Yes.
The rougher the seas, the higher the price of fish.
Risk and reward are forever proportional.
Two roads lay before Hawk.
First:
Find the Heaven Dimension, hear them say it was a misunderstanding, drop it, and sit on the sidelines.
Obviously impossible.
As he'd said before,
he wasn't a saint—and he would never let someone "test" him, then wave it off as a misunderstanding, shake hands, and pretend everyone was friends.
That would never happen.
Just like with HYDRA before.
A probe?
If you dare test him, you can kiss that probing hand goodbye. Test him today, you'll step on his face tomorrow, and the day after you'll be peeing on his head.
Whether Heaven's move was a "mistake" or a "test," they started this war—so how it ends is for him to decide.
Therefore…
Hawk inclined toward working with Mephisto.
Even if Mephisto had terrible credit and was on his blacklist, Hawk still leaned toward teaming up against Heaven.
Reason was simple.
He didn't know Heaven well; he knew Mephisto very well.
If you're going to cooperate, pick someone whose methods you understand—even if that partner is a lying devil—rather than a stranger who smiles, says nothing, and stabs you in the back.
Speaking of history—
Hawk remembered Mephisto's words and that cryptic look back in the Hell tavern, when Hawk asked how a dimensional space could support him in unfolding his own universe.
Deep in your soul, you'll find the answer I want?
What answer?
Hawk, left arm serving as Gwen's pillow, leaned against the headboard, replaying Mephisto's certainty—that once he saw the answer, he'd choose to cooperate—and couldn't help pondering.
Just then—
He blinked back, looked down, and saw Gwen's lashes flutter as she slowly opened her eyes. He smiled slightly.
"Awake?"
"Mm."
A soft smile colored Gwen's pretty face, her voice gentle.
"How long did I sleep?"
"Three hours. Sleep a bit more—breakfast time's long gone anyway."
"No."
Gwen shook her head, slipped out of bed, looped a bath towel around herself, and headed for the bathroom. "If I sleep again, I won't be able to sleep tonight."
Hawk shrugged. "It's fine. Tonight we just go a few more rounds—tired enough and you'll sleep."
Hearing that, Gwen turned, shot him a sultry glance, said nothing, and stepped into the bathroom.
A second later—
Hawk got up and rushed in.
Gwen paused, surprised.
"Why are you coming in?"
"To shower together."
"I—mmph!"
An hour later.
Clean, changed, and positively glowing, Gwen opened the door and stepped out first.
"I'll head down. Get dressed and come."
"Okay."
Back in sage mode again, Hawk sounded appropriately serene as his voice came from the room.
Gwen closed the door and walked toward the stairs.
Downstairs, she didn't see Grandpa William in the living room.
But she did see her cousin—and two others.
Spotting Caroline sitting on the sofa, clearly not having gone home and seeming to have waited here, Gwen asked, "Don't you need to go catch up on sleep?"
Caroline smiled. "Cousin, I'm a vampire. Vampires don't need sleep."
Gwen turned to the other two, who had stood with Caroline—Elena and the witch Bonnie, both looking noticeably worn out.
"Them too?"
"They don't. Bonnie's a witch. Elena…"
"A witch."
Hearing that, Gwen sat on the sofa and gave Bonnie another look.
She didn't react to Bonnie's skin color.
After all, in the Fox family, the Stacy family, even the Phoenix family—she was the one least inclined to discrimination.
At least in public.
Well then.
One woman carrying the "non-discrimination" banner for three families.
Thoughts flickered through Gwen's mind and she smiled at Bonnie. "I know a witch too. A Salem witch. Are you Salem as well?"
Bonnie blinked.
"I'm not."
"All right."
Gwen smiled again and turned to Caroline. "Where's Grandpa?"
"Mom came to take him into town for a haircut," Caroline replied.
So this was going to be a serious talk.
Gwen nodded inwardly and looked at Caroline.
"Something up?"
"Klaus—the one I mentioned."
Caroline took Elena's hand and laid out everything: Elena's situation, their deal with the Original Elijah—that if they found the Moonstone, Klaus would let them go.
Gwen listened closely, glancing at Elena from time to time. When Caroline finished, Gwen asked, curious, "And that vampire?"
Caroline hesitated.
Elena answered, "Stefan was afraid of upsetting you, so he didn't come."
Gwen smiled and shook her head, then told Caroline, "I get it. I'll talk to Hawk."
