone.
Timeline Keeper ($15): Get Instant Access to chapters the moment I finish writing them. No more waiting.
Read the raw, unfiltered story as it unfolds. Your support makes this possible!
👉 Find it all at patreon.com/Whatif0