Lover Be | The Originals

Chapter Thirty-One | It's a Trap

The brothers raced to the street that Malia lived on, searching for her. There was nothing. They breathed in some relief that at least they had not found her dying.

Across the street, a familiar face locked the door of the cafe. She turned around and jumped when she saw the brothers.

"What are you two doing here?" Nelle asked angrily. "I thought Malia told you to stay away."

Klaus sped to her, his hand instantly on her throat.

"She's been captured. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you, witch?"

"What?" Nelle choked through his tight grasp on her throat. "No! I would never hurt Malia. She's my friend."

"Niklaus," Elijah warned. "We don't have time for this."

Klaus looked at the witch struggling for a moment longer before he dropped her to the ground and let her gasp for air.

"I hate you," Nelle finally hissed at Klaus. "But I love Malia more. If she's in danger, I want to help."

Caddy corner, a door to an abandoned store creaked as it opened. The brothers exchanged a look.

"It's a trap," Elijah said, and Klaus nodded.

They started walking toward the door, the young witch following behind them.

Inside, the bodies of six vampires with the ritualistic carvings lay, their bodies slowly covered in veins.

"Oh my god," Nelle whispered. "I'd heard about the murders, but this . . ."

Elijah's eyes narrowed as he glanced between the bodies, watching the protruding veins.

"They're pulling magic from them," he noted in realization.

They dodged the sprawled bodies of the vampires and got to the stairs at the back of the room.

The vampire's footsteps were completely silent as they walked up. A loud creak came from under Nelle's foot and she winced. They both turned back to her.

"Sorry," she whispered.

They turned back and continued walking up.

"Okay," Nelle whispered when they reached the top. "I guess it's go-time. Invisique."

The three of them were wrapped in invisibility and they stepped into the main room. A group of witches five patrolled in their dark robes, watching the door closely. The spell kept the three hidden and they passed them with ease.

They entered a back room, careful to wait until the witches had their backs turned so they didn't alert anyone of their presence.

Malia is in the room, tied to a chair with cuts all over her body. Blood, dried and fresh, covered her body.

Nelle dropped the spell to reserve her magic.

Klaus and Elijah ran to the other side of the room. Elijah undoes the ropes as Klaus bites his arm and feeds his blood to Malia.

She groans as she drinks, pulling his arm toward her with her now-freed arm. Her fingers are each bent at strange angles.

"Klaus, no," she says, pulling away in a fog. "Elijah . . . It's a trap."

"That was supposed to be my big reveal," Ellie stands at the door, a smirk crawling on her face.