Just then—
Hawk's voice came from behind: "Talk to me about what?"
Gwen turned, took in the white tee and black trousers that somehow made him look even more solid, and smiled. "Klaus. Caroline says if they can bring the Moonstone to the Original Klaus, he'll pardon them."
Hawk bent, kissed Gwen, then glanced at Caroline, Elena, and the witch Bonnie.
"Who told you Klaus needs the Moonstone to unseal his werewolf blood?"
"Elijah."
"Klaus's brother."
"He said if we find the Moonstone, he'll ask Klaus to forgive us."
"Oh—Elijah said it."
Hawk's expression cleared; he looked at the three, then chuckled.
"He and Klaus are scamming you together."
"What?"
"Scamming us?"
"What the f—"
"Language."
Gwen shot her cousin a warning look. "I'm accepting the fact that you're a vampire. That doesn't change the fact you won't be eighteen until Christmas. Language, young lady."
Caroline opened her mouth at Gwen's glare, then forced a laugh and pivoted. "Brother-in-law, you just said this is a scam—what do you mean?"
Elena and Bonnie stared wide-eyed at Hawk.
"Exactly what it sounds like."
"Klaus doesn't need the Moonstone to unseal the wolf side."
"The Moonstone isn't for unsealing—it binds Klaus."
Hawk sat beside Gwen and smiled at the three. "The Moonstone torments him—lets him feel the sealed wolf blood and the pain of it. It's not a cure."
Bonnie stared, stunned.
Caroline was just as blank.
Elena shook her head slightly. "But Elijah told us—"
Hawk cut in with an easy smile. "Once again, he lied. More precisely, the Mikaelson Originals used the Moonstone lie to fool everyone."
Elena opened and closed her mouth.
"Why?"
"To keep the real cure secret, obviously."
That time it was Gwen who answered. She looked to Hawk. "So the Moonstone is just a smokescreen the Mikaelsons tossed out to hide the true key."
Hawk smiled at his fiancée.
"I love how sharp you are."
"I know."
Gwen's grin was dazzling.
Caroline, choking on the sugar in the air, hurried to cut in. "If the Moonstone isn't the key to unsealing Klaus, then what is—?"
Hawk's eyes slid to Caroline's face. "Doppelgänger blood and a werewolf's blood, plus a witch's help on a full moon. That's it."
Right.
Unsealing Klaus's wolf side wasn't complicated: a doppelgänger's blood, a werewolf's blood, and—under a witch on a full moon—the seal his mother placed on his wolf nature could be broken.
Why make everyone think it was the Moonstone?
Misdirection.
Klaus was an Original vampire.
He might have had few friends, but he had plenty of enemies—and those enemies wouldn't sit idle and watch him break the seal.
So he tossed out a decoy—the Moonstone—sent all the potential enemies scrambling for a useless rock, and kept the real key safe.
Also—
It was fun.
Watching people beat each other to pulp over a stone that did nothing for him—now that's a great game.
As everyone knows,
shadow-play from behind the scenes is a villain's favorite hobby.
And wouldn't you know it—
Klaus is a villain, the charming kind—the one who forced his way from "antagonist" to "protagonist of New Orleans" on sheer will.
The three women reeled anew at Hawk's explanation.
Especially Elena.
"So Elijah told us to find the Moonstone just to keep us docile?"
"Yes."
"Hss…"
Elena sucked in a breath and squeezed Bonnie's hand tight.
"Ow!" Bonnie yipped before she could stop herself.
Elena snapped back and quickly let go.
"Sorry."
"It's okay."
Bonnie shook her head, then, as if swearing an oath, looked at Elena. "I won't let anything happen to you."
Elena's expression warmed with gratitude.
"Bonnie!"
"Elena~~"
"Brother-in-law!"
Caroline swiveled to Hawk. "This 'Moonstone' business is terrifying—please help us."
Hawk arched a brow at the scene. "Did I misspeak? Klaus needs her blood and a werewolf's blood. I didn't say he needed their lives."
Caroline gaped. "If he needs Elena's blood, isn't that her life?"
Hawk looked at her, nonplussed. "You bleed every month and I don't see—"
Gwen swatted him.
"Hawk."
"Brother-in-law."
Caroline caught up. "You mean… blood is all he needs?"
Elena and Bonnie both turned to Hawk at once.
He laughed.
