31 Ch. 30

A week later I'd gathered all of the people who were even remotely important together for a little meet up. Elijah had faltered at seeing Katerina glued to my side, but had stayed quiet about it for the moment. He was never one to make a scene in a crowded room. I settled into a large comfortable chair and looked around at everyone with a wide grin.

"So, it's time to move things forward! We are finally prepared to lure Klaus into town."

Damon pipes up here and I can tell Elijah doesn't appreciate the baby vampire voicing his opinion due to the way he frowns slightly, "Yeah? How do we do that? You got Elijah here pretty easily, got any more vampires hidden away that Klaus will come running for?"

I grin and glance at Katherine, only for her to swallow thickly. She stays silent though, knowing her words won't persuade me from a course I've chosen one way or another. Elijah speaks up next, "Surely one of your witches could get a message to him and draw him in."

The head of the group of archivists I've brought into town nods at this, affirming that she could easily do so, but I just shake my head and wave a hand dismissively, "Of course they could, but why bother? I can just text him."

Everyone in the room just looks at me for several long moments. Elijah is the one who finally voices what everyone else is thinking, "What?"

I grin, "I have his number. I can text him and tell him to come to Mystic Falls any time."

Elijah gives me the most dead pan look I've ever seen from him, before letting out a slow sigh and pinching the bridge of his nose, "Then do so please."

I chuckle and pull my phone out of my pocket, scrolling through my contacts until I find Klaus' newest number, only a week old. I hit messaging and write out a quick text before clicking send, "There."

Alaric can't help speaking up now, curiosity overriding whatever had been keeping him silent, "What did you send him?"

I grin, "For the first text? I sent 'hey loser'."

Once again everyone in the room is staring at me except for Elijah, who's looking to the ceiling as if just finally realizing I've become a juvenile troll in the centuries we've been apart. I continue grinning for a moment longer before looking down at my phone and frowning, "Hmm, no response yet. Let me try again."

This time I speak out what I'm typing, "Hey loser, heard you have daddy issues. Wanna talk about it?"

Elijah has his face in his hands and everyone else in the room has something between amused and horrified looks on their faces. Suddenly, my phone begins ringing and I smile, "Ah! There he is!"

Accepting the call, I hold a finger to my lips and put the phone on speaker. Everyone in the room is silent as Klaus' english accent comes through the phone, his tone more than a little enraged, "I don't know who this is, but you can start running because when I find you your suffering will be biblical!"

I can't help myself, I chuckle, "Now brother, is that any way to talk to family?"

Klaus is silent for several long moments before finally responding, "How did you get this number Vali?"

I grin as I respond, "Come on Klaus, give me some credit. I have this number, I have your back up number, and I have the numbers of both of the witches you're currently cavorting around with. Maddock and Greta right? Keeping tabs on you is one of my favorite pastimes."

All I get in response is a frustrated growl from Klaus, "Fine. Why are you calling me?"

I keep my tone casual, "Well, there were a couple things I had to tell you. Now let's see… first of all, I'm a bit late with this one, but Mikael's dead."

Elijah's mouth falls open and he collapses into a nearby chair at that particular revelation, but he manages to keep from saying anything. Klaus is a bit more verbal as he practically yells into the phone, "What?! How? When?"

I chuckle again, "I killed him of course. I didn't appreciate you directing him towards me by the way brother. I know you told him the truth in that Opera House in 1919. He found me in 1925 and I was forced to end his life. So tragic."

I can practically hear Klaus gritting his teeth, "And I'm supposed to just believe you? Why am I just hearing about this now?"

"Well, I've got no real way to prove it to you, though I can show you his ashes if you like. And I already told you why you're just hearing this now. I was very cross at you for your part in sending him after me. I lost a very good friend because of you."

My scolding tone clearly gets to him as he snarls, "If that is all Vali, I think it best we spend another five hundred years not talking to each other."

I stop him before he can hang up the phone, "Ah, but that isn't it Nik. There's one other thing."

Klaus groans into the phone, "Then spit it out."

I grin wickedly, "I have the doppleganger and the moonstone. I also have a werewolf and a vampire to sacrifice. I thought you might want to come over with a witch or two trained in performing the ritual, and get this pesky curse we're both so tired of broken next week on the full moon."

There's straight up silence for several moments. The room is quiet as everyone has long since lost the ability to speak from my audacity and Klaus is clearly dumbfounded as well. Eventually he speaks again, "Where are you?"

I chuckle, "Oh, a little place you might know very well. Mystic Falls ring any bells? It is after all the town built on where we grew up as mortals a thousand years ago."

Klaus' tone is exasperated as he replies, "Yes. I know the town. I'll be there before the full moon."

I smile wide, "Wonderful! I look forward to your arrival brother. Try not to kill too many people on your way to me. You'll find I'm going by the name Vali Masters these days, my property is on the outskirts of the town."

Klaus sighs, "The name is a bit on the nose isn't it?"

I chuckle, "Well, I wasn't going to keep calling myself Mikaelson when I've never actually been his son was I?"

There's a long pause as Klaus realizes the validity of that statement and recognizes that he has in fact been using the hated name of his vengeful stepfather for a thousand years despite that same stepfather doing his best to kill him. "No… I suppose not."

He hangs up immediately after that and I look at the dumbfounded room with a wide grin, "Ah I get so very few chances to be the annoying little brother. That was fun."

Damon rolls his eyes in response, "The venerated, timeless Master in all of his childish glory."

I chuckle in response, about to reply with my own biting remark about Damon's penchant for seducing teenage girls when Elijah interrupts, "Father is truly dead?"

I blink at that, looking away from Damon to where my brother is staring at me with a strange mix of relief and sadness. I smile grimly, "Yes Elijah. Mikael came at me with the intent to destroy everything I'd built and kill me. So I ended him."

Elijah seems speechless at this, so I lean forward in my chair and lock eyes with him from across the room. My hands clasp together as my elbows rest on my knees and I speak quietly in the silent space, doing my best menacing tone, "You should know Elijah, if necessary I can kill everyone currently in this room, even you. This is not a threat, merely a statement of fact."

Elijah is caught in my gaze, his entire body tense and his back straight, but slowly he nods. I proceed to grin disarmingly and finish with, "Luckily for you, I'm siding with you over my blood brother. While we may only share blood through our mother, I will not let Rebekah, Kol, and Finn go unavenged."

Elijah smiles tentatively back at that, and the rest of the room suddenly finds the ability to breathe again after my moment of casually talking about killing them all. Damon blows air through his teeth, "Damn man I take it back, you aren't childish okay?"

I just laugh, standing up and forcing Katerina to move off the arm of the chair I'd been sitting in, "Come now Damon, back tracking? Grow a spine sometime in the next century alright?"

I walk out of the room without even dismissing anyone, Katerina trailing after me as quickly as she could, probably hoping I'd want some alone time. Behind me I heard Damon turn to Alaric, "He says that, but he's never felt what it's like to have someone close their hand around your heart and then hold it in place for a few minutes."

I grin and pull Katerina close as I slip into a nearby storage room. I'm not in the mood for a bed right now.

-x-X-x-

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