The boarding house was loud with voices Stefan and Damon pacing in tight circles, Bonnie arguing with Jeremy about what spells could or couldn’t be done, and Elena sitting silently in the corner, hugging herself like she was trying to make herself smaller. Everyone’s focus was on her. Every plan, every word, every desperate whisper circled back to Elena Gilbert and the curse that demanded her life.

Maya leaned against the banister just outside the parlor, her hands gripping the wood until her knuckles turned pale. The conversation blurred. She’d heard it all before—Klaus, sacrifice, doppelgänger, death. The problem was simple in theory and cruel in execution: Elena’s blood unlocked the curse, and Klaus would stop at nothing until he had it.

Unless he got me first.

It had taken Maya nights of staring at her ceiling to decide. If one Petrova twin had to die, it didn’t have to be Elena. Elena had a future—college, a chance at a normal life if Mystic Falls ever stopped bleeding out supernatural threats. Maya had always been the shadow twin, the one people forgot when Elena walked into a room. Maybe this was the first time she could matter.

She said nothing to the others. She smiled when Elena reached for her hand, joked when Damon snapped too sharply, nodded when Stefan said they’d protect “both of you.” But inside, the decision was locked in place.

When Klaus finally came to town, it was like the air itself went heavy—people whispered about a stranger in the Grill, a man with an English accent and eyes like ice that cut straight through you. That was when Maya slipped away.

She found him near the Lockwood estate, leaning casually against the railing like he owned the place, his lips curved in an amused smile as if he knew she’d been looking for him.

“You’ve been following me,” Klaus said smoothly, his gaze flicking over her face. “And you’re not Elena Gilbert.”

Her breath hitched, but she forced herself to lift her chin. “No. I’m Maya.”

Something flickered in his eyes—interest, surprise, calculation. “The twin. Fascinating.” He stepped closer, and the warmth of his presence felt wrong, like standing too near fire. “Tell me, love, why come find the big bad wolf instead of running the other way?”

Maya swallowed hard but held his gaze. “Because if you want the doppelgänger for your sacrifice…you can take me.”

The smile Klaus gave her was slow, predatory, and almost gentle at the same time. “How very noble. And how very foolish.” He tilted his head, studying her like she was a puzzle worth savoring. “But perhaps…you and I should talk.”