"I've been saying 'blood' this whole time. I didn't even say 'fresh blood.'"
"I misunderstood."
Caroline hurried to explain.
Hawk chuckled and looked at Gwen. "Some vampire—might be the worst hearing in vampire history."
Gwen glanced at Caroline's flushed face, shook her head, and said to Hawk, "It's normal to be scared—he's an Original. If you weren't here, I'd be scared too. So as long as Elena provides her blood, Klaus won't target her. But… how much blood?"
Hawk noticed Elena practically pricking up her ears.
"Her whole supply."
"What?"
Caroline's eyes bulged again. "That's still—"
Gwen sighed at her jumpy cousin. "You can have your friend give it in batches, can't you? Hawk just said it—blood, not necessarily fresh."
Caroline blinked, then looked to Elena.
Elena also relaxed a fraction as the logic sank in.
Draining all her blood at once would be lethal.
But in portions…
"Will Klaus agree, though?" Gwen asked, frowning slightly.
Hawk smiled at her and said nothing.
Gwen blinked.
A second later—
She read the smile.
She pressed her lips together.
"Sorry."
"If you want, I could just kill Klaus."
Hawk smiled at Gwen. "You know me. Say the word and I'll do it. But then your hard-of-hearing cousin likely dies too."
Caroline's eyes went wide. "What does killing Klaus have to do with me?"
Gwen frowned at Hawk. "If Klaus dies, why would Caroline die?"
Hawk shrugged.
"That's a Mikaelson-line quirk. If the Original dies, the vampires of his line die with him."
"What?"
"But it was Stefan's blood that turned me."
Caroline stared. "What's that got to do with Klaus?"
Hawk was about to answer when his brows tugged—he sensed a figure at the manor gate. He rose from the sofa and looked at the shocked Caroline.
"Who turned Stefan?"
"Katherine?"
"And who turned Katherine Pierce?"
"Don't know."
"Katherine Pierce was turned by a vampire named Rose. Guess who turned Rose?"
"…Klaus?"
"So who, ultimately, is your line traced back to?"
"Klaus?!"
Caroline blurted, then froze, eyes huge.
Hawk smiled and looked at Gwen. "Your cousin isn't that slow after all."
Gwen saw the smile on his face, shook her head in resignation, and watched him prepare to leave.
"Where are you going?"
"To greet our guest."
Hawk tossed the words over his shoulder and headed outside.
Caroline, having had her vampiric family tree mapped out with Hawk's help, stared at Gwen in uneasy disbelief. "Cousin… tell me he's joking."
Gwen met the three pairs of eyes and shook her head. "Hawk disdains lying—and has no need to."
All three sucked in a breath at once.
Gwen felt the air around her suddenly warm.
The three exchanged looks.
"So if Klaus dies, I die too?" Caroline murmured, thoughtful and pale.
"And Stefan—Katherine turned him—so if Klaus dies, Stefan dies too?" Elena said, just as lost.
Off to the side, Bonnie muttered, still dazed, "Klaus's mother must have been an incredibly powerful witch."
Hawk didn't give the trio another thought.
Just as when Gwen had asked if he could persuade Klaus—he'd merely smiled.
Please.
With the strength he wielded today, he had already harvested the prestige fruit.
Unless the other guy's brain was broken, whatever terms Hawk named would be accepted—for face alone.
Besides, he wasn't stopping Klaus from unsealing the wolf side.
He just wanted Klaus not to drain Elena all at once. Do it in batches—at worst it costs time.
Klaus had waited centuries; waiting another year or two to draw Elena's blood on schedule wouldn't kill him.
As for the werewolf side of the ritual—that wasn't Hawk's problem.
So—
Klaus was just a side quest.
Hawk's real focus was his own matter.
The next moment—
One step out of the manor and he was at the gate. He eyed the graceful figure standing just beyond. "Good morning, Ms. Pierce."
Katherine Pierce turned, smiled at Hawk.
"You messaged me."
"I did. Please, come in."
Hawk extended the invitation.
Only then did Katherine lift her foot and cross into the bounds of the manor.
The Mikaelson-line vampires still followed the old rule: without a homeowner's invitation, they could not enter.
Hawk wasn't the owner of Fox Manor, but Gwen was Fox family—and he was Gwen's fiancé—so his invitation held.
If it hadn't—
Katherine's head would already be splitting open.
…
(End of Chapter)
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